To My Beauty on her 4th

Over the past year, I can not tell you how many times we have watched the live adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.  Our little girl FELL. IN. LOVE. with it the moment she saw it (and brother has surprisingly followed suit), so it was a no-brainer to have a birthday party with the same theme.  As I have spent some time getting ready for the party and reflecting back on the last four years, I couldn't help but see the similarities between our sweet girl and the beautiful Disney princess (you can't deny that beautiful fair skin, long brunette locks, and big brown eyes... and it doesn’t get braver than Belle), as well as praying for our girl to have a life that's a bit like Belle's.

To my very own Beauty,

I can't believe we are here, at the beginning of your next chapter - life as a 4 year old!  It has been an absolute JOY this last year watching you grow into an incredible, strong little girl.  We are certainly closing the door on "Toddler Life" and embarking into a season where you are your own little person...and I love watching (and listening to) every second of it.

I praise God for the year of breakthrough we have had, learning all kinds of new things about your little body and how we can help you. You have been nothing short of amazing as you have had to give up so much so that you can have so much more!! (I’m looking at you, Sugar and YouTube!) You have been tough, and brave, and strong, and loving, and kind, and so much more. Thank you for trusting mommy and daddy as we learn to do what’s very best for you.

As we have so carefully (and endlessly) watched “the Beast” this past year, I have a few prayers for your life that have come out of that movie.

#SquadGoals

I pray that you have a squad surrounding you in your life, that you find your little tribe of people that love you well and lift you up, that will care for you, and encourage you, and wish the very best for you. I pray that you have friends that will celebrate life with you, eating all the good food and dancing through it all.  I pray that you have friends that will see the best in you, speak truth to you, and fight for you.

I want adventure in the great wide somewhere (for you).

I pray that your life will be one of adventure, that the bravery you have already shown over the last few years would expand well into your life, allowing you to see and experience the world, unafraid of anything that might hold you back. I pray that you get to see and experience all that life has to offer.

I pray for a love like Beauty and the Beast. I pray that one day, you will fall in love with the heart of a man that cherishes you so much, that he would do anything for you, that he would fight for the very best for you, that he would show you deeper parts of yourself than you could ever see alone, and that he makes you laugh (I love your little giggle every time Belle asks the Beast, "Oh, you're making jokes now?")...and if he gives you a world class library, that would just be all the better.

Belle was courageous and showed tremendous bravery, especially her bravery out of love for her father.  She was kind and compassionate to those around her, including that mean old Beast that looked like something no-one would give second look (not to mention he was pretty ugly to her when they first met).  She was forgiving and she was strong, never pushed around by that dude with the ponytail.  These are qualities I'm already seeing in you, and I pray you continue to grow in those and so many more over the years to come.

Tale as old as time.

More than anything, I pray that the oldest tale of time would one day prick your heart, stirring up inside you a love like no other. Only finding for yourself that it’s no tale at all, but complete, life-changing Truth. I pray that it’s a story you read and hear and learn until it becomes your very own reality, proclaiming Jesus Christ as your Savior and living your precious life for Him, every single breath of it!

I love you so much, Bryleigh-Girl! I am so incredibly thankful that God made you mine. I'm so excited to see what He has in store for you this year!

Love,
Mommy

We had SO much fun celebrating our sweet girl at her Beauty and the Beast tea party with some our friends and family.  It was full of all of her favorite (and safe) things - tacos, queso, cupcakes, and ice cream, as well as reeses goodie bags for all her friends.  She was SO excited all day long that her FRIENDS were coming over to her party.

We spent the day getting ready for her party (telling her 100 times it wasn't quite time to get ready yet), baking cupcakes and her allergy-free cake, and decorating the house.  She wanted to help as much as she could! I'm so thankful for this full-of-life little girl that enjoys every second of the day. We had so much fun celebrating her!

Independent(s) Days of July

Dear Miss Independent,

It has been SUCH a joy to watch as your personality continues to blossom.  You want more and more independence with each passing day (so please just be easy on this momma's heart...I would love to keep you little forever).  There isn't much that you don't try to do on your own, from getting dressed, to brushing your teeth, to walking into the house (even up the step!).

