Party Time!

***My sister said she expected a detailed report of the festivities. Not to disappoint her, here it is! Warning: You are about to enter a picture overload zone!***
The last party guest has left, I think all the toys have been fished out from under the couch, and Brooke's high chair has been completely washed from top to bottom. Blake has gone to run an errand, Brooke is passed out in her crib from over stimulation and I finally have a minute to catch my breath and record today's events. I've gotten teased by several people that we made too big a deal out of a first birthday because she won't remember it anyway. Even though that's true, I will remember it and I wanted it to be a good one. It by far exceeded my expectations.

For months now I have been feeling glum because we do not have any close family living by us. Plus, it's the middle of December so the weather is unpredictable for our out of town family to really brave the 3 hour trip. Throw in the hectic Christmas season and I was positive no one would be there to celebrate Brooke's milestone with us. But our wonderful friends came to the rescue! Everyone we invited (including Blake's cousin and her family) set aside the last Saturday before Christmas to be with us and celebrate Brooke's birthday.

The celebrations obviously started on Brooke's actual birthday (Dec. 17th) and she got to open her first present from Uncle Ben and Aunt Katie:

When the paper started to tear, Brooke kept looking at us as if asking "Are you sure it's okay that I'm tearing this apart?"

As soon and Brooke heard that whatever was inside the box made noise, she got so excited and started dancing. I'm so glad we got it on video:

Inside was a cute puppy who sings and plays games.

Saturday started out bright and early with me cleaning the house and decorating:Then I went and picked up the cake I ordered. The whole time I was carrying it out to the car I was thinking, "Please don't drop this!"
I was nervous the whole day that Brooke would have one of those days when she wouldn't want to nap on time and then be grumpy for her party. Luckily she cooperated and was bright eyed and ready to go when the guests arrived!

The Birthday Feast
Opening gifts from our great friends!
All the kids loved the "My Pretty Little Learning Purse"
Even when the entire piece of cake was gone, Brooke kept sucking on her fingers to get every last taste!
Then she decided(without us coaxing her) to show everyone she was "so big" and got frosting all in her hair.
She went right from her high chair into the bathtub!
Happy Birthday, Brooke!! And thank you to all of our friends and family who sent their love to her on her special day!

Birthday Girl

I know I hardly ever mention Brooke in my posts, so an over the top 1st birthday post with zillions of pictures was totally unexpected, right? I have never experienced a year that has gone by so fast before. Seriously, it feels like I looked like this just yesterday:
My brother so kindly said to me around this same time last year, "You need to get that thing out of you! You look like there's an alien in there!" Why, thank you. What a nice compliment to a woman who is days away from giving birth and feels like her stomach is ready to explode.

And that Brooke was my small, beautiful new baby:
Now she is my big, beautiful little girl:
She is so curious about everything!
And still so happy!


Having never done this before, I think I expected Brooke as one year old to be more like a toddler: talking, walking and leaving bite marks in everything. She can say "dada" and babbles constantly, but that is the extent of her vocabulary. She seems pretty content with crawling and still doesn't have any teeth! She is still my baby and I will probably always think of her as that. Happy Birthday Brooke!

Santa Baby

This weekend we went to a family Christmas party in Payson. It's a yearly tradition on Blake's side of the family & we always have lots of fun and good food. Before we left, Brooke was feeling the Christmas spirit:

Brooke has graduated into a forward facing carseat. On the way down she entertained herself by taking off both her shoes and socks and then doing this:
Santa always makes an appearance at the party, so Brooke got her turn:

We didn't have our flash on, so the picture is orange (in case you couldn't tell), but Brooke is just checking him out.
Then, she checks out the jingling sound

Brooke sees that Santa is an okay guy
I love Brooke's expression in this picture.. It's like she is trying to understand what she's supposed to do
Santa makes sure everyone sits on his lap. At one point, all 3 of us were sitting there.
Us with Blake's grandparents. I think it is so cool that Brooke has great grandparents. I never even knew my mom's parents let alone great grandparents.

