the Brogli family

Belated!

2012-01-09T20:42:00.005-05:00

I guess since it is now January 9th, I have to conced that the Christmas cards are just not going to happen this year! Every time I went to pay for postage for them, there was just one more present that we'd rather buy instead. So, I will post it here in hopes that you can imagine that instead of on a computer screen, you are opening it in your own home, on time, with all the excitement of receiving non-bill mail!

Merry Christmas & (we hope you are already having) a Happy New Year!
(A fun tip to moms of diaper-age kiddos: I usually get our photo Christmas cards for free by altering a favorite photo on Picnik.com and then using our Pampers points from diapers throughout the year- one of the 'rewards' is a Shutterfly.com package of like 200 free 4x6 prints! Then all you have to do is find some envelopes & pay postage!)

Wordless Wednesday: We want to go back to Grannie's!

2011-12-28T16:24:00.003-05:00

Flashback!

2011-12-14T13:31:00.006-05:00

I have lots of blog catching up to do- Thanksgiving, our family trip to Florida, Finn's monthly updates, a cute video of bathtime, and a couple of early December Christmas traditions we've done so far. We're moving slow after recovering from all four of us having a cold (mostly just a bad cough and no energy) but today Finn did this:
and it made me so happy remembering this:
(Finn at 9 months, Kenna at 14 months)

I love these little kiddo idiosyncrasies that make life fun! Some are so very different and some are exactly the same. I'm especially grateful for happy, healthy babes. Love them so much!

Halloween 2011!

2011-10-31T13:04:00.002-04:00

We take our pumpkins very seriously in the Brogli household. We start eating them and wearing them the minute the calendar changes to October. Here are exhibits A and B:

Jack-o-lantern pizza for lunch courtesy of Daddy on his way home from class:
Pumpkin bib handmade by Mommy:

(That's his Blue Steele face, by the way.)

But when it comes to eating, I think we all know that celebrating Halloween all comes down to the candy, not the pumpkins... especially with an almost 3 year old in the house! I have to say that the most fun part for me is not the candy but the costumes, even more so now that I have 2 kiddos to inflict my dress-up on (quick before they grow up and dictate their costume wishes to me!). This year, thanks to a friend's yardsale, Goodwill, and the Dollar Tree, we had one very happy Tinkerbell and her very own Captain Hook.
I can't believe how big-little-kid my baby girl looks in that one. It's such a "back to school" pose.
Love how no one has to teach a little girl what to do with a wand! Kenna thought wearing a princess/fairy costume was just about the coolest thing ever.

Finn was the manliest little baby pirate you've ever seen. He even made this fantastic little "arrrrr" face that was cracking us up:
So we got all dolled up in our costumes and headed to Bayleaf's Fall Festival, one of the things we look forward to all year! Matt brought the front pack even though I was pretty sure we wouldn't need it with the grandparents there. He ended up wearing it empty like this for most of the night and so we jokingly called it his "missing baby" costume.
Kenna and her best bud Sydney:
We met up with all the cousins, of course. We take this picture on the hay bales every year, and each time there seems to be more children!
Nachos, hot dogs, and more candy and games waited for us inside... I lost count of how many pink and purple cotton candies Kenna ate, and we caught a certain someone feeding Finn sips of soda! I wasn't sure if the kiddos would be crashed out from exhaustion when we got home or jacked up on sugar highs all night!
Kenna had a great time going through all the bible games with Beckley. They had these cute little looks of amazement on their faces at all the candy everyone was handing them. (Notice the purple cotton candy slime surrounding Kenna's mouth in that photo!)

On actual Halloween night the next day, Matt had to work so I had planned a nice laidback evening of trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and then letting Kenna stay up a little late to hand out candy at our house. Instead, it was cold and poured rain all night so no one went out trick or treating at all! We ended up putting our costumes back on and going just down the street to Bayleaf's sister church, Wakefield Baptist, to their indoor trunk or treat. I was glad we did because Kenna had a blast! Instead of trunks (since it was indoors) they had set up little stations that each had an activity or theme to earn the candy.

We had to "winterize" our Tinkerbell to keep her warm in all that rain, and we gave up on Finn's pirate entirely. Instead, we went with cozy sweats (for Momma too!) and a football.
I also love that no one has to teach a little boy how to hold a football.
Here we are back home, checking out our loot. All this candy might last until Christmas!
Hopefully, next year the weather will be better and Daddy can go trick or treating with us! Happy Halloween!

Orange Pumpkins 2011!

2011-10-30T09:07:00.002-04:00

We went again on our yearly tradition to Hillridge Farms in Youngsville to get our orange pumpkins! It was one of the first almost-chilly days of fall, and it was just the perfect weather to wander around through all the fun things the farm has to offer. It's so fun to be building little traditions like this each year as our family grows. Just for fun, here are some links to our 2009 trip and our 2010 trip!
We started in the "general store" getting a special snack and feed for the animals! Finn did a great job riding around taking in the sights in the frontpack.
Kenna's special snack was this big box of Sweettarts... we joked that we could have just bought the $1 box of candy and called it a day, she was so thrilled by it. She munched on them all day until we thought she might make herself sick!
We enjoyed our old favorites like the big tube slide, the corn pit, and feeding the farm animals (always a bit hit with Kenna!)
And for the first time this year, Kenna rode the ponies! They were so sweet and gentle and she absolutely loved it! She loved it so much we would have let her do it several times except for the fact that it was $6 a pop! I love this age where she thinks every animal is a big puppy ready to be her pet.

After the hayride out to the 'pumpkin patch' Kenna picked out the best pumpkins with Daddy while Mommy nursed Finn. Kenna was so cute running back over to show me her favorites.
Finn was more fascinated by sitting in the grass than with the pumpkins.
After much wiggling, repositioning, and even bribing, we got one picture of our pumpkins sitting in the pumpkin patch where they were both looking at the camera and smiling!
Daddy lugging our little pumpkins home!
Such a fun trip... I love this time of year!

Fall-ish Things.

2011-10-29T09:35:00.001-04:00

We have had such a mild fall, I think when the weather finally changes it's going to feel like we went straight from summer to winter. But the warmer weather has meant lots of evenings playing and eating dinner on the back porch:

(This is the classic "say cheese" face.)

And we have had some days that were cool enough for our hoodies:
We've been at the park several times, including a trip with our awesome Sunday school class where Kenna discovered s'mores (not a fan) and Finn discovered graham crackers (ginormous fan)!

Here she is feeding me the s'more because she wasn't crazy about it. Shocking!We just happened to stop by one afternoon while Granddaddy was about to drive his tractor through his garden... Kenna took one look at it and asked "I ride it?" Granddaddy had the same thought!

And just a little bit of chillier mornings are letting us know winter is coming. I love bundling our wee ones up!

Life & Science Museum!

2011-10-27T09:43:00.001-04:00

One of our favorite fall things to do is to take a trip to Boone to see the beautiful fall leaves and enjoy the colder weather. This year time and budget didn't quite permit, so we settled instead on a trip to the Life & Science Museum in Durham, thinking Kenna would enjoy the butterflies! (They have a greenhouse-type room where you can walk around and let them land on you).

Ready to leave for the museum- patiently waiting? Let's go already!
Finn, as usual, had the best seat in the house...
although Kenna's was pretty good too.
One of the major highlights for Kenna (as we thought it might be) were the hanging noisemakers outside. Give a kid a stick and tell her to go bang noisy stuff all she wants and let me tell you, that's a winner.
Inside the museum there were lots of interesting installations including a full crash test dummy example of what happens in a car crash without your seatbelt. We spent most of our time outside considering that between the museum itself and the butterfly house was a playground, a sand pit, the barnyard animals, and a train ride (and the noisemakers!).

My favorite was the train ride. It was not super fancy, but they had made cool and fun little decorations in the trees and along the train tracks... just enough for the kids to have something to look for almost like a scavenger hunt. And the weather was perfect so it was surprisingly relaxing. I loved sitting behind Matt and Kenna and watching baby girl snuggle up against her daddy:
Precious.
Looking at all the scenery!
Me and my boy.

The cutest part was that the man driving the train was this tiny little old man with a big white beard. He stepped away from the train for just a few minutes before loading the next group and Kenna asked (very loudly), "where Tanta go?" (Santa). Too funny.

The butterflies were cool but Kenna was a little more freaked out by them than I expected. It's always a little sad to see some of them have injured little wings. Matt and I both "held" one, but Kenna was not interested in coming too near.
We went by the barnyard animals just as the museum was closing, so most of them were heading inside for their dinner. The first thing we saw was this adorable friendly little duck that came right out to see us, wagging its tail like a puppy! It was the cutest thing. Kenna and I were both ready to take him right home with us.
We quickly saw the "sheepyhoos" as they were munching on their hay. Three of them shared a barn with a donkey, and they were all so cute!
It was a full, fun day and we had a bit of a meltdown when it was time to leave after no naps all day... both kids were totally conked out just a few miles down the road.

Wordless Wednesday: Mini-Matt!

2011-10-26T08:28:00.001-04:00

Wordless Wednesday: Mommy Coaster.

2011-10-12T22:37:00.001-04:00

Perfect 7.

2011-10-02T16:11:00.006-04:00

Our culture jokes about the "seven year itch" as the average year when a monogamous relationship (usually specifically a marriage) begins to decline in interest or love for each other.

In the Bible, the number 7 represents a wholeness or completion in God's plan... creation was completed after 7 days. In the 7th year, a Hebrew slave was to be freed having completed his service, and every 7th year there was a celebration. The 7th day of the week is set aside as God's sabbath, a day to rest and worship the Lord. There are also lots of symbolic sevens in Revelation.

Matt and I are celebrating 7 years of marriage today, and though we're certainly miles far from completion or wholeness (thank the Lord!) it does feel like a special number! No matter what number the anniversary, we never take for granted yet another year that God in his infinite love has allowed us to have together. Definitely no itching here!

Since for the past 3 years we've either been pregnant or had small kiddos (or both!) on our anniversaries, our celebrations are not the big, romantic occasions that some put pressure on anniversaries to be. In fact, we went out for dinner last year, and have only one single little photo of us to mark the occasion! It might be several years before we ever are able to spend our anniversary together in Paris again like we did on our 3rd... but each year that I think I can't love Matt any more than I already do, I find myself reaching our anniversary more thankful for him and more in love with him than ever.

If everything you can think to say about how much you love your spouse sounds like a cheesy romantic Hallmark card, I think something must be going right! And while our culture might tell us we're entering the boring old married stage of life, I'll take celebrating a wedding anniversary with the excitement of Kenna finishing potty training and Finn starting to crawl over some big expensive gift any day. I'm so thankful for God to have chosen Matt Brogli for me, and so thankful that God loved us enough to give us the gift of each other.

We are a triangle; in wanting to be closer to God, we're moving closer to each other as a result. Most folks have heard Proverbs 31 that describes the kind of wife I want to be: "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value."

But you can't read that and then not check out Proverbs 20: "Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find? The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him."

So to my best friend, my love, my partner in crime, my backup, my trickster, and my favorite... you're pretty much the best ever. Happy anniversary. i love you!

For more pictures, here are posts about our 4th anniversary, 5th anniversary, and our 6th anniversary!

Beck's Birthday!

2011-09-28T09:45:00.001-04:00

This year, celebrating Beckley's birthday provided us with our first trip to Marbles Kids' Museum, a great museum in downtown Raleigh that we've wanted to visit for awhile! We've heard everyone with kids Kenna's age talk about how amazing this museum is and what a fun experience for the kiddos. Unfortunately, Matt had a weekend class, but Kenna, Finn & I packed up and headed for a fun day downtown celebrating Beck's big day!

