Brooklyn is 5!!

Oh my sweet firstborn! How did you turn 5 today?

You have lost your baby/toddler look and are a full on big kid now! You've moved on to a real kid bike (with training wheels), you don't need our help to swing, and you've outgrown all of the toddler sized play structures in our backyard.

You are an amazing big sister - always showing Dylan and Griffin how to do things, helping them with zippers, or giving them a boost on to the couch or up the slide. I love that even when they come and mess up your work you use your words (even if they are piercingly loud words) and rarely ever push or hit out of frustration. I love that you are quick to forgive.

I love the way you are enjoying the competition of games but after winning will move my game piece to the finish line so that I can "win" too. When you include a friend from school or teacher who was out sick in your prayers it makes my heart full seeing the little ways you think of others.

I'm fascinated at the things you learn and the excitement that you have for learning and for reading. I hope that excitement stays with you your entire life. Seeing the joy on your face as you finished reading your 1st book all by yourself last week was one of my favorite memories.

I'm beginning to see you've inherited some of my anxiety and while a little nervousness is healthy I pray that your daddy and I can model well for you that with Jesus there is a courage and a peace that can overcome any fear or worry.

You have compassion for others, are a seeker of justice, have a thirst for knowledge,  a desire to inform others, an incredible memory, and a tender heart. We love you Beeks and pray blessings over your 5th year!

Brooklyn is 2!

2 whole years have passed since we welcomed this little human into the world.

Kellie Parry Photography

and now we have this.

Alison Frenzel Photography

This year has been a year FULL of new things, new discoveries, new clothes (she's growing so fast!), new independence, new words, new lessons and new boundaries, and new laughs.

I can no longer cradle her whole little body in my arms in a sleepy heap on my chest for hours a day, but rather (when she lets me) let her climb in my lap to read a story or fix her hair for school. And sometimes, when she wants her mommy, will hold up her hands and say "I hold you!" to which I happily oblige. As her long legs dangle from my hip and only her head now fits on my shoulder, I have quickly learned to savor every single second of these ever so short baby and now toddler stages.

Brooklyn has grown up so, so much even since her 18 month post. Here are just a few of her milestones:

She is really good with a fork and spoon, although she still often chooses to use her hands especially at the beginning of the meal, as using a fork and spoon takes too long to get the food in her mouth. She still eats like a champ and will eat anything at least once. She's also mastered what she calls "Cookie Monster"-ing her food. When there are just a few bites of something left she'll sometimes look up, grin, then grab what's left on her plate by the handful and shove it in her mouth. Then look up with a stuffed face and say proudly "Cookie Monster! Nom! Nom! Nom!" 

She now is using lots of full sentences, usually to boss a toy (or a parent).  She says her prayers on her own without prompting and it's always an adventure to hear what she's thankful for. She's also acquired a thick Texas accent in the last few weeks and neither of us have one so we're a little stumped as to why she now says:

"Baby Chah-lee go ta BAY-ed" (baby Charlie go to bed) 

"Mo' br-ayy-ed" (more bread)

"Mommy! I bonk a HEY-ah-ed" (Mommy I bonked my head)

Her memory is ridiculous. She meets someone once and will see them months later and remember their name. She knows where she is. When we exit I-35 at 17th and 18th street she always asks if we are going to school, then if we say no, asks if we are going to church (both places are off the same exit). She knows when we've turned on to our street, or either of her grandparents streets and happily yells "Hee we ahh! (Here we are!)." Every time we drive by a certain furniture store she yells "New Couch!" as it's the place we took her once to buy our new furniture.

She's really started to pretend and use her imagination. She plays and interacts with her toys, puts them to bed, feeds them, puts them in time out, cooks meals in her play kitchen for them. I love seeing her nurturing and caring for them. She adores coloring and "paintin' pitchers". She sings all. the.time. and has starting re-mixing songs. Her newest is to mix old McDonald into any part of a song she forgets the words to. (Over Christmas she'd sing Jingle Bells and get halfway through the verse then just throw in an E-I-E-I-OOO for good measure). When a song comes on that she likes she can't contain her excitement. She turns in to a jumping, dancing, squealing ball of happy.

