Gigi's "Family Night"

Last night we celebrated with Ryan's grandma at her new house.  She had been living all by herself, but recently moved into this really cool place where she still lives in her own "cottage" but there are a bunch of "cottages" all around, and she can go to the clubhouse and eat meals with other people, etc.  So it's kind of a more independent "assisted living" facility if that makes any sense.  

Last night was a big "family night party" at the place.  The place was packed with the residents, and their children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren.  We had lots of yummy food, and they even had jump houses for the kids, snow cones, funnel cakes, etc.  It was awesome!  We loved getting to celebrate with Gigi at her new house and visit with family! 

She LOVED the bounce house.  She would mostly just sit there and "bounce" herself up and down while
making this sound effect "ooo ooo ooo" every time she bounced!  HA!

Walking to the bounce house with Ansley and Aunt Soni

This was her signature bounce house move...HA!
Notice the hairstyle...found it on pinterest and had to try it...the "double" pigtail??

Eating in the clubhouse with everyone...I forgot to take a picture of the other table
with Aunt Soni, Val, and Ryan's cousins.  Sorry guys!

Ansley had gotten a snow cone and was so sweet to share with Brynn. 

Ansley would say..."Here Bwynny...want some snow cone?"

Since Daddy got there we had to go back to the bounce house...
Ansley's face is hilarious!

While someone was holding baby Charli, little Miss Priss decided to revert to her infant days
and climb in Charli's seat!

Daddy didn't really help because he was lifting her all over the place and making her laugh!

 Then we headed back to Gigi's cottage to visit a little more.  The place is so cute!  The front porches are just awesome, and Brynn loved playing outside (she also tried to pick all the American flags out of everyone's yards and carry them around everywhere!  HA!)  Then Gigi brought her little dog Tippy out and Brynn was so scared of her!  Brynn normally LOVES dogs...like even an 8 foot Great Dane we saw a month ago on the bike trail...but she was so scared of Tippy last night.  It was weird...I guess she's getting old enough to be scared of things?  I don't know.  She would wave at Tippy but as soon as Tippy came close she would start crying and run straight to me.  Once she ran all the way to the back of the house crying as Tippy was chasing her!  Poor girl...but it was kind of funny at the same time!  Two seconds later she would be waving at the dog, and then running away crying again.  Oh Brynn...

Tippy was sitting in Gigi's lap at this point...but that was still too close for Brynn.  

Is that dog coming near me?

Thanks Gigi for a GREAT night!  We can't wait for many more visits in your new cottage!

Kelly's Baby Sprinkle

Last night we headed to my Aunt Tina's house to celebrate with Kelly and Jared and have a little "baby sprinkle."  Just to give a tiny bit of background to those who might not know...Kelly and I have been friends since we were about three...best friends all growing up...and last summer she MARRIED MY COUSIN!  How crazy is that?  It still boggles my mind that she used to come to family functions as my friend, and now she comes because she is my family!  AWESOME!  It was fun getting together with friends, watching Kelly open her presents, and eating some delicious food (my aunt did a "pop" theme since "Kelly is about to pop" so we had popcorn, popcorn chicken, jalepeno poppers, tailgate sandwiches with poppyseed dressing, mini poptarts, cake pops, etc.)

Oh how I love these girls!
Erin is due with baby Colton in less than 2 weeks!

WE CAN'T WAIT TO MEET BABY PAXTON JAMES HUFFMAN SOON!

15 months & Check-Up

On Tuesday we took Brynn for her 15 month check-up.  The appointment went well, and she doesn't have another appointment until she's 2!  HOLY COW!  Here's what's going on at 15 months...

• Height - 31.5 inches - 80%
• Weight - 23.2 lbs. - 54%
• Head Circumference - 84%
• He told us her "straightener burn" was a "superficial second degree burn" and that it shouldn't permanently scar (Don't I win mother of the year award!)  He said it might stay pink for about a year, but it should eventually go away.  
• Size 12-18 month clothes (although some of her shirts have a hard time staying down over her little belly! HA!
• Size 4 diaper
• Wakes up between 8 and 8:30 in the morning, and naps from about 1-3.  If it's just a normal night at home we usually start her bath around 8, and she's in bed a little after 8:30.
• She is pretty much an eating machine.  we have gotten into a little routine of her and I eating waffles and fruit for breakfast (she also eats a little oatmeal...I eat a little whipped cream on my waffle!  HA!) For lunch we usually have sandwiches, so she eats a couple pieces of deli meat, a slice of cheese, some veggies (usually green beans or peas), and sometimes a little bread and fruit.  For supper she usually eats whatever we are eating...which means she is usually a BIG MESS when supper is over.  I hope she stays this good of an eater forever, but I also hope that she has a good metabolism to go with it!  HA!
• She still only has two teeth on the bottom, and on top she has the front four, and then skips the next space for a tooth, and the next one on both sides just recently cut through.  I wasn't really worried about them coming in a weird order until Ryan's mom told me "we do have a family history of missing some teeth!"  HA!  WHAT???
• While she can mimic a lot of what we say her REAL words at this point are mama, dada, ball (bah), cracker (cra-cra...and let me tell you, this one MELTS my heart...I usually give her crackers just to hear her say it!), more (mah...this is Ryan's favorite word to hear her say), baby, balloon (boon...I never realized that Sam's and Wal-Mart have balloons up everywhere until we take her and she points at all of them and says "boon boon boon"), duck (uck), and car (cah).  I LOVE hearing her talk!
• She is just learning and doing more everyday.  Her little bubbly personality is so much fun.  I love doing errands with my sweet girl.  We were walking into our church offices the other day and she held my hand as we walked in.  I could see our reflection in the glass and I just had a "moment."  AHHH!  I am enjoying this summer so much!

