busy. little. bee.

Guess what Sarah learned to do this week... CLIMB.

She got on the couch all by herself.
She got caught and laughed at me...this is going to be fun...

*****
And now she thinks its funny.

and says "uh oh"

and laughs some more.

and I was worried about her walking.

the fair

last weekend we went to the fair with my sister and her family. My sister, Julie, entered a few pics and even won 3rd place in childrens portraits with a picture of my nephew. It was a pretty cool.

She entered a picture of Matt singing during a rockband marathon last Christmas. We didn't tell him until the first day of the fair when I texted him a picture of his picture. He was surprised.

Julie tried to get a family photo of us...this is the best one...sad isn't it...and Sarah isn't even in the picture. I look like a total dork and Matt is looking off into the distance at something interesting, I'm sure, because taking a family photo for him is almost as pleasing as going to the dentist.We watch too much Project Runway. Brinley has a bit of the runway attitude.

She did get a somewhat decent shot of the two of us.
It was fun.

The end.

*Has blogger gotten really sucky lately? Or is it just me?*

little miss is 10 months old

Sarah turned 10 months old this week and...~ is tall and skinny.

~ takes out her barretts and chews on them. I am not willing to cut her hair.

~ loves sweet potatoes, graham crackers and apple bits, but her favorite is mommy milk.

~ can say: mama, dada, nigh-nigh, uh-oh, hi and jabbers a lot.

~ loves her binky binks.

~thinks that everyone else has something more interesting to play with

~ is walking along the furniture

~ loves patting Lola's bald, round noggin

~sleeps through the night

~thinks the kitchen table is her fort

~LOVES her big sister (sisa)

~ takes tiny bites out of her gold fish crackers

~loves pretzels

~loves jumping

~ doesn't take her time waking up, when shes awake, she is up!

~ takes short 30 minute naps 2-3 times a day (once in a while I get lucky and she will sleep for 2 hours)

~loves to be in the bath as long as Brinley is in there with her

~hates to ride backwards on long car trips

~ is like the energizer bunny

~loves to play with wires (consantly trying to hide them all)

~loves to put her fingers in my mouth

~loves to walk to the school (i walk, she rides in a backpack) to pick Brinley up

~loves mer mama and dada and sisa

first day of 1st grade

We aren't very good about having a bedtime during the Summer. I hate having a schedule when I don't really have to have one. Although, when school starts, it's back to schedules, bedtimes and routines.

We started our bedtime schedule about 2 days before school started, not really enough time to adjust. It took me 40 minutes to get this kid out of bed for school. Good thing I started early.

As it was time to leave, I wanted to get a picture of her.

So she made this face.

But then let me take another.
She LOVES her new class and teacher.
She got into the SPICE Program, which is a parent involvement program and they get to go on more field trips through out the year. There are only 2 classes in each grade at her school. You are either in the neighborhood class or the SPICE class, so you will have the same kids in your class all through elementary. Brinley switched classes, but finds her old friends during recesses. She does miss her friends, but hasn't had a problem making new ones. She has already been invited to a birthday party.
Her teacher is awesome! She gives the kids really cool jobs every week. Brinely's job this last week was to be the magician. She has to show the class a magic trick and even wore a cloak for her performance.
It will be a good year.

Pig Out In The Park 09

Saturday evening we met up with some of Matt's nieces and nephews at Pig Out. It was a pretty nice night out, luckily, because the rain came early the next morning.

The happy dorks.And their children.

Cody and Melissa. And their adorable Miss Kennady.Clacie and Mike. I don't know why I didn't get a picture of them together. We had a really fun, relaxing time. The place was crowded, as usual. Good music, for the most part, not exactly my style, but the kids liked it.

Matt won't ever let me take a normal picture of him...well maybe this is normal.We watched a concert at one of the stages in the park. There are a lot of weirdos in Spokane. The 90's band, Cracker, was playing. Do Not get confused with Uncle Cracker, because this band wasn't that good. I think Pig Out in the Park just lets you sample all the greasy Fair food a week early, because it is the EXACT same food. Who came up with the fried snickers bar anyway? It sounds disgusting. Has anyone ever eaten one of those before?

hi again.

this is the first post I have done in August. What is wrong with me?

We have had an extremely busy August. Visiting family in Utah, going to Seaside with more family and some friends and we still have to find a day to take Brinley to Silverwood. She still hasn't used the free pass she got for reading 600 minutes of books last Spring. But the most exciting thing thats been happening...

Julie and I have been working hard trying to get our website and blog done. We booked our first wedding, which is tomorrow, and have done senior pics and family pics already. We should have the website up and going this weekend...hopefully.

What do you think of our logo? And wonder where the name comes from...Brinley MADELINE Kunz and Cody JAMES Eggleston. We must have gone over a hundred names before this came up. We love it.

the ugly tree

We have this tree in our yard, a Hawthorne, I hate it.

Yesterday I had my 14 year old lawn boy come over to mow the lawn. He wondered if he was able to do some other yard work too, so that he could buy his school clothes and such. I decided that he could trim a few of the smaller branches from the "Ugly Tree", as I have so lovingly named it. Well, the few small branches turned into larger branches which, in no time, turned into taking the 'Ugly Tree' out. I don't think he was expecting the work I got out of him. My amazing dad came by with his chain saw and cut up the wood as we loaded the trailer with the branches and my dad kept the bigger pieces for himself.

