The Brinkley Bunch

What's new??!!

2010-12-02T19:05:00.003-06:00

Well, a lot! Since I've been so neglectful with this blog, Tim has hit the BIG 3-0 (I'm staying 29, so there's no need to discuss that..) We had plans to go visit Tim's grandparents for his B-day weekend, but Elli got sick so we all just stayed home. I had already made plans to throw Tim a surprise party at his grandparents' house when he came home from hunting, but since that didn't happen I had to put together an impromptu party at the house. Thankfully, Tim and Bailee cooperated with my secret mission and went to church that morning so I could decorate and get people to the house. This is the face of one surprised 30 year old! It was GREAT!

In other news, Elli is growing like a weed and this is what we can FINALLY do to her hair!!

Big Girl Bailee is learning SOOO much in Kindergarden! She's starting to read little books and is really getting into it. She and I put up our Christmas tree while Tim and Elli were....well, out, I guess. I don't really remember where they were.
And finally, Bailee got 3rd place in her FIRST SCIENCE FAIR! We were sooo proud. Of course, she had a LOT of help from mom and dad...But I guess 2 other kids had MORE help from their parents and beat her. BUT we've got next year!!!
I'll try to be better, but I can't make false promises...We'll see.

First day...

2010-08-20T17:17:00.002-05:00

I can't believe the day is here. Bailee's first day of Kindergarten. It seems like yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital and I was having anxiety of not knowing what to do and being amazed at how many times we could change a diaper in an hour! Her first day went GREAT! She has a wonderful teacher and Bailee is super excited when she gets home from school everyday. She's even met some new friends, although when I ask her for names they seem to all be boys...HMMM, interesting. This should be a fun ride!

Kindergarten, here we come!!

2010-08-17T21:54:00.003-05:00

Tonight was Bailee's orientation night to meet her teacher. I don't know who was more excited, her or me. She got to meet Mrs. Smith, her teacher. Tim and I got to hear the ins and outs of the first days of school. They even have a class pet! How cool! His name is Gizmo, by the way. Now we're just playing the waiting game for Thursday to get here.

Bailee's Safari Pictures

2010-08-11T18:06:00.009-05:00

This past weekend, Bailee had her first sleepover at a friends house. She stayed the night with her best friend Carlee. The next day, they went to the Safari in Gentry. Bailee took some pictures with her Fisher Price camera. They turned out surprisingly well. Here are a few pictures Bailee and Carlee took with Bailee's descriptions:

Bailee: "That's a big trippin' stick."

Bailee: "That's me. You know me. Do you see me talking to me? That's what your doing. You're talking to me. I looked at the camera and Carlee took the picture of me."

Bailee: "That's Carlee. She looked at the camera and smiled to me and I took the picture."

Bailee: "That's a silly goat. It tried to pull my pants down."

Bailee: "That's a monkey. He stuck his tongue out at me and Carlee."

Bailee: "That's a kangaroo. It didn't try to did anything to me. It just laid there and looked at me and stared at me."

Big 5

2010-06-30T16:38:00.003-05:00

Yes, my big girl is 5 years old now! I can't hardly believe this much time has passed.

T-Time...

2010-04-20T20:14:00.003-05:00

Does this girl have personality or what??... (These poses were all her idea, by the way. I just told her I wanted to take a picture of her with her uniform.)

This is Bailee's first year of T-ball and let me tell you..it's gonna be a VERY memorable one! So far we've had one scrimmage and discovered that all the teaching that has gone on in practices was soon forgotten as soon as we took the field! IT WAS HILARIOUS! I will definitely have my video camera in tow with me next time.

I thought this bottom picture was cute of Bailee and her Daddy. He was coaching her on first base. Every time she made it on base she had to have a hug. Too cute!

Meet Belle...

2010-04-11T07:13:00.002-05:00

Our new watchdog!

My little Jitterbug...

2010-04-11T06:56:00.003-05:00

Bailee had her last Jitterbug performance last Friday night . I must say, the girl has some rhythm! They performed to some well known tunes, but my favorite was "Zoo time funk". Here are some pics...

Bailee and her best friend Carlee

Hiatus...Well, now I'm back!

2010-04-04T20:52:00.003-05:00

Yes, I know that it's been FOREVER since I've posted anything,so...here goes. I promise to TRY to do a better job keeping this things updated, especially since these kiddos of ours seem to be growing like weeds!

We had a good day at Nanny's for Easter. I was able to get good shots of everyone except Jacob, of course. That kid has an elusiveness to him when it comes to pictures. I got some good ones of Thomas, though. I wish I could fit more pictures on here, but this is all it's allowing me for this post.

I promise to try to do better in the future. Some of you may have to stay on me, though.

I'll put a few cruise pics on here soon, too.

Yes, It's that cold!

2010-01-09T11:13:00.003-06:00

Yeah, you could go ice skating on our pond. Tim was the crazy one to test it out. It made me nervous, but he insisted! It was 9 degrees (Farenheit) this morning, which is a bit abnormal for us. I think our heater is in shock!