One of our very favorite things about you is your love for music.  Your daddy and I love to listen to music, and you certainly are no different.  You love to sing and dance, and you are always playing with your noise-making toys.  (Your current favorite songs to dance to are "Get" Up and Dance with Me and Honey I'm Good.)

Daddy said his favorite/funniest things you do are your heavy breathing with your teeth all out (you have quite the flair for the dramatic) and when you squelch your face all up.  We also love it when you help us make our bed, picking up the pillows...even the ones that are bigger than you!!

Mommy loves your latest "thing" where you sit down on the floor with one of your books and then pat the ground next to you for me to come sit down and read with you.  My favorite is when I sit down next to you and then you crawl up in my lap while we read the books together.  I love that you love your books.

It is so fun to teach you new things and watch how quickly you pick up on things these days.  Every day you do something new that amazes us.  We are so proud of the little lady you are becoming and we can't wait to see what the months ahead bring for you!  We love you so much and we are so incredibly thankful that God gave you to us.

Let's take a moment and check out the serious hair growth that has happened in 18 months!! ;)

Eighteen Month Stats
Wearing:  Absolutely no changes here.  Bryleigh is still wearing some 9 month things, but mostly 12 months, and some 18 months.  She got LOTS of cute 18 months clothes that are still a little big, so we are ready for those to fit while the weather is still warm!

Eating:  Anything and everything.  If we give it to her, she will eat it!  Bryleigh LOVES grapes, strawberries, and bananas, and she also can't get enough vanilla wafers ("cookies") and graham crackers.  She doesn't eat quite as well as she used to, but she still does a great job!!

Sleeping:  I'm not sure where we went wrong, but for those of you that purchased VuDu dolls in honor of our epic sleeper, you can put them away. She forgot how to sleep...or the fact that she actually likes it.  It's bad enough that Brad has sworn off future children!  She wakes up pretty early these days, and she fights us EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT. at bedtime.  There have been long trips in the car, snuggles in the rocker, and test-runs of the "Cry It Out" method (which failed miserably).  She has been sick, so we aren't sure if that's causing an issue, and we also learned about a so called "18-month Sleep Regression"

Teeth:  Bryleigh is still holding steady at 16 teeth, but she is working on cutting some of her 2 year molars. (Lord, help us all!!)

Official Measurements:  Praising the Lord today for GREAT numbers!!  Bryleigh weighs 24 pounds 6 ounces, and she is 33 inches tall, which is 75% and 90% respectively.  Her head is 49.25 cm, which is still well off the charts.

Eighteen Month Highlights


Bryleigh is the best little helper! She is always up to run errands with us, and I'm pretty sure we clean the house "a lot faster" when she is helping out!! ;) (And how could I resist showing off that cute, growing ponytail!?)

Bryleigh loves hanging out behind the vacuum cleaner while it's running so that it blows her hair like crazy.

You know me, I like to celebrate EVERY.LITTLE.THING. with cute outfits, and Bryleigh had LOTS of "America" clothes, so we just wore them all week long!!

Outfits 1 and 2 ;)

We kicked off the 4th of July by heading out to the 50th Annual Arlington Parade, and we were so excited to have our friends from Moldova - Efim and Irina - with us.  They loved it, and Bryleigh was interested in EVERYTHING!! The bands were definitely her favorite, with the horses a close second.

Outfit 3...my fave! Love a good romper!

After the parade, we headed over to DeDe and Poppa B's for a cookout and some swimming.  Although Bryleigh is still anti-swimming (and now anti-baths), it's still a good chance to rock out her really cute swim suit!!  (Bryleigh the Bumble Bee)

Outfit 4 (and a really cute swimsuit!)  Not pictured is outfit 5 on Sunday. ;)

Bryleigh was SO happy to have some special guests stay with us this month!  The Orbu's are missionaries in their home country of Moldova, and they are in the states to meet with their current supporters as well as raise new support for their family as they serve God in Campus Crusade for Christ.  This was Irina's first time getting to meet Bryleigh...last time she was here, Bryleigh was just starting to grow in my tummy!  It was also my first time (and Brad's) to meet Efim.  Needless to say, the guys really hit it off, and Brad did NOT want to leave for the week!!

Bryleigh absolutely loved Efim and Irina!  She was always so sad when they left for their meetings.

