Brie is FIVE!

Five years ago we welcomed this little bundle of joy into the world.  How she has changed over the years...

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...but she still is such a JOY in our family.  

If we could sum up your five year old self we would say, Brie...

--is sweet and sassy.  

--LOVES everything that has to do with babies!  She takes care of them just like a little mom.  She often brings a stuffed animal friend or doll with her (car seat, blankie, burp cloth...) whenever we leave the house.  She continues to frequently give birth to her own little babies ;0)

--enjoys PBSKIDS.org, especially watching Daniel Tiger, Peg & Cat, Martha Speaks and Super Why.

--is always asking questions.  She wants to know how things work and why.

--is very self-sufficient.  After breakfast she goes up, gets dressed, brushes her teeth, and combs her hair.  

--is a wonderful big sister.  She tries to be SO patient with her energetic and intense Alex and showers Elijah with love and kisses.

--is a great help around the house and in the kitchen.  She is thorough when she cleans and is truly a great help to me.  She especially likes to do the dishes, but also likes to help her Dad clean the bathrooms.

--has a beautiful singing voice and is constantly making up her own songs or singing her favorite songs from primary.  We love to listen to her sing (other than when it's quiet/nap time ;0))!

--says the most thoughtful prayers.  You can tell she really thinks about who is in need and is aware of the blessings in her life.

--loves to be tickled and to be play hide and seek with her Dad after dinner.

--enjoys reading books, knows her alphabet, can sound out words and is working on spelling words.

--likes to do craft projects with me (making cards, painting, coloring, etc.)

--really enjoys playing music on her CD player, listening, singing along and dancing to music.  Her Little People Road Trip CDs are her current favorites.

--loves to play with friends!

We love you SOOOOO much dear Brie.  Thanks for coming first.  Glad us girls can stick together...Mother-Daughter time is the best! :0)

281 days.

281 days (7 november): playing airplane with Brie and her stuffed animal friends
280 days: Hmm, can't remember...
279 days: en route to Springfield, MO
278 days: en route to Stillwater, OK
277 days: watched Food Network tucked in to Brie's hotel bed (while the boys napped) and shared a Twix.
276 days: en route to Joplin, MO
275 days: en route to St. Louis!
274 days: rubbed Brie's feet while we looked through a Paris study abroad photo album and told stories.  Dressed Elmo up in some of Alex's retired clothes.
273 days: played airplane, made M & M cookies and chased a giggling Lij down the hall :0)
272 days: ran errands while Bry stayed with the napping boys at home.  Brie did such a great job keeping up with my pace as we had a lot to get done.  AND she is such a great helper when I shop, rarely complaining or asking to buy things.
271 days: looked at pictures together.  LOVE having church at 10AM now!
270 days: at the Hintze's for a playdate/sleepover while Bry was in Georgia for his last job interview.
269 days: read books together while everyone else was napping at the Hintze's
268 days: tea party (hot chocolate and candy canes) with Laura & Hannah (and Adam ;0))
267 days: Brie cleaned the kitchen while I worked on Christmas present projects then she was my helper.  Love working together!!
266 days: Bry & I were at the temple (finalizing our decision on which job to pick) during naps.
265 days: (22 November) Christmas present projects, take 2.
264 days: Daddy-Daughter time while I finished up my talk on Gratitude.
263 days: watched some great, inspiring clips on the Mormon Channel.
262 days: Brie helped me get snack & activity packs ready for our Thanksgiving road trip.
261 days: en route to St. George, KS
260 days: at Kate & Steve's
259 days: at Kate & Steve's (I need to be better at doing mother-daughter time, even when we're on vacation.  We did get some snuggle time in while watching shows and building block towers together.)
258 days: at Kate & Steve's
257 days: en route back home to St. Louis
256 days: the boys & I weren't feeling well, so not much mother-daughter time going on :0(
255 days: (2 December) Brie helped me to get our Christmas cards ready.
254 days: Brie helped me make homemade chocolate hazelnut pudding (delicious way to use a lot of milk before it goes bad ;0)), had a little tea party (Happiest: Having clothes, Hardest: Seeing Alex sick.), sorted scrapbook letters alphabetically for future projects.
253 days: We worked on Christmas present projects, particularly painting projects for a few of her friends.  ALMOST DONE getting presents ready to take!



252 days: We dipped and decorated cookies.
251 days: We played airplane then Brie was my AWESOME helper to get things ready for our little family's Christmas Eve.  She helped clean (gave the chair cushions a big scrub), get the food put together and the house straightened.
250 days: I went visiting teaching during naps and while Brie & Bry had some daddy-daughter time.
249 days: We put together snack packs for our flight to SLC!!  Yahoo :0)  And looked at pictures & watched videos from all of the Christmases we've celebrated with her.

road tripping it to Normal, Illinois.

