Brinley's Blog

One week after we got back from our Washington D.C. trip, we drove to Ruidoso, New Mexico with Uncle Zack. Your great grandparents (Grandpa Fisher's parents), Ma and Pa, have a timeshare in Ruidoso, so every year they go there for one week and invite the whole family. Ruidoso is a cute little town with fun little shops, places to fish, and beautiful scenery! You got to meet your second cousins (Daddy's cousins, Aaron and Eric Lee), their wives (Heather and Becky), and their kids. We had a great time!

Daddy and Uncle Zack love Dippin' Dots!

Grandpa and Uncle Zack

Horse Races at Ruidoso Downs

Lily, Ma, you, Pa and Luke

You fell asleep while we were fishing

On August 23, 2011 we visited Daddy at work (well actually, we visited Daddy, Cici, Pawpa, and Auntie Kristen at work all the time, but that day we took a picture)

At four months old you could sit up all by yourself! Not for very long (but long enough to get the picturebelow!), but by the end of five months, you could do it very well.

September, 2011, Daddy and I took you up north to Sedona, Arizona. It is beautiful Red Rock Country. There is not much to do, but it was relaxing (well as relaxing as traveling with a hyper five-month-old can be, haha).

By five months you had developed quite the personality. The silliest things made you laugh hysterically, it was adorable to watch. Your smile and laugh was contagious. During your fifth month, you started crawling everywhere! We were all in trouble then! You moved fast and it was hard to keep up! :-) Here are some pictures from September, 2011...

By six months you could stand up and yourself for about five seconds! That is crazy! Plus, you had gotten even faster at crawling. You definitely gave Mommy a run for her money, haha! Here are some pictures from October, 2011. You were 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 months old.

Visiting Nana at her school

You loved that teething strawberry. It vibrated when you bit it, and helped your poor teething gums.

At dinner for Pawpa's birthday Ocotber 6, 2011.

Cici gave you your first bite of frozen yogurt (against Mommy's protests haha)! You had only had breastmilk at this point, put boy you loved that frozen yogurt! :-)

All ready for bed

Crawling everywhere!

Your suitcase matched your nursery decor, and you went through a phase where you loved playing in/on it. You thought it was a great toy!

Auntie Hayes bought you your first shirt from Paris! She also bought you your wooden shoe piggybank from Amsterdam.

So happy with Auntie Hayes

I was afraid I would somehow delete everything I had already typed, so I decided to just post Part 1, and start anew with Post 2.

So we left off with Ella being born. Let us back up a little bit. Before you were born, Daddy said that you were going to sleep in your crib. The first night home from the hospital, Daddy was the one who brought you into bed with us (this is what Mommy wanted all along). I knew once he saw your adorable little face, he would not be able to stand you being all alone in your own room. He is such a good Daddy! Let me just say that you are now almost two and have slept in bed with Daddy and me every single night! Some people frown upon that practice, but I think it is the absolute best way to go! Sure, Mommy and Daddy still don't get that much sleep, but we get to cuddle with you all night long and see your smiling face first thing in the morning, and that makes all the loss of sleep worth it!

Okay, so now is probably a good time to post some pics

This is your pink Bugaboo, a very expensive stroller (all the celebrities had them, at the time). Mommy thought that things like this were important until I had you. I'm only including this picture to let you know that one day you too may think that material things are important, but really all that matters is having people you love around you every single day. :-)

You LOVE your Daddy!

Your first Easter, April 24, 2011. You were only 10 days old, so we didn't really do much!

The most precious girl in the world!

You always tried to scratch your face, so you constantly had to wear gloves or onesies with sewn on mittens to prevent damage to your beautiful, perfect face!

You LOVED bath time! Look at you calmly floating there!

Normally you took your baths in the sink. I love your "look" in this one!!

Look how tiny you are compared to Mommy's finger!

Getting a little sun to help the mild jaundice you had

Three weeks old!

At Mommy's Law School Graduation, you were exactly one month old! I actually graduated one semester early and took the AZ Bar Exam in February, when I was 8 months pregnant, but my school did not have a December graduation. Thus, I had to walk in May, and you got to be there!

Such a happy baby, and look how much you chunked up!

10 weeks old and so strong (and of course absolutely adorable!)

This picture has been Mommy's screensaver on her phone since for a year and a half. You were only 11 weeks old in this picture and you were trying to walk! See what I mean about you being so strong and advanced?!

Daddy's Little Firecracker, you sure were!

Proud to be an American

Your first Fourth of July

This outfit was a gift from our neighbors in Las Sendas, who were from Texas.

Visiting Nana at her Montessori School

In the middle of July 2011, we went on your first trip! We flew to Washington D.C. with Pawpa, Cici and Cameron. We were worried about the flight, not sure how you would be, but you did great! You slept for most of the flight in the travel bed we brought. Unfortunately, DC had record breaking temperatures the week we were there, that coupled with humidity made it nearly impossible to stay outside for very long (especially with you being so young). Nonetheless, we had a great time, and you seemed to enjoy it. We visited several of the Smithsonian museums, you went to your first IMAX experience, visited Ford's Theater (where President Lincoln was shot), and several of the famous landmarks. We also went to the hospital where Nana and your Uncle Don were born (ironic, isn't it), as well as Pawpa's old house in Maryland. We met up with a couple of Mommy's friends from college and my and Daddy's neighbors from the house we lived in during college (Eddie Joe, Connie and their son Cody) Here are some of the pics from the trip...