Back to the grind...

Here we are after 2 long weeks of awesome rest and relaxation, back to the old routine. And I must say that I'm glad to go back. We seem to stay up much too late, eat terribly and get relaxed on things regarding the kids that would otherwise not be allowed. I love the vacation but there is definitely a time when it gets old and I long for the routine back. This also happens after a long trip somewhere. I can only be away from the routine for so long and then I want it back. So even though I loved having Brad here all day, everyday, I'm glad that we are back to the regular life so that we can be normal again. We need those vacations but we also need the normal to come back too.
Brody is getting closer to walking and is still scaring me to death daily. My heart is in good shape thanks to his scares.We also gave Brody a little buzz because his hair only grows on the top and the back...his sides are scarce, kind of the opposite of an old man, so he gets this little mohawk and it was getting rather long. This was his 2nd buzz. He loves the clippers so I don't have to deal with tears when I cut it. Thank goodness! I find this hair cut makes him look like an old man...balding.

Brylie is so smart! She knows all her letters and can recognize them by sight. She also knows what sound they make. She is almost as good at her numbers but she gets confused with 2 and 5, or 6 and 9. Aside from this, I would like to think she's our little genius just like her father was and is today. And I hope I can keep up. Dora is just too boring to keep her attention. Her hair is getting long enough that we can do ponytails! I love this because she often complains saying, "eyes". Meaning, her hair is in her eyes and she can't see. I know the feeling and hate it as well!

And a Happy New Year to you!!!

We are having a mighty fine day here at home with runny noses, coughs and sore throats! And to top it off, it's probably RSV. Brody's cough got bad enough last night that I took him to the ER only to find out he has the dreaded RSV. You'd think I wouldn't be so afraid of this haunting virus since we've been through it at more critical times in our kids' lives but it is still scary at 3:00 am when you are feeling your baby's chest to see if he's working too hard breathing. We were so exhausted last night from that visit and from being sick that we went to bed before the New Year even began and didn't think twice about it. I hope it was a safe and happy transition for everyone! So here's to a most excellent 2009 from the Gunnells!!

The Festivities

This year, our Christmas was quiet, or as quiet as it can be with a 22 month old and a 10 month old. I guess it was quiet in the sense that we were at home with just our little family. We have only had 2 Christmases alone, our first Christmas as "marrieds" and this one. I loved it!! Except for not seeing our families, I wouldn't have it any other way and I don't think we will ever spend Christmas away from our home again! (We'd love visitors, though) It was fun to finally take the place of the iconic fat one. It's just another reason why kids are so fun and worth all the trouble and hard times they put you through. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures during because we had our hands full either opening gifts or supervising a little one. But we did videotape it! Here are some pictures after the event had taken place and we were enjoying the time together!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Our Christmas Greetings

DANG IT!!!

I have never been a swearer. In fact, the one time I swore since getting married was in front of Brad and my sister, Paige who was living with us at the time. And they just laughed because of how ridiculous it sounded...I'm not a good curser because I don't have much experience. I have never heard my parents or my husband swear so I don't really know what words to use and what words to add to them to make a phrase that gets the anger out or makes me look "cool". It would be hard to make me look much cooler anyway. So you can understand my surprise and dismay when I first heard Brylie say "Dang it!". I do know however, who she got it from but I didn't realize just how often I say it until she made me fully aware! And I must say it A LOT because she does too. So I have tried to correct her and say, "Brylie, don't say that word, it's a naughty word, Mommy is sorry she said that, please don't say that.." to which she responds, "Dang it!" I have watched her look at Brody with her concerned eyes and darling nod and say, "Dang it!" three or four times in a row or be dressing her doll and repeat over and over, "Dang it!" I have tried ignoring her or saying, "why don't you say, "Oh Man!" or "Nuts!". Nope, those aren't cool enough, I guess. It just is another thing to add to my weaknesses list and hope I live long enough to fix it hoping that in my quest to overcome that list I don't screw up my kids' lives. And all I can think of say right now is....Da---, er, Nuts!!!

And now onto Christmas!!!!

I wish I could share how I feel about Christmas with everyone I come in contact with! I have this sweet nostalgia that I get starting back when the crispness of the fall air arrives. And it doesn't get old for me until I remember the nostalgia that comes in the spring in preparation for summer. I love this time of year and now that I have kids, it is even more enjoyable although they probably won't remember much. I will! We put the tree up Thanksgiving evening, I say "we" because Brad brought it in from the garage and put all 3 pieces together and left the rest to me. Three hours later, he was asleep and I was enjoying that sweet nostalgia I talked about earlier. The next day, it was so fun to show the kids the new tree when even at 6 am, Brody noticed a new silhouette in the window. They have been surprisingly good at not touching! Christmas is such a fun time of year and I look forward to the excitement we have ahead of us sharing this new holiday with our kids.

Our late Thanksgiving report...

I don't know why but I feel like I can't get ahead...or caught up for that matter. Daylight Savings really screwed me up this time. I thought it was the kids but I think it's me. So that is what I'm blaming my poor blogging on lately to make myself feel better. It's really due to pure laziness!

