I'm Thankful...

To finally be catching up on blogging! I decided I should load pics onto the computer so now I can finally catch up from the last month-ish.

We had some fun Halloween celebrations..., Carving pumpkins with grandma and grandpa, Dinner in a Pumpkin for Halloween Eve, decorating sugar cookies with Nana and Papa, Jack-o-Lantern pizza on Halloween and of course, trick-or-treating (at least to a few houses).

And since then, we have been having fun around here, but wishing we could be in PA holding our new nephew, Parker David James. Grandma and Grandpa got to go visit the James,' and we were left home alone. Brooke will be glad to have them home tonight..I'm sure she's bored of just me all day :P

We are SO excited for Christmas and have been listening to Christmas music for weeks now! But of course, we don't forget Thanksgiving. But to everyone who is opposed to all things Christmas before Thanksgiving, here's what I have to say to you: I'm thankful for Christmas..so the holidays go hand in hand if you ask me.

We are excited to drive to Utah (ok..not for the driving part) for Thanksgiving and to celebrate Grandpa Barnes' 90th Birthday..and that's a big deal!


And a Brooke update.. At {almost} 20 months, our little girl is the sweetest bundle of energy and personality!
Recent favs:

• Climbing up on her highchair and into it (albeit backwards..kinda awkward and dangerous). Today she moved her highchair over to the counter, climbed on it and was reaching into the basket on the counter for an onion saying "apple." I was nice and stopped her. But when we do have apples sitting on the table, most of them have a small mysterious bite removed from them...
• ELMO...not necessarily a new thing, but oh my, she is obsessed! She loves looking through toy magazines and no matter how small Elmo is, her eyes are instantly drawn to him. It does make me happy though that she appears to have fantastic eyesight (she didn't get that from me). I am already planning her 2nd b-day party in {ahem} 4.5 months. Never too soon to start planning a party if you ask me :)
• Making all kinds of animals sounds..quack, baa, neigh, meow (more like a whine), tweet, woof (at ANY dog she sees ANYWHERE!)
• Mimicking pretty much everything! She is our little copycat, in word and action. She is good at saying "thank you" when we ask her to (and occasionally on her own). She says, "nigh nigh," "bye bye," "Tate," "Chase," of course grandma and grandpa, nana and papa...and many others I can't think of. Tonight, Curt patted my leg, so Brooke reached down and patted my leg. Curt is trying to teach her that mom says, "no, no, no" and dad says, "yes, yes, yes." But she is still a momma's girl... When she says "no, no" she scrunches her face and shakes her pointer finger..so funny {at least for now :P}
• Mostly an awesome sleeper..usually 12 hours at night. She has been teething for months straight, so occasionally she is a little needy and just wants someone to lay by her crib. So we have learned that although the floor is uncomfortable, it is better than lost sleep :-) She has almost 11 teeth (at least that have begun coming through), and the 4 molars were rough...we have gone through a fair share of tylenol :-)
  
• She loves reading books, is obsessed with shoes, loves to help with laundry by putting clothes into the washer, or from washer to dryer, loves playing with fresh warm clothes from the dryer, and is great at letting me get stuff done for a solid hour while glazed over watching Sesame Street.
  
• Finally enough hair for a decent side pony tail. She doesn't love letting me do it, but I just gotta do it fast! It's the only way I can get her to keep a flower/bow in her hair!
  
• Recently, she has developed weird eating habits. She really doesn't eat meals, she just snacks all day. While this is frustrating for us, we know she won't starve herself, and fruit is better than nothing, right?! She almost single-handedly went through a 5lb box of tangerines in the last week or so...she had 3 today...She would actually prefer an orange or grapes over a donut--weirdo! She used to love breads, but now, she really only eats Jimmy John's bread (and she prefers holding the entire loaf)..but at least she has good taste!
  
• Still mostly a vegetarian...other than hot dogs and lunchmeat, and occasionally, we can sneak in a bite of chicken. Hopefully someday she learns to deal with the texture..until then, I'm sure she is iron-deficient but what do ya do?!
• Swimming like a fish and blowing bubbles in the bathtub. She continues to love bath time, and chokes almost nightly drinking from the tub water..gross I know.
  
• Un-plugging and trying to plug things in. {Dislike} She loves trying to connect the cord into the laptop and often hides in the corner unplugging the lamp, laptop plug, etc. She also loves holding the laptop on her lap like she is so grown up. If she is being quiet in the living room, I can almost guarantee she has the laptop (and if I hear a thud, that's a good indication as well). She's our little tech girl :)
  

(Ok, so I'm actually not caught up on blogging since I wrote this like a month ago and haven't written since..oops)

Apples and Pumpkins..It's Fall!

I don't love the weather change that fall brings, but there are a few things that I do love, like the leaves changing colors and all of the wonderful baking with apples and pumpkin..yum!

So a week and a half ago, my mom, dad, Brooke and I went apple picking..poor Curt had school and had to miss out :( . And for the pictures, we obviously had to color coordinate. The weather didn't completely cooperate, but it didn't start really raining until we were about ready to leave which was nice. We had fun picking apples and got some cute pictures!

For dinner that night, we made caramel apple pork chops, caramel apple cider and made gourmet caramel apples for dessert. It was a fun day of apples and pumpkins!

