Amorims Visit

 Our best friends from Florida came for a visit, and we loved having them in our home!  We hadn't seen them since April, when they flew out for my baby shower.  They were anxious to meet Brooke, and we were anxious to see them and their twins :) We were horrible at taking pictures until the day they left, which was a Sunday.

 It is no easy task getting a picture of 3 babies where they are actually all looking..so this is as good as I was able to get, haha.

Daleth took some cute pictures of Brooke on her phone, and the one below is my personal favorite.

They are seriously considering moving to the DFW area, so we spent a lot of time looking at homes, researching therapy centers for their daughter, and talking about the "Texas Plan", in which they move out here :)  We would love to have them close again, but are thankful for their friendship even when they are so far away!

Birthday Boat Ride

We took Brooke for her first boat ride on September 14th to celebrate Jerry's 60th birthday!  Before we had Brooke, Kevin would frequently make comments about how we were going to take our kids on the boat when they were babies, but when it came right down to it, we were both nervous that she was too small before now!  I was only really nervous about getting her on and off the boat, so I made Kevin carry her :)  It was time to feed her shortly after getting to the lake, so I nursed her as we were on our boat ride, and then she slept the rest of the time we were out there!! (About 3 hours)  She had woken up with her first little cold, so I think her body was trying to fight whatever it was that she had come down with.  The rocking of the boat also probably helped a bit :)

 We all know how much Kevin loves boating, so he was pretty excited to be out there with his little girl.  And I love this picture of Brooke with her daddy :)

 Our first family picture at the lake!  The first of MANY I am sure :)

 
 The whole family.  We had to take Brooke out of her adorable swimsuit because she had a diaper explosion, which of course leaked all over my dress as well.  Thankfully, Kevin washed it in the lake for me so it was slightly less disgusting, haha.  I seriously need to remember to pack myself a change of clothes.

After the boat outing, we showered up and enjoyed a nice dinner at Mi Cocina, followed by a yummy chocolate bundt cake.  We enjoyed being together to celebrate the big 6-0 :)

Three Month Snapshot

At each month milestone, I really cannot believe that another month has passed.  She really had a growth spurt this month, and has filled out a lot! She has also been sleeping a lot more during the night, which is super awesome for me!! She generally goes down around 9 or 10pm, wakes up around 4 or 5 in the morning, and then will sleep another 4-6 hours, so I cannot complain :)  My favorite time of day with her is in the morning.  She gives me the sweetest smiles and makes the cutest sounds as she "talks" to me.  Her fine motor control is improving and she is able to grasp toys, bring things to her mouth, and she chews on things ALL DAY, haha.  She is a big fan of her rubber monkey toy and people's fingers and hands.  

Brooke continues to have explosions in her diaper quite frequently, so I do a lot of laundry and this little girl gets a lot of baths!  One Saturday, I left Brooke at home with Kevin to run to Target.  On the way home, I called to check-in.  Kevin informed me that Brooke had an explosion in her swing, that he had cleaned her up, but that he hadn't been able to clean the swing or her clothes yet.  I told him that I would help when I got home, but as I was driving, I was thinking about what he might have dressed Brooke in.  He has dressed her plenty of times, but I always had an outfit picked out for her.  When I walked into our room, and saw Kevin holding Brooke this way, I burst out laughing and had to get the camera.  I asked Brooke why she didn't have any clothes on, she spit out her pacifier and gave me a huge grin, and Kevin goes, "We didn't know what fit her", haha.  Gotta love Dads :)    

Brooke's Great Grandparents were still in town from the blessing weekend, and we enjoyed spending time with them.  Grandpa hadn't held Brooke at all, and kept saying that he didn't hold the babies!  The last night we saw them, he decided that he was going to hold her :)  I am sad she is naked (she was really warm that night, so I stripped her down to her diaper) in these pics, but at least it is documented!  Grandpa said, "Don't put these pictures on facebook, I don't want the other grandkids to be jealous.  Well, actually, put them on, then write 'Only in Texas will Grandpa hold the babies'."  Sure love them :)

Brooke is still sleeping in our room because I can't imagine putting her upstairs in her nursery yet.  Originally I thought she would only be in our room for 2-3 months, but we are about to hit the 4 month mark and I am not ready to transition her yet!  But I did take some pics of her in her crib because she was especially smiley one afternoon. 

