1 month already?!?

It's scary, but I can almost see Brinly growing before my eyes. To me, she no longer looks like a newborn, but is getting that chubby baby look.

Why, WHY do they have to grow so stinking fast!?

I realized I only have one or two pictures with Brinly and I, so I had Dan take this picture so she will know she had a momma when she gets older. :)


Today wasn't her first day at church, but I'd missed getting her picture the last two weeks.

This dress is actually labeled for 9 months, but fit her just fine, minus the bloomers. THose would have drowned her.

Her usual look..."I'm sleepy"


She gets the worried look from her mom.

Practicing her kung-pow moves to try out on big-brother.


The beginnings of some seriously beautiful blue eyes! I can't wait to see them in their full glory! wait...I take that back...yes, I can wait...because it would require her to get older!

Her new bed! Isn't she so teensy-weensy and cute?!

We also managed to make it to one of the splash parks on a particularly hot day. I set out a blanket under one of the huge oak trees and worked on my project 365 as Brinly slept and Chels and Michael played.
inly slept





On Friday we went to our local baseball stadium to see our DUST DEVILS play. The kids were much more excited about the $1 hotdogs, drinks, and ice-cream sandwiches, than they were about the game. Check out them devouring those dogs!

We got to sit on the sunny side, but Dan was able to give Brinly some shade with his huge body. :)


She was perfectly happy snuggled up to daddy.


And a baseball game wouldn't be complete without giving the mascot a high-five.


Oh, and we won 8-3. The game was actually pretty fun. They kept having things like the "Beer Batter," where of the batter from the visiting team struck out, the audience would get beers for $2 for the next 10 minutes. Niiiicceee....

Weekend fun!

Dan's sister, Katherine, and her husband Dan and little girl Hailey, came to Seattle for a visit. We haven't seen them since last summer, and probably won't again for a while, so we had to come up for the weekend. Jennifer, one of Dan's other sisters, was in town earlier, but we weren't able to make it in time to see her and our nephew Robert, but we'll see them at the Clark reunion in a few weeks.

We had a blast, as usual. Before we left, Chelsea and Michael drew maps of how to get to Grandma and Grandpa's house. First, you leave our house, then you go up the mountains, then you get to lots of trees, then you're at Grandma's house!

Saturday we all went to a fair at the park. They had tons of booths/vendors set up (although nothing of interest) and some jumping things for little kids.

Does anyone else find this picture weird...and a little on the disturbing side? It's supposed to be giraffe hoofs. I should have taken a picture of the whole toy...dang hindsight.

Michael loved showing off his awesome bracelet they gave him to go on the jumpy-toys. He kept showing it like it was a super power...complete with sound effects. What a goob.


They also had some fire trucks and this S.W.A.T. truck that the kids could climb in.

A trip to Granpa's house wouldn't be complete without a fire.
Chelsea and Michael had to help Grandpa with this chore. Both helped gather up pine-cones, which they passed out to everyone to throw in...but only when they said we could.

This is pathetic, but this is the only picture of Dan, Katherine, and Hailey that I got. It was so great to see them, although our visit was painfully short. Chicago is much too far for family to live.
I'm not sure what Hailey thought of her cousins.



Probably just that they were loud and ran around a lot. Here is Hailey trying to get some attention from Michael...it was pretty funny watching him with her.

He didn't really acknowledge her until she put her feet on him.


He must not be a feet person....


For Father's day, we sent Dan and Dad on a treasure hunt. Chelsea thought of all the clues. They were very tricky...such as "You watch movies here" for the T.V. or "you wash your hands here" for the sink. Then she went and hid all the clues.
At each location, they found a candybar with a new clue. Chelsea found it quite hilarious when they couldn't find the next clue.



The final clue lead them to the trampoline where they found two posters with writing on them. Then they had to put the candy in the right places to read their special Father's day message.

Katherine and Melissa were the ones to think of the message. I was very impressed with their creativity! My favorite phrase was "Our friends say their dad's are TWERPS and CRAZY DIPS, but I say my POP ROCKS! :)

Michael didn't really understand what was going on. He just chased after Dan and Dad telling them that "YOU HAVE TO SHARE! YOU HAVE TO SHARE!" ...which Dan did on the way home, of course.

I feel so lucky to have such great Father figures around me, from my own Father, to my Father-in-law, my huband, and even my brothers and brothers-in-laws. ALL awesome Dads. YAY for Fathers!!!

Life goes on...

WARNING: long post ahead!

When I was pregnant, a phrase that often came out of my mouth was
"After they baby is born..."

Well, the baby is here, and life must go on.

What has Michael been doing?

Lots. Too much. Mischief. Boy stuff.

1) He cut his hair. (I have no idea when...I just noticed it one morning at breakfast)
2) Caught him peeing on the sidewalk in front of our house, another morning...or was it the same morning?
3) Gets caught eating nummies (cookies, brownies, candybars, etc.) on a daily basis. in his bed. at 6 AM.
4) cleans my windows with any spray (sunscreen, hairspray, 409) he can get his hands on...except window cleaner...of course.
5...
6...
7...
(We won't bore you)

Chelsea has been busy.



Busy. Holding the baby. HER baby sister.