July has NOT been a fun month where Bryleigh's health is concerned.  We still don't have any answers, but this little girl is a TROOPER!!  She is so tough and brave, and she doesn't let almost 20 days *and counting* of fever and diarrhea slow her down...there are way more details than that, but we'll spare you the fun stuff! ;)  (It has certainly slowed this momma WAAAAY down!!)  We are hoping for some new direction at her 18th month "Well" Visit.

3 doctors visits in 3 days = This baby is scarred for life...or at least the time being!

Daddy was SO glad to be home after hearing all the scary news about his baby girl, and Bryleigh was so glad her daddy was home for some good cuddles and lots of playtime.

This girl.  She is SO much fun!!  She makes me smile and laugh EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.  Even the bad ones.  I am so thankful for her life!  We are the luckiest, Bryleigh Renee!

June, Come on and Celebrate!

June seemed to be the month of parties and celebrations, and our little girl went right along with it all!  She is such a trooper, and she is ALWAYS willing to go with us.  We are so thankful for that because it allows us to make even more memories with her.

Bryleigh was SO ready to go to see Mimi and Pappy in Sulphur Springs.

We loaded up and headed off to Sulphur Springs for a very special reason, and that was to celebrate Mimi's retirement from teaching public school after 20+ years.  It was so special be there to help her celebrate.

There were parties, and runs, and sno cones, and LOTS of surprises for Mimi all week long!

The surprises continued to finish out the week with a visit from the Conroe Crew and a dinner with family and friends!

The celebrations continued on Sunday with a baby shower for JULIAN and a graduation party for EMILY.

After all that excitement and on-the-go fun, our Bryleigh girl CRASHED!! Mimi was coming back and forth to Arlington for a few different things we had going on, including doctor's appointments with our favorite Dr. Harris...but Bryleigh wasn't having it.  We won't talk about the fact that she threw up those pancakes AND yogurt you can see her eating below (v), or the fact that her face is red and puffy with some serious crocodile tears because she had been having MAJOR meltdowns all morning.  But we survived that day and enjoyed the rest of the week which included Mommy/Mimi time at DSM's Cinderella and a nice little shopping trip.

Any month with plenty of daddy time is a good month!

My brother came in town for some classes at DBU before he headed to DC with his doctoral program, and his family came in to town over the weekend, along with my parents, for my cousin's beautiful wedding in Denton.  (Throw up was involved, thanks to a WHOLE lot of wedding cake.)

I am SO blessed with an amazing daddy, a great baby-daddy, and a wonderful daddy-in-law.  We had such a great time celebrating all three of them with a yummy lunch at ChaCha's!!

BryleighGirl and I loaded up for one more June-trip to Sulphur Springs so that we could spend some time with Sister and her girls. (Throw up was involved.  Hence the lack of a pillow on Mimi's couch!  And if you're keeping count, that's the third time in June.)

It's been "May"hem

Three months is a long time to remember all the details when our little one is changing SO much each and everyday, so rather than doing one big blog for the 15-18 month adventures, I thought I'd do one for each month (May, June, and July), and post some of the highlights.  And technically May is only the 17th to the 31st since the first part of the month is included HERE.  I'll post one each day as we count down to Bryleigh's 1/2 birthday on Friday, with the last one following how I normally update.

Some of my favorite things that came in the month of May included Bryleigh learning where her belly button is...she will point to it even if she isn't asked, along with fake sneezing (which she thinks is hilarious when she really sneezes), and she has FINALLY started holding hands.  She will just stick her hand up in the air and let me hold it, but I'll take what I can get!  I also love that she will walk a book over to me, hand it to me, turn around with her back to me, and then back right up to my legs and fall down in my lap.  (You better watch out if you are laying on the floor, because she will do the same thing and end up sitting on your stomach, or even your face!)

May was a BUSY, BUSY month with lots more memories made and lots of fun was had!  One of the best parts about May was Memorial Day because Daddy didn't have to get on a plan and head to North Carolina, so he was home with his girls for 10 whole days!!  Brad and I took advantage of the extra time and went on a date night at the Ballpark to see Josh playing at home again.

Our little girly-girl loves all things pink, as well as accessories and bags! But she still loves watching baseball!!

Just a typical Monday with the B-Girl and all her many faces!

Memorial Day - thankful for a lot of extra time with our family of three! Grocery shopping together is one of my faves!