We started with cake and muffins at 10 am- what better way to start the day?! Happy 3rd birthday, Beckley!
Marbles was everything people had said and more. Kenna had a blast checking out all the kid-sized real-life play spaces, such as the pirate ship, grocery store checkout, veterinarian, and bank!
Her absolute favorite was the Wake Med sponsored mini-ambulance! I poked my head in the back several times to see her on the kid-sized stretcher, defibrillating the hearts of other kids and even herself! Actually, I was pretty amazed that she even knew that the defibrillator went on her chest, I'm not sure where she would have seen that anywhere else.
She was also very familiar with how to swaddle up the babies in their little kiddo-sized hospital buckets thanks to visiting the hospital when Finn was born!
Speaking of whom, Finn made it super easy on me by napping in the stroller the entire time we were there!
Papa just happened to be in town and was taking Evan on a special Papa/Evan trip to Marbles, so we met up with them to play for a little while in the Home Depot building area, and the matchbox car area!
What a great time! We can't wait to take Daddy to see Marbles, and it will be extra fun when Finn is big enough to play... and a very happy birthday to our Beckley boy!

Fun Little Firsts.

2011-09-25T11:46:00.001-04:00

This week little Mr. big boy hit some fun little mini-milestones such as sitting up in the big high chair and snacking on his baby banana puffs and strawberry yogurt drops (which Kenna calls "flowers" and "strawbedees"). She loves to feed them to Finn and will sneak a few for herself as well.
He also wants to crawl in the worst way, and has been getting pretty frustrated that he's not quite there. Every time he's on the floor playing toys now, he's up on all fours and rocking around- getting the general idea but not yet sure quite how to put it all together for forward motion.

After seeing Matt and I paint a piece of furniture over Labor Day weekend (our bedside tables) and seeing me painting a pile of hairbow holders for my upcoming craft show, Kenna has been asking constantly to paint! So on a quick run to Wal-Mart I remembered to grab a set of Crayola washable paints for her, and she was so thrilled! We set her up a little corner in the basement while we painted the furniture, stripped her down to her diaper, and let her have at it. She kept running over to us and saying "I'm just painting, guys!" which was pretty funny.
(Look at those curls- can you tell it was a rainy day? She looks like I hot rolled them!)
Such a big girl! I think she inherited the crafty bug and I see lots of fun in our future!

Sink Baths!

2011-09-23T11:36:00.012-04:00

Kenna has obviously seen me do this to her little brother quite a bit:
because this is how I found two of her babies, two different times this week:
Like Momma, like Kenna. It's pretty sweet (and a little scary) to see how much my big girl imitates me. Anything Momma is doing is something to be joined in with me and then emulated later on her own. I'm learning quickly that my kids will probably remember very little of what I say, but the things they observe me doing are becoming part of who they are. It's so amazing to be such a big part of their learning and growth, but also a sharp conviction to me that I need to be constantly at work being the kind of person I want them to become.

And speaking of sweet, this little man is almost too big for his bath in the bathroom sink anymore! It's almost time for kitchen sink baths (where he can sit up but still be mostly contained) and he has even sat in Kenna's big bath a handful of times now (with lots of help!)
I love his silly grunts and growls and little boy noises, and little thoughtful faces. And I'm SO thankful for that fatter, healthy little belly in the bath! Such a sweet boy!

Little Visitor!

2011-09-20T15:06:00.001-04:00

A few days ago, I was putting the kids down for a nap and just as Matt was headed out the door to class, he told me there was a little green frog near our front porch, and that I should show it to Kenna when she woke up. Well, I forgot all about it and when we let the dog out this morning, the little frog was back!
This time, Kenna got to see it, and spent all morning checking on the "turtle" (we kept reminding her it was a frog and eventually she remembered to call it the "fwog"). She was equal parts fascinated and terrified by this cute little bright green tree frog, asking us over and over if we wanted to go see the "yittle fwog."
When Daddy got home and decided to touch/hold the frog (after Mommy spent all morning trying to teach the difference between animals you touch (pets) and animals you do not touch (wild) hah!) Kenna was so excited. She did not want to be too close to the frog, and did NOT want to touch it herself, but she didn't want to leave it on its own, either.

Excited.

Freaked.

(And those two pictures are within about 10 seconds of each other.)

The frog was nice enough to sit on the window for a little while so that we could observe him from indoors, and even check out his little belly and cool little 'hands'!
Here's a quick video of Kenna and her little friend- don't miss the part where she calls him "berry yucky" at the beginning. Hilarious.

(PS- sorry it's sideways, I always forget that you have to film it the other way in the camera or else it's stuck like that forever. Grrr. Let me know if anyone knows how to change the orientation!)

Organization!

2011-09-19T10:46:00.002-04:00

I was inspired by my friend Tara's post on organizing your home to share some of our organized spaces. I am an organization junkie- i literally get a little high from purging out unused things and making a neat and tidy home for the things we do use so that we can find them when we need them! When it comes down to it, what we all need is not more storage, but less stuff! I heard it said once that you can't put something away if it doesn't have a home, and I think that's true. I have to fight the urge to be a pack rat, and sometimes that means I get rid of perfectly nice things, but I want our home to be a comfortable, peaceful place that is as free of the stress of lost things and junky piles as possible. I also enjoy seeing how others organize, and thought it would be fun to let you peek into our home too!

I guess my organization style can be summed up by: baskets, bins, & buckets, and use what you have! An organized home doesn't have to mean expensive custom-made shelving units- I use many bins and buckets from inexpensive places like the dollar tree or the $1/$2.50 area from Target that work with the furniture and cabinets we already have!

Our kitchen and pantry, like for most people, need to be a functional place so I try to keep them tidy. I use plastic bins, the size you would put a pair of shoes in, to store loose things like spice packets, jello boxes, bags of coffee, and extra lightbulbs, etc. They were very inexpensive (actually a hand-me-down, my mom had all her shoes organized in them) but you can usually find them at the dollar store, and they are clear which helps you see when you are low on/out of something.

I bought these little green baskets from the dollar store for my craft room and then discovered they were the perfect fit for my kitchen cabinets! I have one big extra cabinet that I don't need for dishes, so I used the green baskets to hold fun things like party supplies, the kids' little bubbles and playdough jars, and one holds my glue gun & extra glue sticks to have handy. I also use this spot for jars of baby food on a big cake plate (use what you have!).

A typically tricky kitchen spot is the appropriately named "junk drawer" which is usually where random stuff goes to die. This is a place where I used to lose things and then have to buy another because I didn't know I had it! I bought two little wire baskets ($ store) for pens and small things like scotch tape and glue, and then used two small plastic tupperware cups for different sized batteries and even half of an egg crate to sort tiny things like paper clips, spare keys, and outlet protectors. This is one of those small projects I tackled in an afternoon (took me maybe 30 minutes) and I was thrilled with the result! Everything in its place, and it fits tightly so that nothing slides around when you open and close it.

I also use baskets under the changing table (from Walmart and Babies R Us) in Finn's room for little baby things like diapers, bibs, socks, and hats. Easy to clean up/put away, and easy to access! The changing table itself we bought at Goodwill when pregnant with Kenna for something crazy like $15, added beadboard trim to the shelves (makes the baskets slide nicely) and painted it all white. Maybe I should do another post on all the crazy furniture makeovers we've done over the years!

Dollar store baskets are also hard at work in our linen closet! These ones are blue and also fit amazingly well! There is one for sunscreen/summer stuff, one for extra baby shampoos and powders, one for other small items like extra toothbrushes and travel toiletries, and one for extra TP rolls! This is super helpful since our second bath doesn't have a lot of storage. We also store our medicines and first aid in more of those plastic shoe boxes up on the top shelf, away from little hands.

My favorite and most recent storage solution are these teal buckets I found in the $2.50 section of Target for our toy storage! They have little handles to carry them around, and fit perfectly in our storage shelves! I looked for quite awhile for just the right thing that would be durable but inexpensive, and I just couldn't beat $2.50 so I was thrilled to find these! I drove to 2 different Targets to get 8 of the same color. The top ones hold things like play food and dishes (that can be pulled out and taken to the play kitchen), and the bottom ones have small soft toys/biters/rattles for little crawlers to reach. These buckets also make it easy to have cleaning up be a fun sorting game... "Kenna, let's put all the wooden food in this bucket!"

And one more hardworking basket in our house: Matt's mom gave us this beautiful, tall, sturdy basket for Christmas one year. It is the perfect size and shape to fit right behind our front door and, believe it or not, holds an umbrella, the dog's leashes and collar, and several pairs of each of our shoes! It is so convenient and a pretty way to store functional items right where we use them. Kenna loves to pick out a pair of shoes when we go on a walk (most of her shoes live in her closet, but I keep 2-3 pairs that fit her right now here for convenience).

The next space I'm working on organizing is our home "office" (a small desk and bookshelf). This space gets used daily and is one of the first parts visible when you walk in the front door!
(These photos are proof that there was absolutely no sunshine today.)

Here is a fun blog with LOTS of inspiring budget-friendly storing and organizing ideas... I was overwhelmed reading it... and I get lots of ideas from the photo boards on pinterest.com. And just for fun, here is a quickie craft project from my craft blog that used $1 Target buckets for a little bright organizing in Kenna's room.

What are some of your favorite organizing tricks or trouble spots in your home that could use a little help?

Starting Solids!

2011-09-18T08:23:00.002-04:00

We started solids with Finn around 5 and a half months after the green light from our pediatrician. He's a hungry, growing boy and took to them pretty much right away! He has been a little finicky about textures, and only likes the really smooth purees like bananas or sweet potatoes. He also really loves YoBaby yogurt which is what I first started Kenna on at around the same age. It comes in banana and vanilla flavors, and is a delicious organic whole milk yogurt. I even sneak one sometimes as a treat!

They also now make YoBaby yogurt "meals" which is the same delicious yogurt cup but with a veggie puree not on the bottom. I buy extras of these whenever they're on sale because Kenna loves them, and they're an easy way to sneak in an extra veggie!

The first few tastes (we started with applesauce) were very entertaining:
Some went in, some came right back out. An old trick: if you let him hold an extra spoon, he won't reach for the food and knock it over/hit the spoon/make a huge-er mess than it already is.

But it was not all bad!
And now, at six months, he is a great eater who will tear into some baby food! His favorites right now are squash, sweet potatoes, bananas, any kind of applesauce, and he completely hates peas. He won't even eat them if I try to disguise them with something else.

He does this hilarious gag face/shiver when he doesn't like something. This is the closest I could get to a picture of it, I'll have to try to get a video:
Such a happy, healthy eater!

Some Days.

2011-09-16T14:41:00.002-04:00

Some days are better than others.

Some days you wake up at 4 a.m. to a little one in her bed with both hands full of throw up. Not baby "spit up" as she calls it, but throw up.

Some days you bathe her & put her in clean jammies at 4:30 just to see more throw up right away. On the quilts and pillowcases too, this time. Then again at 6. And again.

Some days you call for back up and Daddy comes right away. And because he is the best Daddy ever, he lays with her and rubs her back even though he has to be at work just a few hours later.

Some days you just sit and snuggle her all day while she watches Strawberry Shortcake because you know she just wants to be held.

Some days you have to run to the store for upholstery cleaner for the couch, and take a second shower because it got on you too.

Some days you have cleaned up every type of bodily fluid from your children, and were happy to do so, even though that seems counter intuitive. You are now the Mommy, and it is your joy to love them because you remember there was just nothing better than the way your Mommy comforted you.

Some days you catch it too, and have to call the grandparents in for reinforcement because you can't lift your head off the pillow, and now you fully understand how brave your daughter is.

Some days feel like a rite of passage for a Mommy and Daddy... the first time your little one is sick like a big one. Still so little, but so brave too, only crying a little when she's just had enough.

In the grand scheme of things, a tummy bug isn't that big of a deal. For that, and the love we have as we take care of each other, we're the most grateful.

Wordless Wednesday: Double Stroller

2011-09-14T08:57:00.002-04:00

Similarities.

2011-09-13T13:07:00.001-04:00

I just had to smile while uploading pictures the other day:

These are headed to be framed together on Mommy's nightstand. Love these babies SO MUCH.

(Kenna at 7 months and Finn at 6 months.)

Sprayground!

