It's the Holly Days

Thanksgiving was pretty low key for us this year. We stayed home, which was nice, and my mom and brother came to stay with us. Brooke loves her Nona (Italian for Grandmother) and her Uncle Jared. They both were good sports to entertain Brooke while I did the cooking. Brooke would say "Jared, let's play!" and it was fun to listen to them laugh and play together. Of course, I didn't take any pictures of my family or me cooking my first Thanksvgiving. But everything turned out great! I tried a new stuffing recipe and it seemed to be a big hit. We have lots of yummy leftovers and it was fun to play games with my family while we were waiting for the turkey to cook. But I was exhausted at the end of the day! I was pretty much in the kitchen from 7a.m. to 3 p.m. cooking and cleaning up my messes. My mom was a huge help with dishes and giving me advice on cooking.

This is our only Thanksgiving picture: taking a rest and cuddling after Brooke woke up from her nap.

I do need to express how Thankful I am for my family: mine and Blake's. They are a huge support system for us and we are so grateful we have them in our lives. I am also especially grateful for Blake and Brooke and our new baby. Blake works so hard for our family and is my best friend. I don't know what I would do without him. And I don't know what I would do without Brooke. She is always doing something that makes me laugh, like when I told her to go put her shoes on the rug and found them like this:
Or amazing me with her talents. I know I have said this before, but she really has a knack for music. This is her Thanksgiving song:

After my family left Thursday evening, Blake and I crashed on the couch with a huge fire going and watched A Christmas Story.

Friday I decided to brave black Friday shopping at the stores for the first time ever. I was expecting the worst, and was pleasently surprised when I walked right into Wal-Mart at 5am and the store was practically empty! I got everything I wanted, didn't have to wait in line at the register and was able to to hit 2 more stores (with the same scenario) and be home by 6:30. I think a lot of people must've stayed up later to hit the 10pm sales or something.

Later that morning, we bought our Christmas tree permit and headed up on the mountain. Blake had the weekend off so we needed to take advantage of him being home. The next two weekends are busy with work and other activities, so we had to get our tree a little early this year.
Brooke was a little freaked out by the snow. The two previous years we have left Brooke in the truck while we got the tree. This year, she was old enough to come out with us and she didn't know what quite to think of walking in the snow--it's hard for a little person!

She was in heaven eating all the snow, though!

We found our perfect tree. Do like how my coat won't zip up anymore? Also it's funny how the tree looks perfect on the mountain and when you get it home it's HUGE in your house. Oh well. We are enjoying it.

Our community does a really fun kick off to the holiday season the day after Thanksgiving. It goes all day and all night and everything is free. This has become one of our favorite traditions. We were only able to go to a few events (it was getting close to Brooke's nap and she was fiesty) We watched the ice-sculpter:

Brooke went on a pony ride and LOVED it (we skipped standing in line for the camel rides this year)

And she went on a ride on the "polar express" train

There are also things like free swimming at the rec center, free Christmas movie matinees and the theater, free stands giving away hot chocolate, marshmellow roasting, a parade of lights in the evening and fireworks, and so much more. As Brooke gets older, we are slowly doing more and more of these activities.

Last night, Blake and I were both tired and laying on the couches in the living room looking at the Christmas tree lights. Brooke was laying with us and it was just fun to be together as a family--that is what the holidays are about. Brooke got up and said to us "Do you want to see my tummy?" We said yes and she pulled up her shirt to show us. Then she said, "There is a baby in my tummy! Don't push my tummy, it hurts the baby" (hmmm. wonder where she's heard that before?) I just laugh and think it's cute but it completely freaks Blake out. He always says to Brooke, "nope, you will never, ever have a baby in your tummy. Only mommy!"

Sweet & Spicey

I think they got it right when they said that little girls are made of "sugar and spice" Because Brooke definitely has a sweet and spicey side!
Sweet:I love these two videos of Brooke. In one, she is singing her days of the week song and in the other she is saying the Pledge of Allegiance. They are the cutest things ever!





