Tying Knots

Locks of Love

2012-01-26T15:03:00.000-08:00

No...we don't have 8 inches to cut off anyone's head in our household...I'm just emotional b/c we are cutting B's hair tomorrow for the first time. I know I'm way overdue for cutting my almost 2 year old's hair! I am not a very sentimental person (I keep telling my mom we need to do something with my wedding dress like cut it in pieces and make something useful out of it), but wow, cutting my baby's hair is not something I'm looking forward to! Tomorrow is the big day!!! I'm taking B to Alicia, my favorite stylist that I've ever gone to. She has made my hair look great every time I've gone to her over the past 10 years (I'm not claiming to have great hair, I just always leave pleased).

Take a look at these Justin Beiber locks...

They can easily be fashioned into really FUN piggie tails!!!

I can't believe how big Brooklyn looks in these pictures...and I can't believe I'm actually going through with this tomorrow. :( I'm going to miss her 2 year old split ends!!!

Saturday Night

2012-01-24T18:43:00.001-08:00

**Warning - I realize nobody cares about the following story, nor is it "crazy" in the eyes of people who have 2 kids or more. I'm not trying to act like my life is crazy or like my kids are b/c I know for the most part we are pretty mellow. I just never want to forget this strange night**

It was surely a strange Saturday night for us! I know that pretty much anyone on earth that will read this won't care but I don't want to forget it b/c Matt and I were really kind of shocked at how strange it played out (in our minds). Last Saturday night we had a groupon to Mugshots in Vestavia and we were looking forward to eating out since we are trying to be very budget conscious since we spent to much for Christmas! Anyway...we got to Mugshots early so we wouldn't have to wait and unfortunately there was an hour wait...which is NOT do-able with children, so off we go.

Where to go...we had no appetite for anything else, we just wanted our burgers...we decided on Tazikis because we knew they would have something healthy for Brooklyn and we love it. So we get there and eat and unfortunately my food wasn't great. I always get the same thing but for some reason it just didn't taste good (I think its b/c of the onions...pregnancy has left me with an aversion to onions which I use to love...boo). So Matt and I switch dinners and his also doesn't taste right to me (he ordered something that I have enjoyed for seriously 10 years...Friday special...and I didn't like it...boo). So I didn't like the food...not a huge deal, but Brooklyn absolutely threw a couple fits during dinner b/c we wouldn't give her "chips and cake" until she ate her chicken...of which she did not partake. So we had several discussions about eating her chicken or her pita bread before having chips and cake and it just wasn't happening, so she basically screamed the entire dinner (and we were glared at). Let me interject that B has stopped taking most of her naps, she may have like 2 a week. I think this is her dealing w/ the sister change but who knows...she obviously needs a nap b/c she's SO cranky if she doesn't nap. So this day she didn't nap so add that to the dinner fight and she was a mess by the time we left Tazikis...fun is beginning.

So, we had previously discussed going to Publix on the way home so I could run in for a few things while Matt circled in the car w/ the girls but after the Taziki experience I was tired and decided this wasn't a good idea. Matt was insistent that we go and it would be a quick trip and that way I wouldn't have to go w/ the girls...so we go. (Let me interject that Amelia was due for a bottle and B was way overdue for sleep)

So I run in Publix and come out really excited b/c one of the items I was buying was really expensive and it rang up the wrong price so I got it for free! *Side note* if you buy something at Publix and it rings the wrong price - TELL THEM! If you are right you get it free and the item I was buying was $40!!! :) So...I was coming out of Publix super excited and like smiling from ear to ear looking for Matt...AND HE WAS GONE. I'm talking I looked at every car driving around the parking lot and then every car that was parked (it was 7:15 at night so not a full lot) and he was nowhere. I thought...'ok Ashley he's not crazy...maybe he went to starbucks to get you a nice drink'...but I could see starbucks from where I was and no. So I walked around the parking lot and couldn't find him anywhere. I was also calling him and he wasn't answering so I started to panic. I was starting to think that I was going to be that girl on CNN who's husband disappeared with their kids and I was going to be wanted for their disappearance. I was really starting to go crazy and I dialed my sister...I wasn't sure what I was going to say though..."um...Matt is gone??" or maybe "come get me?" even though she was a state away?!?! What do you say when you walk out of Publix and your loving husband is gone? I don't know...anyway, I then caught a glimpse of the top of our car (I call it the space ship b/c its got a strange top) and start walking very fast towards it.

The closer I get the more I realize that no one is in the front two seats...so I'm like, "maybe that isn't our car"...then I see Brooklyn flailing in the back seat. When I open the door she is hysterically crying and Matt is in the back seat with both the girls. I think, 'oh wow...I barely fit between the two car seats so this must be bad'. So then I realize he's giving Amelia the bottle that was in the diaper bag and I start freaking out b/c I knew the water spilled out and who knows how much water was left for the formula...is that a big deal? I hope not b/c she was chugging away. In the meantime I'm receiving a hysterical Brooklyn from the back seat, and I mean hysterical. Matt said she had been like that since I got out of the car and she could hardly breathe. I seriously thought she was going to puke she was heaving so hard trying to breathe. He said that Amelia started screaming for her bottle and B started screaming in response so he had to pull over and cram himself between the two of them.

So we just sit in the parking lot for about 5 minutes and I realize in order to get home I'm going to have to get her back into her car seat. So I start trying to think of something I can bribe her with...and the only thing I could come up with was my Dr. Pepper...yes...I said Dr. Pepper. If you know me, you know I was desperate b/c B has never had any coke, tea, or sweet drink other than watered down juice. So, that works long enough for me to get her in the car seat but by the time we get out of the parking lot she is wailing again.

Thank the Lord I realize that B would probably calm down with watching YouTube on my phone...so that got us home. It was so sad! She was hiccuping and struggling to breathe the whole way home. Amelia had since calmed down due to her formula milkshake. Matt said we were only missing 1 oz so hopefully that doesn't do anything like cause your baby to grow an extra something.

So...we make it home, get our over-exhausted 2 yr old in bed and put Amelia down. We were really overwhelmed with how Brooklyn reacted to being so tired and maybe hungry? Who knows...so we go to bed thinking the strange night is over.

It pretty much was other than this...at 2:30 in the morning my phone rings. It says Matt is calling me...I automatically think, 'oh, he must have been called in and he's calling me to tell me he's on the way home'...but then I realize he wasn't on call. So I roll over and he's in the bed w/ me...so I say, "um...are you calling me?" and he is like, "WHAT?" in a very sleepy voice. So then I realize that somehow Elle (our dog) has managed to paw at Matt's phone enough to unlock it and call me. What? The dog can now call my cell phone? This is a very weird night...

The end.

Amelia's 1 Month!

2012-01-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

We can't believe our little peanut is 1 month already! It did go by fast but whew, it was a whirlwind that has left this momma tired. Brooklyn has done a great job transitioning, she has her moments but they haven't been as frequent as I expected. She just misses having all the attention from mom and dad, can't blame her! She has loved on her baby sis some though, and those moments are really cute. I think she is starting to realize that Amelia isn't going away :)

Here are some 1 month pictures of little girl!Thanks Aunty Em for the adorable 1 month onesie.

Thanks Aunt Ellen for the FAO bear for Christmas, its still bigger than Amelia!

This was the preferred position...not the previous one...she started screaming.

This little girl wanted to see what was going on...can you say 'haircut needed??'

All she really was concerned about was the FAO bear :)

Loves soft things!

Back to A...she was enjoying rolling around on the chair for a while...

She popped her head up! I think this is the first time she's gotten her head up on her own!

Here are some 1 month facts about Amelia:

- she is eating 3 oz of formula every 3 hours during the day and 3 1/2 oz at night

- she is still waking up about every 3 1/2 hours at night, she has gone 4 and almost 5 one night but that quickly reverted back to 3 1/2 hours :(

- she just grew out of newborn diapers 2 days ago, so we are officially in size 1 (B came home from the hospital in size 1s!)

- she weights 9 pounds 2 oz (50%)

- she is 22 inches long (75%)

- she can still wear newborn clothes but they are finally getting tight (B never could wear NB!)

- she is doing great going to sleep on her own, she loves the passie which B also never did

- she is VERY awake, after she eats she will stay awake for 1 1/2 hours playing on the activity mat (she just started liking this) or in her moses basket, she loves looking at the dots on the fabric!

- she has started to smile some, mostly just the random smiles that don't mean anything but we think we saw one yesterday that may have been intentional

- she screams bloody murder at night when she gets hungry, there is no warm up cry which makes me jump out of bed!

- she has just started making little noises that aren't cries or whines just little mousey sounds - they are really cute!

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T14:05:00.001-08:00

oh we had such an awesome Christmas! here are pictures in reverse order...hey at least i'm still attempting to blog...i don't know how you people with more than one kid do it! and yes, all my punctuation is incorrect...that should be par for the course from now on :)

Aunty Em, Jonas, and Avie came to celebrate Cmas on the 26th! We had breakfast with them, let the girls play in the adorable dresses mom got for them this year, and opened a couple gifts. we were so thankful they came down to b'ham for a little bit for cmas so we could see them. we really missed my brother, rochelle, jess, and levi...but maybe next year! they were celebrating with her family in mexico, so i'm sure they were having a great time!aunty Em showing B her new cmas pop up book

scary uncle Jonas :)

girls in their matching dresses and tights!

B showing off the kitchen she got from mom and dad for Cmas...she has loved it!

Little Amelia playing with Nanny and Papa - they came down on Cmas eve and stayed the night with us. it was really fun having them here for Cmas morning! we are so thankful they came so we could be surrounded by family.

Brookie opening her first gift from Nanny and Papa

Little Amelia getting loved on and yawning

Brookie had to try on Papa's boots - silly girl

Bebe and Mister came to celebrate on the 21st and stayed until the 23rd. We had a great time with them, ate way too much food, and had some great gifts. First off was the cozy coupe which now travles all over our house every day! :)

They also got her a fun bead toy that mom and dad have owned for over 2o years. they found it online and B's having fun w/ it.

Here's a family shot, all in our PJs :)

A family tradition of mine is to make Cmas cookies, like tons of them, so i wanted to do this with Brooklyn this year. Well, this is our second batch of reeses cups cookies b/c I dumped the first batch in the oven when taking them out...i was furious!

we made a ginger bread house with...well, in front of B...she sat in her high chair and played with the candy...and me and Matt made the house :)

tasting the icing

she got to put some candy on the house...very quickly! :)

Second round of Cmas cookies...we only had one cookie cutter so every cookie was a bell...B didn't seem to mind that they were all the same :)

Rolling out dough with mom and Bebe

Amelia says Merry Christmas!

Little miss Amelia snoozing in a basket...this is just how we take naps around here...haha not really...couldn't resist the santa pic thanks to Ellen and Mike's gift! :)

Amelia!

2011-12-15T09:15:00.001-08:00

Sweet Amelia joined us on December 1st at 9:53 am! She was 7 pounds 3 oz and 20 inches long. She is doing great and we are getting use to waking up at night, Fortunately Matt is on vacation this week and next so I have an extra set of hands!! Special thanks to everyone praying for us and feeding us!!! It is so helpful!!

Also special thanks to my parents who kept us going for a week after A was born!!

Sweet Matt had an "A" charm for my necklace!

Sprinkles!

2011-11-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

My sweet friends and family have been so good to me! Below are pictures from my sweet friends in the "wives club" as we like to call it. They have been a constant support and encouragement to me and Matt throughout the residency process. All of these ladies are ahead of us in the residency/fellowship process so its been great to learn from them. They are also ahead of us in the baby process as they all have 2 already so I'm learning about that from them also!