Bryleigh DEFINITELY made the most of Daddy being home for a whole week - including helping him work!

We loved cheering on Josh Hamilton in his first game back at the Ballpark in Arlington!

And this little collage is here because a girl's first ponytail MUST be documented.

Life after the big ONE

To our feisty little Bear,

Your personality has certainly blossomed over the past three months, and we have loved every minute (well, most of them) of watching you grow and develop into your own tiny person.

You are independent.  You are loving.  You are HILARIOUS.  You are smart.  You are so much fun.  You love music, dancing, books, and bath time.  You love your puppies (the real one and the stuffed ones), the color pink, and pushing all the buttons on your toys so they make lots of noise.  You are more than I could have ever dreamed, and I am so thankful for every moment that I get to be your mommy.

The last three months since you turned one have been a roller coaster of emotions and your smiling face has kept us going every step of the way.  My prayer is that you always find the funny in life and don't take things to seriously, but you're going to have to start listening to your momma and daddy at some point!  {The words "No" and "Stop it" tend to cause a laughing fit and that's just not going to be acceptable at the age of 13...}

In the past few months you have gone from learning to take your first steps to running laps around the house.  I will say that you run the fastest when you know we are coming to wipe your face off, fix your hear, or put you in bed.

And I'm not sure if it's too early, but I'm predicting that you'll be standing in front of people delivering some very important messages one day because you are VERY passionate about everything you have to say.  Sometimes you even look like you are preaching to us!

Thank you for adding so much joy to our life and for teaching us daily how we are to love unconditionally.  

Fifteenth Month Stats

Wearing: Some 9 month, all 12 month, and some 18 month (some due to the fact that the seasons were going to change without being able to wear these cute outfits at all, so we made it work!)

Eating: Everything and anything. Seriously. She will eat anything you put in her mouth (and unfortunately anything she puts in her own mouth).  She LOVES her milk and still has some issues with quite a few fruits, so we have to watch those.

Sleeping:  Still loving our sleep, but she is an *EARLY* riser, and I'm sad to say that those 2nd naps are a little sporadic these days.  (She has a harder time napping on the days her daddy is home.  She'd so much rather be out playing with him!)  We had some pretty early bed times after turning one...that's tough stuff!!  We also had a hard time adjusting to the time change (including being ready for dinner at 4:00 every night...still).

Teeth: 16. Yes. 16!  (Please note that three short months ago, the last time I filled this little questionnaire out, she had *EIGHT*8*EIGHT*.  She cut 6 at ONE TIME.)  We've only got the four, 2-year molars to go!

Official Measurements:  Baby's brain is still growing off the charts at 49 cm (99+%).  She weighed 23 pounds (75%) and was 31 inches long (68%).  We are so thankful for these healthy numbers, which you can read a little bit more about below.

Last three month highlights

As I mentioned earlier, the last three months have been a bit of a roller coaster ride with lots of questions, lots of tears, and some fear, but we know that in ALL things God works for them together for our good (Romans 8:28).

At Bryleigh's 12 month/1 year check up, our doctor was concerned that Bryleigh had slowed down so much in her growth.  She had fallen from the 95th percentile to around 60 percent, and was dropping each time we took her in.  Thankfully, over the next few weeks and months, we met with the doctors and nurses for follow up visits, talking through all she was eating (which exceeded their expectations for a toddler), sleeping, and playing.  By her 15 month appointment, she had evened out and fell right around the 75th percentile which is where they are wanting her to be.  We are so thankful to have the questions and fear behind us and our happy, growing girl is definitely perfectly healthy (and that is something we don't take fore granted)!

The tougher part came a month ago when we found out that we were expecting Baby Hammons #2.  Bryleigh was going to be a big sister!  {Cue the tears, excitement, and planning} But before we were even able to share the good news with our parents and siblings, we got the devastating news that I was actually having a miscarriage. (Did you know that sometimes those things don't just happen, they keep happening over the course of a few days or even weeks? I didn't, but I do now!)  For the first time in all my blogging/writing history, I don't have the words.  Maybe at some point they'll come and I'll be able to share more, but right now, all I have are the facts, and the fact is, our 2nd little miracle that was due on Thanksgiving Day is already resting sweetly in the arms of Jesus (and in the moment I knew that, I became more homesick for Heaven than I've ever been).

