Brooklyn Turns One

My Sweet Brooklyn,

Today you turn one...ONE, and I cannot believe it! 365 days ago the Lord changed our lives for the better when he fully entrusted you to us. I was in shock the moment I saw your full head of BLACK hair, and totally in love with all 7.3 lbs of you! You were the little girl that mommy's heart longed for and the Lord so graciously provided.

Over the last year we have watched you change SO much.  For starters, that black head of hair fell out and now you are a little blondie. Your big bright blue eyes have faded into a bluish-green, so so beautiful. And you have went from a toothless grin to a mouth full of teeth!  You've learned to roll over, sit up, crawl, stand, and walk...all in a year's time! You have learned to talk, how to pout to tell us what you want (ha), and how to hold your own against your big brother ;). And my have you stolen our hearts.

You are full of life! Your spunky and feisty personality are areas I pray the Lord redeems for the good of His glory and kingdom. And behind all that drama there is the sweetest little heart who loves to cuddle, make us laugh, and smiles at just about anything. You love life, and it is contagious!

Your favorite things are playing chase, riding on your rocker, or ride on toys outside, bubbles, playing in the water, playing dolls or with Brayden's toys, copying everything big brother does, making people laugh with your scrunchy nose face and tickles. You love the swing and the slide at the park, and honestly, you really just love being outside. You love being read to, sung to, and rocked to sleep (I cherish those moments). You like to sleep (just like mama).  You will eat almost anything but your favorites are all kinds of berries, mac n cheese, hot dogs, zucchini and broccoli, yogurt, ice cream, and puffs.

You are 21 pounds and 30 inches tall now, my have you grown from the little peanut you were!

You are all girl, but tough, and I love it! The way you hold your baby dolls and give them hugs just melts my heart, I pray you will always love being a little mommy. And animals, my goodness do you love them, especially those "doggies". You see them, point and start running as fast as those little legs will carry you towards them- you definitely get that from daddy ;).

Sweet Brookie, we adore every inch of you, and are beyond grateful to the Lord that you are ours. We pray often that you would love Jesus more than anything and that He would give you a new heart that desires Him above all else. May we exemplify Him and may He captivate you with His love.

Happy first birthday sweet love,

Mommy

Last Month of Being a "Baby"

How is it already May 19th?! Although I can't imagine life without our sweet Brookie, I still cannot believe she is almost one! This little babe is turning into a little girl rather quickly.

She is a MOVER, and is constantly on the go! She crawls so fast, walks pushing things at a running pace, climbs anything she can, and loves to stand all the time. She has taken steps multiple times but hasn't quite figured out how to take more than a couple yet, I am sure she is going to take off any day now...watch out world because here she comes!

She says a handful of words like mama, dada, up, no, hi, and even said "Brady" this month. Not sure if she knows she is saying her brother's name or not, but it sure is adorable.

She got two more teeth this month, both on one side (top and bottom) so now she has 6, and a lopsided smile ;). And she is getting one more at the moment.

She eats like a champ, and wants to try anything and everything she can get her hands on. Her favorites at the moment are pouches, spaghetti, mac and cheese, broccoli, blackberries, puffs, yogurt, cheese and meat.

She loves playing with Brayden, at the park, reading, singing/dancing, the slide and swing, helping mommy with the dishes ;) (aka pulling everything out of the dishwasher), baths (and any kind of water),books, climbing the stairs, and cuddles...she is quite the cuddle bug.

She is such a love bug, so much fun, has so m

uch spunk, and we are so excited to celebrate her first year in just a month! I am prayerful that the Lord will use her energy, strong will, and vibrancy for His glory!

We love you sweet little lady! So SO much!

10 MONTHS!

I  can't believe we are already celebrating this little lady's 10th month of life! People always say that time goes by quickly with little ones, and it is SO true...with each kid it seems to go even faster.  It feels like just yesterday I was cuddling my little newborn, and now she won't sit still!

She is ACTIVE. My goodness is she a mover. Brayden was never like this so it is all new territory for us.  She gets into everything, climbs on everything she can pull herself up on, walks around holding onto things, and crawls FAST. She wants so badly to be wherever the action is and makes sure she is doing everything her big brother is. Speaking of her brother, she adores him. They are becoming the best of friends (when they aren't fighting over a toy), and we love watching that.

She has four teeth now, two on top and two on bottom (those top teeth took FOREVER to poke their way through). And that toothy smile is to die for. She is such a silly girl, loves playing hide and seek, peek a boo, or being tickled.