2011-09-10T08:24:00.001-04:00

Earlier in the summer we made a date with Aunt Alisa, Evan and Emmie to go to the "sprayground" at Triangle Town Center mall to play in the water! Several times now we've been at the mall and have seen kids playing in it and I kept telling Kenna we would do it another day. So we did!
All three of the kids totally LOVED it. It's basically a large patio that has small openings where the water shoots up randomly. Kenna always has such a blast with Evan and Emmie- they are the perfect ages to really be able to play well together and all be interested in the same things at the same time (4 and a half, 2 and a half, and 2). Meanwhile, Alisa and I sat in the shade with Finn and chatted potty training strategies.

We got there as soon as they turned it on, and had it all to ourselves for a little while. It was so nice to see the kids run wild and scream and not have to chase after them! The best part, of course, was wondering which spot would spray when and waiting for it...
So exciting!
If there is any type of water nearby, even the tiniest little parking lot puddle, my sweet waterbug is up for it. This girl LOVES water.
What a great time! We'll definitely have to do this again before the summer is over!

Bathing Beauties!

2011-09-08T10:01:00.001-04:00

A few nights ago we let Finn join his sister in her big bath! I guess it isn't technically right to call a boy a "beauty" but he was pretty stinking cute and they had a ball together. Kenna loved the company and someone else to splash... Finn looked like he was not quite sure what to think, but as usual, was his happy, good-natured little self!
Anyone who has known Matt since his YMCA days especially knows what a lighthearted and fun-loving a personality he has, so these next few pictures won't surprise you! He decided Kenna needed even more extra company in her bath!
I love seeing how those personality aspects have carried over to his parenting... there are so many times that I'm doing the mom thing and thinking about cleaning up the mess after or not wanting to be too silly/too wild/too whatever that I unintentionally stifle a little bit of the fun. I'm so glad that Matt balances out that part of me because Kenna absolutely loves lots of wild sillies with her Daddy and just completely glows in his attention!
I love that he is such a hands-on (or bath-in if you will) dad to our wild ones and can only imagine how much better it will get as Finn gets bigger and more able to get in on the action. Oh my crazy family- I love you so much!

Wordless Wednesday: New Friend

2011-09-07T09:00:00.002-04:00

Finn at Six Months.

2011-09-06T12:58:00.001-04:00

Our baby boy is six months old! He is such a precious addition to our family. It seems to be around six months that you truly start to see a baby's personality bloom, and thankfully the sleeping/feeding/diapering has come to enough of a schedule for us to be able to really be enjoying this sweet baby stage. At six months, Finn is all smiles.
Loves to be snuggled.
Quick to laugh and squalk!
Inquisitive, easygoing, and sweet.
We say all the time, he is just the sweetest thing. There's no better way to put it. He's on the move, growing up way to fast.
We are blessed beyond measure and proud to be his parents!

Finn at Two days:
One week:
One month:
Two months:
Three months:
Four months:
Five months:
Six months!

Hurricane Irene.

2011-09-05T22:47:00.002-04:00

Growing up here in North Carolina, it's easy not to take the constant threat of one storm or another all that seriously. I feel like we have a bit of weather hypochondria... schools close for the threat of a light dusting, and at the mere suggestion of any type of precipitation whatsoever, all the grocery stores immediately sell out of bread and milk (the two quickest spoiling food items... never understood that.)
So when the threat of the latest bad storm got downgraded from a category 3 hurricane to a category 1 tropical storm, we decided to brave the very windy rain for a bit of our own inclement weather staples... diapers and Chick-fil-A.
And, of course, we got dressed up. Any excuse to wear the red rain boots right? Southern women can accessorize even a hurricane.
I didn't get a picture of Finn passed out in the carseat, but he had his frog-footed jammies on... we figured frogs were appropriate for a rain storm!

I have to make sure to mention for posterity that this week in Raleigh we experienced a hurricane AND an earthquake (what was actually in Virginia, but we felt it here!), within 6 months of the tornado that blazed through town.

Sitting!

2011-09-03T11:10:00.003-04:00

I think we officially have a sitter-upper in our house! This is how we first noticed it, glancing over at the pack n' play while getting dressed the other morning:
Who, me?
So we moved him over to the bed to test him out and sure enough, he was sitting and loving it!
He's no longer content to sit still much of anywhere, and we've had to retire both the bumbo and the bouncy seat because he can flip himself out of them! It's insane that my tiny wee newborn is suddenly this big active boy!
These last two were taken with my cellphone in the middle of cooking dinner when I saw his little head peep out from around the corner of the bar right before he started slowly nose-diving out of the bouncy seat. "Strapped in" clearly has no meaning to Finn!

Stuck.

2011-09-02T22:43:00.002-04:00

We put the baby gate at Kenna's door whenever she sleeps to keep her in her room if she wakes up. This is how I found her as I came up the stairs, just playing happily and not fussing at all about it.
She's a bit of a sneaky little thing, if you hadn't noticed.

4 and 5 Months!

2011-08-29T17:27:00.003-04:00

Once again, I'm a little slow on the uptake with recording Finn's development here on the blog. (Poor little neglected second child). Honestly, he's growing so quickly that I can hardly keep up before we're on to the next stage, and I'm in such a fog most days that I'm worried I'll forget it all if I don't get it all down.
Since his birthday was March 1st, it's nice and easy to remember these early monthly "birthdays" -he turned 4 months old on July 1st and 5 months old on August 1st. We say often what a sweet-natured little thing he is... very snuggly, quick to smile, and very laidback as long as he's fed and changed! Such a happy boy!
4 Months:

-Although most people joke about not having to change s boy's diapers as much as a girl's, we've noticed that he fusses like clockwork when he's got a dirty diaper. He also has a definite "fussy time" around 11 or noon where he will just totally lose it until he's held, fed, and sleeping. It can be frustrating when we're trying to get out the door around lunchtime, but I'm just thankful it's at noon instead of midnight!
-He's discovered his toes, and loves to grab them and roll back and forth. He also loves to gnaw on his fingers and sleeps with his arms up by his head. These are some of my absolute favorite baby things- such a sweet stage!
-He still sleeps pretty well in the swing, which is really nice (I can't remember when Kenna stopped) but it is not as much the no-fail sleep guarantee as it was when he was a newborn.
His morning nap usually coincides with errands, and I'm so thankful that he is happy in his carseat. He actually loves being in the car and it usually helps him drift off:

5 Months:

-It's fun to see him start interacting with his surroundings more- he's fascinated by our dog and still loves to watch whatever big sister's up to A lot of times she is the one who can really get him belly-laughing, like from bouncing a balloon on his carseat or saying silly things to him:

(And Kenna is equally enamored with her little brother. The first thing she says to everyone she meets is, "this is my Finn." Loves her baby!)

-He's still much more active than I remember Kenna being at this age. Lots of kicks, rolling over onto his belly, turning his entire body to look at things, and almost sitting up completely on his own! He much prefers to be standing up on our laps or in the exersaucer rather than laying down or leaning back.

-I'm still breastfeeding, which is a relief in some ways because this is about when I stopped with Kenna. It's a daily struggle to me, somedays feeling totally fine and the next he's super fussy or my supply seems low or I just get overwhelmed with it, so I'm taking it week by week. I'm thankful to have made it this far, but if it becomes unhealthy for either of us, we'll move on & not feel bad!

-It's fun to have a girl and a boy now and see some of the girl/boy differences... for example, I remember Kenna making all these sweet little oohs and squeaks as a baby. Finn comes out with these hilarious growls and shrieks. Especially in the evenings (typically around dinner time) he can get really loud like he's telling us about his day.
-He's starting to be able to grasp things better, holding onto toys, taking his paci in & out of his mouth by himself, chewing his bibs, etc. He loves to kick his little feet and kind-of punch his one little arm in particular. He also is discovering the power of his little grasp- such as the attention he gets when he accidentally pulls Kenna's hair or that the couch fabric makes noises when you scratch it. He has such a strong little grip!

It's amazing how fast our little boy is growing up big- and I have to hurry up and post this since he is turning 6 months old this week! Overall, such a happy and active little man. We love you, Finn!

Potty Training!

2011-08-09T11:43:00.012-04:00

I used to kind-of laugh at folks that made a big deal about their kids' bodily functions on their blogs. But let me tell you, with 2 kids in diapers, it is a big deal. It takes up most of my day. And when they start learning to take care of things themselves? Even bigger deal.

Kenna has slowly started taking interest in going to the potty by herself:

20 months:
(Ok, obviously not really potty training here, but too stinkin' cute anyways)

28 months:

I had been apprehensive about potty training after Kenna had a few accidents the first time I tried her out in big girl undies, but Matt and I decided that with her 3rd birthday much too quickly approaching, we should just go for it. We found this article about training in 3 days or less, and it really seems to have worked so far! The only bummer is that you keep the child nude for those 3 days, so Kenna and I camped out for 4 days straight in the house with movies, snacks, and lots of juice and milk, and easy access to the potty.

33 months:

Well, she must have been ready, because she's had lots of successes and only one accident! (Ironically enough, right when we put on the big girl undies.) Maybe it was good to wait until she was a little bigger, because at this point she's tall enough that she can sit on a regular adult potty and fix her own undies without much help.
Here is our stash of salty snacks to encourage lots of drinking & pee peeing! We watched all her favorite movies (Curious George, Pollyanna, and Nanny McPhee) and did a big song and dance every time the pee pee went where it was supposed to go! After each successful attempt, she got to pick a special treat from the big treat bucket:
And after her first successful errrrm, number two... Matt took her to the store to pick out a really big special treat! She decided on this Vtech laptop and the movie Tangled. She was so proud of herself and is very excited to have her own "COM puter" like Mommy and Daddy's! Luckily, Daddy was in class all this week and was home early and able to be present for Kenna's big accomplishment. We are so proud of our big girl!
For me, two major milestones that really make me feel like a kiddo is growing up is stopping nursing and stopping wearing diapers... well, Finn had better not get any big ideas, because I've had just about as much of my babies getting big as I can handle this week!

Congratulations, big girl!

Pool Days.

2011-07-13T10:11:00.001-04:00

Another one of the great things about having Matt home in the mornings is that it works out perfectly to spend the more cool(ish) morning hours at the pool together! I've braved taking both kids by myself in the evenings a bit, but it is much easier (and way more fun) with Daddy there with us.
Kenna loves the "big pool" (as opposed to the little one on our porch) and asks almost daily for us to go. Anytime she is quiet in her room for even a minute, I know the likelihood is high that she's stripping down and putting her "shwim soob" on to go. It's a quick and fun walk through our neighborhood to get to the pool, and Kenna thinks she is big stuff when she gets to pick out some flip flops from our shoe basket and head out in her bathing suit!
Our little movie star. Looking like such a teenager already!
I've been so proud of her reaction to the water this year. As a former YMCA swim instructor, my first instinct is to push her to try hard and not be scared of the water. Matt and I are both strong swimmers, and I can't even remember a time when I didn't know how to swim, and I want that for the kids too. What I'm realizing though, is that sometimes kiddos act a little more scared and hesitant with their Momma than they would with anyone else just because it's Momma. But Kenna will walk all the way to the bottom of the stairs into the 3 feet of water holding our hands, and has started jumping from the side into the water (with us catching her) and will put her face in to blow bubbles- great first steps to swimming!
Finn has done great in the water too! He loves to stick his feet in and sway back and forth in the water. When I take both kids by myself, he is happy to sit chillin' in the stroller, watching his big sister's antics. It's much better when Matt is there, and we all get in the water!
Kenna truly loves to be with her baby brother, and when Finn was in the little floatie she begged and begged for us to let her sit with him... so it became a little family flotilla. I love this kind of float because it sits the baby down in the water in a little mesh sling so they get the feeling of being weightless in the water vs. bobbing around up on top of the water.

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-10T18:52:00.001-04:00

I totally missed out on writing about our 4th of July weekend, so here's a quickie in pictures!

Lunch after church (kids in the best red, white & blue outfits we could pull together!):
Sparklers and fireworks (and staying up late!) on the lawn of a nearby elementary school:
Our friends Dan & Sarah and their one year old little girl Stella came over for pizza and a swim in the pool:
And what summer celebration would be complete without watermelon? Kenna is obviously a fan (she helped herself to this piece as we were saying goodbye to Dan, Sarah & Stella at the front door!)
Notice too, the jammies soaked watermelon juice and Sarah couldn't leave yet because Kenna was wearing her shoes!

