Brynnie chats: August 2020 edition

Brynnie has lots of thoughts and words these days. She's making a name for herself in the realm of monthly quotables now, too. Enjoy!

Baby hand!
What she says when she wants to hold your hand.

Our house alarm went off one morning (because someone opened the door before turning it off). Brynn, very calmly, recapped the situation after it was turned off.
Hear that? Noise. Loud. Scary. Woo ooo OOO!

Nakey chip! Eat it- NOOOO!
Trying to tell the chipmunk on our porch not to eat one of our tomatoes.

Head hurt?
Asking me if I had a headache

Seepling : sleeping

Bankly : blanky

Her banklies

Go higher!
While rocking in her little rocking chair

Stubs toe.
Fetches her stuffed turtle, Baby Turtle.
Baby Turtle "kisses" toe for her.
Thank you, Turtle!

My see!!
How she demands to see something

A text I sent to Brad while I was playing with Brynn:
Did you know that Baby Turtle is a meowing creature?

Acorn : unicorn

Mischievous look because she absconded with Claire's stuffed cat.

Text sent to Brad:
Brynn asked me if my back hurt, and when I said yes, she told me to "WAY DOWN, Mommy!"

Playing with the Little People bus:
To the bus!
Playing Magic School Bus

Otay! : Okay!

Do it again!
Her favorite phrase when playing with someone who tickles her.

Happy pwize!
At the end of Amiee's time in Africa, her friends/colleagues threw her a surprise party, and someone grabbed a video of Amiee's reaction. She sent it to me, and I showed the girls. It quickly became Brynn's most favorite thing to watch. "Happy pwize" is what she calls it.

Tangle : Triangle
When I'm laying on my side on the couch and have my knees bent, they like to climb into the the "triangle" that my legs make.

Daddy's CLEAN!
Her announcement when Brad came downstairs after taking a shower. 

Pause it! Need to potty!
She's not actually potty trained or even interested in potty training, but she hears her sisters asking for a movie to be paused for potty breaks and decided to try it out.

Come inside, Gran! It's hot!

It's otay, Hallie. 
On FaceTime when she heard Hallie cry while we were at the hospital.

I sleep well!
Announces when she exits room after nap

LILY-ISMS: August 2020 edition

Y'all. Lily is an absolute hoot. I genuinely wish everyone could spend time with her. She is such a delight. A total mess and an absolute delight. Enjoy!

I have to drink my spit a lot.
She means swallowing.

I'm going to draw a picture of the family. I'm drawing myself, and I'm going to draw curly hair, you betcha!

My mom texted me a picture of Amiee's cat, Elphie, to show Lily. My text response:
She loved it! 
She said, "Could you give Nana a text that we love that picture?"

Ear mugs : ear muffs

Erin: Go put away your jammies, please.
Lily: I need you to inside-out them.

Mommy, would you pause the book?
While I was reading to her

Could you bring your smoker in here? I LOVE the smell!
Referring to my diffuser

Is your blood temperature high?
She was doing a mash-up of blood sugar and blood pressure. Incidentally, I was checking my glucose, and it was not high. 

We're going on an expedition that is very mysterious and adventurous. And bad. Trumpkin's 15 puppies have been STOLEN! I mean kittens.

Eeyore's coming over for a play date.

Don't step on my animals. They're chatting.

My setup!

The aforementioned setup

And her naptime setup.

Lamb food : wool dryer balls
I ordered a set of wool dryer balls, and the package came with lambs on the front. She was convinced it was lamb food.

Stabbed my toe : stubbed

It was invisible-ing!
Hiding

It's Trumpkin's anniversary!

Trumpkin's hat- made out of an empty yogurt container.

Erin: Thanks for coming to see me.
Lily: Yeah, I chatted with you!

This is Trumpkin's best book.
The Aristocats

Claire: Kielbasa kielbasa kielbasa!
Lily: Oooh... Say it again!
They were mimicking the part in The Lion King where the hyenas say, "Mufasa Mufasa Mufasa!"

Look! I'm blinking my eyes like the lights!
Our dining room had a flickering bulb, and Lily decided to copy it.

While getting dressed one Sunday morning: 
Lily: I'm going to be SO pretty!
Erin: You will. But you're always pretty!
Lily: But my dress is prettier than the other girls'.

