This little princess totally rocks my world!! She brings a little (okay, a lot) of drama, sassiness, and pure sweetness that helps to balance us out from so much testosterone. So glad I am her mom!! (I just wish that she would stop growing up so fast:))

What a weekend!!

Saturday began like any other Saturday with a basketball game. Karter is getting so good and is developing some awesome basketball skills. Then we were off to the Kite Festival to redeem the boys reading times for kites or books (2 Kites, 1 Book). We enjoyed yummy shaved ice and then we were off to get some lunch. After lunch we headed to the splash pad and river at Town Square. After getting our water fix, we just had to stop by our new favorite place Swig and grab drinks, treats, ice cream, etc. On the way home we stopped by to say hi to Grandma and Grandpa Graff who were doing yard work, then we were off to enjoy a night of relaxation and family time.

Yeah right, what's relaxation in this house!! After changing out of their suits the kids went out back to play ball, catch lizards, and swing. Well it was the last one that landed us in the hospital all night. Brynlei and Brekken were swinging and Brynlei fell out. After comforting her for a few minutes I looked down at her arm and it looked a little abnormal. So of course Nate and I ran her up to have Grandpa Graff check it. (Don't worry we left Karter to watch the other kids.) Grandpa looked at her arm and said she needed x-rays. We then ran to Instacare to get some x-rays done. After looking at the x-rays it was determined that it was definitely broken, cracked, etc. Grandpa called one of his orthopedic surgeon buddies and had us meet him at the ER. After waiting in the ER to get all prepped to have surgery we decided that it was going to be a long night and called in reinforcements to help Karter out (Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Abbott). All this time Brynlei is being sooo incredibly tough. We couldn't give her anything for pain until they got her IV in, then she got the good stuff (Morphine). Dr. Smith finally arrived and we wheeled her up a couple of floors for surgery. The surgery went well and she had to have a couple of pins placed in her elbow region. :( She took forever to wake up in recovery, but finally she did after about two hours. She was supposed to stay the night in the hospital but Grandpa convinced the orthopedist that she would be in good hands and he was close by (one of the many perks of having Grandpa as our doctor). Finally at about midnight we got her doped up and all adjusted to sleep semi-comfortably. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa Abbott had already put the very worried and concerned brothers to bed.

She is doing pretty good considering what she has been through. She has loved all the cards, treats, popsicles, and gifts from her cousins, neighbors, grandparents, primary presidency, school teachers, etc. Grandma Graff brought her some new outfits that would fit over her arm and she was in heaven!!!

Her brothers have been awesome and have been waiting on her and taking care of her like a princess should be.

She gets the pins taken out in three weeks and then gets to have either a hard cast put on or another soft cast.

Thank You to everyone who has been there for Brynlei and us at this time. It is much appreciated. Thank you for all the prayers, cards, gifts, emails, etc. It means a lot to her and to our family. Her school teachers and dance teachers have been awesome in helping us rearrange her schedule and being able to make-up classes.

I will try to get a picture of her arm up this week. It amazes me that we have lived through 4 boys with no broken bones, etc and Brynlei seems to have gotten everything :) (Go figure!) I just have to say that she is the toughest little girl I know. We love you Brynlei!!

HaPpY 4Th BiRtHdAy!!!

I can't believe that our baby girl is 4 years old today!!! Time sure has flown by:( We love you so much Brynlei M'Kae!!!!

*More to come on Brynlei later:)

Our little ballerina....

Okay, so I am about a month behind on this post. Brynlei started dance lessons the beginning of August at The Dance Shoppe. She absolutely loves everything about it. She does both tap and ballet. She loves getting dressed up in her leotard and skirt. I am excited because I loved being in dance as a little girl and couldn't wait until I had a little girl who would love it just as much!!! She was so sad because she had to take 3 weeks off when she hurt her foot but now she is 95% better and has been back the last couple of weeks. She is our beautiful ballerina!

Dusting off old skills

Okay, so I will be the first to admit that my sewing machine hasn't been broken in much since I bought a new one five years ago.  I decided it was about time I wiped the dust off the cover and began to rebuild that fragile relationship.  Brynlei has been growing like a little weed lately and she grows out of a lot of her dresses due to the rapid growth in her height.  So when I found a cute tutorial on the internet for bandana dresses I decided that for as cheap as they are to make that even if I failed miserably then I wouldn't be out much.  Well here is my attempt at making them.  I had fun sewing these two dresses and they seriously only took me about 35 minutes each.  She loves them and keeps telling me she needs more.  Now, I just need to make matching bows.   I do think they turned out cuter than I thought they would and now I am excited to start sewing more fun things!!! 

Little Heartbreaker

Brynlei loves to get her hair straightened but when she does it always makes her look so much older.  I seriously can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast.  I wish time would just slow down for all my kids.  The boys are so sweet and always tell her that she looks so beautiful when she gets her hair done like this.  We are for sure gonna be in trouble with this little girl when she finally does grow up (that is if any of her brothers let her date:))  Watch out boys!!!