This year for Thanksgiving we stayed in Texas and had several friends over from Baylor Law School and a family in our ward who wasn't traveling, like us. We had such a good time!! This was my first Thanksgiving that I prepared (I like to say I prepared it but really, Brad did most and let me think I did...love him for that!!) without my parents there to supervise. It went really well. Thank goodness for Pop Walton's BBQ joint, probably the best BBQ in Waco, for smoking our turkey making for a delicious non-traditional taste!!! We had lots of good food from our guests and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

As we said goodbye to our last guest, we noticed it was uncommonly quiet and went to look for our noise makers and low and behold, this is what we found. Luckily the guests had left and we didn't have to worry about serving this FUDGE.It was so funny and even after seeing us notice her, she went on eating like we weren't even there. Notice she is using the very dangerous bottle opener as her eating utensil. Thank goodness she didn't cut her mouth although I don't think that could have stopped her.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Texas! We are so grateful for our darling little family, for our wonderful families far away and our awesome ward family here in Texas. We are also very grateful for the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I can't imagine life being half as meaningful without it. We truly are blessed as we contemplate our circumstances at this time of year!

Brylie is "coming"...

This is one of the cutest videos I have ever seen. Maybe because it's my child but it's so funny. She has learned by watching us how to walking when you are "stalking your prey". And where did she learn to say "coming"?



I thought this was fun for all those family members who haven't seen Brody since he was 2 months old. This is how big he is and the next milestone next to getting some teeth (assuming he'll get teeth). We have so much fun at home and these kids are the reason why!!

Our Dare Devil!

Remember me talking about having daily heartattacks with Brylie and the stunts she pulled and continues to pull? Well, they are about to increase in frequency and intensity with Brody! I can't believe the things he tries. He has been crawling since October 18th. Not too long right? Well, he would rather be on his knees or standing no matter where he is. This is quite scary for the paranoid overprotective mom. Sometimes I just have to close my eyes and pray. Honestly, I think twice about having more children because I can hardly handle the possibility of them getting hurt in the growing up process. And they aren't even 2 yet. I know I am in for it!! Yea, he did fall after this one and the walker came right on top of him. Poor guy! I was in the kitchen praying for him when it happened.

Getting ready for bed...

I found these pictures on our nice camera...I forget to check it too and found these cute pictures when I did! I know you are all interested in our bedtime routine. Mostly, I just wanted everyone to see what a great dad Brad is!! I am so grateful for him!!

New video of Brody

I think this was the cutest laugh and since Brylie didn't laugh very much for us (I was never funny enough for her) I just relish in the guffaw we get from him. I also included some more of his waving and clapping. We absolutely love these kids!!

Halloween and other fun stuff

We have been busy with life and Halloween was quite a fun holiday for us as you can tell from the pictures. I think it was more fun for Mom and Dad to watch our kids enjoy the trick or treating as short as it was. We had a lot of fun parties to attend that made things more fun than they would have due to the inability for me to think of fun things to do. My poor kids!! Luckily, we have fun friends to do the thinking. We hope everyone had a good Halloween!!

Our Vacation at Home

This last weekend we were graced by the presence of Danny, Mary, Macie, Reid and Davis in our home. We thoroughly enjoyed this vacation at home as we hadn't seen them in a very LONG 6 months. That time can seem like forever when there are babies involved because they change sooo much. Such was the case with Davis and I'm sure for them, with Brody.

They arrived on Thursday afternoon and met us in Fort Worth and we went to the Fort Worth Stockyard to see the cattle drive all the way from one block to the next. It was a very slow drive, but the kids were fascinated by the long horns on the longhorn cattle. Then they treated us to BYU vs TCU game. Unfortunately, BYU didn't show up and made it a sad game for us. Despite that, thanks for the tickets guys!! We loved being with you!!!

After what seemed like hours, probably days for the drivers, we drove the 2 hours from Fort Worth to Waco that night. The next day we ate delicious BBQ and took the kids to the Children's Museum. They loved it! And the adults loved the time to hang out and let the kids play (make a mess) at someone else's house.

On Saturday we went to Cameron Park for a picnic and played for a little bit until it was time for them to catch the return flight to Utah. It went so fast! We all loved having them here and are so grateful they were able to come visit!!! Brylie and Brody loved having someone else to play with! We really miss being close to them!!

We hope they had as much fun as we did while they were here! Thanks for the awesome vacation at our home and for everything else you treated us to while you were here! We love you guys!!! Please come again!!!

Portraits!?!

I don't know if these are the quality I would like as far as background and such but at least we had smiles. I think that's all that matters. We got some darling photos probably due to the fact that Brad was the camera guy and I was on duty making smiles happen. This is really the way to do it. Now all we need is a nice way to cover what they sit on and background. Maybe when we're rich!

