Call Child Protective Services

 So this is a little late coming and I don't have that many pictures from the first event, but our little Jakie got 5 stitches not once, but twice in the month of March. Jake's never really been the cautious type and in the middle of March he got his first cut right smack dab in the middle of his forehead with an exercise band. Note to any kids reading this; never play tug of war with an exercise band with hard plastic handles! Then 2 weeks later, 8 days after having the first set of stitches removed on the Sunday we were celebrating Lilly's birthday, he fell off a skateboard and pulled a Aunt Meggie and split his chin open requiring another 5 stitches. When I took him to the Urgent care again to get stitched up the second time they gave me the old "Should we call CPS on you?" look, but apparently our story was convincing enough that no authorities were notified:) Anyway, Jake took it like a champ and got both sets of stitches placed without any problem and he's now back to running around figuring out which manner will best suit him to acquire his next set of stitches. It's not about "if", it's about "when."

Just carrying on the tradition of keeping the family in stitches.

Jake asking if he can get a tongue piercing while we're here.

Shan and I were so worried about his cut we tried a new home remedy: "Let Jake stay for Lilly's party, cover the wound with cupcake frosting, and cover it with a band aid. On second thought maybe the doctor should have called CPS.

This picture has nothing to do with Jake's stitches. I just love it!

Brooke is 9... and the Snow Queen

So Brooke had her 9th birthday this year and she had lots of fun celebrating being a shade under a decade old. On Tuesday (her actual birthday) we let her choose where she wanted to go to eat and bring along 2 friends (one of which was her cousin Olivia:). Being true to herself she decided to go outside the box and instead of picking a restaurant chose frozen yogurt. The girls had fun making their own frozen creations which kept right in line with the theme of her upcoming birthday party that weekend which was a Frozen themed sleepover. The girls had fun singing Frozen karaoke to the movie soundtrack and staying up past midnight effectively draining all energy from Shan and me. Shan did a great job making awesome "Frozen" food and transforming our house into an Arendellian wonderland. It was great fun for everybody and we're so happy to see our little Brooklyn growing up into such a lovely young woman.

 Brooke loved all the presents she received from family and says "Thanks" to everyone

 

Lilly's 1st Birthday

So our little Lilly girl finally turned 1. As this is the beginning of our hectic 3 birthdays in 3 weeks stretch we kept her birthday fairly low key and just had family over for fun and cupcakes. Lilly had fun unwrapping her presents and of course we did the traditional, "Get baby naked and let her tear into the cake" routine. She was successful! Just for information's sake:

 -  Lilly started walking around Valentine's day and is currently trying to master stairs. 

 -  She can wave "Hi" and tries to say it in her own baby gurggly way. She also loves playing peek-a-boo.

 - She loves playing around water whether it be in the sink or the bath 

 - Above all else she just wants to be held by and play with her beautiful Mommy. 

We feel so blessed to have our silly Lilly with us!

Lilly loves to play and will walk up to you with this smile when she wants you to play with her:)

It's present time!! Let's get this party started!

Lilly really enjoyed all of her presents. Thanks to everyone for being so thoughtful!

Bry photobombing the picture of Lilly's cupcake tower

"So birthdays are when we take all of our clothes off to eat? Weird."

" Well this feels....different"

"Don't even think about taking that cupcake from me!"

"What? No, I didn't do anything. These cupcakes were like this when I found them."

"Do I have something on my face?"

"Don't judge me."

"That was awesome! Can we do that again??"

One post.....a million pictures

So I decided as there was no way to catch up on individual posts I would just do one massive post comprising of June 2013 to now. These pictures are in somewhat chronological order but basically I just wanted to make sure I got the pictures on our blog to save how our kids have grown in the past year. I picked through all our picture files really quickly so some might seem a little odd but at least its something. I'll post little comments here and there about where we are and what we are doing but as I'm sure you don't read this blog for the amazing literary accomplishments I am achieving with my writing, I hope you enjoy the Pictures!

 Summer in the sun! Grandma and Grandma "O" came over the fourth of July for little Scarlet's blessing and we were able to have a great time. The whole family (Grandparents and all grandkids) were able to go swimming together and enjoy the fireworks. The cousins had their first clothing coordinated photoshoot courtesy of the forethought of the 3 O'Bryant sisters which made for some great pictures. Overall it was a great way to spend the summer days.

2013 was the year Jake started lining up everything. We have several photo examples of this but this is one of my favorites since it was his idea to put himself and Lilly in the line.