Also, Brooke is my little buddy. She loves to go grocery shopping with me, to the library and all sorts of the other places. The only problem is that now she wants to buy everything in the store! She is especially drawn to purses and back-packs.
grrr... I am getting to the point in my pregnancy where pictures of me will no longer be permitted. Towards the end my face gets so puffy and gross looking. Plus, I have had terrible skin with this baby. I think all the boy horomones are making me break out!

Brooke is also a little mommy to Blake and I. She tells us to chew our food and don't choke. She asks us to open our mouths so she can make sure we've swallowed it all gone. When we are in the bathroom, no matter what we are doing in there, she says "Oh you have to poop? Push it out and your tummy will feel better!" One Sunday before church I attempted to get some pictures of her in her cute outfit and she was just in a silly mood and would not cooperate: Here she is pretending to be asleepAnd I'm not sure exactly what she is doing in this picture. Oh here's my sweet girl!Now for her Spicey side: Brooke is miss independent. Everything is "me do it!" from getting dressed in the morning, putting on her shoes, zipping up her coat....Sometimes it's fine but other times, like when we're in a hurry, I don't have time for "me do it!" and I just need her to get going RIGHT NOW. If I try to hurry her she will throw a major fit.

She also has picked up some not so cute sayings from kids at her sitter's house. One is "You're not the boss" in which I quickly reply, "Yes, Mommy IS the boss!" The other is, "weave me awone!" (Leave Me Alone) She will say this if I try to do something for her that she wants to do herself or if I try to sneak in a quick kiss or hug and she is not in a lovey mood.

Also, the whining has started. Brooke thinks that if she says "please" after we've told her no that we'll change our answer. So we'll hear "please...please" is whiney tone. Luckily, counting is has been working with her. She is usually good to calm down before we get to three. If not, time out!

I can't believe that in a month Brooke will be three! I think we are in for a wild ride!

baby...stuff

I couldn't find an appropriate title for this post because it's going to be a mish-mash of a lot of thoughts and feelings I've been having lately. It seems like time is flying by and I can't believe that in 12 weeks we will be anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new baby. My dr. officially moved my due date up a week--so now I am due on February 3. Hopefully the powers that be will be kind and he either will come early or on his due date like Brooke did. But just because we are excited for him to come does not mean that we are ready! I have a list a mile long of things that need to be done, it's finding the time to get it done that is the problem. The spare bedroom needs to be cleaned out, painted (sage green with stripes...ambitious for me, I know), and all of the stuff that's currently in the room needs to be moved to our basement bedroom or given away (anyone need an extra computer desk? For some reason, we have two!) Brooke also needs to transition into her toddler bed. I am planning on doing that over Christmas break. I am sad for that happen mainly because that means Brooke will be free to roam when she wakes up--I've quite liked having her contained in her crib in the mornings and after naps.

We are slowly aquiring a stash of boy stuff. No pink ruffles for our little man. I ordered some cute bedding for him in this pattern:

and have gotten some clothing for him as well. I am terrified that he will be this giant baby and all the 0-3 month stuff I've gotten him won't fit! My mom and I also went shopping for some cute flannel material for blankets: blocks, puppies, and dump trucks.hmmm... what else. Oh, yeah a name. Picking a boy name has proven A LOT harder than picking out Brooke's name was. We actually agreed on the name Brooke because we saw it in a baby name book and it reminded Blake of a dear neighbor girl who passed away while he was growing up. While thinking about the name, one Sunday we sang a hymn I had never heard before #305: The Light Divine the first line of this hymn goes, "The light of God rests on the face of brook and flower and tree" Although in the song it means brook as a small stream, I thought that line so sweet and perfect for our daughter. Her name was settled in a matter of weeks.

A boy name, however, is a whole different story. There are so many names I do not like. I admit that I am picky and Blake and I have totally different tastes in names. We've come up with a list of 3 names we can both agree on but still toss names back and forth daily. Nothing is set. Not even a book of 60,000 plus names has been able to help us. We think that we'll just have to see him when he gets here and we'll know. This is really frustrating for me, because as a planner, I like to have the details ironed out well in advance. I'm ready to agree to a name like Jupiter just to have the matter settled.

