The Mayberry Clan

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-21T13:53:00.000-05:00

We hope all our friends are having a wonderful and merry Holiday Season!

... cause we are!

I had to be in this year's Santa photo again (thanks Josh!). I should've known better and been prepared with makeup on and my hair done. :P

Vacation in the Mountains with the Moores

2011-12-12T00:20:00.000-05:00

Shantel, my baby sis, and her family joined me and mine on a little weekend vacation in the NC mountains just outside of Asheville. We rented a beautiful mountain house that had the most spectacular views. We truly were blown away. And, because we were literally in the middle of nowhere, we got to see lots of stars, too. We played, went for a hike, star gazed, cooked good food and just enjoyed each other's company.

Brooklyn and the big stick she found.

The house we stayed in from the backyard.

Josh and Nathan getting along, now.

... and even having fun together!

On our hike to the waterfalls:

I love this picture of the the Moore family.

We made it to the waterfalls.
Not as big as we expected, but still
very beautiful.

I love this little family, too!

Star gazing at night... it was COLD!

Some of the views we had from the house:

This says it all! We really enjoyed ourselves!

Trip to Huntsville, AL

2011-12-11T23:27:00.000-05:00

Matt's work sent him to Huntsville, AL to train some people on what he's doing, and we, of course, had to go with him since his wonderful parents live there. We were there a whole week with Mom/Grandma and Dad/Papa. We went to church, went on walks, went to a house of bounce, went to an awesome park (twice), picnicked, went bowling and just plain enjoyed the company. I LOVE spending time with my in-laws. I feel so lucky to have such a fantastic mother-in-law and father-in-law who love me, my children and of course Matt. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for letting us come stay with you. We can't wait to see you again. We love you!

Josh found a snack on our trip there.
I learned that Matt used to do this when he was little all the time.

Ready for church in their Sunday best!

One of the perks living with Mom and Dad Mayberry for a week - GOOD FOOD!!

Hangin' out at Grandma's, colorin' and snackin'.

House of Bounce fun!

This was the gorgeous park/playground we went to... twice!

My kiddos LOVE swinging!

So ticklish!

My little gymnast loves the balance beam.

Pickniking at the park.

Napping after a long, fun day. So cute!

Brooklyn has become an avid bowler, now.

She's also developed a taste for something else.

They really liked taking a bubble bath in Grandma's big, jetted tub.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-23T13:51:00.000-05:00

This year, we got to celebrate Halloween in many ways:
Me and the kids went to the pumpkin patch with Brooklyn's preschool class and got to decorate little pumpkins.

Picking out her pumpkin.

Brooklyn's class listening to a story about pumpkins.

After picking out their pumpkins to decorate.

Decorating their pumpkins.

As all the kids, including Brooklyn, were sitting and intently listening to the story/book, Josh was playing with the door stoppers.

Trying to pose for Mommy.

A few days later, we as a family went back and picked out our own pumpkin. We got a really really big one this year. It was as big as the kids! Brooklyn refused to stick her hands inside the pumpkin to help Matt clean it out. But, she did LOVE drawing on it.

The BIG ONE!

Then we had a little neighborhood Halloween party at our house with a couple of games for the kiddos to play, like wrapping each other up as mummies and digging through some yucky stuff for treats. We all had fun hangin' out with our neighbors and friends.

Playing with the slime I made... SLIME FIGHT!

We also got to attend our church's Halloween Trunk or Treat and party. We took our pumpkin and decorated our trunk a little, ate some dinner, trunk or treated, and played some games.

Brooklyn got to have a little Halloween party and wear her costume to preschool on Halloween. She was so excited to show her costume to her teachers. She LOVES her teachers so much. She always wants to tell them things she learns at home.

Then, of course, we took the kiddos trick or treating in our neighborhood. It was so much fun, as our neighborhood had a horde of trick or treaters and some homes even set up tables with hot cocoa and cider for us moms and dads, too.

Getting ready to go get some candy.

Trick or treating!

After trick or treating, we hung out a bit with our friends across the street. Then, Brooklyn and Josh dumped all their candy out and dug in... as did Matt and I. :)

Living amongst the wild and the not-so-wild

2011-10-27T01:12:00.000-04:00

The great blessing of living in a neighborhood kinda out of the way is that we come into contact, every once in a while, with some wildlife. There's the alligators we see in our neighborhood ponds, the many long-legged birds that fish in those ponds, a deer on occasion (usually really late at night, or really early in the morning), frogs, hummingbirds, and on a wonderful but rare occasion... a family of rabbits. We had a nest of rabbits in our backyard, right up against our house. It was fun to visit them every day and watch them grow. We were sad the day we went outside to visit them and they were all gone, but that is life. Babies will grow up and leave the nest. :C

We also, on another rare occasion, ran into a flock of migrating wild turkeys who decided to migrate right through our neighborhood. Josh really enjoyed watching the enormous birds and thought they sounded a little funny. :)

Then there's the not so rare occasional visit from the many friendly neighborhood dogs. This is our next-door neighbor's dog, Dante. He is the sweetest little guy ever, and my kids adore him!

Project Master Bathroom: Before and After

2011-10-27T00:32:00.000-04:00

The boring, mundane and cheap look BEFORE:

We painted most of the room together in August, before we left to Texas. While me and kiddos were in Texas, though, Matt finished painting it all and then installed the new mirrors, shelves, and lights. AWESOME!

The awesomeness that is AFTER:

Texas Trip Part 4: Museum and then some...

2011-10-03T15:13:00.000-04:00

After saying our sad goodbyes to the Smiths, we stayed a few nights at Marc & Sarah's home in Lantana. They have such a beautiful house and again, so many toys. We wish we could have spent more time with them, though. Josh and little Brielle followed each other around the house and even snuck a few kisses, and Brooklyn, of course, loved playing with Liriel and Savannah and even watching Dallin and Christian play. My favorite part was reconnecting with my long lost brother and becoming kindred spirits with my sister-in-law. I hadn't seen them in over 4 years prior, so this was long overdue. I loved spending the evenings talking and sharing, and I learned so much just listening to them. Marc is so wise, and Sarah is the most amazing example of a woman.

Playing with their toys in their garage.

Avanlee doing what every 13-year-old does.

Playing with more of their many toys.

We went to play at Alicia's house one night:

Afterwards, we moved on to our last destination, Melissa's house (Matt's sister) in Azle, to await Matt's return to Texas. While there, me and the kiddos went swimming in their pool and one day met Alicia and Ian at the Science Museum (all the other kids were already in school and very busy). After Matt got back into town, we swung by my old roommate's house (Crista) to say hi. Back at Melissa's house, we enjoyed spending time with all of Matt's family, or at least the ones that still lived there in Texas. Even his parents came into town to visit with us all together. We had fun swimming, eating and playing soccer.

Playing with Madison

Brooklyn and Josh both LOVED their cat and dog, too.

The Science Museum:

This giant Light Bright was a hit with both Brooklyn and Josh.

Brookly sitting in a giant dinosaur footprint
Seeing the dino stuff was Brooklyn's favorite
part of the museum.

The enormouse dino skeleton.
Even Josh was impressed.

Brooklyn's favorite exhibit - diggin' up dinosuar bones.

Josh at the dino dig.

Brooklyn and Ian in the kiddie area.

Ian dressed up Brooklyn for the stage.

Ian, Brooklyn and Josh playing with legos.

Brooklyn and Ian grocery shopping.

Brooklyn's grocery cart. She knows how to shop!

This is how Joshie goes grocery shopping.

Me and my old roommate, Crista:

Family gathering at Melissa's:

Hangin' out at the pool at night.

A little bit of night swimming for the kiddos

Look what Brooklyn can do, now!!!

Brooklyn swimming with Daddy and Uncle Patrick.

All the cousins swimming.

My beautiful in-laws looking on.

Playing kick-ball!

Josh hangin' out with Grandma.

Josh's passion - anything that has wheels.

Playing soccer.

