7 Month Snapshot

Brooke had her 6 month shots at about 6.5 months, and she weighed in at 16 lbs, 7 oz (50th percentile), and was 27.5 inches long (90th percentile).  Her head was in the 95th percentile...so she must be really smart, haha.  Poor girl had to get 4 shots and one oral vaccine, but she only cried for a minute and then was fine. Let me tell you, it doesn't get any easier to watch her get those shots.

Brooke has become quite the little mover, as evidenced by the pictures below!  I have a feeling that these monthly pics are going to become much more challenging.  She wanted to keep rolling over to grab the blocks. 

When I wouldn't let her eat the blocks, she opted for her shoes instead.

We have continued with the Stage 1 baby foods, and Miss Brooke loves to eat!  Whenever I get her spoon out, she starts kicking her legs like crazy.  She is not a respecter of purees, but she does seem to devour the bananas a bit faster than the others.  Other things to note this month: pops her lips to "talk" to mama, pulls blanket off her face during peek-a-boo, sits up unassisted, grabs at everything (especially cups and straws), kicks like a crazy kid in the bathtub, rolls back and forth constantly (even slept on tummy during one nap), wiggles A LOT at church, claps hands together occasionally, holds her hands above her head while she is squealing, makes spitting sounds with lips, and scared mama half to death by kicking herself halfway out of her swing when I walked away to put laundry down.

AND, she slept in her crib for the first time on New Year's Eve.  I wasn't really planning on having her sleep there all night, but I put her down in her room while Kevin and I were watching a movie in the loft.  When we went to bed, I didn't want to move her, so I figured I would see how long she lasted in her room.  I slept horribly because I kept waking up, checking the monitor, going upstairs to make sure she was breathing, etc.  Brooke, on the other hand, slept wonderfully until 9 am!!  Such a big girl.  The next evening, she threw up her baby food, so I wanted her to be in my room in case she threw-up again and I didn't hear her on the monitor.  (Or maybe I was looking for an excuse to have her in my room!) She was back in our room for a few days, then I moved her back to the nursery for almost a week.  Several nights she woke up around 12 or 1.  I was able to quickly get her back to sleep, but she would wake up as soon as I laid her back in her crib.  I would get her back to sleep, and she would wake up again when I laid her down!  When I felt exhausted, I carried her downstairs and she slept the rest of the night in her swing.

Overall, she is a great sleeper though and continues to sleep about 9-10 hours before waking to eat.  She then goes back to sleep for another 2-3 hours, so I cannot complain!

One more random thing to note this month was the day we had no power!  The power went out about 10:30 am and I figured it was because of the freezing temps we were having.  I called the electric company about noon, and the recording stated that the power should be back up by about 2:30.  Well, it was only like 35 degrees outside, so it was starting to feel cold inside the house.  By 4, the power was still not on!  I went outside to get the mail, and my neighbor told me that a transformer blew near our neighborhood, and they were saying that it wouldn't be back on until probably 1 in the morning.  Yikes!!  I had already held Brooke during one of her naps because it was so chilly.  So, I went back into the house and built a fire.  I also went into the garage (with the one flashlight I could find) to hunt down our camping lantern.  It was dark by about 5:30, and my entire house was SO dark!  So, Brooke and I camped out on a blanket near the fire, and played with her toys by the light of the lantern, haha.  It was kind of comical, but not really.  Made me realize how much we depend on electricity.  My cell phone was also dead, so I had no way of calling Kevin or anyone for that matter!  Luckily, the power came back on about 8, so we didn't have to freeze all night.

Brooke's First Christmas

As most of you know, Brooke likes to sleep in, so I was surprised when she woke up at 3:45 on Christmas morning.  I guess something about being a kid on Christmas morning makes you excited for presents.  Well, I was NOT ready to open presents in the wee hours of the morning, so I got Brooke back to sleep until about 8.  After feeding her, and waking up Kevin, we decided it was time to go check if Santa had arrived :)

Brooke's stocking was filled with a few small toys, a new sippy cup, and an orange (per tradition).

She seemed to like her first baby doll, and she will grow into using the walker.  She was able to balance herself when standing up, but then just wanted to chew on the handle of the stroller.

She LOVED the paper and all the bows.  We simply had to get the paper started, she would rip it off, then suck on the bow. After we opened presents and played with her new toys, she was ready for a nap.  Kevin and I got ready for the day, and packed up our things to head to Flower Mound.  As soon as Brooke woke up, we facetimed with Grammie and Grandpa Clark and Kimberly.  We had saved one present for Brooke so they could watch her open it :)  Brooke was lucky enough to get to stay in her pajamas, so we jumped in the car and were on our way.

