Halloween 2008

Brooke dressed up as a Miami Dolphins cheerleader. She did great all night, hanging outside with her parents handing out candy.

Here are a few shots of her "posing":

Cheerleaders get tired! But still do proper cheerleading poses!

Fred, Daphne, and Brooke in her Gator cheerleading outfit

Happy Halloween!

Here are some cute pictures of Brooke with pumpkins!

More pics

Well, sometimes when I try to add the pictures, the whole thing freaks out and takes forever, so it really isn't my fault, but I meant to put these on the previous blog.

Louisville Audiology

First time at the beach (evening)

On the first leg of our flight home from KY

And, it happened again. Can't post the rest of the pics! Look for more later.

She's just getting so big!

I can't believe three months have already gone by! We watched the video of her right after the birth and it just doesn't seem possible that she was that small!

On October 16, we flew to Louisville. We flew on Southwest, which now has children board after the 60 people in the A group. Well, I messed that up. When we got to the gate, there was nowhere to sit and Brooke was starting to get fussy, so the three of us walked around the airport, changed her diaper, made a formula bottle (just in case) and when we got back to the gate, everyone had boarded. Yep, all 60 in the A group, all 60 in the B group, and all 60 in the C group. We were the last people on the plane, only middle seats left. I was sweating! However, a nice gentleman offered Chris his seat so that we could sit next to each other. THANK GOD! I don't think I could have done this by myself, especially in a middle seat. The flight went really well, Brooke nursed on the way up and slept on the way down. She didn't even make a peep!

Just hanging out at the airport

Sleeping on the plane with her favorite puppy

Louisville was a lot colder than Florida. We had to buy outfits with pants to keep her warm. While in Kentucky, we visited family in Lexington, visited Parker's grave (our Jack Russell who died when he was two), went to Jodee's wedding, and hung around downtown Louisville. Brooke was really good, with the exception of staying awake until 1:30 am on Thursday night.

Hanging with Sydlowski

Brrr...it's cold in Kentucky

Drew, Pattie, and Bryan in Lexington

Parker's grave in Indiana

First bath in a sink.

Liz, Chris, Brooke at wedding

Daddy and Brooke on the dance floor

Casey and Brooke

The Bride and Groom

Jodee and Todd

Congrats guys!

Guess Who Is Sleeping in Her Own Room???

Brooke!!!!

Yep, that's correct! Last night, I thought I might as well try it out. I knew she would be fine, but I was more concerned with how I would feel. We have a video monitor, so I woke up a few times and squinted across the room to see what was going on, but she was a trooper, and slept through the night, all the way across the house in her own room!

Here she is in the morning after her first night in her crib.

While I am at it, here are a few more pictures of our little baby girl:

Smiling at her puppy

BIG BLUE EYES

Foot hanging out

Looking at her mobile...

Smiley baby in the morning

And, tomorrow, we are off to Louisville for a wedding. We are also going to visit some family in Lexington while we are in Kentucky.

Oh, and Brooke is in her crib for the second night in a row. She went to sleep at 9:54 tonight, that's WAY earlier than she usually goes to bed! But, we did have a tiring day, out running errands and meeting with friends from 9:45 until 2:15.

Look for more pictures soon!

I am CRAZY!

I am not sure if I have documented this on here before, but since Brooke has been home with us, I have been nuts. For almost all of the 10 weeks she has been around, I have woken up in the middle of the night and thought Ellie (and sometimes Maddie) was Brooke. I have woken Chris up to have him get her out of the bed, with him reassuring me that it is not Brooke and that I am feeling the dogs. I have even woken up and made myself keep my legs in a certain position because Chris told me to so that Brooke wouldn't fall out of bed. WE HAVE NEVER HAD HER IN OUR BED! This has happened almost every night. What is it...that I am extrememly tired? That Ellie was my baby for 6 years?

But, last night, was the kicker...

I woke up, felt "Brooke", realized it wasn't Brooke when I felt the snout and ears, BUT I still picked Ellie up. (side note: I have tried to pick her up previously, but there is quite a weight difference between Ellie [35lbs) and Brooke [11 lbs], so I have realized it and went back to sleep). BUT, I was crazy last night and I picked her up and got halfway to the bassinet. Chris wakes up and tells me it is Ellie and not to put her in the bassinet. Thankfully, he woke up or Ellie would have been having a slumber party with Brooke.

Why am I so nuts??

No more harness, yippie!

Okay, it's been a week since she has been harness-less, but I just haven't felt like taking the time to upload pictures and whatnot...I promise I will get better.

Last Friday, Brooke had an appointment with the orthopaedist and had a repeat X-ray. After the X-ray, we went into an exam room and got the good news as soon as we walked in. She needs to go back in six weeks for a follow up, but the doctor says her hips are perfect! YEA! We thought about having a burning party for the harness, but really 1) it wasn't THAT bad, and 2) we need to show her this harness when she is older and 3) maybe we could use it as an embarassment when she in her teens. Just kidding about that last one...and for doing so great, she got a jogging stroller as a gift!

We also had a pediatrician appointment yesterday. Brooke now weighs 11 lbs, 6 oz and is 24 inches long. She is growing so much. Her height is in the 90th percentile and her weight and head circumference are in the 75th percentile. Both Chris and I thought she would be 25 inches, but she's not...she just seems so long! She also had her first set of vaccinations. The first was an oral liquid, she wasn't too fond of it and kept gagging on it. The others were needles in her leg! I thought she was handling it fine, but then she turned bright red, held her breath and let out such a scream! It was so sad! Her daddy picked her up and soothed her and she was much better. The vaccinations knocked her out. We left there around 10:30 and she was still sleeping at 2:30. I decided to wake her up to eat since she hadn't eaten since 8:30. So, all in all, yesterday was a long day, but she handled it well.

Morning of pediatrician appointment

She also got to see her grandfather (Chris' dad) yesterday. He has been in Michigan for the past 8 weeks or so. He missed her a lot.

Let's see what else she has been doing. For the past few weeks (maybe 4-5 weeks), she has been sleeping through the night. Her least amount of time is 5 hours, but she usually sleeps for 8-10 hours. People keep telling us that we are lucky and boy, do we know it...we only had a couple of nights of sleeplessness, and those were not enjoyable.



Brooke has been smiling a lot more on her own (without gas being the instigator!). Her daddy can get her to smile when he blows in her face or when I do raspberries in the air.

Sadly, I go back to work three weeks from today. I am really going to miss her. I love spending the day with her and running errands with her. I think she will miss me too, but at least she will have her daddy with her during the day. He's still looking for a way to make money from home, so if any one has any ideas, we are definitely open to them. :)





Pictures below:

First time in the pool.

Florida/Tennesse Game.

Second time wearing pants.

After her bath.

SMILES!!!!

Isn't she adorable? Looking at her daddy.

With Mommy in Baby Bjorn (and wearing Robeez shoes!)

In another sling with daddy (yes, that is a wife beater he is wearing!)

All stretched out. No flash because it wakes her up and we don't need that....