Well, the kids were playing soccer while Matt
and the other adults tried to keep up with them. :)

After a couple days in Texas as a complete family again, we hit the road back to South Carolina... back home. I missed being home, but we were very, very sad to leave all that family behind for another who knows how many years. We had a wonderful extended vacation there in Texas and enjoyed every day of it.

Brooklyn enjoying stickers in the car ride home.
Who knew stickers could be so entertaining!

Thank you to all those who opened their homes to me and my family and for entertaining us. We all love you all SO much and can't wait to see you all again!

Texas Trip Part 3: Six Flags and then some...

2011-10-03T14:00:00.000-04:00

After overstaying my welcome at Michelle's house (J/K, Michelle; I know you cried when I left... but so did I - love ya sis!), I stayed with my older sister Cass and her family of 5 kiddos for a week or so. While there, we hung out around the house watching our children play with their many toys, went to the park/splashpad, went out to eat, played at the church, went bowling, swimming, and of course there was SIX FLAGS!! Brooklyn was so excited to ride her first rollercoaster and she developed a love of rollercoasters just like her momma. :) Fortunately, she was just the right size to ride all the family rides and even a couple of rollercoasters and then all the kiddie rides by herself. And boy did she have fun! Granted it was hot, but with unlimited refills on drinks, and all the water rides and sprayers, we stayed pretty cool. Here are some pics from our fun and adventurous time with the Smiths:

Josh walking up to the Smiths' door.

Six Flags!!:

The crew in front of the fountains.

Josh & Brooklyn riding the carousel.
Our first ride.

The log ride.

The other half of our crew on the log ride.

Gettin' nice and cool on the cave ride.

Ridin'Aquaman
(formerly known as Splash Water Falls).

The big splash!

Brooklyn was brave enough to stand on the
bridge and let that giant wave of water soak her!

Ridin' the airplanes in the kiddieland.

Josh didn't like ridin' without Momma.
It took him a few rounds to finally see
how fun it was even without Momma.

You can tell who this ride is supposed
to entertain... the ones with big smiles
on their faces. :)

Ridin' a roller coaster!

Josh and Chanelle enjoying the truck ride
in kiddie land. Josh really loved this ride.

Can't go to Six Flags without having funnel
cake at the end of the day. :)

Josh loved his cousins, Chloe and Chanelle. They read him books almost every night. They even babysat him and Brooklyn one night for me while I went out with my friends, and my kiddos did not seem to mind at all. :)

Chanelle and Chloe, again being awesome cousins, put together a fun little tea party for the little ones. And since Brooklyn just loves tea parties, she had lots of fun.

Brooklyn's first time bowling. She even got one strike.

Swimming at Cimmaron water park again.

Josh loves going under water!

We had such a blast staying at Aunt Cass' house and playing with Cannon, Camilla, Cameron, Chanelle and Chloe. They are all so such fun and we love them all so much, and we can't wait to visit with them again. But, our Texas trip was not quite over, yet...

Texas Trip Part 2: The Zoo and then some...

2011-09-27T00:31:00.000-04:00

After the Reunion, we daughters took my momma out to eat for her birthday before Shantel and my parents headed back East. Then, I spent another week and a half at Michelle's house in Garland hangin' out and havin' loads of fun. We hung out around the house a lot, but did venture out a few times. We went shopping at Grapevine Mills. We went to the Dallas Zoo (upon arrival, we discovered that kids were 1/2 off that day - bonus!). It was really hot, but there were lots of places to cool off, and we had lots of drinks and even ate some ice cream. We also went to Chuck E Cheese for lunch one day. And, before I left Michelle's house, we met with some old friends: Vanessa and Cristina (wish I had a picture). It is so much fun to reminisce and catch up with such great friends. I was so blessed to have such a fun and great group of friends to grow up with. :)

Hangin with the sisters and momma. I love my momma and my sistas!

Brooklyn, and cousins, Alysa and Brynn, ridin' the carousel at Grapevine Mills, after some fun shopping.

At the Dallas Zoo with the Countrymans:

Watching the penguins.
FYI: Brooklyn chose her outfit for the day... just in case you were wondering. :)

Posing on the elephant statues.

Josh LOVED these elephants.

Feeding the giraffes...

Really enjoying the bird show. Look how amazed they all look!

Josh next to the biggest snake
I've ever seen!

Michelle and the girls riding a camel.

Hangin' out at Chuck E. Cheese:

Hangin' out at Aunt Michelle's house with cousins:

Josh and Cayden

Brooklyn, Alysa and Brynn playing Barbies.

Lovin' cousins!

We had such a great time at the Countrymans' house and were very sad to go, but our trip in Texas was far from over....

Texas Trip Part 1: The Reunion!

2011-09-16T15:01:00.000-04:00

We left South Carolina on July 29th and rolled into Texas the next evening (on our anniversary, mind you), to participate in the 2nd Fisher Family Reunion. It had been 4 years since our last reunion and this was long overdue, not to mention 8 new little ones had been added since then. My little family stayed with my sister, Michelle, and her family in Garland. The rest of the families stayed with the other Texans spread about the metroplex. We got together everyday for a week and had LOTS OF FUN!

We started with Sunday church (we took up three whole rows), and ended on Saturday with a trip and donation to the Dallas Childrens Hospital. In between all that, there was a water park, a talent show, a treasure hunt, lots and lots of games, crafts for the kiddos (and the kids at heart), a day at the lake (with jetskis and all kinds of water toys), a swimming pool, Jumpzone, a Ranger game, loads of family pictures, too much food, and more memories than we could handle (thank goodness for photographs). It was a lot of fun spending so much time with our entire Fisher crew once again. Here are just glimpses of how much fun we had:

Thank goodness our babies can sleep
pretty good in the car.

All the grandkids (19 total) after church.

The Mayberry portion of the Fisher Family Reunion Talent Show.

Playing Secrets with all the grown up kids.

Matt and Brooklyn on the jetski at Lake Ray Roberts.

Building a human tower at Marc and Sarah's pool.

At Cimmaron Park in Irving:

Playing games and having fun:

The VERY proud Grandparents.

The Family pictures:

The Grandkids.

The Whole Family!

The bigger we get... the sillier we get, too.

Thanks to all my brothers and sisters for making this reunion so much fun and such a memory for us all. I love you all so much and miss you terribly. I can't wait to see all of you again!

July, in a nutshell...

2011-09-10T23:30:00.000-04:00

July was mostly spent caring for and treating one thing after another, some of which were a little strange. On top of it all, I was preparing for our month-long vacation to Texas (photos/posts to come later). It started with Brooklyn catching a wicked cold... in the middle of the summer, no less. Then Josh caught it, and had his usual croup. They both got better, but then only a few days later, Josh developed a high fever that lasted for about 3 days followed by a horrible rash all over... mainly his legs, though. Diagnosis: roseola, but I had my doubts as the rash was pretty horrific and he was pretty uncomfortable. A week later, Brooklyn developed high fever, vomitted once, and then had a few spots show up days later, but no real rash, and because she was much older, it was determined not to be roseola, but just some other virus. Then, that weekend, Brooklyn's eyes swelled up, alternating back and forth all weekend ~ very strange. We did take her to the ER, and confirmed that it wasn't anything serious, but they did think it was weird. Finally, after all that, we all developed a bit of cabin fever (can you blame us?), and decided that the best cure was a day at the beach. :)

The beginnings of his rash... it got worse than this, too.

Brooklyn's swollen eye in the morning.
Even her ear was a little swollen.
She woke up looking the same the next day, too.

By the end of the day, both days,
her other eye was swollen like this.

Our beautiful lillies and snapdragons.

A picture Brooklyn drew of our family - had to share. :)

A fun Fourth and fireworks

2011-07-07T13:52:00.005-04:00

We didn't do much for Independence Day this year. We hung out with Daddy all day (he finally had a day off) and after dinner, we played outside with our friends across the street with poppers and sparklers and a couple of small fireworks. Then, we all took a walk around the neighborhood and watched one of our neighbors around the corner begin to set off his truckbed full of fireworks. Finally, since Josh had to go to bed, we laid out in our own backyard, ate popcorn and watched an awesome fireworks show put on by severeal of our own neighbors! Every year they get bigger and better, too. Brooklyn enjoyed every boom, crackle, pop, whistle and fizzle. Maybe next year we'll contribute to the neighborhood fireworks show and get some fireworks of our own. Happy Independence Day to all, and God bless USA!