Wordless Wednesday: Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-06T10:05:00.003-04:00

Backwards Catch-Up...

2011-06-22T16:26:00.001-04:00

It sounds like a fun game, but when it comes to the blog, it's not! Time has been flying away the past two months, and since this blog is like our family album/the kids' baby books, I want to keep things as updated as possible! So I've been playing catch-up backwards through what we've been up to and older pictures before I'm totally out of date. The new posts are scattered in where they chronologically belong, so if you scroll back through May and June, you'll see lots of new pictures!

Father's Day 2011!

2011-06-21T16:09:00.007-04:00

As usual, we had a really busy Father's Day weekend, and I'm bummed that we didn't take more pictures! Matt taught Sunday School in the morning on Sunday, followed immediately by having the his side of the family over to grill for lunch and spend the afternoon in the pool! We had a great time and completely wore the kids out. After they napped, they sat with Daddy and watched a movie while I cooked Matt his requested dinner- spaghetti! We didn't slow down long enough to take pictures until Matt and the kiddos were sitting still watching the movie.
I had to laugh when I saw this picture because of its similarity to a picture from Father's Day 2009:
Oh how quickly our family is changing and growing! I'm so proud and thankful to have an amazing man like Matt to do this parenting thing with as a team. He shows his love and care for us not only in the big ways of being a Godly leader of our family and working daily to earn our income, but also in a million small ways- deferentially placing our wants and needs above his own. Such a fantastic Daddy!

Rolley Poley!

2011-06-20T23:22:00.013-04:00

Either Finn is much more physical than Kenna was, or I've just forgotten how quickly these things happen, but at 3 months he is already rolling all over the place and almost flipping himself out of the bumbo! Whenever he gets real mad, he arches his back and pushes hard with his feet (which was how the bumbo flip nearly happened).

In fact, this is how he likes to sit in the bumbo recently- anxious to get out into the action!
The other day when Kenna was taking a late nap, I took the chance for Finn to have some uninterrupted (aka safe from sister) tummy time one-on-one with Mommy. Next thing I knew, he had rolled right off the blanket, and did so several more times when I put him back on it!
He was pretty proud of himself, too. Quit growing up so fast, buddy. Be Mommy's baby just a little bit longer, please?

What Doin'?

2011-06-18T23:21:00.002-04:00

Anytime we are out of eyesight of Kenna for awhile, she will come back and ask us, “what doin’?” We are keeping busy as a new family of four, so busy that I feel like I can barely get enough pictures of how fast these kiddos are growing up! So here’s what we’re doin’ recently:

We love having Daddy at home with us in the mornings before work. Usually Matt gets up with Kenna while I am nursing Finn and they get a little Daddy/daughter time together. I got out of the shower the other morning to find this super sweet sight… Daddy reading a book to both kiddos.
Kenna loves to hold and snuggle Finn as much as we will let her, while waiting for us to be ready for some morning errands and lunch together before Matt headed to work. We love seeing them love on each other.
Finn is 3 months old (as of June 1st) and absolutely growing up like a weed! He literally looks bigger to me each morning when he wakes up and is flying through his clothing sizes. He loves to smile and coo at us, and really loves watching anything his big sister is up to! She thinks it's great when he looks at/smiles at her, or when he gives her open-mouth little kisses on the cheek! He has started to chuckle, which is hilarious, and can basically roll over from back to belly- I am so not ready for him to be mobile!
He is just so happy! A very, very sweet, laid-back and easy baby!
Another recent fun morning activity is the exersaucer... Finn is just barely big enough to sit in it, and Kenna loves to help out by showing him what all the toys do.
We got Kenna one of those little $5 plastic pools for our back porch and she LOVES being out in the water! Rain or shine, this little girl can always be found out splashing or drawing “letters” with her “special colors” (aka: sidewalk chalk). We have bunches and bunches of cute pictures of her out on the porch because she’s out here every chance she gets! She absolutely loves to strip down to her diaper and spray Pontouf, herself, and everything in sight with the garden hose.
The perfect place for popsicles.
Kenna also has a favorite special treat that she’s been constantly asking for. We got some ice cream on the way home from the beach and discovered that McDonald’s makes their Mcflurries in a snack size… the perfect little kid portion! So we got her vanilla with M&Ms in it, and now she is crazy for the “yellow ice cream with candy in it” as she says. It’s real cute.

Emmie's Luau Party!

2011-06-07T22:53:00.001-04:00

Our sweet niece Emerson turned 2 this month and her parents threw her a super cute luau party! Kenna had an absolute blast playing with her cousins and their friends... dressing up in a grass skirt and leis, playing in a backyard pool, and playing in the sprinkler for the first time!
The happy (and adorable) birthday girl!
Little best cousin friends, only six months apart:
One of Kenna's favorite foods right now is pizza... I think she nabbed this piece off someone else's plate after polishing off her own!
The luau theme made for a really fun summer party! Alisa made their whole house and back porch colorful and tropical, and I absolutely loved the beachy cupcakes!
Kenna went a little "mardi gras" with all the leis... apparently she thought you were supposed to collect as many as possible!
And Finn was awfully cute enjoying the party with Daddy. Love this little man!
The Deans (minus Evan)- Happy Birthday Emmie Grace!

Wordless Wednesday: Pigtails!

2011-06-01T13:07:00.001-04:00

Kenna says, "two bows."

Sweet Little Siblings!

2011-05-31T09:15:00.002-04:00

I love, love, love seeing my sweet little loves together. I know they will have their ups and downs together as siblings, but the desire of my heart is to see them be best friends as they grow up, and throughout their lives.
It has been precious to see how Kenna has taken to her little brother in the two short months he's been here. The first thing she wants to do in the mornings is come find him and she checks on him constantly throughout the day, making sure he has his paci, wanting to "pat pat" his back if he's falling asleep, and sitting with him while he drinks "momma's milk." She takes it very personally if for any reason we don't let her help put on "Finn new diaper."
And yes, throughout the day I do quite a bit of protecting- fingers that want to poke little eyes, or in little mouths, swinging him a little too hard in the swing, or trying to feed him things he shouldn't have... she can be quite the stinker.
She just loves him soooooo much. And, for the most part, he just sits back and takes it all in. So sweet and laidback... he loves her too.
I'm so proud of the big sister she is becoming more and more every day! And it is such a joy to see Finn's personality bloom more each day. My two little peas in a pod.
And here is just about the most precious video I may ever have of them... Matt and I took it the day we brought Finn home from the hospital. Seriously could almost make me want a hundred kids.

Untitled from lindsey brogli on Vimeo.

Priorities, people.

2011-05-26T12:31:00.003-04:00

While eating ice cream:

Mommy: "Kenna, are you glad Finn came to live at our house?"

Kenna: "Yeah!"

Mommy: "Are you going to play with him when he gets big?"

Kenna: "No, I not."

Mommy: "You're not going to play with him?"

Kenna: "No, I finish ice cream."

Wordless Wednesday: Outgrown!

2011-05-18T18:06:00.001-04:00

Kenna These Days

2011-05-03T21:36:00.000-04:00

Right now Kenna is all of two and a half... curious, inquisitive, sweet, sneaky, and a little too smart for her own good. We have to watch her every minute to keep her safe and out of trouble, but that's okay because she provides so much fun entertainment right now!

New words and fun things she's saying:

Asking us "How doin'?" or "Whatcha doin'?" or "Have good mornin'?"

Always asking for or looking for baby Finn.

snick/snake = stick

fire cake = birthday cake

musmic = music

coo number = cucumber

scary bird/scary bee = bumble bee

"go bee way!" = go away bee

"Oh no! I poop in it bath!"

Instead of I love you she says "loves you too."

special colors = sidewalk chalk

She has started discovering bugs and it's hilarious. She greets them with a high pitched little "oh!" to warn them not to get too close and then goes in to investigate.

She loves to pretend to go to the store... some things she has told us she is going to buy at the store are diet coke, chichen (chicken), honey dip (honey mustard), and a sammach (sandwich).

She's learning her shapes and her favorite one to say is hexagon. It comes out something like hagong.

She loves to be sung to at night and will ask for her favorites by name. Favorite songs:

"figgy" -Father we thank thee
"creamy" -create in me a clean heart
"more holy" -we cry holy, holy, holy
"momma's song" -finding who we are (my favorite on that cd)

and she will sing Jesus loves me and Jesus loves the little children on her own which is SO CUTE. She loves to sing it to Finn- still working on getting a video of that.

She loves reading "gooks" and will ask "momma to you?" when she wants me to read her one. Some of her favorites she knows so well that she can recite them in her little way which is also very cute. On constant rotation right now is a big sister/new baby in the house book. (This is an older photo, you can tell by how much less hair she has in it!)

She still doesn't have a ton of hair, but what she does have is starting to get curly, which I love. It looks just like what Matt's looked like as a baby and what mine does now. She's such a fun mix of us!
It's an adorable, wild and fun age... a little frustrating sometimes and a tiny bit exhausting. We are worn out at the end of the day. But oh how we love this girl!

Finn These Days

2011-05-02T22:36:00.002-04:00

I blinked an eye, and suddenly my newborn is 2 months old, and I feel like he is less a newborn and more an infant each day... always a sweet baby boy though.
He's starting to find his voice, and I absolutely love all the little oohs and ahhs and baby snorts. He's especially snorty first thing in the morning, very ready to start the day together. He makes faces all the time, usually very serious-looking, like he is trying so hard to tell us something.

He is starting to smile and I caught some of the first few real ones on camera the other night. We were sitting on the couch after nursing for quite awhile and I looked down to suddenly see the biggest grins on his face! These are his first smiles (late April):

I know babies' heads have a reputation for smelling like babies and not grown ups, but I swear Finn's head smells exactly like Matt's- he is such a little man! It always makes me think of how quickly he is growing up.

He's a very physical little baby man- he can hold his head up already and loves to stand up on our laps for a few seconds at a time. He stretches one arm out straight while nursing and will gently smack me with it to get my attention. It's uncoordinated, but always takes me by surprise that he can make such a strong movement!

He loves to sit up in the bumbo & watch his little family bustle around. Apparently we're a little exhausting sometimes:

Happy Easter!

2011-05-01T21:09:00.004-04:00

We had a really busy, but really great Easter weekend! Matt had a major project due for one of his classes, and also taught Sunday school Easter morning. I had a great time with the kids leading up to Easter weekend, and we had a really fun time going to our church's annual Easter egg hunt together as a family on Saturday! Easter is such a special time to celebrate in the life of a believer, Jesus's sacrifice on the cross and vanquishing of sin and death, that we really load up on the excitement around here!

At Home:

I didn't feel brave enough yet to let Kenna loose with real dye, so we stickered some plastic eggs instead. And since Sundays are so wild and crazy in our family at this stage of life, we opened our baskets Monday morning (the day after) so we could take our time and take fun pictures!

The Color Wonder markers were a favorite with Kenna, and definitely the Hello Kitty stamps and chocolate bunny!
Finn of course, looked on with approval. Sweet brother.
My two little bunnies!

With Friends:

And we filled up a few with candy to take to our friends the Bryants' annual Easter egg hunt (here are last year's pictures). Kenna had a great time with the "candy eggs" and after she picked up the first one and discovered chocolate in it, I wasn't sure she was going to pick up any more!
Sarah's mom dresses up like the Easter bunny and I wasn't sure how Kenna would react this year... but she LOVED it. I had a hard time prying her away so that other kids could take pictures! I was so bummed that I forgot my camera, but a good friend took some photos and emailed them to me later:

At Church:

Even the threat of chilly rain (and some falling on the drive out there!) was not enough to deter us from Bayleaf's awesome Easter egg hunt.
It was so cute to see Kenna and Beckley old enough to really get into it this year... they were putting eggs in each other's baskets and Kenna helped him pick them all up when his bucket fell over. So sweet.

Our big girl took one look at the giant slide, took her shoes right off, and climbed all the way to the top by herself. I both love her brave independence and at the same time am incredulous that my baby girl could possibly be that grown up.
My little blue Easter egg snuggled up with Mommy all morning while Daddy took Kenna to all the bouncy houses. He is growing like a weed too- from the angle I was holding him, I coouldn't tell that his little newborn hat barely covers half his head anymore!

