Brylee Boo 16 - 18 Month Old Update

It seems like I just wrote Brylee's 15 month update yesterday, and now it's already THREE months later. Someone needs to invent something to slow down time... she's at such a fun age right now, we're loving every minute! =) So this past week was Brylee's 18 month, and she has been doing so many funny things that crack us up! As you can tell by the pic, she LOVES trying on mommy's shoes, bracelets, scarfs, purses, etc...

      Bedtime Drama:  The last four nights, Brylee has been fighting bedtime.  She'll be sleepy and yawning, she just doesn't want to sleep in HER bed. 
       Night 1 - I get her bottle running and she keeps saying "no" she doesn't want it.  But after about 1 minute, the bottle just looks too good to her (she only gets one at naptime and bedtime) so she takes it, and I put her to bed.
       Night 2 - I get the bottle ready, and she wants it, so she takes off and runs to Sam's lap.  Grabs the bottle and giraffe and sits on his lap, like I'm going to just let her stay there and not go to bed.  Didn't work =)
        Night 3 - Roy and Cathy were here to watch the football game.  Brylee now tries the same tactic she tried with Sam on Roy and Cathy and plops inbetween them on the couch, and then grabs her bottle.  Doesn't work for her, and I pick her up and take her to her bed.  We always say a bedtime prayer, and then I tell her "I love you" and give her a kiss goodnight.  After we did the prayer and I said "I love you", Brylee popped the bottle out of her mouth and said "Love you!"  Then I gave her a kiss, and she took the bottle out of her mouth again and blew me a kiss.  It was SO SWEET!  The cutest bedtime we've had so far =).
        Night 4 - So I guess Brylee had decided I just wasn't "getting it" that she didn't want to sleep in her bed.  So I got the bottle ready, and she reached like she was going to take it, and then sprinted off down the hall.  I thought this was going to be a chase again, but she came back for me (I guess I was going too slow) to make sure I was following her.  She then proceeded into our bedroom, pulled back the covers, tucked herself in, laid her head on a pillow, held giraffe and then lifted her hands for the bottle.  Lol, I felt like she was saying "mom, now do you get it?  I want to sleep with you and daddy!"  Anyways, she still went to sleep in her bed, b/c a few nights a week she wakes up and ends up in our bed anyways.  So I figure she at least needs to start the night in her own spot =).

Brylee also was on six different planes this month!  Here's a picture of her & Sammy playing in front of the Golden Gate in San Franciscio:

 And here's a picture of Brylee and I in front of the Washington monument in DC

Other Brylee loves: dancing, raisins, cheese, dogs (she will bark at them loudly when she sees one), Little Gym (she is the "ball captain) b/c she goes so far as to "yell at kids" that aren't putting their balls away - the funny thing is, her first two weeks there, she was the child that cried when they put them away... now she LOVES to make sure they all get put back!, candy (when I let her have it), playing chase, playing with her car outside, helping me around the house (if I ask her to put something back, even if its a few rooms away, she'll do it =) ), repeating (a lot of her words come after I say something, her trying to say it), doing adult things (like trying to sweep like mommy does, watching me cook), coloring
And on Brylee's 17 month old "birthday" we decided to start the day off right, and took her to Target to pick out a 17 month b-day present.  She doesn't always get a present every month, just the months Brylee and I start to get bored of her toy selection =).  Here's her new drum ... batteries not required, earplugs, maybe =).

It also comes with some other instruments, little tamborine, bells, shaker eggs, etc... so of course we've sang a few rounds of Jingle Bells while shaking and banging on everything inside that drum.  I think we'll be able to take our caroling on the road for the upcoming holiday season... haha. 
     As far as other big things, Brylee will sometimes run into the room when the phone rings and say "phone."  And she spent about half an hour a few days ago, touching my teeth and saying "teeth."  So she's learning her random words. =)  While we were at Hilton Head a week ago, Brylee discovered sand which was SO CUTE! 

And for Brylee's 16 month, she got her 15 month shots and developed 104 fever!  Scared me to death, poor little thing.  Here's a picture of her cuddling with me w/ just her little diaper on b/c she was so warm. 

 She also made her first art project =) at play group.

 And then this is hilarious =) ... look at her little face in this picture!  So she kept coming out of our pantry with "flour" all over her face, or so I thought!  She was actually getting into an open bag of powdered sugar!  She would go in there and get a taste when she thought she needed a sweet =).

Other things Brylee did this month:  She was the flower girl in my dad's vow renewal (an entire blog post to come on that shortly), she still loves her ducky, says dada, etc... Brylee did get a big dolly we picked out for her16 month, creatively called "Dolly" = lol (I still haven't taken a pic of her with it!).

Swiss Days - The Year of the Yodeling Cobras

Ok, so seriously, am I really posting a blog from the end of July?  Yes!  I'm still playing catch up, and our lives are so busy I may never fully get caught up, but I haven't given up on the dream yet =). 








