Jack-o-lantern in February

No, not a Halloween post, but we do have a newly carved jack-o-lantern in our house. Jayce lost his first tooth the day before his 6th birthday. Just another sign our little boy is growing up. He was so excited for the tooth-fairy. He woke up to TEN dollars under his pillow the next morning. Glad to know the economy hasn't hurt the fairy biz! Sheesh.

Attention Colorado Readers!!! Petition for Child Loss License Plates

So this was actually an initiative I took on myself a couple years ago. I contacted the agency and started the process - got all the paperwork and was about to start collecting signatures. Unfortunately this was all halted when I learned I could not do this as an independent person, but only as a non-profit organization. So I just let it go - felt defeated to say the least.

Imagine my surprise when I finally went through the bag from Caden's memorial walk and found a petition to get this passed! A wonderful non-profit (Rowan Tree Foundation) has taken this and started to run with it. They currently have 833 signatures, but still need to reach 3,000 before this can go to the government for approval. Please link to the download and get anyone you can to sign the petition. We would really appreciate any support to get this passed!

First Birthday Party

We celebrated Brylee's birthday a few days early so we could space the kids parties a little further apart. We had Jayce's 2 weeks later. Friends and family came from hours away just to be with us to celebrate. Thanks to all that came to make this such a special day for Brylee!

Brylee with her special 1st birthday rose from Grandma & Grandpa Hinely.

The cake - I got everything to coordinate with her birthday tutu! haha...

What do we have here? A family photo! A HUGE thank you to Cathryn for being there to photograph the party. What a luxury to be able to enjoy the party without having to worry about being behind the camera the whole time!

Brylee on her new legs. She started walking a couple weeks prior. Look at all that fluff she has to contend with! The things we do to our children!

Thanks for coming to my party Ellis!

Another family pic!

I think it's safe to say Brylee REALLY enjoyed her cake!

Here, I think you're going to need this!

A few of Brylee's gifts.

Big pimpin' with her green fur boa and all that cash! Watch out - this girl's gonna be a diva!

The end.... Brylee out!

Photoshoot/Playdate

About a month ago a couple friends from work that also have an interest in photography came over with their little girlies so they could "play" together and so us moms could play with our cameras. Elle & Annabelle are a couple months older than Brylee, but they all seemed to have fun playing with the toys and eating lots of puffs.

Three babies all looking the same direction!



Miss Ellis...

Annabelle & Mommy...

And this is how we managed to get 3 one-ish year olds to sit where we wanted them to. PUFFS! I love this pic - so many possible story lines... haha

ps... thanks Ellis for showing Brylee how to walk. She started cruising pretty good the next day!

Brylee's tutu pics

I did a little tutu mini-shoot with Brylee about a month before her birthday party so I could use the photos for her invitation. She did a lot better than I thought and didn't completely hate the tutu, so all in all it was a success. This was the first time using the 5-in-1 reflector my in-laws got me. Definitely a learning experience.

Christmas in Wyo - Xmas Day

Christmas day was spent at Grandma Julie & Grandpa Fred's. Everyone stayed in their jammies the whole day, ate a big yummy breakfast, opened gifts and just had a nice time all day.

A boat-load of gifts...



Jenny opening one of our gifts - notice Grandma in the background showing off her mug. It says "Drama Queen" if you can't read it - hahaha.


Brylee loved her basket of groceries. She played with this all day.

All Jayce wanted for Christmas was "The Joker"

Brian & Derek got some really nice smokers from Mom & Dad. I'm still waiting for Brian to use his! :)


Everyone got stockings too. Remembering our angel Caden.

Christmas in Wyo - Santa

Even though we weren't home, Santa had no problems finding us! The kids (well Jayce anyway) were so happy Santa didn't forget them.

Jayce must have been extra good - Santa brought him a Nintendo DS!

Christmas in Wyo - Xmas Eve

Is it right to be making Christmas posts after Valentine's Day?
Needless to say, I have been a bit busy since the holidays. We made it up to Casper for the holidays for the first time since Brian and I have been together (this was my 1st Christmas away from home). It was so nice to see everyone and we had a really great time! Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma Trejo's (Brylee & Jayce's Great Grandma). We had a nice big dinner and the whole family came over to open presents.

Brylee was homesick the entire week and cried unless she was in mommy or daddy's arms. With Grandma & cousins.

Jayce had a great time and got so much stuff!