Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the cutest lady bug ever!  Craig and I are not that into Halloween, but since we have a kid now we figured we should probably participate somewhat in the holiday. The Wednesday before Halloween Brooklyn, my mom and I went out to my sister Tiffany's ward Trunk-0r-Treat.  Brooklyn had a blast walking around with her cousin L.J. the tiger.  Oh man did he have the best roar ever.  They picked up the whole trick-or-treating concept pretty quick.  They'd walk right up to whoever had the candy and would hold up there candy bags, L.J. would say thank you and Brooklyn would mumble something random and then they'd head of to the next car.  They had a great time.

Giving each other hugs

way more interested in their candy then the camera

On the 31st, Craig's parents ward had their Trunk-or-Treat so we headed to that.  Stan dressed up as a pirate.  I thought it might freak Brooklyn out but she saw right through the costume and had fun walking around with Pops.  She also had fun sword fighting with him once she got all of her candy.  We then headed off to Mark and Paige's to go Trick-or-Treating with Audrey and Camdon.  Audrey was a super cute Tinkerbell and Camdon was an awesome Peter Pan.  By this point in the evening Brooklyn was starting to get a little cranky so we only hit a couple houses with them.  We then headed back to my parents house and Brooklyn had a blast handing out candy with Grandpa to all of the trick-or-treaters that came to their house.  The weather was perfect both evenings and Brooklyn had a great time.

Brooklyn is 20 months old

October 22, 2014
Size 12-18 & 18 month clothing
Size 4 diapers
22 lbs

I'm starting to have a harder time keeping track of the changes with Brooklyn because they are coming more frequently now.  She continues to show her ever growing personality.  She loves to laugh and giggle.  If others are laughing she has to join in and she is also starting to figure out when funny things happen on cartoons and will laugh at Goofy or Curious George.  She hasn't started saying a lot more new words but she is using the words she does know with alot more frequency.  Her favorite words to say right now are eye and heart.  If she sees one anywhere, which is quite often, she will repeat it until you aknowledge it.  She knows what an owl says now, hoo hoo.  She will now say BEEP when she touches her knows, thanks Pops.  Her favorite song to sing is Popcorn Popping and she learned the hand motions in less than 5 minutes and can do all of them.  She has been refusing to drink milk the last few weeks, but other then that she continues to be a good eater and will try most anything.  She absolutely loves fruit snack and would eat them all day long if I let her, but really who can blame her, those things are awesome.

She is obsessed with trucks, she thinks every truck is Craig's and when I tell her that its not Daddys she always ask where it is.  She continues to love her stuffed animals and has started to really like toy cars, she will fling them all the way across the living room floor. She loves to pretend with her baby doll and stuffed animals, feeding them, diapering them, burping, rocking, putting to sleep, etc.  She has done well in nursery the last few weeks. There are a few tears when we drop her off and we have to leave her with a burp clothe, but she does pretty well and stays in there the whole time.  Naps are slowly getting shorter, but I knew that was enevitable since she has never been the greatest napper.  I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that she will still nap at least some after she turns 2.  She is definitely developing a temper, but most of the time she is really happy and a great, sweet girl.  There was one time at the grocery store a few weeks ago where she had about 5 meltdowns, which was super exciting, but I try to remind myself that it is a part of her being a toddler and we just need to learn how to deal with them.  I love my sweet girl dearly and can never get over how big she is getting.

these are her favorite shoes to pull out of my closet

She didn't want to actually play on the playground, but instead spent her time playing in the bark

she had to get out her laptop when Craig got his

rockin her shades

time to pull out the fall clothes, happy her BSU hoddie still fits. She loved sitting in the big girl swing

She ofcourse she had to sit on the doggie at the Botanic Gardens

Fun in the hammock with Peyton and Carson

Brian and Brooke's Wedding

Craig's oldest brother Brian got married last weekend, October 18th, in Salt Lake City.  We woke Brooklyn up at 5:00 am to head to the airport Friday morning. We flew through Dallas, so hopefully we don't end up woth Ebola.

playing at the airport while waitng for our connecting flight

  She did really well on the flights but was ready for a nap when we got to the hotel.  We were able to stay at a hotel that looked over Temple Square, It was beautiful.  After Brooklyn took a nap and we all got ready, we headed over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for the rehersal dinner.  Diane put everything together and did a wonderful job.  Everything turned out really great.  We left a little early so that Brooklyn could get to bed since she was up so early that morning.

Meeting Aunt Lisa for the first time

Fun in the hotel with cousins

 Brooklyn had an awful night that night.  Between 2 teeth coming in and a new place she ended up sleeping in our bed most of the night, which is a first for us, but luckily it was a king size bed so there was plenty of room.  Saturday morning we all got up and has breakfast and then started to get ready for the wedding.  We laid Brooklyn down for a nap right before we headed over to the temple and she slept the whole time we were gone at the sealing.  Luckily Craig's Grandparents brought some Young Women from their ward to the hotel to watch all of the kids.  The sealing was beautiful and we are so glad that we got to be a part of it. We then headed back to the hotel to pick up the kids and get them back to the temple for pictures.  Sadly I didn't get any good pictures of Brooke and Brian at the temple because I was trying to keep Brooklyn from photo bombing other people's wedding pictures.