We had a great Saturday morning at Laura's house. All our husbands were working so it worked out great for us to get together, eat too much yummy food, open fun gifts and let the kiddos play. It was right before Halloween so it was also a great excuse to get one more wear out of the kids costumes! Thanks to Melissa, Laura, Kate, and Meredith for making me feel so special and loved!

The pictures after those are from my sweet "sprinkle" in Nashville with my family and a few close friends. My sister, sister in law, and mom worked really hard to make it beautiful and special and it was! It was so nice to see all my family before Amelia gets here and to see a couple of really good friends that live in Nashville. Enjoy the pics!

Meredith and Ellis, Melissa, Me and B, and Laura and Penny at "wives club" shower.

Pumpkin muffins with cream cheese icing!

Dogs in blankets!

Rice krispy treats and ghost string cheeses!

Pumpkin diaper cake!

Pretty flowers in a pumpkin that I got to enjoy all week!

Kiddos dressed up - B as a lady bug, Lee as a construction worker, Audrey as "Belle", Noah as a train conductor, and Carter as a storm trooper from starwars.

Mom, me, Em and Rochelle before the family shower at mom's house.

Delicious petifores with Amelia's monogram!

Em and Roch made these adorable popcorn containers!

After the shower Jonas brought Avie and Brian brought the twins over for a family dinner, it was a lot of fun just hanging out and playing in mom's back yard. I love those times, but we missed Matt!

Jesse and Levi teaching Aves and B how to play baseball.

Avie...if you are going to play for TN you have to learn all about throwing the ball!

21 Months!

2011-11-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my baby is 21 months today! And that I'm going to have another baby soon!!! We are so excited and blessed to be looking forward to Amelia's arrival and back over the past 21 months of Brooklyn's life. I am humbled just thinking of all the blessings God has poured out on us through Brooklyn and to know they are coming again with Amelia is almost too much. God is SO good!

Brooklyn is a little monkey, that is for sure - her favorite thing to do is climb...on anything! We have had so much fun exploring parks in Birmingham since the fall weather has been upon us...something we are sure to miss this winter. We'll just have to see what we can climb on at the McWane Center! :)

Here's a little about Brooklyn at 21 months...

- you have moved into your big girl room and done very well so far! you are in a twin-toddler bed with rails all around to keep you in!

- you still take a great nap from about 1-3 every day

- you still eat great most of the time. you prefer chicfila or pizza...those are your favorites but you still eat veggies, fruits, and chicken very well, we are thankful for that.

- you love milk and juice - you drink a LOT

- you mostly wear pants and tops due to your climbing adventures

- you talk a lot - you say almost anything I say - like a parrot. its hilarious and keeps us laughing a lot!

- you have started singing and it is so cute! you love rocky top (thanks to me) and you love twinkle twinkle little star, that was your first song to sing. you have also sang happy birthday to....everyone a few times, and Jesus loves me...you are also singing the ABC's and God is so Good which of course warms my heart! :)

- you LOVE your daddy, and talk about him most of the day

- you love Nanny, PaPa, Bebe and Mister and always ask to go to their house...i guess ours is already boring!

- you know where baby sister is, what her name is, and when she's coming to see us (big sister day)

- your favorite toy has been the climber/slide thing Bebe and Mister got you for your b'day and more recently the Noah's Ark set from Nanny and Papa.

- you love Word World, Sesame Street, but mostly Signing Time...you ask for it ALL DAY LONG!

- we have a motto we are working on..."no whining"...when i ask you what our motto is you say that but usually you are whining while you say it :) maybe someday you will understand it!

- you haven't been too fond of Elle lately, its kind of sad, you walk up to her and start crying and tell her to "go" and you talk more about the neighbor's dog...Bo-Bo!

- you were a cute little lady bug on halloween, pics to come

- you love to say, "mommy up please" and i have to keep telling you that i'm too big so then you say, "mommy sit please"...to which i find it hard to say no

- you LOVE school - ms. Leslie is your teacher and you love her, you run into class with no crying and run to me smiling every time i pick you up.

we love you Brooklyn, and we could never attempt to write down all the adorable things you are doing...like right now you are sleeping for like going on three hours...i think that is really really adorable and i wish you would do it every day! :) hehe!

Gentry Farms

2011-10-31T12:49:00.001-07:00

Two little pumpkins holding/throwing/fighting over pumpkins! :)

While I was home (previous post) we took the kiddos to Gentry Farms. I've always heard of my Nashville friends and family going to pick out pumpkins or have a fun hayride or just do some fall-ish activities so it was fun to see what all the hype was about. Gentry Farms is definitely a great place to go with kids! They have a huge corn maze for adults, a smaller one in a barn for kids, a hay-less hayride for the hypo-allergenic ones, a few small farm animals to pet, and tons of pumpkins! Brooklyn didn't have her game face on but she did enjoy several things about the farm. Aves and the twins had a great time and of course acted perfect! :) Thanks Bebe and Mister for a fun time at the farm! Pics below!

Sweet Avie missed her nap! :(

Kiddos on the hay-less ride

The only pic I could get of me and B without her completely losing it.

Avie learning all about corn

B loved this - I think I may have Matt build a big trough for our back porch and fill it with corn!

Tractor men!

Mister goofing off with Jesse and Levi

Pinkerton with the Fam

2011-10-29T18:01:00.001-07:00

October is getting away from me!!! I went to Nashville a couple of weeks ago just for the weekend and had a great time with family. On Friday night we all got together at Pinkerton Park in Franklin for a dinner picnic and to have all the kiddos get together and play which rarely happens. It was a great night, we did miss Brian and Levi but they were at another church event they couldn't miss. Below are some pics from our fun at the park!

The Collins Family - Dave, Brad, Elena, Wes and D'Arcy, then Caroline in Wade's lap, Peyton (or Benjamin), Christian, Jackie, and then Benjamin (or Peyton)...I swear I can't tell them apart in pictures!

All the kiddos - Caroline helping Brooklyn, then Peyt (or Benj), then Jesse (missing Levi - boo), Avery is in front of Brooklyn, then Christian and Benj (or Peyt).

Ray parents and most of their kiddos - Em and Avie, Rochelle and Jesse, and me and B

Whole fam - not going to name everyone! :) What a blessing that the Lord has given us - we have had fun times together our entire lives and they only get better!

Very similar looking twins of Wes and D'Arcy! :) Peyton and Benjamin will be 3 in April

Avie boo heard that UT football tryouts were happening in the park...I think she made the team! Aves just turned 1 in August.

Jesse and Levi will be 4 in November!!! Crazy how time flies!

Brookie has been more and more sweet lately, loving on mommy and daddy - I'm soaking it up!

Thanks Collins and Ray fam for a fun Friday night in the park!

Park - Aholic

2011-10-12T13:46:00.001-07:00

Brookie and I have had a lot of fun over the past two weeks playing outside! Since the weather is cooler (most days) and a lot less humid we are exploring parks and playgrounds in Birmingham again. She is LOVING the playground and asks to go every day. We try to go close to every day for at least a little bit and she gets so much energy out, its awesome! She loves the slide, the swing, the tire swing, the tunnels, the climbing walls, whatever she can explore. Its so fun to see her balance and try to do things that are a little beyond her abilities. She can usually accomplish a lot with a little help from mom. Below are some pictures of us one day at Wald Park in Vestavia - highly recommend it - its in the shade and has a "tots" area that is great for little ones.

A couple of weekends ago Matt was totally off of work and had no moonlighting shifts AND it was beautiful weather, so we had a family play day on Saturday and took a lot of B's toys outside to enjoy the weather. We had so much fun enjoying Matt being home that Saturday and we loved him grilling again (its been too long!)! Brooklyn thought it was hilarious that her toys were outside and she played with them pretty good.

It actually got really chilly when the sun went down so B had to sport her new winter coat that Matt got her. I think she'll get lots of use out of it (for the 4 weeks of winter we get!).

We are so thankful for daddy weekends off!

19 Months and Dothan Visit

2011-09-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn was 19 months old about 10 days ago! She just keeps getting more and more fun - we are amazed by her every day. She is learning so much and keeping us laughing a lot. She started school after Labor Day and goes two days a week and really enjoys it! She is happy when I leave her and happy when I pick her up which of course makes a mom happy. She says "skoo" when we get there and walk down the hall and she says "Wenda" b/c she thinks her teacher's name is Miss Linda...that may have been my fault...I thought her teacher was Miss Linda but its not, its Miss Gail! Oops! We are working on Gail and hopefully soon she'll say Gail instead of Linda! :) I'm hoping they will think she's really smart and talking about the window. :)

At 19 months here's what B is doing...mostly!

- loves milk and juice and downs her sippy cup anytime I give it

- loves veggie straws and says "veggie staw peese" very well especially in the car

- B loves signing time videos - hasn't learned too many signs but it has really helped with vocabulary.

- B loves talking about families - she will say "Jesse, Levi, Uncle Brian, Tia Shell" or "Em, Avie, Jonas", or "Nanny, Papa", or "Bebe, Mister, Toby"...she also is putting together families at our church, she will say "Kate, Ethan, Donnie" and "Meredith, Jared, Aubie" (we are working on adding Mary Pryor!)

- B takes a great nap usually at least an hour and a half and sometimes up to a three hour nap

- B loves a playground, slide, and swing, we do this a lot!

- B loves going to the zoo and talking about animals and what noises they make

- she isn't too picky with foods - she obviously prefers pizza and chicfila sauce (great reflection of our family) but she will still eat lots of green beans, peas, broccoli, corn, potatoes, roast, chicken...we are truly blessed here!

- B is able to say her baby sister's name and its so cute!

- she points to the infant car seat and says "baby sissa"

- she is still in her crib but we are going to try to transition to big girl bed soon!

A few weeks ago we went to Dothan to visit Matt's family. We had a great time with Nanny and PaPa. B got very spoiled with new toys and lots of love and attention. We had a great time and look fwd to going again!

learning how to use a vacuum with Pa Pa

"swinging" in a blanket with Nanny and Pa Pa

playing ball with Nanny

getting hugs from her new "Pola Beah"

Hugs from Nanny!

Avie-Boo's B'day

2011-09-07T19:29:00.001-07:00

Well boo - I have again slacked on blogging...I'm going to attempt to catch up so here's a post about Avery's 1st b'day party! She turned 1 on August 9th - we of course can't believe how quickly this year went by! She is such a sweet little girl - loves to hug and snuggle - her aunty Ash loves this!!! Em did such an amazing job on her b'day party (shocker) and I was a tad jealous! She may have to plan all of Brooklyn and baby girl's parties from now on!! Here are some pictures to document all the hard work Em went to in making this party so special for Avery and our family. She's an amazing mom, sister, wife, aunt...and FRIEND!!!

She and Rochelle made this awesome banner!Seriously? Dad went off a picture to make this shark watermelon - it was awesome!

Pictures around a tree...seriously? So cute!

Me and Brookie had a great time! She really wanted to get in the pool but this preggo momma didn't want to be in a bathing suit so we avoided it for about three hours! (not easy)

Avie's adorable bumble bee swim suit!

Presents in a pool - why not?!?!

Adorable cake from Edgar's...and home made cake pops - yum!!

Avie took full advantage of the smash cake - it was all over her!

Sweetness

2011-08-31T13:41:00.001-07:00

No matter what time of day or night it is (ok, honestly I would prefer daytime)...I LOVE hearing, "mommy" whispered from my little girl's room...she is so much fun right now!!!! Off to go get her...

