Merry Christmas!

Brin telling Santa she wanted a baby doll at Breakfast with Santa.

Brin and Kate with Santa after Breakfast.

Brin wouldn't get too close to Santa at Daddy's work.

More Philly pics

Daddy and Brin admiring Ben Franklin.

Brin in front of the coolest Children's museum ever, the Please Touch Museum.

Brin enjoying her Dunkin Donut--they were on every corner! Donut lover's paradise!

Thanksgiving in Philly!

View of the parade from our hotel balcony! Soo cool!

All of us at the aquarium--oh, and my preggo belly.

The famous Liberty Bell.

This year we decided to take a trip to somewhere we've never been before--Philadelphia. It worked out great because Lois got to come down from New York and join us for Thanksgiving! We had a good time exploring the history and sites. Scott's goal was to eat a cheesesteak everyday, and we almost achieved it! The only day we didn't have one was on Thanksgiving. From this trip we also learned that it's nearly impossible to make a left hand turn in New Jersey! What should've taken us 10 minutes, ended up taking 45 minutes because we kept getting turned around. Even our GPS didn't know what to do. We also took a 2 hour drive to Hershey, PA and toured the Chocolate factory. Brin loved the ride and singing cows. All in all it was a great time and it worked out great. Even traveling with a 2 year old on a 4 hour flight was better than I expected.

2 year old pictures

How sweet and innocent....

She's a goofy kid sometimes...

Love this one!

Yep, she's got the attitude thing down.

Our little girl is growing up so fast! Here are her 2 year old pictures that we had taken a few weeks ago. I know I should post more often, but seriously I'm worn out from this pregnancy and working! I love some of these head shots. When Brin saw the pictures she said, "Doggie shirt? I wanna wear doggie shirt!" I was shocked she actually wore the bow in her hair for all of the pictures--thank goodness, her Daddy gives me a hard time about buying matching hairbows!

More birthday pics....

All of the kids went crazy over the Elmo pinata! (Brin included)

"Aunt" Lisa, Brin and Mommy

Some of our wonderful party guests!

The infamous Elmo cupcakes--again decorated by Daddy Nosker.

Brin turns TWO!

Cookie Monster cupcakes decorated by Daddy.

Mommy, Brin, and Daddy at Brin's 2nd birthday party.

The infamous Elmo pinata!

Brin enjoying her Elmo cupcake, at sunset.

That's right, we officially have a two year old on our hands. She is quite the handful, always full of energy. This year on her birthday we had an Elmo/Sesame Street themed party and invited a bunch of friends. All in all, everyone had a great time. I think Brin's favorite part was stuffing the Elmo pinata with candy the night before. She just kept saying, "Elmo, candy?" Brin's daddy was the decorator of the adorable Cookie Monster and Elmo cupcakes. He also did a fantastic job maning the grill. This past weekend we had a small family birthday party in UT for Brin. Thanks everyone for making Brinlie's birthday extra special!

Dessert BEFORE dinner!

Girls enjoying their pie and ice cream!

Kate with her tongue out! Too Cute!

Not to be outdone, Brin sticks her tongue out!

Last night we joined our friends, the McCallisters for some dessert BEFORE dinner at the annual Manitou Springs Pie contest and ice cream. Both Brin and Kate loved the pie and ice cream (as well as the mommies and daddies!) The playground was packed with big kids, but that didn't stop Brinlie from pushing her way through to go down the slide and play on a grasshopper! It was a great night with good food and company--we can't wait to go again next year!

Playdate with Kate

Brin and Kate dancing on the stage

Brin and Kate in a boat

Sticking their heads out

With all of the rainy weather this summer, we decided to take the girls out for a playdate. A local group (not going to mention the name of the place, you take a guess) has a GREAT play area for all ages. We took the girls over there to burn off some energy from being cooped up inside for several days because of the rain. Mommy McC and I decided to dress Brin and Kate in their matching shirts. Aren't they adorable?!

My little "flower girl"

Everyone, including the dogs, had to get in on the flower planting.

Brin "helping" her daddy with the back planter.

Smelling the flowers before they are planted.