Before the sealing

All she wanted to do was climb the stairs

  After the temple we all changed into our reception clothes and drove to La Caille for pictures and the reception.  The venue was gorgeous.  Brooklyn especially loved the pond with all of the ducks.  After the pictures we listened to a string quartet, well Brooklyn danced and I listened, as we drank Italian Sodas and ate appetizer.  We then headed into dinner.  The cake was the most amazing wedding cake I have ever seen, it took them over two weeks to make.  I wish I would have taken a picture of it.  We left after dinner because Brooklyn had had it by this point, but we heard the rest of the evening was lovely.

Haning out with cousin Audrey

Watching the ducks

Fedding the ducks with Daddy

Only Brooklyn would be able to get Craig to dance

dancing with Pops

Clapping along to the music

Oh how she loves to dance

 Craig then flew back to Memphis early Sunday morning and Brooklyn and I walked around Temple Square for a little while before we then drove to Boise with Stan and Diane, where we are going to spend a few weeks. We are so glad that we got to be a part of their big day and we are so excited for them. They are a beautiful couple and will have many happy years ahead of them.  Luckily Brooklyn was really great besides that one restless night of sleep, so that always makes it more enjoyable.

Brooklyn Turns 19 months old

9/22/2014
21.8 lbs
size 4 diapers (still huge)
size 12-18 month clothing

 This past month I really feel like I can see the wheels turning in Brooklyn's pretty little head.  She seems to pick things up more quickly and comprehends a lot more.  She picked up the concept of HOT really quickly.  She always asks if her food is hot and likes to blow on her food.  She also knows that the stove and oven are hot.  I love to watch the Food Network and the Cooking channel and if she sees someone cooking on the stove or putting something in the oven she puts her hand up as if to say stop and says hot.  She is also a lot better about saying drink if she if thirsty.  She now knows what a monkey and horse say and can do the sounds really well.  She can also say leaf and tree. She no longer says hi (which I think is so sad because it was so cute the way she said it) and now says hello and bye especially when she is talking on the phone.  Neither of them are super clear so they just aren't quite as cute.  She loves to talk on the phone and she wants you to be talking on another phone so she will bring you one of her play phones.  She will also text and take selfies and say cheese with the phones.  The texting I get but not sure where she got the selfie thing because Craig and I are not selfie takers.  She has been eating pretty well this month. Sometimes at dinner I have a hard time getting her to eat things other then the vegetables.  She loves broccoli and zucchini. She also loves her carbs (bread, rice, pasta). Still will eat any fruit you put in front of her and thank goodness she now eats chicken.  She is getting really good at using her spoon and fork.

She is still obsessed with shoes, any shoes.  She will put mine, Craig's, and hers on.  She will go into my closet and get shoes out.  Sometimes when I am in the shower I will see her walk out of my closet with a pair of high heels on.  Normally matching and on the correct feet.  She likes to put her own shoes on when we go places, but she just gets frustrated when she can't get it all the way, but refuses to let me help her.  Needless to say it is a little frustrating for me and takes an extra 10 minutes to get out the door and it normally ends in tears, usually hers.  She no longer likes to ride in her stroller.  She prefers to walk and wants to push the stroller.  So walks around the neighborhood take way longer then they used to and we don't get to go near as far.  I have started to let her take showers with me and she absolutely loves them.  I will shower and then wash her and then I'll get out and she will stay in there playing in the water and with the shampoo bottles for as long as I let her.  So I typically get dressed and ready and at that point she still wants to stay in but I will make her get out because she is getting pruny.

She started this new thing where she likes to do things with her eyes closed, especially eating and walking around.  She will also put a blanket or burp clothe over her head and walk around.  Luckily she walks slowly so when she runs into something it doesn't hurt her.  The problem is that sometimes when I'm walking behind her I don't know that she is closing her eyes so I don't know that I need to redirect her.  There have been a few times I could have stopped her from running into things but didn't know that I needed to.  She is also in this phase of making funny faces.  She does is because I am always making faces at her, but she's got some really good ones.  Some of them are a little creepy, but most of them are cute.  She is totally in love with all of her stuffed animals.  If she sees a dog on TV she has to go grab her doggy.  If she sees a turtle in a book, she has to run and get her turtle before we can finish the book.  She kisses them all goodnight and has to bring at least one with her whenever we go in the car.

The weather has been nice the last few weeks so we have been trying to spend as much time outside.  She loves to pick up leaves and to run in the grass.  She looks for any excuse to get outside.  I gave her hair a little trim this month.  The back was really uneven so I just tried to straighten it out a little bit.  I probably took about 3/4 of an inch off at the longest part.  It's not perfect but it does look more even. She still loves the gym but she hates nursery.  she has only gone a few times and hasn't had a bad experience yet so I'm not sure how she hates it but last week at stake conference I was walking the halls with her and came to the nursery room so I thought we'd go in for a little bit.  As soon as the door opened she let go of my hand and took off in the other direction. Hopefully she will get over that soon, because I am tired of having her in primary with me.  Other then this weird thing with nursery she has been a total doll.  I love spending my days with her.

I swear she did enjoy coloring this box even though her face says something different

one of her creepy faces

She loves to "drive" the car

Fun at story time

One of my most favorite pictures ever.  She loves her Daddy!

Last play time with Paul before they moved