18 Months

2011-08-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

Two days ago this little pumpkin turned 1!!!!! We can't believe Avie-boo is already a whole year old! We had a blast celebrating her first year of life last weekend...she'll have her own b'day par-tay post after this one so stay tuned! Happy Birthday Avery!!! We couldn't love you more!

On the same day, this little pumpkin turned 18 months old...I can't believe she is half way to two...that just doesn't seem right. She is so much fun...most of the time! :) We have definitely learned the words "tantrum" and "temper" in the past week. People say, "just ignore it"...but that is NOT easy! We are working on it...probably will be for a LONG time! Brooklyn has definitely entered into an independent phase (if she's like her dad it won't ever come to an end). She LOVES attention and LOVES to be in a crowd. She takes about 30-45 seconds to take it all in, then she's in the mix - playing, laughing, fighting, etc...she is very social.

She is talking really well and learning new words every day. We really worked on "Mister" while we were in Nashville last week because dad was the only grandparent whose name hadn't been mastered. For some reason "Mister" is really hard for Brooklyn. She finally tried one morning and it was really slow and clear...after that one time it became "minnow" - I guess that is easier for her to get off her tongue than "Mister" so for now its Bebe and Minnow! Love it!

Here are some things you do at 18 months...

- you eat pretty well, sometimes you'd rather play but for the most part you are still a great eater. Only thing you hate is peaches (Bebe's ashamed).

- you weigh 29 pounds and are 35 1/2 inches tall

- you wear 24 month clothes, some 2T but mostly 24 months

- you sleep about 11 hours at night and 2-3 hour nap mid-day

- you LOVE milk and juice - you are a sippy cup-aholic

- your favorite fruit is blueberries and your favorite veggie is green beans

- your favorite food overall is pizza and you ask for it almost every day

- you counted to 10 (almost) last week! I almost wrecked the car - I guess you have been paying attention to all of your toys that count to 10...we work on it every day and you are learning it pretty quickly!

- you love to play on our bed or the guest bed

- you love Elle - especially chasing her tail

- you have a northern accent when you say a word with the letter "r" in it...it is stinkin' hilarious! Examples include: door "do-ah"; chair "cha-aaah"; bear "be-ah"

- you like dancing and try to turn on the ipod every day, somedays you get it on and then find the volume button!

- you know that baby "sista" is in mommy's tummy but sometimes you think she's in your tummy

- you LOVE Jesse; Levi; and Avie - we hear thier names all day long

- your favorite toys are the Leap-Frog choo choo train; any book; your Elmo kitchen, and your princess sing-along book

We love you Brooklyn and can't wait to see what the next month holds!!!

Baby Spann #2

2011-08-02T18:59:00.001-07:00

Well, I have been motivated to blog more b/c I finally broke down and ordered a blog book of Brooklyn's first year of life. I think this is going to be my motivation to blog on a regular basis, I LOVE the book we got! We ordered it from blog to print and it really turned out well. It was kinda pricey but it will be worth it to do this once a year and keep up with what we did each year.

I also am convicted b/c I haven't blogged about baby GIRL #2!!!! We found out a few weeks ago that Brooklyn is going to GET a sister!!! I personally was shocked, I was thinking boy totally but Matt was thinking girl...so I guess he's a better guesser.

We had family and small group friends come and eat some cake with us to find out what the baby is going to be. It was really a fun way to find out, we'll probably do it if we have more kids after this one. Here are some pictures of our little "party"!

Edgar's of course didn't disappoint with taste or decor!

Brooklyn woke up from her nap ready to eat cake and party!

B and mommy about to find out what baby is!

What's inside????

BABY GIRL! The cake was white and the icing was pink!!!

Sweet Corrie playing around and waiting for her cake.

Nanny and Pa-Pa giving Brooklyn too much cake I'm sure! :)

Kerry's #2 boy - Samuel meeting Bebe.

Kate and Parker (a.k.a. Parker-man)

Lots of kids running around and playing...we need to get use to a house full of kids!

Catching up...

2011-07-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

Back in June we headed to Nashville to celebrate Mister's b'day, me and Matt's 6 year anniversary, and Avie's dedication! It was a big weekend! We had a lot of fun with cousins and it was really nice to spend our 6th anniversary at Maggiano's...our favorite restaurant! Below are pics from dad's b'day...enjoy! I'm trying to catch up with what we've been up to!!!!

Brooklyn had her first home-made ice cream, strawberry and peach - so yum!

Brooklyn also got her first pig tails thanks to Aunty Em!

Hot Wheels!

Time to celebrate with a yummy BBQ dinner!

dads and babes

Brookie getting some love from her daddy.

Mister and his grandkids!

We ended the night with sparklers!

We have also been doing some serious playing outside. If you have seen Brooklyn, you have probably noticed her tan, I promise she wears 50 SPF!!!!

Cousin Visit

2011-07-14T18:31:00.001-07:00

Last week Rochelle brought Jesse and Levi down to Alabama for a cousin visit! I have to say, Brookie bonded w/ her cousins...they had so much fun! I think she likes that they are a little older than her and she can try to do things they can do that she's not able to yet. I think she likes to chase them around and laugh as they do things she hasn't thought of yet. They were so much fun! We went to the zoo one morning and played in the splash pad and did a lot of playing at home. I'm so thankful they could come down for a visit, it was a really nice change of pace while Matt's on night float!

They loved Brooklyn's train! A few fights broke out over the ole' train.

Brookie and Jesse were taking a seat on her chair and loved the tunnels! Hopefully they can come back soon for another visit!!

Just Sayin'

2011-07-12T19:51:00.001-07:00

I've been doing a lot of playing...with a lot of people...mom will update her blog soon...oh, and I'm 17 months, but mom forgot that too. I love summer!!!!

16 Months

2011-06-17T12:15:00.001-07:00

Well, I just realized B is over 16 monts! I was in Orlando on a girls reunion when she "turned" 16 months old so I guess I forgot! Oops! We have had a lot of fun this June. We had a baby shower for Michelle in Nashville the first weekend, then the second weekend I got to go to Orlando for a girls weekend while Bebe kept Brookie for me. And next weekend is me and Matt's 6th anniversary! I can't beleive how fast time goes by, I think having a kid makes it even faster. Anyway, Brookie has had a really fun June, she is loving the water toys outside because that is the only way we can stand this heat!

Here are a few things about her at 16 months....

- She is a little more pickly or particular on food than she was. She loves fruit and veggies but notices pizza more when we have it! She is doing great drinking milk, she loves her "mi mi" as she calls it. She also loves apple juice watered down in her sippy cup. She loves veggie sticks, dried fruit, and goldfish for snacks and she loves yogurt.

- She is saying a bunch of words but not when we want her too (on camera or in front of other people). She says "mi mi" (milk); "nana" (nanny); go-go; goo-goo; shs (shoes); jsh (juice); bebe (my mom); JJ (her new fav, my aunt's grandma name); apple; baby; mama; dada; outside; she knows what a dog says (woo woo); and a monkey (o,o,e,e)...we are adding words as quickly as she'll pick them up!

- She knows where her nose, mouth, chin, eyes, hair, ears, belly button, feet, and hands are and she loves to point out mommy's!

- She loves to suck her thumb, this has increased a lot since she turned 1. She sucks it when she goes to sleep and sometimes in the car when she's bored. She sucks it anytime she is angry, sad, or mad (after crying).

-Her hair is finally getting long, she doesn't like me to put a bow in it but we are slowly reconciling that battle :)

- She loves Elle and she tries to sit on her all the time, she tried to give Elle a kiss this week and Elle willingly met her with a HUGE dog kiss right on the face, it was hilarious.

- She will kiss mama and dada and sometimes bebe over the phone (facetime), she mostly loves to kiss her books.

-She is obsessed with books still, it is so cute, she will just pick one up and sit by herself and look at the pages. This helps on long car rides (so does the DVD).

- She loves to be tickled and chased through the house which is our usual after dinner routine before her bath.

- She loves her bath, she could stay in there for hours!

- She is really loving soft things like blankets and towels, and she loves pillows. We can spend almost an hour playing on our bed and throwing her on the pillows, she loves them.

- She weighs about 27 - 28 pounds and she is 33 inches tall and wears 18-24 month clothes.

She is a joy most of the time, laughing and loving to play. She plays best when other kids are around, so we try to stay around other kids most of the week if we can. She laughs a lot and LOVES attention. Every day of her life is more and more fun!

Here are a few pics of us playing outside in the pool and sprinkler yesterday!

I guess it's time to admit it..

2011-06-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well...most people who ever look at this blog already know that I'm pregnant...so I guess I should go ahead and just make it known on the blog...meet "Micro-Spann" as Matt has so hilariously named our second child... This ultrasound was at 12 weeks and it looks to me like its already sucking its thumb!! We have no clue what this baby is. Pregnancy wise, I've felt pretty much the same with maybe a little worse sinuses, so maybe a girl?? I'm secretly (or not so secretly) hoping for either one...haha...a girl b/c I love my sister and I really want Brookie to have a sister...but a boy b/c I love my brother and would equally love for Brookie to have a brother too...so either way we are just thankful. I mean, if its a boy, we do already have a name...so that is super easy...if its a girl we are going to need some major help with a name. I have some names that I am trying to convince myself that I "like"...but I really don't even like those. Either way the child will get a name and we are just thrilled!

I can't believe that Brooklyn is going to be a...

She's excited, although she doesn't really know it yet :) hehe - I think she'll have a lot of fun with a sibling! We are so thankful and realize this is a true gift from God!

A preview of B's wedding day dance

2011-05-30T07:04:00.000-07:00

Seriously, how do kids know when you are video taping them? Every time Brooklyn starts doing something cute like saying words or dancing and I get out my phone or the flip, she stops immediately. It is crazy, like she knows what I'm doing, maybe she does, weird. After a LONG time this morning trying to capture her cute little dancing, I finally got a little clip. I hope she and her daddy can copy this on her wedding day! Hilarious!!! I'm blaming Matt for these moves...

Beach Bums

2011-05-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

I think if you get slightly depressed the two weeks after being home from a beach vacation then that means it was a good one! :) We had the best time with Brooklyn on the beach. It was so nice that she is down to one nap so we could play all morning then she (and usually us too) would wipe out for an afternoon nap. Here are way too many pics :)

First time toes touching sand...dad is in heaven!
After dinner in Baytowne, Brooklyn was pretty tired! This picture is my favorite, she literally fell asleep during lunch one day. I have heard of kids doing this but thought, "oh my kid would NEVER do that, she HAS to have her bed to fall asleep"...well she proved me wrong! After a bite of turkey she just put her head down in her hands and that was it! Hilarious.

me and Brookie

Beach pics!

So happy

Who doesn't love milk on the beach??? Gross!

Matt's parents were able to come down to see us because they live so close! They brought Gabby and Braden and we had a great time with them on the beach!

B and dad after dinner one night

We decided to burry Braden in the sand and Brooklyn thought she needed to go sit on his tummy!

She loved this pink sand toy that The Collins fam gave to her for her b'day...thanks cousins!

Sandy butt

Loving the water!

Brooklyn with cousins, Gabby and Braden

Family pic after dinner

We had so much fun, 15 months was a great age to take B to the beach! Can't wait to go back next year!