Our Crazy Trip!

We covered LOTS of road in our 10-day trip back east! And boy did we have fun doing it! 4 Adults (including a 7+ month pregnant woman {my sister}) and 3 kids (ages 1, 2, and 3) driving over 1100 miles and visiting tons of awesome places = CRAZY FUN! and very tiring..

Day 1: Long plane ride. Brooke did surprisingly well. Got into Philly {Humidity shock} Went to Pat's and Geno's--original Philly Cheese steak joints {not super impressed}, drove through the Ghetto (definitely an experience) and then went to our hotel and swam our little hearts out! All 3 kids (and all of us!) were lovin it!

Day 2: Independence Hall (with 2 screaming girlies), Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross House, Ben Franklin's "house"--or at least part of his original foundation, and then cheap cheese steaks from a street vendor {pretty much tasted the same as the originals just a lot cheaper}, and then started the drive to State College (*my sis and bro-in-laws house). Stopped in Amish Town, ate at "Good and Plenty" with country home cooking, kids played at a little park and Cooper fed the goats, then driving some more, stopped at the outlet mall in Hershey and then finally after a little more driving, home! Hurried and put the kids to bed so we could watch the end of the BYU vs. Texas game..we started watching just in time to see the Cougars fall apart {darn it} and then to bed.

Day 3: Despite dreading the driving and long day, we ventured off to Niagra Falls (just our little family). There was an air show "Thunder over Niagra" for 9/11 and we stopped there for a bit {thinking it was actually over Niagra Falls--but not}. After some serious screaming related to us having to cover Brooke's ear, we left. Darn the fact that not everything is fun with kids! We headed over to It was beautiful and with all the rain they'd been having, there was SO much water! After Niagra, we drove to Palmyra, NY. We toured the Grandin Printing Press, the Smith Family Home, the Sacred Grove and the Hill Cumorah. It was such an amazing place. The spirit in the Sacred Grove was powerful and peaceful. I am so grateful for the sacrifices Joseph Smith made to bring about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. To stood where he received the most world-changing revelation was humbling. I am so glad we made the drive to those sacred places. It was most definitely worth it. Brooke did great in the car and was such a trooper the entire trip!

Day 4: Hanging out in State College was so much fun! Alyssa and the kids made apple crepes for breakfast (yum yum!), and then we got ready and went to the park for a picnic. The kids LOVED the slide and swings and throwing rocks in the creek. Then we went to Penn State campus. We took pictures with the Nittany Lion (poor Sadie fell off..my bad), and had ice cream and Berkey Creamery (on Penn State campus). Then we got home, put all kids down for naps and relaxed for a few minutes before getting packed and ready for the next 5 days! We drove to D.C. that night and stayed in a hotel in Maryland. Got to bed way too late!


Day 5: DC!! Woke up way too early {like 5}, over-estimated the 15 minute drive into D.C. and got there way too early! Walked around the White House and played by a little pond right by it while waiting for our tour. We toured the White House, saw the World War II monument, Korean and Vietnam memorials, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument {but due to the earthquake there, it was messed up and we couldn't go up), Museum of American History (aka Star Spangled Banner), Natural History Museum (aka Hope Diamond), Supreme Court tour (best nap ever for all 3 of us..Spence stayed out with the 3 kids so not such a good nap for him), Air and Space Museum (Curt's personal fav..like a kid in a candy store), and then we went to dinner with my awesome cousin Kirstin. {Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake = Heavenly!!} Then we went to my cousin, {Jeff and Carrie's} house in VA and spent the night there. They were so fun to chat and catch up with and it was so nice of them to let us stay there. And the kids loved playing with their kids. It was great!!

Day 6: More D.C. (And not enough sleep..common theme for the vacation!). Started with Library of Congress Tour. {Worst. Idea. Ever.} All 3 kids were terrible and crying/whining so loud the tour guide cut the supposed 45 minute tour down to like 15 minutes. Yah, not the best tour. But we saw a little bit and were grateful to not have to wrestle kids for the full 45 minutes. Then we walked forever (another theme of the trip!), and Alyssa, Curt and I went to the Holocaust Museum. It was very sobering and sad. Spence was a trooper and again had all 3 kids. We ate sandwiches while walking back the way we had just come up to the Capitol. The Capitol Tour was great and so neat to see where so many things that affect us happen. The kids were great and we learned a lot. Then Brooke, Curt and I went to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. {The Magna Carta was out of commission for restoration..lame), but it was neat to see the original documents, especially since we had just been to Philadelphia where it all happened. Then we stopped at Arlington Cemetery on the way back to my cousin's house. Even though we were dog-tired, we knew we needed to see the "Tomb of the Unknown," and we were right in time to see the changing of the Guard. (They ask everyone to be really quiet since it's a sacred ritual..well, one of the kids dropped a huge rock down many steps and Brooke started crying b/c she was scared..needless to say, it wasn't the quietest one, but it was really cool to see how our soldiers are honored for giving the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. We were too tired to walk anywhere else, so we didn't go searching for famous graves but just seeing the vastness of the cemetery was awe-inspiring. We stopped at Panera Bread for dinner and got back to the house and stayed up late chatting.

