For my Brookelynn on her 2nd Birthday

Dear Brookelynn Grace,

You came into the world a tiny little bundle of spunk. That personality hasn't changed a bit but you sure have grown up in two years! My 4 lb 13 oz little girl now weighs 20 lbs (which is still teeny tiny for a two year old) but you're big to me. And you sure think you are all grown up. I look back at these precious little pictures of you and just wonder where the time has gone. WOW! Babies grow up so fast, my precious peanut!

 

 

Haynsie was completely amazed by you.

 

He thought you were great. He still does.

 

 

First food. YUCK!

First Birthday

Second Christmas

Stinker.

 



Brookelynn's Baby Words

Where's my bwanket? = blanket
Dump = jump
Where's my cutt = cup
Pita-oo, I chee ooo = peekaboo, I see you
I go potty
Wes weed = let's read
My boot = my book
Yay! I did it. = Yay! I did it! perfectly clear
A dum twuck = a dump truck (she loves seeing one pass by on the road - thank you big brother)
Das mine = that's mine
Tush da bundt = push the button

Recent Stinker Sightings

• sticks her toothbrush in the potty to get it wet before brushing
• colors or paints face every time there is contact with crayons, markers or paint
• rummages through mommy's makeup destroying everything in sight (blush brush in the toilet this morning)
• rubbed Boudreaux's Butt Paste in hair and it was still greasy 3 days and 5 washings later. Thanks to Grandmama and some Dawn dish detergent, it finally looked clean.
• gets in shower and pumps shampoo into hands and spreads all over face and body (because it smells nice maybe???)
• stuck mommy's earrings down in her ears so she could be pretty.

Pediatrician Visit Today: 20 lbs 4oz  (between 3rd and 10th percentile) and 31 3/4 in tall. 

My darling little B. I love you with all my heart. I love to kiss your still pudgy little cheeks. I love the way you come and plop down in my lap and your powder puff pony tail tickles my face. I love your bouncy hair (mine has never had as much bounce as yours). I love your scrawny little legs. I love your happy and energetic spirit.  You are loving to your brother (most of the time), always looking out for him and making sure he is close. When you wake up from your nap or a good night's sleep, the first thing you ask about is him. "Where's my Haynsie?" you ask. I love that. He has always been your best little friend. I hope you two are best buddies forever. He loves you too, sweet girl. You two may argue and disagree and fuss sometimes, but you both have a special bond that I hope stays forever. You are obsessed with milk and drink more milk than any little person I have ever seen. If we let you, your entire diet would consist of nothing but milk. You care nothing for TV or movies. You are beginning to LOVE baby dolls and everything like that. Good timing since Baby Brother or Sister is coming soon. You'll be lots of help I'm sure. You have been interested going potty for three months now and already poop and tee-tee on the potty! Impressive. Now we just have to work on you being consistent and you'll be out of diapers. Mommy and Daddy would appreciate your continued interest and participation to make this happen soon. Please and thank you. We love you forever and pray that you grow in the love and knowledge of our wonderful Savior. He loves you most of all, Brookelynn. I hope you always cling to that. Happy Second Birthday!

Love, Mama

Fall Festival

My favorite part of Fall Festivals is seeing all the cute little outfits that kids come up with (or their moms.) I'm never one of those moms who go all out and actually MAKE the kids costumes but they sure are fun to look at. Last night was no disappointment. And of course, my kids were no exception. They were pretty darn sweet. Haynes was a train conductor complete with Thomas the Train hat and scarf, and blue striped oshkosh overalls. Brookelynn was a bunny.

We had a special guest this Halloween. My aunt, Trish, came for a short visit!! We were so excited she was here and we had a lovely day with her. I wish I had only gotten one picture of her with the babies before she left that night. What was I thinking?

Brookelynn having a great time with her first lollipop. 

 

Haynes working on throwing a football. According to my dear father in law, Ron, both my kids really need lessons in throwing. Yeah. They probably get that from me.

The sweetest little buddies.

 

Babies and their Daddy. 

After our festival, we came home, made the rounds to see a few neighbors and then went home and went to bed. Thank goodness all busy days come to an end. We were all ready for bed.

Jumpy Things.

Its been a crazy busy few weeks. On the list of things to do...