With Family:

We had our traditional delicious lunch at Matt's parents' house after chuch. Ansley helped Nana B. pick out everything for the kids' Easter buckets... they opened them in a total blur of chocolate bunnies, bubbles, play dough, and crayons. All the fun stuff!
Granddaddy had left a strip of his yard unmowed so that it would be long enough to hunt eggs in. It worked out perfectly and the weather was just gorgeous! The kids could not have had more fun finding all the eggs and inspecting their treasure (Granddaddy and Nana helped spot a few):
I wanted a cute sibling shot of my two cuties all dressed up for Easter, but it just might not be possible at these wiggly little ages. Kenna was wearing a dress my mom made and smocked for me when I was her age. Finn's was an outfit I bought when we first found out we were pregnant with Kenna- I bought a boy outfit and a girl outfit (see them here on my crafty blog!) and this was the boy one!
Granddaddy and Nana B:
The Edwards:
Us:
A sweet one of just Matt and I that Leanne took for us:
And guess who was left holding the giant chickie when it was all said and done!

Easter is one of my favorite holidays, and certainly not because of the eggs and chicks and bunnies. We serve a risen and living Savior and King! Without his death there would be no atonement for our sin, and without his resurrection, no promise for an eternal life restored to our heavenly Father.

For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
-Romans 6:9-11

I hope everyone reading had a wonderful and worshipful Easter with their families as well!

Sweet Little Fingers & Sweet Little Toes

2011-04-21T21:27:00.001-04:00

I can't get enough of them! If there were one thing that could surely make you want to have babies, it's their sweet little fingers, toes, eyes, nose, and precious sweet baby smell.
Pictures are so necessary to remember these tiny little days, the ones that go by so fast in such a haze of busy-ness and sleepiness. My boy's legs already stretch across my lap as I nurse him, instead of curling up in a little ball on my belly where they came from only a few short weeks ago.And this was his response to my prolific photo-taking of him... precious in its own way.

Wordless Wednesday: Laundry

2011-04-20T09:04:00.001-04:00

Dirty on the left, clean on the right.

It's procreating at an alarming rate.

Family Outings.

2011-04-19T20:48:00.005-04:00

These are some older photos from when Finn was just a few days old. We went out to our local Goodberry's for a little treat! It was a little chilly for ice cream, but only because the sun had started going down... with hints of spring in the air.

Kenna alternated between running circles around the water fountain & eating all of her Daddy's vanilla with strawberries and blackberries instead of the chocolate with strawberries that we thought she'd love.
Well, then she ate that too. This girl can put away some ice cream!
Her own ice cream. Such a big, big girl.
Still high on the sweet sounds of new life in our home (and not yet showing the signs of going on 2 months of sleep deprivation on our faces!)- Mommy and Finn asked Daddy to take pictures since bringing her camera was one more thing she forgot to remember.
It felt like the first real family outing, just grabbing a bit of good ice cream after dinner. All four of us!

Finn at One Month Old

2011-04-14T14:51:00.001-04:00

I was about to take a quick 1 month photo of Finn the other day (hah... 2 weeks ago!) when Matt encouraged me to use the "big" camera and get some good ones. I'm hesitant to pull the big one out with the good lenses because i get all perfectionist and it takes me forever, but I'm always glad I did!

Here are the ones I took of his first few weeks:
And here are my favorites of the 1 month ones I took with the good camera:

This one won out for his baby announcement:
And here is Kenna near the same age- at 2 weeks old. I think they look so much alike!
Of course, I'm getting all these pictures soreted just in time to realize that my baby is already 6 weeks old! I've heard the second one grows up more quickly, and I definitely think it's true. He looks less like a newborn and more like a baby every day.

Personalities!

2011-04-13T13:58:00.009-04:00

After living over 2 years so far with little Miss Personality and getting to see her blossom into the little person that she is, it's no surprise that Finn is all sugar and spice of his own. We love seeing a little more of his tiny personality each day- both in ways similar to Kenna and different. Here are some his fun personality traits we've noticed so far:

-He loves to be in the middle of the action- he doesn't like to lay down, but much prefers to be sitting up in the bumbo chair or up over our shoulders watching the world go by.

-He loves to snuggle and is SUCH a people person already. He loves to be held and talked to, and responds with sweet little nuzzles to our faces. Kenna is over the moon when he mouthes little kisses on her cheek when she kisses him night-night.

-He is super laid back, but has a big temper when he's hungry. He holds his head up really well and will stand on my lap or try to climb his little feet up my belly when he's really hungry! I think Matt will have his rock climbing buddy sooner rather than later.

-It really is uncanny how incredibly much Finn looks like his Daddy. I have joked that we didn't have a baby, we just cloned Matt! It's hard to really capture it in a photo, but in person I'm just astounded by it. He is such a Brogli boy! I've only had one or two people tell me he looks like me, and not until this week which just goes to show you how they change a little each day at this age!

It's funny how such a new little person can so instantly become part of your family. So much of taking care of him reminds me of when Kenna was a baby. He is such a treasure (both kiddos are!) even when having two is a little stressful. He's our big little guy and we are loving watching him grow!

Finn's First Bath

2011-03-30T15:30:00.009-04:00

We gave Finn his first real bath the other morning before Matt had to leave for work! We used the kitchen sink because it has more countertop space than the bathrooms and the most sunny lighting with all the windows!

Ready to get soapy:

The sink is pretty deep, and he looked hilarious all shlumped over on the big baby sponge, with his grumpy old man face, of course. I love his "grumpy gus" look and think it's absolutely adorable (love the fat belly too!):

He seemed to like it at first, especially the warm water... until I washed his face and he lost it. Like most babies he was not much of a fan from that point on!

Kenna wanted to be involved so badly and was a big help! We may need waterproof walls when he's big enough for them to have tubby time together- I see lots of big splashing and silliness in their future!

(She's pointing to the bottle brush- that's what she wanted to wash him with!)

It's not that bad, right buddy?

All done!

Hmmm... reminds me just a little of this (from Kenna's first bath):

Busy Little Brother

2011-03-22T10:05:00.002-04:00

While Kenna is up to her big sister antics, Finn has been settling into our lives and finding his own little routine at the house. Being a newborn is hard work! Finn and I had one full day together, just the two of us at "Hotel Rex," before coming home from the hospital:
At home there are lots of afternoon naps:

Some swinging (just like sister at this age!):

Some 'photo shoots' with Mommy:

Some long, hard thinking after lots of nursing:

And keeping one eye open to watch out for sneaky big sisters:

Not perfect all the time, but pretty close.
It's a good life, this newborn stuff!

Big Sister Antics

2011-03-17T08:57:00.001-04:00

Being a big sister is a very busy job. There's lots of things to be done as a "big helper" like getting Mommy a diaper, throwing things away, and picking out baby brother's shirts and jammies. Kenna's favorite part is "hold you baby."

Occasionally though, Mommy and Daddy are a little too distracted and you have to get a little creative to get their full attention. For example, putting on a puppet show instead of taking your nap:
And painting your face with Mommy's make-up... waterproof mascara:

Kenna appropriately pronounces it "mess-cara." Matt had to wash her off with dish soap to get it all, and she reminded me of the dish soap commercials where they wash the oil spills off the little ducks.

Little stinker!

Wordless Wednesday: Newborns and 5s

2011-03-16T16:02:00.000-04:00

Turning 30!

2011-03-07T22:24:00.001-05:00

Well, there's a pretty awesome Daddy around here who had a pretty crazy birthday week... what a way to celebrate by adding a little boy to our clan (Finn was born the 1st and Matt's birthday is the 7th!):
but it is an extra special birthday for him...

Happy 30th Birthday, Matt!

on March 7th our favorite husband/Daddy/best friend/bread winner/student turned 30 years old- a milestone birthday! Between all the nursing, late nights, and normal exhaustion that comes (for all of us!) with a newborn in the house, it wasn't the extravaganza celebration I would have liked it to be. However, it was sweet and full of family and love, just like our life together, which is the most important thing.

One thing that I did actually finish while still pregnant with Finn was to get an alphabet of photos with attributes about Matt printed on them, which I strung up around the living room for him to find first thing in the morning:

And Kenna helped me make Daddy his favorite homemade cake: yellow cake with chocolate frosting!
The first one fell apart when I tried to turn it out of the pan, so I made a second one which he ended up having to frost himself so that he could eat it... such is the life of a parent-of-two birthday, apparently. It still tasted good!

We also put 3 candles in a doughnut for him for breakfast, with a second doughnut being the "0." Matt now has a little crew of helpers when it comes to eating birthday treats:
Mommy mostly sat and nursed Finn all day- it's what I do these days!
Another decoration I did was to put 11 things on our mantle representing Matt, one for each of the 11 years we've known each other.
-his dissertation and master's diploma representing his academic achievements
-a picture of Kenna & balloon for Finn
-his bible at the center since he tries to keep God's word at the center of his life
-his grandfather's pipe for how he values family and the wisdom he's gained from those older than him
-ski gloves because he loves cold weather (one of the very first things I learned about him)
-a picture of us in Paris, for his love of travel and heart for the nations
-a Superman hat from when he was a little boy
-a yellow mailer, his favorite color and representing the many letters we sent each other while dating and falling in love
-his cowboy boot for his love of the great outdoors (it was supposed to be his hiking boot, but since I put this all together after a 5 a.m. feeding, I couldn't find them!)

and last but not least, his glasses for one very special reason: Matt has a rare genetic eye disorder ans was told in his early 20s that he would be legally blind by the age of thirty. He prepared himself that he might never see his children being born, might lose the ability to read and watch movies, and might not be able to care for himself and his family. According to God's great mercy and perfect plan, he hasn't! Other than these glasses, you'd probably never know Matt lives with this scary possibility. Praise the Lord!

Some other fun birthday things we did:

Matt's parents cooked us a fabulous family steak dinner and took us to lunch at Red, Hot & Blue the next day (Matt's favorite!) :
And we took Kenna to Monkey Joe's for a special big sister treat with my side of the family:

We're so proud of you, Matt! Happy birthday!

The Last Belly Pic...

2011-03-05T09:48:00.001-05:00

(This one was 5!)

(This one was 8!)

We didn't have much of a chance to get an official last belly pic in the hospital, like I did with Kenna. Here is the very last one I took, 3 days before delivery...

goodbye belly, hello baby!

Fun Facts About Finn!

2011-03-04T20:59:00.005-05:00

So I had all these fun posts prepared about the end of my pregnancy including my last belly picture and our last picture as a family of three, etc.... turns out in the end there just wasn't time for any of that! We woke up, went straight to the hospital, and less than 20 minutes later had a baby in our arms!

Some fun facts about Finn so far:

-Kenna was born during my birthday week and our birthdays are 6 days apart (the 23rd and 29th) and Finn was born during Matt's birthday week... exactly 6 days apart too! (the 1st and 7th).

-Today (March 4) was his expected due date... instead we're already home from the hospital and went to his birthweight check at the pediatrician today!

Grumpy old man face:

-Finn's hair color is exactly the same as Matt's. I had wondered if he would have Kenna's red hair and though he does look a lot like her to me, he definitely has his own boy thing going on.

-Two friends of mine from high school were scheduled for inductions/C-sections on Monday and we came in Tuesday- our babies are a day apart in age and one of them's recovery room was right next door to mine!

-Kenna LOVES her "brother baby" as she calls him. She gets so upset when she can't hold him, and wants to check on his baby toes/hat/pajamas constantly. Before even leaving the hospital we had already intercepted her trying to feed him a hershey's kiss and a sour patch kid!

Meeting big sister:

-I prayed that Finn would not be born on what would have been my mom's birthday (Feb. 28th) but that he would hold out and have his own day. God answered by sending him on March 1st (the very next day) and it seems so appropriate that we started a new morning in a new month with a new baby in the first month of spring. God's timing has continually been such a sweet picture to us of his grace and mercy in every detail of life- they are new every morning!

