Our trip to the dentist

Erin works at a pediatric dentist office and has been dying to get Brielle in. A few weeks ago Erin noticed plaque on the front of Brielle's teeth. Next thing I knew Erin was calling me telling me she set up an appointment for Brielle to see dentist.

I wasn't too sure how it was going to go. I figure it would go ok or really bad. Brielle was excited to see Erin and was SUPER good during her cleaning. However the dentist check didn't go as well. Brielle didn't like the tools in her mouth, but by the end she was not crying as much. We were informed we were doing a good job brushing her teeth (which made us feel really good) and we saw many teeth getting ready to present themselves. Brielle was treated like a star and everyone in the office was excited to see her.

Can you tell Erin is super excited to have Brielle as her patient.

Brielle wasn't too sure about sitting in the chair by herself. Luckily Daddy was able to come so I could take some pictures.

Erin is so good at her job! Brielle loved it!

Brielle allowed Erin to clean her teeth and she didn't even fight her. Why wont she do that with us? We need lessons.

Near the end she wanted to brush her own teeth.

In order for Erin to finish, Matt had to hold Brielle down and did some coaching...Say "AAAAAHHHH"

She did so well with the toothbrush Erin busted out the other cleaning tools.

Cleaning is all done, GOOD JOB ERIN!

She really didn't like the tools in her mouth, but we were able to get a great inspection of her mouth.

She was pretty excited she was able to pick out a toy, she even showed off her shiny clean teeth.

Is it summer yet??

Today during our walk around the Marina and walk over the Scheels to look at the fish I thought I would swing by and pick up a new swimsuit for Brielle. She was excited to try it on tonight and put on her outside gear. Here are a few pictures I was able to capture with her many different expressions.

She was rubbing her tummy up and down feeling the material.

Recently her new thing is to fold her arms, not sure why but it's pretty cute.

This is the normal stance I see her do.

This is the gangster look. HA!

First for me

Tonight I had a very scary experience. Work was unusually slow until about 4 PM. Then things fell apart and I ended up not leaving work until 8:15. I was super frustrated that I was at work an hour late and there were a few other things going on. Leaving the parking garage I was thinking about how I couldn't wait to get home and then it happen. My thoughts were interrupted by a very loud banging noise and then it felt like my car ran something over. I was so confused until I looked in my rear view mirror and saw someone jump up with their hands in the air. OH MY GOSH I HIT PEDESTRIAN! I jumped out of my car shaking and saying "OH MY GOSH ARE YOU OK??I'M SO SORRY, I DIDN'T EVEN SEE YOU!" I asked him several times if he was OK while I was trying to physically assess him (only thing I could see was a quarter size skin abrasion on his hand). He kept saying he was OK and it could have been worse. I kept asking if he wanted to exchange information or if he wanted me to take him to the ER. He said he would just go home and put hydrogen peroxide on his hand, picked up his board and started walking.
I got back into my car and started to bawl. I was sick to my stomach, in shock and couldn't believe what had just happen. As I drove home I kept crying and giving praise and expressing gratitude to my Heavenly Father. I was so grateful nothing more happen.
I had no idea how or where I hit him until I was almost home and tried to look at my passenger side mirror and it was pushed in. No wonder I didn't see him, he hit the side of my car. When I pulled into the garage I thought he had broken my mirror but Matt was able to fix it. He did leave a couple dints.
Geez my poor car, that whole passenger side is all beat up. First when I hit the pole and left damage to the back passenger panel(years ago) and then the long boarder hit the front passenger panel. I might as well keep it all on the same side right??
Needless to say tonight was a first for me and one that I would prefer to never experience again. I learned to be a little more careful.

Sierra Safari Zoo

On Monday we wanted to do something fun with Brielle. We were going to go to Truckee to check out the children's museum but its close to the public on Mondays. Matt suggested we go to the Zoo. We called Julie up and she came with Tyler and Brookie.

