Digital Scrapbooking

I LOVE learning new things.

Over the holiday break, my sister-in-law showed me how to scrapbook .... DIGITALLY. This morning I finished my first page.

Thanks again, Burgundy!

What do you think?

Inspiration

Today I have been inspired.

Do I feel guilty for spending 2 hours of my life admiring http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ while Bryn was sleeping....

NEVER.


Today I feel I have learned how to be a better wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, and person.... all because of Stephanie Nielson.

"Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength."

As I go through different hardships in life, I pray that I will remember the strength and courage of this amazing mother.

I hope to be such an inspiration to my daughter... who I ADORE.

ST GEORGE!!!!

Monday morning Brynlee and I packed up our stuff and headed to St. George with Angela (Ryan had to work and so he came up later in the week.) Anyways, we had such a fun trip and there was no possible way we were able to get all the fun things in that we wanted.... but here are a few highlights from our trip...

Monday we had such a fun drive to St. George and so time seemed to just fly by. We talked about life, babies, music, basically anything and everything you can think of. When we arrived in St. George, Angela's mom (Karen) had a yummy dinner ready for us. It was called Chicken Divan and I am SO excited to try the recipe.

Later that night Angela's brand new baby niece came for a visit. She was SO tiny and I couldn't help but be a little emotional because Brynlee is just growing up SO fast. We had fun watching Dancing with the Stars while playing with all the toddlers and babies that were at Angela's house.

Tuesday morning we woke up and of course did our P90X workout (we did it every day in St. George and we were so proud of ourselves). Then we all got ready and headed out for a day full of shopping. We spent an hour and a half at a fabric store finding the perfect fabric. Angela and I are on a "craft kick" now that the weather is turning.

Here is a picture of the fabric for another fuzzy blanket for Brynlee... even though she already has about 15 awesome blankets!

We were planning on making the blankets in St. George; however, we ran out of time and so now it will be something we can work on this coming week. Angela picked out some really adorable fabric as well.

A few other purchases from Tuesday were a Chi strightener for 59.99--- seriously how amazing is that. Costco had them and I was so thrilled because I have never seen one under $100.

I also bought this cute Ranunculus flower to make a vintage headband for Brynlee. The picture doesn't really do it justice but you can get the idea....

We then went to a ward dinner that was actually quite fun and had some yummy dinner.

Wednesday began with another workout and then it was off to the salon. Angela's sister is in hair school and so we decided to go see exactly what she could do to my bangs (side note... my bangs were chopped at a local salon that did an AWFUL job and so we needed them fixed). Anyways, she fixed my bangs and then put a shine thing in my hair. It is AMAZING. It is this clear coat that goes over your hair that brings out the shine. I really enjoyed going and fixing my hair up a bit. Brynlee was just amazing while we were there which made the outing much more fun.

That night we came home to another amazing lasagna dinner.... I am not kidding... her mom is like SUPER mom!

Then we went to the Tuachan theatre (an outside ampitheater) and saw the play Annie. It was an amazing Broadway show and I was amazed at the talents of all the young girls. If you are ever in St.George, I recommend going to see a play in this theatre. It is amazing to watch such great talent while enjoying the fresh air. It was a two and a half hour play and Brynlee slept through the ENTIRE thing!

Ryan made it Wednesday night just in time for bed!

Thursday we were able to spend time with Ryan's grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Heiner were excited to see us. We surprised them with dinner at 3:00 (thinking that was plenty early for DINNER) but they had already eaten at 1:00.... we all got a laugh at how they eat so early. Although we couldn't eat a meal with them, we had an awesome visit. Brynlee is SO lucky to have 4 Great- Grandparents. I am so happy she has had the opportunity to meet all of them.

This picture is when they first laid eyes on her. They were pretty enthralled.

Such a great picture that I am sure Brynlee will appreciate later on!

Grandma was just amazed at how tiny Brynlee is. She kept saying how she cannot remember the last time she saw a baby so tiny and new.

All in all it was such a great week. On the drive home Ryan and I were talking about all the great people in our lives. We can all learn so much from each other!

This weekend we may be making another trip. Grandpa Jensen isn't feeling well and so we want to visit him in Idaho. Brynlee has met him once and he was just so sweet with her. He is such a great man and so we hope we can go this weekend and spend more time with him!

Just a Wonderful Weekend

Any weekend that begins with a Friday night BYU football game has to be the start to something great. Yes, it is true... Brynlee went to her first BYU football game and she was an angel. Ryan and I had such a fun time and all the old people sitting around us just adored little Brynlee.

Before the game I was rushing around looking for her adorable little cougar onesie that my good friend Alex gave me; however, after about 20 minutes of searching I decided to just put a navy bow together and call it good! I think Brynlee had a great time and hopefully it is just one of the many BYU games she will be attending.

























