My Favorite Princess is FOUR!

Chris and I made a trip to Kentucky this past weekend to surprise my mom for her 60th Birthday.  There is a post to come with all those fun and exciting details, but one of the secondary events that occurred while we were in town happened to be a little impromptu birthday party for my niece!

 
I can't hardly believe that little Brinley is now a big four year old!  She is definitely one of a kind - such a smart, independent, and funny little gal.  I loved having some time to play and interact with her in person this weekend.  Our time together is never long enough, but it sure was fun to hang out with the little lady that made me an aunt!  Fortunately, it won't be long before we see her again!  Can't wait til next time!
 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my favorite PRINCESS of them all!!  

I love you, Brinley!!

Andrea :)

Brinley is ONE!

It seems like it shouldn't be possible that Brinley is already one!  Just yesterday I was writing this post after I received news that she had been born.  Now, she is a busy little one year old.

It was awesome to be there for her first birthday celebration!  My sister-in-law did a great job on all of the decorations for her zebra themed party.  Everything was so cute!  I loved all the thought that went into everything from the backdrop to her happy birthday banner.

The tea cup and saucer that my sister-in-law used for a table decoration was originally the vase for an orchid flower Chris and I sent to Brinley just after she was born last year.  I thought that was really cool!

Brinley was fortunate enough to have lots of family and friends in town for her big day.  She had lots of fun playing with her little friends and being passed from one family member to the next.

There was also no shortage of presents for the little princess.  She is really blessed to have recieved so many wonderful toys, books, and clothes!

I spent a lot of time and effort making a couple of gifts for Brinley myself.  I found blocks with her initials on them at Michael's about a month ago so I decided to modge podge them with various words and phrases that were unique to her, me, and our relationship.  I thought they turned out great! 

The other item I spent a significant amount of time on was a little scrapbook for her.  It was small, but the perfect size to capture the moments we had together over the past year.  Unfortunately, I was only able to see her face-to-face a handful of times. (Thank goodness for facetime and an awesome brother that sent me pics and videos!!)  Because of those infrequent visits, I also included some pictures of her in outfits I sent or playing with toys I gave to her.  I thought it turned out really neat.  I hope she loves looking at it when she gets a little older.  I always want her to know how much I love her even if I don't get to see her as often as a lot of other family members!

I gave her one of these princess cards each month for her monthly birthdays.  For 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months, I gave her a book, an outfit, and a toy.  For the other months, I sent some money in the card for her college fund.  My brother said they kept all the cards for her to look at someday.  Along with the blocks and scrapbook, Chris and I also got her a couple of outfits, some bath toys, and a fun little telephone that will help her learn her ABC's and numbers for this BIG birthday.  My brother has already sent me some pictures of her enjoying those toys :)

It was great to be able to spend so much time with little Miss Brinley since the next time I see her she will have a little brother and life will be very different for her growing family!  I'll leave you with some fun pictures of her demolishing the smash cake!

Andrea :)

Meeting Brinley

Meeting Brinley turned out to be more of an adventure that I anticipated.  On Wednesday night, the day before my flight, I packed up my things for the trip more quickly than I may have ever packed for a trip in my life. I was very excited to finally be going back to KY to meet my niece!!  Thursday morning and afternoon seems to drag on and on while I was at work.  Our office is closed on both Friday and Monday for the holiday weekend so for months now I had my trip to KY booked to meet the newest member of our family.  As the months, then weeks, then days passed by, I couldn't get them to go by quickly enough.  Jordan and Jen were great about sending updates, pictures, and videos, but there's nothing like being the only one that hadn't been able to hold that sweet little bundle of joy yet.  I was beyond ready by late Thursday afternoon when I left work.  I rushed home to grab my bags and then trek down to Penn Station for the short LIRR ride to JFK airport. Now, I knew the airport would be busy since it was the holiday weekend, but I never could have imagine the craziness that would ensue from roughly 5:30pm until I finally arrived in Cincinnati just shy of midnight.  Not only did I have to wait 20 (make that 21...thanks, Delta!) long days to see my beautiful, precious, little niece, but then after I rushed to get to the airport I was forced to wait in the security line for nearly an hour before boarding the flight which was roughly an hour late.  After a short run through the torrential downpour with no jacket and no umbrella (hey, it is supposed to be in the 90s in KY all weekend, why would I bother packing either of those two items), I finally boarded the plane only to sit and wait and wait and wait and wait...for a little over 3 hours.  This was torture.  Pure torture.  But eventually, just after 10pm, we took off for Cincinnati.  We landed just before midnight and I can't say I was looking forward to that hour plus car ride back to Lexington, but fortunately, Jordan and Jen had a little surprise for me at the airport - Brinley made the trip...and she even brought her aunt some cupcakes, too :)

My airport pick up sign - Brinley made the drawing on the bottom

My first picture of my niece...sleeping in the car!

Needless to say, all the crazy travel mess was TOTALLY worth it.  The minute I laid eyes on her my heart was so full of joy and happiness.  She is the cutest thing.  I couldn't believe that she was so little.  I just love her to pieces!!

My first time holding Brinley Kate around 2am this morning!!

Once we got home, I was able to hold her for a little while before Jen fed her and I gave her a little gift.  I gave her a little elephant outfit and princess shoes along with an elephant shaped sandwich cutter.  She probably won't be using that for awhile, but I couldn't resist.  After Jordan helped her open the gift, we took a couple of pictures of her in the bag....too cute!

Looking sleepy....

Reading her card...she is clearly uninterested...haha!

Looking a little scared, but still SO cute :)

I can't wait to spend the rest of the long weekend with her...and the rest of my family and Chris!! Contrary to popular belief, they all do still exist.  Well, at least when Brinley's sleeping...haha :)

Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!!

Andrea :)