Thankfully, along with the tough stuff, we've had a whole lot of GOOD stuff to carry us along.  Have you seen our daughter's smile?  Or heard her laugh?  Yeah, she makes the bright days brighter and the dark days full of light!

Bryleigh LOVES to play.  She keeps herself entertained every day, all day.  She is a busy-body, always on the go, and she loves playing with all of her toys.  She enjoys dancing to the songs that come on during her favorite shows (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Doc McStuffins, and Sophia the First), but she's not a big tv/movie watcher.

One thing that HASN'T changed over the past three months (since so much else has) is Daddy's schedule.  He leaves the house on Monday morning (early...he tells his girls bye on Sunday nights) and comes back home on Thursday nights.  We make the most of every minute we have with him over the weekends, so Friday through Sunday is full of memory-making moments, snuggles, and lots of laughing!

My personal fave - the first time she
saw daddy for the weekend!

Not only does B-girl love her daddy, she loves her puppy too!!  They are best buddies.  Bryleigh loves to say puppy, bark like Emmitt does, hold his tongue when he licks her, and pull his legs.

I was able to run my second 5k in February at my "dream 5k" - The Hot Chocolate - with my favorite running partner, my Momma!!  We've been wanting to run THIS very race together for a long time, so we were excited to check another one off our racing bucket list.

Brad and I were so blessed to spend Valentines evening on a very special date - with dinner at Del Friscos Grille, followed by a hotel stay at the Ritz in Downtown Dallas.  We had brunch the next morning at Crossroads Diner (Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives selection and Carrie approved).  It was my first night to stay away from our sweet little girl, so it was definitely time for a getaway with my hubby.  We had so much fun enjoying some "grown-up" time, but we were so thankful to get home and spend time with our girl!

Valentine's Day included some quick time with Mimi and Pappy, chocolate covered strawberries, and a little gift for our sweetest Valentine.  We spent spent the evening with our family of three having a pizza party and watching some college basketball, PERFECTION.  

We had quite a few snow days to end the month of February, and although they weren't Bryleigh's 1st, it was certainly her first time getting to enjoy it (and next time, she'll get to even more!).  We were thankful it didn't mess up any of daddy's transportation, and that he was here during the worst of us.  (The hardest hit day was right in the middle of us going to one of Bryleigh's follow up appointments.)

March is always a fun month, and one we always seem to be counting down to, because it's Daddy's birthday...and he loves reminding us!! We had fun celebrating Brad the weekends before and after his birthday since he was in Winston-Salem on his birthday.  (But don't worry, he celebrated while he was there too!)

Another reason we I love March so much is because of ST. PATRICK'S DAY!! I mean, how can you be a red head and NOT claim it as your own personal holiday?! ;)  I love a good reason to celebrate and do fun things with my girl, and when my momma is around, it's even better!  My mom came in town on her Spring Break and we took our very FIRST shopping trip mother-daughter-trio, and we got Bryleigh some {much needed} shoes!  We also had lucky charms for breakfast, wore our green, had green milk and a green bath, along with a special St. Patty's Day punch!!

Since we got the whole "shoe" part covered, I decided to give bow-wearing a try!  We did a little bow bootcamp at our house, and it made for quite a few laughs.  I'm pretty sure I put that bow in her hair 500 times...in 30 minutes.  (And in case you are wondering, she's not any better at wearing bows.)

We were so blessed to spend Easter morning with our church family at Fielder and then had lunch with Brad's family - DeDe and Poppa B, Aunt Erin, Mema and Cliff, Grandma and Grandpa, and Aunt Lou.  We are always so thankful to be able to spend sweet time with family as they love on our sweet girl.

This family LOVES sports, and one of our very favorites is baseball! One tradition we kind of fell in to was going to the Sunday game of Opening Weekend, and this year it was PERFECT for taking Bryleigh to her very first game.  The weather was perfect, the game went pretty quickly (until it was tied and lasted 12 innings, but we didn't stay quite that long), and we didn't have to mess with any meal times! #lifewithatoddler  Bryleigh got a little scared with all the cheers from an early double play, but she was easy going the rest of the game.  She LOVED dancing to all the music they played, and there was lots for our little people watcher to see!