ABC's

Here we see Brody play while Brylie sings with me in the background. She likes to see what's being filmed rather than be filmed so I had to trick her. Sorry you don't see much of her but this is a fun attempt at her ABC's. She will often just sing what she knows by herself which is quite a lot but she's not really a performer meaning she is camera shy. She must take after her parents!

Are the ant bites better or worse?

So it has been about 1 1/2 weeks since the fire ant attack and we are still dealing with these terrible bites! I have never seen a baby scratch any bite they received until now and poor Brylie has no idea why her legs are driving her so crazy. When they bother her, they really bother her. I have found her scratching them with her finger nails, with the couch (rubbing her legs on the couch as she is sitting), or with the opposite foot. I have even wrapped her legs up so that she couldn't get to them as easily...she got to them. Caladryl lotion doesn't help, but Benadryl does (the oral suspension), and Hydrocortisone cream does too, Thank Goodness!! Although, when we put the cream on, it stimulates the itch. She now knows the word "itch" and uses it frequently. It is usually accompanied by "owies" and whining. My heart just breaks to hear her whine and then to look down and see her gouging her legs raw. I don't have a picture of her scabby legs however, picture about 20 scabs on each leg that looks a little like raw hamburger. Bingo! Poor girl! She is such a trooper!

In other news, if you've never seen what fall looks like in Texas, here's a shot! This is about all the color you get so I got a few pictures. Just so you all know, falls here. I have proof.

Another Milestone...

I can't believe how quickly Brody seems to grow up right before my eyes! It seems that I don't see them like I did with Brylie because I have to split my attention whereas with her, I looked and cared for just her 24/7 and I find myself not doing that. I had heard other moms of more than one child say they had a sense of guilt for not treating the 2nd or 3rd or however many with as much attention as with the 1st and now understand what they were talking about. He is also so quiet that I often find myself letting him play while I do something like load the dishwasher and then remember, "oh yea, where's Brody?" which is why this milestone is a little frightening for me. I can just see the day when I lose him or leave him somewhere because he is so quiet and not demanding of my every attention. I only hope that I have heaven's help reminding me and that I'm worthy to "hear" when it calls. Here are a few videos of Brody waving and crawling! I just love him!! What a blessing children are in our lives!

Blasted Fire Ants!!

So we have been pretty lucky to have avoided fire ants in the 5 or so months we have lived here until today when I decided to let the kids play out in the backyard as a family because it was such nice weather. When all of the sudden I see Brylie whimpering and trying to brush something off her feet. She did have shoes on but when you step dead on to a fire ant hill, they get all over you quickly and start biting. At least that's how I imagine it. So I ran over to her and saw all the ants all over her shoes, socks and legs and picked her up and tried to brush them off. All the while saying, "I don't know what to do Brylie, I don't know what to do!" So I think we got them all off her, I didn't get a bite so I still cannot relate to those of you who have had fire ant bites but poor Brylie can empathize. Here are pictures of the damage and the ruined ant hill!

Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo!

This weekend we got to go to the Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo. We had so much fun and I just love doing things with our family!! Brylie LOVED the horses in the Rodeo even though she calls them "cows". We're working on that. She also LOVED the popcorn that Brad bought to snack on. Brody was very excited and would kick and squeal with delight. He is such a happy boy! After watching about 30 minutes of the Rodeo including, the little boys riding the sheep, we went and perused the livestock. The kids were very entertained and they lasted about 1 1/2 hours past their bedtime. Brylie also got to pet some of the more tame animals and fight off the hungry goats. On the entrance door there was a sign that read, "we are not responsible for damage done to clothing by the animals". Good thing Brylie doesn't allow anything to get past her that isn't acceptable. All in all, we had a great time! I love that we are able to do things with the kids and all have a wonderful time!! Thanks Dad for the fun outing!

Is it me?

Lately, we have been working on getting Brody to sleep through the night without waking up to eat like normal babies do. He seemed to do well waking only around 1 am and then around 4 am and then waking for the day around when Brylie woke around 7 am. This started to become an issue for me when I worried (there I go again) that Brylie would wake up at one of those times ready and insistent on being awake for the day when in fact, we still had much needed sleep to get. So we struggled through his waking up and then I just moved Brody into our bedroom in the Pack 'n Play so that I didn't have to worry about Brylie. That just left Brad to get less sleep and then have to be in school at full gear all day long and study into the night. And I wasn't getting the most restful sleep either. So I decided to make Brody cry it out. This was 4 days before Brad went back to school in August so we knew we had to make it work and fast. So here we are about 6 weeks later with Brody sleeping in his own bed, Brylie in her own bed, they go to bed at the same time and just have to deal with the other fussing except that they really don't fuss that much...now. Granted, it took about 4 weeks to get Brody to figure out it's easier to go to sleep than cry hoping that he would be rescued, which rarely happened. So now here it is 8:11 pm and both kids are in bed asleep and have been for 1/2 hour and it took Brody about 1 minute to fuss, calm down and go to sleep. My question is, do we just have awesome kids? Or is it me and Brad and our awesome parenting skills? I don't know about you, but I think it's both!

If you're happy and you know it...