She knows all her shapes and letters, counts accurately to about 16 (but thinks she can count to 20) lol. She knows how to get to, open, play, and close all of her apps on both of our phones (yikes!) and she can halfway dress herself! She's great at her socks and surprisingly her shoes (she usually gets the correct feet!), shes a pro at putting on her pants, but gets really frustrated at shirts. She rarely wets her diaper at night anymore and uses the potty every morning and we are working on using it during the during the day as well.

Brooklyn is definitely a feelings girl. When she is excited, she can hardly contain her squeal and she physically shakes with excitement. When she's mad or frustrated she yells and usually throws her toy or sock or whatever isn't doing what she wants. When she's happy (which is thankfully 88% of the time) her eyes twinkle, she has a huge grin and she walks with a little gallop in her step. When she's tired or sad or scared the tears come easily and the "I hold yous" become more frequent. I love that about her and I love that you never have to guess with her- she'll tell you. She's testing and exploring her boundaries like every toddler should and we are hopefully showing her firmly but lovingly where those boundaries are. I love that our laughs greatly outnumber the timeouts!

Here's her official school picture lol!

Happy 2nd birthday sweet BK! I love praying with and over you and am constantly in awe that God would entrust me with such a precious creation.

Brooklyn is 5 months

Happy 5 months to Miss Brooklyn!

Height: 26 1/2 inches 
Weight:  15 lbs  


Milestones:

- We are at a pretty consistent 11 hours of sleep per night and 3 naps a day (one nap is usually an hour and a half and the other two range from 30 min to an hour)

- She finally rolled over from back to tummy unassisted! She's only done it once but we'll take what we can get! She likes when you hold out your finger and she'll use it to help her roll over then once she gets on her tummy she'll look up at you until you clap and say "yay!" and only then will she smile.

- She sits up pretty well on her own but needs a little support. I can sit her up in my lap and only have to set a hand on her waist so she doesn't tip to the left or right.

-She's going through a phase where she's afraid of guys. At the end of year BBQ for the student athletes Daniel took her around and she smiled and grinned at all the girls and gave blank stares to the boys. Daniel and I are hoping that sticks around for about 18 more years.

-She likes to give "baby kisses" when you hold her up at your shoulder, she'll bury her face in your cheek/neck and slobber on you. She will then proceed to pull/poke/yank your hair, glasses, earrings, cheeks, teeth- if she can reach it it's fair game. Now I know why lots of moms have a baby then cut their hair short.

 
B's current favorite things are her exersaucer (she no longer presses the buttons but rather beats the living crud out of the buttons while squealing at the top of her lungs), her fisher price rock-a-stack (that plastic pyramid of stacking rings we all had as a kid), and her stuffed giraffe.

1 Month

I can't believe it's been an entire month since Miss Brooklyn was born! She has already grown so much- it's unbelievable how much a babies grow and change in just one month! (sorry for the terrible pics - it was an all around disaster to get these 2 taken and I totally forgot to adjust my settings for the dreary overcast day)

Weight: 8 lbs (give or take an oz or 2 - I weighed her at home :) ha ha!
Length: 21 inches

Milestones:
Brooklyn has been having longer awake periods where she is content. The 1st week was really all sleeping and we had to wake her to eat and she'd go back to sleep. Week 2 and 3 she'd wake up on her own..to eat, and go back to sleep. If you didn't feed her when she woke she'd be cranky and she'd always eat herself back to sleep so it's been nice to see her awake, alert, and peaceful. She already has her own little personality.

She's got some serious muscles. She can turn that noggin' of hers from side to side pretty quickly during tummy time and can hold her head up on her own when I'm holding her on my shoulder for what seems like an hour (or 5 seconds ha ha!) especially when it's time to eat.

She's starting to smile at us while awake and not just in her sleep *swoon*

She attended her 1st college basketball game and slept the whole time (I was worried about the noise- apparently it puts her to sleep)

She loves when Daddy holds her and hums the background music from Billy Madison. Yeah I said Madison not Elliot- the movie with Adam Sandler. I have no clue how he came up with that while trying to quiet her but that's what he hums to her and it works- every- time. She'll fall right asleep.