Anyways, this was our second year of heading to Indiana for Berne, Swiss Days (even though Sammy doesn't admit it, I think he's just as addicted to the Wisconsin cheese sticks as I am ... you can't find those anywhere in the south!).  Just to prove my point, here's my evidence.  Sammy, looking very festive in his Swiss shirt, with his 5th batch of the mozzarella sticks =). 

Also, as the title reads, this was supposed to be the year of the "Yodeling Cobras."  Except, the "Yodeling Cobras" were terrible!  Ha, let me explain.  My sisters, Steph and Katie were playing in the festival tennis tournament as doubles partners.  I was running the 5k Swiss Days race (I do it yearly, except for last year, I was kind of a pansy with a new baby and no sleep!).  Here's a picture of all three of us after just finishing our activities.  We are all sweaty messes, but the guy in the picture with us, is our "biggest fan" from high school Fred.  Fred is such a sweetheart and always cheered on the cross country and track teams (his granddaughter ran with us)...and then would cheer us on in other sports, life, etc..

So since us girls had Swiss Days events we were participating in...Sam and Zach (my sister Steph's husband), decided to participate in an event as well.  So below is the cornhole team, The Yodeling Cobra's.

I would have taken a picture of them in action, BUT I went to set Brylee down in the stroller and they were already OUT!  Sam and Zach try to say they played cornhole all-stars, lol, but really, I think they just need to join me in the Swiss Days race next year =).

So here are a few pictures from the rest of the trip:

If you want the full story of Brylee in the suitcase read this older post I wrote http://samandbrookecrass.blogspot.com/2010/07/cutest-thing-ever.html  ... seriously, she was so sweet!

We got SUPER TIRED of driving around Cincy, the problem?  WE STOPPED AT THREE HOTELS, all FULL!  This is on a Wednesday night!  So at the third hotel we stopped at, we asked to use their computer room, and we booked a hotel on priceline.  We drive over to the hotel we booked on priceline, and they were FULL too!  It took them 45 minutes to tell us they were full, so Sam and I were credited $50 (I have no idea why they picked $50 b/c it wasn't the price of the room we paid for) on our next hotel room.  Since it took the hotel 45 minutes to tell us they were full, it was past 11:45 p.m., and apparently, websites don't let you book rooms for that evening past that time.  The picture below is our little Brylee waiting patiently in the car while all this is going on =).

AND FINALLY!  We may only be 1 1/2 hours from Berne, but we found a hotel room in Dayton, Ohio!  Brylee is happy to be out of the vehicle too =).

We get to my mom's and Brylee LOVES the exercise ball.

Grandma Miller taking Brylee for a ride on her new bike.

Don't most kids just knock a stack over?  Not Brylee... she loved taking them all down one by one. I guess it's the "not making a mess part?"  If so, she is a neat freak like her father =).

The Berne Clock tower is finished =)!  I like it.

Steph is playing a tennis match, so Mom, Sam, and I are busy feeding babies.

Brylee just turned 14 months old, so while we hold babies she's a big girl and feeds herself =).

Tara and I get to catch up! =)

Addy and Brylee at the tennis match

 our little family ready for church

 Cousins =)

 Big family picture at the Chicken BBQ (minus Katie)

 We're at the chicken BBQ and Sam comes over to tell me we need to leave so he can catch his flight on time.  As soon as he's saying this, someone yells "Icecream is Ready."  Sam takes off =)...homemade ice cream or catch a plane?  Ice cream wins!

 Brylee saying goodbye to Sam at the airport in Ft. Wayne... even with the ice cream diversion he did make his flight =)

 Back at my mom's... Brylee kind of cuddling with Savannah

 My mom and Maizy rode bike, while I pushed Brylee and ran

Brylee became such a good little walker the week we were there!  I think it's because my mom's house has carpet 

 Pine Lake!!!

 Brylee and Addy ready to swim =)

 Brylee helping Aunt Katie lifeguard (this was my old job during summer breaks in college)

Brylee's first trip ever down the curly slide =)

 Steph and Addy ready for their turn

 Brylee and Addy in front of the bushes that spell "Pine Lake"

 Kids play area (this is a new thing that they built since I worked there)

 Black hole slide for Addy... she was not a fan!

 If you look at the right corner of this picture, that's me on the zipline

 And one of my favorites... the bobber.  I remember playing in the park with other lifeguards after it had been closed down for a thunder storm.  Yah, I'm sure I wouldn't do that now if it were thundering and lightening! =)

That night we had a get together with relatives at Mom and Jack's house, and then Brylee and I headed back to Tennessee to see Sammy.  He was amazed at how much she started walking in the few days he had been gone!  A great time in Indiana, hopefully we'll be back again next summer for more Swiss days fun =).