The Reed Family across the street - we hang out a lot.

Taking a family walk around the neighborhood till all the fireworks start

Josh was pretty sleepy (past his bedtime) so I'm not sure whether he liked them or not.

Laying out in our backyard with popcorn
watching fireworks all around us!

Oh the wonderful things my kids can do...

2011-06-23T10:31:00.000-04:00

Brooklyn has become a very skilled climber and can climb absolutely anything... she's a real monkey!

Josh is getting the hang of the slip n' slide.

And, they love to dance.

Brooklyn's Preschool

2011-06-22T15:12:00.000-04:00

I signed Brooklyn up for our City's summer preschool program. She goes to preschool everyday from 8:30 AM till 11:30 AM. She had been so excited to start preschool for the last 3 weeks. But, last week she told me that she can't go to preschool yet, because she didn't have a backpack. She didn't really need one, but we got her one anyways. She picked it out and wore it all around the store the last two times we've been. And this week, she started preschool and has been happy wearing her little backpack to preschool. She has, so far, enjoyed every day of her class, and this Friday, a firetruck will visit them and let them play in the firehose water. So FUN! I am excited for her to have these experiences, and to just plain get out of the house everyday. I am also excited for Joshie to have Mommy all to himself for 3 hours everyday for the next 6 weeks.

Brooklyn LOVES playing with blocks. In fact, she loves anything that you can
build something with - she definitely has engineering blood in her.

Father's Day

2011-06-19T23:05:00.007-04:00

Brooklyn really got the idea of Father's Day this year. She picked out Daddy's present (candy - she knows her Daddy well), decorated his card, and even wanted to surprise Daddy by picking up all the toys. She also wanted to spend every moment possible with her Daddy today, including a tea party, of which Daddy played the table and the guest at the same time.

Josh, unfortunately, didn't quite get Father's Day. He didn't know he wasn't supposed to wake up on Father's Day with a horrible rash all over his body - poor boy. We hope to get this remedied by the end of the day tomorrow.

He's Walking!

2011-06-16T09:44:00.000-04:00

Josh is now 16 months old. He's 21 lbs and is now (finally) walking. He started taking his first steps before I left for Florida and got lots of practice while with Grandma and Grandpa, but he didn't really start walking till a week after we got back from Florida. Here are some videos of Joshua beginning to walk and how well he is now walking today:

Memorial Day memories

2011-06-02T15:15:00.007-04:00

My newest best friend lives across the street from me and they have 3 kiddos of their own. Two of which are Brooklyn's and Josh's ages. So, as you can imagine, we do a lot together, including Memorial Day fun. I invited their family over for some outdoor water fun. We busted out our slip n' slide, the baby pool and a sprinkler and just sat back and watched the kids. FUN!

Brooklyn's first attempt at it:

Even Josh had several goes at it - and LOVED it!

Florida trip, part 2 (Miami)

2011-05-31T14:54:00.000-04:00

We arrived in Miami late Saturday night. On Sunday, the kids and I were able to catch at least the 2nd and 3rd hours of church with my parents (my kids surprisingly, but gratefully, slept in), and my parents were so happy to show off their very adorable grandchildren. :) We then had lunch with my grandparents (mis abuelitos) and hung out with them for a while. Then we had dinner and spent some time at a beautiful local park (Tropical Park???), where Brooklyn got to try out casting her fishing pole for the first time in real water. She's pretty good, too (thanks to that Fisher blood).

La casa de mis abuelos (my grandparents' home).

On Monday, after spending some more time with mis abuelos, we headed out to an awesome lagoon in Coral Gables. It was the ideal beach experience, in my opinion. The pics and videos say it all:

Grandma having fun with Josh & Brooklyn

The whole lagoon

Fishin' with Grandpa.

Did I mention how much Josh loves his Grandma?

On Tuesday, we went to Chuckie Cheese for lunch, where even mi abuelo got his game on. Then my dad, Brooklyn and I went to see a 3D movie (Brooklyn's first 3D movie), Rio.

Josh had loads of fun, as always.

And so did Abuelo. :)

Brookie's prizes.

Rio, in 3D - she wore the glasses most of the time, too.

On Wednesday, it was the Miami Zoo!

Flamingos

Brooklyn fell in love with this little baby elephant.
She really wanted to take it home with us.

After driving all the way to Miami with two kiddos,
I knew I could take on anything... even this croc!

This pic was a "must-do".

Some of our favorite animals we saw:

This tiger had just finished eating,
but I think he was still hungry... he kept eyeing all
the kiddos in front of his habitat.

Some silly monkeys.
Or, as Brooklyn describes them... "They are silly like Daddy."

I loved the way this bear was sitting.

No fear of snakes here!

A lazy lion - Not even Josh's squeals
bothered this guy.

A camel. Brooklyn asked, "Is he grumpy?"
FYI - she has a book that says
the camel was too grumpy.

The favorite exhibit: FEEDING THE GIRAFFES

Lots of giraffes to feed here.

Brookie reading the map and telling us
which way to go next.

Playing in the Zoo's fountains
after a long hot day.

Josh's favorite place to hang out while at the zoo.

Need I say anything???

On Thursday, we had lunch with mis abuelos and then took in some more beach time... this time at a beach next to a lighthouse where the snorkeling was good. We also had the privilege of watching a couple change their lives forever right there on the beach.

Eating out at one of many awesome Cuban restaurants.

Brooklyn running from the waves.
Apparently this beach isn't usually this
dirty (lined with kelp, etc.),
but it just happened to be during our trip.

But, that didn't stop any of us from having fun.
We enjoyed some awesome snorkeling
(wish I had bought a water camera for that).

The wedding that took place right behind us.

Friday, I said goodbye to my loving and oh-so-sweet grandparents, which was very sad for me, and my mom drove back to Orlando with me and my kiddos (my dad came later after finishing up some bishop errands - did I mention that my dad is a bishop again?). That night, since it was storming, we opted to do something indoors (duh) and we went to the biggest McDonalds in the world. That was a total blast, too.

Josh was pretty comfy sitting there.

Brooklyn's new princess crown Grandma bought her.
She LOVES it!

Josh made himself his own "crown". What a silly boy!

Josh trying to walk around
himself - he's almost walking!

Brooklyn showing off her leaping skills.

Josh LOVED this ride, especially with Brooklyn.
I wish I had a better pic of his face.

Playing games at Mickie D's.

What a fun end to a fantastic trip!!

The next morning, we said our goodbyes, and I headed home with my littles (Josh now facing forward in his carseat), and my parents headed to the temple and then back to Miami. We made pretty good time and arrived home to a very excited Matt. He really missed his kids... and sort of missed me. ;)

I only wished this was the scene the entire trip home. Sadly, it was not.

We had such a fun trip and the kids were so great for me.

Florida trip, part 1 (Orlando)

2011-05-29T17:48:00.197-04:00

The kiddos and I took a trip to Florida last week to see my parents and my grandparents (mis abuelitos). Matt didn't get to come with us, as he is trying to save his vacation days for a trip to Texas this summer. So, you guessed it, I drove from SC to FL with two kiddos ALL BY MYSELF! And the kids were AWESOME! I stopped for lunch and then once or twice to console the inconsolable, but we made pretty good time both ways. We actually met my parents in Orlando first, spent a few days there, and then drove on to Miami where we spent a week before coming back Orlando for another day and then back home. In Orlando, we opted not to go to any parks ($$$), but there was so much fun to be had elsewhere, anyways.

We started with dinner at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney, but not before some exploring in and around the restaurant:

Checking out the gator in front of restaurant.

Christmas store next door - Brooklyn LOVES Christmas stuff.

Mickey fountains.

We rode a carousel, too.

Thunderstorm inside the restaurant
startled Josh a little.

It also startled Brooklyn.

Joshua LOVES his Grandma!

VOLCANO!

Checkin' out all the fish - they seemed
to be checking out Josh, too.

