Special Visitors

Right from the start, Bryndel has been well loved!  First by her Kyle & me, then her big sisters, and finally a whole slew of wonderful family and friends.  Starting with my parents making yet another trip to town, this time to actually meet Bryndel!

My dear friend, Erin.

















Kyle's sisters, Kara & Kim.  Along with our 'nanny' Paige.

And finally, Grandma & Grandpa A came down for a special visit! 

Bryndel's Birthday

Just a few minutes old, and already so precious.

A couple of short hours later, as we prepped to meet Bryndel's sisters for the first time! Hadley & Piper had requested not to know if she was a sister or a brother, so they very cautiously approached my bedside.  Their smiles grew & grew as they noticed her purple hat... a Sister!

While both of them adore her, Hadley has been the only one to show interest (or obession maybe!) in holding her.  In fact, there are not many photos of Piper near Bryndel just yet :)

A very patient Daddy giving Bryndel her first bath with Hadley & Piper's help.

The Day Before

So this is what we were doing the day before Miss Bryndel came... Dancing at a wedding Saturday evening;

Rushing Grandma & Grandpa over on Sunday, because I was certain she was coming;

Hiking through contractions most of day Sunday while making Piper get in one last family photo of the 4 of us!

Thankfully, I wasn't really that far off.  Bryndel did make her big debut at 2:16 a.m. on Monday!  By then, we'd sent Grandma & Grandpa home, but Paige was able to be with the girls :)

Sweet Baby

Just a few pictures of our sweet baby.  More to come from her actual 'birth'day.

 

Announcing...

...the arrival of the third Anderson Sister (guess we can keep the blog name!)!  Bryndel Kara was born at 2:16 a.m. on 08/20/12!  She weighed in at 7;15 and measured 21 inches long, making her just barely the 'biggest' Anderson Sister at birth (Hadley 5;14 & 19 in. and Piper 7;12 & 20.5 in.).  She was lovingly named after Kyle's sister, Kara.  And her first name is a version of Kyle's sister, Kim's, favorite girl name: Bryn. 

She is healthy, beautiful, and very well loved by her two big sisters! She is such a blessing.  Hadley has been singing 'Our God is a Great Big God' to Bryndel any time she cries, and Piper likes to read Bryndel books while I feed her! 

Apparently, Kyle has already found a way to share a few photos via a Facebook account he doesn't ever use!  Must be a proud Daddy.  Until I can get my feet on the ground, our blog may be quiet for a little bit :)  Our priority at the moment is keeping the schedule as normal as can for the Big Sisters, and trying to get any little snippet of sleep when I can!  Thanks for all of the love, support, and prayers coming our way.  We feel all of them!

11 Years

We are feeling pretty blessed today to be celebrating 11 years of marriage!  Neither one of us would have believed 11 years ago today, that we'd be on the brink of adding a 5th member of our family, but are we ever excited to add that to our journey together.  Hadley actually took this photo of us last fall, before we even had an inkling of my being pregnant, and it seems to capture our wedding day quite well with the dip and all :).

 

4 Years Old!

Happy 4th Birthday, Piper!  We are so thankful for your ever sparkly, funny, polite, and energetic presence in our family!  

Fun With Friends

We have been blessed by time spent with friends these past few weeks.  Not only making our hot days seem more refreshing, but by bringing all sorts of different kinds of fun & laughter to our days and getting us that much closer to the baby's birthday!  We spent a day last week with little buddies: Ava, Owen, Ty, and Jack checking out the local sculpture tour downtown.

Over the weekend we joined the Rislers down at the County Fair where the kiddos thoroughly enjoyed the rides, and we (pregnant Mandi & I especially!) enjoyed the milkshakes!

Apparently this doesn't qualify as an animal that will eat her clothes or scratch her, as Piper was all smiles.
















Bennett, Mandi, Blake, Piper, myself, & Hadley anxiously awaiting the milkshakes.

And just today we spent a lovely morning with our dear friend, Cyndy, visiting the animals at Irvine Park and having a birthday picnic for Piper.  

Leave it to Cyndy to bring party supplies right to the park (hats, blowers, necklaces, & even wands)!  She sure knows how to make a 4 year old, not to mention her big sister, feel special :)

The Toothfairy

Hadley has been ever SO s-l-o-w-l-y & c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y wiggling her first loose tooth over the past month.  And after much hemming & hawing last night, as the tooth seriously hung on by a thread, she was finally ready to have it come out!  The result... one very happy & excited kid!  And an even more excited kiddo this morning, when she woke to a crisp dollar bill from the elusive toothfairy!   

Still hard for me to believe that she is old enough to be losing a tooth, and that soon we will have a baby who will be just getting teeth! 

Early Birthday

Piper was treated to an early birthday celebration this weekend as Grandma & Grandpa came for a special visit just for her upcoming 4th birthday!

Kyle came through with yet another adorable cake, and Piper could not have been more excited to have a 'Kermie cake' this year!

Obviously tickled to have everyone singing to her!

We wrapped up the time spent with Grandma & Grandpa at the Farmer's Market & at our local Chalk Fest.  It was the perfect birthday weekend.  Thanks for everything, Grammie & Grampie!

Stayin' Cool

While we have been ever so thankful for air-conditioning this summer (myself especially!) we have spent countless afternoons out in the sprinkler & kiddie pool stayin' cool (myself included!).

Hadley loves the big sprinklers best, and can seemingly run through them forever.

Taking a quick dip in the 'hot tub' to warm up before another run through.

Intermittently, taking a time out to draw with chalk together.

Piper most often watches 'Had' run through the sprinkler and usually ventures into the pool for a cool off.

She has also been enjoying the rings on the swingset lately, like the 'Olympic gymnasts.'