15 Months!

2011-05-09T13:05:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I'm actually posting on THE day...Brooklyn turned 15 months today! I don't think I've ever posted on the day...always late...so we'll chalk this up to her taking a good nap right now. We just got back from the beach and oh, how fabulous it was. Don't get me wrong...my back is burned from chasing her around on the beach but it was worth it. She had such a good time. But that's for another post...I'll put a few beach pics on here to be her 15 mo pics and then do another beach post later with more pics...I only took about 800 so I'll have a few to post :).

Brooklyn is doing some funny stuff at 15 months...here goes...

- she is biting our hands when we force her to hold our hands...because she wants to be ON HER OWN...this is obvious in all she does.

- she is trying to run but usually falls down, she takes it pretty good though and tries again.

- she is getting a little more particular on food...she still loves to eat but I've seen her spit a few things out lately (carrots, peaches)

- she loves to be tickled...especially her thunder thighs!

- she loves anything soft right now, she is burrying her head into pillows, blankets, lovies, towels, soft animals, she usually falls right on top of them like she's going to take a nap then giggles, its pretty cute.

- she loves WATER - her bath, the ocean, the pool, a nasty fountain at the botanical gardens (that was today), anything having to do with water she loves

- she likes to drink from a big people cup but usually gets too much and spits it out

- LOVES books - it is ridiculous, I find her sitting on the floor with a book all by herself many times a day

- she is trying to say the following (I think)...juice "oosh"; shoes "shsss"; ma-ma; da-da; nanny "na-na"; pa-pa "gaga"; bebe; baby; go-go; waffle "wa-wa"; milk "mi-mi"; she also tried to say "woof" like a dog after pa-pa last weekend, it was cute.

- she shakes her head no a lot, but I'm not sure she knows its for "no" yet because I don't shake my head, she just does it and then laughs so I think she's just being silly

- she can recognize a lot of her stuffed animals by name

- she takes a good 2 hour nap in the afternoon and still sleeps all night

- she is still getting her last two eye teeth - they are being stubborn and won't come in

- I don't know her height or weight b/c I'm a bad mom and forgot to get her 15 mo apt...so it will be in like a month, oops.

Here is a pic from the beach...at 15 months. We love you B and can't wait to see what you do this month!

Playing Outside

2011-04-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

We've been trying to play outside as much as possible in this nice spring weather before summer heat gets us! Here are a few pics of Brooklyn in the back yard, she was cracking us up! Enjoy!

13 and 14 Months...Late of Course

2011-04-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Did I give up blogging for lent? Um no...our computer crashed and so did blogging for a while. We thankfully got it repaired and are up and running again (after a three week no-computer stint). Anyway...here's a post to document what B's doing around 14 months then tons of pictures below it of our trip to Nashville the week before Easter.

Brooklyn is more fun everyday, exploring new things, and learning new things. She is usually very happy (unless she's sick) and has fun playing. Here's some things about Brooklyn at 14 months (and 13 months since I never made that post)...

- she loves to crawl - on EVERYTHING. we find her on top of most of her toys, inside her toy box, on our couch, on our ottoman, on top of her kitchen, on top of her play table, on top of her sand and water table. its crazy how the first thing she thinks of when she sees an item is...how could i get on top of that??? its fun to watch but sometimes a little scary. she pushed her choo choo train over to the coffee table and used it to stand on top of the wooden chest (not really a coffee table) before I could stop her.

- she is a good eater. she loves green beans, potatos, fruit, squash, turkey, cheese...i hope it lasts. she does good with milk and loves juice and water in her sippy cup. she likes to give Elle bites while she eats!

- she probably weighs around 25-26 pounds, doesn't seem to have gained much since her b'day.

- her hair is getting longer and we can get a bow in it but she usually pulls it out quickly.

- she can say "ma-ma", "da-da", "juice" (sounds like oooosh), "baby", "Be-be", "Nanny", "cheese" (sounds like eeeze)

- she knows how to brush her hair if you had her the baby brush

- she loves it when daddy comes home, laughs and usually runs to the door when she hears the garage door go up.

- she is taking one nap in the afternoon, usually 2 hours but sometimes we get lucky and get a 3 hour nap.

- she loves to sit in someone's lap and she backs her little rearend up to you if you are on the floor and plops down with a book in your lap. She has even tried to sit in Elle's lap which was hilarious!

- she is obsessed with books and turning the pages - she could look at books for 30 minutes to an hour straight!

- she is sleeping later in the mornings due to dropping the morning nap (I guess anyway), therefore mommy is sleeping later :)

We couldn't be more blessed with a fun and healthy baby girl, we are so humbly thankful for her!

Here are some pics from Nashville...Bebe wanted to have an egg hunt and my best friend from high school, Michelle was going to be in town the same weekend, so we made the trip up for a few days. It was great seeing Michelle and Chris. They are expecting their first baby in September and Michelle looks great! She is starting to show and its so cute! They are having a baby girl and we can't wait to meet her!

Here's Jesse in the back yard after the egg hunt (these pics are going to be in reverse boo blogger upload).

Levi is chasing a rabit through the yard!

Brooklyn with her basket, she isn't sure what the point is just yet.

All the kids after the hunt (from left to right - Caroline (5), Jesse (3), Christian (7), Levi (3), Brooklyn (1), Avie (8 mos), Peyton (2) and you can't see Benjamin (2) but he's behind someone's leg.

The cute Collins family - minus Uncle Wade, Brad, and Elena

Brookie and me

Brooklyn and Avery

This is a pic of Brookie sleeping, she was knocked out this day - the flash barly woke her up!

Avie came to visit us the weekend before we went to Nashville because Em was throwing a bridal shower in B'ham. Brooklyn decided to show Avie how to ride in the wagon, they had a fun time!

This was fun...

2011-04-05T12:42:00.001-07:00

Matt was getting home from a day - moonlighting shift and I thought it would be fun to enjoy the pretty weather on Sunday night. I got the ka-bobs ready for grilling and got Brookie fed so she could play while we ate dinner outside...I think I see many more nights like this coming up this summer. It was too fun! B's new sand and water table...so far just a water table...but we'll get her some sand this weekend. Our dinner get up

YUM

Water is fun!!!!

B got interested in our food so she got wrapped up in the towel (she was soaked) and got a few bites of dad's food.

She loved the water...but she also loves to eat!!!

One Year Pictures

2011-03-25T18:41:00.001-07:00

Well, back in February we had some one year pictures taken of Brookie. We had a great time checking out railroad park and Margaret did a great job for us! Thanks a million! Here are a few of my favs...

Not Awesome

2011-03-22T20:01:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my sis in law, Rochelle, I've had this to ring this week... She gave me this really need vintage bell from Mexico for my 30th b'day in February. I thought it would come in handy, but I didn't realize how quickly. I started coming down with "something" on Saturday Night. I woke up after about 1 hour of sleep and tossed and turned for about three hours. I had a fever and muscle cramps but didn't realize I needed to take something until three hours had passed. Finally I started myself on these...

And got about three hours of sleep before miss B woke up. I proceeded to pop them all day long on Sunday because I just didn't know what was going on with me. Fortunately Matt was post call so he was able to stay awake for a few hours until Brooklyn's nap. At that point he was in need of some sleep so he took a nap and after B's nap I was up with her for about two hours by myself. It was so hard! I have so much more compassion for single parents who don't have ANY help ever! Anyway...so I kept feeling fever-ish and just achy all over and then my throat started hurting so badly it felt like it was about to give birth.

Sunday night was not a great night of sleep and Monday morning, I could not talk. I went straight to CVS for some of this...

and some of these...

These saved my life! If you end up getting strep like me - go for these and Advil. That is all I've been able to take to make life bearable.

One look in my throat and Matt said strep so we got an antibiotic and its starting to help. I haven't had strep or this bad of a sore throat since I was in like 2nd grade. I will have more sympathy on B whenever she gets strep throat!

Thanks to Matt for helping as much as possible with Brooklyn. And thanks to God for getting me through the past two days. My throat is a little less swollen tonight and I can talk a little bit. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be healed!

Oh, and our computer crashed...so we are on our old "crusty" computer from when Matt started med school...so that is also not incredibly awesome.

Let me please add at the end of this pathetic blog post that I really sort of feel bad for even posting this in light of what the country of Japan is going through. My trials this week are NOTHING in comparison to what they are going through and I think God just gave me a wake up call - I need to quit complaining and be THANKFUL for my home and saftely this week. So there Ashley, snap!

Need a good, yummy, and healthy recipe??

2011-03-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

I do! Email me with any that you may have! I'd like to share one that my good friend Michelle introduced me to about a year ago and we have worn it out! We absolutely love this dish - its easy, not too expensive, tastes amazing and is healthy! Thank you Michelle for a keeper!!! Enjoy!

Baked (or grilled) Chicken on top of Salad (yes I made the name up)

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 seasoned rice vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 garlic clove minced

3/4 tsp dijon mustard

Mix all together - that is the dressing - so tasty!

Feta crumbles

dried cranberries

cut up granny smith apple

sliced almonds or walnuts

romaine lettuce or spinach

2 chicken breasts

For the chicken - Matt and I used two chicken breasts - we pounded them really thin, coated with olive oil and spices - garlic powder, salt, pepper, lemon pepper, and chicken season from Pensys Spices...(have you been there? its amazing) and baked them on 350 for 25 minutes covered and then another 10 uncovered. Slice thinly and top salads.

Brookie's B'day Party...a month late!

2011-03-11T06:37:00.001-08:00

We had too much fun celebrating Brooklyn's birthday! So much fun that its taken me a month to blog about it! Here are WAY too many pictures of Brookie's party. Thanks so much to all our friends, family, and neighbors for making it such a special party!

Kimmie and Christina enjoying one of Auntie Em's cupcakes...
Aprahamian family came!

Please note me holding the #8 - its Brookie's favorite for some reason and she carried it around her party most of the time...she carries it around our house a lot too - we see the #8 in several surprising places.

Nanny and Pa-Pa

Yummy cupcakes by Auntie Em

Brooklyn was making her "don't you think I'm cute" face for her crowd!

Aunt JJ came and brought the most awesome train!

Levi was excited about some sugar!

And so was Jesse

Sweet Baby Corrie came and got some tips from B for her upcoming 1st birthday party!

Baby Blake came to support Brookie...I don't think he got a cupcake though :(

Isaac came and enjoyed the kid gyms we had set up!

So did Ethan!

Baby Penny and Baby Ellis were born only three days apart...this may have been their first birthday party! Oh wait, no, Ellis' big brother had their first b'day party.

My sweet Aunt Ellen brought my grandmother and my great aunt to Birmingham for Brooklyn's party. It was so special that they could be there - they are amazing ladies!

Spann Fam

Avie cakes was also getting ideas for her b'day in 5 months!!!!

Roch and the twins, Em and Avie, and me and the b'day girl

Ray Fam

Thank you so so so much for helping us get through the first year of parent-hood. It has been the best year of my life - Brooklyn brings us so much joy. Her smile and laughter light up our home and we couldn't make it without guidance from the Lord and the gift of friends and family helping us along the way! Much love and Many thanks!

To Do List

2011-02-23T14:12:00.000-08:00

When you have a February like we just had your to do list looks like this....this is for real! :)

When

12 Months!

2011-02-09T11:36:00.001-08:00

Oh how quickly a year has passed...I can't believe how fast life continues to go by. Brooklyn is one year old today. I am so thankful for the healthy child that God has given me, I know this past year has been blessed by His goodness and I'm just so thankful. I don't deserve to be the mother of this sweet little girl so I pray that I can be 1/2 the mom my mom was to me and that God will cover up all of my short comings!

Here's what little B is doing at 12 months...