I know how this looks...

2010-01-01T09:39:00.004-06:00

It looks like we've all been drinking, but all we were drinking was Mt Dew and Tea. Our New Year's Eve began with the 1st annual NYE Wii Bowling Tournament. There was even a trophy to be won! After 3 hours of play, Tim came away with the victory! It's not just ANY trophy...It's an add-something-to-it-and-bring-it-back-next-year trophy. You'll notice the mini bowling ball on the base of it. I looked for the ugliest thing I could find to be the trophy and I think I succeeded. Now we will proudly display it on our shelf until next year.

Following the tournament, we played a new game called Quelf. This is no game for the shy and easily embarrassed! This game makes you do crazy, goofy, off-the-wall things or pay a penalty. Silly things like "put ice down your pants until your next turn", "mummify yourself until someone rolls a 4", "dance with the player to your left until the timer runs out"....Good times!

Merry Christmas..

2009-12-18T19:14:00.003-06:00

Wow! It's been 2 months since my last post. I'm not very good with keeping up these days. I also procrastinated on making Christmas cards, so don't be surprised if some of you get a card after Christmas actually occurs. Here's a preview...

Halloween...

2009-11-06T17:22:00.005-06:00

Pics of my little kitty and cow...

My gangstacow...HA

She looks fierce!

Elli's big day!!

2009-10-25T09:59:00.004-05:00

Elli's 1st birthday party was today. It was a really packed day. We started off by going to Chuck E Cheese's which was a lot of fun. Bailee had her best friend come spend the day with her. It was very fun to watch them play together because they act like they're so much older than 4. Elli wasn't quite sure what to think of the cake, but she got the hang of it. She was REALLY mad (as you can see from the picture) that we stripped her of her clothes, but once she figured out that this thing in front of her was sweet and yummy, she quickly got over that. Thanks to all who came to the party. I can't believe my baby is 1!!! TEAR...

Almost 1 year....(sigh)

2009-09-28T18:06:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that Elli is almost a year old! I may be a bit partial, but these are some cute kids!!!

SURPRISE!!!!

2009-09-05T17:08:00.003-05:00

Priceless!

My sweet, darling husband threw me a VERY SURPRISING birthday party...As you can see by the look on my face I REALLY was surprised!

I'm always telling Tim that he can't keep a secret...this time he did. The party was complete with Transformer hats (look closely at Elli's hat), an egg toss, water balloon shaving and ice cream cake! What a wonderful husband! I love you!

Does this look familiar?

2009-09-02T21:29:00.002-05:00

Seems like I've seen this before....

Oh wait!...Now I remember!

This just doesn't seem right...

2009-09-02T21:24:00.003-05:00

I don't think I'm ready for this...

C-A-T

2009-08-28T20:36:00.002-05:00

Today Bailee informed me that she could spell Dog and Cat... It went a little like this.

Me: How do you spell dog?

Bailee: "D-G-O...No wait...D-O-G"

Me: Ok spell Cat

Bailee: "C-A-T"

She's so smart. Should a barely 4 year old be able to do this? Somebody tell me.

4 going on 14...

2009-08-14T19:44:00.002-05:00

This is my conversation with Bailee last night

Bailee: Mommy, I want to go outside and play softball.

Me: Ok. Just a minute. Let me write out these bills. (I'm in the kitchen at this point)

Bailee: But I want to go outside.

Me: Just give me a MINUTE!

2 minutes later I head to the computer to pay the online bills...

Bailee: MOM, I WANT to go outside and play softball!

Me: Bailee, just give me a minute! As soon as I'm finished we'll go outside.

Bailee: (Deep sigh) Oh Mommy, you are SO silly... I wish you would make up your mind!

I was able to hold in the laughter... But it was tough.

Yep...

2009-08-06T14:10:00.008-05:00

For any of you who regularly check my blog~ I'm sorry! It's been an ETERNITY since I wrote on here last. Lots of things going on.

That's what the inside of my baby girl's ears look like.... Elli got her tubes in on Tuesday. I have noticed that she takes better naps already. Unfortunately, her attitude remains the same. Sigh...Apparently the attitude was unrelated to the ear infections. DARN! So the screaming-because-I'm-not-getting-what-I-want-right-now attitude remains.

On another note, she also got her 9 month checkup the day she had her pre-op evaluation...

Elli's stats at 9 months:

Height-29 in (95th percentile)

Weight-19lbs 12 oz

The doctor says that if she stays on the height curve that she's on now, she will be taller than Tim ....So for a girl, that's pretty darn tall. We've already determined that she will be our basketball player, while Bailee is gonna be our cheerleader. Her weight hasn't changed much since I took her to the doctor back in the beginning of July, which kinda surprised me...Then I started thinking~This girl hasn't stopped moving since the beginning of July when she learned how to crawl. No WONDER she's maintaining! She never stops!