Day 6: Slept in (till like 7:30..haha) and drove to NYC! We saw so much beautiful country..the green-ness was gorgeous! We miss the color changing trees but it was still so pretty to see so much green. We got to our hotel in East Rutheford, NJ (after a couple bathroom stops..) and then we got some lunch before heading into the city. The hotel had a bus stop right outside the front door which was super convenient! But getting 3 kids and 3 strollers onto a bus..not so convenient :) We got into downtown NYC at 5pm..so of course it was very busy (as it always is). We walked down Broadway, walked around Central Park, walked by the Manhattan Temple, ate at Magnolia's bakery, and just walked some more. It was fun to see the city at night.

Day 7: More NYC! Had to be up early to be to the Statue of Liberty at our scheduled time. We got tickets far in advance, so Alyssa, Curt and I were able to walk up the 300+ steps up to the crown. (Spence had been before so he stayed down with the kids). The steps were steep and it was narrow and tight (especially for Curt), but the view out was awesome, and just being in the crown of the Statue of Liberty was pretty cool. When we got back to the kids, we walked around the base and took pictures. We stopped at Ellis Island for a little bit (all 3 kids were asleep at the same time for a few minutes..a miracle!), and then we did some more walking. Saw the construction zone at the 9/11 memorial, Wall Street, China Town, Little Italy, and FINALLY eventually got to the Empire State Building (We really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into walking there...we walked for miles and miles). Curt, Brooke and I went up to the 86th floor (The James' gave us the tickets for Christmas last year as motivation to get us to come out there), and Brooke and I loved it! Curt isn't crazy about heights so he didn't look down, but at least he came up with us! Seeing for miles and miles out was awesome! When we got back down, we walked some more. Stopped at the ginormous Macy's (rode the wooden escalator all the way to the top), and then back to the bus station and to the hotel. Curt and I took Cooper to go pick up some Applebee's for Dinner and it was a fun adventure driving through a crappy part of NJ. We put the kids to bed and stayed up making a poster for "The Today Show" the next morning.

Day 8: Woke up early to get "The Today Show." Since it was Saturday, it wasn't quite as exciting as a weekday show, but still fun to be at! We had a poster that said ,"Hi Grandpa and Grandma from NYC!! Love, Cooper, Sadie and Brooklyn." We actually got on TV for a few seconds!! (Grandma and grandpa DVR'd it and saw it a few hours later). They were doing an animal segment and the owl they were showing flew into and hit the window. We were standing right outside that window so when they showed the owl, we were in the background. At the end, the cameraman outside had us all up to the fence holding up our sign thinking they would roll it to the crowd at the end..unfortunately, they didn't and he said, "Those idiots." It was funny. After the show, we walked around Rockefeller center, saw where the ice skating rink is in the winter, and really, we were so exhausted we walked back to the bus station and went back to the hotel. We ate breakfast there before checking out and driving back to State College. We dropped Spence off at work and went and got pizza for dinner. We put all the kids to be and watched BYU vs. Utah..and it was ugly!! (Curt slept the ENTIRE game so he missed the ugliness..lucky him).

Day 9: Sunday, church day. But with all the craziness and not much sleep at night for us or the kids, and not much napping for the kids, they were all stuffy. So we decided just to go to Sacrament Meeting. After church, kids napped, we made dinner and made a copycat recipe of the Hummingbird Cupcakes we had at Magnolias, and they turned out really good! We had a nice relaxing day which was much needed after the crazy week!

Day 10: We headed out in the morning toward Philadelphia. Of course, we had to stop at Hershey World to see the "singing cows," since Cooper had been talking of taking Brooklyn there for months beforehand. We also found a Cici's pizza along the way to satisfy Curt's undying desire to eat there since his mission. And we had a stop at Dunkin Donuts (I had to bring some home for one of my residents where I work). And then to the airport. Saying goodbye was the worst..it always it. Cooper was crying and that made it even harder. The flight home went well, Brooke slept for part of it and was good , and grandma and grandpa picked us up at the airport. And Brooke was happy to see grandma and grandpa.

It was such an awesome trip and Alyssa, Spencer and the kids were so much fun! We only wish it could have been longer. The kids had so much fun together and we did everything we wanted to do. It was a wonderful vacation and are so glad that we were able to spend it with people we love!

Brooke @ 18 months

Our 'baby' is turning 18 months on Saturday. It has gone by so fast! So fast, in fact, that I have barely written down all the {super} cute things (and some not so cute) that she has been up to!

