Rewind

So my mom mentioned I didn't post any pictures of the holidays... so for her sake, and photo journaling's sake, here we go.  

Two days before Christmas we went to see the lights at temple square.  It was cold, but could have been a lot worse and we made sure to bundle up!

 Here is our Christmas eve and morning.  This year was spent with just the three of us and it was so nice and relaxing.  We got to spend plenty of family time together eating good food and creating new traditions.  We sure missed our other family members though!  Also, I unfortunately only took pictures of  our Christmas morning breakfast.  I do have a couple videos of Brooklyn opening gifts but somehow I completely dropped the ball the rest of the day.  

The day after Christmas we went to the west side of Utah lake and got to run around on the frozen ice.  Brooklyn did not want to be held and I was going crazy thinking she might slip and fall but she did great, if not for being completely frozen by the time we got back home.  

Our New Years was pretty quiet but fun nonetheless.  Brooklyn went to bed at her normal time and Matthew and I stayed up playing board games.  However, I was the only one to make it til midnight.  I woke Matthew up, he rolled over to give me a kiss, and was out a half second later.  :)  New Year's day we spent going to this awesome park in Pleasant Grove.  It was huge and Brooklyn loved all the slides and swings.  It was such beautiful weather (low 50's!) and we were so happy to be outside!  

We are excited for the new year and all that it holds in store for us!

First hair cut!

Yes, it's about time.  Brooklyn had the craziest mullet/rat tail ever!  Even the stylist said she had never seen anything like it.  :)

I thought Brooklyn would scream the whole time, but with the car she sat in, the toys they gave her to play with and the movie they put in front of her face...she did great!  I postponed getting her hair cut for as long as possible because I felt like she wouldn't be my baby any more, but she is so super cute and stylish now, I should have done it a long time ago!

Just cause she is so cute....

My sweet little baby is not looking like a baby anymore.  She has decided she wants to be a big girl too.  She has to do most things on her own!

PSI Party

Matthew's work had a Christmas party a couple of weeks ago.  It was our first real date without miss Brooklyn.  It was great to spend time with just the two of us and enjoy a nice meal without getting food everywhere.  Plus... he is kind of handsome, don't you think?!

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

My Hubby Turns 29!!!!

Yesterday we had the opportunity to celebrate Matthew's birth!!  He turned 29 and is one amazing man!  He is such a great daddy.  Brooklyn always asks for him throughout the day and is so excited to see him when he walks in the door.  Not to mention, so am I!  Even though he spends all day working to take care of our family, he comes home and plays with Brooklyn and listens to me ramble on about our day.  He is so patient, loving, and sincere.  We love him soooooooooooooooooo much!!!!  

To celebrate we went out to lunch here...

and to dinner here....

Then we came home to some yummy cheesecake and presents!

Here are a couple of pics from Matthew's special day.

 

Brooklyn made this wrapping paper for daddy at the crafternoon at the Springville museum.  So cute!

New sweater and new running toe socks

Santa Claus is Coming To Town

So... we took Brooklyn to see Santa last night.  

 Here we are waiting in line. 

And here is Brooklyn on Santa's lap.  I didn't feel like we were torturing her last night, but looking at these pictures today makes me think otherwise.  You can even see Santa's smile start to waiver as he tries to contain the screaming Brooklyn.  I guess it is a rite of passage as a child to have these pictures taken, but after the pictures were taken, Brooklyn didn't want anything to do with me.  I had betrayed her, so she grabbed for the nice daddy who was taking pictures.  Click on the image below to make it bigger.  

We are doing better today and Brooklyn has forgiven me... or forgotten.  Either way, she still gives me hugs and kisses!

Catch Up

 About a month or so ago, we headed to Utah lake to take some pics of the little babe.  We didn't get exactly what we wanted since Brooklyn wasn't feeling the "look at the camera and smile" vibe.  She is still adorable so I thought I would post them anyway.

Also, it definitely looks like Christmas around here.  We have had our tree for over a week, and decorations are brightening up our whole home.  It is the most wonderful time of the year and we celebrated with homemade pumpkin pie that was six months in the making.  Literally.  We started with a pumpkin seed and used the beautiful little pumpkins that grew in our garden this summer to make a delicious pumpkin pie.  Fresh really is better!  I couldn't wait for Brooklyn to wear her Christmas jammies so she has been wearing them for a couple weeks now.  Who says Christmas is only one day?

Yesterday was Sinterklaas day so we had to put out our shoes to be filled with lots of goodies.  The carrots are for the horses and this morning we had oranges and chocolate in our shoes!  I love this tradition from Matt's dutch family!  The clogs were a new addition this year for only 7 dollars on etsy!

Shared photo book from Corinne

Click here to view this photo book larger

I have been working on this baby book for Brooklyn for the past month.  I have finally finished and am just waiting for it to come in the mail!  It documents all of her "firsts" as a baby and shows how fast she has grown.  I think it has been really therapeutic for me because it has forced me to admit that Brooklyn is no longer a tiny little baby.  She is a little girl and is so much fun!

Our Baby Turned 1!

Brooklyn turned one on November 5 and I can't believe it.  She seems like she is such a little girl and no longer a baby.  She has been growing by leaps and bounds these past couple of weeks and it has been so much fun to watch.  She decided she wanted to start walking two days before her birthday and she is gaining confidence every day.  She learns a new word practically everyday.  Her list now includes; Dad, Mama, duck, dog, amen, thank you, ya, hi, bye, Nana, horse, baby, moo, baaa, uh oh, and I swear she says love you when I say it to her.  She raises her hand in story time at the library and during Sunday school to answer questions because she sees everyone else do it.  My favorite of all is that she gives us lots of kisses (on the lips!)  Randomly she will kiss us and make the cute little mwua sound that goes with it.  Sometimes after I am done feeding her she will give me kisses too!  She loves books, Elmo, babies, music, and especially animals.  She also LOVES to growl! We will have to take her to the zoo soon.  She has her doctor's appointment Tuesday so we will see what her stats are, but I am excited to get her into a forward facing car seat.  

Here are a couple of pictures from her little birthday party we had yesterday.  

She got a set of animal puppets and loves them.  She is growling in the second pic :)

Here is Daddy helping blow out the candles! 

She had her own cake to smash and eat by herself.  She was very ladylike when eating her cake, and made sure to take her time.  

 Here is her birthday cake I made for the rest of us.  The theme was red and blue with birds.

We are missing Nana in this picture, but at least we got 3 generations!

We had a great day and look forward to all that Brooklyn will learn and experience in the next year!