I make ribs naked!
What she says when she cleans the meat off the bone

Lily: It's my poo poo clock!
Erin: Your what??
Lily: You know, where the bird pops out.
Cuckoo. That's what we mean here.
I discovered later that she was trying to say "Pooh coo" clock, which she learned from a Winnie the Pooh movie.

A text I sent to my mom after a chat with the girls (while I was still pregnant):
Also. They were divvying up who was going to be which characters. I'm Pooh Bear because I'm a tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff. Until Hallie comes out. Then I can be Rabbit.

We can't go outside right now. Because it's too blustery. I learned that from Magic School Bus.

Another text to my mom after a chat with Lily:
She's also going to be a soldier when she grows up and save the world. And tell them when it's lunch time because she has a watch.

I'm a great math-er.

Don't worry, Mommy, if I die, it will be ok. And if I don't die, I'll live.

Ruffles : Gospels

Pulls pig magnet off of the play kitchen and announces:
We're having ribs!!

Inside it outside
Turn it right-side out

Erin: Thanks for coming to chat! I like our morning chats.
L: Yep! Every day! Until I'm dead.

Nana's here! Now we can have gum!

I'm just so glad about Hallie!

Around here lately: August 2020 edition

I'm working on getting caught up- again. So, please enjoy a few treasures from the last few months!

Mommy, you're my favorite woman in the world!

Mommy is so adorable.

Elphie, you need your expedition hat on!

Erin: How does Elphie (cat) have a puppy in her family?
Claire: Her step sister!

Daddy's famous crackers!
Brad has been making crackers with sourdough discard, and they are very yummy.

Spelling word: travel
Example sentence Claire made up: I want to travel to Nana and Poppy's for Christmas. I hope we can because of the virus.

E: Slow down, babe.
C: I'm fast forwarding to remember that last part...
While we were praying the Lord's prayer

That nakey-chip has some skills!
For a reason that Brad and I cannot remember, the girls call chipmunks "nakey-chips." There is a chipmunk that lives in our backyard, and the girls love to watch him and comment on his doings.

Lily: Brynnie, can Claire have your blue pony? (Sticker)
Claire: No, I don't want to take her masterpiece.

Three cheers for Meathead!!
For Father's Day, we got Brad a book all about grilling by a guy who goes by "Meathead." Every time Brad makes something from the book, it is fantastic. This was Claire's response to one of those meals.

They're hot on his heels!
Referring to Maximus and the guards chasing Flynn Rider on Tangled.

He learns to make friends with his enemies.
Again, Flynn Rider and Maximus

The girls had a sleepover with a neighbor of our, who sent us this text message after putting the girls to bed:
Your precious girls are asleep. We fed the dogs, took a walk, started a puzzle, iced doggie cookies, watched the Grinch Stole Christmas...and they did their checklist. Cody found his way to the foot of their bed. Claire is quite the organized “cruise director!” Such sweet girls. They are sound to sleep. 

I love your gown, Mommy!
Hospital gown

Letter to my Hallie: 1 Month

My sweet baby Hallie,

Everything about your little life has surprised me. Your very existence, a pregnancy during a pandemic, your early and unplanned arrival...and what an absolutely surprising delight you were during your first month of life. I've joked that you've been making up for that miserable pregnancy by being the world's sweetest baby. But it's not really a joke; it's so true. You've been an absolute dream baby.

For the first two weeks, we had to take you in for weight checks every few days (we had to do the same when Claire was a baby). It took you just a beat to begin packing on some chub, but that's not to say that you weren't a good eater. You were an excellent eater from the very first moment in the hospital. That was such a relief for me.

You've been an excellent eater and sleeper, and for that, I will be eternally grateful. You're cuddly and snuggly and very content. Sometimes you are a little grunty from a touch of reflux, but even with that, you've been chill and laidback. You also let EVERYONE love all over you. And trust me: everyone does. None of us are immune to your cuteness and sweetness.

We joke that you are Lily's baby; she might be the most taken with you out of everyone (minus Daddy and me). She always wants to hold you, hold your hand, lay right next to you, talk to and sing to you. She knew you were on the way before we ever told her (which shocked me to death!), and she's been in your corner ever since.

None of us can stop staring at you. Or snuggling you. Or dropping everything and running to you if you make any noise (which you don't do often). You are the gift we never knew we wanted, Hallie. Thankfully, the Lord knew that we needed you. I will never stop thanking him for that.

Love you,
Mommy

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

1 Month