- you love to eat...you eat a LOT! Me and daddy don't know when to cut you off! You love veggies, fruits, meat...and you LOVED your first cupcake! You also loved your first pancake that you got this morning on your b'day. You have enjoyed milk in the last few weeks and hopefully that will continue!

-You wear 12-18 month clothes

- You wear size 4 diapers

-Not sure how big you are as far as weight, height but we'll find out tomorrow...

- You smile a lot! And you laugh when we tickle you or when we play with your stuffed animals, you think this is hilarious.

- You really like us to chase you or pop out from behind furniture, you crack up at this.

- We are transitioning to 1 nap because you absolutely do NOT want to take two...and its wearing me out!

- You sleep about 12 hrs at night, from 7:30 - 7ish

- You like Elle - you really want to play in her food bowl and water dish but this is a no no.

- You do understand "no no" but you don't like it

- You know one sign - and its "more" when you are eating...go figure!

- You are very use to mommy taking your picture!

- You have some new friends at mother's day out - you go on Wednesdays while mom works and you are about to go on Fridays so mom can get errands done!

- You love books - you like to carry them with you while you walk around and you throw them at Elle.

- You are walking! You are actually trying to run, and its hilarious b/c you really can't yet.

Here's a photo look back at your 12 months!

Month one...mommy was crazy.Month two...mommy was a little less crazy, but still crazy...

Month three...ah the thumb sucking...you still do that when you go to sleep! Precious!

Month four...first time in the pool!

Month five...this is one of only a couple of sleeping pictures I have of you and they are so sweet!

Month six...ready for Avie Cakes!!! Month seven...yay for Avie cakes! Month eight...happy Halloween!

Month nine...starting to stand up

Month ten...Merry Christmas!

Month Eleven...too busy

Month twelve...sugar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay sweet Brooklyn! I can't imagine life without you!

Lately...

2011-02-03T15:31:00.001-08:00

We've been playing, playing and more playing! Oh, and getting ready to turn 1!!!! Crazyness! Not many words, just pictures...enjoy!

Look at that non-assuming little grin...

Ooo look...a red bucket... I think I'll try to throw it...
There...now Elle can play with it...
Give it back mom!!!!

We've been teething...as always...

And grinning a lot!

And wearing a bow to look like a girl :)

Oh, and this sweet friend turned 2 and had a killer party! There was the biggest bouncy toy thing ever...Brooklyn just rolled around but I absolutely LOVE this picture of Eleanor...I hope you can see her face - hilarious!

Thanks to Aunty Em for the new blog design! I was in desperate need of one!

NYC New Years

2011-01-24T05:54:00.000-08:00

Oh goodness, we had such an amazing time in NYC for New Years Eve! Han and Dan are living in Greenwich Village for a year while Dan FINALLY finishes school and we had to take this opportunity to visit the amazing city of New York. All 360 square feet of their apartment didn't disappoint...it was all we could have dreamed of and more! The futon couldn't have felt better every night when we crashed on it. I think we averaged walking about 6 or 7 miles in tons of snow each day so when my tired body hit the futon, it was very happy. Even the honking taxis (all night long) didn't bother me! It was pure exhaustion. Here are tons of pics from our trip.

A million thanks to Hannah and Daniel for hosting us and showing us around NYC for our first time!

We started off the trip right with a huge sandwich at Carnegie Deli Our tour guides...plus Matt doing something annoying I'm sure. The iphone was a MUST to get us where we needed to go! (Don't worry, my razor from 2005 was also very instrumental in naviagation hehe)

This hat is from the 9/11 memorial museum (not completed yet) - it was one of the hats worn that day. The museum is a holding place for what will be a great memorial when it opens. I believe the opening date is 9/11/11 and it looks like its going to be amazing.

This church stands directly across the street from where the world trade towers stood - we were told that several people visited this church on 9/11 and around that time. The church and grounds weren't damaged at all which was amazing - its literally right across the street.

We visited wall street and saw the outside of the stock exchange (the Christmas decorations made everything more fun! )

We ran into Mr. Trump in front of his tower...

Our fearless tour guides...they did amazing!

This statue stood outside of the world trade center towers before they fell. It was damaged during the 9/11 attacks but wasn't destroyed. Its now in Battery Park which is right on the water where you take a boat taxi to Lady Liberty.

We got to see a Broadway show! It was SO GOOD! Million Dollar Quartet - highly recommended..as I'm sure all NYC broadways are...amazing!

Lady Liberty was kickin' it

Haha I love this picture b/c of Matt's face...we were exiting our walk through China Town (it was GROSS)...I don't think Matt Spann will ever re-visit that place hahaha I love my husband!

Look at all the snow in Central Park!!!!

This is the view from the Empire State Building on New Years Eve!

Chrysler Building from the top of the Empire State Building

Me and Matt on top of the Empire State Building on New Years Eve!

Look at the snow! It was piled up EVERYWHERE - it was the 6th biggest snow in NYC history - we were lucky we got there only 1 hour delayed! (Thank you Em for the boots)

Rockefeller Plaza Tree - if it ever goes missing look for it in our house - Matt loves it!

Han and Dan on the Brooklyn Bridge

Thats it for now, NYE pics to come.

Sick at 11 Mos...

2011-01-10T11:00:00.000-08:00

Well, Brooklyn turned 11 months yesterday, again, I can't believe how fast time flies! We had our first visit to children's hospital the day before her 11 mo b'day. She ran a really high fever and after spending 3 hours at the pediatrician we went to children's to make sure she didn't need a spinal tap (SCARY). After about 2 hours of observation she started getting back to herself and her temp came down to about 102 so we got to come home without a spinal tap - thank the Lord! It was a nasty fever virus but thankfully it didn't last too long!

Today we have our second snow of the season...but really its just ice! I put a few pictures below of the ice around our house. Here's what B's doing at 11 months!

- trying to walk but realizing that crawling is so much faster!

- loves it when Daddy comes home!

- loves praise baby! it was a life saver when she was so sick!

- likes to look at Elle and laugh...and loves to feed her from the high chair!

- still have 8 teeth, I'm glad we haven't added any lately!

- loves to eat! favorites are yogurt, strawberries, green beans, turkey, carrots

- you are busting out of 12 mo clothes and mostly wear 18 mo

- you LOVE to explore everything!

Small Group Kiddos

2011-01-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

Our small group is so thankful for these additions we've added in the past two years...we all started out in our small group kid-less and four months apart we all added our first children. We are about to welcome the first of round two and we can't wait to meet her! Praise GOD from whom all blessings flow for this amazing tiem of addition in our families! (We had a fun dinner last night at Zoe's and I couldn't help but capture our kids at this age!)

Meet Ethan - he's 15 months!

Meet Aubrey...18 months!

And Brooklyn 10 months!

The almost big sister...Eleanor...almost 24 months!

How in the world did I not get a picture of Parker last night??? Maybe it was because I was sitting right next to him so I thought I got to him first...or maybe it was because he had sweet potatoes all over his face!!! Here's Parker a few weeks ago!

Parker is 6 months now!

Merry 1st Christmas!

2010-12-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! Snow, toys, and daddy - we've had a great day, hope you have too! 'Joy to the world - the Lord has come - let Earth receive her KING!'

10 Months!

2010-12-13T07:28:00.000-08:00

B was 10 months last week! On the very day she "turned" 10 months old, she took her first un-assisted step...and both of her parents missed it! Matt was at work :( and I was busy with small group. At least Marlee and Meredith saw it while I was trying to get the VCR to work! I got her to do a couple more the next day for me and Matt, but wow, it was painful. She's wanting to move but the connection isn't quite there yet between brain and foot! She's cute trying though! Here are a few things B is doing at 10 months!

- you enjoy exploring - its keeping me busy!

- you enjoy playing with your toys in your "play pen"

- you love your bottle - i think its the highlight of your day

- you are eating pretty well - your favorites are green beans, blueberries, oranges, and toast!

- you are working on the sippy cup but aren't great at it yet

- you are crawling really well and standing up a lot - walking is a ways off but you are on the move!

- you are wearing 12 mo + clothes, just depends on the brand

- you smile a lot and laugh at mom and dad when we play with you

- you HATE getting your diaper changed or your clothes changed

- you are trying to go from 2 naps a day to 1 and i'm fighting it :)

- when you laugh it makes the world right! its the best noise i've ever heard!

- you are starting to get more hair - so hopefully people won't think you are a boy anymore! hairbows here we come

- you are sometimes interested in Elle, other times you are annoyed by her

- you sleep great at night - 8pm to 7ish am

Do you ever feel like Jesse Spanno?

2010-12-10T06:06:00.000-08:00

Because I do! "I'm so excited...I'm so excited...I'm so...scared!!!! ....There's never enough time!!!!!!!!!!!" Yes, its the most wonderful time of the year with no extra time to blog! This is what we've been up to! More soon...

Picked out a Christmas tree with dad...his favorite day of the year :)

Got a Christmas picSaw Bebe and Mister...they helped us decorate...open your eyes Mister!Went to Dothan to visit uncle J And Nanny and Papa! Loved their tree!!!

Shutterfly Rocks!

2010-11-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

So...here's my blog shout out to shutterfly. I love them - we have created so many fun memories on this website. We have done Christmas cards for several years, we have created many photo albums of trips, birthdays, etc; and we have made my mom a photo calendar every year for her Christmas gift. I really love the calendar - you should make one for a family member this year...its the gift that keeps on giving photo-wise all year! You can personalize it to include all family birthdays and special holidays. Here's the link for the calendars...www.shutterfly.com/calendars

We really have enjoyed these calendars for years - we have tried other sites but none compare in quality to shutterfly.

We are for sure going to order Christmas cards from shutterfly this year - see this link to browse their cards. http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/flat-stationery-cards

For those of you who blog...you too can blog about shutterfly and get 50 of your Christmas cards for free! Just go to http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Enjoy! We love you shutterfly!

Christmas Hats!

2010-11-19T10:38:00.001-08:00

We've had some serious fun making and wearing Christmas hats this week! Brooklyn and Avie were great models for me...let me know if you want to order one! They are$15 but if you order two they are $25. I can do any color scheme you want and I can also put a flower instead of the pom poms on top of the ones below.

Brookie sporting the striped hat
Two pom poms on this one!

One pom pom on this one

Avie cakes was a great model! I miss her already!

Salsa-rific

2010-11-11T06:25:00.001-08:00

So last weekend we got to have dinner w/ some great resident friends. Thanks to the Grahams for having all of us over. Its really rare that we can all get together (ever) b/c at least one of our husbands is usually working or on call. In fact, I think half of them were on call Saturday, but it was home call, so we all got to share some time together. Mere and Laura made two different kinds of chili that were delicious! We had five kids running around all over Laura's house...it was really funny and very entertaining for Brooklyn.

Here are most of the kids playing...B; Lee III; Carter; and you can barely see Audrey. I think Noah was entranced by a movie at this point.

She just took it all in and LOVED exploring a new place and NEW toys. It showed me how sick of our toys she probably already is...that happened earlier than I thought it would!

Well, Mere and Lee brought chips and salsa from La Paz that was of course amazing and we all were eating on it for most of the night. Right before Matt and I were about to go, he was watching Brooklyn for me and I hear a very loud...."Ashley...Ashley...Ashley..." getting louder with each one and coming from several men mouths. My child decided she liked salsa so much that she pulled the entire bowl on top of her. She. Was. Covered. It was hilarious.

I know Matt felt bad b/c technically it happened while he was "watching" her, but I thought it was hilarious. We had to throw her in the tub and she came home in Noah's little boy pjs! It was truly a nasty mess but hilarious! I'm sure this is just the beginning of what we have in store with kids. I'm so thankful it missed her eyes!!!