No, no, no, Brin has not been asked to be in a wedding, she just simply adores all flowers! Every flower we see, no matter where we are, Brinlie insists on smelling it. While most of the time it's adorable, sometimes I just need to run through the grocery store! What's a busy mom to do? Allow her to smell all of the flowers, of course! Maybe in the future she can pursuade/guilt her daddy into buying her mommy flowers more often. Until then, I'll just settle for the yearly planting of my flower pots and area in the backyard.

One bruise after another...

Grumpy after this mornings' fall.

"See my bruises?! I'm a rough and tumble type of girl!"

Lately it seems as if Brinlie's head is glutton for punishment. Last week she hit her head twice on two different decks. Then just this morning, she fell while walking down the street (with her hands in her pockets, ugh!) and hit her head on the sidewalk. I feel so bad for her! The top picture is from this morning's incident and the bottom one is from last week. I just hope she doesn't have any bruises when I want to have pictures done. Maybe I'll just have to wrap her up in bubble wrap that week!!!

Building Vocabulary!

Over the past couple of weeks, we've really seen a "language explosion" with Brinlie! I went from worrying that she wasn't saying enough words to, "did you just say what I think you said?" Here's a list of what Brin can now say (although some not as clearly as others)

Hi/Bye-bye
Dog
Please/"thank you"
Outside
Up /Down
Mom/momma/mommy
Dad/dada/daddy
Dax/Daxie/Roo-roo
Mo (for Mocha)
Baby
Socks
Neigh (for horse)
ice cream
banana
blueberries
cheese
disgusting
gross
pretty
purple/blue/yellow/green/brown/black
happy
tree
chair
"Come on"
"Up here"
Pig
Pen/paper
purse
moo (for cow)
Meow (for cat)
Duck
book
no/"yeah"
nose/eye/ear/hair/head/chin/cheek/knee/elbow/toes/foot/teeth
fishes
more/all done
Nini (for Nicky--her babysitter)
Cole & Rae (children of babysitter Nicky)
Baba (for Grandpa)
Ni-night
one/two/three
uh-oh
peepee/poopoo
on/off
apple
bird
shoes (this girl LOVES shoes!!!!)
"shhhh"
bus
go
nice
sorry
panties/diaper
"wash" for washing her hands



That's about all that I've got right now. I know there's more that I just haven't written down. I can't believe my baby is no longer a baby, but growing into a little girl. :)

Bath Time

Brin climbing her Daddy after her bath.

She really does like getting water poured over her!

Brin absolutely LOVES bathtime. Every night she will ask for a bubble bath before bedtime. It's so cute the way she just says bubbles, bubbles, bubbles over and over as she runs upstairs. She will even get into the dresser and grab her pajamas. I'm so glad that she loves bathtime and water. It makes for a much easier bedtime routine! And this summer should be lots of fun with all of the water activities! Only one more week of work for Mommy and then she and Brin will be traveling fools. (OK, maybe not that much because I'm determined to get her potty trained before I return back to work in August!)

Hooray for outside play!

Doesn't she look thrilled to be locked in the swing?! Truth is, she thinks she doesn't need all of the restraints!

Brin playing on her new swing set.

A few weeks ago we got Brin her first swing set. I was so excited to find this great deal on c-list. Since the weather has been getting warmer (with the exception of this weekend:() Brin LOVES to play outside. The first thing she says when we get home from the babysitter's house is "outside, outside. Peese? "Please" She's too cute and really is quite the outdoors girl. Brin also has a sand and water table on the deck that she will literally spend hours playing with if I let her. Luckily she always wears her hat outside (I told her she can't play outside without it!). I'll post some pics of her sand and water table when I get a chance. She also loves smelling all of the flowers and helping us weed. She's quite the helper and such a good little girl. I can't believe how quickly she's growing up. After Mommy is finished with work next week the adventures in potty training will begin. Wish us luck and let us in on any secrets you have!

Happy Mother's Day!

Brin and I just want to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day! We hope your day is as good as ours! :)

Nosker visit

A couple of weekends ago Grandma and Grandpa N. and Aunt Lois came for a visit. Since then, Brin's Daddy had the flu and Brin had a 12 hour stomach virus. That was quite the week. Thank goodness they came before we had 2/3 of our little family sick. Here are some pics from their visit.

The Nosker extended family.

