the after-party

Kevin wanted to buy Brooke a bike at Christmas, but I didn't think she was quite there yet.  I also was pretty set on getting her the play kitchen for Christmas, so we decided that she would get a bike for her birthday.  She had been noticing other toddler bikes, but called them "baby bikes", haha.  I mean, they do look pretty small compared to adult bikes :)  I did some research, and finally decided on the Strider bike. The pink bikes were adorable, but I opted for red so it could work for either gender.  (Assuming the bike stuck around for multiple kids to use.)

Once it arrived, it just looked VERY masculine.  It had a huge Strider sticker on the crossbar, and the handlebar cover was black with white writing.  Kevin peeled the sticker off, and I went to the fabric store to find some strawberry fabric to match her helmet.  I had ZERO luck in the strawberry fabric department, but I did find a cute floral print that coordinated well.  Once we added the bell and bow, it looked a lot girlier, and I was happy.

So was Brooke :)  We all went into the garage and told Brooke that we had a special present for her.  Kevin came out the front door and started ringing the little bell.  Brooke was looking around trying to figure out what was going on, and where the sound was coming from.  

She was super excited about her baby bike.  We snapped her helmet on, and she was off. 

I love that she can be completely independent on that thing!  We have since raised the seat a bit, and it seems to fit her perfectly.

She opened presents from G + G Meador (the adorable picnic table the girls are sitting at), and the Peacocks (a sprinkler, and some water balls).  The girls needed to test out that sprinkler ASAP. 

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the garage.  It was a hot day, but by some miracle, the garage was nice and cool, which made it pleasant to be outside.  We even ordered pizza so we could continue the family bonding time.

The pizza was taking forever, so we had to bust out the teddy grahams, haha.  Aubrey was shoveling them in as fast as she could get her cute little fingers on them :)  We really loved the extra time we had as a family, and ended the night with baths, books, and snuggles.

I assumed that Brooke would sleep like a rock after such an eventful day, and no nap.  But, that was definitely not the case.  She woke up several times during the night and seemed to be in pain.  I think it was due to her stomach/constipation issues, and after several up and downs with her, I finally brought her into our bed.  She slept pretty soundly by our side, but I felt like death in the morning.  Since Kevin has church meetings in the morning, we all woke up about 7 :(  Around 9, Brooke was trying to poop again, and after a painful 45 minutes, finally went.  Once she was calm again, we had a little breakfast, and I almost decided to skip church.  I just wasn't sure that she was okay.  In the end, I figured we would just give it a shot and see how long we lasted.

I took this picture on the way to church. (With her new stethoscope which she LOVES.)

She just layed on my chest for the first half of sacrament meeting, then began acting more like herself.  She pooped again at church, and then seemed great.  She had a hard time transitioning to nursery, but they said she was fine after 5-6 minutes. I have an almost identical picture/video of her on the way home from church, complete with snoring.  Poor thing was worn out.  And we hadn't even made it to her official birthday yet!!