A Very Merry Christmas

I haven't completely finished this post yet, but I will with pictures and more info soon.

This year Christmas was especially fun.  Whitney is at the age where she really gets into Christmas.  Wearing her Santa dress almost daily was an indication of how dedicated she was to celebrating ing holiday.  Everything for her was about Santa and his reindeer, lights, and being nice.  Although she enjoyed the commercial part of Christmas she also enjoyed the Christ part of Christmas.  She has a doll that is baby Jesus, who she carries around.  She loves the song "Away in a Manger" and likes to pretend she's Mary.

Santa at School

The girls had their Christmas party at Pre-school yesterday.  There was tons of candy, and junk food so all the kids were hyper by the time their parents came to get them.  Brooke and Whitney both wore there Christmas outfits for the party, and looked so cute!!!

Whitney wore her Santa dress and hat, and Brooke wore her elf dress and striped tights. The real Santa was able to stop by for a visit too. All the kids were so excited!! When he walked in the door Whitney ran to him and gave him a huge hug. That was surprising because she's not ever like that with strangers. Brooke wanted to be right by me the whole time. He sang songs with the kids and they all got a chance to sit on his lap.

Brooke was scared at first, but then after Whitney sat on his lap twice she wanted a turn.  Santa gave each child a candy cane and was then on his way back to the north pole to finish getting ready for Christmas. 

Pregnancy update: 28 wks

I haven't really updated about this pregnancy like I did with my others, but that's probably because I am so busy with life this time around and have slacked off on my blogging the last few months.  This Pregnancy has been the hardest of all when it comes to just being comfortable with the sore legs, stretched stomach muscles, and pinched nerves, just to name a few.  But for the most part I am happy, healthy and looking forward to February so I can meet our baby boy.  I had my 5th ultrasound last week and he's growing and all his parts look great, so we are thankful for that.  I have had so many ultrasounds because they couldn't see all his organs and the spine well enough during the others so the Dr. kept wanting more, which is fine with me!

Our little guy is weighing in at 2lbs 8 oz, and his head size is in the 95th percentile (ouch!!!!!!!!!!!) . (12/2/11) His feet were just too cute not to get a picture!

During the ultrasound I got to see his face, and even though it was just the normal black/grey ultrasound I could see that he's already got fat little cheeks.  I can't wait to snuggle and kiss them!

In the last couple of weeks I've had some ladies ask me when I'm due and they are always shocked when I say "At the end of February"  I guess it's because I stick out so much already.  I do have a hard time bending and picking things up, so I've had to rely on Whitney and Brooke to help me more with picking up their toys.  We are all getting so excited to have a brother in our house.  Whitney always talks about him and how small he will be.  She likes to know when he's kicking me and if he cries and if he's sleeping.  Whitney and Brooke both like to help me pick out clothes for him and help us decide on a nursery theme(which hasn't 100% been decided yet).  Brooke will hug, kiss or just point to my tummy and say mimi or bebe(baby) all the time.  Whitney and Brooke will both make great big sisters.

Snow in New Mexico

Lots of places up north haven't gotten winter weather or even snow yet, but for some crazy reason we did in southern New Mexico!   Last night I had to go to the post office and on the way back home people were slipping and sliding everywhere.  All the schools were shutdown today because of the snow and the ice on the roads.  People here just don't know how to deal with it.

This is when we first came outside.  The girls were both so excited about playing in the snow.  I think their excitement dwindled the longer we were out there though.  It was a balmy 24 degrees .  We tried to build a snowman but the snow was too powdery, so Whitney and Brooke made snow angels instead.

My cute little snow angel.

My cute littlest snow angel!!

The girls spent about ten minutes playing in it this morning and then they were ready to come inside.  You can see Whitney was ready to come inside by the look on her face when I asked them to stand there for one more picture.

Brooke's Birthday party with the cousins

Last night we had a huge party for Brooke.  All the local family came and so we had a full house.  Brigham cooked out burgers for everyone and I made the cake.  Whitney picked the Dora theme for Brooke's party because she didn't really care, at least she didn't object to Dora and Boots on her cake. 

My mom and sisters-in-law brought toppings, chips and ice cream to help out with the food.  Here are a few pics from the party.

