Brielley Girl

This is little Brielley Girl at five months!  Garner calls her Bwielley Gwill.  She is an angel and every single one of us is completely in love!  I'm so grateful that we're all experiencing this kind of pure love on a daily basis.  What a gift she is.

Best Friends

Garner treats Brielle like royalty, 100% of the time.  Honestly, he is so in love with her.  Sometimes I feel like I'm living the Jaden/McKenna days over again.  There is something so dang special about a brother or a sister.  Seeing them together makes me realize just how lucky I am to have SIX!  I can't imagine these two ever going a day without each other.  

Manhattan

There's places in this city that I just LOVE.  The temple is one of those places.  Right across the street from the Lincoln Center and Julliard and a few blocks away from Central Park and Whole Foods.  But on this day, it was my favorite place ever!  Being there with Brian, Jaden, AND McKenna, knowing that Cole, Garner and Brielle were in the room next door, it was a heart-filler moment for me.  I'm so grateful for the people in my life and for the things I know in my heart.

Snow Day!

We all think it's pretty funny how often school gets cancelled here in the Northeast!  But, Oh Well!!  We'll take a snow day any day, as long as it doesn't prolong the school year any longer than it already is!  Jaden babysat Brielle so that I could go sledding with these fun kids.  Best snow day EVER!

New York Knicks with Cole

None of us will forget the excitement on Cole's face when he opened the New York Knicks tickets on Christmas morning, nor will we forget the look on Jaden's face.  It was truly funny when Jaden looked at us, with his arms in the air and said, "What about me over here?"  The fact is, Cole loves sports more than anyone else in our family.  He wants to be a professional athlete when he grows up.  He and Brian ONLY watch sports center on TV.   Cole NEVER plays video games.  He is ALWAYS playing a sport!  When you come to visit, you'll understand the marks on our walls, the broken wall hangings, the rearranged furniture.  I've decided that this is the way it's going to be for the next several years and I'm okay with it.  I WELCOME it!  (Most of the time).  I'm grateful, once again, for sweet Brian.  Always thinking of what will make another happy and comfortable.  Maybe I need to remind Jaden of the Broadway Show tickets??  

Four Month Old Brielle

I was drying Brielle off when I realized how old she is now.  My heart just about stopped in its tracks.  Isn't it funny how we're never really content with how time passes?  We either want it to speed up to get us through an uncomfortable or painful time, or we want it to slow down, as I've been wishing lately.  How can I bottle her little giggle, her beautiful, toothless smile, her total dependence on me?  I'm grateful we take our memories with us.  I hope that if we make it to Heaven that we can pull those memories right off the "shelf" and relive them over and over again.

More Bikini Pics

Dreaming of Summer....

Our sweet friends gave us TONS of adorable clothes for Brielle.  We are grateful everyday for their generous gift.  I just HAD to take some pictures of a few of the MANY bathing suits that they gave us.  Jen, please don't die when you see my weak attempt at trying to take pictures like you do!!  I hope these little bikinis make you all smile and dream of summer!

McKenna's 12th Birthday

On January 9, 2009, our precious McKenna turned 12!  I have had the GREAT privilege of watching this beautiful girl grow and become one of the people I admire most.  She is kind and caring and graceful.  I think she is an amazing artist and ballerina.  She works hard in school and at dance.  She is usually thinking of what she can do for others.  I'm so lucky to be her mother and friend.  I love any time spent with her.  We all ADORE McKenna!!

Three months old!

I don't know if it's possible for a baby to be loved as much as Brielle is loved.  She is constantly being kissed and spoken to in a high pitched voice.  The little boys have mastered the art of "gentle" and Jaden just melts every time he sees her.  McKenna is her little mother.  The first thing I hear when the door opens with Cole home from school is "Brielley, Brielley, where are you!  I missed you and can't wait to see you!"  It used to be "Hi, Mom!"  Garner says, "I don't ever want any baby but you."  He has been knocked right out of the spotlighted position in this family and hasn't minded one single bit.  She smiles freely and giggles when you kiss her under her chin.  She fills this home with joy and love.  Thanks for such happy three months, Brielle.

Christmas 2008

I wish the holidays didn't come and go so quickly. But I'm grateful for them.  Five years now, I have a picture of our kids sitting on these stairs, waiting to go see what Santa brought for them. We're growing up here, in NY.  I wonder what we'll all think of this fact, several years from now.  I hope we're grateful.  Even though I missed my family more than usual this year, I'm grateful for my wonderful little world here.  Uncomplicated and small.  But hey, I'm not saying that I wouldn't welcome "complicated" with open arms.  I think for now, though, for this little time, I have my chicks under my wing and several years from now, I'll miss this time the very most.

"Why did you wake me up for this??"

                 Yahooooo!!!  Legos! 

Family Pictures 2008

Once again, I am the luckiest person I know!  To be the sister of the BEST photographer I know and to live only 4 1/2 hours from her and her sweet family!  She has literally FILLED my home with pictures of the people I love most.  The only negative about this whole situation is that I'm digging myself deeper and deeper into this pit of debt that I can never fill.  Jen, of course, doesn't make me feel this way.  I always leave her wishing for some beautiful, amazing talent to share.  Instead, I'm afraid that all I leave her with is the mess of having seven extra people in her home.   Someday.... but until then, I am completely, 100% grateful for her beautiful gift and talent and her willingness to share it so freely with me.  Lucky me.

More Family

For FIVE years now, we have shared Thanksgiving with Jen and Sabe and the whole Anderson family.  We are always the only non-family guests but are never made to feel that way.  I think when we look back on our favorite memories of growing up in New York, this tradition will definitely be at the top.  We LOVE the Andersons!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them.

                  Brielle Grace                         

Jaden Douglas

McKenna Elise

Garner Derek

Coleson Stephen

Brielle's Blessing Day

We have a song that we play for Brielle whenever she starts crying in the car.  It almost always soothes and calms her.  It's called "Little White Dress".  Brielle got to wear her first little white dress on December 2.  She'll wear her second when she's eight, her third, on her wedding day.  For each of her white dresses, Brian will be there, blessing her and then giving her to another.  Brian and McKenna were dancing together the other night and I pictured her in a long white dress and him in a tuxedo and found myself struggling to breathe.