She has gone from eating 4 times during the 10 pm-7 am hours to twice! I was not expecting that until 6 weeks and hope she's not just teasing us. I usually feed her around 10-11 pm and put her down and she'll wake up around 3:30-4:30 am for another feeding and go back to sleep until 7:30 ish. It's incredible the difference in energy I have getting 3-4 straight hours as opposed to 2.

We also learned around week 2-3 that she's got a little reflux but not enough to bother with meds, just uncomfortable if she's laying on a flat surface. To the point that it wakes her. We got a little wedge to put under her mattress so she's on a little incline (I'd say like 15 degrees) and it's made a world of difference. We just had to modify her swaddling so if she slides down a little the swaddle doesn't come up over her face.

And a Breastfeeding update: Still breastfeeding, but are starting the weaning process, we've added formula for 1 feeding a day and will increase to 2 feedings in 3 or 4 days. I'm hoping to take several weeks to do this to ease her into formula and to keep me from getting mastitis again. Who knows maybe we'll keep doing both as long as I still have milk. Surprisingly, she hasn't spit up once with the formula but spits up with breast milk.

Family

So my parents just left to go back to Texas. Let me just say those of you who have babies and are single or have a spouse who is deployed or out of town often....you are rockstars.

I knew going in that my hormones would be all over the place after giving birth and as a natural worry wort I was expecting tears. I didn't realize that meant crying just cause I was tired, or because Brooklyn pooped in her diaper right as I was fastening on a fresh diaper, or because I couldn't sleep because I was afraid I'd be a terrible mom. Having family, both my parents and husband, to encourage and support me has been a sanity saver. Being a mom is hard. Exciting, scary, fun and very hard.  I have quickly learned that a nursing bra, hoodie, and yoga pants are the staple outfit and only get "dressed" dressed when I'm going outside the house, which short of a dinner, Dr's appts, and a quick trip to the store has been on short walks around the block.  I am lucky to have incredible family here to make these first days easier.

Let me start with my parents. They were here for the first 10 days of Brooklyn's life. Of course to love on and be with their grand baby- but to also make our lives a little easier. I wasn't sure how I'd feel having guests in the house as I have a tendency to be a people pleasing entertainer. If you are a guest in my home I want you to feel just that, like a guest, not a maid. Daniel and I came home from the hospital with Brooklyn to a spotless house with a full fridge. They even did our laundry. We woke up every morning to breakfast being cooked, and not just toast and cereal, my momma made banana pancakes, quiche, french toast, the works! Same for dinner- every night we had a different home cooked meal, and didn't have to even clear our plates from the table. They made trips to the store for groceries, and last minute things we didn't realize we'd need (like nightlights so we didn't trip going to the nursery in the middle of the night.). When the photographer came over for Brooklyn's newborn pics, my parents moved furniture, held reflectors and sweat it out for 4 hours. They listened and answered questions when I was having trouble breastfeeding the first few days. (Which btw- is waaaayy harder that I'd imagined- I see now why people cave and switch to formula.) I cried like a baby when we dropped them off to go home, partly because I am a hormonal mess, partly because I was so grateful for all of their help and mostly because I was smacked with the reality that they live so far away and won't get to see her grow and change every day.

Nana & Papaw made our first week home so much easier.

Then there's my husband. He is simply incredible. He's changed nearly every diaper, and even though he's gone back to work gets up for every feeding, even when she's up eating every hour for 4 hours in the middle of the night.  He walks and sings her to sleep when she's crying. He brings me snacks and drinks when I'm busy with Brooklyn (see: "eating every hour for 4 hours" mention above). He comes home at lunch just to hang out with his girls, and lets me cry it out on days where I am exhausted (which is like every other day around 6 pm). I couldn't imagine being a parent without him. Daniel's parents are coming this week and I am so excited for them to get to spend some time loving on Brooklyn and seeing first hand what an incredible father their son is.

Late night burping turned sleeping hug on Daddy :)

Brooklyn and I are 2 very lucky ladies :)

Happy Birthday!

Brooklyn must be a good listener because she decided last Sunday night that she'd had enough in there. For those that would like, the following is her birth story because if I don't write it somewhere it will all become a blur. Proceed at your own risk ha ha!