She eats ONLY solids still and drinks tons of water. She is still picky when it comes to solid foods, but she does love to eat, and makes sure she gets a bite of whatever any of us are eating.  Spaghetti and strawberries are her favorites.

She enjoys the park, playing in the sand, water play and bath time, reading books, blocks, and helping mommy put dishes in the dishwasher (or maybe helping unload ;)).

She is spunky and so full of life and my do we LOVE her! Happy 10 months sweet baby girl, can't believe how big you are, and how blessed we are to get to call you ours!

9 Months!

What can I say about this little munchkin these days...she's ALL over the place, a curious little girl, much different than her brother ever was.  She finds every crumb, every cord, and anything and everything she "shouldn't" be touching ;).  She also wants to stand as often as possible, and has even stood without holding onto anything once, a fluke I think, but who knows, we may have an early walker on our hands.

She waves and says "hi", melt my heart. It is just about the most adorable thing I have ever seen. She plays peek-a-boo (a favorite) too and that is just as cute.

She LOVES being outside, in the water, the sand, or on the grass, and wants so badly to do everything big brother is doing.  She follows him everywhere.

She loves her weekly story-time at the library and sings and dances to all the songs. She also loves when anyone sings to her.

She officially has weaned herself from mommy (so sad for this mommy's heart), and is eating ALL solid foods...just a few months ago we couldn't get her to open her mouth for them and now it is all she wants these days, well that and water, this girl loves her water.

She is growing healthy and strong and is in the 75% for height and around the 65% for weight! But she seems so much smaller to us than her brother was ;).

She holds her own up against her brother, and makes sure that we know she is there too...she's got a strong will that little girl.

She is such a little love bug and we can't get enough of her sweetness!! Happy 9 months doll face! May you grow to love Him!!

8!

Little Miss Brooklyn is 8 months old!

She is still full of personality, ALL GIRL, full of spunk and energy *this girl never sits still*, and a love bug in every way possible...she has become quite the cuddler and boy do I LOVE that.

She loves to talk, or scream in her high-pitched voice to get our attention. She loves being tickled, especially when it is big brother blowing bubbles on her tummy. And she loves standing and will wiggle her way over to you to climb up on you so you will hold her hands so she can stand up-she tries so hard to stand up on her own but hasn't quite figured that out yet. And she still hasn't started crawling, but she moves from side to side and backwards, just hasn't gotten up on those knees and moved yet (she rocks back and forth).

She loves daddy and loves "talking" to him. And she LOVES her big brother to pieces and wants so badly to do EVERYTHING he does, as does he. But I really think as of right now she is a mommy's girl, and I am ok with that :). She lights up whenever she sees me, melt my heart.

She says "dada", "papa", "baba", "yay" and has said "mama" once. She doesn't know what she is saying, but they are adorable noises.

She claps (ADORABLE) and cheers everyone on and even says "yay", and waves (SO CUTE) like she is on a parade float or in a Miss America pageant.

Her favorites are bath time or water play, the sand, playing outside, jumping in her jumper, and playing whatever Brayden is playing :).

She has become a much better eater of solid foods and has started sleeping much better too because of it :)! YAY for all of us.

She still only has two teeth but it looks like she has a few more about to pop through!

We love her oh so much and thank the Lord for her little life. We pray she will come to love Him deeply one day!

Happy 8 sweet pea!

7 Months

I can't believe it is that time again, another month down already! This little girl is such a blessing to our little family, we are so thankful for her joyful spirit.

She is a TOTAL girl, emotional and all, and the older she gets, the more she makes us aware of that with her little squeals, screams, and emotional outbursts ;).

She is moving all over, rolling around everywhere that is, in order to get whatever she wants or wherever she wants. I am sure she will be up on those knees crawling in no time!

She is quite the talker, and "dada" is her choice phrase. Her and Brayden "talk" back and forth (squeal/scream) and it is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen.  He can make her smile/laugh like nobody else can!

She finally is starting to eat a little solid food, but she is definitely picky about how she eats (no spoons for her, only pouches), what she eats, and when she eats. Hopefully soon she will realize that there is so much more flavor in "big girl" food! She started sucking from a straw this month too!

She loves being at the park (she played in the sand for the first time last week and loved it), putting all her brothers toys in her mouth (of course his toys are more interesting and tasty than hers;)), sophie the giraffe, music/singing, and dancing (her version)- she is pretty close to clapping too.

We are still working on sleeping all night long, but hopefully will get there soon.

She is such a little beauty, and boy do we love her! Happy 7 months little doll...you are such a treasure!