(I'm going to devote a post to the job market journey, but wanted to document the two road trips we got to take as a family.  The first was to Normal, Illinois.  Funny to think that this is going to be our "home town" next year!)

Normal is about 2h45min from St. Louis so it was a pretty quick trip, which was nice.  It is definitely corn country in that area.  Most of the stalks had already been cut down, but it was fun to drive by a few of the remaining cornfields.

Our first stop, as suggested by the Gublers, was Avanti's for their famous gondola sandwiches.  They were really yummy!  We stayed at the Double Tree Inn in Bloomington.  We were big fans of the warm chocolate chip cookies upon arrival :0), not to mention the big comfy beds and the indoor pool.

Unfortunately this particular interview was pretty time intensive so after Bry took the kiddos swimming he got dressed and headed out to dinner.  It was FREEZING cold and I was not in the mood to drag all four of us into a restaurant, so we loaded in the van to drive across the parking lot and go through the Panera drive through ;0)  We watched a lot of HGTV and Food Network and chilled in the hotel room.  Bedtime was interesting with all 5 of us in the same room.

Friday we went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.  The hostess there (Nancy?) was SO kind to hold Elijah and keep an eye on Alex while I got food for the kiddos.  I couldn't have done it without her help!  Afterwards, we headed over to meet some new friends (Daniel is faculty at ISU and his wife Erin offered to tell us about Bloomington Normal and ISU) and spent the day there with them in their beautiful home.  It was SUPER sweet of them to accommodate the four of us since they have 5 (at the time, soon-to-be 6) kids of their own.  It made me laugh to think of Bry, dressed up and in a professional setting interviewing over breakfast with Daniel...and I'm chilling at home with his family.  Daniel came home and was really nice to let me ask him a bunch a questions about the town and the job in general.  That night I braved going out to eat (me + 3 kiddos) and went to Meat Heads.

Saturday before heading home, we went on a Real Estate tour.  It cracked me up how similar house hunting was to dating.  The first house I thought was amazing, the second was even better and so on.  By the last house I thought we'd found the one, but now thinking back on it I think I'd actually like something different.  Good thing we're going through this process ;0)  It'll be good to see a lot of houses before we buy so we make sure we're getting what we really want.    

According to iPhone, 5.

 that's one way to use teething gel ;0)

 The girls & me on our way to Costco (the boys were with Laura).

 The whole crew busy eating samples.

 Brie & Hannah dressing up like sister missionaries.

 Alex & Adam watching a Cardinal's game.

 What is so cute about seeing these two busy playing?

 Fall is coming.

 Laying out the Halloween costumes.

 Bry LOVES that tree.  He's sad that this will be our last time seeing it with its spendid autum leaves.

 Out on a date!

 Halloween goodies...always watching.

 Lij has started climbing the stairs.

 Uncle Lij with his newest niece.  I think this looks like one of those "awkward family photos"...cracks me up!

 Snack packs for road trip to Stillwater, OK.

 Providing Bry with graphics for one of his job interviews ;0)

 no words.

 Playing "airplane" with Brie and company :0)

 My cute little sewing helper :0)

 One of the many comings and goings at the STL airport.

 You know it's time to raise the exersaucer when...

 First time sitting in a cart.

 Goofing around with winter hats.

 Talking through a lesson plan before Bry's campus visit at Georgia Southern.

 Another Graden/Hintze Costco run.

 Sure Brie, I don't think you're tired either ;0)

 Our cute little babens.

 After a wonderful session at the STL Temple, having decided that we'd be accepting the offer from ISU.

 Christmas projects with my little elf.

 Brie breaking out the dance moves :0)

 The 4 top teeth decided to come in the same week!

Offical offer from ISU.

cleaning up my mess.

Today was a harder day.  Seems like there have been a lot of those lately.  I have had an especially hard time with Alex.  He THRIVES on doing what I tell him not to do and it gets under my skin.  In any case, after the kids were in bed tonight, Bry was at bishopric meeting and the house was quiet (the kids actually went to sleep.  yay!) I started sweeping the dirty floor.  There is something about cleaning the kitchen floor that gets me waxing philosophic.  The day was playing back in my mind; I looked at the food-strewn floor that had been swept a few hours earlier, I thought of cleaning up the kids' mess and needing to clean up my "mess."  Them spilling food on the floor is the equivalent of me losing my temper.  I clean up their messes, the Lord helps to clean up my messes.  I said a silent prayer, asking for forgiveness for the lack of patience I had had with Alex.  Then the thought came to me that Alex is doing the best that he can.  It may not feel that way, it may still be frustrating, but in his little 2 year old world he is sure trying hard.  I think that needs to be my mantra, "they are doing their best!"  Or maybe, "They are doing their best, YOU are doing your best, give yourselves a break, laugh and let it go!!"  I think we'd all benefit from that train of thought ;0)

Note to self: We do have happy times