• Little Miss Opinionated --- I know that this is to be expected..She is a girl after all, but seriously how do kids come up with an opinion about everything at such a young age?!? She will not eat white fruit snacks. If she puts it in her mouth, she takes it out and hands it to me EVERY TIME! And right now, she only wants to drink out of her princess sippy cups. She knows exactly what she wants and when she wants it.
• Sesame Street Lover --Recently, we have started turning on Sesame Street since she'll finally sit still for a while. She LOVES it! The cutest thing ever..One night we had it on and she was lounging on the couch (leaned back with her arms spread out..one of her fav things to do) and the episode had Destiny's Child singing a song about walking. They sing, "I got a new way to walk, walk, walk," and Brooke couldn't help herself. Her little happy feet were walking in the air. She loves to dance and bounce her booty.
• Did I mention she's a climber? She loves to drag around kitchen chairs and stand on them..makes me nervous everytime! 50% of the time she listens when I ask her to sit on her bum..the other half? She hangs her toes over the edge and I get her down...and she climbs up again. She has learned to climb from the chair to the table..trouble! {knock on wood} but she hasn't had a fall/accident yet associated with climbing. I hope I didn't jinx us.
• Smiley, happy girl! She loves smiling at people until they look at her and just loves attention. She likes acting shy and turning her head away when someone looks at her..and then looking back and smiling at them.
• Copycat -- This stage {for now} is so fun! She'll try to mimic whatever we tell her to say. Words she say that actually sound like what they are supposed to: mama, dada, dog, grandma, grandpa, nana, papa, hot, Tate, up, this, that, NO, yes, woof, neigh, all done, and probably some others I'm forgetting. She uses sign language to say "more," which also happens to be the same sign she uses for "please." (We always tell her to say more please as we do the sign so she thinks it means both things :)
• {Fairly} Good Listener -- For several months, she has been actually pretty good at following directions! She loves to pull things out of the cupboards (especially lids) and when she starts to walk away, I say, " Brooke, please put it away" and she {usually} puts everything back and closes the cupboards. So far, we have gotten away with not child proofing any cupboards. When I say all done with bath, as soon as we pull the drain she starts putting her toys away. She is starting to follow multiple step directions and it's so fun how much she is learning!
• Total goofball! She loves to join in laughing when anyone else is laughing. She has an adorable fake laugh. Her laugh is contagious! If you ask us what we do for fun, we pretty much just laugh at all the cute and funny things Brooke does. She is our main source of entertainment!
• She just got 2 more bottom teeth a couple weeks ago bringing her total to {drum roll} 6 teeth! She got the late-teething genes that all my siblings had. We were all traumatized as kids because we never got to put on name on the Tooth Chart since we didn't start losing teeth till after that was all old news..it's looking like Brookie will be traumatized in the same way. We love asking her if she is going to get more teeth and instantly she says, "Yesh" with her adorable little lisp! The not-so-cute thing--when I ask her to show me her teeth, she feels to need to spit. At first I couldn't help but laugh (even though I didn't want to), and that might have something to do with the fact that she still does it.
• She is such a trooper! We took her on a 10-day crazy trip back east, and with only naps in strollers and car seats, and not nearly enough sleep at night, she did surprisingly awesome! (We did have a few rough nights..but let's not talk about those). She is really an easy going girl most of the time and goes with the flow. I love that about her. She mostly loves being moving in her stroller and loves looking around at people and everything going on around her.
• Loves kids -- I was so happy that she got along so well with her cousins. She got a bit picked on by them this summer so I was a little worried. But they had so much fun together! Cooper seriously cracked her up. There were times when the 3 of them would just be playing together laughing. So cute! (Since Brooke will be in nursery in 2 weeks, I was glad to see that she can play good with other kids..hope it continues!)
• Obsessed with dogs. One of her favorite words is "dog" said repeatedly. We pretty much have to pet every {nice} dog that comes semi-close to us. And for the most part, she is pretty gentle with them. She also loves horses and today when we were by some ponies, she was waving at them and squatting while laughing. She loves animals! I'm just glad she isn't afraid of them. It helps that Nana and Papa have 2 dogs that Brooke loves to follow and chase around.
• Sad sick girl -- We wore her out so much on vacay that she came down with a cold, which of course turned into an ear infection. (Her 5th one this year) So on antibiotics once again. Except this is the first time we've had trouble getting her to take them. We can't even trick her into taking it by mixing it with juice. She is getting too smart. So basically, we have to pin her down, stick in her mouth, try to keep it in while she's spitting it out...yeah, not fun. Which reminds me..she thinks getting her teeth brushed is bloody murder. Without fail, she cries, clamps her mouth shut, and spits..hope she grows out of that one soon or she's going to have lots of cavities!
• Loves books. Every night, we ask her to bring us books to read and she loves to do it! She brings us a book, and then puts her arms us to be picked up. She is getting to be a good cuddler (which we LOVE!!) and her favorite books right now are "What?" from Aunt Lisa, and "Where is Baby's Belly Button?" and also 10 little monkeys jumping on the bed where she gets to pop the little plastic push things on each monkey. We love reading stories together and it's my favorite part of our bed-time routine!

We really love this girl and can't believe how much fun she is! We feel so blessed to have her in our lives! She has so much fun energy and I wish I could remember every cute thing she does...But this will have to do for now! My next post will be {another} marathon post about our awesome trip!

I feel...

kinda like this right now. And the start to our vacay is way too soon (aka 4:15 a.m.)...

Wish us luck for the plane ride. My patience is already running thin.

(I like this pic better, but the facial expression didn't match how I'm a feelin)

Blow dryer + 17 month old = Crazy hair day!

Another Month Bites the Dust...

Almost another blogless month...BUT not! Seriously, it is really September tomorrow?? Did summer really slip away in a blink?? Yes, yes it did. But lucky for us, Curt still has 3 weeks before school starts back up, and we have a super exciting 10 day trip back east planned, so all fun is not lost!

