Shaylin Turns Two

On August 13th Shaylin turned 2 years old! It is crazy to think that we have a 2 year old child now. It has been a wonderful 2 years and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful daughter, inside and out, then Shaylin. She is a joy to be around and makes us smile all the time. She can talk very well, and we can have full on conversations with her now, even on the phone. She has a great memory and amazes us with how much she's learning and doing everyday.


August 16th


Since we have about 25-30 family members that are either already here in Arizona or were planning on being in town for Shaylin's birthday, and since her two best friends were going to be out of town, we decided to just do a family party at our house this year. It was really fun with so much of our families here and we had a great time celebrating Shaylin's birthday.

Jaylene (Jayna's mom) made Shaylin's cake. Jaylene used to make and sell cakes, but doesn't make many anymore. We had fun watching her make Shaylin's Barbie princess cake, especially Shaylin. Shaylin picked the colors pink and yellow. It turned out great!

Here is the finished project. This princess was even equipped with earrings, a head band, necklace and two rings!

Shaylin was so excited about her cake. That is Christian (Shaylin's cousin) and Jaymee (Jayna's younger sister) sitting next to her.

Shaylin didn't really get the whole blowing the candles out part, but luckily Christian was there to help her out. Either way she enjoyed the candles.

Everyone that was watching her eat her cake with a fork encouraged her to go for it and eat her cake with her hands! So that's what she did. She loved the cake and had two slices! Of course she didn't have any ice cream. We think she is one of the few kids that doesnn't like ice cream. She doesn't like how cold it is.

Before we had cake and opened presents, we had some water fun in our backyard for some of the kids. We setup a Little Mermaid slip-n-slide that we bought awhile back, and the kids loved it. Here is Jaymee running through with Shaylin.

We also got out Shaylin's little pool that Jayna's Aunt Dawnie got for Shaylin's 1 year old birthday last year. There's a flower in the pool that sprays out water like a shower. Although you can't tell it from this picture, Jessica (Shaylin's cousin) had a good time playing in the pool also.

The next few pictures are of Shaylin opening presents. She was definitely spoiled by her family and she loved all the new gifts she got. We are not very good at getting her new toys, so she was definitely ready for some new ones to play with. Jayden (Jayna's younger sister) and Derek (Jayden's boyfriend) got her a cute outfit that included these pants and Shaylin was so excited about it that she tried to put the pants on right after opening the gift.

Shaylin loved these cool sunglasses (She LOVES to wear sunglasses and now has three pairs to choose from), bracelets, and purse that Nikki (Jayna's friend) and Collin (Nikki's fiance) got her.

Here is Shaylin carrying on with the present opening while wearing her princess tiara that she got from Jayna's Aunt Dawnie and the glasses from Nikki.

Shaylin got two more new phones, which brings her total to four play phones and two old real phones. She loves pretending to talk to people on her phones now and often hands the phone to us to talk to whoever she is talking to. Although she pretends to talk to real people sometimes, her favorite people to pretend to talk to lately are Belle and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. She also likes to pick up two phones at the same time and say 'Two phones, two phones.'

Here's Shaylin talking to Belle on one of her new phones while standing in front of her new play kitchen that Jayna's Aunt Dawnie got her.

This is Shaylin showing Andy, Becca, and Declan her new Laughtop toy from Grandma and Grandpa Hedges. She is so excited to have her own computer. Since the party, she often gets it out and sets it next to Matt's laptop when he's on it and starts playing with it. As you can see, she is still holding one of her new phones in this picture. She almost always has a phone in hand.

Here's Derek (Jayden's boyfriend) playing the piano in the living room while Jayden holds Emmalyn. Derek plays great and it's fun to listen to him.

Shaylin with her Uncle John. This was after the barbie got all cleaned up from being in the cake. The significance of this picture is that it's actually one of the first times Shaylin has let John hold her for more then a few seconds. We think this is mainly because we taught her at a young age not to trust Utah Jazz fans.

Jayden (Jayna's younger sister) holding Emmalyn.

Oh my goodness...we didn't really know what we were getting into with the kitchen. It ended up being tons of small pieces that took Matt an hour or two to put together. Jayna's cousins Savannah and Todd were nice enough to help Matt put it all together as the night was winding down.

Here's Shaylin playing with the finished project after her bath. It is obvious from the smile on her face that she absolutely loves the kitchen. She loves to pretend to make food in it and wash her hands.

August 13th

Shaylin's actual birthday started off a little different than her normal days. It started off with a phone call from her Great Grandma Brugman and our good friend Ashley. She wasn't acting like her normal self and after eating cereal for breakfast (that is what she chose out of pancakes, eggs, and waffles), she threw up. It was really sad to see her not feeling good, especially on her birthday. We can count on one hand how many times she has thrown up in her life. The saddest part is that she kept telling Jayna - 'I spilled.' Luckily, she only threw up that one time in the morning and felt better the rest of the day.

Great Grandma Brugman holding Emmalyn for the first time in a few months.

Jaylene (Jayna's mom) got this bouncy chair that you hang in the doorway, and here is the first time that Emmalyn tried it out. Shaylin thought it was fun and played with Emmalyn.