Melanie and Jeff hosted, and we enjoyed the afternoon of eating, opening gifts, and watching the girls play with their toys.  We were all very spoiled!!

 Kinley really loved the gift her parents gave to Brooke!  She might need one of her own, haha. Brooke was just staring at her cousin, and Kinley is interacting more with her, so that is fun to see.

Although we didn't plan it, the girls had matching Christmas jammies. Auntie Kimberly picked those out for Brooke!

 I would say our little girl was very spoiled!  She is loving all these new toys, books, and clothes.  We feel so thankful for this special season, and for the blessing it is to have Brooke in our home.  She was the best thing we could have asked for this year :)

The Night Before Christmas

We hosted Christmas Eve this year for the first time, and really enjoyed the time spent as a family.  Although the table looked pretty festive (if i do say so myself!), the dinner didn't turn out as expected.  We planned on having a roast since that would be pretty simple and we wouldn't be in the kitchen all evening.  Well, I bought the wrong kind of roast apparently, because it wasn't the shredding kind that soaks up all the yummy juices. Instead, Kevin just sliced it up and put it back into the juice in hopes that it would be more juicy, haha.  But hey, we were grateful to have a nice dinner together!  I also used my pressure cooker for the first time (after calling Aunt Lori and Uncle Dean for advice) since I didn't want to have a disaster.  I am happy to report that no disaster ensued, and we had yummy mashed potatoes to go with our roast and carrots.

I thought it was funny how the babies sat at the head of the table in their high chairs!

After dinner, we opened up our Christmas books from Grandma and Grandpa Meador. 

 Then, we decorated sugar cookies.  I want this to be a tradition, and let me tell you, Kinley was all about it :)  She wanted to be Miss Independent and shake those sprinkles herself!  We were cracking up as she shook the sprinkles and flinched as the sprinkles got near her eyes, haha.

 Brooke REALLY wanted to get in on the action, so I am sure she will love the tradition next year.

 Everyone headed home around 7, so we enjoyed a little bit of time with our sweet little girl before tucking her into bed.

Then it was time to play Santa :)  Kevin put Brooke's baby walker/stroller together as I wrapped a few last minute presents.  We didn't set out any cookies for Santa since Brooke is still too young to understand, but I am excited to do that next year!

Christmas Sunday

I always loved the Christmas program growing up, and although this was no Morgan Hill 1st Ward program, haha, we still enjoyed singing songs and being reminded of the reason we celebrate this season.  In YW, we had planned a nice luncheon for the girls, they participated in a gift exchange, and then we played (and sang) carols with my pipe chimes.  This was a tradition growing up that we would always do with the Tilley family.  Well, at one of my bridal showers, the theme was "traditions", and Sister Tilley gave me my own set of chimes.  I was thrilled to have a chance to use them, and I think the girls enjoyed them as well.

 We couldn't miss an opportunity for Sunday pictures by the tree with our sweet little girl!  Christmas is so much better with a baby :)  Everyone told me that her first Christmas would be so special, and they were right.

Decking the Halls/Frosty The Snowman

 Although we moved into our house right before Christmas last year (like the 19th!), we didn't decorate for the holidays!  I was excited to decorate this year, so we purchased our tree before I went to California so it would be ready to put up after Thanksgiving.

The little tree was the tree we purchased our first Christmas together while still living in Provo.  I still love it, and I love the story behind it.  I had gone to visit Kimberly in NYC in November, and she had her tree up and it looked beautiful.  I loved her fruit ornaments, red beads, and snowflakes.  Well, while I was visiting her, she took me shopping to get the supplies I needed to replicate her tree :)  The first year in our Florida house, my parents gave us money for Christmas to buy a big 9 ft tree that I was SUPER excited about. Kevin was less than thrilled to have to store that huge box the other 11 months of the year, but it worked out great because one strand of lights was on the fritz, so after Christmas, we took it back to Costco and that was one less thing we had to store (and move) when we came to Texas.  Well, we repurchased that tree this year...but the box fits nicely in a closet above the garage, so it is a win for everyone!!

Brooke loved the lights and would try to grab at the ornaments any chance she got!  We are in for trouble next year I imagine since she will be very mobile :)

 On the 14th, Jerry and Bev arranged a fun evening as a family to go see a production of "Frosty the Snowman" at Casa Manana, which is a children's theatre.  Before the show, they came by our house so Bev could give Brooke her Christmas stocking.  It was definitely a labor of love, and it is beautiful!!  Brooke mostly wanted to eat it, which was not much of a surprise, haha!  I know that she will treasure it for years to come.  Kevin's grandma made his stocking, and Bev made my stocking the first year we were married. And now Brooke has one of her own.

