Our Winter Colorado Trip

We spent the last week of January up at my parent's Colorado house. It was so much fun. I was so proud of Brooklyn too. She slept the whole way there and back (about a 7 hour drive). She woke up a couple times for a bottle or to give me a little grin, but then went back to napping. What a trooper. I was hoping she did good, otherwise it would have been a LONG drive for me.

We were ready to play in the snow. When we first arrived, there wasn't much snow on the ground and we were a bit bummed, but it snowed Sunday night, Monday and a bit on Tuesday so we were good to go!

Here's Kurt and I all bundled up!

Bailee of course loved playing in the snow. She ran for hours on end and was having a blast!


We found a good sledding hill not too far from the house. It was hard work climbing to the top in the altitude. Here's Kurt after going down the hill.

And here's me. I made the fastest and longest runs out of all of us. I ran into Bailee coming down on my 3rd try. I wasn't too good at steering the sled and the dumb dog didn't move out of my way. Kurt caught it on the video camera. I was cracking up.

My grandpa was up there with us. He just LOVES his great granddaughter. He kept asking to hold her the whole week. He couldn't get enough! It was so cute.

And here's Brooklyn hugging my mom while she was napping. So adorable. It was a nice break for me having my mom up there to play with Brooklyn so I could get out and play as well.

Kurt and I had wanted to make a snowman but the dang snow wouldn't pack for us. So Kurt made a snow angel instead.

Here's the final product. Very impressive!

Here's Kurt on the quad spinning donuts. That was so much fun. We took it out of 4x4 and the tires would just spin. I was on the other quad and we'd race. Bailee was trying so hard to keep up with us.

Toward the end of the week we decided to take a drive up to Telluride. Here's Brooklyn all snuggled up in her warm blankie. I just love this pic of her. Look at those eyes!

After we had been driving a bit, she was so sleepy and was fighting it. Of course mommy had the camera on her since she's so cute!

Here are the 3 of us walking through Telluride. We did a little shopping and had lunch at the Brown Dog Pizza place. It was yummy!

It was only about 20 degrees outside so I had Brooklyn all bundled up. I opened the bunde just enough for her to breathe. I couldn't resist taking this shot: At least she stayed nice and warm.

This was so beautiful with the colors in the mountain and the US flag flying ontop of one of the buildings. So pretty!

This was so neat. Once you get into Telluride, all the houses are so cute and all sorts of bright different colors. I'd never seen anything like it. No two were alike.

This is kind of hard to see, but right in the center of this shot is a frozen waterfall. Telluride was so pretty!

Doesn't she look like Little Red Riding Hood in this outfit?

We had such a good vacation. It was nice to get away for a bit. And with Brooklyn being such a good traveler, we just might have to do it again :) Hmmmm, where to next?

Big Events and Lots of Fun

Brooklyn had her 2 month check up before we went to Colorado. Here are her stats as of 1/21/09:

Weight: 11 pounds 12 ounces - 71 percentile
Height: 23 1/2 inches - 86 percentile
Head Circ: 15.4 inches - 54 percentile

She also got her 2 month shots. 3 in the legs and 1 oral vaccine. Needless to say, she didn't like getting the shots. Poor baby. She did so good though. I was able to comfort her and the tears were gone before we even left the doctor's office.

Big News - Brooklyn has graduated from her bassinet in our bedroom to her crib in her nursery. Daddy decided when we got home from Colorado that it was time. Mommy wasn't quite ready, but survived. I was a little out of sorts because it wasn't our usual routine and I was a bit disoriented, but made it through the night and all is well.

Here is Brooklyn and her friend Finley at their playdate. Finley is about 3 1/2 weeks older than her. She is so big compared to Brooklyn. I guess my chunky monkey at birth has turned into a petite little girl. All of her friends are towering over her these days!

Finley likes to chew on her fingers, so every time Brooklyn moved her hands by Finley's mouth, she opened wide and tried to get Brooklyn's hands. It was hilarious. I was too busy laughing to catch that on camera though.

Here is a cute little clip of Brooklyn and Finley playing together. They are so adorable!



I have a ton of CO pictures, just haven't downloaded them yet. Stay tuned for the snow! :) We had a nice vacation and I can't wait to share. Just don't have as much extra time for blogging these days.

Lots of FIRSTS for Brooklyn

We've had quite a bit of firsts these days (and having so much fun with each of them). I am so happy to be a stay at home mommy and enjoy all of these moments with my baby girl!

Brooklyn's FIRST hiking trip:

My dad called one afternoon and said he wanted to take his dogs for a hike, so I strapped Brooklyn on my chest in the Baby Bjorn and we hiked to the top. I was a little out of breath since I'm just now able to start working out again after the c-section, but we made it. Brooklyn was a trooper and slept the whole way up.


Brooklyn's FIRST trip to the zoo:

Does this look like a girl who's having fun or what? I just love that smile! I dressed her in her giraffe outfit because it was perfect for a trip to the zoo!

Here are the zebras wrestling.

Feeding time at the zoo! For Brooklyn that is!

The orangutans.

Brooklyn's FIRST trip out to lunch. Well, this only shows her in the carseat on the way. I didn't actually have the camera in the restaurant. We went for chinese with Kurt's mom and sister.