I was told that few ladies' water actually breaks as the first sign of labor....mine did. I was almost asleep at 10:30 on Sunday night when my water broke. So I hopped in the shower and waited for the contractions to start. I tried to sleep but honestly, who could sleep I had a million things going through my head. I spent from 10:30 pm until 4:00 am showering, getting dressed, fixing my hair (cause I didn't want to look too terrible in Brooklyn's first photos), quadruple checking the hospital bag, watching Seinfeld episodes, timing contractions and e-mailing last minute information to my boss.

We checked into the hospital at 4:30 am. Monday morning. My contractions weren't bad at all and still only 10 min apart but my water had been broken for a while and it was ridiculously foggy that morning. I was only at 2 cm and 50% effaced so they decided to hook me up to pitocin around 7 am to try to progress things along. The pitocin worked at getting contractions going but at 1 pm I was still only at 3 cm and was 90% effaced.

The problem was that since my water had broken like 16 hours before I was leaking amniotic fluid and Brooklyn didn't have much to keep her afloat in there so she'd occasionally squish her cord causing her heart rate to drop, so they turned off the pitocin and to avoid a c-section they tried replacing my fluids....and it worked! I opted to get the epidural at that point (in case the fluid option didn't work I'd already be ready should they need to do a c-section) it was not near as bad as I had expected and my anesthesiologist was wonderful. They slowly turned on the pitocin again and around we figured since I had 7 more cm to go it be a while, but around 4:30 I told the nurse that I felt some pressure and sure enough I was ready to go, Dr. Lee arrived in the room at 5:00 ish and Brooklyn was here at 5:33 pm!

 She shares a birthday with her Grandad (my father-in-law). It was wonderful that not only were my parents (who are from Texas) able to be there but my husbands parents and sisters (plus one nephew) were able to hop a ride on the company plane to be there for Brooklyn's arrival as well!

meet  Brooklyn Elizabeth

7 pounds 2 ounces

20 inches long

1st bath- daddy did a great job!

Ride home from the hospital.

She fell asleep as soon as we put her in the car!

My whole world in one picture. I hit the hubby jackpot :)

She makes the best faces - we decided she was dreaming about roller coasters.

40 weeks: the waiting game

She's due tomorrow, and conveniently this is my Dr's weekend to be on call (although the other 3 OB's in the practice are really great I want my Dr to deliver my nugget) so I'm really hoping for a timely baby (but kind of knowing in the back of my mind that after the kind of kid I was there's no way I'd be lucky enough to start out with a timely baby!).

Everything (and everyone) is ready and waiting......

....all for this tiny person.

Brooklyn, I hope you know just how very much you are loved.


Here's a little mini belly progression over the past 40 weeks....

14 weeks

20 weeks

24 weeks

29 weeks

34 weeks

39 weeks

Here's to hoping I don't have to take a 41 week photo! Ha ha!

Almost finished

As in finished with the nursery, finished with the holidays, finished with being preggers, and finished with my job.

That's a lot of stuff to be finished with all at the same time!

I think I'm actually going to really miss being pregnant. Once I got over the getting fat part and the human growing in my belly part, it has been quite incredible to get to know this little girl and have her as a part of my every move and breath. I also feel like it's been a very easy pregnancy. So I am spending these last 24 days (give or take) really trying to remember and enjoy every squirm, kick, and hiccup session she has, as there's no guarantee that I'll ever get to experience this again.

We have been blessed to have so many wonderful people who have wanted to celebrate the coming of Miss Brooklyn. Some of the women from our church threw a shower for myself and another gal who's due a week after I am and also having a girl. I was humbled that there were women there who I really had only seen at church but never really met that came to celebrate our little nuggets. We are glad to have found a loving church who truly act as the Body of Christ.

With family and many friends being halfway across the country several of my mom's friends gathered at my parents house for a Skype shower. They all mailed gifts to our house in Oregon prior to the party and then they enjoyed food and drinks at my parents house in Texas and we logged on to Skype so we could visit and open gifts. My mom and Melissa, one of my friends here in OR, even schemed and had cookies and pizza delivered so I didn't miss out on the food part of the shower. :)

Mom posing with the TV (me!)