 I made sure we had coordinating outfits the evening of the performance so we could snap a family picture for our Christmas cards.  We were dying laughing the whole time as Jerry was trying to get Brooke to smile, but in the end, we had a winner!

Brooke took a little cat nap on the way to the show, and I think she really did enjoy the show.  She was kicking her legs and staring at the stage.  Kinley loved it too :)

It was FREEZING outside, which is why Brooke has oversized mittens on!  But hey, at least she was warm.  Well, except for the inch of her leg that is showing, poor girl.  She is outgrowing all her pants.

And last, but not, least, a photo op with Santa.  We weren't going to see Santa, but then I worried that I would regret it, so we decided to go the weekend before Christmas.  Long story short, we ended up waiting for a LONG time to get pictures, and there was a lot of anticipation for the 15 seconds she actually sat on his lap, but hey, we have our picture :)  She didn't seem to mind Santa, but I was a BIT disappointed we didn't get her to smile.  Maybe next year.  She still looked darling in her Christmas dress though!

Giving Thanks

Wow, it is a bit embarrassing how behind I have become on blogging, but we can't forget about Thanksgiving.  Brooke and I flew back from California the night before Thanksgiving, and Kimberly flew in on Thanksgiving day.  We picked her up from the airport on the way up to Flower Mound.

 We enjoyed a yummy meal together, then spent the evening relaxing.  Brooke was a bit out of sorts, but she had done so well our whole trip with the time change, etc, so I think it was finally catching up to her.

Saturday night we went to Prairie Lights, which is an outdoor light exhibition near our house.  You drive through a 2 mile stretch of the park, with over 600 light displays and over 4 million lights!  We didn't go last year, but would see the cars backed up for miles to get it.  We really enjoyed it, so this might become an annual tradition.  We even paid extra to go into the Magic Forest (where you walk among the lights), and to see the holiday musical with the "aspiring Broadway actors". The show was a bit of a disappointment, but it "snowed" on the audience at the end of the show, so what more can you ask for??  

 I adore this picture of Brooke with her Auntie.  She was so bundled because it was freezing!

We are so glad Kimberly could join us for Brooke's first Thanksgiving.  I am SO glad she moved to Denver because flights are super cheap between here and there :)  Maybe next time we will venture to Colorado.  When it warms up, of course!

6 Month Snapshot

Her sixth month was quite busy, but we continue to enjoy every moment with Brooke.  Things to note: She rolled over by self from tummy to back, refused her bottle at church (which luckily did not become a "thing"), threw-up for first time (all over Mommy), spent the night on an aerobed with Mom in the nursery because she was having a really hard time staying asleep, sat up for 10 seconds on her own without falling forwards, said "mamamama" A LOT, pushed up on knees and toes during tummy time, waved at Daddy, tried solids (and LOVED them), went on her first trip to California, learned to give kisses to her Grammie, pushed herself up on her hands during tummy time, grabbed at her reflection in the mirror and sat and smiled at it, and grew taller because we had to raise the exersaucer!

We also finally transitioned Brooke from her bassinet to her pack-n-play in our room.  The night before she threw-up, she was moving around a lot in her sleep.  I was up multiple times because I wasn't feeling good, and every time I woke up, she was in a new (cramped) position in her bassinet.  This was when I knew it was time for a change, but I wasn't ready to put her upstairs yet! I really struggled with this, because I figure that at 6 months, she probably should be in her own room, but I just wasn't ready. We all sleep great with Brooke in our room, and when I suggested moving her, Kevin responded with, "No, not yet!"  Not that he wakes up with her in the night, but I think he likes knowing that she is close to us, and seeing her in the morning as he is getting ready for work. 

The above picture was the old set-up, and the picture below was taken the morning after her first night in the pack-n-play.  She looks so chubby to me, haha :)

Brooke did awesome on her first flight.  I was really nervous about traveling alone, but we flew early in the morning and I nursed her as we took off, she slept for 2 hours, then cuddled with me for the last hour of the flight.  Oh, and the best part, was that we had a whole row to ourselves which really made it nice!  

 Grammie and Grandpa were SO excited to see Brooke, and we were equally as excited. 

 Giving kisses to Grammie. This was seriously hysterical. My mom was kissing on Brooke's cheeks, then Brooke turned and started gumming on her face.  This went back and forth for a good 10 minutes! I have some really great videos with Brooke's sounds effects as she gave "kisses".  Brooke also would smile and kick her little legs whenever Grandpa would talk to her.  He really got a kick out of that, and it has continued whenever we facetime, or if I put the phone on speaker when we are talking. I really think she recognizes their faces and their voices.

 Enjoying some last minute sniggles before we headed to the airport!

 We also enjoyed Brooke's first Thanksgiving and a visit from her Auntie Kimberly, but that's for another post!