A Few Family Pictures

I forgot to mention that Stacie took some great family pictures of us while we were in Richfield. Here are a few.

SNOW FUN

Brooklyn and I missed the first snow back in October, so we were very excited when it finally snowed Monday night. There wasn't a whole lot left by the time we got outside, but there was enough to make a snow angel, and get very cold and wet.

Trying to crawl... or not

Brooklyn's cousin (well, my cousin really, but that doesn't matter), was born just about two weeks before Brooklyn, and is apparently already crawling like crazy. He has requested that Brooklyn be ready to crawl with him by the time we get to Georgia for Christmas... so we've been practicing.

This is as far as we have gotten.

We can get Brooklyn on her knees every time, but after that, no game. She either throws her arms out like this-- in an obvious effort to fly instead, or she just collapses on the floor, typically in a head dive.

Here's what I think she's thinking. Her belly is still big enough compared to the rest of her body that even if she does get up on her hands and knees, her belly is still on the floor... so why exert the energy? And since she obviously cannot get up on her hands and knees, maybe if she just throws her arms and legs up in the air, the rest of her body will leave the floor as well...

We'll let you know when this theory works out. She might be the first baby to fly before crawling.

Christmas is almost here!

It's time for Christmas, and boy, have I been good. But Santa, if you don't come soon, the presents under the tree might already be unwrapped by the time you get here. I will do my best to start with the ones that have my name on them, but after that, there are no promises.

Bathing Suit Beauty

We went to Richfield over the Thanksgiving break to watch some of Sue's basketball games. The games were a lot of fun to watch, particularly the second one, which came down to an amazing end, but not only were these Brooklyn's first college basketball games, it was also her first stay in a hotel with a pool! And she thought bathtime couldn't get any more exciting... think about how exciting it must have been for her to see that pool/bathtub! It was tons of fun splashing around with JoB, Ellie, Sophie and Larry B, and it was also the debut of Brooklyn's new bathing suit (Thank you Benjamin and Emily!). It just doesn't get more fun than this!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving with Tim's parents this year, and though it was a small group (just the 5 of us), it was wonderful. We had an amazing meal! Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, fruit salad, stuffing, pie, etc. It was great, and our rook tournament topped it off!

Finding the Perfect Christmas Tree

Step 1: Begin the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree.



Step 2: Already tired of hunting? Play in some snow.



Step 3: Once you think you've found a tree, check the size against your height to make sure it isn't too tall-- if not the right tree, keep looking.



Step 4: Tired and bored again? Bounce up and down on some fallen trees.



Step 5: Continue hunt after naptime...

5 months old already!

Five months old, and we're having a really hard time believing that our little girl is growing up so fast.

Brooklyn now...
-loves bathtime
-loves getting ready for bed with Daddy
-loves eating rice cereal and new baby foods
-loves splashing in water
-prefers sitting up in her chair in the same room we are doing things in
-can sit up by herself for a long time before crashing
-wears size 3 diapers
-loves her croaking frog
-is very ticklish
-smiles and laughs all the time
-loves playing with her feet
-is not afraid of new people
-takes a long morning nap!
-loves her fuzzy blanket
-looks cute in anything!
-grabs almost everything
-loves it when we put the cell phone on speakerphone so she can hear

And of course so many other things, but that's enough for now!

!!!Reader Discretion Advised!!!

SO yesterday we had quite the experience.
(Before I tell this story, let me prelude with the information that Brooklyn needs to be wearing size 3 diapers now. She wears 3's to bed, but since we still have a package of 2's to use, we've been trying to go through them during the day. The diaper size discrepancy can be-- no IS-- an issue when there are large quantities filling the diaper.)

With that said, I can continue. After church, Brooklyn was sitting in her swing when Tim announced that he was pretty sure she had just created another poopy diaper. I told him that I would go change her, which he was fine with-- but he did remind me that maybe we should wait a few minutes to make sure she was finished first. I agreed, and a few minutes later he started getting her out of her swing-- only to see that the whole back of her outfit was no longer pink, but a greenish brown. He carried her into her room (this kind of situation is best taken care of with 4 hands when possible) where I began unsnapping the buttons at the bottom of her outfit. She was wearing a one-piece jumper type thing, so the best way to get it off (so I thought) was over her head. I began to try to manuever the outfit over her head, when we realized that this diaper was more than we realized. Typically we just end up using LOTS and LOTS of wipes when this kind of thing happens, but many people have talked about just putting the baby into the bath tub, so that's what we decided to try. We put her into the bathtub (the guest bathtub, because of course that is not something we want in our bathroom. sorry guests! :) and immediately chunks started falling into the tub (I said "READER DISCRETION ADVISED"-- not my fault you're sick now). We hadn't put the plug into the tub, so the water was slowly filling it up, but draining as well. I managed to pull Brooklyn's outfit completely off, but not without sliming her whole back... and head. I threw the outfit to the back of the tub, went to run another bath for a real bath for her (because I had just totally slimed her. Studies show that children exposed to large quantities of poop near their mouths generally get sick-- thus, the real bath). Meanwhile, Tim laid Brooklyn down in the 1 inch of water in the tub and began sliding her around in the tub, in an effort to clean off her back without touching the poop. This worked well, but then the tub was completely slimed. He somehow managed to clean her up pretty well, and then transferred her to the other bathtub. He gave her a good bath while I chloroxed the whole guest bathroom... and VOILA! She was clean.