The wonderful folks at my office are even throwing a little soiree for Brooklyn and I later this week . I'm telling you we're going to have one spoiled little girl on our hands! *I'm sure my mother is reading this and grinning from ear to ear knowing that I'm about to get some serious payback for the years of brattiness I put her through.*

It's bittersweet as it's kind of a shower/retirement party. I know 30 is a bit early for retirement but I've paid my dues. Ha ha! Just kidding! But seriously, because both my job and Daniel's are very much 40 hour a week plus lots of after hours events, we decided that I won't be returning as the alumni director after the baby arrives. I'm pretty sure the last time I was completely unemployed was when I was 15, I have always had a job... or 3- even through college. We are lucky to be able to even have the option to have me work or not work as I know many new mommies don't get a choice and have to return to work whether they want to or not. After a few months with just us 2 all day long who knows, I may just see if I can't find somewhere I can work part time.  

Daniel's parents came to visit us last week, we did a lot of shopping and football watching. We always have so much fun when family visits! They of course came loaded with things for Brooklyn, because that's what grandparents do! The bag of goodies included among many adorable outfits, her first articles of OU gear. I was wondering when those would make an appearance as my mom had sent Baylor onesies and the "B is for Baylor" book I think the day we told them we were expecting. I see many Saturday outfit changes in the near future, and most likely a child who'll end up not attending either school as payback for the schizophrenic school loyalty. I can see next year's Christmas card... Daniel in an OU shirt, me in a Baylor shirt and Brooklyn in a onesie that says "Whichever school is cheaper or gives me more scholarship money" 

We finally are putting the last touches on the nursery. Clothes are washed and put away, diapers and wipes are ready and waiting, glider is in, hospital bag is packed, and I only have a few framed prints and such to put up over her dresser and we are ready.

So picture a collage of framed art above the dresser on that blank wall.

I ended up using more pink than I thought I would :)

The closet is filling up fast!

All we need now is a tiny human. Hmmm, that's funny to think just now that this past nine months we've been preparing for this little girl- fretting over fabrics and colors and brands of baby shampoo, meanwhile God's been working creating the most exquisite thing that will be in that nursery, forming every wrinkle, eyelash, and muscle just as it was meant to be. What an exciting thing to be a part of.

I think that's where I'll leave it for today, and maybe I should every day - in the Creator's perfect hands.

33 weeks and another nursery project

Less than 7 weeks to go (unless she's late or early)!

Here are some fun facts for ya:

Today I am 33 weeks & 4 days.

On the scale: So far I have managed to pile on 25 pounds over the past 33 weeks and am fearful that with the holidays upon us that number may jump drastically over the next 6 1/2 weeks. I have been lucky up til this point and don't have stretch marks....yet. I'm sure there's still plenty of time for those to appear.

Cravings: Lately anything that's bad for me, breads, mashed potatoes, but mostly sweets. You should see me in the bakery/bread section at the store. Daniel had to drag me away from the tables filled with cakes, pies, muffins, croissants, and coffeecakes. Apparently I was circling the tables with crazy eyes. (Which is why I'm fearful of spending my last weeks pregnant in the midst of the food over-indulgence season)

Symptoms: I think I've been really blessed in that this pregnancy hasn't seemed near as bad as what everyone warned me about when it comes to aches, pains, and sleeplessness. I don't take naps, no swollen ankles, I don't need 80 pillows to be comfortable, I'm not up every hour to pee at night, and until now have been able to do all the things I normally do and function at work and home at my regular pace. If the delivery is anything like the past 7 1/2 months have been, I could definitely do this again.

Things I miss: I'm sure this will make me sound like an alcoholic but....wine. I'm really missing being able to have a glass of wine with dinner.  And as of this last week, I miss being able to walk up a flight of stairs and not be winded, and being able to bend over and get up off the floor with ease.

Looking forward to: Finishing up Brooklyn's nursery (just a few more projects ;) surprise!), and getting to finally meet her!

As you know, I'm on a make everything yourself kick, maybe it's my version of nesting. This week's project is a set of clothes sizing rings for Brooklyn's closet. I already had the paper, paint and Modpodge, all I needed were the rings and sticker numbers! I bought wood "O's" from the craft store for $1 a piece and the stickers were only $1.50 so this project only cost $6.50 (yay for no sales tax in Oregon).