9 Months!

2010-11-09T05:45:00.000-08:00

Happy 9 months to Brooklyn! I can't believe how fast time flies, it is super fun though! We have been wearing some new PJs this week...I think she may take these to college w/ her I love them so much (and b/c they have owls on them!). Here are some things B's doing at 9 months...and a few pics to follow!

- she loves to play and explore - I'm having a hard time keeping up with her!

- she is crawling faster every day, and enjoying finding new things to play with

- she loves the speakers to the TV - which is a "no no"

- she loves Elle - which has meant more separation for Elle :(

- she is chewing on absolutely everything - her favorite is the bed rails - yuck, several mornings she has wood chips on her mouth! She can take the protective plastic things off...so its back to Buy Buy Baby for me today!

- she is wearing mostly 12 month clothing and size 3 or 4 diapers, just depends on what I have!

- she smiles so big at her dad when he comes home and plays with her

- she loves her bath in her little ducky thing

- she says "ma ma ma ma ma ma" a lot - especially when she wants out of bed

- she says "da da da" while playing mostly

- she loves pretty much all baby food we've given her, plus we've done cheerios, puffs, and yogurt...no complaints there

- she loves to feed Elle out of her high chair - Elle's going to gain weight!

- she is starting to wave at us randomly - its so cute but not always at hello or goodbye

- she is a pretty happy baby - doesn't cry too much unless she hurts herself or she isn't getting her bottle quick enough...like right now...I better go!

First vacation of 3rd Yr

2010-11-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

Matt's first week of vacation for third year started the day after his b'day (Oct 24) and we had a great time! We decided that a partial stay-cation was the way to go this time, so we stayed around the house after a trip to Dothan. We got to spend a few days with Matt's family which was a lot of fun! Then, we had some friends over for some Halloween/cookout/football fun the day before Halloween. It was a great week. Below are pictures...unfortunately they are in reverse order, so think backwards :)

Matt and Brooklyn after trick-or-treating (2 houses only this year)
You know mine looks better! :) All lit up at night!

Brooklyn is more interested in the leaves, I guess she hasn't decided which team she'll root for yet!

Kerry and her puppy dog Allan, me and my chicken, and Jenny and her pig Corrie!

Jenny, Corrie, and Conner

Kerry and Allan

We had a lot of farm animals representing...a chicken, a dog, a pig, and a cowboy carrying a horse!

Conner loved playing w/ Matt's cornhole.

Sweet Corrie - this girl is so laid back!

I just had to put a picture up of my yummy dessert I made. Mom showed me how to do this pumpkin roll while I was home last time and I mustered up enough courage to try it. It was delicious! I was so proud of myself hahaha!

Nanny and Pa-Pa's was so much fun!

Lovin' on Uncle J Chillin' on the porch w/ Daddy

Pulling on Gabby's hair!

Now Braden's turn!

She LOVED riding around all over Nanny and Pa-Pa's hardwoods in her walker they got her. She's going pretty fast these days!

Playing with Nanny

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T14:00:00.001-07:00

From our little chicken!

Go Saints!

2010-10-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

In early October we got the opportunity to go to New Orleans for the first time! We were thrilled to have a great reason to go - seeing our good friends Chris and Michelle Reis. We had a lot of fun catching up with them and exploring the French Quarter. Their house is in the garden district so we got to see that really neat part of NOLA. We did all the touristy stuff on Saturday in the quarter then on Sunday we got to go to a Saints game before we left! Thanks to mom and dad for keeping B for us - we were much more mobile and able to explore without her! Here's the adorable Saint's outfit Chris and Michelle got for B! She wears it most Sundays this fall! Go Saints!
Kolsh and Ty - our loving hosts! :) These guys are the most fun boxers ever! Michelle and I went on a couple of long walks with them - even saw Sandra Bullocks house on one of them!
Me and Matt outside Cafe DuMond (officially my new favorite coffee)

Chris and his defense buddies before the game (Chris is #39)

Me and Michelle in the Superdome

At the game!

Who Dat!

Chris in action - he got to play much more than usual for about 2 quarters because the safety in front of him got injured...unfortunately so did Chris :(

Another shot of C in action!

Thank you so much Chris and Michelle for an unforgetable first time in NOLA! We are so sad Chris was injured at this game, but it was a great trip until then! Get well FAST Chris! Love you guys!

Happy B'day Matt!

2010-10-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Matt's 29th b'day yesterday in style! We had a pretty good day - I say pretty good b/c Matt had to work most of it :( that stunk...but when he got home we celebrated as much as possible on home call! haha - he has such a good attitude!!! I'm so thankful for him! Here's the cake I made...this is a Kate Marshall recipe - thanks Kate! If you can't tell...it says "H b 2 U"...that was the best I could do w/ the toppings! His b'day cake is sitting on his gift - a hand crafted cornhole set! My cousin Dave is an engineer and loved making these for Matt. He has precision in everything he does, so I knew these would be awesome boards! He got the official AL paint and everything! Thanks cuz!

Matt practicing - he didn't need it b/c his competition was terrible (me).

We brought B's exersaucer thing outside so she could be our cheerleader! It was too nice of a day to stay inside!

We were pretty bad at first...but by the end of the day Matt was great! The verdict is still out on me.

Go vols :) I had to get some orange bags!

B playing w/ dad's b'day hat from Auntie Em and Jonas

Playing w/ dad on his b'day...we love you Matt!

8 Months...a little late

2010-10-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

So yes, I have a lot to catch up on - one of those things being that B turned 8 months while Aunty Em and Jonas were here visiting last week! It was also Avie's 2 month mark - so we had fun comparing them! Here's what B's doing at 8 months...mostly for my remembrance - I know this isn't earth-shattering!!

- B eats baby food just ok - sometimes she doesn't care. Her favs are green beans, green peas, sweet potatoes, anything with apple in it, doesn't love puffs yet - she chews them and spits them out!

- She loves to sit on the floor and play with anything that isn't a baby toy (remote, cell phone, shoes, paper)

- She LOVES the toy her Nanny and Pa Pa got her where she can walk all around the house and bump into my legs!

- She learned to crawl this month and crawls all over the place! She particularly loves the furniture where the TV boxes are, and my basket of yarn...which can get messy.

- She loves Elle - she tries to crawl towards her but Elle is too fast - she has scared Elle with the walking toy thing (by running into her legs) so Elle pretty much runs whenever B gets that look in her eyes.

- She says "ma-ma" a lot - but I still don't think she knows what it means...she's working on "da-da" but right now it sounds like "ni-ni"

- She does ok in the car seat - not as good as she use to - but she's pretty tolerant of my errands :)

- She wears 9-12 mo clothing depending on the brand, she's in size 3 diapers.

- I think she weighs around 22 pounds and I have no idea how tall she is but it seems to be kind of tall

- She LOVES her bath - she could spend hours in the little ducky that is her bath tub (thank you Grimms!)

- She is a very happy baby - she giggles a ton and loves attention - she is smiling more at strangers and absolutely LOVES it when daddy comes home. She grins so big and wants to go see him (even with his nasty scrubs on!)

Here are a couple of 8 mo pics...

Brooklyn and DaddyPreview to Halloween...Jonas as a monkey and Matt as a chicken! :)Brooklyn and Avie "playing" on the floor!

Avery is so happy to be two months old! What a beautiful little girl!

Shack BBQ - lots of pics!

2010-10-15T13:11:00.000-07:00

Time to catch up on the blog! A while ago, gosh, maybe three weeks, me and B went up to Nashville for a night to partake in some Ray family fun. My brother called to let me know that a new date was set for a "Shack BBQ". We use to do this little family reunion in the summer, but its so hot we decided to shoot for early fall this year and I think it will be a new tradition. It was so much fun! B and I just went up for the night but it was totally worth it b/c Matt was on call. We got to see a bunch of family and enjoy an early taste of some nice fall air! Enjoy the pics below - as you can see, we had a lot of fun! Thanks uncle Brian for coordinating! Brooklyn getting to know Mai Mai (my great aunt on my dad's side) a little better!

B doesn't go anywhere without her office! :) Such a work-a-holic :)

Brooklyn and Aunt Cindy

Jonas holding Matt...er...Brooklyn

Brooklyn loving on her uncle Brian

Brooklyn learning to be a redneck from uncle Cuz (not his name...a loving nick name for my cousin)

Brooklyn and Mister

Auntie Em is excited about the food!

and Brooklyn...

the hayride leaving for a tour of the farm - this was my mom's dream come true!

I love this picture of the farm - I have such amazing memories of growing up going to this farm with my grandfather (Gang Gang). He taught us so much in life and some of our most fun lessons were at this farm. Where I learned to shoot guns, try to shoot skeet, and try to dove hunt! I almost shot the dog! :) I appreciate all the love and time my grandfather put into my life and this farm will always remind me of it! I hope we go there forever!

me, Bebe, and Brookie

Brooklyn and Uncle Coo Coo

Thanks Uncle B for putting this shin-dig on - we loved it!

Mr. No-Sholders

2010-10-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

I killed him!!! I'm so proud of myself! If you are my friend on FB you already saw this, but if not...I killed my first (and hopefully last) snake. I've seen a few dead on the road in our neighborhood but this one was in my neighbor's driveway! I was going to just walk away like I didn't see him but then I'd think he was in my house for the next week. So, my mom told me to get a hoe and just do it! So I did! He squirmed for like 5 minutes but I was persistant! I had to defend my daughter!!!! hahahahah GROSS!!!

Weekend w/ the Spanns

2010-09-27T17:54:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we had a great time with Nanny and Pa-Pa. Matt and I were supposed to be at our good friend's wedding in Atlanta so they graciously came to babysit. I ended up getting some nasty junk in my chest and was hacking away all weekend so we ended up just staying here. We were so sad to miss Andrew and Blair's wedding in Atlanta - we had so much been looking fwd to it. :( Brooklyn was sure to have a great weekend regardless and she definitely did even though we stayed around!

Playing with Nanny...Pa-Pa and Brooklyn playing with one of her new toys!

She is OBSESSED with these blocks - has already played with them for hours.

They also got her a new walking toy! She can fred-flinstone it all over our house now! I have already caught her getting into trouble in her new toy. We are definitely learning the word "No" at an early age! She's discovered the blinds, the outlets, and she thinks its funny to run into Elle and watch her run away.

A better shot of the little ankle bitter...

We love you Nanny and Pa-Pa - thanks for coming to help us!

House Divided...

2010-09-24T05:51:00.001-07:00

So...this is what you get when your in-laws come in town...please note...B is NOT smiling...her blood runs orange and white! :) There will be a TN outfit at some point so stay tuned...

7 Months!

2010-09-15T06:52:00.000-07:00

Wow - its crazy how time continues to fly. Brooklyn was 7 months old last week while we were in Nashville for a few days. We had so much fun hanging out with Auntie Em and Avery (and Bebe and Mister of course). Here's B and A's picture at 7 and 1 month old.

Here's some of what B does at 7 months...

- Likes baby food ok - sometimes more than others, her favorite is apples
- Is busting out of her 6 months clothes that I can't seem to give up - fits better in 9 months.
- Probably weighs around 20 pounds - and you were pretty long at your last apt, I can't remember how long :)
- You are noticing Elle a lot and wanting to touch her, this has caused more stress!
- You are trying to hard to crawl but so far you just have it in reverse
- You can sit up on your own and pretty much get wherever you want to be without crawling
- You have just started saying "ma-ma-ma" but its mostly when you are mad, so not sure what that means :) I'm pretty sure you don't know what it means but its fun to hear you say it!
-You have 6 teeth!
- You had your first plane rides, and you did great!
- You take 2 naps a day and sleep great at night
- You love bath time - you splash around a ton
- You are a happy baby and bring us so much joy! We love you sweet girl!