There's the story, now I have to mention my thoughts during this whole process. My first thought was, "How could a little girl that looked so cute today in her church outfit, have created such a monster of a mess?" Then I thought (and don't take this offensively anyone), "No, how could a little girl that goes to church, make this monster of a mess?!"

Anyways, everything is good now. The bathrooms are cleaned, the baby is cleaned, and we are almost done with the size 2 diapers!!!

Hide and Seek?-- Crib Style

So yesterday Tim and I were on the computer looking for and applying for jobs. We had put Brooklyn down for a nap, and a while later heard her playing in her crib. We gave her a few minutes and then looked in her door to check on her, and this is what we saw...



We could see the blanket moving up and down-- it looked like she was breathing pretty heavily, so we thought she was sleeping. (Lately when we've gone in to check on her she's pulled the blanket up pretty high, though never like this. She likes this blanket because it's so soft.)
I left the room for something, but Tim slowly pulled the blanket away from Brooklyn's face, only to find this...


Apparently she wasn't really sleeping. Maybe she knows Daddy likes to come in and sneak up on her. She's really starting to figure us out. Can you believe she turned 5 months old yesterday!? Anyways, this time the joke was on Daddy. It's hard to sneak up on/scare this girl anymore!

I KNOW I'm not getting bigger... my clothes must be shrinking!

This cartoon is a little misleading... my problem isn't with my shrinking clothes in the washing machine... it's with my clothes spontaneously shrinking-- behind my back. Anyways, let me start from the beginning.

Each winter when it gets way colder than it should, I pull out my bin of sweaters and pick one out to wear. Who doesn't love the feeling of a warm fuzzy sweater with a comfy pair of jeans and some warm socks? Add this to a hot cup of hot chocolate, a blanket, and a good book and your day is set. Ahh, see, you're already falling asleep thinking about how nice this feels.

EEEEEKKKKK. This is the screeching halt you've come to as you realize your sweater is not reaching far enough down your stomach to even see your belly button in the distance. So you put on an undershirt. Feeling confident that undershirts were one of the best inventions EVER, you look in the mirror and are horrified to see that you are showing more undershirt than sweater. Now what's the problem here? Oh right-- your bin of sweaters has suddenly turned into neck/arm warmers (and if you're lucky, a bit of an upper-torso warmer as well).

But here's the thing, it's not me, it's the sweater. These are the same sweaters I've worn since high school and before (a mere 5ish + years ago), and because I KNOW I haven't gotten any bigger, my sweaters must be shrinking.

OR! Maybe I'm getting taller! If I grew taller every year, this sweater-reaching-the-top-of-my-pants-problem would be explained! Eureka!

Oh wait... I've been the same height since... well, long enough. Maybe my sweaters are conspiring against me and want me to buy MORE sweaters...

Ugh... I'm not sure this makes any sense at all. Let me clarify. Do you have a sweater problem? When you pull out your sweaters after a wonderful spring and summer, have you noticed that they get shorter every year?

Exercise?

Bad news... it finally got cold here. And by cold I mean, way too cold to open the front door. This is troubling because I was just beginning to see the results of my working out. I was starting to believe that my exercising was doing something for me. Not only that-- I was beginning to enjoy my time walking outside in the morning--(if you even call my leisurely stroll exercise). And though I was FAR from even beginning to think about enjoying running when I managed to get motivated enough to do it, atleast I felt good when the workout was over. Now, I'm sad to say that the stroller has not left the trunk of the car in over a week. I know what you're thinking-- "Amber, stop being lazy and just go outside, it can't be that bad; there isn't even any snow on the ground." To you I say, "Would you have me freeze my baby?"

Ok, lame excuse. I know, she would be just fine if I bundled her up. In fact, she falls asleep as soon as I start moving with her in the stroller... but I can't help but think she might get cold!

You're right, that's not why I quit exercising outside... really, it's because I imagined myself in what I would have to wear. I decided I might look funny running with four pairs of pants on, my huge puffy winter coat, two hats, a scarf, gloves, and snow boots (in case it snows while I'm out there). With the added weight and the resulting slowed pace, my neighbors might not even be able to tell I was moving-- much less exercising.

I'll stop now, because really, I don't need to explain or justify to anyone. I just tell you these things to explain why I have now elected to use Dance Dance Revolution as my daily exercise. For those of you familiar to DDR, I am working out with Ultramix 3, and frankly, I'm quite the dancer.