Grandpa "O's" massive memory game with Brooke and the massive space ship he made with Bry

She's always been a smiler:)

2013 was also the year Bry learned how to crack an egg which he now considers his job whenever we are cooking

So we also went to Dallas during the summer of 2013 just because we had never been and thought we should check it out. We let each of the older kids pick one activity they wanted to do and Bry picked going to Legoland and Brooke wanted to go to the American Girl doll store. It was a great weekend playing around Dallas, getting soaked at the splashpark, and meeting up with one of Shan's old roommates(We love you Steph!) We highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun quick trip!

Jake loved this lego pit in the "Young Kids" area of lego land and stayed there for over an hour just building and playing

Bry can't get enough of Legos and even got to pick one out before we left.

We also got to go to the Ross Perot Museum of Natural History (or something to that effect). The kids loved it and had a blast playing on the frogs outside

American Girl Store here I come!!!

Dallas temple. Bry was upset about something and wouldn't get out of the car. Rare for him.

Bry's first day of Kindergarten. Brooke's an old pro by now

So in September I got to come to Las Vegas for a dental CE course and Brooke was my travel companion. We had a lot of fun hanging out with the Vegas Fam and I got introduced to how bad I am at frisbee golf. Brooke and I had a great time despite my incessant snoring:)

 Lisa came for a little Birthday/Conference visit the first part of October  and it was great having her around.

Brooke also got glasses in 2013. After shopping around she found the perfect pink frames she wanted. Ain't she cute!

At the end of 2013 is when Jake started learning not only how to climb, but how to manipulate objects around him on a regular basis to help him get where he wants to go. This of course isn't a safety hazard at all and he always listens perfectly when we tell him not to climb.

Halloween 2013- I think I will always remember this year because we only had 4 kids and utilized 8 different costumes. Brooke wanted  to be something different at school, the ward trunk or treat, and on actual Halloween night. The boys followed suit and each had 2 costumes each. Of course we also had our little Bumble-Lilly to charm everybody. Then again I guess I can't complain as all costumes used were things we had on hand so our expenses remained pretty small which is always a plus from the Daddy perspective

Fireman Jake, Bat-Bry, and Dorothy with  Toto

At the school parade Jakie saw Brooke and had to run up and be by her side.

Sugar Plum Fairy Brooke, Pirate Bry, and again Fireman Jake

Flapper Brooke, Bumble Lilly, and Bat-Jake this time. He really got into character

So the kids got together with one of our neighbors and each family built a "Bumper Buggy" and got together to race. We finally decided on a BYU theme. Our Buggy was built to hold 2 stuffed animals and came in 2nd place in the race. We also got the award for "Most creative buggy"

Brooke and I volunteered to go help plant onions at the stake farm in November and thought we'd BYU it up for funsies. We had a great time

 So you may think this picture is out of place timeline wise but it's actually right where it happened We had our decorations up by the second week in November and found out people have surprisingly strong opinions about when you should put your Christmas decorations up.

Lilly started standing up and cruising in early November

Brooke's panda obsession is still ongoing!

Thanksgiving 2013- We were able to go to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving last year and were also able to help Master Luke celebrate his birthday. We had so much fun at LasVegas Grand Prix and playing around with Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents.

Tom's Magnatile robotic helmets were a huge hit with all the kids ranking right up there with the huge floor to ceiling cardboard brick tower that they knock down

Brooke lost a tooth

Lilly got some teeth

Bowling has become something of a Vegas tradition for our family

Christmas 2013!!! So this was our last Christmas season in the Patron Village house and we had a blast. This was Lilly's first Christmas and as Grandma and Grandpa "O" were in town we decided to all do Christmas together at the Lee's house. Christmas day was awesome with 9 little kids running around and going crazy on their Christmas high and of course our big surprise that Shan and I had been hiding for 4 months was that we had built a house. We all got to go see the new house on Christmas day and we were able to move in at the end of January. It's been a big change moving wards and schools but we are loving our new neighborhood and love that it's so easy to do stuff with cousins when we have time off.

Lilly's Christmas present for Shan

Jakie turned 3 on Feb 2nd and we had a fun family get together at the new house

We had actual snow stick to the ground in San Antonio which effectively shut down the city. I think it was less than 1/2 inch but work and school were cancelled.

Valentines' day boxes for school:)

Shan saw an idea for Valentines day baby pictures and decided to give it a whirl. We got lots of cute pictures and had a lot of fun with our little angel and her beautiful mom.

It's always a good time for silly faces

Getting her clean was just as much fun as the photoshoot

CRAZY BRY!!!

Shan and Brooke stretching out their poor sore legs

Brooke had to give an oral report on Helen Keller and decided to dress the part.

After months of cruising Lilly finally started walking right after Valentine's day. Look out world!

Spring Break opened up all sorts of fun activities including a visit to the Children's Museum

This can't be a good idea.

First official project of the new house. Make floating shelves for a new Book Nook. There's still some painting left to do but all the kids helped make them

As always, we all still love warm hugs!