But going back, oh, a couple months...We will give a hopefully short but don't count on it update:

June:

-Planned a "She's About to Pop" baby girl shower for the girl I visit teach (Oh how I love planning parties!!) -Tate and Madi's high school graduations=lots and lots of parties and way too much food! (Party=food at this house!) -Celebrated my half birthday June 27th (I skipped my b-day last December choosing instead to celebrate in June.) I have wanted to do that my whole life and finally had the patience. The verdict..not very exciting since it's not the real thing. Won't be doing it again! -And spending lots and lots of time with Brooke's adorable cousins Cooper and Sadie (and with my amazing sister..she lives way too far away :(..We had so much fun going to parks, eating WAY too much watermelon (ahem..Brooklyn), playing in the pool in the backyard, countless wagon rides, Spokane Indians baseball game and the list goes on! It was so fun to have Alyssa and her kids here for most of the month of June! We can't wait to go seem them in a week and a half!

July:

-Fun 4th of July (even though Curt had to leave at noon to drive to Boise)..We went out to breakfast, said a hard goodbye to Curt, had a BBQ, and watched fireworks in Coeur d' Alene (of which the highlight was Cooper saying "Whoa, look at that one" repeatedly. Funny kid! -50th birthday for my dad..we didn't have a funny party like we should have but we celebrated with cake and ice cream -Cooper family reunion in Petty Creek Montana. Went hiking, to the lake, Glacier National Park and had tons of fun with extended family! -Hung out with the Fousts in Spokane (spent way too much $$ at Gymboree with addict's mom and Kaylene but got Brooke cute clothes and good deals thanks to Kaylene), watched movies, played games and loved seeing them. St. Louis is too far away. -Talked on the phone lots to Curt (He was gone for 5 weeks for a P.T. internship in Boise) -Celebrated our 3rd Anniversary. Brooke and I flew to visit Curt for a couple days mid-way through and we happened to go on our anniversary! We ate at Cafe Rio, swam at the hotel, ate Cheesecake Factory cheesecake (the best!) and had so much fun as a family! -Hangout out with one of my best friends from college, Annette, while in Boise. It was so fun to see her and be weirdos together like the good ol' days :) -Helped watch my sister-in-law's 4 kids while she was in the hospital for several days to get her gallbladder out (Going from 1 to 5 kids is quite the increase in busy-ness) -Sort-of helping with the kitchen remodel..It looks fantastic! Just a few more final touches and it will be done! My dad is so much better than Bob the Builder (I taught my nephews, Jordan and Tyler, to call him Handy Russ. He hates it, but I love it! -Picked cherries, raspberries and strawberries at Greenbluff (all at different times). Brooklyn is a fruit ADDICT!! -Harvesting garden veggies..the best! -Watched grandpa and Alex do a sprint triathlon in Ellensburg. They both did so good! I wish I could say their motivation was contagious..but not as of yet. We loved cheering them on and were so proud of them.

August:

-Curt came home the night before he told me he was coming home and I was SOO surprised and happy!!! We left early the next morning for the Murphey Reunion in Montana.
-Huckleberry picking in Montana..the most delicious berry in the whole wide world!
-Celebrated my mom's b-day and Curt's 26th b-day...Summer is the time for birthdays! It was so much fun to celebrate. For my mom's, we had navajo tacos at her request and all things strawberry for dessert (This lemonade with strawberry sauce mixed in=SO GOOD!) For Curt's party, we had an ice cream sundae bar with homemade ice cream and it was a hit!
-Family picnic at Manito park, enjoying the beautiful weather and flowers.
-Spending the cool summer nights in my parents gorgeous backyard!
-I've picked up some extra shifts to help pay for our upcoming trip, so amidst all the fun, I have had to work. But since I get off at 2:30, I still have lots of the day to play even on days I work.
-Getting some family pics and Brooke's almost 18 month pictures taken. They all turned out so good! That girl hams it up for the camera (even if she did try running away between every picture!)

So there you have it...Summer in a large nutshell!
If you got to this point, props to you! My attention span wouldn't last that long to read it all :)

We've Been Busy

With parties, cousins, and sunshine!!

We have been trying to spend time outside when the weather is nice. My parents have the yard looking gorgeous and we love spending time out there.


Uncle Tate graduated from High School on June 11th!! Along with my two cousins, Alex and Nicole, and Curt's sister Madi. So we had lots of people to cheer for as they called their names! It was a party packed week with way too much food! Tate had a party Monday before graduation, Madi had a party Friday, and then Tate, Alex and Nicole had a combined party on Saturday after the gradation! We are so proud of all of them and know that they have many fun adventures ahead of them. College days are so much fun!

And lots of other things..but since I never finished this post, I'll try to catch up where we are!

While Grandma Has Been Gone...

While Grandma Murphey has been on vacay for 2+ weeks, we have been busy! (And by "we," I mean Brooklyn.)

Lots of opening cupboards and playing with pots and pans...She's a natural musician (kind-of like Justin Bieber -- I might have made Curt watch 'Never Say Never' with me for our date night...maybe.)

Toilet paper shredding..(It the TP is never on the roll if you use our bathroom, well, you can thank this girl.)