Next week, Elli will be moving up to the "older infant" group (aka growing up)...It was a little bitter sweet getting the letter that told me that. I'm sad that she'll be moving out of her baby room. It also means that she will have to start wearing shoes. HA! I put shoes on her the other day to try to test it out...They stayed on all of 30 seconds. She figured out REALLY quick how to get those bad boys off of there!

Bailee is going to be starting back in gymnastics next week. She took the month of July off because I was in neverending professional development, but that's over now. I can't believe the summer is coming to an end! Bailee learned this summer that she likes to tube (funny, Elli gets tubes, Bailee rides them)

She's a "sand mermaid"

Just goofy!

I can't believe that this girl has only 1 MORE YEAR until she starts Kindergarten....Doesn't seem like that's right. Where did those 4 years go?

Just the girls...

2009-07-18T15:49:00.002-05:00

I realized the other day as I was going through all the pictures on the computer and on my camera that I had NO recent pictures of the girls and I....NONE! So I had Tim take one. Sigh...Now I feel better.

After looking at this picture for a second, I realize that both my girls have Tim's skin tone (Thank you, Lord!)

3 week progression...

2009-07-07T21:35:00.004-05:00

This little kiddo has gone from being able to sit herself up by herself to....

standing herself up in her crib to....

Crawling on July 1st and now...

this is her latest move. Now, she's not walking on all fours, but she just props herself up like that for a second or so and then sits back down. Maybe she's giving her knees a break..I don't know. It's funny to watch her stick her little butt up in the air, though. Give her a month and she'll be walking.

My BIG girl!!!

2009-06-22T12:49:00.002-05:00

My little girl is getting so BIG! Bailee's birthday was yesterday, June 21st, but I would say she had a whole weekend of birthday celebrations! We started out Friday night with bowling (pic above). She'd been begging all week to go bowling, so that's what we did.

Saturday was Chuck E Cheese day! Even though it wasn't a birthday party, it's kind of become a tradition to go there for a "pre-party"...Grandparents, cousins...everyone joined in on this one. Together we all raised 2,058 tickets to use towards a prize. She ended up with a Disney DVD Pictionary game. It's pretty cool!

Sunday was the REAL party. We rented a blow up slide that we converted into a water slide. She had quite a few friends join in and they HAD A BLAST! Elli even seemed to have a good time, although she didn't participate in the water festivities. Thanks to all who came and played. Bailee LOVES her princesses/Barbies. I think we have enough Barbie dolls to keep a small village engaged.

The most boring vacation EVER!!!!

2009-06-16T21:01:00.005-05:00

This past weekend we left for Boxley, AR...Don't know where that is? Well, neither did I until we got there. Boxley is, well, "the middle of nowhere", AR. Somewhere in the north central part of the state. That's about as good of a directional description that I can give you. Tim found this cozy little cabin on the internet located there that has...wait for it...ELK! He enjoyed the fishing and elk sightings, Bailee enjoyed the swimming in the Buffalo river, and I enjoyed a brief trip to Eureka Springs. We didn't get to walk around downtown Eukeka very long because of rain, but I did get to go into a cool glass art shop. They had artwork of blown glass, which is what my family used to do back before I was born--hence why I live on Glass Plant Road-- so I thought this little store was very interesting. Expensive, but interesting. I also got to see some hippies. No trip to Eureka Springs is complete without seeing hippies.

Now my kind of vacation involves a LOT of action. I'm more of an amusement park kind of girl. You know, the kind where you need a vacation after your vacation...Yeah, I'm a little crazy. He still loves me anyway. Here are some of the highlights of the trip!

The women's bathroom at the now defunct Cave Mountain Church

Bailee after taking a dip in the Buffalo River

I just thought this picture was really cool. Taken in Jasper, AR.

Elli enjoying a lemon

AHHH Summertime!!

2009-06-09T18:41:00.003-05:00

So far our summer has been full of swimming lessons and swimming...Elli even took a dip today for the first time. I didn't get a shot of her swimming since I was the one in the water with her. She seemed to enjoy it, though you wouldn't predict it from looking at her picture at the bottom.

Bailee and Mr Bullock(her swimming coach)

This picture cracks me up...It's indicative of our day right around nap times.

2 weeks of updates...