-I went to dinner with my bother and sister in law the night before he was born and was asked "Is it twins?" I wish I could have known to reply, "no, he's just coming tomorrow!" Little did I know I would wake up the next morning in labor!

Here is a (ok, not so) quickie version of our birth story, since I am always fascinated by reading other people's:

At 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, I woke up wide awake with stomach pains that I wasn't sure wasn't just gas or something. I went to the bathroom 3 times and finally got back in bed, telling Matt I thought they might be contractions so I was going to try timing them. From what I could tell, they were about 7-10 minutes apart (I've never timed/counted contractions before because my water broke before labor started with Kenna). My Dad was coming to stay with Kenna, so I thought we should call him & just ask him to head closer to this side of town just in case. Matt also called my OB (located right across the street from the hospital, but about 40 to 45 minutes away) and they advised coming in for a check in case it was false labor.

I had left a few things unfinished because I had felt so lethargic the past few days, so I tried to put in a load of laundry and then hopped in the shower to wash my hair. By the time I got out of my 5 minute shower, I could barely talk or stand up through the contractions. Matt took the reigns on the phone calls and the next thing I knew my Dad and Jana had arrived and Matt and I were out the door... we both could tell by this point that we needed to go straight to the hospital, not the OB office.

On the way there, the contractions were coming hard and strong in waves and from watching the clock, were less than 5 minutes apart. Despite getting every stoplight red (or maybe it just seemed that way!) Matt managed to get us there in 30 minutes. As we pulled into the drop-off at Rex, I could feel immense pressure from Finn's little head and figured my water was about to break. We pulled up, grabbed a wheelchair, and were instructed to go straight to the 2nd floor maternity waiting room and someone would meet us.

By the time we got there, I had broken out in a sweat but couldn't even get my own jacket off (I realize now I was in transition at that point). A labor & delivery nurse met us a minute or two (eternity) later and we wheeled around the corner to a delivery room, me screaming like a bad actress in a baby movie. I'm pretty sure there's a young professional drug rep. who now never wants to have kids thanks to me wheeling by!

At that point everything happened very quickly, as though in fast forward. I needed Matt's help even getting into a hospital gown and the nurse said I was 9 cm dilated. Suddenly the room was full of nurses and our awesome OBs, Dr. Alvarez. I asked about an epidural and was told there was no time, and also no time for the antibiotics I was supposed to have for Group B strep). In a matter of mere minutes, they put an IV in, I pushed a couple really hard times, my water broke (with some meconium staining), Finn's shoulders got stuck coming out, Matt cut the cord, and I was stitched up... and Finn was in his Daddy's arms! From the time we came through the front door to when Finn was here, only 17 minutes had passed! Crazy!
From some where in the room I heard someone say "nine pounds"... an almost 10 pound baby with no pain medication. I do not hope to repeat that experience with any future baby-having if I can help it. We hadn't even had time to grab the camera from the car when arriving- these three were taken on Matt's cellphone!

I think I'm still in a little bit of shock at how quickly it all happened and how close we truly came to having our baby in the car/the parking lot/the hospital lobby! I have 100% confidence that Matt could have delivered him if he absolutely had to, and that God would provide what we needed in each moment, but I sure am glad that we made it just in time!

What a little trooper... so glad he's here safely!

He's Here!

2011-03-01T14:17:00.005-05:00

I have to say, I'm a pretty big fan of these kinds of blog posts... we are happy to say that our little boy has arrived!

Finnegan Walker Brogli

9lbs 11 oz 21 inches, 9:57 a.m.

We are so thankful for this sweet healthy blessing! Despite a very fast delivery, a bit of meconium when my water broke during delivery, and untreated Group B Strep (there was no time for antibiotics!) God brought this little man into the world in His perfect plan and timing. We are so excited for our family to grow and for Kenna to meet her little brother, which will hopefully happen later this afternoon.

We don't believe in "lucky numbers" but here is a funny story about nines for you... we left the house with some pretty severe contractions just after 9 a.m. arriving at Rex's front door at 9:40... Finn was born at 9:57 a.m. weighing well over 9 pounds. As you can imagine, there was no time for an epidural or any other pain relief... my first all-natural delivery!

We are loving Rex so far and can't wait to share more pictures. Thank you all for your prayers, and we are happy and healthy here just soaking in our new little addition!

Blustery Day Baby.

2011-02-25T16:59:00.007-05:00

I guess I will have to quit calling Kenna the baby around here- especially in the next few days when so many of my loved ones are "on call" & waiting for the call! We are distracting ourselves by spending some time outdoors whenever a little nice weather hits, even if it's after a rainy night/morning and very blustery out!

Whomever coined the phrase "money can't buy happiness" never bought a pair of red wellies for $4 at Goodwill in the presence of a 2 year old. We found these for little brother, but they conveniently happen to fit Kenna perfectly right now! She is doing her duty of breaking them in and making sure they are just right for him when he gets here.
She reminds me of Christopher Robin in these little rain boots... and apparently they are excellent for dress-up (outfit by Kenna):
And speaking of babies, here we are 39 weeks and still pregnant so far (as confirmed by a slightly disappointing trip to my OB yesterday... so we are still waiting):
Big sister was fresh-off-her-nap energized and wanted to make an appearance in the belly shots:
So she did! She also likes to undress herself after naps, as you can see. Her ulterior motive for being so cute was wanting to play with the soap, which we keep out of her reach for its own safety. Same goes for the box of tissues.

38 Weeks.

2011-02-18T10:39:00.002-05:00

Here's a mini-update for 38 weeks since honestly, there's not too much news!

I had a check up yesterday and was told I "haven't dilated much at all yet." This means I'm still pregnant, maybe for awhile!

There's a full moon tonight and I hear mixed reviews on whether they cause people to go into labor (although I think a change in barometric pressure does).

Matt has a one weekend only class tonight and all day tomorrow that he can't miss (it's pass/fail) so as much as we want the fun to start, we're actually hoping the baby waits until next week.

I'm feeling as well as can be expected at this point- not sleeping well, lots of heartburn, can't lift a thing (like my toddler), and it's so hard to get around! Just feeling ready for my body to start being able to get back to normal.

Also feeling ready to meet this little boy! His nursery isn't fully done yet, but I don't even care. Can't wait for the tiny toes and new baby smell.

The hospital bag is mostly packed and we're making sure the car seat is put in this weekend! We haven't done it yet because I'm crazy manic nesting and want to vacuum the whole car with one of those industrial gas station vacuum hoses.

Belly pics are pretty comical at this point- I kind of feel like a science project! But, posterity is posterity, and I'm sure I'll want to compare pregnancies later. Here's 38 weeks, in the same pants as my 2 month picture except that then they were folded over and now they're straight up to my arm pits! Gotta love the fold-over yoga pants.

Come out soon, baby boy! We want to meet you!

A Day of Little Valentines!

2011-02-15T22:08:00.001-05:00

Being 37 and half weeks pregnant does not make for much great planning ahead these days, but we managed to all sneak in some fun Valentine's Day surprises for each other this year! Even though Matt and I always say we are not going to do anything more than cards, I always know he's going to get me something, so I make sure to get him/make him a little something too. I also got to pick out some little surprises for Kenna this year, which is so fun now that she can interact with fun holidays a little more!

When I woke up Monday morning, this was waiting for me in the kitchen:
pink roses (that smelled amazing!), a heart made of my favorite dove chocolates, and a card that unfolded accordion-style and even sang to me! Matt has always been a really talented card-picker-outer!

So to go with the card I had gotten him and the one I helped Kenna make for him, we decided to make him cookies too. When he got home from work, this was waiting for him:
My neighbor friend had just mentioned that she and her husband both had Valentine's week birthdays, so I packaged up some of the cookies and chocolates for them too and even made a fun little Valentine for their dog with some doggie biscuits (from our dog, of course!) using these really cute printables:
I had the most fun picking a few fun things out for Kenna. When she went down for her nap, I set it all out so it would be waiting for her when she woke up. The little mailbox was from the $1/$2.50 section from Target, the sticker book was from the $1 section at Michael's, and I painted the pink "K" on a clearance sketchbook from Walmart (to put her stickers in).
Granddaddy and Nana B. had given her a balloon that I tied to the back of her chair:
But of course, she was most interested in the candy:
I let her stay in her hearts jammies all day:
Then, after letting hear eat two "pops" (little dum dum lollypops) and a mini box of nerds, I made her an all-pink and somewhat healthier dinner. Since Matt works late into the evenings, there aren't any men in the house at dinner time to object to our pink dinners:
juice in a pink cup, strawberry yogurt, ham roll ups, craisin cranberries, and pink/red fruit snacks... all on a pink heart plate, of course!

Hope you all had a wonderful "Love Day!" and a Happy Valentine's!

36 Weeks!

2011-02-06T18:30:00.008-05:00

How Far Along:
36 & a half weeks! The OB says he is turned downwards (yay!) and we're going to weekly appointments now. 37 weeks is technically 'full term' so we're doing well! Kenna was born at exactly 39 weeks, so I'm amazed that we could be meeting this little boy in less than 3 weeks! Eeeep!

Size of Baby:
6ish pounds- the size of a large melon.

Total Weight Gain:
I think I lost a little from lack of appetite while being sick this week.

Maternity Clothes:
Mostly large t-shirts and stretchy pants to stay comfortable- I still have one pair of maternity pants I can stand to leave the house in when need be.

Gender:
Little boy! Yay! I'm having so much fun boy-ifying the nursery. We're doing a very manly little camping/bears in the woods/brown and green theme, and it's so fun!

What I Miss:
Normal clothing, and not running out of energy so fast. Not being a little sore and uncomfortable most of the time- but I'm so thankful for a healthy pregnancy, I'm trying hard not to complain about these temporary frustrations.

Sleep:
Sleep is still hard, but it's probably good considering all the late night feedings that are soon on their way.

Symptoms:
Still lots of movements, although he's definitely running short on room- he seems to be riding low until a contraction, then it's like he's up under my chin. I'm feeling him more in my ribs than before (long legs like Kenna maybe?). Mostly I feel good, just uncomfortable and ready to do this!

Best Moment this Week:
Pregnancy-wise it was this weekend when we had all 3 been sick all week that Matt watched Kenna almost all day just to let me relax & sleep- I was so thankful he did and know that rest will come in handy as I get well before having this babe! Non-pregnancy-wise, it was earlier in the week when Matt's Dad had major heart bypass sugery and came out of it safe and sound. Thank you Lord!

What I'm Looking Forward to:
Meeting our little boy! The weather getting warmer so that we can get over these colds and spend more time burning off toddler energy out at the park.

Funny Cravings:
I still have a big craving for Mexican food (I was wanting nachos the other morning at 10 am!) and also breakfast food- pancakes sound super good right now.

Photo:
I keep forgetting to document the month with my fingers, but at least I'm writing down the week numbers! So, for the record, this is the end-of-the-8th-month photo!

First Little Sprout.

2011-02-03T11:13:00.002-05:00

The other morning when we were getting ready for church, Kenna's hair was still having a crazy mind-of-its-own day despite Matt's valiant efforts at wetting it down. I decided it was time to officially try to really put it up somehow. I scraped a little from the front and a little from the back where it was wet down and got it into a tiny pony tail with one of those teeny little bands that look like they belong on somebody's braces:

We finally have enough for a little "sprout!" (Look, Aunt Alisa!)

It shouldn't surprise me that our little bear doesn't have much hair to work with- my Mom always said I didn't have much hair at all until I was three so apparently Kenna gets it from me! Call me silly, but it makes me SO happy to see that little sprout bouncing along as she walks.

Love, love, love these little cheeks. Love that she kind of looks like she's dressed up as Pebbles from the Flintstones. Love that her wild hair matches her wild personality. The carseat is one of the only places I can get her to hold still for a picture- especially since she was very excited about her "bow."

This picture was from a few weeks ago, but underneath that sweater she's wearing in the previous photos, she was also wearing a smocked dress that my mom made for me when i was little and saved for if i had a daughter someday. It's so fun that they fit her and I've enjoyed reliving the dresses through her even though it's a little bittersweet because I would really have loved for my Mom to be able to see her in them.
But they do make for great Sunday church dresses and she loves the girly-ness... I mean, sometimes you just have to strike a pose in your Sunday best right?