On our way out, Brooklyn HAD to take a picture with the princesses.

The next day, we took to the air, water and rails:

That's right, we went up there... way up there!

Brooklyn was a little nervous, but Josh was grabbing at the railing and netting.

Riding the Ferry around Downtown Disney

Riding the little train ride in Downtown Disney with Brooklyn (up front) and Josh.

Then we walked around and checked out all the famous stores there:

The Toy Store!!
We HAD to take a picture with "Big Buzz"! :)

... and Potato Head.

Spent lots of time here.
Then, Grandma and Grandpa got Brooklyn
her own Potato Head to take home.
Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!

Playing in the Mickey Fountains, again.
This time, she got a little more wet. :)

After a change of clothes, we discovered how much Brooklyn LOVES legos at the Legos Store.

And, before we left for the day, we HAD to take another picture with the princesses (in the day time this time).

We finished the day eating pizza at our Hotel's pool.

The next day, my parents went to the temple and Brooklyn, Josh and I went on an excursion via bus, monorail, ferry boat and then by foot. We took in lots of sights and even ate lunch at a fancy Disney Resort.

On the Disney Bus (her first ride on a bus)

Riding the Monorail.

Got a great view of the Princess Castle while riding the monorail.

Met some little girls dressed up like princesses
and traveled via Ferry Boat with them.

One of the gorgeous Disney Resort Hotels (their lobby).
Brooklyn really liked the waterfalls and all the flowers.

After our excursion, we met up with my parents and left Orlando for Miami. Needless to say, my kiddos were pretty tired and both fell asleep as soon as I started the car. We really enjoyed Orlando!

The Birthday Party!

2011-04-30T15:41:00.001-04:00

We celebrated Brooklyn's 3rd birthday this year with a real birthday party. We rented out her gym (Rollie Pollies Gym) and invited ALL of her little friends. 20 kiddos and their parents came to play. To say the least, we all had fun, and even I was able to enjoy it all, too. Pictures say a thousand words, and I have a thousand pictures, so here they are...

Brooklyn's favorite event - the beam.

Brooklyn looks so cute in her birthday outfit that her grandma sent her.

After playing in the gym for an hour, we headed into the party room for lunch and cake.

The cake... it's a ladybug (just in case you couldn't tell).

We didn't have time to open all her presents at the party, so we took them all home and opened them while the babies took their naps. She was very excited about every single one of them.

We were so happy all of her friends from preschool, church and our neighborhood could come and share with Brooklyn her birthday fun. She is more than lucky to have such wonderful and sweet friends.

There was one present in particular that she had to try out right away. And, what better way to wash off all that cake and pizza when it is warm outside, eh?

Under construction

2011-04-29T15:38:00.000-04:00

We have been updating our floors in our house these past few weeks. We started with the kitchen by installing tile over our existing laminate flooring. It is a dark tile, but with all the light that comes in, it looks AWESOME!

Then we moved on to the main room floor. It was intially carpet, but with two littles, it just had to go. So we initially decided to go with the cheaper choice and just extend the existing wood flooring from the hallway into the main/living room. But, after the installer got started, he realized that weaving the new floor into the existing floor was not an option. But, because he had already began sawing into the existing floor in the hallway, there was no going back.

Soooooooo, after some negotiating and a little bit of complaining to the company we used, we decided to just replace ALL the flooring in the hallways, entryway and main/living room with a darker (and more attractive) wood flooring. I was happy to finally have this project finished. I was really tired of walking around on exposed slab and splintered wood flooring. Doesn't it look great?!

Brooklyn's Birthday

2011-04-25T23:26:00.028-04:00

Today was Brooklyn's 3rd Birthday. I can't believe she's 3! This year she is going to have a real birthday party, with friends and everything on Saturday. But, we still celebrated her birthday today with presents from Mommy and Daddy (and Joshy). She got Buzz and Woody dolls (three guesses as to what her favorite movie is), a fishing pole, and her very first pets... FISH! We had the tank set up for her this morning, and after breakfast, we went to the pet store and she picked out her fish. She named them, Mommy, Daddy, Joshy and Brooklyn. :)

Then, as a nonrelated event, we had a wood flooring salesman come to our house to help us pick out the new wood flooring and to give us the final/revised estimate. At least Brooklyn enjoyed playing with all the samples. :)

After he left, we packed up and headed to the beach for a couple of hours. Brooklyn really wanted to try out her fishing pole, but on the first cast, it got tangled up really bad and then got stuck and we couldn't go fishing anymore. She was pretty disappointed, which proves she's got some Fisher in her yet. :) So, with fishing no longer an option, she just dug holes in the sand and chased waves.

Joshua really enjoyed the beach, too. It was his first trip to the beach this year, so sand was a new and interesting substance to him. He tried to eat some, but after some crying and a paci for a plug, he decided that was not a good idea. So he just dug in the sand just like Brooklyn, and chased waves, just like Brooklyn. :)

Then we came home, ate some Arby's (Brooklyn loves roast beef sandwiches) and, after Happy Birthday and 3 blown out candles, we had some ice cream cake.

After baths, Brooklyn got to fall asleep on the couch watching... you guessed it... Toy Story 3. :) What a fun Birthday.

Easter

2011-04-25T01:33:00.002-04:00

With our house still under construction, we didn't get to focus very much on this past Easter holiday. But, thanks to some awesome neighbors, we did get to participate in a fun egg hunt.

Brooklyn and I also decorated a few eggs this year. And on Sunday, I gave the kids little Easter baskets with some fun little toys in them.

Then it was off to church (did I mention I have been called as the nursery chorister? SO FUN!).

After church, we decided to go out to eat... I couldn't spend another moment in our torn up house. Brooklyn picked the place - IHOP.
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

Spending all day at the park

2011-04-22T16:31:00.000-04:00

While our house was under construction, the kids and I spent the whole day at Wannamaker Park. It is such a beautiful park and the weather was absolutely perfect! We played on the playground, had a picnic, hiked, fed some geese, and threw LOTS of rocks in the water... and a few pinecones.

Brooklyn feeding some geese, and Josh laughing at them.

Brooklyn throwing rocks into the water... over and over, again and again.

Josh took a couple of naps, even. What a trooper.

And this is why we NEVER drink from the playground's water fountain. ;)

Josh vs. Nathan - a visit to Auntie Shantie's

2011-03-30T16:19:00.001-04:00

We took a little trip up North to Raleigh, NC to visit my sister, Shantel, and her family for her little boy's 1st birthday. I was so excited for Josh to play with his cousin again, now that he is much more mobile than the last time they were together. Little did I know, Josh has an aggressive side. Who knew! I missed getting video of their first encounter together, but let's just say, Josh made it a point to show Nathan who was older and therefore more dominant. Throughout the weekend, I did get a few encounters of Josh trying to reestablish dominance over Nathan on video, and here is one of their "match-ups". I think Nathan may have won this one. :)

Here's some more photos of our little trip:

At our lunch/rest stop on the way. Josh saying, "All done! Now let's get a move on!"

Brooklyn playing with Nathan's toys. She has fun playing with just about anything.

The birthday cake, and a chocolate bar, aftermath.

Josh and Auntie Shantie - saying good-byes.

Saying bye to Nathan - he looks like he is ready for us to leave - okay mainly for Josh to leave. ;)

Training in progress

2011-03-24T01:15:00.000-04:00

We officially began potty training Brooklyn almost 2 weeks ago. I had tried to start training her several times, and she has shown disinerest every time... till now. What's her motivation? ...

It started when I saw her hiding behind the couch, fixin to do you know what, when I asked her, "do you need to go poopie? Let's go do it on the toilet!" She, as always, says, "no, I just want to go poopie in my diaper." After going through the long list of bribes/awards, again, as compensation for finally pooping in the toilet, I finally took my sister's advice and said, "If you go poopie on toilet right now, we'll go to Chuck E Cheese today." It took about 2 seconds of thought and then her eyes popped wide and she said, "I want to go poopie on the toilet!" From that moment on, she has been practically potty trained (even at night), with just a few accidents. Of course, filling her Potty Power chart with stickers so we can go back to Chuck E Cheese helps keep her potty trained. We've been back two more times since then. :) We are SO proud of our little big girl.