The thoughts of my Summers living in Vernal came back to me... Every Saturday my parents would get us up bright and early. We would dress in our finest grubby attire, pack a picnic lunch and cram ourselves into the 'Blue Bomber', our big blue van. My mom would follow my dad up into the Uintah Mountains as he drove the truck pulling an extremely large trailer. We spent most of the morning playing and talking while my dad took down trees and cut them up into pieces small enough for us to carry. Usually this was a time when we would daydream about what we would like our future to hold...it always came to opening up some sort of family business. My dad would then stop for lunch while the rest of us loaded the truck with wood: 2-3 of us piling the wood a little closer to the truck so that the next 2-3 of us could place it on the tailgate for 2 of us to stack into the truck. My dad's lunch breaks didn't last long. He ate and got right back to cutting up more wood. We still had the trailer to load. I am not sure how many cords of wood we could get on the truck and trailer, but it was a lot. We woud then get back into the van and truck and head home. The thought of a hot shower and clean clothes were on everyone's minds. When we pulled up into the driveway, it was time to unload it all and stack it with the rest of that years haul. Not until every last piece of wood was stacked and the trailer put away could we go inside. Those Saturday's hold some of my favorite memories growing up. And I believe if you ask any of my 5 siblings, they would tell you the same. I thank my dad for having such a great work ethic.

This morning I borrowed my dad's truck. With the girls in tow, we dropped off the first of 2 loads at the transfer station. Driving in the truck with my girls, me dressed in grubs and they in the first thing I found to throw on them this morning, brought back some memories of when I was little and the chosen, one or two, of us got to ride with my dad to the dump. We loved getting out of the truck to explore other peoples trash, without touching it, of course. We usually stopped off at the gas station on the way home for a pop and a treat. I didn't stop at a gas station today. But it was fun to watch Brinley doing the same thing I did as a child, asking questions about other people's stuff.

one in the morning.

It's one in the morning. I can't sleep.

I had an AWESOME weekend, then came home and have been in a bit of a funk since Monday. I have been irritable, emotional, exhausted, frustrated, blah, blah, blah.

"What is going on with me!"

I guess I don't talk about Olivia as much anymore with people. Yeah, she may come up in conversation here and there, but I don't think its right that I would make people to feel bad for me, or that they think she is all I ever think about, because really I don't.

Two years ago this week (on the 13th, to be exact) was when we found out about Olivia's condition. I knew the date was coming up, but nobody else did and why would they? I figured it would come and go and that I might have a moment when I thought about it, but this long drawn out crappy whatever week I am having? Seriously? And maybe it's just compounded by other things in my life, I don't know.

It's strange how our minds remember things subconsciously. There were times last year when I had a really crappy day and then realized the date, and the memory of the year before would pop into my head. Why is that?

Two years...I am amazed at how fast time goes by. Some days it seems like Olivia was just a dream and others feel as if we had just had her. I don't dwell on her, but I see and think of her every single day, even just a for a brief moment, when I dust her picture, or stub my toe on the pig in the hallway, or in Brinley's drawings, or in noises I hear when I know Sarah is asleep and Brinley is out playing in the yard.

It feels good to express myself in writing. I've never been very good vocally. There is so much more on my mind, but best left to those who understand the questions and thoughts that run through my head.

I am sure I will wake up tomorrow and think, "why did I write this?"

july part 2.

This past weekend, we took our little family to a Tears for Fears concert. Oh, what fun we had. Since my brother and his family lives over thata way, we were able to stay with them. He has 4 girls. I have 2 and Hattie is an Eggleston cousin...that is a lot of girls. We outnumbered the boys by lots. All these girls did all weekend was read books.

******

The concert was AWESOME! but we couldn't bring a camera in, or they would have taken it away...no thanks, not worth it. It was outside at a Winery in Woodinville. The weather was perfect, which was suprising for that side of the state, but I guess they have had a really dry June. Spokane is actually greener right now...anywho...We layed out a big blanket and brought a picnic dinner. We watched everone get drunk around us, which was entertaining in itself. Matt sang every word of every song. Brinley knew about half the words, but recognized every song. We grew up with Tears For Fears, so why shouldn't our girls. I bought t-shirts for Matt, Brinley and I. Brinley will have to grow into hers, but it works great as a night shirt for now.

*****

Saturday we drove the North Cascade Highway. GORGEOUS!
We stopped and got ice cream before the long drive...

Brinley enjoyed hers.
This is Diablo Lake. I want to camp here. It was beautiful.

This was the river coming after one of the dams. I think there are at least 3 in on the drive. The water was a turquiose green/blue color. It was really beautiful.

Gorgeous mountains. I love this place. I want to live there.

July part 1

So I am only a week late posting these pics.

We had a really fun 4th and here are some pictures to prove it. Sarah and her silly smile. My friend, Rachel, made the flowers in my girls hair. (I would post her shop on Etsy, but Etsy is down right now.)Hello! Little Matt. They even make the same face.

******

We went to Fish Lake with some family and friends.

My sister, Julie, always trying to get her husband, Merv, to laugh. Lots of fun on the lake.

*****

Afterward, we headed our sunburned selves downtown for the fireworks in Riverfront Park.

Julie was feeling patriotic.
We have to have a sno cone while we wait for the sun to go down, it's tradition.

Matt and I are made for each other... a couple of nerds, for sure.