Right after she blew out her candle.  It was funny because she did a short little blow and the candle went out.  We were all a little shocked and Cousin Cameron in the background thought it was great too!  Brooke acts really mellow and shy around other people.  She didn't even smile when she blew out her candle on her cake and everyone cheered.  When we tried to get a video of it, she just sat there in a daze and didn't move.   

What a cute family!!

Brooke and Uncle Abe.  Brooke always just stares at him and is reluctant to give him any kind of satisfaction when it comes to a smile or a hug.  She's even turning away in the pic lol. Don't feel bad Abe, she's like this with most people.

Brooke tried to go play with her new doll and stroller before she was done opening all of her presents.  I had to refocus her attention to the unopened gifts.

 I wanted to get Brooke something special for her b-day.  When Whitney turned 2 we got her a play kitchen and she's played with it everyday since.  I decided on a doll cradle and high chair for her baby dolls.  Both girls love to put their babies to bed and feed them, so I thought it would be nice to get them doll furniture.  Brooke opened tons of presents from family members(which was really nice of them to bring her a gift...thanks!).  At the end I brought out the cradle and high chair covered with a blanket and when Brooke took the blanket off she was so excited!  More excited then she'd been all night!  Thanks to all that came, we had a great time and hope that you did too!

Happy 2nd birthday to Brooke

Today my little Brookie turned 2.  I can't believe she's growing up so fast.  Here are a few things about her:
-she can talk in long enough phrases that we can understand mostly all of what she says.  Her grammar is even correct most of the time.
-she climbs into our SUV by herself and then into her car seat too.  Brooke gets mad if I try to help her into the car or her carseat.  If she could just buckle herself up that would be great!
-At pre-school she goes potty on the toilet and stays dry all day.  When she gets home though, she forgets all about the potty. :(  I try at home, but I guess her teachers are magic because she cries when I make her sit on the potty so I have a hard time doing it.
-Brooke only uses a binky at bedtime.  For naps at school she goes to sleep without one.  They just never offered it to her so I guess she doesn't think they have one for her, which they do, but I'm okay that she doesn't use it as long as she sleeps!
-Brooke loves to play with Whitney and tries to do everything like her.  They play with their dolls or with their kitchen all the time.  They laugh and give eachother hugs and kisses too.

Today at Pre-school we had a little birthday party for Brooke.  I brought Dora cupcakes to share with her class.  Everyone enjoyed the cupcakes and there were lots of messy pink faces afterwards. 

We all sang to her and then she blew out one of her candles and then I think got embarrassed because I couldn't get her to blow out the other one. 

Brooke got totally messy, which was expected, of course. 

Her teacher had a birthday today too so I just had to get a picture of them together.

On Friday night I'm planning a party at our home where we'll cook out hamburgers, eat cake and then open presents with cousins and family.

Thanksgiving Lunch at Kid's Kountry

We had a huge Thanksgiving feast at the Daycare where I work and the girls go to pre-school.  I bought precooked turkeys, which was definitely the way to go.  The rest of the dinner was the traditional corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, etc.  The kids ate all together in the eating area by the kitchen, so it was a little crammed, but well worth it because they all had so much fun.  All the kids made a hat to be an Indian or a pilgrim. 

Whitney and Brooke were the cutest little pilgrims I've ever seen, but I'm biased of course! 

The little cousins that live in town were there that day, so it made it extra fun for Whitney and Brooke because they enjoy their cousins so much! 

Pumpkin Patch

In mid-October our cousins from Utah came to town for a visit. While they were here, we did all sorts of fun things together. The pumpkin patch was definitely a favorite! A local family here in Las Cruces sets up a fall amusement park each year where you pay a bundle to get into, but there are a bunch of outdoor fall activities for kids and adults so we could have been there all day.  

This is the group of cousins that went to the farm.  There are still 5 cousins missing.  What a group!!!!

At least we all got a picture together even if everyone wasn't looking at the camera :o)

Brookie and Mommy

Whitney was so proud that she picked her own pumpkin all by herself!  With a little help, she was even able to pull it off the vine.