Her favorite ride, and the first thing we do each time we have been there.

Another one of her favorite things to do there.

It seems Brooklyn has been having all the fun.

Or has she???? :)

What we've been up to, lately.

2011-02-25T15:10:00.000-05:00

So, what have we been doing lately? Well, Joshie boy is finally standing up on his own and started doing so in his bed. We found him like this one day...

so, we moved his bed down, and now I find him like this...

We've also been playing outside A LOT. The weather has been B-E-A-utiful lately, and with all the kids on our street coming out to play everyday, too, we can't pass up the opportunity to play outside AND with lots of kids. Brooklyn is pulling Joshie and his little girlfriend Lydia (from across the street) in our little wagon.

Brooklyn has also taken upon herself to learn to become a mom, too. She has asked me several times if she can feed Joshie. So, once in a while, I let her... and she's a natural - she even opens her mouth as Joshua opens his mouth. Maybe I'll let her take on a few more baby caring chores. She has also asked if she could change Joshie's diapers... but I think I'll keep doing that one for now. :)

Also, Joshie has learned his first sign.

Happy Birthday Joshua!

2011-02-15T15:28:00.000-05:00

It is so hard to accept that it has been a year since my little 3 1/2 lb preemie baby boy was born. It was a snowy evening (rare in these parts of the country), and I was being rushed to the hospital in full-blown labor by my nervous husband in our brand new car. All I could think was, "I hope my water doesn't break, or worse actually have this baby, in the car so I don't ruin our leather seats in our brand spankin' new car." (I know, I know, where are my priorities.) Luckily we made it in time and he was born at 7pm on February 12th, 2010. He even cried for us a bit. Despite being a healthy 29 week preemie, he still needed lots of time in the hospital to develop, grow, get stronger and learn to eat. It was two months before he could finally come home. After that our lives became somewhat more familiar to that of a new mom's, and for the next 8 months, we enjoyed watching Joshua Emmitt grow into a big 18 lb 1-year old. We couldn't avoid the inevitable bumps in the road (as with most preemies that young), but those bumps were/are just that... bumps. Joshua is continuing to grow and develop (at his own pace, of course) and we are so proud of how far he has come in his first year of life, and are excited to witness his many accomplishments to come. His name has truly defined him this past year... strength. We love you Joshie-boy!

Here are some more pics and a video of him celebrating his birthday. Unfortunately, I was really sick with the flu on his actual birthday, so we celebrated it the next day when I felt better and could actually participate in the birthday fun.

I know this is kinda long, but it might be worth it to some of y'all out there. :)

Josh really loved his balloons.

Josh opening some presents. Okay... so Daddy and Brooklyn really opened his presents,

but Josh was there, at least.

Josh got LOTS of little cars to play with. He loves pretty much anything with wheels that go. He also got some new jammies, some more play clothes, a drum, a puzzle and a book. He was very happy with all his presents, but I think Brooklyn has enjoyed Josh's presents more than he has, so far.

You are my sunshine

2011-02-08T15:41:00.000-05:00

My little sunshine and her sweet little voice. She LOVES singing and sings all the time. She picks up and sings all the songs we love to sing to her, like this one (see video), and some she's learned at her gym classes. She will even make up her own songs. Her favorite things to make up songs about are: Joshy-boy, family, and all her favorite foods.

It's not just cats and dogs...

2011-02-08T14:49:00.000-05:00

Apparently babies like to soak in the sun from the windows just like cats and dogs.

Sleep time

2011-01-22T14:49:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share how my kids like to sleep and how they fall asleep at this point in their lives... mainly so that we ourselves can remember down the line.

Brooklyn loves to read a book or two or three just before laying down in her bed. She loves to have her little princess couch (which unfolds into a little bed) IN her bed so that she can sleep on both her couch AND her bed. For nighttime, she just has to be left alone to go to sleep and it usually takes her about an hour to finally fall sleep (although sometimes, it can take her over two hours). She loves having ALL of her blankets in her bed, too. But, I always have to re-tuck her in after she falls asleep as she always dumps her blankets over the side of her bed or is laying on top of them instead of under them. For naps, at least lately, I have her go to bed immediately after lunch for "quiet time" while I finish feeding Josh and puting him to bed as well. Then, I go into her room and, because she is always still awake then, I offer her my back or tummy scratching services in exchange for her laying down, closing her eyes and being very still. In just 3 minutes or less, she is always asleep. :)

Joshua hasn't had a very stable sleeping schedule until just recently (he'd been off and on sick for the past several weeks). He will normally take two naps a day and today was the first time I left him to fall asleep on his own for both naps... which he did successfully!! So proud! We'd been putting him to bed at night before he falls sleep for the past several days, and he would fall alseep so easily on his own that I just had to try it out during the day, too. I hope he will continue to be good at falling asleep on his own. It was truly hard on me to let go of rocking him to sleep every night and 2-3 times a day. I guess I just felt like I needed to make up for time lost he spent in a hard cold hospital bed instead of in my arms, or better yet, in my belly! I guess I've made it up to him by now. :) Josh, too, likes having blankets surrounding him, and, since his room has a huge window in it, it gets pretty cold in there and those extra blankets come in handy on those super cold nights.

More Girly Every Day

2011-01-11T20:43:00.000-05:00

Brooklyn has become more and more girly every day. She loves having tea parties with Mommy and Daddy, but absolutely goes nuts when she gets to have a tea party with one of her friends. Her friend from Church/School came over on Saturday and she immediately asked her if she wanted to have a tea party. Lily, being more girly than Brooklyn, said yes, of course, and then suggested they get dressed up... "Great idea, Lily!" says Brooklyn. So they raided Brooklyn's closet and chose their favorite Sunday dresses to wear (as Brooklyn didn't have any dress up clothes just yet) and asked for hairbows to match.

What lovely little girls!

Then, Grandpa (Papoo as Brooklyn calls him) came to visit bringing along Christmas again. And, what does Brooklyn get from Grandma and Papoo?? Dress up clothes!! Her very first dressup dress and her very first Barbiedoll. She wanted to wear her dress today and then she mentioned that she isn't a princess because she doesn't have a crown like her Barbie. So, we made a crown. :)

Joshua is moving...

2011-01-07T14:56:00.001-05:00

I thought I would update all y'all on Joshua since his next update will be his ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY!!! That's right, my little preemie turns one next month! I absolutely cannot believe it! It really snuck up on me.

So, what is Joshy-boy up to these days? Well, he is still learning to crawl. He has developed a means of mobility I can only call "army crawling" as it is closer to that than anything I've seen. But, it is pretty fun to watch (see video).

He is officially strictly formula fed now, as I finally ran out of breastmilk from the deep freezer. He actually had his last bottle of breastmilk on New Years Eve. New year, new food, I guess. He can also eat almost anything now, inlcuding meats, and even food from the table that is healthy enough, small enough, and soft enough. He has his preferences, too. He wants what he wants and when he wants it. Sometimes I will end up opening three different tubs of food that I know he likes before I finally get it right. He loves baby food green veggies, baby food purple fruits, canned green beans, kiwi, and real bananas (not the baby food bananas). He also loves feeding himself (which he has been really good at for some time).

He last weighed in right at 17 lbs., and barely fits in his 9 month old clothes now. He mostly wears 12 month clothes because he is very broad chested (like his Daddy) and has a long body. He poops regularly now (which is a big deal as he has had some issues with that in the past). He is growing more hair on his head than Brooklyn was at this point (but that is not really saying much) and it is brown... not blonde like his sisters. He has the brightest blue eyes I've ever seen and I get lost in them all day.

He laughs, immitates sounds, plays with toys (especially cars and trucks), and adores his big sister (who also adores him just the same). He is very curious, too. He'll watch something that makes sounds or lights up and he furrows his brow as if he is trying to figure it out. He cries when he thinks he is alone in the room and is instantly cheered up by the appearance of his big sister (if me or Matt appear, he will just fuss until we pick him up). He prefers to be held most of the time, which has made Brooklyn just a little jealous, to the point that she asked me to hold and rock her to sleep like I do for Josh.