Picking grandma's flowers (Don't worry g-ma..I didn't let her actually pick it). She has spent lots of time outside planting, watering and assisting grandpa with the lawn. And they do good work! The yard looks great!

Eating yummy desserts. This girl is a mooch to the max! She hears a dish rattle and she's there in a flash with her mouth wide open..smart girl!

Newspaper spreading (or magazines, or the mail..anything paper ends up all over the floor!)

Playing in the dirt. We try not to let her eat it but we don't always succeed..

And of course, looking cute (at least Brooke and her daddy do. I thought I should post at least one pic of Curt and I...yes, we do exist).

We can't wait to see you tomorrow Grandma! Brooklyn goes wild when you're gone :)

That's my girl!

This little babe loves herself some chocolate! What a mess!

She makes me so proud...

Photo Shoot

With Brooklyn wearing a cute yellow outfit yesterday, and with the beautiful daffodils in full bloom, it was the perfect time for a photo shoot! She wasn't totally her normal, smiley self due to a cold, but we still got some cute pics!

And now for a Brooklyn update:

• She is officially binky and bottle-lessl--We went cold turkey on both at the same time about a week ago. And she didn't even seem to notice! She does great with the sippy and had only been using the binky during night and nighttime anyways, so it was pretty easy to take it away. She has slept through the night since (minus last night d/t above mentioned cold).
  
• She is very self-entertaining and independent. She will just walk/crawl around the living room/toy room for over 30 minutes at a time just playing with toys. We've had to relocate several plants d/t leaf tearing and dirt eating, and the tall lamp is for some reason the most attractive "toy" but no major injuries so far.
  
• She is walking all over the place (until she decides crawling is faster and switches over).
  
• Brooklyn is such a easy going, fun, sweet girl--she is happy in the morning and happy at night (doesn't get that from me :)
• She loves everything about outside, except grass on her bare skin. We've actually had a few nice days where we have been able to watch Tate play tennis and go on wagon rides. It's sad when 60 degrees feels HOT (that is, after 6 months of winter weather)!
  
• She has become a challenge to bathe. I knew the time would come, but didn't want it to. The girl will NOT sit down in the bath! She is always standing up, down, forwards, backwards...baths have become a wrestling match :)
• She is becoming a little copy-cat. And we love it! (At least for now). When we click our tongue, she does it. She'll try to copy what we say (doesn't always sounds quite right, but cute). We'll hit the side of our head and say "oh no," and she hits her head.
  
• She points to her tummy when you ask "Where is your belly button?" and she can point to her ears when asked where they are. It's amazing how much toddlers pick up on! They are smarter than we usually give them credit for.

Mother's Day makes me happy!

I love celebrating Mother's Day! I have been blessed with so many wonderful women in my life. I am especially grateful for and indebted to my wonderful mother who has sacrificed so much for me, and who has supported me in everything I have ever had an interest in. Now that I have been a mother for just over a year, I wonder how she did everything she did with 6 crazy kids, and I have gained an even greater respect, love and appreciation for her. I am thankful for the mother that she is to me, and for the wonderful grandmother that she is to Brooklyn. It is so much fun to watch how much Brooklyn loves her grandma, and it is wonderful to live so close to my mom and to be able to learn so much from her.

"Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it certainly is that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us." --Sheri Dew

There is so much joy in motherhood! I am so blessed to be a mother. The hugs, wet kisses, cuddles and cheesy, messy face grins make even the most tiring days so worth it! There is not a job in the world that rivals being a mother. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful moms out there!!



How could you not love this cute little face?!

Surprise visit from...

The Easter Bunny! (A couple weeks ago that is..always behind we are!) Best $5 after-Halloween costume I ever bought! She looked so cute as our little bunny, and we had such a fun Easter! She wore her pretty dress to church (thanks to Grandma!) and we dyed Easter eggs, had a yummy ham dinner, had an Easter egg hunt and got Easter baskets. Best of all, we were able to remember the Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior which makes possible eternal families, for which we are so grateful! We want to spend forever with our sweet little Easter Bunny!

Utah Trip

Brooklyn and I were able to fly down to Utah last week for Trenton's graduation. (Poor daddy had to stay home for school). So many memories flooded back as we drove down the streets and saw all the places we had come to love during our time in Provo.

Highlights of the trip:

• Brooke's 1st plane ride. She did really well, and people were so nice to help out. She actually took a nap on the airplane, which is simply amazing because it is nearly impossible to get her asleep not in her bed or in her carseat.
• Seeing Uncle Trenton and Aunt Sam, and Uncle Tyler. They sure love Brooklyn and she is lucky to have such fun uncles/aunt.
• "Swimming" -- Ok, this was more like a traumatic experience for Brooklyn, but whatev. For some reason, when she saw the pool, she started screaming and shaking. But being the good parent/grandparents, we put her in the water anyways. (And oh my gosh, I have an obsession with baby swimsuits..cutest things ever! Brooklyn might just have 3..) After about 20 minutes, she finally kinda looked like she might sorta be enjoying herself (aka small splashes and half smiles :) But then the next time we tried, screaming and shaking. I thought we had made some ground, but maybe not so much. She LOVES bath time, so not sure what the deal is with pools, but we really gotta get over this fear before summer...
• Lots of eating...always too much of that, especially when visiting a place that has some of our fav ever restaurants! (Cafe Rio, Zupas, a new fav..Cafe Pesean)
• Shopping in Park City -- My parents rented a condo in Park City so it was fun to stay up there away from the busy-ness of Provo and to relax.
• Trent's graduation (of course...since it was the reason we were there :) We are proud of him!
• Brooklyn's newest trick---WALKING! Brooke took her first steps the night we got down to Provo. (Daddy was a little sad she waited until he wasn't there)..she took several steps while being highly coaxed (holding a cell phone out for her is good motivation to walk apparently).
  
