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...

Fourth of July

We had a great Fourth of July! We were lucky enough that Brent got to take a break from the Texas heat and fly to Utah to be with us for the holiday weekend.

I didn't think Drew would like sparklers, so we decided to try pops. He loved them! Of course, it didn't help that Brent and my brother were throwing them at each others' feet -- always teaching the kids something bad. :) When it came time to do our own little fireworks show, Drew wasn't so happy. He wouldn't let Brent let go of him, and he kept begging to go inside. He doesn't like fireworks...

But the little pops were too much fun. I'm so glad Tyler and Lindsey got to come up and hang out with us. I have to add that the Fourth took on special meaning this year. Now I can really appreciate the sacrifice so many people are making to have their military loved ones away to protect us -- and my sacrifice was significantly less than most other military wives. I am glad that we can do some small part to support our troops with our service, and I'm so grateful for all those who are serving their country.

Quick baby update...

I have some belly pics to share, but until I can get them posted, I thought I ought to update everyone on the baby situation. I'm due Aug. 28, but Bryn is measuring a week ahead. We have a scheduled induction on Aug. 23 -- yeah, that's also the first day of school, but it's the earliest they'd take me. I have also shown signs of going early, so while I'm planning on the 23rd, I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up even earlier. We'll keep everyone posted!