Brinley is almost 2!

I can't believe that it is May 2014! In just a few days our little girl will be a BIG 2 year old. She has brought so much joy to our lives and we can't believe that it has already been two years. It seems like just yesterday we were at the hospital and Jennifer was delivering Brinley, or was that Landon. Either way it doesn't seem like 2 years have gone by.

The other day it was really nice outside and we decided to try and go make some 2 year old pictures of Brinley. We went to our favorite picture taking place, the UK arboretum. This picture experience proved to be very difficult because not only did we have to get Brinley to look at the camera and smile, but we also had to keep Landon happy while waiting in the stroller. This really was a difficult photography session and I would not recommend it unless there are more people around to help with the chaos. Even with all of that I still think that we got some good pictures.

Brinley playing in the tulips.

I just love Brinley with her pigtails!

She is bending down in order to smell the flowers.

Brinley excited behind the tree!

Brinley and her Minnie Mouse doll.

Brinley loves Minnie Mouse.

Brinley and her big Minnie doll.

Brinley is such a good big sister. Here she is giving her brother a kiss.

This guy is such a happy little man.

Jennifer made her outfit and bows.

The only way we could get her to cooperate was to give her little rocks which she enjoyed throwing and yelling "catch"!

She also enjoyed running away from us. So I tried to make it into a game and get her to chase me while Jennifer took pictures.

Another action shot. She is so happy when she is running around.

Brinley also decided to try and pick some "flowers". If she only knew how much I hate these weeds and work so hard to get rid of them from our yard.

Brinley with her fake smile. I again was bribing her with rocks.

This is the same bench that she had her 1 year pictures taken on.

So much personality in this little lady.

Landon needed a little snack during the photo shoot. Only snack we could think of were some tulips. 

Brinley playing in a hollowed out tree.

Look at this little guy. It won't be too long before he is bigger than Brinley. 

Brinley has developed quite the personality and has also shown some early signs of the terrible twos. I just hope and pray that she grows up to be a well-rounded, respectable, honest, caring, loving, intelligent and Christian young lady. Jennifer and I are blessed to be her parents. Brinley has added so much joy to our lives and no matter what she will always be our baby girl. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Birthday Week - Turning 29

I usually don't celebrate the entire week of my birthday, but this year things just came together to make my 29th birthday one to remember. It all started the Sunday before my birthday when I just happened to come into work a little early and I got a BIG surprise. One of the star players for the University of Kentucky Wildcats had come to the children's hospital to try and lift the spirits of the patients. Lucky for me I also got to meet him and grabbed a picture with him.

Willie Cauley-Stein and myself

After finishing up my work week I spent a few days with the kids while Jennifer worked her shifts. Then we got to go up and meet a special little girl in Indiana. One of my best friends, brother by a different mother, Tony and his wife Myra let us come up and meet their new bundle of joy. We spent the afternoon visiting and catching up with them. Brinley enjoyed running around and getting into everything. I think we should loan Brinley out to new parents so they can see what things they need to baby proof. We enjoyed our visit, but had to get back home to get ready for the grandparents to coming up in the morning.

Brinley really made friends with Myra.

Miss Tinley and her daddy.

Grandma and Grandpa came up to visit and celebrate with us. After they got up here we made a quick trip to the Lexington Explorium Children's Museum. This was our first visit and it was really a lot of fun. There were so many things that Brinley enjoyed playing with. I was like a little child myself in a few of the play areas. 

Brinley enjoyed brushing the horses.

Brinley and I building a lego block tower.

Our tower right before we destroyed it!

Our absolute favorite room was the bubble room. In here they had all kinds of things to do with bubbles. Again the child in me came out and we played bubbles for about an hour. The best was the area where you could have a bubble surround you. Brinley got really excited when she was encompassed in the bubble.

Brinley in a bubble!

Family picture on the moon!

Grandparents with their pride and joy!

I got a text message while we were at the Explorium from a friend who had some tickets to the UK basketball game later that night. My friend Lori and her husband weren't able to go so they said we could have the tickets. Best part was that we already had babysitters in town that would be perfect for the job! So we took Grandpa and Grandma home and they watched the kids while Jennifer and I went out on a date to RUPP arena. 

Great seats and even better company!

The wildcats were unable to pull out the win, but they did put on a pretty good show down the stretch. We even got to see our 1st overtime game. When we came home both kids were in bed and we just got to relax and get ready for the next day's activities.

The next day we got up and headed to the Newport Aquarium. This was a first visit to the aquarium for all of us. It was a really neat and very interactive place. I really enjoyed seeing Brinley's smile as she ran from display to display.At times she was even able to break away from all four of us, but she was quickly tracked down.

Brinley and Grandpa enjoying spotting the fish.

Brinley and Grandma checking out the shark tank.

Brinley really enjoyed these 2 frogs. They had buttons on their backs that you could push and they would make frog noises. Brinley really enjoyed pushing these.

Brinley and I with a fish.

Brinley seeing how she measures up to a hammerhead shark.

Petting sharks. Grandpa wouldn't do it because he was scared of getting bitten.