Wordless Wednesday: Stidders! (Stickers!)

2011-02-02T08:31:00.004-05:00

Funny Recent Kenna-isms!

2011-01-27T15:21:00.005-05:00

Kenna's vocabulary has been exploding in the past few months, which is starting to result in some weird and hilarious things she likes to say. here are a few examples:

She still loves watching the movie "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" which she will ask for by name at least 3 times a day, even if she's already watched it. We hear "watch snowman show?" literally from first thing in the morning to last thing before she goes to sleep.

A close second favorite is the Disney Robin Hood, which she calls something that sounds like "eee gray." If you ask her to say Robin Hood she will say "robin eee gray."

Today she was eating popcorn for snack out of a small toy doll potty. She didn't say anything funny about it, I just found it to be a little weird and crazy.

She loves snowmen, but couldn't quite figure out what to call the penguin next to one on a picture. She finally came up with "snowman bird."

She calls hot dogs "hugs" and corn dogs "corn hugs."

She's a daddy's girl big time recently- candy canes are called "daddy candy" and spaghetti is in fact "spah daddy."

hotmeal = oatmeal

She also has discovered the power of combining words into sentences, beyond just the usual yes or no + another word. She is like a little parrot, starting to repeat everything we say.

When she woke up from her nap the other day, she was standing in her crib yelling about how she didn't want the dog to take her candy... "NO LOOLA CANNEEEE!" at the top of her lungs.

The other day we were all three in the car and drove over a deep driveway that made the back bumper scrape. Daddy was driving and she made sure to point out "whoa, car foff Daddee!" (translation: the car fell off)

She likes to ask us for "more silly, please."

She was fussing in the car and I told her she had a bad attitude and where did her good attitude go? She simply answered "all gone."

She's usually good about letting me buckle her into her carseat without a fuss, and I always say buckle up for safety! Recently she repeated me "bubble up tea!"

The other day she was singing something that vaguely sounded like something about pie... I listened more closely and heard "hap pie to you" = happy birthday to you!

no bro toways = no throw toys

no more meow = no more yelling

She can count to 10 (although she likes to do it wrong on purpose and thinks it's hilarious that she's playing a trick on you) and just this past 2 weeks or so she has learned her ABCs! I did catch that one one video (you can tell she doesn't want to do it at first):

The other funny thing I wish I'd gotten on video was the other night when she and Matt got into her first little pillow fight on the couch. (Pretty cute when Daddies get babies all riled up right at bedtime right?) At first she tried to hit Matt with the pillows, but then she was laughing so hard that she just sat there on the couch while we gently tossed pillows at her- the more they hit her square in the face, the more she cracked up. It was really, really funny!

I wish I could save a little of her toddler-ness in a bottle because it is so precious to see more and more of her personality emerge. We love this sassy and crazy little thing!

Edited to add:

A couple more cute Kenna-isms from February:

sour gummy candy = "hot gum"

Instead of the end at the end of a book she's been saying "amen."

She has a slight confusion about how to use the word "it"- recently she asked for some "chip-its" that she dipped in "dip-it" and cleaned up with her "nap-it" (napkin).

We pulled up to the McDonald's drive-thru the other day & she said very decidedly "Want chicken! and yogurt! and frieses!"

Every time we cough (which has been a lot this week!) she says "achoo Mommy!" or "achoo Daddy!" in this sweet little voice like she is saying God bless you.

"love you, sugar."

We think she might have an imaginary friend & that they communicate mostly by singing. How awesome is that.

I also have to admit that I find it just a little bit sad when she starts pronouncing things correctly, like 'yucky' instead of 'tucky' and 'lotion' instead of 'lo-soap.'

Sunday School Shower!

2011-01-25T18:56:00.006-05:00

This weekend, baby boy Brogli and I were showered in style!

First off, I just have to tell you how amazing our Sunday school class is- Matt and I prayed for a long time for godly friends and a real sense of community. God definitely provided it in our class! When I think about all the years that we weren't committed to getting up early enough on a Sunday to go to Sunday school and truly get involved in knowing our classmates, I can only think of all the time we wasted not having these great people as friends (and our teachers!). These are the kinds of people who you can call on- ask them to pray about anything from a parent with cancer to a lost pet and they will. They will call to check on you, email encouragement, and share a laugh when you take things too seriously. I know I'm starting to sound like a Hallmark card, but we have made some true friendships and have loved sharing life with all the members!

Every baby born into this class gets completely showered in gifts and more importantly prayers, and everybody signs up to bring the family like a week of meals. It's amazing, and I am so thankful and blessed to be the recipient while having this second baby of ours!
I think this is the first SS event Shannon hosted in her home, and it couldn't have been more lovely! I'm so excited to get used to this all boy stuff- look at what cute decor it made! Loved the little blue booties on the cake:
The only food I requested when asked was "any kind of dip" and I think that meant that every body made their favorite... oh man, I could just live on this table for awhile:
Everyone was so generous with gifts, Matt and I felt so blessed unpacking them all from the car later that afternoon- I can't even tell you! We never expected to have a 'second child' shower, and every one was so thoughtful! There were even some handmade gifts! Jen made the most amazingly detailed hand-painted Noah's Ark onesie, and Jillian made me mommy jewelry- a pair of beautiful earrings with both kids' birthstones on them!
The girls were also sweet enough to include my two sisters-in-law and my mother-in-law in the party. I was terrible about taking many photos, my friend Sarah took most of these! Here is most of the crowd, I was so happy to get to see so many SS friends at once!
I had such a good time that I sat & wrote my thank-you notes that night before I forgot any of the funny jokes and things from the party, planning to take them with me to church the next morning. I even put them in a bag and hung it on the doorknob to not forget them... well, I walked right out the door without them! I just had to laugh because that's how my brain has been this whole pregnancy. I forgot Kenna's diaper bag too!

Thank you again Faith 1 ladies! You are the best!

34 Weeks!

2011-01-21T23:09:00.003-05:00

How Far Along:
34 weeks! Later this week we have an OB appointment and it will be the first of our weekly appointments. We are getting there!

Size of Baby:
Between 4 and 5 pounds... teeny, but he has a good chance of born healthily anytime past this point.

Total Weight Gain:
Gained 1 pound this week- I'm at an even 20 total.

Maternity Clothes:
I have about three things that fit that I'm rotating- this cold weather doesn't make it any easier!

Gender:
Man child. Wee lad. Little fellow.

What I Miss:
Putting my shoes on comfortably. Non-elastic waisted jeans. The ability to walk two feet without running out of breath. I'm getting impatient, can you tell?

Sleep:
Oh man, sleep has officially gone out the window. Rolling over is hard, getting comfortable is hard, staying comfortable enough to sleep is hard, and I think I've broken my own record for getting up tons of times for the bathroom. And poor Matt has to put up with my constant pillow-rearranging!

Symptoms:
Lots of hiccups and movements... we were all in the car together going somewhere the other day and we sat at a red light watching little man wiggle around- Matt could see it right through my belly! I think I may have felt him turn downward this week, so I'm looking forward to hearing what the OB predicts about that.

Best Moment this Week:
The baby shower. LOVE. More about that soon!

What I'm Looking Forward to:
Having this baby! Seeing Kenna love on him. Getting to put on tiny socks. Being able to put on my own socks again. All the long nights of rocking him and smelling his head.

Funny Cravings:
Nothing too weird, although I have had a hankering for ice cream recently that I've been trying to ignore, and I may or may not have accidentally eaten almost an entire bag of sour cream & onion chips by myself. My appetite is going down though, I'm starving at lunchtime but then not really hungry for much the rest of the day.

Wordless Wednesday: Last Year & This Year

2011-01-19T13:57:00.001-05:00

33 Weeks!

2011-01-14T13:14:00.000-05:00

How Far Along:
33 weeks! Everything looked great as of my appointment on January 6th, and my next appointment is week after next at 35 weeks, which means we start weekly appointments after that! At that point it will feel like the real countdown since the baby is technically considered full term at 37 weeks. We also both really love our doctor which makes a huge difference this time.

Size of Baby:
4ish pounds- the size of a pineapple! This is the first week he's really felt to me the same size as the little fruit comparison.

Total Weight Gain:
Exactly the same, which I'm amazed at- 19 pounds. See comments below regarding massive intake of Mexican food.

Maternity Clothes:
I am so done with maternity clothes. I've been trying to creatively make yoga pants pass for real clothing.

Gender:
Boy boy boy, big strong boy!

What I Miss:
Just like with Kenna, the first thing I'm going to want to eat after delivery is a big huge Greek salad from Panera absolutely smothered in feta cheese. Mmmmmm.

Sleep:
Once I'm asleep I'm fine, but any rolling over is super uncomfortable and it's really hard to get up for the bathroom. I also have to have my precise pillow configuration in place to be able to sleep.

Symptoms:
Still having some crazy Braxton Hicks this week, especially at night. I don't know if I'm feeling them more because it's a second pregnancy, or if this little man is getting set for an earlier appearance. During the contractions we can feel his little head right at the top of my belly, so I think this little dude has not turned southward yet, which is making me a little nervous!

Best Moment this Week:
Matt and I doing some decorating in the nursery together... it's almost done!

What I'm Looking Forward to:
My baby shower next weekend... yay! My Sunday School ladies throw such fun parties!

Funny Cravings:
I've been craving Mexican food in a big way... specifically crunchwraps from Taco Bell, and I ate a whole jar of Tostitos queso over the past week. We went to Las Margaritas for lunch yesterday and it was everything I knew it could be.

Wordless Wednesday: Homemade Bathtub Paint!

2011-01-12T13:03:00.001-05:00

Ma Petite Artiste.

2011-01-07T14:58:00.008-05:00

Kenna is getting to the age where she really is starting to enjoy coloring as well as stickers and markers and more crafty kind of projects. I don't think I even have to tell you that this Momma is thrilled! She can almost handle (washable) markers without a ton of supervision, but I almost always sit at her little table with her to color together, or let her sit at our computer desk with me.

I had gotten her a little apron before her birthday that I thought would be fun to paint her handprint on each year or something like that, but when I first put it on her it looked so pretty and neutral it reminded me of a French artisan baking bread or painting a portrait.

Earlier this week I thought it would be fun to go ahead and make some Valentines for her cousins- if this baby is a week early like she was, he may be a late February baby, not an early March baby! So if Valentines are going to happen, I need to prepare ahead! So we pulled out lots of pretty pinks and reds and got to work:
Is anyone else tired of there not being any sunshine at all in the afternoons?
My favorite is when she colors with a marker in each hand at the same time... so efficient. I couldn't quite get a picture of it.
While Kenna made Valentines, I made a little chart for her to put her stickers on when she successfully goes potty- she usually gets stickers as her reward, so now she can put one on her chart to see her successes. Another project to keep working on before baby brother gets here!

31 weeks!

2011-01-04T16:55:00.000-05:00

How Far Along:
Since I haven't even attempted an update since 26 weeks and we're already at 31 weeks, you can tell time is flying by! I "turned" 31 weeks on December 31st, which is kinda fun. We're officially in single digits!

Size of Baby:
31 weeks supposedly makes for about a 3 pound baby (about the size of 4 oranges)!

Total Weight Gain:
Still holding at 19 pounds, which is not too bad after Christmas and with only 9 weeks to go. I'm getting full much more quickly, so I think I won't gain too much more from here.

Maternity Clothes:
Oh, for sure! But I'm actually having good luck finding non-maternity tops that I like and think I will continue wearing after the baby gets here. Pants... not so much luck there. And I think the maternity jeans I've been living in (used them with Kenna too) definitely will not survive another pregnancy.

Gender:
Wee little lad!

What I Miss:
Belly sleeping! And my energy not running out so quickly. It's getting hard to do simple stuff like lifting Kenna in and out of the carseat and bathtub, it will be nice when that gets back to normal.

