Family Time

We enjoyed a visit from my Dad's mom (Baba) AND my sister Jamie at the end of January. Baba was here for 10 days and Jamie was here just for the weekend. I just love to talk to my Baba. She has led an amazing life and always had great advice and stories to share. Her visits never seem long enough. This was the first time Jamie was back in the Lone Star State since their move to CT and it was great to have all the siblings together for the first time in nearly a year. We had a great time playing games, talking, laughing, and eating.

My parents, siblings, and Baba on Jan. 31


Four generations on Jan. 29



Walking through Mercer Arboretum (unfortunately not much was blooming, but it was a nice day) on Jan. 27


Mom, Baba, and my girls on Jan. 27


Brooke's become quite the Mama's girl lately--but she slowly warmed up to her Baba (Jan. 27)

Jan. 29

Swapping

My friend Ashley and I both go grocery shopping on Mondays. She agreed to try swapping kids with me on Mondays so we could each do our grocery shopping alone and have a little time after to do WHATEVER WE WANT.
It is heavenly to be alone for a few hours in the middle of the day during the week. And then we get to play with Ashley's kids (Megan and Maddy). The Megans are only 3 months apart in age and boy are they BUSY girls--they can be a little crazy. But, they get along pretty well for 2 year olds and love to play together. Maddy (13 months) and Brooke are cut from similar easy-going molds and have fun watching the older girls run around.
Here are some shots from a few weeks ago. So to all of you other stay-at-homers out there--find a swapping friend--it's a party.

Jan. 25

Jan. 21

6 months...

Brooke on Jan 21

As of January 13, Brooke is closer to turning one than to her birth! Wow, time flies.
At 6 months, Brooke can roll over and over and over, any-which way. She can also turn in circles. She loves to smile and laugh (but her best giggles are still only for Megan). She loves to hang out in the exersaucer. She's getting close to sitting on her own. She is a great sleeper (11 hours at night, one 3 hour nap and one 1 1/2 hour nap in the day, sometimes a 3rd catnap before dinner). She is so interactive and lights up when you talk to her. She can say "bababa". She loves bath time and eating "real" food (is rice cereal real food?).

6 month stats:
Length: 26 3/4 in (85th percentile)
Weight: 16 pounds, 5 ounces (58th percentile--"thinning out" a little)

New Camera

Nikon D3000.
We LOVE it.
It takes awesome pictures (and we don't even know what we're doing with it yet!)
The best part is that it takes pictures FAST--no more missing those smiles from our kids. Yessssssss.
It arrived Jan. 12. Last year we took about 60 pictures a month. We took 396 in January. Here's a few favorites (I had such a hard time narrowing these down!)

Jan. 17

Jan. 20
Jan. 18

Jan. 15
Jan. 16

Jan. 13
Jan. 13

Jan. 13

Jan. 12

Jan. 12

Happy New Year--2010!

Brooke rang in the New Year with her first tastes of solid food on Dec. 30! Unlike Megan's shaky first attempt, Brooke took to this eating thing like a champ. She has yet to not finish a helping of anything we've given her!

New Year's Eve is a fun anniversary day for our family--this year it marked the 5 year anniversary of getting engaged and the 1 year anniversary of closing on our house. Dan had a day off he needed to use so he was home that day. We spent the day checking out bikes for Dan and I (we didn't purchase any though), getting an estimate on some car damage (someone hit us while we were in Utah--minor damage but now we have a nice car repair fund) and enjoying games and fun at my parents' house. We almost made it to midnight (we left my parents' for home after celebrating with NYC at 11)--we're old, we know.

New Year's Day we went and looked at cameras (and did decide to buy one!--but online so we had to wait a week or so). We were back at my parents' that night for a big dinner with my friends from growing up (Kat and Jenn's family). It was so fun to be together with everyone--we wish it happened more often!

Enjoying the swing set, New Year's Weekend


The next week we set some New Year's Resolutions for family night--mine included starting a playgroup and having planned learning activities with Megan on weekdays, but those were promptly set aside when we all spent a week or so being sick. Brooke had RSV and the rest of us felt terrible. Thankfully we recovered and I did start a playgroup (it's well-attended and I love it) and while I don't do activities with Megan EVERY weekday, we do them often and it's helped both Megan and I to enjoy each other more.

Poor sick baby--but I love how snuggly kids are when they don't feel good. (Jan. 10)

The girls, Jan 11

Utah Trip

We had a great Christmas week with Dan's family in Utah. We went to a Christmas Carol sing a long at the EnergySolutions Arena, saw temple square, watched BYU's bowl game, Dan went skiing, spent a day in Provo, and saw lots of extended family on both sides. Other than the few days I got sick, it was a great trip. The kids did great on the flights but didn't sleep very well at Grandma's house--next trip I'm buying a doorknob lock so Megan can't get out of her room! But during the day, both girls had a great time getting acquainted with Grandma, Papa, and all their cousins. Unfortunately, I left our memory card at home and our camera only holds about 10 pics--so here are a few from the beginning of the trip. More pics are trickling in from Dan's siblings so our Christmas won't be completely undocumented when all is said and done!

The girls all bundled up on Temple Square.





Snuggles with Grandma.


Megan LOVED the snow. She even played on Grandma and Papa's swing set for a little while. She also loved running away from me in the snow--that shot of her back was about the closest she liked me to be to her!

Christmas continued...

The present I was most excited about was the swing set from my Mom and Dad. It took Dan about 5 hours and a few headaches but with my Dad's help for the last few hours, they got it done. Megan was pretty excited. She didn't play on it much today but I'm sure it will get lots and lots and lots and lots of use in the weeks to come! We had my parents and brother and sister over for a little brunch and it was fun to share our Christmas with them. The best part is we get to have Christmas again next week! Wahoo!

Christmas Eve and Christmas!

Since we're heading to Utah on Monday, we decided to have our Christmas a little early.
For Christmas Eve, we watched "The Nativity" video that is about 5 minutes long and sang Christmas carols before putting the girls to bed. Then came the work! We finished the play kitchen last night and Dan and my Dad (and Tyler too) finished the swing set today.

Starting the swing set last night--still smiling!


Christmas Eve...



Everything ready for the kiddos...



Yay! A play kitchen!


Good morning!


Megan enjoyed lots of things about the morning. We started with our stockings and she just wanted to read the books from her stocking and eat her orange before she opened anything else.



Brooke's favorite is her new ring of teething keys.


The kitchen is a big hit also. And you can see Megan's new rain boots in the picture too (also a big hit)


Cute, cute girls. It was a fun morning.

We are thankful for...

The way Megan's eyes light up when she sees a new sight...


This sweet smile...


Snowmen...


that Megan didn't get sick from eating as much snow as she could find...


Our beautiful Christmas tree...


Warm fireplaces and stockings all in a row...


Aunt Carrie and her friend Lisa who let us go on a fun date to Dan's work party...



Cute girls in cute Christmas dresses...