Santa's Babies

Brookie's 1st Birthday!

I can't believe Brooke is already a year old!  I've been thinking this morning about the day she was born and the events that led up to her birth.  I was so excited to see her, but scared to go through labor and birth again.  My labor and deliveries so far have been fast and without complications, and I am grateful for that...but I was still nervous!  When she arrived and I saw her little face I was instantly in LOVE.  This last year she has developed such a sweet personality, and we love her more and more everyday!

Here are a few things about Brooke:

*Whitney has given her the nickname "beeb".  When Brooke was still tiny Whitney went through a phase where she called us mom and dad for short instead of mommy and daddy.  So Whitney also shortened baby to "beeb".

*Brooke has a high pitched scream that she uses frequently for many reasons.  For example when Whitney takes her toy, she's hungry, she wants something, etc.

*She sleeps about 9-10 hours at night, and then goes back to sleep for a few more hours after I give her a bottle at 5:30 or 6 am.

*She started crawling around 9 months and is now walking around holding onto furniture.  She has recently started to let go and lunge for me or other pieces of furniture.

*We will be keeping Brooke in the infant car seat for a while longer because she is still only 17 pounds.  She seems to be okay facing backwards for now, probably because Whitney entertains her while we drive.  Brooke didn't used to be so good in the car, but she has gotten better, thank goodness!

For Brooke's birthday party we had a close friend and Brig's grandma over to celebrate with cake and ice cream. 

Thanks to all our friends and family who remembered Brooke's Birthday with gifts, phone calls and cards!

Adios Auch!!

I had my doubts that this day would ever come but...Whitney has not used her auch(binky) for over a week now!!  Brig and I had been talking about taking it away for awhile now, but just couldn't do it because she loved it sooooo much.  Well last Wednesday I decided to see how it went.  All morning I talked to her about  how she wasn't a baby like Brookie anymore and that she didn't need her auch anymore.  She seemed to listen and agree until it was nap time, without her auch.  She was really sad and cried.  It just about broke my heart, but after all the drama I couldn't just let her have it because then it would just be worse the next time.  She didn't end up taking a nap, and that night the crying was worse, so sad. She made it through the night without waking up and the next day for her nap she didn't cry at all.  She still acts sad when it's time for bed, but doesn't ask for her auch.  Today we found some of her auches under her bed and she gladly helped me put them in Brooke's crib saying, "I big girl, I don't need a auch anymore."  So sweet! 

Grandma's Visit

My Mom got to stay a night with us last week.  She was up in Utah to help my brother Ben and sister-in-law Connie who just had a baby.  She brought Jared(4) and Kate(2) with her to have a sleep over and play with Whitney and Brooke.  They stayed up late watching Cinderella and finally fell asleep around 10pm.  The next morning we went to the park and to lunch and then they left to go back to Cedar City.  Eventhough it was a quick trip, we were glad they came.  Whitney still talks about them being here.

Happy Halloween

This year we had a great time celebrating Halloween.  Whitney was a ballerina fairy and Brooke was a pink cheetah.  First we had a ward party last weekend that turned out to be really fun.  Of course that had to do with me being on the committee and convincing the other members to do what I wanted :)  One old guy was totally against the trunk or treat but for me that was the best part.  We had a dinner of chili and rolls and then the YMYW did little carnival activities, that Whitney loved.  She got her face painted and went fishing and got a prize and tried to eat a donut off a string. 



Here in Utah people did their trick or treating on Saturday.  It poured rain most of the afternoon, and was still raining pretty hard when we left to go trick or treating at the mall.  When we got there it was so packed that it was like Black Friday or something.  People were waiting in long lines to get a tiny little tootsie roll and most stores were out of candy anyways.  So after about 2 stores we left in hopes that the rain would stop.  By the time we got to Brig's grandma's neighborhood the rain had stopped and the skies were clearing.  We like going to her neighborhood because the people that live there are old and most of them were home, also they give out really good candy.  No tiny tootsie rolls, I'm talkin full size candy bars and very generous portions!!!  The girls got soooo much candy that it will take awhile to eat it all, plus the candy we got to give out to our trick-or-treaters (we had three small groups come to our door).