1. Kids Market 50% off day (with the kids - blah)
2. Prepare/pack to go camping
3. Switch out kids summer and winter clothes
4. Move furniture and all sorts of baby things around to make room for a new little nursery
5. Meet Bethany at Play Place for jumpy things fun
6. Pumpkin Patch
7. Joy's Fall Party
8. Camping Trip

Not to mention work and the other normal activities. So I've blogged about all the other fun activities. Now it's time to make sure we have a little blog about our outing with Bethany, my sister in law, and her sweet girls, Emily and Sadie. Austin was at school so we didn't get to play with him.

I have to admit, I am not a big fan of jumpy things. I have nightmarish thoughts about my kids getting trampled in them. Especially when there are billions of kids on one. And kids can be so elusive in them. I have lost my children several times looking for them to come out one side and they came out the other. In short, they kind of stress me. Soooo that being said...

This place was totally different. Partly because we went in the morning and aside from a few people that trickled in here and there, we literally had the place to OURSELVES! It was quiet, and non-stressful. Even little Brookelynn went on the biggest of jumpy things because it wasn't so crowded that she was trampled.

Haynes, Brookelynn and Emily had a great time. They played non-stop for two hours. Needless to say, they were worn out after that.

 

Playing with the toy cars!

 

Weeeeeeee!!!

 

Emily, Brookelynn, Haynes and Sadie

These pictures are all pretty bad because it's not well lit and these kids aren't gonna be still for a picture at a jumpy place. And Brookelynn was thirsty. For real.

The Pumpkin Patch 2012

So...the Pumpkin Patch wasn't all I expected it to be. I had heard rumor that the pumpkins were just set out in a field and not actually grown there but when you see it in person, it is somewhat disappointing. But, I guess if you're 3, you don't know the difference. I got together with several good friends of mine and we all chose a last Friday to go on the outing. It was a cool, and blustery day that morning but the sun was supposed to be shining so it sounded like nice weather. We all packed up our kids (seven of them to be exact) and started on the rather loooonng trip to Hayden to our Pumpkin Patch of choice. By the time we arrived, it was a field FULL of kids on a field trip! Dun dun dun....
Oh there were little children everywhere and of course not enough adults to keep order as it was a field trip. As stressful as it looked, we braved the crowds and decided to first attempt to get some good pictures of the kids. After all, there were places for wonderful staged fall photos everywhere. The harsh sun and the annoying wind, not to mention my children's complete disgust at the idea of getting their picture taken that day made this photo op almost a total flop.

 

Here's a good one of my good friend, Kate, and her new baby girl!

And Joy!

And the cutie pies, Emma and Elijah. 

Next, we decided to go to the petting zoo. Petting zoos, to me at least, are always kind of a let down, especially when you have to pay to pet an animal that doesn't come anywhere near the edge so you can pet it. Aaanndd, my kids won't even attempt to pet animals in cages anyways so that was a waste of money. No pictures. Moving on. At this point, my friend Anna Kate her two littles had arrived. We went to the bouncy things next and of course, all the kids had a blast.

After the kids had their time in the jumpy things, we headed up for a quick snack and then headed to the covered wagon hayride and off to the "pumpkin patch."

Jonas, Lydia, Haynes and Brookelynn on the hayride.

The "Great Pumpkin Patch."

The perfect pumpkin. This is the one we have sitting on our front steps today. 

Jonas is helping us out with our pumpkin choices.

 

Attempting to move the pumpkin.

 

There's Rachel and Emma. So precious.

After the wagon ride, we made one last attempt as some good pictures. Again, it was not exactly a great and cooperative photo session. This one is my favorite. Almost all the kids with Joy. You can see in their faces how much it pained them for us to be attempting these pictures but we tried anyways.

 

Anna Kate had some photos taken with her two babies.

And my kids decided they would poke their heads through and be scarecrows,  just for one picture. 

All in all, it was a long and busy day, full of children everywhere, but we can all say we did it. We went to the pumpkin patch this year and rode the covered wagon and bought a 7$ pumpkin just for the experience. And our kids will have one more little memory to add to their brain.  I think it will be a good one for them. I'm sure that's what they all dreamed about as four little angels snored in the back of my van on the way home. The all fell asleep within minutes of beginning the trip back home. It was a nice and quiet trip, full of good mom conversation between Rachel and me.