A Name and A Blessing

 
We are so thankful that our family and friends were able to be with us for Brooke's baby blessing.  My sister Kimberly came out a few days before the blessing to have some one-on-one time with Brooke and I am so thankful that she did.  It was so fun to see Brooke interact with her and I loved seeing Kimberly fall in love with Brooke.  I think Brooke was completely spoiled when she was here because Kimberly would hold her during her naps and when she was fussy.  She also went with me to get Brooke's 2 month shots, and I am super glad she was there.

Brooke's blessing took place on August 18th at our home.  We chose this date since all our family was able to make it, but it happened to be our Stake Conference, so we had to get permission to bless her at home.  I am actually so glad it worked out that way, because I enjoyed the intimate feeling of the event.  We invited all our closest friends and family, and we were so thankful for the support.  I was so emotional that morning, and basically was overwhelmed with gratitude for our little girl.  We sang "I am a Child Of God", Grandpa Meador gave the opening prayer, my Dad gave a spiritual thought, and then Kevin performed the blessing with all the men.  It was a huge circle of men, and Brooke was just wide-eyed and looking around the whole time, haha.  I was nervous about how she would act, but she was perfect.  During the blessing, I was wishing that I had someone go upstairs and take a picture from the loft looking down at the men surrounding Brooke!  I asked Kevin afterwards if he would have a re-enactment for a picture, but I was not surprised when he said no :(  He did such a beautiful job on her blessing, and I have an audio recording so that I can remember the words that he spoke.

After the blessing, we sand "Families Can Be Together Forever", Jerry gave the closing prayer, and we had a nice luncheon.  We spent the afternoon talking, eating, and passing Brooke around!

 My brother Jeffrey and his wife Madison were also able to fly in from Utah and stayed a few days into the next week.  My brother would try to beat Kimberly into my room in the morning to have a chance to hold Brooke when she woke up :)  We had lots of baby talk with them as they are expecting their little girl in January 2014!

The Arlington gang :)  Can't say enough about these girls.  We are so thankful for the friendships that have developed over the years.  A lot has changed since our original hangouts when Andreia was the only one with a child!  Collectively, we now have 7 kids, and 2 on the way!!  

 Kevin's friend Scott made the trip out from Utah as well, and Kevin was excited to spend time with him.  These guys have been friends since High School and have stayed in touch over the years.  Scott actually helped us move to Texas the first time we came here.

 Aunt Shelley came with Grandma and Grandpa, and we were glad to see her!

Throughout the afternoon, all the kids kept asking me if they could hold Brooke.  I was trying to let my parents have lots of time with her since they were leaving that afternoon and hadn't even flown in until 1 am on Saturday...so I kept telling them "in a little bit."  Well, as soon as I gave the go-ahead, all the kids were lined up on the couch ready for their turn, haha.  Adorable :)

This little baby was tuckered out by the end of the afternoon.   She promptly fell asleep on her grandma.  Kevin took the next week off of work, and we took Brooke to the pool for the first time.  She didn't seem to mind it, but wasn't super smiley either.  We only kept her in the pool for 10-15 minutes because it was SO hot out and we didn't want her to get burned.

On our last full day with Jeffrey, Madi, and Scott, we went to the lake and had some fun :)  Bev stayed home with Brooke so I could go with everyone, but it was weird being away from her for so long.  We were gone 5 hours and although I was having fun, I was also anxious to get back.

 We had a wonderful time with everyone and are so thankful for the effort that everyone made to be here for Brooke's special day.