Lunch break.  Brooke already finished her corn dog and her fruit snack. Whitney eats a little slower then everyone else, so she's still working on it.  Aren't they the cutest?!  Everytime I look at these two little girls I am just so thankful to have them healthy, safe, and most of all loved!

This is the girls in the corn box, much like a sand box just with corn instead of sand.

Whitney being silly.

The girls peaking out of the corn box just before we called it a day and went to Grandma's for naps!

Happy Halloween 2011!

This year Whitney had the hardest time deciding what she wanted to be. First a witch, then a princess, a ghost and then a lady bug, then a cupcake, a pumpkin and finally a cat. So when she finally decided to be a cat, I decided Brooke would be a mouse.  I thought they both looked so cute, and Whitney got into being a mean kitty with an attitude and all. 

This is our house all decorated for Halloween.  We weren't home to give out candy so I took down most of the decor this afternoon so it wouldn't get trashed by mad trick-or-treaters because we didn't have candy :(  I heard our neighborhood was the hot spot in town to trick or treat but I never imagined it would be as busy as it was.

We went Trick-or-treating at my Grandmother's house first.  Our neighborhood was so packed with trick-or-treaters that people were waiting in line to get candy at houses, cars were parked all along the side of the streets and tons of people were walking in the streets.  It was crazy, so we decided to go to my Grandmother's neighborhood instead.  There weren't as many houses to go to, but the girls still got tons of candy and were happy at the end of the night.  The door bell rang as soon as we walked in the door, so we hid from the trick-or-treaters who were still out headed up-stairs in our bedroom with the door closed

Miss Whitney Kitty showing off all her candy!

Brooke trying to smile with her mouth full of candy.

Daddy with his girls just before getting them ready to go to bed after a fun filled day.  We now have a huge bowl of candy on top of our fridge that will take us a very long time to eat!

Fall Festival

At church we had a huge fall festival. My sister-n-law Joyce delegated and planned the whole thing. She really put a lot of work into it and it was well worth it because it was so fun. There were tons of people there too. Lots of booths were set up with games to play were you could win a prize.

After the cake walk.  There were over 100 different cup cakes to choose from so it took them a while to look through them all to get the one they wanted.

Whitney was so happy to meet Cinderella! 

This was a really good Snow White!  I think this was Whitney's favorite part of the whole night.

Decorating cookies. 

Getting ready to go trunk-or-treating, which is definitely the way to do trick-or-treating.  Every 5-6 steps you get candy instead of walking from house to house.

This is our family Fall Festival picture taken in front of the back drop that I set up.  I thought it was super cute, but not many people used it for a photo-op.  Brig didn't dress-up, but I just had to wear my "signature pregnant" skeleton costume so that our baby boy could be dressed-up too.

Face painted by Dorothy, one of Whits favorite movie characters.

Bowling for candy.  Look at the stance!

Downtown Denver

In August, we went on a little family trip to Denver.  The drive was long but, the girls did really good.  They watched movies and just looked out the windows and slept most of the time. 

On our first day in Denver we went to the Zoo.  We got to see tons of animals; it's a huge place.  There was every kind of animal and the girls really enjoyed it.

                         

A real polar bear.

I would have had Brooke sit on the statue, but it was extremely hot.

Under the flamingo in the middle there is a baby one that was only a few days old.

Those arm are unbelievably long!

Later that afternoon we checked into a hotel located downtown in the middle of everything worth seeing.  We all took naps and then walked through downtown to the baseball stadium and went to the game.  We were only there for the last half, but it was entertaining and the girls enjoyed the crowds, lights, and the noise.

I had to sleep between the girls so that they would actually sleep!

Walking around downtown.  Good thing I brought my stroller.

                                                       
The next day we packed up our stuff, loaded it in the car and then walked around downtown and then to the  capital building.  The capital building was closed, so we just walked around the grounds.

While we were there we saw groups of people dressed up in costumes like it was Halloween.  It was a city scavenger hunt and we were part of it because we are from an "N" state and I was asked to show my license and be in a picture.  We were trapped there for awhile and then finally got away by telling groups that we had to go.

                                     
By nap time we were in the car heading out of town.  Denver was definitely a cool place to visit, and we wouldn't mind going back there someday!