Also, finishing her tap/ballet class. Aren't they cute? It was the longest recital of my LIFE, but I'm glad she did it and is now DONE.




Together, they have been playing in the backyard (getting eaten alive by all these gosh darn MOSQUITOS),

swimming in their little pool...

painting boxes...




eating (drum roll please....) OCTODOGS!


Everytime I say that I feel like I'm announcing a new superhero or something. This was one of Dan's creative lunch creations. The kids LOVE them.

As for Brinly...

She had her 2 week appointment today.

She now weighs NINE pounds! I might get my chunky baby after all! She's 97 percentile for her weight! WAHOO! :)
She measured in at 20" again, but I think it was the nurses' first day...

She has had her first bath.



And gotten her first professional pictures taken. I hope it's not illegal for me to post these...someone please let me know if it is, so I can take them down before getting caught! :)










As for me and Dan...that's a post for later! :)

Can you tell?

which one is which? One of these pictures is Chelsea, the other is Brinly.
(answer at bottom)

A:


B:



We've been taking it easy these last two weeks, but here's what's been happening at the Perry's.

Grandma Perry came to help out with things last Wednesday. It was so great to have her here, and the kids loved all the attention Grandma gave them.


Once again, we stole her away on her birthday. Last year she was with us for Dan's graduation. Dan picked up an ice-cream cake on the way home from work, so at least she would have some candles to blow out! Thanks so much for your help, mom!

Summer has started...finally!

Chelsea's last day of school was Tuesday. She loved Kindergarten and is sad she doesn't get to go for awhile, but is excited to be able to go on trips to visit cousins and to go swimming! :)




michael has started a fitness routine...



and is taking his roll of Big Brother very seriously.



And just because she is so cute, here are more pictures of Brinly.








And for those of you who are curious about the Labor story, here it is:

So, Sunday night, right before I went to bed, I used the potty. :) After it felt like I was done, more fluid came out. I thought that was weird...and also noticed that the "fluid" was quite clear. This is very abnormal for me, since I have a hard time drinking enough water to have "sprite" pee. :) I wasn't having any contractions, so I went ahead and went to bed. At 1:30, I got up to use the bathroom again, and the same thing happened...but once again, without any contractions.

I went to the computer and googled "water breaking," then decided to call the hospital. They told me to go ahead and come in to do some tests, and they'd either keep me or send me home. Again, I was feeling completely normal, so I packed my suitcase just in case then told Dan I was going to the hospital. Dan wanted to drive me , but I INSISTED he stayed home with the kids in case it was just a false alarm. otherwise, we would have had to call a family in our ward, in the middle of the night, wake them up and possibly their kids, and I didn't want to do that until I knew for sure. So, off I drove to the hospital. I repeat: DAN WAS NOT EXCITED ABOUT MY DECISION AND WANTED TO DRIVE ME. He didn't sleep a wink after I left.

Anyway, I get to the hospital, park, and walk to the "emergency entrance" to find that it was locked. A note read to go to the ER outpatient entrance...which I found was practically on the other side of the hospital. When I finally got there, I told the receptionist I was headed to labor and delivery to see if my water broke. Again, feeling fine, with not a single contraction since the day before. However, they insisted I be escorted by wheelchair up to labor and delivery. I felt stupid, but can understand fears of lawsuits...or whatever.

Once I arrived, they hooked me up to a monitor to hear baby's heartbeat, and checked me. I was dialated to a 4 and about 75% effaced. The nurse did a test for amniotic fluid, to see if the water had broken. When the results came back negative (implying my water did NOT break) she said she wasn't convinced and wanted to keep me for an hour to see if I progressed any. at 3:30 she came back and checked me. I was now a 5 and 80%. She told me I could go home or stay for another hour, but didn't think I'd be getting anywhere soon. I asked her if she thought I'd be back later that day and she said yes, so I stayed. Both Chelsea and Michael came quick, and I wasn't about to have a baby in the car or at home.

as soon as she left, the contractions started. they were all about 5 minutes apart, but kept getting stronger and more painful. Finally, at 4:15, I pushed the button to call her, and she checked me again. I was ready to go! :)

I called Dan and told him it was time. He got the kids up and took them to our friend's house and was at the hospital by 5:00 AM. I got my epidural, and did not scream once! :) (I was quite the screamer with Michael...and later felt very embarrased by being so weak.)

at about 8:00 it was time to push. It was the neatest experience. I must have been sitting up a lot more than with the other kids, because I watched her head come out...then her body, then the placenta...etc. It was all right there! It was so amazing and I couldn't hold back the tears. I didn't get emotional with the others because I felt like I didn't know what was going on, but to see the baby actually come out was...well, just amazing.

Oh, and it turns out, my water hadn't broke after all. This is gross, but after one of the pushes, we heard a "pop" and the nurse and Dan got splattered with water. EWWW. I know.

Brinly is such a good baby! She is a champion eater, and I'm really hoping she'll be my chunky baby. She latched on the FIRST try. She also had hardly a trace of jaundice, which was a huge relief. Both Chelsea and Michael had to have the bilirubin light, which was such a pain.

We are so glad she's here! I love looking at her and still wonder at the miracle of life.


Quiz Result:
B: is Brinly, and A: is Chelsea