2009-06-01T21:18:00.004-05:00

SCHOOL IS FINALLY OUT! So that means I have some free time to update this thing. It seems like I've gone non-stop for at least the past 2 weeks...There was prom, doctor appointments, graduation, doctor appointments, gymnastics...oh and doctor appointments! I think I've been to the pediatrician every week for the past month. First, Elli had ear infections (each ear), then the following week Bailee had ear infections. The next week we went BACK to the doctor to check Elli's ears (they cleared up for the most part). The next week we would've been at the doctor, but he called in a prescription without making us come in...And now we were back today...ANOTHER SET OF EAR INFECTIONS FOR ELLI! Poor thing...
For Memorial Day this year, we took a camping trip with Dad, Annette, Gary, Elaine, Brooke, Terry, and our family. We had a nice relaxing time (except for the all day downpour that Sunday turned out to be). Bailee got to catch her first fish with her fishing pole. She turning out be more brave around the bugs and worms than I thought she would be. I'm sure that will all end when 13 hits... Elli even enjoyed herself.
We've reached a few milestones. Elli is now able to feed herself puffs, crackers, and anything else I'm brave enough to set in front of her. If you know me, you know that I have a choaking fear. Tim's always making fun of me for it. I'm doing better, though.

The last day of school meant a water party for Bailee at school. She's sporting her new bathing suit she picked out. I was SHOCKED that she picked out a one piece since she was so crazy about her "bra" last year with her 2 piece...

My little Jitterbug

2009-05-19T18:07:00.003-05:00

Bailee and Jackson

Bailee has been spending a portion of her Mondays at school doing a program called Jitterbug at school. It's "fitness with a twist". They incorporate fun things that are actually providing them with physical fitness. This past weekend she had her performance. Her class did "Jungle Book", "Ugly bug ball", "Fishing hole" and "Secret Agent man". It was the cutest! Of course, we got it all on video, but here are a few pics.

Bailee and Kadence

Jungle book

Ugly Bug ball

Appendix-LESS

2009-05-14T21:15:00.002-05:00

Tuesday of this week I was informed of a colleague of mine that had to have his appendix removed. I was all very sudden, as I'm sure most appendectomies are. So Wednesday I go by the hospital after work to see him as he's waiting for some biopsy results to come back. Now I've still got my appendix, so I'm unaware of the symptoms personally. I only know what I've heard. He explained to me what all had happened leading up to the trip to the ER in the wee hours of the morning. Pretty painful stuff!

Fast forward about 12 hours...It's 4:17 am this morning...Tim gets up and then comes back to bed...5 minutes later he gets back up again. This time I hear a little groan...'What's wrong?', I ask....'I don't know. My stomach hurts right here(pointing to his lower right side).'...So instantly I'm replaying Jeff's (my colleague) story in my head with the symptoms that he had. After quizzing Tim on his symptoms, I decided VERY QUICKLY that we needed to head to the hospital. Of course, he doesn't want to go, but it took him about 5 more minutes of pain to change his mind. So ...longer story shorter...We(Tim) had an appendectomy today and is laying in a bed just one hall over from Jeff's. WEIRD! He's doing fine, by the way. I think he might get to come home tomorrow.

Moral of this story....With my AWESOME diagnostic skills, I should've been a doctor or something! HA

I love my family!

2009-04-30T06:18:00.003-05:00

Still Moments by Leigh Ann took our pictures last weekend. They're so good. It was a dual session. 1- to capture Elli at her 6 month mark and 2- to get an updated family picture. I thought I'd share a few.

We worked with Elli all week long to try and get her sitting up good enough for a shot like this...She's a quick learner when she's got someone teaching her!

Happy Half Birthday to Elli!

2009-04-24T06:47:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Elli's Half Birthday..YEP, she's already 6 months old. Tim tried to get some shots of her in the morning, but we were interfering with her "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" time. It's the daily(weekday)_routine to get up the kids around 6:25am so they can watch the show at 6:30. It was first Bailee's favorite, but we started to notice that Elli was drawn to the TV when she heard Mickey's voice.
In the first picture she's laughing at something that happened on the show...Here's the progression...

"(Cute giggle)...That Mickey is SO silly"

"Um..Excuse me...It's hard to watch this show when you're flashing that thing in my face..."

"Ok, Dad... Seriously, can you put that thing away?"

I'm sure if she could talk, that's exactly what she'd be saying. We sang "Happy Half Birthday to you" and then went off to school. Such a cutie!

New pages

2009-04-20T22:05:00.002-05:00

Quack, Quack!

2009-04-11T08:27:00.002-05:00

Elli's trying to shut the duck up, I think...

Aren't these pictures hilarious! They really "quack" me up! Ok, yes I'm a dork. Neena and Grandpa got these ducks for the grandkids for Easter.

I love the look on her face...

Bailee loves her duck...She named it Sarah (which happens to be the name of all her imaginary animals)

Thank you Neena and Grandpa!

Saturday photo session

2009-04-05T17:54:00.002-05:00

Saturday we went downtown to take some pictures. It was such a pretty day! My sister in-law got Bailee and Elli cute little matching tutus and bows, so we had a little photo session. Elli wasn't too amused, but Bailee hammed it up.

Elli still wasn't amused when we got home and I tried to take some pics there.

A little photoshop action!

My little gymnast...

2009-04-03T07:45:00.004-05:00

Bailee started gymnastics this week. I was afraid that when we got there her stage fright would kick in and she wouldn't go out on the floor...but she did with ease. She was so excited about "nastics" that it was all she talked about for days leading up to it and then, of course, we had to wear the leotard to Grandpa and Neena's house to show it off.