In other news, this on the not so good side, I went in for my last dr's appointment in October and found out that our 20 week ultrasound showed that our baby only has a 2 vessel umbilical cord when babies are supposed to have 3. Our dr. assured us that in most cases it does not cause a problem, but sometimes it can cause the heart or kidneys not to develop properly. I am going in for another ultra sound when I am 32 weeks so they can check that his heart and kidneys have developed normally. He will also require some extra monitoring after he is born. Blake and I are slightly concerned, but remain optimistic. We have turned this situation over to our Heavenly Father and know that it will work out the way it is supposed to. On a good note, his heart and kidneys looked fine and normal at 20 week,s so we are just praying they keep developing the way they are supposed to.

'Tis The Season

And no, I don't mean the Christmas season. At our house, Halloween is the kickoff of the birthday season. Just in our little family alone, Blake's birthday is November 2, Brooke's December 17, our new little guy will hopefully be born at the end of January/early February, and my birthday finishes us off on February 9...just in time to eat chocolates and heart shaped treats the next week :) Now, add in that both mine and Blake's parents (yep, all 4 of them) have bdays in November/December, we have 3 siblings also in Nov/Dec, and 3 nieces in November. Factor in the holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Valentine's day...I'm pretty sure it's pointless for any of us to think we aren't going to gain any weight from November-March. At least we'll have sweaters to hide under!

So Blake started off the season and he had a double party. One with his parents the Sunday before:
And one with just our family on Wednesday. Blake had to work that night, which also meant he'd be coming home at 6am Wednesday morning and sleeping most of the day. That didn't give us very much time to celebrate, and if you know me, you know that I like to make birthday's a big deal. I came up with a plan to surprise Blake when he woke up Wednesday afternoon:

reasons why I love him...one for each year
Blake loves artichokes! So every year he gets some on his birthday. Weird, I know. But he is the only one who likes to eat them and they are expensive, so once a year it is:
I hurried home from school that afternoon so we could be together. We ate a yummy garlic chicken pizza with artichoke hearts of course! Brooke picked out a present for Blake and she was excited to give it to him.It was a chocolate fish...Yeah, we pretty much let Brooke do all the unwrapping...
And the blowing out of the candles...Notice how in this picture, Brooke has changed from her pants to a skirt and her puppy back-back.

Even though Blake had to work that night, we still managed to have a really good afternoon together. Love you, Blake! Happy Birthday!

Trick or Treat

Yesterday afternoon I had to stopy by my dr's office to do my glucose screening test. I got a call from Blake around 4:30 saying "Where are you?! We're waiting on you!" So as I drove home, I fully expected to see hordes of trick or treaters beating down our door with Brooke itching to go out herself. Nope. Empty, quiet streets. Blake and Brooke were so excited to go out, I had to keep telling them over and over that it was still too early. We needed to have dinner first. Apparently we were supposed to have clam chowder for dinner on Halloween (that is a tradition in Blake's family growing up) so thankfully I had some of the canned kind in our pantry. Next year I may attempt to make it from scratch.

Finally it was time to go out!

Brooke did awesome! Blake said she really got the hang of it and was loving it. There were a few times she was scared of spooky looking houses and had to hold Blake's hand as they walked to the front door. But they were gone from about 5:30 until 7:00. That is a lot of trick or treating for a 2 and 1/2 year old! Likewise, I bought a bag of 300 suckers to hand out and ran out of candy! I had to go through Brooke's stash and get out some of the candy she can't have like gum and gobstoppers and we regifted those.

When Brooke came home she was bouncing off the walls, she was so excited (and on a sugar high, I'm sure) from her night. She became my helper, handing out candy to the trick or treaters who came to our house. She also made sure to tell everyone who came "Don't step on my pumpkin!"

Blake and I decided that Halloween is exhausting for moms and dads!