• Trenton's graduation--It was fun to watch him walk, and to celebrate with him! I think graduation's are so exciting! We took lots of pictures and ate lots of good food in Trent's honor. Congrats Trent!
• Visiting Timpanogos Hospital --I took Brooke in to see the nurses who took care of her. They were thrilled to see her, and took pictures of her. We told them that they did good work and Brooke has been healthy and happy since leaving the NICU.
  
• Seeing Brooklyn's Great-Grandpa Barnes -- On the way out of town, we stopped by to say hello. Brooklyn waved and smiled at Grandpa, and he even smiled for a picture!

We rode home with Grandma and Grandpa and Brooke did really good in the car all day. The last hour was a little rough (we were all ready to be home), but overall, it was a great trip and a nice get-a-way!

Please come warm weather!!

Brooklyn loves pounding on the keyboard (which may explain why our computer has some weird things going on), so as I was starting this post, she came over and made her contribution. xWerqsxsxxxx56/TGRzdx$#aF--There you go, Brooke's first blog post! Always wanting to be in on the action!

Brooklyn is officially 1 year, 1 week old. She's probably thinking 1 year old isn't all it's cracked up to be. She celebrated her new age with another ear infection. Seriously, I think having a sick kid is the saddest thing. It's pretty easy to know when she's sick because she is M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E and fussy..not her norm at all! Needless to say, her and I have had spent some "quality" time together in the middle-of-the-night. Thank heavens for antibiotics! And since we're going to focus on the good, here are a few pictures of the week!

Brooke got a birthday package all the way from Poland! Uncle Troy sent Brooke lots of chocolate, and even told her she doesn't have to share with us..spoiled!


Lots of baths! She always loves herself a bath.


Posing for some pictures. Thanks Natalie for the adorable dress!!


And playing with her new picnic table from Grandma and Grandpa. She loves it! And we can't wait until it's nice enough to play with outside!

Brooke turned 1 on April 1!

April 1st was no laughing matter just one year ago with Brooklyn born almost 2 months early. But this year, the mood was much different as she had us all laughing at her cuteness! She was quite the entertaining birthday girl, clapping and throwing her hands in the air while "opening" (or while we opened) her presents! It was so much fun celebrating with family and friends and she was very spoiled!

The Birthday Girl!
(Thanks for making the cute skirt nana!)

The party theme was "Brooklyn's 1st Birthday Safari." We had so much fun planning the party details, but the best part of the night was watching Brooke have so much fun. She thrives on attention and was full of smiles the whole night!
Thanks grandma for all your help!! We would have never pulled it off without you! (The cute jungle cupcakes were thanks to grandma :)

She received so many cute clothes and fun toys. Thanks to everyone for coming!

For the first five minutes, she seriously picked at the frosting on her cake with 2 fingers! She has never eaten so dainty before (of course it's when we want her to dig in and get dirty!) Grandma shared lots of ice cream with her (maybe she's more of an ice cream kind-of-girl), and then she played in her cake for a while. She did enjoy the sugar, and we were glad she wasn't sick afterwards!

We have had the most fun year with this little bundle of energy and we are looking forward to many more birthdays!!! We love you Brookie babe!

Brooklyn's latest discoveries

• She learned how to wave a few days ago and thinks it's the greatest! Still a spastic wave and it's adorable!
• She has two teeth! She got the first one over a month ago and the second came a few weeks later. Still waiting for some top ones to come on down!
• She loves funny noises. Grandpa taught her to make noise when he wiggles his hand over her mouth and she LOVES the change in pitch. Anytime we put our hand over her mouth she starts "talking" so she can hear herself make crazy noises.
  
• When she hears the bath water running, she books it (ok, not that fast since she still only army crawls :) to the bathroom. She loves bath time and can't get enough of it!
• She went through a phase a couple months ago where she would shake her head "no" all the time. Well, it's back! Tonight, we played a game. I would shake my head "yes" and then she would get a big grin on her face and shake "no." Already being contrary..starting young :)
  
• She loves walking along furniture and is getting pretty brave with it (but still cautious enough that I don't have to be right next to her when she's doing it). She is such a scaredy-cat when it comes to standing on her own. As soon as she realizes no one is holding on, she sits down. I'm not sure what's come over her because she used to be such a wild one. But I'm actually grateful that she isn't too much of a dare devil.
  
• She has already had her share of bumps and bruises. We've hit that stage and there's no going back. I put her in our bed the other night (she's still not sleeping through the night consistently) and I couldn't sleep very well so I went and slept on the floor. I told Curt she was next to him. Well...apparently she can no longer sleep on the bed. We woke up to a "clunk" followed by screaming. She fell off the bed onto her head and definitely got a nice goose-egg complete with a rug burn. Yeah, definitely no "Parents of the Year" award for us! And on top of that, my parents have hardwood floor upstairs which has led and will lead to many more injuries I am thinking.
  