This was the "flip bar", but she wasn't too sure about it.
Hopefully, she'll get brave and flip one day.

Warm up circle...It was hilarious watching her interact with people/kids she didn't know.

This picture obviously has nothing to do with gymnastics, but I had to put Jacob's picture on here from earlier this week. On the days when its warm outside after we get home from school, Bailee wants to go out and ride her bike and play...Jacob came over the other day and wanted to ride, too. You may not be able to see it very well, but he's wearing Bailee's Barbie helmet...I'm sure his Daddy is SO proud. This will be one for the yearbook his senior year!

And another....

2009-03-26T17:35:00.002-05:00

New pages

2009-03-26T14:02:00.004-05:00

Well, it's SPRING BREAK and that's exactly what I've been doing...taking a break! I'll put together a week long update later, but I wanted to post the latest digi-scrapping that I've done. I'd like to get Elli's first months completed soon. I've got 2 done...just 3 more to go!

New name...same great stuff...

2009-03-17T19:06:00.002-05:00

Some of you may have noticed the new name. I thought it was more fitting for the stuff that I post on here. Don't know why it didn't come to me in the beginning!

First timer

2009-03-12T21:34:00.002-05:00

I have had good intentions of starting a little bit of digital scrapbooking. I've always loved the idea of scrapbooking, but my talents are lacking in the department of self-creativity. I mean, I can look at someone else's work and recreate or make a slight variation of theirs, but so can everyone else...SO, tonight I made my first page. I now remember why I never did much scrapbooking in the first place. IT TAKES ME FOREVER! I'm hoping that I'll get a little faster at it, but I thought I'd share my first piece of art. Nothing that will blow your mind or anything, but still I'm proud of it. Tell me what you think and feel free to give any advice.

Beautiful day!

2009-03-08T16:13:00.002-05:00

Since this weekend was so nice, we decided it was a good time to get Bailee introduced to softball. I was hoping that we could get her on a team this year, but I think we're gonna wait one more year. We can spend this summer practicing the basics. She's doing good already, though. She's hit the ball a couple of times with my uncle pitching to her and she has a pretty good arm for a 3 year old. And of course, Elli had a good time watching her big sister!

Project complete

2009-03-08T16:02:00.004-05:00

I decided Elli needed some art work for her room, so here's my attempt at making her some. I'm nowhere NEAR good, but it's cheaper than the alternative. So what do you think?

Yes, I'm a princess!!

2009-02-22T19:34:00.003-06:00

Yes, that's my little Tim with princess glasses on. It was the only thing that would make her quit fussing at the moment. She's starting to develop a little bit of attitude. Who would think that a 4 month old could have attitude?

We decided it was time for Bailee to have a bike. She had a little hot wheel that she got for her birthday a couple of years ago, but it was time for a BIG girl bike. Of course, we had to have the Barbie helmet and pads. We would've had a Barbie or Princess bike,too, but it was sold out. DARN! We've not mastered the art of the bike yet, but I'm sure she'll be a pro by the end of summer.

I'm still here...

2009-02-21T11:29:00.002-06:00

Tim was just asking me yesterday when I was going to update my blog. I didn't realize it had been 2 weeks since my last post! Where did the time go? I told him the reason I hadn't updated was because I didn't really have much to update. All I can really say is I'M EXHAUSTED! Elli's getting bigger, though. She's gonna be 4 months old on Monday! CRAZY...She's getting pretty good control of her head and she rolled from her belly to back twice. She HATES being on her belly, though, so I doubt she'll be doing any crawling by the time she's a year old...

My big cheeser...

2009-02-07T17:30:00.005-06:00

Bailee LOVES to have her picture taken...AND she loves to take pictures. I keep saying that she's gonna be my little photographer. Since it was such a nice day today, we went to out to a great spot and took a few pictures. I thought I'd share a few.

I've come a long way...

2009-02-06T18:49:00.002-06:00

Just a short 3-4 months ago, I knew how to open the program Photoshop and that's about the extent of my capabilities. My great friend Leigh Ann has been my tutor for the last few months and has taught me everything I know. What would I do without her?? So to show off my newfound abilities, I've added Bailee's valentine's day cards. I'm proud of myself and trust me, if you saw how far I've come you'd be proud too.

Now it's time to make Elli some cards.