To sum up, Josh is a healthy little baby boy who has come a long way from the little 3 lb 8 oz preemie almost 11 months ago. We all love and adore his perfect little face and his big precious smile.

Christmas Fun!

2010-12-30T01:35:00.000-05:00

This is what we did for Christmas this year...

We built ourselves a giant gingerbread house... and then ate it. Yummy! :P

On Christmas Eve, we went to an awesome Festival of Lights display here in the Charleston area. We even got to get out of our cars to do a few fun Christmassy things... like roast marshmellows.

Walk through a tunnel of lights.

Ride a carousel.

Get a closeup look at the really cool light displays.

Then it was Christmas and Santa had come and gone before we knew it!

This was how Santa left it.

Opening the first presents.

Brooklyn had already gone through Josh's stocking and most of her stocking, and was playing with her scooter and Josh's riding toy before we finally heard her and got out of bed.

One of Brooklyn's favorite presents - her very own camera (or as Brooklyn calls it, "cwamwa").

Brooklyn's loot.

Joshua's loot - he looks pretty happy with all his presents.

My little Christmas presents! :)

Hope you all had as very merry a Christmas as we did.

Matt's Birthday

2010-12-29T12:44:00.000-05:00

I know this post is a little late, but we celebrated Matt's birthday a week before Christmas. Now that we have entered our "Thirty-somethings", our birthdays don't matter to us anymore, and we might go as far as wishing to not even notice them, but we still have a birthday bash (cake, presents, etc...) since we have children who appreciate them for us. :) Thanks, Brooklyn, for being excited about our birthdays for us. :)

Daddy's presents: he got chocolates, a back massaging chair mat, a calendar of pictures from Hubble's telescope, and a Rangers tie ;P.

Singing Happy Birthday and helping Daddy blow out the candles. You can barely hear Brooklyn singing over me, but she sang the whole Birthday song for him.

No More Paci!

2010-12-21T00:06:00.000-05:00

Since last spring, we have slowly been weening Brooklyn of her pacis. She used to sleep with 5 pacis in her bed... ya know, so she was sure to find one at night if/when she woke up. Over time, she gave all but one to the "paci fairy" in return for a present/toy for each paci. We then started limiting her use of this last paci to just naps and nighttime. She constantly fought us for it during the day, though. I even cut a hole in it, but it did not phase her one bit. Finally, one day (last Saturday, December 11, 2010) her after her nap, Matt was attempting to take her paci from her to put away until nighttime. As usual, she ran away from him hoping to have a few more minutes with it. Frustrated, Matt blurted out, "if you throw your paci away in the trash right now, I will let you open one Christmas present." Brooklyn sat there staring at her paci for a few minutes obviously debating this and then walked over to the trash can and THREW HER LAST PACI IN THE TRASH! So, to keep up with his end of the bargain, Matt brought her a Christmas present to open. I could tell that, as Brooklyn waited for Daddy to wrap and come back with her present, she was feeling a little unsure about her decision, but as soon as he showed up with her little present, and she unwrapped it, she was sure she had made the right decision.

Every night, now, we have a "no more paci" tea party before bed. She wakes up with a super wet diaper every morning, but it is soooo worth not having that paci anymore. We, including her dentist, are so very proud of our little Brooklyn!

Thanksgiving in Alabama

2010-12-07T15:41:00.000-05:00

We got to visit Matt's parents in Huntsville, AL for Thanksgiving this year. Matt's brother, Jason, and his family were also there for the holidays. Needless to say, we had a blast all together playing Wii long into the night, pushing kids in the wheelbarrow and eating the best food we've had in a long time.

Josh sportin' his Texas Rangers pride.

Anywhere there is a piano, Brooklyn must play it.

This was one of Brooklyn's favorite things to do at Grandma's house - play tea party.

Another favorite thing to do was follow Jackson around and play whatever he was playing - in this case it was airplanes.

I liked this picture I caught of Abygail in motion.

Yet another favorite thing to do at Grandma's house - wrestle with Daddy and Uncle Jason with all the cousins.

Josh sportin' his Dallas Cowboys fanhood.

Now who taught him to do that???? Grandpa????

Fixin' Thanksgiving meal.

We were glad to see Angela and Geary.

Brooklyn following Jackson around some more.

Josh got to take his baths in Grandma's sink. :)

Playing with cousin Amber.

Whatever Jackson was doing, she wanted to do, too - especially if it included popsicles.

They all wanted popsicles.

Abygail, Jackson and Brooklyn singing, Once there was a snowman.

Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come visit you for Thanksgiving and for being such amazing hosts to us all. Mom - your food ROCKS! So much that I need to lose an additional 5 more pounds, which I gained while there - so worth it, though. :)

Since we have been back, all three of my babies (Matt being baby #3) have had sinus & chest congestion with fevers. And, Brooklyn ended up with her very first ear infection (31 months was a good run). I must admit that I may have been the coulprit with the germs to begin with, as I was pretty sick the week before we left. Oh well. Now we are all just trying to get healthy again and stay healthy for all the Christmas activities coming up.

Splish Splash, Josh loves his bath

2010-11-16T00:11:00.000-05:00

I love how Josh has taken a liking to water and bathtime. I can always count on bathtime to cheer him up when teething gets him down. He loves the water and splashing with his hands and feet. And don't you just love his bathtub? ;)

Singing Songs

2010-11-15T23:47:00.001-05:00

Brooklyn has learned several songs and loves to sing all the time. She even makes up her own songs and tries to teach them to me. It's so much fun to see her develop her love of music and singing.

PS. Grandma, she is really excited to sing all her songs for you next week.

Singing ABC's:

Singing Row Your Boat:

Halloween

2010-11-02T00:36:00.000-04:00

We all went trick or treating around our neighborhood together this year. It was too cute to miss. I kid you not, there were at least 100 kids walking around trick or treating. Joshy ended up falling asleep in Matt's arms (wish I had a pic of that to share - sorry), so they retired a little earlier than Brooklyn and I.

Words can't describe how cute our little ladybug was for Halloween, and these pictures don't do her justice. The video helps, though. :) She got comments like these: "When you're that cute, you can have as much candy as you want", "She's so cute she doesn't have to say thankyou!" and my favorite, "You are so cute, I want to be your grandmother and just spoil you rotten."

The loot. The pumpkin got too heavy at the end... and so did her feet. I ended up carrying both two blocks back home, despite having brought the wagon.

At this house, the man who answered (I don't know if you can tell) was wearing a Jason mask and holding a knife. It didn't phase her one bit. She still said, "trick or treat" and "thank you"... if you can hear it.

Fall fun

2010-10-24T22:00:00.000-04:00

We are so excited for Fall. The weather is awesome, and holidays are upon us. Halloween is gonna be even more fun this year since Brooklyn knows exactly what to do and is really excited to do it. In fact, I offered her a piece of candy today and she said, "Wait, I have to say 'trick or treat' first." She also picked out what she wanted to dress up as: a ladybug - and she loves telling everyone. She is ready! We also carved our first pumpkin with her this year. She doesn't like being dirty very much, so I assumed she wouldn't really want to help gut the pumpkin. But, I learned that she likes getting dirty, just not being dirty. :)

We also had a family outing last night to a local farm hosting a Fall Festival. They had all kinds of fun activities. There were small, medium and large corn mazes, and we went through all of them with the use of Brooklyn's newly developed trekking skills. She would mark the ground in the dirt with her finger as we walked so that we would know where we had been. She is the smartest little girl! Then, she would look at the map at each intersection and say, "Which way do we go? I know, this way. Come on!" and she would point and wave us to follow her. It was VERY cute. :) There was also a cornbox, bouncy balls, farm animals, and other things that we didn't even get around to. We had a blast and will definitely be going back there next year. Even Josh enjoyed himself!

In the toddler haybale maze. She found her way through this rather easily... and a few times... and faster each time.

Marking where we had been in the big corn maze. She actually drew X's, too.

Saying, "C'mon, follow me!"

Playing in the cornbox.

