Doors & Hair, not band related

One of Bryn's newest past times is opening and shutting doors. Luckily we haven't had any smashed fingers yet, only smiles. Lots of adorable, irresistible, contagious, hakuna matata type SMILES.

We've done pigtails a few times now. I can't tell if they're cute because I'm seeing them through my mom-eyes or if they're actually cute? It doesn't really matter though because my mom-eyes can't get enough of them. I just scrolled through the above pictures and can't wait another minute to go kiss those cheeks. Muah!

Twenty-something

Last week we celebrated Justin's birthday. Well, I celebrated, Justin mourned his fading youth. "Too close to 30 for celebrating," says he. Blah. Keeping birthday references to a minimum, we were still able to have a fun day.

He awoke to a personalized cross-word puzzle. The 28 Years of Justin Malden puzzle included clues and answers ranging from birth to present-day. Making a giant cross-word for the hubs probably makes me a big nerd, but he said it was fun to fill out and I had fun watching him try to figure out some of the tough ones, so I'll embrace my nerd-hood.

We spent the afternoon flying a kite at the beach. The kite flying didn't work out so well, but we aced beach bumming.

No matter the age of this sexy stud, I'll take him!

Bryn's gift to Justin was her first piece of water-color artwork. Lovely, don't you think? She contributed best to the splashing of the water to rinse the paintbrush in and attempts to eat the paint. The other parts of her art received a bit of assistance from Momma.

For dinner we headed into Manhattan for some Indian cuisine. We think one of the best parts about living in a big city is the vast selection of food from all over the world, mm hmm. Our trip to the city was brought to a close with a phone call from the Best Babysitter Ever informing us that Bryn was sick and in need of a little parental lovin'. We hurried home and snuggled our little one for the remainder of the night.

All in all, a good birthday, I'd say. But what do I know? I'm not nearly as close to 30 as Justin is. :)

CASEY!

Casey was here for a few days last week. We had so much fun with him! It was his first time in New York, so we saw the basics: Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Central Park, and Times Square. We also visited a few museums, played at FAO Schwarz, saw STOMP (awesome!), and checked out the progress of the new memorial being built at Ground Zero. In between all that, Bryn fell in love with Uncle Casey while he read to her, sang to her, held her, and played with her all the time.

Seriously, Casey. Seriously? You're awesome. We loved having you!

This was taken about 3 minutes after Casey got to our house. He sure knows how to win this girl's heart!

Our first stop: Central Park. So pretty in the Spring!

We learned that Bryn is NOT a fan of the saxophone. She danced and smiled when we passed any performers without a saxophone, but whether solo or part of a band, if there was a sax she immediately started crying. Unfortunately for her the majority of music in the park that day included saxophones.

The Big Piano at FAO Schwarz

Holy Legos, Batman!

National Museum of the American Indian

Some folks we ran into in Times Square

The Museum of Natural History

The most exciting thing I saw during Casey's trip (other than STOMP) was this parking spot in the city. Oh, it was a beauty. It was the kind of spot you never want to leave. We had to take a picture to remember it by. It treated us so well.

Gotta love it.

She really did like him, I promise.

Manna in my Mailbox

A couple of weeks ago this package was delivered to my doorstep:

The contents of which included:

Homemade bread from my grandma!

Mmmm...can life get any better?

Easter Visitors

Uncle Paul and Aunt Corinne stopped off in New York for a couple of days on their way to Ireland. We were thrilled to get to spend the day with them on Sunday. Bryn, being an excellent judge of character, became a fan of these two right away. Hope to see you guys in South Africa!

(Oh yeah, have I mentioned we're moving to S. Africa? Yup. In July.)

ONE is FUN!

Bryn's 1st birthday was Saturday before last, and I think I have had more fun with her this first week of her one-hood than I have had in her whole life (and that's saying something, 'cause there has been lots of fun had). Our days are filled with: acting silly to make each other laugh; reading book after book after book, singing songs (a second after I finish a song Bryn requests another by saying, "Moooore?" just like the head orphanage guy does when Oliver Twist asks for some more porridge to eat, except her voice is much sweeter sounding); playing outside and loving the Spring weather; playing peek-a-boo; showing our "buttons" (Bryn shows hers off to anyone, but I tend to save my tummy exposure for times when it's just the two of us); emptying drawers and cupboards in the kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, etc.; taking baths; giving squeeze hugs and open mouth kisses (again just Bryn, not me); loving baby dolls; eating leaves; talking all the time; and SO MUCH MORE! She is learning so quickly. I feel like I can practically see the language acquisition process going on inside her head. It is incredible! I'm loving it. Loving all of it.

We had a party on Saturday, and yes, it was during General Conference. We figured that people with kids don't get to sit and watch Saturday conference anyway, so we might as well have a party. Yay for archived conference on the internet! I had been praying for good weather for about a month and a half and boy did He deliver. It was beautiful! The week prior to the BIG day was filled with reminiscent "One year ago today..." memories for me (i.e. "One year ago today was my due date," "One year ago today I was 5 days overdue," "One year ago today, this very hour, my water broke," etc.). The party was a lovely celebration to commemorate all of those memories, and the millions of others that have come during the past year (and 9 months) that Bryn has been a part of our lives. We love you, Bryny!

The Birthday Girl

Bryn played with her doll that Grandma sent while we set things up

The set up:

(The balloons were colorful, even though they look white in this pic)

Getting excited for the party to start

One of Bryn's gifts was this beautiful rocking chair. It is adorable. Bryn hardly left it the whole party.

Showing off the new chair to her friend, Evie

The lunch spread

Eating lunch in her chair

Time for cake! Each kid got 1 candle on their cupcake in honor of Bryn turning ONE.

Getting ready to blow...

BLOW!

(I had to post this because of Breyton's face. Love it!)

Making sure her hair was good and covered

Hopelessly enamored

All tuckered out after the big celebration

(with cupcake residue still in her hair)