Day at the Park with the Cousins

 I think my kids are officially sick of me taking their pictures.  So I harassed Kate and Luke instead:)

 

 

  With some help from photoshop I was finally able to get a decent picture of the 4 of them!

Dylan is 15 months!

 Dylan turned 15 months at the end of December and I can't believe it.  As I write this post I'm sitting outside watching him play.  He's turned into such a little boy over the last few months.  No longer a baby:(  He's your typical boy.  Loves to play outside and get dirty (as much as I'll let him), loves to wrestle, loves trucks, loves to throw balls around, and loves to growl at people:)  He's still as sweet as can be but has started a little bit of a hitting phase.  So far, his daddy and I are the only victims and it's really not that bad.  He keeps me on my toes, constantly getting into things he shouldn't.  I've just added the freezer to the list of things I need to figure out how to lock.  I've had to put up glass decorations that I never had to move with Brooklyn. 

Here the list of things I want to always remember...

• He has 6 teeth.  4 on top and 2 on bottom.  He's really out of sorts when they're coming in and wakes up a new person when they finally break through.
• He's still nursing about 3 times a day.  Once in the middle of the night and before naptime and bedtime.  Once again, he wants nothing to do with a bottle.  Won't drink milk either.  So we're back to being inseparable:)
• He's doing a lot better with food.  His diet mostly consists of yogurt, oranges, bananas, grapes, apples, cheese, yogurt melts, crackers and rice chips.  He calls all fruit "na-na".
• He's got a pretty good vocabulary.  Some words that I can remember off the top of my head are: mommy, daddy, baba (Brookie), Nana, Bapa (Grandpa), Papa, uh oh, No (says it like Noooooooo),  what's that, outside, what's that, here you go (kinda run together), here you are (also run together), baby, hi, bye bye, sit, sit down, ni-night, hot, truck, ball, hey, boo, book (which just sounds like "ba") and Auntie.  That's all I can remember off the top of my head.
• He's started putting 2 words together. Hi baby, bye baby, hi mommy, sit down, etc.  It's really funny when he's trying to combine 2 words and gets tongue tied.  Keep working buddy!
• He's a Momma's boy.  If I'm not around he's just not himself.  It's flattering but makes it kinda difficult at times.
• He loves to open and close doors.
• Once in a while I'll catch him "dancing".  Definitely doesn't have the rhythm his sister has:)
• He's got a really high pain tolerance.
• He holds his own with the big kids.  If someone gets too close he has no problem yelling at them and pushing them away.  Guess that comes with being the youngest in most groups.
• Every time we get out of our car at home he points to the house across the street where his friend Jaxon lives and says, "Hi baby!". Too cute.
• He's busy ALL the time.  Always moving.  Just like daddy.
• He's taken a new liking to books.  So cute to watch him "read".  He babbles and points to the pictures and says, "what's that?!".
• I've never seen a kid make such a mess in such a short amount of time.  He's a baby tornado.
• When it's time for bed he lets me know.  He'll decide he's tired and say ni-night.  He goes around to daddy, Brookie and Maddie and gives them all kisses and says ni-night to each.  Then he takes me hand and pulls me to his room.  I wonder how long this will last....

Christmas Day

Christmas day fell on a Sunday this year so we had a very full and fun day.  We woke up in the morning and opened a few gifts then headed to church.  I love that Brooklyn is more excited that it's Jesus' birthday than she is to get gifts.  Every party we went to she would ask if Jesus was gonna be there this time.  Kind of a difficult concept at her age:) After church we went over to Nana and Grampa's house.  The kids had a great time and were once again spoiled with gifts.

When we woke up in the morning we found Brooklyn sitting on the chair playing her computer.  She wasn't all the interested in the presents we had waiting for her.

Pretending to be asleep...

A new backpack to keep her computer in!

Opening gifts at Nana and Grampa's...

Another great Christmas!!

Christmas Eve with Grammy & Papa

This year we spend Christmas eve over at Grammy and Papa's house.  Brooklyn had a great time playing with her cousins.  The grown ups enjoyed a yummy prime rib dinner.  Brooklyn was especially excited about getting her very own "computer"!  What a great gift!  It keeps her busy and she can work it herself.  Dylan got a few very nice shirts, he looks so handsome in them.

 

 

 Thanks Grammy!

 

 

 Grammy had the cutest wrapping! A, B, C, D, E...Ava, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Dylan and Eli!

 

 Thanks for a great day Grammy and Papa!!

Brooklyn

 I feel like Brooklyn has changed so much since she turned 4.  It's time for a little update and what she's up to lately....

• She's sassy as ever!  Although along with the sass comes some pretty funny stuff.  She's always cracking us up.
• She has a really good imagination.  She comes up with some great stories. For example this is what she said to me out of no where, "One day I'm gonna marry daddy and then you are gonna be in my tummy.  And Kate and Luke are gonna be in my tummy.  There will be 3 babies in my tummy.  They will both be so cute!"
• She begins almost every sentence with "emember?" 
• She is still so patient with Dylan.
• She loves to wrestle.
• She still calls all her baby dolls "Jacobs".
• She favors a new stuffed animal every couple weeks.  Right now it's the bison.
• Recently she got in a little trouble for not listening.  On the car ride home I told her that she was going to get a consequence when we got home.  She freaked out and wanted to know what it would be.  I told her that she couldn't play with her Innotab (kid version of the iPad) for the rest of the day.  The water works started and she preceded to tell me that she was "too pretty" to get a consequence. Oh brother!
• Speaking of the Innotab... she LOVES it.  It amazes me how quickly she can figure that thing out.  She carries it around in her backpack and calls it her "omputer".
• She talks to anybody and everybody.  By the time we're done with a shopping trip everyone in the store knows her name.  In line at Disneyland she makes sure she introduces herself to everyone within ear shot.  Still not shy, AT ALL!
• She loves to have her daddy sing to her at bed time.
• She talks about Jesus frequently.
• Anytime she feels fit she tells me to "take me a picture!"
• She changes her clothes 10 times a day.  If she's not changing her clothes it's because she's not wearing any, also a frequent occurrence in our house.
• After putting her to bed we have found her in random places.  Once in our bed and once in the hallway asleep under Maddie's pillow.
• She likes to scare people.
• She loves preschool.
• She's still in ballet/tap class and is getting really good:)
• She's very social and loves to be out and around people.  She never wants to be or go home.

I know there so much more about her that I always want to remember but have already forgotten some of it:( Times just goes by way to fast!!

Here are some pictures of my pretty girl...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun day with Kate

 The other day we had Kate come over to play and had a great time at the park.  I was so glad that I took my camera along.

Brooklyn LOVES to swing as high as I can push her.  She's always loved that feeling.

 Dylan, however, prefers to barely move....

 He loved it when Kate would give him a little push.  It's so cute how much she loves him.  She was thrilled when she made him laugh and smile.

 

 

Preschool Christmas Party 2012

 Brooklyn had so much fun at her preschool Christmas party and was VERY excited that I got to go and decorate her classroom.  After the party was over we all went to the Chapel and the kiddos put on a super cute singing performance.  Brooklyn, once again, showed that she LOVES to be in front of crowds.  After each song she did a dramatic bow, she was the only one.  After the show I got approached a couple times by people asking me if, "my daughter was the one that kept bowing."  What a ham:)