See, they have a cool feature on the game that lets a person track how many calories they burn for each song. This is great, a great tool for working out. Too bad you have to dance for 4 straight hours to burn the same amount of calories I could burn running two miles. Not to worry, I'm a stay-at-home mom. I have 4 hours a day to spend staying in shape. The dishes aren't done, the bed isn't made, and I can't remember the last time we wore clean clothes, but not to worry-- I'm getting in shape!

Angel's Landing

We decided that since Benjamin and Emily were in town we should go on a hike to Angel's Landing in Zion. We had heard a lot about it, and thought, "hey, we're pro hikers, we can do that hike easily." Well apparently everyone we know that has gone on that hike is more pro than we are. We (and by "we" I mean myself, not Tim), struggled a bit to make it up to the top. Thankfully, because of the treacherous terrain, there were several times we had to stop to let people coming back from the peak pass on the path. I'm sure those people thought we were just being nice to let them pass so they wouldn't fall off the cliff, but really, we just needed a break. Brooklyn was even winded from the hike, and she was riding in a pack on Tim's back (early Christmas present). Anyways, several hours into our never-ending workout, we finally made it to the top. I was a little nervous taking Brooklyn up the last part because of how high and scray it was, but of course, she was just fine. In fact, she slept through much of it. We took tons of pictures, and then high-tailed it down the trail to make sure we made it off the mountain before dark-- and before the last shuttle came. All in all, it was a pretty fun hike, though next time, we'll definitely plan a little better:

1. plan to take more time than we did
2. don't carry 5 pounds of Halloween candy up the mountain for "nourishment"
3. find the elevator
4. wear cooler clothes
5. wear more deodorant and take samples to pass out to others
6. hire a sherpa to carry sufficient water supplies

I'm sure there were more things that we mentioned doing differently the next time, but I can't remember.
Anyways-- we made it back late that night and managed to survive until we could order a pizza and pick it up.
We spent the rest of the weekend playing a Pirates Cove game and Oodles--- both were lots of fun.
Thanks to Benjamin and Emily for making the trip down here! We had a great time!

Happy Halloween!

After debating between having Brooklyn be a flower or a cow for Halloween this year, Tim convinced me that Brooklyn would be the cutest cow ever. In following with the theme, we decided to be farmers. We went to a few different Trunk-or-treatings and then went to a Halloween party at Tana and Ben's house. We thought about going trick-or-treating in our neighborhood too, but weren't sure anyone was home because there weren't too many trick-or-treaters coming to our house. Sure enough though, they came out of the woodworks later that evening.
Anyways, we did go to Tana's Halloween party and had a great time. Tim, Brooklyn, and I decorated cupcakes to donate to the cake walk. Fortunately, we won a great cake in the cake walk, and I won a round of Bingo as well. We fished at the fishing pond and managed to come away with princess crayons, a princess coloring book, and a claymation Davey and Goliath video.
Benjamin and Emily also came down for the weekend and accompanied us to the Halloween festivities. They dressed to the theme of Yin and Yang-- Emily dressed as a missionary, and Benjamin dressed... well, gangsta style.
All in all, Halloween was a success. We got WAY too much candy, but managed to eat most of it by the end of the weekend.

It's Pumpkin Time!

We carved our pumpkins last night! We drove around to every store in Cedar to find the biggest ones, and eventually made our way BACK to Walmart because their pumpkins were only $2 each, regardless of size. We weren't sure the ones we picked would be big enough to fit Brooklyn in them (this was our goal), but we got the biggest we could find. While Tim gutted the pumpkins, Brooklyn had some more rice cereal in her new chair that we finally broke down and bought. I think the chair will definitely be a good investment. Since she loves looking at herself in the mirror so much, now she can sit on the counter without me having to hold her there, and I can get ready at the same time!
Anyways, back to the pumpkins... they were gutted pretty fast-- Tim used an icecream scooper to clean them out and it didn't take long at all. Then we just had to convince Brooklyn that sitting in a pumpkin was fun. She actually didn't mind it, until we tried to get her to sit down. It was a little too small for her, so we ended up cutting leg holes. We thought it was super cute, but I'm not sure she enjoyed it as much as we did. Finally, we carved our pumpkins. I did a simple face and Tim went for a much more complicated witch design. Both turned out pretty nice, and it didn't even take all night!

Rice Cereal

We made 4 months as well and were told by the doctor that Brooklyn is growing wonderfully. She is now 15 lbs. 3 oz. and 25.5 inches long; both above the 80th percentile. She had to get several more shots which, as always are no fun for either of us. But good news-- we don't have to feel bad about giving Brooklyn real food. Let's be honest, she's had tastes of many things up to this point, despite my urgings against it. The doctor told us we needed to start her on rice cereal between 4 and 6 months old, so we gave it a try this week. After smelling the cereal, I decided it smelled just like cream of wheat... and Tim tasted it and said it tasted like oatmeal with no sugar. Anyways, she didn't seem to mind it!
Brooklyn is beginning to watch us more carefully when we eat. I think she's starting to figure things out.