Sleep:
I feel the baby kicking (big time!) first thing in the morning when I wake up and last thing before I go to sleep- he is SO active! So far it hasn't affected my sleep too much, and I know I'll miss that when he's on the outside. I'm just trying to make sure I get as much sleep as I can (and enjoy it!) before he gets here!

Symptoms: He's given me some painful kicks, and it's like I have restless leg syndrome at night. Also, definitely noticeable indigestion and Braxton Hicks contractions at night- little brother does not like for Mommy to be super active! The forgetfulness is back too- I've left the house without the diaper bag several times recently, and constantly forget what I was about to do or what I came upstairs to get, etc.

Best Moment this Week:
Celebrating our last Christmas and New Year's as just three!

What I'm Looking Forward to:
Finishing setting up the nursery (which includes switching Kenna to a big bed!) and my shower in January from my awesome Sunday school ladies! Can't wait!

I added a new category in case I forget to write them down in the baby book (which I'm sure I will):

Funny Cravings:
Cranberry Seven Up (I've been craving and drinking this stuff like my life depends on it) and white rice with soy sauce (I've had that for dinner 3 times in the past week- I even had to google how to cook it because I ran out of the boil-in-a-bag rice, isn't that shameful?!)

Photo:
I'm starting to believe it when people say boy and girl pregnancies "carry" differently. Even though Kenna was painfully in my ribs all the time, she sat very low- I feel like this little guy is practically under my chin but he hasn't bothered my ribs yet at all! I'm wondering if that means he hasn't turned yet. I am feeling really pregnant and can't believe we still have/only have 2 more months to go!

Wordless Wednesday: My Kid is Already More Stylish Than Me

2010-12-29T22:19:00.001-05:00

A Christmas Flashback.

2010-12-28T09:20:00.009-05:00

I started making a photo album this year for us of all the Christmas cards we've sent over the years. I thought it would be fun for our kids (and us!) to flip through it each year and see how much they've grown up and where we were living change. In putting the cards in, I realized we haven't been sending out cards for very long! So for some pages, especially the early years, I just put in a family picture of us. Here are the Broglis through the Christmas years!

2010

Living in Wake Forest, Kenna at 2 years old, and expecting baby brother!

2009

Moved back to Wake Forest, Kenna was 13 months old.

2008

We visited home from Asheboro, NC with 4 week old Kenna!

2007

Hard to get a good smile this year- Mom died just 10 days after Christmas. This is the photo we sent out (from right before Mom got sick), but the second one is really more how we felt at the time.

2006

The first year Pontouf joined our family pictures!

2005

We had just celebrated our 1st anniversary- newlywed days!

2004

This was in the pre-digital-camera days for us, so I really had to search for this picture- I think this was actually closer to Thanksgiving. Our first married Christmas!

A White Day-After Christmas!

2010-12-27T18:03:00.007-05:00

It's a rare thing in North Carolina to get a white Christmas- so we definitely all got excited about the 8 inches we got on the day after Christmas this year!
This little snow bunny was barely out of bed before she was ready to hit the slopes:
So we bundled up and ventured out to go to the grocery store. Kenna was not so crazy about the fact that she couldn't walk in it very well- good thing Daddy was there to help.
Daddy taught his little girl how to make a snowman, which she has been obsessed with from seeing them in decorations in the neighborhood all month!
However, just like her Momma, Kenna is not so crazy about being in the snow for more than 30 minutes or so- after awhile we watched Daddy finish up the snowman from the warmth of just inside the porch door. Now we can see our happy little snowman whenever we want without going outside!
Then Kenna wanted to give her snow friend a bedtime kiss.
We've spent all day today being "snowed in" with snacks and movies. Happy snow day!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T22:43:00.004-05:00

Long lay the world in sin & error pining

until He appeared and the soul felt it's worth

a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices

for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!
fall on your knees, oh hear the angels' voices
oh night divine, oh night when Christ was born!

Wishing you all the peace and love of the Savior this Christmas.
Merry Christmas!

Christmas-y Things!

2010-12-20T13:55:00.010-05:00

It's really fun for Kenna to be at the age she is this year at Christmas- able to recognize the big blow-up Santas and snowmen in people's yards, enjoying the twinkly lights on people's houses, able to play with the snow, and able to start truly participating in the fun things that happen around Christmas. We've been super on-the-go and busy the past few weeks, but I've gotten some really cute photos of her enjoying some of the traditional Christmas things that make this time of year magical, especially to little kids!

Daddy taught her how to catch snowflakes on her tongue during our one big snow day in early December:
Keeping Daddy's shoulders warm in the very cold almost-snow rain during our town's local Christmas parade:
Matt's parents kept her while we were at a class at church one Sunday night, and when we got home she was helping decorate the tree and Nana B. had taught her how to say "ho ho ho!" and it was pretty much the cutest thing ever:
Playing with her very own Little People Nativity, and learning about baby Jesus:
Several viewings of the Christmas classic Rudolph movie (or as she says "watch snowman show").
Licking the beater of homemade buttercream icing on the 4 dozen cookies Mommy made in one afternoon!
Mommy's little trooper on one more trip to the grocery store:

Thanksgiving 2010!

2010-12-17T19:18:00.002-05:00

I think I was clearly focused on the eating when it came to taking pictures of our Thanksgiving this year; I thought we only had one or two. Luckily, Matt was completely on the ball and got a picture of all the highlights!

Just when you thought playing in leaves might be a cliche that no one actually does anymore, you should have seen these two 2 year olds! Imagine being allowed to shriek and throw things and not get in trouble for it... 2 year old heaven!

Especially when Nana B. joins in and you have someone to throw the leaves AT... even better! I think she enjoyed it as much as the grandkids did!
As usual, Nana B. and Granddaddy cooked an unbelievable feast with all the classics! We were way to excited about digging in to take any pictures of the turkey, food, and pies. My favorite this year was definitely the egg noodles cooked in the turkey broth fresh from the baked turkey... yum! And the mashed potatoes. Um, and the stuffing. And the pie.

A Brogli tradition: gathering around the sales ads after eating to find all the bargains- Leanne and Nana B. are on a whole new level when it comes to finding the best deal! We love to eavesdrop and secretly get ideas for Christmas presents for each other.
While the boys played "ball" (men around the pool table- another Brogli tradition!) Kenna opened some awesome birthday presents from her sweet cousins, including a pack of new underpants! Guess we really will have to start potty training after all!

We came home late in the afternoon, still totally stuffed, and started working on making Thanksgiving dinner for my family! I also slacked and took no pictures at all except for this one Matt took of me cooking in the new birthday apron he got for me at a recent craft show:

And like mother, like daughter, Kenna had to have her own apron to help with the dishes:

Such a big helper!

We are so thankful for the families God has blessed us with, and the ability to be with them on holidays. We know that is not the case for everyone, and may not even be the case for us forever. God has given us so many blessings this year, big and small, and is really teaching is to have grateful hearts in the little things and how to rely on him more and more for his perfect provision. We're especially thankful this year to be anticipating our family getting a little bigger in just a few months!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kenna's 2nd Birthday!

2010-12-17T08:30:00.005-05:00

The day we got back from our Grannie Camp trip in Florida was Kenna's second birthday! Matt wanted to spend the day doing all of her favorite things before he had to leave for work after lunch. Breakfast was her own little bag of doughnut holes on the way to a new park, perfect since it was an unseasonably warm day!

She had a great time exploring on the slide and trying out those bouncy animal thingys:
We decided this park was a little above her level and since it didn't have any swings (her favorite!), we went back to our old faithful- Baileywick Park. I'm convinced it's pretty much the best one in town!
Birthday Girl! She had a blast on the swings and trying out some really big kid slides for a good long time. Then we headed to get "chicken" for lunch... Chick Fil A!
Daddy spoiled this girl rotten with her very own pink strawberry milkshake for dessert!
Before he had to leave for work, Daddy also put together this toy he especially picked out for her that we were blessed to be able to get for her thanks to the awesome ministry of Bayleaf's Toy Chest! A shopping cart with a car on the front, just like the big one she rides in at Harris Teeter:
Later in the evening, Dad and Jana came over with a gift for her: a baby doll that uses the potty! Kenna was very excited to have a new baby doll to take "to the store" with her in her new "car." Thank you, Papa and Mimi!
They also took us out to Panera for dinner with Uncle Jason, Aunt Alisa, Evan and Emmie! The kids were having so much fun together that I barely got a single picture. Kenna got to open one more present from her cousins- a new tea set just like Emmie's!

It took us until that weekend to get a party together for her- we had debated on whether or not to even have one since it was so close to Thanksgiving. But I had bought a few decorations for a candy shop-themed birthday, and we got it all put together just in time! If you'd like to see lots of details about the party decorations, check out my crafty blog!

Her birthday outfit of choice: a perfectly candy-themed shirt from Nana B, her tutu from last year, and Mommy's little red boots.
Here are some of my favorite pictures of our happy birthday girl at her party:

Funny how the women and the men seem to gather in a group!

We are so thankful that some of Kenna's bestest friends are her cousins- what a blessing to live close by to them! Five kids (plus one in March!) is a built-in party any time we get together!

The only picture there was of all 5 kiddos: this is one busy bunch! (And love that Nana B. is right in the middle!)

Happy Birthday, precious little one! We love you so much!

Grannie Camp: Sailing!

2010-12-16T13:38:00.001-05:00

One more new word Kenna learned at Grannie Camp was "boat!" and for good reason... she got to go on her very first sailboat ride at the tender age of 2. If you've never been on a small sailboat (actually this one was 19 feet which is not exactly tiny) it's very different from a motor boat or bigger boat. When you are really sailing, the boat leans over so far you can stick your hand out and touch the water. I grew up on sailboats at Grannie's (we even have a couple of family members who have lived on their boats at different times throughout the years!) and I absolutely love being out on the water, but I do have to admit that it was a whole different ballgame 7 months pregnant & trying to keep a squirmy toddler from going overboard! (Just kidding... mostly).

On our first visit to the Sailing Center (a local place where people of all ages and physical conditions can go sailing or take lessons), they were having a regatta where local teens and kids were competing in sailboat races. The director of the center took one look at Matt's camera and invited him out to take some promotional pictures of the regatta for her! He jumped at the chance, of course, and here are some of the awesome shots he took (he took about a bajillion, so this is just a random sampling!):

Meanwhile, Grannie, Kenna and I held down the fort at the sailing center, watching the boats come and go and making new friends (we were both ready to take that little white dog home with us!):
Trying to find the boat Daddy was on:

I think this slushee produced baby's first brain freeze- Kenna sucked it all down in minutes, then handed me the empty cup and said "mommy owie!" Grannie thought it was pretty funny that Kenna came all the way to Florida and learned to say "brr cold." It was thanks to this slushee!
Before we left, we made plans to come back so that Matt could take his first sailing lesson the next day, and we all came along for the ride! We were cracking each other up quoting funny movie lines about sailing... "I'm sailing!" and "Is this outfit inappropriate? For the boat?" (If you know what movie that one is from, major bonus points to you!)

Getting our life jackets on (including Little Brother!):
Kenna was so excited about the boat and water that she went running down the dock. She was insistent that both water bottles came on the boat with us.
Grannie was glad for the chance to get back out on the water too!
We had a really, really great instructor (he teaches other instructors) and Matt had an absolute blast learning to sail! It didn't take him long to get the hang of it.
I wondered if we were a little crazy for trying to take Kenna, but she really enjoyed it! She loved when the water splashed up on us even though it was really cold. The people at the Sailing Center were very accommodating- the instructor said he was on a sailboat for the first time at 6 weeks old! By the end of the trip, Kenna was ready to help sail!

An hour or two later, weary but exhilarated travelers ready to pack it in:
Sadly, the next morning was our last day and there was just enough time to wake up, get packed, and head to the airport. Kenna fell asleep in the car on the way there, so I took a picture thinking it was the perfect "last picture" from Grannie Camp to show how worn out we were from so much nonstop fun!
But then she was too cute helping roll the suitcases away in the airport, so that was the last picture:
But then she slept all the way home on the plane, completely conked out... and that was the last picture.
What an awesome time we had! Thank you, Grannie and Pop Pop for another fantastic year at Grannie Camp- we can't wait to come back!