Funny Brynn

Karter went to play neighborhood night games the other night and left his pajamas out for when he got back.  Brynlei found them and put them on and came in the front room giggling.  She thought it was so funny, she said she was being Karter.  She loves her brothers so much!!!  This little girl keeps us laughing.  She has this crazy laugh that she does and it is seriously hilarious.  (I will have to record it sometime.)   Oh yeah if you can't tell, I am still behind about two months on some other posts.  Stay tuned. 

Summer School

On June 8th Peyton and Brynlei started Summer Preschool.  Brynlei will be starting Preschool in the Fall and since their school offers summer school we decided to put her in it with Peyton so that she would have that period to adjust.  Well she didn't really need to adjust, she has been watching her brothers go to school and has really wanted to be big enough to go, now she is so excited that it is finally her time too.  They love it and we love their teachers.  We have been going to the same preschool for the past six years (ever since Karter started) and they have become like family.  They really love our children and enjoy having them there.  I still can't believe that my baby is old enough to go (excuse me, while I go and cry:)).... Now, I just wish that they had Summer School for the older children :) Ha ha. Wishful thinking....

NoT RaPuNzEl.........YeT

Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your long hair?! Not at our house!

Brynlei's hair is finally growing to the point where she can wear some cute hairstyles!! I am sooo excited!  Last year at this time we were barely getting little pigtails in!!

I can't believe that this is my baby (so sad)!!

Brynlei M'Kae

Where does the time go?

I can't believe my little Brynlei M'Kae is three.  Here is her story:

After I had Peyton we decided to wait awhile before having any more children so that my body could have a rest.  After all up to this point it had already been through six pregnancies.  I am not a huge fan of birth control (I have many reasons) so when Peyton was about six weeks old we decided to have an IUD placed in me.  Well, my body rejected it (or maybe it was just Brynlei's way of saying, I don't think so, I am coming when I want to come and a little help from her big brother Karter praying for a sister.)  When Peyton was about five months old we found out we were expecting again.  We were very excited and happy even though it was a little sooner than we had anticipated.  Before we went in to the ultrasound we knew that it was probably going to be another boy so we told the technician not to tell us anything unless they were 100% positive.  Well, I am lying there and she says do you want to know?  and of course I say yes.  She says you are having a girl!  Now me being practical says are you 100% positive?  and she says yes!! (Believe me I didn't fully accept that until I held her in my arms.)  So now with this news we didn't quite fully understand how much that answer would change our lives.  Well, Brynlei had her own way of telling us that she would pretty much do things her own way and that it didn't matter if it wasn't how we wanted it or planned it.  My pregnancy went pretty smooth for the most part.  (I love being pregnant, everything including all the aches, pains, discomforts, etc....)  When I was around 37 weeks along I kept thinking for being my 5th child I should pretty much just be able to walk in, have this baby and basically walk out.  Well like I said Brynlei had her own way of doing things.  We found out she was breech.  My dad (also my doctor) said well we will give her about week and half and see if she turns, if not plan on a c-section.  Now, for most people that wouldn't have been so bad but for me (who hates surgeries) I was devastated.  I cried for probably two days straight saying there is no way I am going to have one.  Well,  when I had finally prepared myself mentally to have one (received countless blessings, prayers, etc.) my dad calls and tells me that he has talked to an obstetrician who can safely try to turn her.  So I prayed and felt that we should try this option.  Well, the next day I went to see the doctor and he successfully turned Brynlei so that she would be in the correct position for a normal delivery.  She gave us a little scare when her heart rate dropped.  They monitored me for the rest of the day and then sent me home.  The next day I had my normal OB check-up and my dad said her heart rate is still slow, how about having this baby today?  I said really and he of course said yes and sent me to the hospital.  Now just like I said we hadn't planned to have her this soon and so my normally very organized bag and schedule for the kids was thrown off a little.  I rushed to find babysitters to watch the kids and headed up to the hospital by myself (another first.)  Nate had to wait for someone to come and watch the boys.  The got me all hooked up, Nate got there (along with my mom), and we waited.  Before you knew it, it was time to push and in just two little pushes Brynlei M'kae Abbott entered this world. I had to ask for sure if it was a girl:)  They placed her in my arms and she looked up with me with her little dimple and I fell in love a million times over.  I knew that she was meant to be here in our family at this time.  The boys came and immediately fell in love.  They also silently appointed themselves her sole protectors!  She changed our lives that day and continues to change our life everyday.  I cannot believe that three years have past.  She truly brings the softness and femininity when our house gets a little too much testosterone but she can also be "one of the boys."  The boys' love for her has continued to grow and expand beyond measure.  They fight over who gets to protect her.  She rules our house and can get anyone to bend to her liking just by smiling at you with her big dimpled cheek and her bright blue eyes.  We love you, our little princess Brynlei!!!  Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

*I will post her birthday happenings, pictures, events later.