Family photo

These two love each other, at least some times.

Brinley was tired and ready for a nap, which didn't make for a good picture as you can see.

Me and the kids with my birthday cake that Jennifer made. The candles are really starting to overtake the cake.

Landon got to try some of the cake. As you can see he really enjoyed it.

As did Brinley

I am so blessed to have a wonderful family and friends who made my birthday extra special. I hope that this year, the last of my twenties, will be filled with many wonderful memories and experiences. I have left some lofty goals for myself to try and accomplish during the year. Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Happy Easter!

Easter is one of those times of the year that the meaning behind it sometimes gets overshadowed by the secular celebrations. I hope that when Brinley and Landon get older they know that Jesus died on the cross to save us from all our sins and that he was raised again 3 days later. With that being said, I also know how difficult it is to refrain from participating in the activities that are a part of Easter. We plan to participate in both traditions, but put stronger emphasis on the true meaning when the children are at an age where they understand more.

Our celebrations took place many different times because we kept having people visit and we ended up doing different things with them. Grandma and Grandpa came up to visit and we decided to dye eggs.

We gave Landon a crayon to draw on the egg, but that didn't last long. The kid just wants to eat anything that is within his reach.

Brinley showing off her egg. Brinley really enjoyed coloring eggs.

Grandma and Grandpa helping color some eggs.

Brinley seemed like she was a pro. I couldn't believe how gentle she was with the eggs.

Landon was trying to eat his eggs and he dropped one on himself and we discovered that they weren't completely hard boiled. So after getting cleaned up we let him hang onto plastic eggs.

Grandma and Grandpa also brought some things for the kids to celebrate Easter.

Last year Jennifer and I took Brinley to the PICU Easter Egg Hunt. This year it happened to fall on a Sunday, which is a day that I work and it also happened to be a day that Grandma and Grandpa were here in Lexington. So, we all loaded up in the car and headed out to Versailles to the PICU egg hunt. Brinley really enjoyed running around and playing with all the other kids. She also really liked hunting for Easter eggs.

Landon finding some hidden eggs in the bushes with Grandpa.

Grandma and Grandpa with Landon.

This was a very proud daddy moment for me. There were a bunch of eggs on the ledge of the play set and Brinley chose an egg that was designed as a football first! That's my girl!

We also made a trip to Lexington Green to get some pictures with a real bunny and also with the "Easter Bunny". Landon took a little while to warm up, but then he started to give us a few smiles. Brinley however was being very difficult and wouldn't smile at anything. 

The Heflin kids and the Easter Bunny. Brinley of course is pointing at an egg, which is one of her new favorite words.

Brinley then got to play with the egg.

Landon with the real bunny.  He didn't realize it was real at this moment.

Now he found out that it was real.

Brinley with the live bunny. She ended up really liking it and rubbing its back.

Landon is a happy little man. Brinley is just content petting the rabbit.

Now Landon decided that petting the rabbit might be fun.

I worked the night before Easter, so we had a pretty hectic and fast paced Easter morning. After I got home from work I made pancakes for everyone and then we gave the kids their Easter baskets. We quickly got dressed and took a few family photos and then headed to church for the 9:30 service. Surprisingly we made it to church and dropped both kids off in the nursery and then found some seats with about 5 minutes to spare.

The kids on Easter morning. Surprisingly both kids liked wearing their bunny ears. You can't see it well, but they have bunny pancakes for breakfast.

The kids with there Easter bunny pancakes. The eyes are blackberries, marshmallow noses and chocolate chips pieces for the mouth.

We were able to get a family picture before heading to church on Sunday morning. Brinley refuses to wear anything in her hair and it usually looks all crazy, so a trip to get a haircut might be in our near future.

We had a little Easter egg hunt with the kids in the backyard. Brinley really enjoyed hunting for eggs, but it was so funny to see her run right past eggs on the ground to pick up ones that were sitting on objects.

Landon enjoyed finding some eggs too.

He is such a happy little guy!

Our Easter egg hunting champ!

Brinley found an egg.

Brinley was excited to find an egg. Her favorite word now is egg.

The kids with their Easter egg collection.

I asked Brinley to give her brother a hug so Jennifer could get a picture. You might say she is a really good BIG sister and loves her little brother - most of the time.

That hug turned into a full out tackle. She better get her torture in while she can because it won't be long until Landon is bigger than her and probably won't tolerate her actions as well. Now he just thinks everything Brinley does is funny.

Aunt Sarah and Nick came to visit the kids for Easter too. They brought baskets of goodies for both Landon and Brinley. They enjoyed hunting eggs in the back yard with the kids as well. For some reason nobody took any pictures of them with the kids. 

Our last Easter surprises came when MiMi came to visit. She brought the kids baskets full of things the kids loved. She brought Brinley her very first pair of rain boots and the best part about the boots are that they light up with every step. I might just get a pair for myself.

I hope that you were able to spend some time with the ones that you love this Easter. I also hope that through all the secular things of this season you were able to remember the true meaning of Easter. Thanks for reading and God Bless!