On the way home, we hit a super bad snow storm. Driving though Parley's Canyon I was about to have a heart attack. Blake could see me getting stressed and said, "Does someone need to listen to some Christmas music?" It's funny how playing Christmas music suddenly made the situation "festive" instead of a near death experience. Blake knows just what I need!

Stair Master

Today when I got home, Blake showed me this picture he took of Brooke napping. Looks comfortable, doesn't it?
Then, he showed me Brooke's latest trick: going down the stairs. We had a conversation just the other day about how good Brooke is getting at climbing stairs. Then I said how it would probably be awhile before she masters going down them. Well, I guess this proves me wrong. She's definitely not ready for the big staircase, but it's a start.

And yes, she's still in her PJ's from earlier. When I got home I asked if Brooke had even gotten dressed all day and Blake said she likes being her PJ's all day.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Our first married Christmas Blake and I were able to cut down our own Christmas tree. For the 5 years after that we made do with a little fake tree. Last year after we dismantled it, we said our good-byes and off to DI it went. This year it was back on the mountain in search of a perfect tree.

Brooke is all bundled up and ready to go.

We got up on the mountain & it was -1 degrees with a terrible wind. We settled for a tree just off the side of the road and left Brooke in the toasty truck.

Ah! The perfect tree..

It was also really heavy

We realized after we cut it down that we should have brought a trailor to put it on. It was totally rigged in the back of the truck. We were laughing all the way home that it was going to break in half any minute.

Now where to put it? We have a sun room attached to the front of the house that has really high ceilings. We thought about attempting to put it in our living room and the thought of trying to keep Brooke away from it for the next month was enough for me to decide to put it where she can't get to it. We'll fight that battle next year.

We could only find one strand of lights and I didn't have the motivation to dig through storage to find more. So only the middle part of the tree is lit.

Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like walking & leaning over precariously on a ledge high above the downstairs to decorate the top half of the tree!

Here's what Brooke thinks of the tree so far:

Little Helper

I swear my last post was only yesterday. How did it get to be Sunday already? Anyway, ever since Brooke has learned to climb up the step that leads into our kitchen, she is always underfoot while I am working in there, being my little helper in the kitchen. Which tends to result in more playing & less cooking.
Brooke has also started to love her baths. I mean, really love them. Baths have become an extension of play time and it is so fun to watch her explore the water. She loves when we pour water on her and tries to catch it in her hand.

And finally, a picture of her latest accomplishment: standing! She's only done it twice. This second time I hurried to grab my camera and was able to snap a few pics.

Let's Be Honest

I've been teaching for about a week now and our life has slowly adjusted to our new routine. Blake's schedule changed 2 days ago and now Brooke is picked up from her babysitter by mid-morning and gets to spend the rest of the day with daddy until I get home. This gives me so much happiness knowing that Brooke and Blake are together. At first I was more nervous about Blake being alone with Brooke than I was with Brooke and the sitter. I came home and needed a detailed play by play about every vegetable eaten and diaper soiled. But then today I found these pictures on the camera and know that she is in good hands:
Blake is such a good daddy. And a great Mr. Mom too. By the time I get home the house is clean and all is well. It also means on the days Blake works we spend about 3 minutes together in passing as I come home and he leaves for work. But, let's be honest: I kind of like it. Did your jaw just drop in horror that I admitted that so freely? No, our marriage isn't in trouble. Our schedules are only like this 2 days a week. On those days that I come home and he heads off, I am free to have cereal for dinner, and after Brooke goes to bed I shamelessly watch episodes of "Dawson's Creek" & "Grey's Anatomy" that I rented from the library (we don't have cable anymore so I make do). It's kind of nice. It also makes the other days extra special when I do come home and he doesn't have to go anywhere.

Last night I had to take Brooke out right before bed to chase down a dog that had wandered off & Brooke seemed excited for the adventure:
Can you believe I will have a one year old in 15 days?