Swimming in My Pool

I know we should have done this sooner, but we FINALLY got out our little outdoor swimming pool and let her "swim" in it.  I sat out there and decided to get some sun myself, and thought "why haven't I done this yet?"  HA!  She LOVED her little pool and I think we will probably start doing this most afternoons!

She was saying "duck" which really sounds like "uck" and when we ask her what a duck says
she will say "ack ack"...SO CUTE!

HAPPY SUMMER!

Future Gymnast?

We've been joking the last few days that Brynn looks like she's ready to hop on the uneven bars or start tumbling and doing flips, because she has this little arm band on.  Well...as cute as it is, it has nothing to do with us watching the Olympic Trials as TV.  Somebody decided to pull Mommy's hot straightener off the counter and burned her hand!  Oh this child...she is always getting into something!  I guess I just didn't realize her hand could get up that high, so even though I had just turned the straightener off, it was still hot.  Next thing I know she is screaming and yelling.  I realized what happened, but she stopped crying after like a minute so I thought it just scared her.  But about an hour later I saw that it was all red and was starting to get blisters.  YUCK!  She has been a trooper about it, and it hasn't even seemed to bother her (other than when she pulled the blisters off...pardon me while I go pass out.  HA!)  So that's why Ryan wrapped it.  She had been doing fine with band aids but he decided to put his athletic training skills to use and keep it wrapped so it wouldn't get worse.  So...now it looks like we have a future Olympic gymnast in the house!  

I think we are going to have to keep her in Bubble Wrap if we want her to stay accident free!!  HA!

SURPRISE!

Last night we had a SURPRISE PARTY for my sweet husband!  His 30th birthday is on Sunday, so I figured this was a big year and deserved a fun party! I didn't know if I would be able to pull off the surprise or not (and even had dreams that he told me he knew about it! HA!) but he was TOTALLY SURPRISED and the party was so much fun!  Happy 30th birthday Ryan!

This was after he arrived...he doesn't get off work until 6, so I told him I was at the park playing and
wanted him to come out and join me before we met some friends for dinner.  He arrived straight from
work!  (I brought different clothes for him to change into).

My sister told me I wouldn't win any awards for "party decorator of the year!" HA!
We just put out some tablecloths and balloons...she said it looked like a little dinosaur party!  HA!

So many of our families and friends were able to be there!  

Oh this cake...
I almost was really rude to the people in Sam's because they couldn't find my cake...they looked FOREVER
and couldn't find it.  We were like "well, we have a party and NEED A CAKE!"  She kept asking me if the
cake could be under any other name than mine and I kept saying "NO!"  Then she must have found
the cake that said "Happy 30th Ryan" and said "could it be under Rene' Pingel?  OH MY GOSH...that's my
mom's name and I must have put her name down because I used her Sam's card when I ordered it!  I felt so bad
but at least we got the cake...and I think I could have decorated the balloons a little better than this!  COME ON!

Somebody really liked the cake!

It was really hot at the beginning, but by 7:30 or so it cooled off and was WONDERFUL!
Lots of the guys and the kids had fun playing washers, wiffleball, etc.  

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST GUY I KNOW!

Today is actually our 5th wedding anniversary, so Ryan and I are heading to St. Louis just for this afternoon and tonight and will be home tomorrow...but we are excited to go shopping and go to dinner just us!  

You Scream, I Scream...

We all scream for...Andy's Custard!  YUM!  Until tonight, Brynn really didn't ever seem like she was a fan of ice cream.  We've let her try it several times before, and I think she thought it was too cold.  Tonight she turned into her mama, and LOVED it!  (Probably because she used her own spoon and loved sticking it in the cup!)

















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Father's Day

On Sunday morning we got ready for church and gave Ryan his cards.  Brynn is really understanding so much of what we say.  I gave her the picture she made and the cards and said "go give these to Daddy" and she held them all the way back to our room and gave them to Ryan.  He LOVED everything, even our little nerdy snack caddy!

Our table was all set because we were having Ryan's parents, grandma, and Jason
and Sarah over for Father's Day lunch.

Ryan is such a wonderful daddy!!  HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the wonderful men in our life!

Birthday Golf

One week ago I celebrated my 27th birthday!  That morning my mom watched Brynn while my Dad, my sister, and I headed to the golf course!  Last year I got golf lessons, and had just taken the first one so I was excited to see how my "new swing" helped...I did a little better, but I know it will just take some time!  HA!  My sister and I are so competitive that my goal was just to beat her...that would be a successful golf outing!  Thankfully I did, but barely!  HA!

Me and Dad
He has developed a LOVE in me for ALL SPORTS!

And this point I was putting to PAR THE HOLE!

PAR!!!!!!!!  (For me that is a big feat!)
At this point I think I'm doing some kind of victory fist pump!

Oh Linz...look how cute she looks in that tennis/golf skirt!  

Just call me Tiger Woods...NOT!

My golf driver is pretty awesome, so my dad had to keep using it!

That night we had a little birthday dinner at my mom's house.  I got to pick the menu and I picked our annual "Christmas Eve" dinner...we have hot chicken salad (not normal chicken salad, it's different), little smokies, Rotel Dip, etc.  It was AWESOME, but Ryan kept saying "what a weird menu!  Why can't we grill burgers?"  HA!