On the bouncy ball - it was harder than it looked, but she figured it out (which was really fun to watch).

Joshua and Daddy having fun, too.

Go Rangers Go!

2010-10-17T15:03:00.000-04:00

We are so very proud of our Texas Rangers!

Brooklyn showing her antlers after watching a great play!

Luna Moths

2010-10-17T14:46:00.000-04:00

The kids and I went to a park last week and on the back of the bench where we sat to eat lunch, we found these two beautiful moths (luna moths). I have never seen such beautiful bugs and just had to share. They just sat there like this the whole time we were there, and we were there for over 4 hours. I read later that when they mate, they will stay like this for a whole day if undisturbed.

Justice

2010-10-17T00:14:00.000-04:00

First, let's recall what Brooklyn's first syllables were...

Now, here's Joshua's first syllables:

Is that justice or what?! I am so proud of my little boy! :)

Latin Heritage

2010-10-05T00:40:00.000-04:00

Brooklyn, Josh and I joined my neighbor and went to a Latin Heritage Festival at the park. It was really fun and the food was awesome, as Latin food always is. They had live Latin bands playing salsa music and more. And for the kiddos, they had a line of bounce-houses set up in the back. Now, whether that has anything to do with Latin Heritage or not, I dunno, but that is where we spent most of our time. Of course we did spend some time dancing to the music. I tried to teach Brooklyn some salsa style dancing, but she just doesn't know how to shake her hips yet (I wish I would have taken video of that, too). I hope to expose them to their own Latin heritage throughout their lives, and I guess this was a good start.

Josh & Nathan

2010-10-05T00:12:00.000-04:00

Boys will be boys

2010-09-30T23:49:00.000-04:00

Like my previous post mentioned, my little sister is here from Raleigh visiting us for a few days with her son Nathan, who is the same age as Joshua. They have had so much fun playing together, and with Brooklyn. Their favorite things to do are laugh at Brooklyn and, like boys do, wrestling with each other. :)

It looks to me like Joshua started it. ;)

"King of the blanket"! Boys will be boys.

Spoiled Rotten

2010-09-30T22:59:00.000-04:00

Anty Shanty (my baby sister, Shantel) is visiting us and Brooklyn has loved every moment of it. The day before she arrived, Brooklyn told me, "Anty Shanty is coming to Brooklyn's house. Anty Shanty loves Brooklyn." Well, she's right... Anty Shanty did come to Brooklyn's house to play, and she absolutely loves Brooklyn to the point of spoiling her.

Riding the carousel

Eating her ice cream cone (with sprinkles, of course).

Thanks Anty Shanty!!

Siblings

2010-09-28T23:59:00.000-04:00

Brooklyn and Josh are such great siblings. They love eating, sleeping and playing with each other. At times Brooklyn will not eat her food until Josh is sitting on the table, too. She also begs me to lay Josh down in her bed with her during nap time and she'll close her eyes and tell Josh to take a nap, too. Brooklyn especially loves playing with Joshy and making him laugh, and he laughs at her so easily.

He just likes sitting this way on his bouncy chair, now.

Painting Nails

2010-09-25T23:58:00.000-04:00

Brooklyn has developed some girly habits lately. Maybe it's because there is little testosterone in the house now that Matt has been gone and Josh is the only one contributing any manliness to the house. We (yes, Josh, too) have been playing dressup, dancing the waltz, playing with our hair (yes, we put bows on Josh's head, too), and today we painted our toenails and fingernails. I painted Brooklyn's and she painted mine. She did a pretty good job, too, especially considering she is only 2. She begged me to paint Josh's nails, too, but that would have crossed the line with Matt. :)

This is Josh's favorite thing to do right now. He is always doing this. In the mornings he usually doesn't cry or anything, he just does this... it's how I know he's awake. It's so cute!

Making new friends

2010-09-22T21:37:00.000-04:00

One of the great things about being a mom of such a social butterfly is that I don't have to go out and make friends on my own. Brooklyn does that for the both of us. She has made such good friends, and luckily these little friends have awesome moms, too, and these friends and their moms just love Brooklyn so much that they will come and play with both of us. In fact, this one (Lilly) and her mom (Bethany) are coming over tomorrow to go swimming with us. :) Hooray for playmates and playdates!

Brooklyn and Lilly playing at Wannamaker Park playground

Joshua watching Brooklyn cool off on the sprinkler pad after some playground fun. He can't wait till he's big enough to play out there, too.

Brooklyn having some sprinkler fun again (every Wednesday, actually). Now that school is back in session, she is usually the only kid out there playing in the water.

Poofy Dress

2010-09-20T22:38:00.000-04:00

We watched the Cinderella musical on TV today and Brooklyn wanted to dance and wear a poofy dress... so she put on her poofy dress and we danced like they did at the ball. This has to be one of the girliest things she ever done. :)

Making a dentist proud

2010-09-19T00:55:00.000-04:00

After visiting Michelle (my sis) and her family and seeing what good dental practices they have (of course, they should since Bryan is in dental school), I opted to get Brooklyn an electric toothbrush. It was a Thomas the Train toothbrush (fact - Brooklyn LOVES Thomas the Train). Probably one of the smartest things I've done for her so far. She's never begged me to brush her teeth before.

Loves Peas

2010-09-16T16:08:00.000-04:00

I introduced peas to Josh today and I think he likes them. This video is long, but, again, mainly for Matt who is away in Seattle for the next several weeks and cannot be here for the cute things like this.

My strong little man

2010-09-15T16:17:00.000-04:00

Josh is getting so strong. He is even pulling himself up from laying down position on his bouncer.

My little man and I posing for a quick pic!

Park and Sprinkler Fun

2010-09-15T16:08:00.000-04:00

It was a pretty hot day today and I was really glad they still had the sprinklers going at the park today. But first, we played on the playgrounds and Josh got to swing in a swing next to Brooklyn (wish I would have gotten pics and even video of that... they were laughing at each other as they swung by each other). They spent a good 20 happy minutes just swinging next to each other.

Crawling when we're not looking

2010-09-15T15:44:00.000-04:00

Somehow, Josh ended up under here. He started out with his head on the opposite end and pretty far from the ottoman. I don't know how he got under there, as he isn't really crawling yet. But, maybe he is... just when we're not looking. He actually liked it, too.

Josh's favorite toy & potty-training...

2010-09-14T22:50:00.002-04:00

This is mainly for Matt, who is away from home right now and can't see the cuteness that is Josh. But, I am sure some of you others out there will enjoy this as well.

Also, Brooklyn has taken it upon herself to potty train herself. She peed in the toilet once, and I guess she fell in love with the idea of it and has demanded to do so every day all day for the last several days. I was not planning on this until after Matt got back from Seattle, but when they are ready, I guess you better be, so I started awarding her with stickers, and she has been doing great!!! She still hasn't gotten the hang of pooping in the toilet, yet, but I am sure it will happen any day now, and she will probably love doing that, too. We did have one pretty ugly accident the other day... let's just say, she took off her diaper before she should have, and she ended up having to take a bath, and I had a LOT of cleaning to do throughout the house, and I am now more anxious than ever to replace our carpet. :)

Here she is sitting on her little toilet next to her "poopie paper" on which she puts all her stickers that she earns for using the toilet.

What's been going on...

2010-09-09T14:53:00.011-04:00

It's been a while, I know, but I have not had a computer till now. So here's the latest...

We had a fun trip to Texas. We drove the whole trip stopping in Huntsville, AL to visit Matt's parents both on our way to Texas and back. We visited a whole lot of cousins, and Brooklyn even got to attend her very first Birthday party for her cousin Alysa. We also rode a train, visited the children's science museum, and did a LOT of swimming. It was a long trip, but not long enough - we wish we could have spent even more time with everyone.

Brooklyn playing with cousins (Camilla and Brynn)

... and more cousins (Madelyn, Caitlyn, Jackson)

Riding on the TRE train. She was pretty excited riding a real train.

Alysa's Birthday party. My sister Michelle "threw the cake together". Her words, not mine. :)

This girl enjoyed every minute we went swimming.