From my understanding the Sierra Safari Zoo has been in Reno for years (like 20 years), but I don't recall ever going. For field trips we always went to Animal Ark out in Red Rock. The weather was suppose to clear up but it didn't. The closer we drove to the zoo, the darker the clouds became and the more snow we saw. However, it is Nevada so the snow comes and goes as well as the sun. Matt went in to find out if they were going to stay open (due to yucky weather) and found out that some of the animals were not out (the monkeys, alligator, birds). It kinda sounded like half the animals were not available to see. We debated in the truck for some time but Tyler really wanted to go, so we thought we would try it out.

I am so glad we did. Don't get me wrong, it was DANG cold and I was wishing I had brought Brielle's gloves. When we first walked out they had several peacocks. I thought they were caged in but before we knew it, they were out walking the path with us. Tyler and Brookie feed them, and lost their cone with the food to one of the peacocks. I must say, I was impressed with how many animals they had in such a small space. Off the top of my head I remember petting the deer, seeing mountain goats and a baby, baboons, tigers and lions, zebra, snakes, lynx, camel, bobcat and some others. Brielle really liked it and would "meow" every time the peacocks would cry out. When she saw the deer she thought they were sheep and would would say "baa." It was a fun morning. When we were done we jumped in the truck to see if we could go to Animal Ark, but we discovered they are closed on Mondays. When the weather is nicer I will be visiting both places again.

Brielle was excited for multiple reasons, one to be outside and two to be around animals.

We were going to feed the deer too but this peacock stole the food, it was fun watching Brookie and Tyler. Brielle was ok watching from afar.

The deer are so use to being fed they come running to the gate when you first walk in, it kinda freaked Tyler out.

Matt, Brielle, Brookie and Tyler

By this point we were picking up the pace because it was COLD!

Tyler, Brielle, myself and Brookie in front of the baboons. One of the workers were around and the male was getting very excited.

I had to be careful, this deer really liked Brielle's coat.

Brielle's adventures

I must admit I love this stage but it is more challenging. She has fallen off the chairs in our kitchen (more than once). She has thrown all the books off the shelf (nothing new) and then climbed inside the bookcase. She reads out loud and it's hilarious to listen to. She will pick up the phone and ask to talk to Oma. She will hug, or touch or kiss (sometime all three) my belly when I ask where the baby is, and point to my belly. She enjoys coloring with pen and crayons-sometime she is a little messy for my liking. She is such a big helper-some snacks were left on the floor and she picked them up and put them away, my candle holder fell and she picked it up and put the candle back inside. She is so willing to help pick up her toys and put them away. She has started to say "bye-bye" and wave at the same time, she use to do one or the other. She has received her first antibiotics (sinus infection-3 week treatment) and her first fungal cream (fungus infection in her toe nail). She yells ouch and it progressive gets louder the more frustrated she becomes (many times it is not associated with injury). She is becoming more attached to her pacifier, when I am trying to wean her. It's not funny (but it really is) when she shakes her finger and says "NO!" However everything is 'NO' right now. Currently one of her favorite activities is do open the hat drawer and pull all the hats out. I don't have to rock her to sleep anymore-most the time she will cry for a mintue and then go to sleep (however bedtime is easier then nap time). She sure is a handful but a bundle of joy.

Oma and Brielle reading together

Brielle and Matt getting ready to say prayers. She will rest her head and fold her arms the whole prayer (if its short).

Brielle has discovere that she can pull and push things and they will move. The top three she enjoys moving the most are high chair, strollers, and shopping carts.

I emptied the trash to come back and find my little helper doing this.

She is always climbing the kitchen table chairs.

I pulled out the play-duh and she would barley touch it.

She would quickly pull her hand away and say "burr"

She eventually warmed up to the idea but she still doesn't really like to play with it.

She would prefer to play with the container and the accessories that came with it.

Brielle lives on the edge...sound fimiliar?? Like mother like daughter I suppose. Luckily she has a lot of Matt in her that makes her so loving and sweet.