Aunt Lois and Brin running the trail at the Nature center we explored.

It snowed the day before we went on our nature hike. Here we are borrowing our friend Kate's polar bear sled. Thanks Kate!

Easter fun!

Over Easter Brin got to participate in 2 egg hunts with her cousins. It was sure nice to see her cousin Jade! We hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving and we sure do miss her! Dying eggs was quite the adventure with multiple little ones all wanting to participate and splash around with the eggs. It was a fast and furious trip that left Mommy exhausted! The weather in UT was great, but we returned home to snow. (Sorry friends that we didn't get to see you...we ran around with family non-stop from the moment we flew in Friday night to Sunday afternoon!! WHEW!)

Brin checking to see if there's any candy hidden in her eggs.

Brin and Jade at Grandma W's house.

Addy, Brin, Chloe, Georgia and Jade at the Easter Egg dying party at Grandma S's house.

He who laughs last...

Here's how I found Brin after her nap. Yep, the pillow was hit too!

I spared you the more graphic pics! Trust me!

Some of you may have heard about Brin's Daddy's horrible experience a couple of weeks ago. After having a great guys weekend in TX, he was wiped out. When Brin woke up at 3 am, of course he was completely out of commission! Later that morning, he decided that Brin was playing nicely in her crib, so he slept a little longer. Twenty minutes later when he went to get her out of bed, he found that she discovered how to take off her pajamas. "That's cute," he thought as he approached the crib. Then he thought, "wait a minute, she's totally naked. And...covered in her own poop!" Yep. She knows how to take off her pajamas and diaper as well. Brin then decided to cover everything in her reach with poop. From her sheets, to her stuffed animals, her comforter, blankets, pacifiers and all over herself. Brin's daddy was grossed out and spent the good part of an hour cleaning up the mess, boiling pacifiers, doing laundry and giving Brin a bath. When he told me, I laughed my butt off! I thought it was sweet revenge for his inablility to help me with Brin at the wee hours of the morning. Ever since this incident, Brin has been wearing onesies underneath everything to make sure she doesn't get her diaper off. Once she figures out the snaps, we are seriously considering duct tape. I'm NOT kidding!

Fast forward to this week. Thursday our babysitter's kid was sick so I had to pick up Brin early. I picked her up and proceeded to put her down for her nap. This was the first day in a long time that she didn't have a onesie on underneath her shirt--they were all getting washed. (All the ones that actually fit her, that is.) For a good hour and a half, I heard Brinlie talking to herself and "napping." Then she was making a fuss and getting mad I wasn't coming to get her. I just had a feeling that it was not a good situation so I went armed with the camera. Here's what I found: Brin with her pants and diaper off, and of course poop covering everything! She was upset she stepped in it and it was on her foot. Otherwise, who knows how long she would've played in her crib covered in feces?! UGH! Needless to say, I also got to spend the good part of an hour cleaning up a huge mess. Gotta love those toddlers! I think this was my punishment for laughing a little too hard at Brin's daddy's expense. Another important lesson learned!

New things

Last Sunday I saw an add for this tricycle at TRUs. I decided to take Daddy and Brin there to try it out. Of course Daddy is quite the researcher and had to make sure it met his seal of approval. Brin feel in love instantly! Daddy was pushing her all over the store, seeing how fast she could go. It's a 3-in-1 trike that grows with her, I guess that's how Daddy decided we could rationalize the purchase. Next thing I know he asks Brin, "Do you want this trike for Easter?" She nodded her head and off we went to purchase it. The next day we decided to take a family walk, dogs included, to try out Brin's new wheels. Here she and Daddy are sporting their sunglasses and enjoying the spring sunshine!




Lately Brin has been showing quite the interest in the potty. She now has a pink potty and a little white potty. Earlier this week Daddy found her sitting on her potty playing the electronic Yahtzee game. I guess that's one way to keep her entertained while she waits. :)

More Spring break pics

Brin cleaning up her mess she made with the dog's water at Grandma's house.

All of the family at the aquarium.

Just a couple more pics from the fast and furious spring break fun. Sorry we didn't get a chance to see everyone. I hope we get more time to see more people (friends and such) when we visit again in June. We'll keep you posted on the dates and make some playdates! :)