There are witches in the air...

Halloween is here! We got our decorations up -- we're so excited to have a house to decorate! We got some tombstones and spider web for the front yard. Brent even made a stone cast of his hand so it looks like someone's trying to claw their way out of our grass!

Drew and Brent will be wearing their Jedi costumes from last year, and so I only had to do costumes for me and Bryn this year. I finished up our costumes last night, and I'm so excited. Thought I'd put a little preview of our little Princess Leia on here -- she turned out so cute! I'm just so excited it turned out well; I didn't have a pattern.

Woohoo! So excited for some trick-or-treating and costume partying!!!

Best weekend ever...

This has been one of the best weekends I've had in a while -- it's been just fantastic! First, Brent had Friday off from school (in Utah you get a day off to shoot deer, here you get it off for football). Our friends had the awesome idea to take advantage of the extra day by going camping. So I met Brent at school Thursday evening for Dentfest (you get free stuff and food); Brent bought me an OU Denstistry shirt, which I've been begging for, and he even won a set of dental tools! Then we headed straight out to Red Rock Canyon, which is only about an hour away, for some time out of the city...

Girls! Drew with his best friends, Ady and Brinks.

We feel so lucky to have the friends we do! We always have so much fun with them...

Keri and Zack...

Katrina and E...

Bryn did so well -- she slept just as well as she does at home, and she seemed to enjoy being outside. It's hard to tell, seeing as how she's only six weeks old. She slept in her car seat and stayed nice and toasty. And yes, she's getting big so fast...

Drew and Ady, enjoying some lemonade on the table. This is what camping is all about! :)

Couldn't forget Brinks! She wanted to get in on the picture, too...

My little Brynnie Winnie -- she's starting to hold her head up really well and to look at us. She smiled for the first time on Sunday!

We can't forget Jimmy and Camila's "kid," Ginger. She was a big hit with all the kids -- they loved her!

We camped in this awesome little cove in red rocks, which reminded me of southern Utah. Everyone was climbing up at the far end of the cove. Zack, Brinks and Keri...

Katrina and E in the tree...

Drew in the tree -- it looks like he's showing off those dirty little hands, but he's actually saying, "Ok, ten more minutes and then it's time to go." I guess I tell him that a lot... 

Zack, Ady, Brinks and Keri...

Camila, Ginger and Jimmy...

Huh???

E had soooo much fun camping! She got just as dirty as the big kids.

We had so much fun. We only stayed the one night, and left by early afternoon the next day, but it was so nice to get out and do something fun. I feel like I've spent so much time at home being so uncomfortable over the summer with my pregnancy and now keeping Bryn at home.

We went out for dinner on Friday and then watched a movie at home. Saturday I got to start rehearsals for our Christmas cantata, then I did a little shopping for non-maternity clothes. :) It's nice to wear normal stuff again! Saturday night, Bryn slept a whopping 10.5 hours!!! Brent made me pancakes Sunday morning, and I got to watch church in my jammies. It was all very good... Hurray for awesome weekends!

Brynnie Winnie...

I'm so glad to finally have my little girl! I have to admit I was a little bummed -- just a little -- when I was going through Drew's old clothes to give away, thinking we wouldn't have another little boy to wear those cute blue things with baseballs. But when I put Bryn in her Sunday dress for church last week and slapped a headband on her head, I couldn't believe how much fun it was to get her all cutsied up!

Ahhhh... Such a sweet little angel, or is she?

Yep, she's got an attitude and my set of lungs. We're definitely in trouble with this one. :) Don't know why, but I love this picture, even though I'll be the first one to admit she is sooooo not cute when she's screaming.

Mom, what am I wearing??? We're opting for a less fruffy dress for church today, but for her first couple of Sundays, she had to wear this sweet dress from Aunt Sarah.

We've been enjoying the slightly cooler weather as fall thinks about maybe coming to Oklahoma. We got a double stroller to take the kids walking, and we've been finding all kinds of "friends" in our yard, including this little garden snake.

I've been working on a project for my friend, who's decorating the low-income clinic here. I told her I would donate some of my pictures, and I decided to do a series focusing on baby bellies and little hands and feet. I have most of what I want, but I, of course, needed to get some really tiny hands and feet pictures of Bryn. I haven't gotten a chance to edit them and pick my favorites yet, but here's some that I liked. Check out my photography blog, megtalbotphotography.blogspot.com, to see my selections in a week or so...