Brielle will grab paper and point to the letters and tell me a story. I have no idea what she is saying but it must be good.

If I remember correctly I stuck my finger in my mouth and then wiped it on her lap desk to clean off some pen. She thought it was a good idea, and now I find her sticking her finger in her mouth and trying to clean something up. I swear it only takes once for this child to pick up on things. I have to be very careful. For instance when we were playing in the snow and her glove fell off I took it and rubbed it on my pants. For that moment on if she gets something on her hand, there will be times where she comes over to me and wipes her hands on my pants!

When we first started to draw together I would trace her hand, now she does it everytime she is drawing.

Brielle LOVES Winnie the Pooh. She will hug them and cuddle with them, and play with them.

She continues to have the warmest smile that just goes straight to your soul. I LOVE YOU BRIELLE!

Brielle's MD appt

Today I finally gave in and called the doctor. Brielle has had a non-stop cold that feels like its been all winter, but exceptionally bad the last four weeks.
When I took her in I knew I had missed her 12 month shots but I found out I missed a 15 month check up. DANG! So my appointment turned into a check up and sick appointment. She is right on track for everything.
The Doctor told me NO MORE BOTTLES! She was only getting two a day, one before a nap and one before bed. This is going to present a challenge because that was how I was able to get Brielle her milk consumption for the day and her cue it was time for bed.
We decided to treat Brielle for a sinus infection which was to require 3 WEEKS of antibiotics! I was shocked with the length. We also decided to give her 3 of her 6 shots right then so I wasn't so behind.
I must say it was a very productive doctors appointment. Her status: 23.5 lbs placing her in the 50th percentile weight and 32.5 inches placing her in the 88th percentile for height.

Sick Day

I swear Brielle has had a cold ever since she turned one. This winter both Brielle and I have had our fair share of yucky colds. Once we came back from Las Vega Brielle started up with a runny noise and a little cough. It hasn't been too bad but after our long Easter weekend it wasn't getting any better. It hasn't help that the weather is still winter like and it is SO COLD! I tried to keep her in most the day since it was so windy, however that meant I needed to pull out all my tricks because she did not want to be inside. My morning was a little rough but we managed to get by until Daddy came home for lunch. They had a good time talking on the phone to Aunt Julie and looking at junk mail.

Matt normally has a bluetooth in but today he used headphones. Brielle thought it was pretty neat she could hear Aunt Julies' voice.

She was entertained for some time by looking at the junk mail.

I have noticed when we go to her friends house that she loves to play with their toy dishes. So when I was at Target I bought a cheap little tea set and waited until today to pull it out. She thought it was SO fun.

She really liked it when I would put raisins on the plate and she would try to pick them up with her spoon.

Brielle is really into coloring. I had purchased this activity book for church with anticipation I would use it when she was a little older, but she had other plans. It wasn't a big deal until she went crazy with the pen and got it all over her hand and shirt. As a result, I have decided to put the book away so she can't see it until she is a little older.

She wasn't too happy to took the pen away, you can see the pen on her shirt!

That afternoon it warmed up enough that the wind wasn't too cold. We headed outside for a little while and pulled out some new outdoor toys.We have played with sidewalk chalk before but now she really understood the concept. Unfortunately I didn't pull the camera out until she was all done and cleaning up.

I also pulled out a few toys for the dirt. She LOVES the dirt and was excited to put dirt into the bucket, dump it out and play so more.

I tried to capture how dirty so was by the time we were done playing outside. Chalk all over her shirt, hands and face mixed with dirt covering her pants and shoes. I must say she enjoyed herself outside.

After dinner Matt shared some of his pop rocks candy with Brielle. She thought it was fun having it pop in her mouth and would keep it open to hear it snap, crackle and pop.

Matt pulled out the fingerpaint for the bath. She LOVES her baths now and enjoys painting in the bath (best place to paint)!