Brooklyn's FIRST time sitting up all by herself:

Oh, I guess she had a little help from the bumbo chair huh? :) heehee

Brooklyn's FIRST playdate at her friend Brayden's house:

For only being 5 days older, Brayden is a big boy! Look at his foot compared to Brooklyn's. So much bigger!

And here they are laying next to eachother. Brayden is much longer too.

I don't know a whole lot of babies that like getting their diaper changed, but my little girl sure loves it. She smiles every time and just stares at me and talks to me. She gets her arms and legs going like she's gonna fly away. I crack up every time.

And finally, here is Brooklyn hanging out with her Daddy!

Next week we will be taking Brooklyn for her FIRST trip to the snow when we go to Colorado with my parents. Stay tuned for more pics!

2009 - Here we Come - Happy New Year

Hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Years.

We brought in 2009 at our friends Bill and Rachel's house. We had such a good time! We played games all night, ate lots of yummy food and when midnight came, we had noisemakers, party poppers, an air horn and even pots and pans. You have to make a lot of noise to welcome the new year, right?

And of course a kiss from your loved ones!

Little miss Brooklyn was definitely the life of the party. This girl is a party animal. These photos were taken at 1:00am... and yes, she was wide awake and having a good time. Here is part of a smile.

I don't know what face this is, but I just love it. Her eyes are so intense!

And she's found her voice now too. Here she is trying to talk to us. Don't know what she has to say yet, but I love her little coos!

This is Brooklyn's friend Brayden. He was born 5 days before Brooklyn. We were trying for 11 days apart (since his parents Brandon and Melissa) were married 11 days after Kurt and I... but I guess 5 days is just as neat :)

Brayden loved sharing Brooklyn's play mat. They had such a good time together!

Here's to many more new and fun memories 2009 has to bring!

First Christmas

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had such a good time with Brooklyn on her first Christmas. I wish I would have taken more photos though. You'd think w/ it being her 1st I would have gone crazy, but I don't know what happened. I'll have to gather pics from my family for my scrapbook to fill in the spots I missed. Oops!

A few days before Christmas, we went to my Grandma's house to make cookies. I put Brooklyn in her "Santas Little Helper" outfit. Can you see what a good help she was? What a sleepyhead. Kurt said she looked like a boy in this outfit.

Here is one of my cousins and my mom decorating the sugar cookies. I helped too, but managed to stay out of the pictures. We made so many cookies that day. I just love baking with my Grandma.

We always have such fun decorating the cookies. We like to get a little creative!

Here is Brooklyn playing with my grandma. She is so strong already and holds her head up so well.

I was cracking up at this picture. I was putting Brooklyn in her carseat when we were leaving and she was holding her fists like she was ready to box. She had them so tight and wasn't moving. I had enough time to grab the camera. She is too cute! Put up your dukes!

This is my mom's Christmas tree. It was full of presents. I think the grandkids were a little spoiled this year! Brooklyn sure made out for only being one month old. She got lots of fun toys to grow into.

Here is Brooklyn hanging out with my mom.

This is my nephew opening up his presents. He is 17 months old now so was actually getting into it this year.

It must have been hard work opening all those presents because he crashed and burned. He was out like a light!

I just thought this was a cute little face... Brooklyn was trying to talk to us.

All in all, this was a wonderful holiday! Can't wait for many many more to celebrate!

1 Month Old Today (where did the time go?)

I can't believe our baby girl is a month old already. It seriously seems like we just came home from the hospital the other day. Time sure flies when you're having fun. I am way behind in posting, so hopefully this will catch us up. We are adjusting nicely to our new family of three. And believe it or not, I'm actually handling the sleepless nights better than I thought. Brooklyn usually goes to bed around 11 and we're up around 3, 6 and 9 for feedings. Not too bad!

Here are a couple of our Christmas pictures:

She looks so sweet in her Santa suit. (Thanks again Linae, that outfit is too cute and just perfect for the holidays!)

This was taken the first week we were home. She had a bit of jaundice so we took the swing in the backyard so she could do some sunbathing. Good thing our cold front hadn't come in yet.

This was Brooklyn's first bath at home. She did not like it at all since we had to do a sponge bath because her umbilical cord was still on. Boy does she have some good lungs!

She looks so frustrated here. Like she's saying "enough already".

She actually liked getting her hair washed though. I can't get over the expression on her face here. Such a cute grin.

Finally, bath is finished. No more crying!

And this is her all bundled up once the bath was finished. See, it wasn't the end of the world afterall. But I guess I wasn't looking at things from her perspective! :)

Just chillin.

She likes baths much better now that we can use the bathtub and submerge her in the warm water.

Here's Brooklyn playing in her bouncer. She is totally staring at the lights and animals moving around and making music.

And this is her on her activity mat. She found herself in the mirror. She usually will stay content for about 20 minutes or so with these toys before getting bored and moving onto something else. It's a nice break for me not to have to occupy her time and hold her around the clock.

Doesn't she look so peaceful when she sleeps?

In the beginning it was a little weird for me to be the "mom". When I hear the word mom, I think of my mom... but now that's my role too. I wasn't sure if I was going to know what to do with everything and wondered if I'd be able to handle it all, but things just seem to fall into place. I feel like I am right where I am supposed to be in life. We just love having this little baby girl in our family! She truly is a blessing!