Day 2

2009-01-28T10:01:00.003-06:00

Oh the joys of being a teacher....you get SNOW DAYS! To update yesterday's post, I have mustered up the energy to grade a couple of those papers, but by a couple I mean 3 or 4. Then Bailee started whining for mommy to hold her and I took a break. Whew!! It was tough getting those 3-4 graded...hehe

I did get myself out in the cold this morning to snap a few shots.
The ice was not as thick on the trees as I expected, but still made a pretty shot.
These are the "drooping" pines beside by house. For those of you who don't know, several years ago my dad decided he wanted to grow a Christmas tree farm...those desires ended shortly after the first year of trying to keep them alive, but they're very pretty and make a great privacy "fence" for my brother's front yard.
This is the mountain near my house. I call it Beverly Mountain because the former Beverly Enterprises now Golden Ventures building sits on the mountain.
I have made a harsh discovery about myself in the two days we've been off. I've had a lot of time to search other blogs and take note of the creativity that is out there and that I lack...I think I'll elaborate more on that in my next post...Stay tuned.

I'm such a PROCRASTINATOR....

2009-01-27T16:12:00.002-06:00

I woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m. to turn on the tv...no school cancellation...took a shower and THEN found out that school had ACTUALLY been canceled. Not that I didn't need a shower anyway, but it would've been nice to know earlier. My kiddos (the 10th graders, not my own) turned in their research papers to me a week ago, so I brought them all home with me yesterday with full hopes that we would be using a "snow day" today and would have time to grade some of them. It's now 4:16 p.m. and have I even looked at the stack???...Ok, maybe I've LOOKED at the stack of papers, but haven't touch a single one of them. What is my problem?

So far, Wii fit (played mostly by Bailee), the internet, photoshop, and my aunt's house has taken precedence over the grading of the papers! And I gripe at my kids for procrastinating...

Baby Dedication

2009-01-19T15:24:00.002-06:00

Sunday we had the girls baby dedications. Since we never had Bailee's dedication, we decided to just do them together. It was sweet. Brother Ronnie gave Tim and I the Lord's supper and we prayed over the girls and for each other. It was a very nice, small ceremony.
Isn't it amazing just how much Elli looks like Tim!!!

BRRRRR It's cold outside!

2009-01-15T07:04:00.001-06:00

Priceless!!

2009-01-13T17:36:00.002-06:00

Elli is getting so big. This is her at 11 weeks.

On another note, the following pictures are what I came home to last night after going to the gym. Bailee had gotten into my bathroom drawer and found the pink nail polish. Those fingers are Daddy's fingers. This morning, as I was getting ready for work, I reminded Tim that his nails were still painted....I shouldn't have said anything and let him go to work that way.

Happy Anniversary!

2009-01-04T19:10:00.003-06:00

Today is our 6th!!! anniversary! I can't believe it's already been 6 years. Where has the time gone? just the other day I was going on my first date with him. Tim and I met a little over 9 years ago (although he will tell you it was a little over 10 years ago--he has a better memory than me, but that's a whole other story). We went on our first date to Whattaburger in Russellville and then to TCBY. Three years later we were married.
This past weekend Tim's parents and brother kept the kiddos and we got to spend some time together in downtown Little Rock. Lots of Fun! I love my Hubbie!!!

Christmas!

2008-12-30T10:37:00.002-06:00

Well, this Christmas was a great one! Bailee got all the princess stuff she could handle (and I could stomach). Not only did she get a princess dress up kit, but she also got a Pop star dress up kit. You would think that she loves to perform in front of people, when actually she's very shy.

We were finally able to get a family snapshot.

And Santa paid us a little visit at Nanny's house. Bailee was very excited because she got some pretty nail polish, a nail file and some lip gloss! She LOVES her lip gloss.
And finally, my girls! Aren't they adorable. I was even able to get a shot with BOTH of them smiling.

Elli...2 months

2008-12-23T10:20:00.005-06:00

Can you believe that Elli is 2 months old TODAY!!! These are some pictures that I took this last week. She's doing A LOT of smiling! It's so cute.

This one reminds me of Elvis! She's looking more and more like Tim everyday. I'm not even sure that she's gonna have red hair like we thought earlier. We'll just have to wait and see.

Brinkley family updates...

2008-12-22T10:21:00.003-06:00

Well, it's been over a week since my last post. I figure some of you are wondering about Tim's knee, so here is the update. He got his stitches out this morning. To date, he says this surgery was MUCH easier than he expected. He had horror stories from the one he had 10 years ago, so he's pleased that this one was much simpler and with less pain than the first.

On another note, we had all of the Brinkley family at our house this weekend for Christmas. I can't figure out why I didn't think to take a picture of the whole group, but I didn't. The only thing Bailee has asked for this year is "A pretty dress and princess presents"....Well, she definitely got the princess presents! I don't know how she's turned into such a girly-girl, but she has!!! Her eyes were beaming when she opened a Barbie DVD!

I'll try to be smarter this week and get some group family shots to post. Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!!!

The knee bone's connected to the...leg bone

2008-12-11T14:21:00.002-06:00

For those of you who know, and those who don't, Tim had his knee surgery this morning. We arrived at 7:15a.m. and he was being cut around 8:35a.m. The surgery took 2 hours and then he had to be in recovery for an hour. Apparently, we were pretty lucky to get back and started as soon as we did because there were several people there who had been there as long as we had, but still hadn't been called back to pre-op by 9 a.m.
He made it out without getting sick, which is a miracle since he doesn't take anesthesia well. He's home and resting and so far isn't feeling pain. I know that will soon end. Thanks for all your prayers.