After the game we headed up to the cabin for a relaxing weekend. We enjoyed sleeping in Saturday morning and then we watched conference. Brynlee did so well for all the sessions and I was so happy that Ryan and I were able to enjoy the talks.


Ryan and Brynlee relaxing on the love sac during conference!!!






















After the Saturday morning session we decided to bike to Granny's. They have the BEST shakes. It is about a 10 mile ride but it is mostly downhill. It was such a fun ride through the cold wind. We were all a little sore Sunday morning.

























After a great Sunday full of yummy treats, conference, and relaxation... we decided to head home.

And just when I thought the weekend couldn't get any better... IT STARTED SNOWING!

Rainy Days!!!!

Angela (workout partner and new found friend) and I decided that with all these cold and rainy days coming up we wanted to start a few projects. I decided to make letters for Brynlee's room and Angela wanted me to teach her how to make a car seat cover. After two afternoons of sewing, gluing, painting, etc., we were able to make two great projects.

Here are a few pictures of the past few days....

This is Angela holding the fabric to her car seat cover

Letters before the magic began....

After......

After.......

And where was Miss Brynlee while all this was going on?

Just chilling in her BUMBO! She is getting SO big

And this whole time Daddy had to work.... but we enjoyed spending lunchtime with him :) (Thanks Ryan for working so hard so that we can enjoy our rainy days so much)

And to make our night even more fun......

MAAMI Came for a visit! Thanks Maami Heiner!~!~!

So.... all in all... we have had a fun couple of rainy days!

] The past two months have been such an adventure for Ryan and I. It has been a roller coaster of emotion as we have taken on the new responsibility of becoming parents. Brynlee Nell Heiner was born July 26, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. She was 8 pounds and 4 ounces and a whopping 20 inches long. She was born with a head full of dark hair and beautiful blue eyes. She has already provided us with so many fun memories and laughs.

Here are a few of the things we have been up to lately...

When Brynlee was almost 2 weeks old, Angie (my sister) came to visit. We had a blast and Angie spoiled her rotten. Angie stayed for a week and we miss her terribly. We cannot wait to see her again.

Then when Brynlee was a mere 3 weeks old we loaded up our suitcases and headed to California. We had a blast. We literally fit in everything we possible could in 1 week. Disneyland, California Adventure, 2 MLB games, Sea World, and the Beach were all part of our adventure. By the end of the week Ryan and I were worn out completely because Brynlee decided to stop sleeping all together :)

On September 6th, Ryan had the opportunity to bless Brynlee. It was such an amazing day surrounded by family and friends. Maami Heiner made Brynlee's amazing blessing dress. It is something that I am sure Brynlee will cherish forever.

After the blessing we went over to the Heiner's house to spend time with family. Janet, Burgundy, Shea, and Lexi made an amazing breakfast for us all to enjoy. Overall, it was a perfect day for our little family.

When Brynlee was 7 weeks old we had the opportunity to get her pictures taken by Alicia Pitt Johnson. I packed up all of her cute outfits and haribows and had her perfectly asleep and ready to take pictures; however, I quickly learned that when you change her from a comfy sleeper to a tutu... Brynlee doesn't stay too happy ;). After about 3 hours of picture taking... and lots of crying... we were able to get some great pictures of our little sweetheart.

Brynlee has been such a blessing in our lives. We thank our Heavenly Father every night for placing her in our family. We know that she will be a very special young lady and she has already taught us so much. Ryan and I have grown a lot as well and we probably both agree that although this is the hardest thing we have ever done... it is DEFINITELY the most rewarding.

Here are just a few fun facts about Brynlee

1.) She has 3 amazing grandparents on earth and 1 looking over her from up above.

2.) She has been blessed with 5 great-grandparents (seriously... who has that)

3.) At her two month appt. she weighed 11 pounds and 3 ounces and was 22.5 inches long (which puts her in the 85% for height and 75% for weight)

4.) She is a morning person ... she always wakes up with a huge grin on her face

5.) She gets fussy at night time... I have to promise Ryan that she really has been a perfect baby all day. It usually starts about an hour after he gets home that she decides to start screaming her little head off! Ryan is the MOST patient person I have ever met... and for that I am extremely thankful.

6.) Brynlee loves when Ryan and I make a fool out of ourselves. It is sometimes hard to get her to laugh a ton.. but after awhile of very high pitched songs.... she cracks a smile for us.

7.) She LOVES being swaddled.

8.) She started sleeping 7 hours straight when she was about 5 weeks old :)-- that just may be my favorite thing about her ;)

9.) She has amazing eyes-- so captivating

10.) She loves getting massages from her Maami (or however you spell that)

That is just a little bit about our new bundle of joy! Thanks to everyone who has been such a support to Ryan and I as we try and figure out what we are doing :)