Growing on us...

2010-09-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

Carrots are!

7 Month post coming soon...we are still recovering from Wyoming!

Wedding in the Tetons

2010-09-08T13:50:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a very fun wedding in Wyoming! Jane and Jason got married on Monday in Teton National Park. Mom went with me to help with Brooklyn and it was quite a wild trip! I have to say, we are ALL exhausted! Here's Brooklyn in the downtown park in Jackson Hole...straight from the plane :)

We went to a rodeo in Jackson Hole on Saturday night (still pretty much straight from the plane, B was a trooper).

Beautiful Wyoming sky...oh yeah, it was in the low 50s that night.

Brooklyn going to the picnic in the park on Sunday...we all hung out around Jenny lake and String lake and just enjoyed the park.

Me and Brooklyn at the picnic.

I just love those eyes...looks like trouble!

I went a little crazy taking her pic

Bebe and her little bear!

B again...

After the picnic Jane took us to the wedding location so we could get an idea of what would happen the next day. This is Jane showing us the "decorations" they had arranged for the wedding :)

Mr. Moose wanted to be invited to the wedding...

The beautiful bride on the way to get hitched!

Best bridesmaids shoes ever!

Jane right before she walked down her "isle"

mom, me and B after the ceremony

beauty!

making it "official" w/ Mark (our youth minister from childhood!)
Brooklyn and the Tetons in the washed out background!

Me and the pretty bride!Amazing smore's cake! (Due to general theme...Jane and Jason met on the App Trail thus the smore's cake theme!)

Can I take the tag off my dress now???

2010-08-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

So, two weekends ago we had a pretty fun adventure. We knew these guys were coming in town...

So a fun weekend was already in order...but little did we know, these guys would also be in the 'ham...what a fun surprise!

And...thanks to the Briarwood class of 2000 - we had this guy in town...now officially in the "old" club since he's had his 10 year high school reunion! Go Lions! haha, I had to google that.

This friend came in town early, so we got to have dinner w/ the kiddos...

and a fun b'fast w/ Aunt Court...

We started out Friday night at Cocina for happy hour and had some great margaritas and fajitas (we love Cocina and this was a great excuse to go!). Then, we headed out to the Fox & Hound...not sure why, I'm not proud of that. Anyway...we were thrilled to find out it was next door to Pablo's where our Briarwood friends were reminiscing about the glory days, so we got to meet up with them after their dinner. We had a great time just sitting outside and catching up with old, but really great friends. We were so thankful that everyone was in town on the same weekend - what a coincidence! Here's a pic of the boys goofing off...

And the girls...we were missing Jenny and Ellen in this pic.

Blog post title usually doesn't mean much to me but when we are with Han and Dan there are always so many laughs, we have to use one of them as the title. Well, we made the mistake of talking about it this time, so we were jinxed. This blog post title is stupid, but sort of relevant. Do you ever buy a dress being un-sure about if you like it or it looks ok on you, then you wear it for the first time w/ the tag on?? :) Well, I usually don't, but that night I did. After the second compliment from a complete stranger, Hannah and I decided to take the tag off! :)

Forgot to mention...Hannah and Daniel were visiting us b/c three days later they were moving here...

You can't really tell but this is their new home in NYC! They have moved to the big city for a year and we can't wait to visit! I think Han said their door is the one on the left!

On Saturday we just relaxed and ate some yummy food. Brooklyn got some good time in w/ Han and Dan before they left for the big city. And of course the boys made time for some late night...

Yep...playbox- or whatever its called...at least we didn't end up at the Purple Onion! :) Love all you guys - thanks for a fabulous weekend!

B's new silly face

2010-08-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

B has a new face she's trying out...I'm not sure what this face means, but its hilarious and coming often...I think she's just learning to play with her face maybe??? We'll start off with a smile...they come often these days! Here comes the silly face...

What in the world? I'm sure there are more to come!

6 month b'day gift

2010-08-14T06:04:00.000-07:00

Well, Brooklyn's 6 month "b'day" was last Monday, August 9th. I can't believe she's already 1/2 a year - that just went by way too fast! We weren't planning on doing b'day gifts for a 1/2 b'day...but B's Aunty Em was! Brooklyn got the BEST gift ever - a cousin!

I personally am thrilled that Avery was born on August 9th b/c now I will always be able to remember the actual birthday! It was 6 months to the day and how weird is this - she was delivered 7 minutes later in the day than Brooklyn! B was 3:44pm and Avery was 3:51pm! Crazy!!! I pray that these girls will be best buddies all of thier lives!

Here's what B is doing at 6 months...

- sleeping great - from 8pm to 8am at night with 2 naps during the day at 1o and 2. Sometimes she gets another cat nap in the late afternoon if she's really tired.

- loves to eat! takes 4 seven oz bottles a day at 8, 12, 4, 7 and we do cereal and fruit for b'fast and veggies for dinner.

- veggies have been funny mainly b/c B makes hilarious faces when they go in her mouth! so far, i think her favorites are sweet potatoes and carrots. She also didn't mind green beans and peas. Not too fond of pears but loved bananas.

- She is really wanting to crawl - she does the fishy thing when on her tummy but just doesn't have enough strength to crawl yet.

- Can sit up on her own! She does still fall over and crash sometimes but she doesn't mind - she just starts rolling all over the place!

- sleeps on her tummy ALL THE TIME. as soon as i put her down for a nap or for night time, she's on the tummy.

- Is starting to notice Elle. She just looks at her and smiles or laughs, hopefully they will be friends from a distance until Brooklyn is about 5! :) Elle's just too big.

- Loves bath time - she loves to splash around and play with her wash cloth. She also loves the pool - we have tried to get in often so she gets use to it. I think she thinks the bath and the pool are the same so far!

- Travels pretty well. Most times she sleeps in her car seat most of the time I drive, usually I have at least 30 minutes or an hour of passing her toys though!

She could not be more of a joy. I never thought I could love something as much as I love this sweet little girl. It kind of hurts because I know I'll never be able to put into words or show her how much I love her. Makes me wonder if God feels the same way - even though He shows us how much He loves us in such lavish ways - I think He loves us more than we will ever know!

Proud Aunt

2010-08-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

I couldn't be more thrilled to announce Avery's birth! Emily was such a trooper! They thought mid-morning that Avery's heart rate was dropping rapidly but it turned out that she was just moving her head so much, that the monitor was falling off of her! After they fixed the monitor, her heart rate was great throughout the rest of the day. Em was a super woman - only had to push for about twenty minutes and out she came! I'm also thrilled to announce that Avie came on Brooklyn's 6 month b'day - only 7 minutes after B's birth time! Cousins like to do things the same!

Congrats to Em and Jonas, we love you guys and look forward to getting to know Avery!

Avery Pearl Fridrichsen

8-9-10

3:51pm

8 lbs 11 oz

21 inches long

yo-yo

2010-08-09T04:50:00.000-07:00

So, the weekend went on and no Avie...we had a great time visiting mom and dad for a couple of days while Caroline was in town. I'm so glad her husband had a conference in Nashville and she could come with him. I haven't seen Duncan since he was 2 months old, and now he's 18 months old and getting ready to be big brother, so it was really fun to get to know that little guy. He is such a GREAT 1 1/2 yr old - I hope Brookie was taking notes! We had a really fun weekend catching up, thanks to mom and dad we even got to go out to dinner without kids!!! That was probably our "high" for the weekend. Our "low" was probably trying on jeans at gap (ok - that was my low). Caroline and Duncan in the pool!

Uncle Wes stopped by and made B cry...haha, she was just tired!B sitting on Avie - trying to get her to come out and play!Caroline trying to hold the two of them...better get some practice! Her #2 comes in Nov!

Duncan at 18 months!

Well, I told everyone I was headed back on Sunday if Avery was still hanging out inside Emily,

and she was, so back we came yesterday morning. Well, at 1:29 am I got the text I knew was coming...water was broken, going to hospital. So, in a few minutes, me and B are headed back to Nashville...we are the I-65 yo-yo of an xterra. I think I could tell you every exit by now! :)

Good luck to Em! I'll be sure to post Avie pics as soon as I'm allowed!

Happy Monday!

2010-08-02T07:08:00.001-07:00

We are hoping for Avie's arrival this week!!!!!!!! Cross your fingers!

blog.

2010-07-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

What is up w/ my blog? Anyone know how to get the right side the same color as the body? Ugh...I'm blog challenged and its showing.

Mornings are the best!

2010-07-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

We
love

rice

cereal!

Now if the stomach but would just clear up and we could get back to the yummy foods!

Wordless Thursday?? :)

2010-07-22T15:48:00.001-07:00

Its been a long week - thanks to Bebe and Nanny for keeping my little girl for me! Words at a later date...

Release

2010-07-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the one honest opinion (Sarah and Sarah), the one sweet sympathy vote (Mere), and my oh so honest husband. I'm taking into account everyone who chose to be silent and respectful w/ the horrid shoes. Kate's totally in trouble with Matt for even letting me bring them home...so Macy's - they are coming back to you! You fooled me with your snazzy shoe size checker thing - and you wooed a hungry shoe soul. Now to find some appropriate shoes...

Walking with Kate/In Trouble

2010-07-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

So...Kate and I wanted to walk yesterday, any one who is reading this and is remotely close to Alabama knows its hot as fire outside and humid as can be. Our friend Meredith had a great idea to walk inside at the mall - doesn't matter if babies cry b/c its loud anyway, its air conditioned and a huge area to walk. So, we tried our first mall walk yesterday and yeah, I kinda got in trouble. We walked...to Macy's! Of course I got distracted by the shoe dept. Did you know that they have this little hand held thing they can just scan the shoe and tell you if they have your size? And then the person doesn't even have to go get it - they just "send" for the shoe. I was very impressed and my hiatus from shopping was laid bare with my lack of knowledge in front of Kate (I haven't been in a mall since B was born, sans the mall in Dothan).

Anyway...please let me know your opinion - keep or release (as my Chi O's would say)....

I wouldn't normally post a blog about shoes, but I'm trying my hand at being somewhat trendy (finally) and I need to know if these are too Roman Soldier-ish (i.e. I look like I should be in the movie Gladiator). I don't want to waste my money...let me know! :)

5 Months!

2010-07-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe how quickly five months flies by! Brookie was born five months ago today - about an hour and a half ago! She has been such a fun new addition to life - it is really crazy how different life is with a baby. I spend a lot of my time on the floor now (my hips and back muscles had to adjust!) playing with this sweet baby girl. I couldn't be more thankful and honestly, I'm trying HARD not to take a moment for granted. I know a lot of people don't get this joy in life, so I'm really working hard to appreciate every minute with her even the hard ones. Thank you Lord, for this honor and pleasure to spend time with Brooklyn - she is just a gift that I truly don't deserve!

Ok, on to her five month info...

- B eats four bottles a day - usually six oz, sometimes she gets lucky and I give her an extra oz. She has started with baby food - did great with rice cereal and is now getting use to green beans. Her face when first trying green beans looked like, "I like what this is doing to my stomach, but I don't like what this is doing to my mouth"...it was hilarious.

- B is in size 3 diapers :)

- She sleeps great at night, usually 12 hours and is very happy in the morning. She loves to sleep on her tummy and her side...mostly her tummy though.