6 weeks

2008-12-08T09:00:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it's been six weeks since Ellison's birth. In a way, it seems like it's been a lot longer than that and in another way it seems like it was just yesterday. She's changing so much. She LOVES her feeding time. She's definitely gonna be like her mommy and sister and LOVE to eat! Her eyes are so big and she's trying to start smiling. It doesn't happen very often, but she's cracked a smile or two in the last week. I'm pretty sure she's gonna have red hair, so at least they got something from me!

In a three year old's mind...

2008-12-04T16:58:00.002-06:00

Today on the way home from picking Bailee up from school, we had a conversation much like we have any other day. It went something like this...

Bailee: "I want to go see Neena."
Me: "She's shopping"
Bailee: " I want to go see Grandpa"
Me: "He's at work"
Bailee: "Well, I want to go see Ashley"
Me: "She's at work, too."
Bailee: "Ryan's at work, too?"
Me: "Yep"
Bailee: "Is papaw at work?"
Me: "No, he doesn't have to work. He's retired."
Bailee: "Oh, he's sleeping?"

I had to laugh after that one...Of course, she doesn't know the difference between 'tired' and 'retired'. I thought it was cute!

Heather's senior pic

2008-11-26T08:31:00.002-06:00

My cousin, Heather, is a senior this year at Pocola High School and I got the opportunity to practice using my new camera on her the other day. I'm also trying to teach myself a little basic photoshop, so here's the end result. I was pretty proud of it.

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

2008-11-25T15:10:00.002-06:00

This is our tree. Every year when I pull it out of storage and start to set it up, I think "oh how pitiful!" It kinda reminds me of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree because of all the gaps that are in it. I don't know if you can really see it, but I can. Now that we're in the new house with a taller ceiling, we'll be able to get a larger, fuller tree for next year and years to come. This year during the DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS SALE I'll be on a mission to find a nice tree. I guess I should start asking for Christmas ornaments as a gift so that we can have more to put on it.

Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving and Happy Day After Thanksgiving Shopping to all!!!

Christmas...a little early

2008-11-24T20:17:00.002-06:00

Thanks to my wonderful husband, I got my Christmas present a month early! I'm SOO EXCITED! I actually have a camera that TAKES GOOD PICTURES! I'll post some as soon as I get a little practice in.

Once in a lifetime pic

2008-11-20T18:22:00.003-06:00

Bailee and Jacob LOVE to play together! I just had to share this picture, because Jacob usually says CHEESE just long enough for you to get your finger on the button and then by the time you're pushing the button, he's looking away or just stopped cheesing. We couldn't believe it when this picture came out as good as it did.

Bailee's new hat and Elli's pics

2008-11-11T09:16:00.003-06:00

Bailee and Daddy went to Target the other day (mainly to get out of the house). This hat was the most prized purchase of the day. She's turned into quite a CHEEZER lately.

I've had a lot of trouble uploading pictures lately. In fact, this is the first picture I've been able to upload since a couple of weeks ago. I think it's my internet connection.

My great friend Leigh Ann took some pictures of Elli the other day. To view them go to www.stillmomentsbyleighann.com
Click on "capturing life" then "client proofing" and the password is Elli. Let me know which is YOUR favorite!!!

Things I forgot I forgot...

2008-11-05T10:32:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow marks Elli's 2 weeks of life and I must say she's been a very good baby. Still yet, she is a baby and, of course, in need plenty of attention. I started thinking back to when Bailee was this age to try to remember if life was this way with her. I think as a mother, or at least with me, our brains tune out all the moments that are the "hard times". Here are the things are forgot I forgot:

1. Late night feedings that seem to come every hour.
2. Actually being able to function the next day after being up all night.
3. Changing a diaper and then 2 seconds later changing it again.
4. Getting peed on.
5. The little smiles that you get (even though you know it's probably just gas)

I'm amazed at how much energy I have during the day, but how fast it gets zapped once the sun goes down. It's all worth it, though!

Baby pics

2008-10-27T20:31:00.004-05:00

Since I can't seem to get any pictures to load, I thought I'd share the website that has some pictures from the hospital. Go to our365.com to view the pics. She was born on Oct 23. Let me know if you can't see them.

She's HEEEERRREEEE!

2008-10-26T13:44:00.002-05:00

Ellison Maegan Brinkley made her arrival on Thursday, October 23rd at 8:41 am. She was 8 lbs and 21 inches long. We finally got to come home today, which is a relief. I feel like I haven't seen the light of day in too long. She's been a very good baby! I think she looks A LOT like Bailee did at that age and she may even look more like Tim than Bailee did. What do you think? I will put some pics as soon as my computer connection will let me.

The countdown is ON...less than a week!