She makes us smile and laugh everyday! She has the sweetest disposition and loves to smile at anyone who will smile at her. She is definitely spoiled living by (and with) all of her grandparents and she thrives on attention! Sometimes we just wish she would be sleeping through the night (she is almost 1 afterall), but then we remember how easy of a baby she is and we would have another like her any day! (Ok, not for a while maybe :) We have been SO blessed to have her in our family and couldn't be happier!

March Madness...

And I'm not even talking about basketball! March has been a busy month, full of lots of holidays and celebrations!

First, we celebrated Uncle Tate's 18th Birthday on March 7th. (Well, we celebrated Uncle Troy's birthday in spirit on March 4th.) For Tate's birthday, we made delicious gyros and had Death by Chocolate for dessert. Can't believe the baby is an adult (at least legally!) Brooke was happy he had a birthday so she could play with his balloons!


Then, we celebrated Mardi Gras (a day late). We waited for grandpa to get home from Minneapolis. We made yummy Jambalaya, and attempted to make a King Cake, but since I was in charge of the yeast part, it didn't rise and was a bust! But we still enjoyed the jambalaya and masks and necklaces. Even Brooklyn liked the dinner and chowed it.


Next, we had Pi Day on 3.14 :) Unforunately, we didn't take any pictures but we had Shepherd's Pie for dinner, complete with Very Berry and Pecan Pies for dessert.

And then, we couldn't forget our heritage a few days later. We had to have the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner on St. Patrick's day. I've trained Curt to like it, and he even says he likes the cabbage better every year, surprisingly! We had green pina coladas with our dinner and of course, dressed up in green (except Curt who forget it was St. Patrick's Day..you can tell he's not Irish :) I made a green Jello cake per Curt's special request for dessert (he's been begging for it for over a year since we had one that Sam's mom made.)


Can you find the common denominator in all of our festivities? Yes, we do like food, and themed food is the best! We have had a fun month, and we're totally enjoying Curt's spring break this week. Brooklyn loves having daddy all day for a week! And even though the celebrations are over for March, we have a special someone's birthday to celebrate on April 1st. That's right, Brooklyn will be 1 in just over a week! Not sure how that happened, but we are excited for her party!

Stop and Smell the Roses

We had a Happy Valentine's Day at our house! Curt surprised Brooklyn and I with flowers, and he got me 2 60-minute massages (which I am sooo looking forward to! Thanks babe!) We were also able to go to dinner (thanks to Nana for babysitting) and it was so nice just to chat about us (we didn't even talk about poop all night :) I am so blessed to have the greatest husband (who also happens to be the sweetest daddy) and to have the cutest, happiest baby girl! I am so in love with both of them!

My sweet Valentines :)

Christmas Catch-up

Here's the quick run down on Christmas 2010! It was WAY fun! Little Miss Brooklyn sure made Christmas even more fun than we imagined! Here's a picture synopsis of our Christmas celebrations!

This cute girl got to sit on Santa's lap 3 different times! And each time she loved it and tried to grab his beard. We know next year probably won't be as enjoyable so we took advantage this year!

Festival of Trees and Davenport Hotel with Uncle Tate..cuties!

Christmas Eve fun full of "Minute to Win It." Brooklyn was a crabby patty on Christmas Eve (tired and overstimulated) but she did enjoy a gingerbread cookie!

Jordan, Tyler and Kylee gave Brooke a Holly Moose Build-a-Bear. It's adorable and she loves it! Thanks cousins!

One of the many "Minute to Win It" pictures. Good looking brothers!

Annual Gingerbread Houses..usually Curt and I make one together..but we couldn't agree on our designs so we did some solo work and we were both happier at the end I do believe :) Brooke enjoyed the sugar high!

Christmas Eve Pajamas!

Annual Christmas Nativity. I was excited actually have a real baby this year, but since she was already asleep, Tate was happy to play the baby part. Quite a large baby if you ask me!

One of the best parts of Christmas was talking to Uncle Troy! He's on his mission in Poland and it was so fun to hear his voice. He is a wonderful missionary!

Brooklyn was spoiled like crazy! She got dolls and all sorts of toys! Thanks grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and cousins!

Our Christmas Quiche breakfast. Delish!

We thought Brooke would LOVE opening presents because she loves paper..well, there were too many things going on so she didn't love it as much as we thought. But she had fun playing with her toys and watching everyone else open presents.

Grandpa was told not to buy this, but as you can see, Brooke LOVES it! She has had lots of fun with her giant teddy bear. Grandma can't wait for us to move out and take it with us ;)

Great-grandma Murphey took good care of Brooke while we played at Albertsons on Christmas day. This is one of the last pictures we have of Great-grandma. She passed away on January 14.

Supermarket Sweet contenders...after 3 rounds, we were beat! We love our Christmas day Albertsons games!

Brooklyn had fun at Albertsons being pushed around in a cart, thanks to great-grandma and Ernie.

We had lots of Christmas fun and are excited to see what the New Year has in store!