When we got back, Brooklyn was pretty sick with the runs and some vomitting. She lost 5 lbs (which is a lot for a tiny toddler like her) and was listless at the end of the week. She never got too dehydrated, so we never had to take her to the hospital, thank goodness. But we did get to watch a LOT of movies, as she did not feel like doing much that whole week.

Maybe this is how she got sick in the first place...

This is all she ate... all she wanted to eat... for 5 days. And, this was her face for a whole week... sad, I know.

After Brooklyn got better, she caught a little cold. She easily fought that off, but gave it to Josh in the process. Josh did not put up a very good fight, and we ended up having to call the paramedics one night and then take him to the doctor for breathing treatments and steroids. He is now much better and we are very thankful for that.

This was taken after he started feeling much better.

Matt has now left us for the next four weeks for some training in Seattle. He actually left yesterday, and even Brooklyn cried. She finally understood that Daddy was at work far, far away and for a very long time. She cried with me on the way home from the airport. Josh hasn't seemed to notice much of a difference. In fact, he slept better last night than he ever has before. Coincidence? Probably. :) We miss you tons, Matt/Daddy!

Excited for Texas...

2010-07-31T01:20:00.002-04:00

As most of you know... we are gearing up to take a road trip to Texas to visit lots of family. Every time I mention to Brooklyn that we are going to Texas, she has to remind me that Joshy is going, too, and then she gets really giddy.

We ALL (even Josh) are very excited to see so much family!!!

4 Months Old... sort of

2010-06-26T22:49:00.000-04:00

Joshua is now 4 1/2 months old... sort of. Being more than two months early, he acts more like a 2-3 month old. Although, at his latest well-check appointment, Joshua weighed in at 12 lbs even and 22 1/4 inches long, which actually puts him on the "normal" curve for a 4 month old (granted only 8th% and 3rd%, but no longer measured as a preemie).

Joshua's cousin, Nathan, who came to visit us this past week with my little sister, Shantel, is a true 3 month old and they act a lot alike... but, they couldn't look any more different. I was so happy to get to meet little Nathan at this age and am very excited for him and Joshy to hang out again soon - and to hang out with my little sis again. ;)

Here are some pictures of Josh and Nathan together.

Just to show us how different they really were, they wouldn't even smile at the same time. :)

Some way cute pics of Josh...

2010-06-01T23:37:00.006-04:00

Such a good big sister. And such a receptive little brother. :)

He already looks up to his Daddy. :)

Showing off his muscles. "I know I look good".

Loves to snuggle....

... and loves to sleep.

Just hangin out on Mommy's shoulder.

Brooklyn, the Robot

2010-06-01T23:26:00.005-04:00

Brooklyn is a HUGE fan of Curious George, and we have several episodes of the TV show on DVD, one of which is called, Robot Monkey Hullabaloo (or as Brooklyn calls it, George and the Robot). She requests to watch that episode by name EVERY DAY. So, knowing how much she loves that episode, Matt and I thought she would like to dress up like a robot just like George did in that episode. So, we let Brooklyn decorate a box (basically she just colored the inside of the box with her crayons) and cut out some holes for her head and arms. Then we put a silver bowl on her head. Doesn't she make a very cute robot??!

PS. I am very grateful for boxes and that our diapers always come in boxes. :)

No More Crib

2010-05-18T15:21:00.002-04:00

Since she is now a big 2-year-old, we thought it was appropriate to change Brooklyn's bed from a crib to a toddler bed. Also, I was getting tired of having to get her out of bed every morning myself (kinda hard to do when you are in the middle of feeding a newborn). Now, I get to wake up to a sweet smiling face at my bedside most mornings (unless Josh wakes up first). She was really happy to have a "new" bed to sleep in and she has done really well staying in bed (of course, it helps to have great leverage - get out of bed and we take away a paci).

I've been waiting for this day a LONG time. Brooklyn's hair has grown quite a bit these last few weeks - it is finally long enough to do something with it. And, she now lets me play with her hair. I've braided it, put her hair in a pony tail, and (the most popular) put "clippies" in her hair like this. This is one reason I LOVE having a little girl.

Big Boy Joshua

2010-05-08T23:36:00.012-04:00

Joshua had a weight check appointment on Friday and he weighed in at 10 lbs 3 oz. What a chunker!! I know that doesn't seem like a lot for a 3 month old... but technically he is about 2 or 3 weeks old (since his due date was April 24th). So, that's pretty dang good! These last two weeks, Joshua has really become a whole new baby. He is acting like a real newborn, now. He has awake/alert time and he even cries when he is hungry. I keep forgetting how early Josh was and how far he's come already. He still sleeps a whole lot more than a "normal" full-term baby, but we are not complaining... and neither is he. :)

Birthday presents!

2010-05-08T22:46:00.005-04:00

Brooklyn got some awesome stuff for her birthday this year... but I guess the oldest child always gets the awesome stuff, since there is nothing to begin with. Her presents from Mommy, Daddy and Joshua were her very own playground (playset) in our backyard, a tricycle and some pads of paper to paint on. She was very excited about Daddy making her a playground outside, and she is very happy to be able to ride a tricycle around the neighborhood now, and she just LOVES painting on those rainy days. She also got from her grandparents some clothes, some movies, a pair of dress-up shoes, a harmonica, tatoos and a sand/water table. She has had so much fun with all her presents and we wanted to thank everyone for celebrating her birthday with us and for all her presents. We are so glad she is loved by so many.

While my parents were here visiting us, I made another cake for Brooklyn's birthday... and this time, I decorated the cake as her most favorite cartoon character - can you tell who it is??? :)

Fun at the Beach

2010-05-01T21:47:00.008-04:00

With my parents visiting, we all packed up a lunch and spent the afternoon at the beach. It was a perfect day... not to hot, not too cold, just right. Even Josh enjoyed it. He had a blast sleeping, and sleeping, and sleeping some more, and then some eating, and then even more sleeping.

Brooklyn tried out the boogie board with Daddy. She did fall off once, but got right back on for some more.

After boogie boarding, she took off running and did not stop till she was just a speck of yellow with Daddy trailing.

As luck would have it, our beach fun fell on the same day that the Aquarium's sea turtle rescue team decided to release their sea turtles back into the ocean. Here, Brooklyn and I, along with Papa and Nama, were waiting for the turtles to arrive.

There's one of the turtles! Go turtle!! You can make it!!!

He made it! That's one big turtle.

On our way back to the car, Brooklyn found a ladybug and she was really really excited about it.

After a majorly fun day at the beach, one can't be surprised by this...

She's TWO!!!

2010-04-25T23:26:00.004-04:00

Brooklyn turned 2 today, but since it was rainy all day, we were not able to do any of her most favorite things. So, to make her rainy Birthday extra special, I put 2 candles for her to blow out in each of her meals throughout the day... starting with her jelly doughnut for breakfast (see video). She is a pro at blowing out candles now. :)

She got from her mom & dad a tricycle, some floaties, some pads of paper for finger painting (which we did a lot of today), and, in about a week, she'll also have her very own playground in her backyard (a playset/swingset). I will try to post some pics later.

ER Visit

2010-04-19T01:57:00.003-04:00

Brooklyn had her first ER visit last night. Earlier in the evening yesterday, she and I were on a walk, and, as she always does, she ran away from me thinking we were playing a fun game of chase. I, of course, obliged and chased her trying to grab her before she ran into the street. I grabbed her hand, and as soon as I did, she buckled her knees trying to wriggle loose from my grip so as to run away and play some more chase. Well, it was the wrong move with the wrong grip and she ended up with a radial head subluxation, or more commonly known as Nursemaid's elbow. I felt SOOOO bad that I did this to her and probably cried as much as she did. Since she was not using or even moving her arm at all, we decided to take her to the ER. We were there for 2 1/2 hours, and after a quick manipulation of Brooklyn's arm by the doctors, we walked out of there with a happy child using both her arms as if nothing had happened. We were all very happy, and felt very lucky.

On our way to the hospital/ER.

In the ER after the arm manipulation (which was really sad to watch, but glad I did not have to be the bad guy). All better!