2008-10-16T12:51:00.002-05:00

So one week from today, I will be finished with pregnancy! I'M SO EXCITED! Bailee spoiled me a little...I had a VERY easy pregnancy with her. No pains, no sickness AND she came 2 weeks early. Now this pregnancy hasn't been all that difficult, but my hands and feet have swollen more, I have carpel tunnel that is driving me crazy, and it's not looking like this one is going to come any earlier than planned. I can't wait until Oct 23rd at 7:15 am!!!!!!

Kissinger Wedding

2008-10-11T19:06:00.004-05:00

Today Bailee was the flower girl in Ashley and Ryan's wedding. It was a very pretty fall wedding with perfect weather. They had a fall theme, also, so Bailee got to throw leaves on the ground instead of flowers. I was a little nervous as to whether or not she would go through with it, since she does get a little stage fright. Since I was serving as Wedding Coordinator, I thought it may be a little easier to give her directions and pump her up just before playing her part. So when the time came, we stood at the end of the aisle and I gave her the direction to go and she FROZE~But just for a minute. She threw one leaf on the ground and then instructed the audience to "look the other way" in order for her to be able to do her job. Once everyone stopped looking at her, she proceeded down the aisle and did a wonderful job. She is definitely not an attention hog. She hates for people to focus on her. She looked so beautiful, though. I didn't get any pictures of the Bride, since I was busy coordinating, but I thought I would show you my little girl. Isn't she precious?

New addition to the family...

2008-10-08T21:25:00.002-05:00

No, not THAT new addition. She won't be here for another 2 weeks. Bailee, however, got a new addition to the family that she LOVES! Our new kitty(Miss Kitty) is suppose to be our mouse/rat catcher when she's finally larger than they are. This kitten is the toughest and dumbest. She's already lost one of her nine lives during a garage door incident. (I won't go into detail for those that are weak at heart, but Bailee cried yet the cat is OK)...Now we will all just sit patiently, and slightly miserably, until our little darling gets here on Oct 23rd!

I haven't disappeared!

2008-10-08T12:42:00.002-05:00

I know some of you are wondering about me. I haven't posted in a really long time. I plan to get back in the blogging business soon. We finally are in our house and are 2 weeks away from little Elli being here. I've got some new pics that I will put up of our new kitty that Bailee is so proud of. They'll be up soon!

Name upgrade...so sad.

2008-09-21T17:31:00.002-05:00

I realized this weekend that Tim and I have reached a new place in our "parenthood" lives. We were moving to our new house this weekend and Bailee was a little less that cooperative at times. We had a few yelling matches and on more than one occasion I heard Bailee say "MOM!"...not Mommy..not Momma..NOPE it was just MOM. I guess I'm ok with that, but the cute little "mommy" name I used to have has been upgraded. Tim was also referred to as "DAD" at times instead of "Daddy". That must be the first sign that this new baby is coming at just the right time, so we can hear "mommy" and "daddy" again for just a little while.

Finished...almost!!

2008-09-18T05:43:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow is suppose to be the completion date of the house...Most of it is finished minus the septic system and a few touch ups. The carpet and grout was done today, so I took a few pics to share. We're gonna start moving stuff in the weekend. I'll be EXHAUSTED by the time the weekend is over. Anyone ready for a yard sale???

I've got issues!

2008-09-18T05:43:00.003-05:00

Ok, ladies...I'm having problems. My first pregnancy was a breeze. Never sick...never swollen...no problems. This time around my hands are falling asleep at night, not to mention the complete uncomfort as I try to sleep and my back is KILLING ME. Anyone else experience all this? I know I'm not the only one and I should just shut my mouth and deal with it like everyone else does, but COME ON!!! I've got 5 more weeks of this. I think I really just needed to vent about this and know that I'm not the only one.

Annual Baldor softball tournament/family day

2008-09-13T16:03:00.002-05:00

Today was the annual softball tournament and family day that Baldor puts on. The kids get to play on the jump arounds and do fun games and the adults play softball. Of course, since Tim doesn't have an ACL he couldn't do much, but coach. His team lost both games, anyway. Jacob and Bailee sure had fun and were pooped by the end of it all. The rain held off until we left. Here are some pics.

House update...

2008-09-12T07:02:00.005-05:00

Well, as of today our house should be finished in a week. Maybe I'm being a pessimist, but it seems like there's a bit more to be done than can be done in a weeks time. I hope I'm wrong. I'm still excited with what we've seen so far. I've attached some pictures to show the latest. Keep your fingers crossed that we'll be in by the end of October!

I'm new at this...

2008-09-09T19:56:00.000-05:00

So I finally bit the bullet and created a blog. I figure this will be a good way to keep those "out of towners" up to date on our little lives. I plan to post some pictures of the new house as it is today. We've only got about a week and a half until it should be completed!! Yipee! I can hardly wait. I'll also be able to keep the updates on family pics, since that will be changing soon, too!

More to come....