I also got my first prime lens in the mail yesterday, and I'm sooooo excited to learn how to use it! Just playing around with it yesterday I can see a huge difference!

Drew's holding up his new lightsaber that we bought at the state fair (we went with our friends the Larsons and the Hansens on Tuesday this week). He LOVES this thing! I was going to let him pick a ride to ride, but the kids were getting grumpy, so we thought we'd just head home. I saw a toy booth on the way out and decided we would let Drew pick out a toy instead. He chose this green, light-up sword; he now sleeps with it every night...

Drew has been the best big brother. I really thought he would have some jealousy issues; he's been an only child for a little more than three years, and he's an attention hog. I was preparing myself for some big fights and having to protect Bryn from his potential physical outbursts, but so far, he's been a very sweet, helpful and wonderful big brother. I am so blessed to have this sweet kid...

Bryn's definitely a handful, but I think things will get easier as we all figure out her needs a little better. But no big complaints -- she slept 8 hours two nights in a row, and went 6 hours last night. I hope she keeps that up!

Before and after...

Here's my big baby belly. We tried to get a lot of pictures with Drew but it was hard; thank goodness we at least got one, but that's it. :)

I like this angle because it makes me feel not so big, but Bryn was taking up a fair chunk of space. There's the before, and here's the after...

Here's our little sweetie. So far, she's a good eater and a fair sleeper, although I wish she would sleep a little more. :) And I think the mother's curse has come full circle -- she's got my lungs (aka, she is LOUD). She already has "the lip" down, and she has a beautiful smile. Brent is pretty sure she looks like Drew, but I don't really agree. I can't tell who she looks like; I guess we'll have to wait and see...

Here's the picture I put on Bryn's announcements. I'm so glad she's finally here -- and that I'm not pregnant anymore! Not really excited about the sleepless nights, but thanks to my mom and in-laws helping us out the last couple of weeks, I'm feeling better than I have in months. Welcome to our little family, Brynlee Austen...

More baby pics...

I think we broke our camera. :( Not our nice big Rebel, thank goodness, but our little Canon point-and-shoot. I can't load the pictures I took, and the later ones are out of focus. Boo...

But you can see some really cute pictures of our new little one at this website: http://www.our365.com/. Search for us by hospital (it didn't work when I tried to find it by searching by mother) -- enter the birth date (Aug. 23) and our city. Then click on Mercy Hospital. That should bring up my name. Just click on us and you can see the pictures an Our365 rep took on Tuesday. They turned out pretty cute. :)

Goodbye, baby belly!

Our little girl is finally here! She was born on Monday; she's a whopping 8 lbs. 13 oz. and 20.5 inches long.

Everything went well. I was induced around 6 a.m. on Monday; everything started going quickly after the doctor broke my water just before 9. I got my epidural around 10, and she was born at 12:56 p.m. She came very quickly -- only six pushes! She's doing well, and I'm doing about as good as I expected given what I did on Monday. :) Thanks for all the congratulations and well wishes. We're excited she's here, and Drew's been a great little helper. My in-laws have been in town since Saturday, and we couldn't do it without them! I'm so glad they're here. Then I get another week with my mom, so I'm feeling super lucky to have all the help, especially because Brent started school today.

Drew came to see us Monday night; I have the sweetest little munchkins -- I feel so blessed!

It's almost baby time...

I just wanted to brag a little bit: I made this!

Here is Bryn's blessing dress (no idea when we'll be blessing her, though). That was my big project for the summer. I took it up to my mom's because she has a serger and I wanted to do a really good job with this. It's nothing too fancy, but I'm just glad I could make something special for my new little girl. I was so happy with the way it turned out -- it has a satin lining and I even hand-stitched the hem. :)

I went to my last doctor's appointment today, and despite previous signs, I don't think the baby is coming early (1.5 cm dialated, hardly effaced). So we'll be headed to the hospital bright and early Monday morning for an induction. My in-laws are on their way here, and we get to keep them for a whole week! Then my mom is headed out next weekend, and we get to keep her for another week. I'm so grateful our family is finding a way to come out and help -- I really miss them and it will be so nice to have the extra hands. Plus, it's fun they get to meet their new granddaughter (a girl is a rarity on both sides of our family). Wish me luck -- I'm so ready to not be pregnant anymore, but I am also very, very nervous about the whole process of being not being pregnant and the adjustment to two kids...