Thanksgiving Break

Since Craig had the week off for Thanksgiving we decided to take a short trip to Bowling Green, KY.  It is just under a 4 hour drive from Memphis.  We took off on Sunday and stopped in Nashville for lunch.  We hit up the Pancake Pantry, which was just as good the second time.  I got the sweet potato pancakes with a cinnamon maple syrup, they were amazing.  Brooklyn enjoyed them as well.

Monday morning Craig got up early to go to the Corvette Factory.  You had to be at least 8 years old to go, so Brooklyn and I hung out at the hotel.  Craig said it was amazing watching the assembly line and the whole process of putting together a corvette.  He said that if he ever buys a corvette he is going to go back to the factory where he can help finish the engine and drive the car off the assembly line.  That afternoon we drove about an hour north to Mammoth Caves National Park.  We took a short tour of one part of the caves.  They said that they have found 400 miles of caves so far and they just continue to find more all the time.

 We didn't get very good pictures in the caves because you couldn't use your flash

The entrance to the part of the cave we toured, The Frozen Niagara

 The main entrance to the caves

 

That evening Brooklyn got to experience her first snow.  It was coming down pretty good for most of the evening, but luckily it didn't stick to the roads.

 

 



Tuesday morning after Brooklyn's first nap we packed up and headed to the Corvette Museum.  It was really cool to see how the Corvette had changed over the years.  There was literally Corvette everywhere you looked.  It was pretty sweet seeing the new 2014 Stingrays up close.

 

 

 

We then drove home straight from the museum.  Luckily Brooklyn decided to take a 2 1/2 hour nap on the drive home so we were able to get home without stopping.  She didn't sleep her best ever while we were there, but that is probably mainly due to the fact that she moves all over when she sleeps and she kept running into the sides of her pack 'n' play.  Overall it was a great quick trip and another place that we can check of the list.

 

 

For Thanksgiving dinner we got together with some friends from school.  The Rothlisberger's were generous to offer up their house for dinner.  There were 12 adults and 9 kids and way too much food.  It is always fun to get together and Brooklyn was in heaven with so many other kids running around.  She just sat in the living room and played with toys and watched the other kids run around while we ate dinner.  At one point she got one of the other kids sippy cup which was full of chocolate milk.  I'm not sure how long she had been drinking it before I got there, but I'm sure she feels jipped with the water and formula that she gets to drink. Sadly I did not get any pictures, Brooklyn looked adorable. 

 

It has been a great break and has been so nice to have Craig around.  Sadly he has to get back to school on Monday and will be pretty busy with studying for finals the next couple of weeks.  We are already looking forward to his Christmas break.



9 Months Old!

11/22/2013
17lbs 3oz (30th percentile)
27 inches (30th percentile)
Size 3 diapers
Size 6 and 9 month clothing



I feel like this last month has been the month with the most changes so far.  She got her first tooth right around Halloween and got her second tooth right at the end of the month (her bottom front teeth).  She now crawls on hands and knees and is super quick.  If you look away from her for just a second she is across the room, especially when trying to change her diaper, most times I am chasing after a half naked girl.  She pulls herself up to standing on absolutely everything (ex. coffee table, couch, entertainment unit, stairs, saucer, our legs). She has learned to give kisses and to clap her hands. One time we were watching The Voice and she started to clap each time a contestant would finish singing.  Her kisses are very slobbery but sweet nonetheless and I will take it anytime I can get it.  She loves to try new food and has really started eating a big variety of "real" food, she gets very frustrated at dinner time if we don't give her some of our food even if she just ate.  She loves yogurt, string cheese (she is a Williams' girl after all) and bagels.

Her 9 month check-up went well.  She had to get a few shots that they weren't able to give her at 6 month appointment and also her flu shot.  She didn't gain very much weight this month because she was sick twice (once with her first ear infection) and she does not eat well when she's sick, but who can blame her.  After the doctor measured her head he asked me if either Craig or I had small heads.  I told him that my head was normal but that my husband has quiet a small head, he kind of chuckled and then said ok that's fine then that her head is only in the 10th percentile.

She continues to be a happy baby.  She laughs and smiles all the time.  It is fun now that she can tell when something is funny and she gets this deep belly laugh, sometimes we will just all have laughing fits that just keep going because we are laughing at each other. She is still sleeping well, 11-12 hours a night.  Naps are still a little hit and miss.  She is still crazy and all over the place and into everything, but I wouldn't change anything.  I love every minute with her.

Here are the pictures from throughout the month:

Still has great faces

 

Her hair continues to get longer

Loves to play with Dad's sandals, she finds them no matter where Craig puts them

Gotta love the boots!

Playgroup at the Botanical Gardens

Loves to play with her books, hopefully this will lead to a love of reading in the future

Helping mom with the laundry. Bed head!

Crazy hair! I can't get it to lay down.  If you look close you can see her 1st tooth

She will literally crawl over anything to get to our phones



Cardiologist Appointment

Last weekend Brooklyn started to get sick and by Monday morning she was really pulling at her right ear. So I decided to take her into the pediatrician to check it out.  She did have an ear infection and we got some antibiodics.  Also while we were there the doctor was doing his normal checks of her lungs and heart and he kept just listening to her heart for what seemed like forever.  When he was done he told us that he thought he heard a small murmur.  He had never heard it before and that is what concerned him, he said that it was a weird age to develop a murmur.  He recommemded us to a pediatric cardiologist who was just down the hall, so we went and made an appointment for Thursday.  Craig wasn't able to come with us because of school, but he did give Brooklyn a blessing Wednesday night. So we go into the doctor and they do all of the normal doctor things like height, weight, and they also took her blood pressure with the cutest little blood pressure cuff I have ever seen.  They then had me strip her down to her diaper and did an echo (ultra-sound of her heart).  The tech asked if I had a binkie or bottle since it would take about 20 minutes and she needed to hold still.  My heart kind of dropped at this point because I didn't have any of those things and it is impossible to keep her still for even 5 minutes.  Luckily she laid there on the table watching Disney Junior and playing with my keys and eating puffs.  It was quite amazing. The tech couldn't believe how well she did.  I know that it was definitely the blessing that helped her do that.  The doctor then reviewed the echo and then came in and listened to her heart and told us that there was nothing to worry about.  He called it an innocent murmur, that it is just the sound that her heart makes.  Her valves and everything work properly.  We don't even have to follow up about it.  It was definitely a big relief and we are very grateful that our baby girl has a healthy heart.  She is just as happy and cute and crazy as ever!

Happy Halloween!

We are not big Halloween people, surprise surprise.  Craig and I have never really gotten into the holiday, we are not fans of dressing up, but since we have a kid now we decided we will get somewhat into it.  We did not take her trick-or-treating, but we did go to our wards trunk-or-treat and chili cook off.  Brooklyn was a Boise State Cheerleader (thanks nana and pops for the outfit).  I was going to put some Band-Aids on her and wrap her arm or something in an ace bandage since BSU had just lost to BYU, but I got too lazy and she would have just pulled them off anyways and she was just cuter this way.  I decided to throw on my cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and be a cowgirl.  Brooklyn had no idea what was going on but she seemed to enjoy watching all the other kids.  This year we didn't even hand out candy on Halloween night because the last few years we only had and handful of kids come by and this way I got through Halloween without eating a single piece of candy.  I think next year will be a lot of fun, hopefully by that time we can get her to say trick-or-treat.