- She loves her exersaucer - we spend a lot of time in this - its a bouncer one so she can bounce and spin...we call it her "office" - she has several conference calls each day :)

- She smiles a lot and giggles when I tickle her

- B takes three naps a day (usually) - 10am, 2pm, and 5:45ish

- This says more about me than B...she goes down at 8pm and gets up at 8am...and so do I :)

I could go on about B for a while, but at the risk of grossing people out, I'll stop - please know most of my posts in the future are going to be about Brooklyn. Let's be honest, she's pretty much all I do all day long. Plus...my friend Nicole has the coolest "blog book" that she made after her daughter's first year of life. I can't wait to get one after B turns 1 year - thanks for the great idea Nicole!

Five month pics below!

yay for Stretch - she loves to eat on him!

Not the best pic, but you can kinda see her teeth...if you can see well :)

She kinda fell over - I was close by w/ the camera...no worries...mom

Country Club Spann

2010-07-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year - everyone's loving the sun and hopefully the water (per Brad Paisley). Brooklyn and I decided to join a country club...that's right...on a resident's salary we can join a country club. And...get this - its a BRAND NEW country club! I bet you are jealous...well, let me put your mind at ease with a picture. Introducing...Country Club Spann...we will be taking applications very soon at three different levels.

- Level one - the Silver Package - our cheapest option, bring your own towel and juice box - but you can swim day or night for just $39.99 a month.

- Level two - the Gold Package - towel is provided (may have a Spann monogram) and one complimentary smoothie if you come between our happy hour of 2-4 pm. This package is $49.99 a month - a steal!

- Level three - the Platinum Package - our best value, this package includes a clean beach towel (still Spann monogrammed) a complimentary smoothie plus a free PBJ, grapes, and coke zero if you hit us at lunch time. This package is a low $59.99 a month and the most popular!

In all seriousness - we had a blast in our baby pool! Brooklyn got in on the 4th of July for her first time and we had fun. She kicks her legs and is starting to splash the water with her hands a little bit. Some pictures are below - we love summer! :)

I love my swimsuit!

Yes, we have Toby (mom's dog) for two weeks - he and Elle are best buds, and our own personal lifeguards!

Time with Michelle

2010-06-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

Gosh...a while ago - maybe four weeks ago - my best friend from middle and high school came to visit me and Brooklyn! Michelle has been such a sweet friend to me all of my life and I'm so very thankful for her. About a year ago she came to visit one night while Matt was on call and we had a great time of course shopping, eating out, and talking about our upcoming high school reunion. This year was a little different - we just hung out at home and entertained Brooklyn! She has an awesome camera and took some great pictures of B. I'll post some below...

Brooklyn and I hope to visit Michelle later this summer over in Georgia where she lives, most of the year! She has two beautiful dogs Kolsh and Tyger and I still have yet to meet them or see her house...so a visit is due! We love you aunt Michelle!!!

2010-06-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

Brookie loves her new toy! She is spending lots of time learning how to jump and squeal! What a fun time this is for her! ok - for some reason the video won't work -any suggestions? It uploads and then disappears!

She also recently had her first swim at Bebe's backyard baby pool! It was too cute! Here are a few pics.

Yum

2010-06-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

So...the rice cereal is growing on us! :)

4 Month-ness

2010-06-10T05:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Brooklyn was four months old. We have had a few days of changes with her right around this 4 month mark that have been fun, trying, and kind of hilarious in some ways.

The "fun" came when the DR said we could try rice cereal...she was pretty messy. We tried it last night and we laughed pretty hard! The video is a little to big to upload. More fun was when Matt put together the exersaucer/bouncy thing. She did pretty good in it for the first time yesterday. I think I took a picture of that too...

The "trying" has been her little chompers that have chosen to come through. We have two little teeth that are coming through on the bottom and little girl is not happy about it. She didn't fuss at all while her gums were red, but now that they are breaking through...not happy! Don't worry, her daddy is giving her extra love - as if that was even a question! :) Matt's a softy. Can you see the chompers?

"Hilarious" has been her behavior in her crib. She started rolling over to her side about a month ago while we were on vacation - she was in a pack in play so there were no bumpers and she could easily roll over. Well, when we got back home her legs would hit the bumpers and she would go back to her back and she didn't really care, she would just end up somehow at the bottom of the bed every morning so I guess she was scooting down. Well, while I was at home last weekend she went all over my mom's crib. She has very thin bumpers so she was able to turn over on her side and start traveling. She pretty much does a 180 during the night on her side. It is hilarious. So, when we got home we took out her side bumpers to let her go! Matt and I watch it before we go to bed and I usually wake up at least once in the night to see where she is in her journey. Regardless of what she does while she's asleep, I always greet a smiling little girl in the morning, which is a treat!

At four months Brooklyn does the following:

- eats 4 bottles a day between 6 and 7 oz

- loves her bath time

-giggles at mom and dad being silly - loves to be tickled

- sleeps great at night and takes 2-3 naps a day

- loves the activity mat still

- loves the swing - we use it as a sleep aide when needed!

- hasn't been in the pool yet, maybe later this summer

- she has traveled to Nashville a few times, Dothan, the beach, the lake - travels well!

- has two teeth

- she is such a joy and hasn't been fussy except for the teeth coming in

- she weighs 16 pounds and 3 oz (90th percentile)

- she is 27 inches long (95th percentile)

Berlin Wall 9996

2010-06-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

So, the name of this blog is a little strange but it has to do with the game...Cranium...have you every played? Well...I'm not sure I have either, but I've tried. We went to the lake for about 24 hours (ugh) over the Memorial Day weekend. Han and Dan were so sweet to invite us up to Pickwic lake for a night. We took miss B and she did great. So...back to Cranium...we found the box and tried to play without instructions so it was a game with made up rules, and I think we did pretty good - maybe that's b/c me and Matt won!

Anyway, Daniel had to act out "Berlin Wall" and try to get Hannah to guess it - and oh my gosh I laughed until I cried...hard! Needless to say Han didn't guess it and I was a mess on the floor after he was finished trying to act it out.

We had some awesome burgers and a great time with Han and Dan even though it was short - they are such good friends to share life with! They are moving to NYC soon so we will officially have friends in NYC!!! Can we say 30th b'day party in NYC for Ashley??? :) We'll see...here are some pics!

Brooklyn was entertaining everyone!

Yum...malt liquor! :) This may have made the Berlin Wall episode a little more funny.

Little B watching the intense game of pool.

Uncle Danny and B

Hannah showing us how its done

Cutest little pup - Dahl was so good!

Han getting to know Brookie

The guys and the water...Dahl was swimming!

Han and B

We love you guys! Thanks for another memorable weekend!

PDF

2010-06-02T16:00:00.001-07:00

So...PDF stands for "parent directed feeding" if you read babywise. Don't worry - this isn't a babywise post...I just had to note where I got the term. Anyway...so I have to say, I have adopted this theology with Brooklyn's feeding patterns, and it has worked so well. But that also isn't the point of this post...

I have had to use PDF more persistently with this little...er...large lady...

We'll just say that ever since B came home, Elle has started expecting to eat as often as the new addition - which was a lot in the beginning. Even though its slowed down by now, its still double what Elle gets. So almost every time I feed Brooklyn, Elle wants more food too. This comes in the form of actually begging the baby for her bottle, or whining at her food bowl. Which results in a lot of stern talking from me! I believe I have said a lot..."Elle - its not time yet, I'll feed you when its time!" You can't blame a girl for trying...

Anyway...so I've had to enforce the PDF philosophy more strictly with my dog than my child...thank you babywise. :)

This makes me smile...

2010-05-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

Love the Beach!

2010-05-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time at the beach! We went down to the Portofino Hotel in Gulf Breeze, FL. It is right outside of Pensacola beach and we had a blast! No, we didn't see any oil - the beach and water were beautiful! Brooklyn had a great trip, but she couldn't really open her eyes in the bright sunshine much, so she stayed in the condo a lot. Mom and dad babysat a lot for us so we could enjoy the pool and beach - THANK YOU!!!

It was a great first vacation as a family - it was just nice to get out of Birmingham and enjoy the sunshine. Matt and I even got to play a game of Jarts on the beach...and we won't discuss who won! :) Mr and Bebe with Brooklyn Me and my little pumpkin

I love this outfit that fits B right now - its a little romper from GAP and its got fish all over it! I don't know why but I love it! haha

B playing on her activity mat - it goes with us everywhere!

Mr and Be Be had a beach fun bag for Brooklyn - she got a prize every day! This is her with her grab bag on the first day - she got a towel that day I think!

Fun times with Auntie Em and Uncle Jonas - we can't wait to meet Avery! Doesn't Em look great?!?!?!

My Cuties...

2010-05-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

I love the beach! :)

Beach so far

2010-05-12T11:33:00.001-07:00

We have enjoyed our time so far! Brooklyn is not quite old enough to enjoy the water or the beach...mainly because the sun seems to blind her! Even with her hat on she can't really open her eyes. So...most of her time has been spent in doors, but she has managed to withstand at least one photo shoot. :) She's so fun!

Tribute to Han and Dan

2010-05-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

So...back in February I had a baby shower that Hannah helped with - for those of you who don't know Hannah - she is one of my longest best friends. I met Han when she was 17 and I was 19 (I think)...won't tell you the whole story but we'll just say that 10 years later we are still great friends and I'm a much better (and more fun) person because of her.

Same goes for Daniel - we met "Danny" in college and he and Matt have been great friends since then. We'll just say that Daniel and I have been great friends ever since he consoled me after making a 34 on my tax test in college (I was newly in love with Matt...thus the low score).

Back to Feb...so they came in town to help with the shower and we had a GREAT time with them - as we always do. Here are some pictures and descriptions of our time with Hanny and Danny...oh yeah, the reason I'm doing this is because they BOTH are graduating today!!!

CONGRATS to you both -Daniel from law school and Hannah from her masters in counseling - both at Ole Miss.

Daniel and Matt couldn't decide which beer they wanted so they talked the waitress into bringing them samples...wow.

Daniel and Hannah at dinner.

They are such a bad influence...don't worry mine was non-alcoholic beer due to my large belly.

Well...let's just say this is Dan and Matt trying to re-live the glory days...yes, all you SU alum, they are walking down from the Sigma Nu house - they were trying to break into the chapter room and reminisce. Needless to say they were told they were too old to re-enter by some 19 yr old...so they walked away like old men. :)

Daniel and Matt had a fire outside while Han and I talked about babies and facebook stalked people.

So, we'll just say that when we get together w/ these two fabulous friends there are MANY ideas thrown out of things to do (the visit to the Sigma Nu house being one of them). This is my face when the last idea for the night was thrown out there - "hey - who wants purple onion?". Yes, I drove my sweet friends to the purple onion around 1am - please keep in mind that I'm 9 months pregnant and totally sober.

The damage...only you who are brave enough to go to the PO can imagine what is in these lovely containers full of heart burn.

We love you guys!!!!!!!!! Congrats!

3 Months

2010-05-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my little stinker is three months today! So, its taken me three months to get to where I can actually post on the month marker! :) I guess that says a lot about the adjustment to motherhood. Sometimes I think I might have had an easier transition if I had become a mother earlier in my life, oh well - its worth the wait! Brooklyn turns three months today and she has changed so drastically since birth. She is very active now while she's awake and "plays" very well on her activity mat and her bouncy seat.

She's a very good eater and sleeper - thank you Lord! She is taking three naps during the day and sleeping 10 hours at night - again, THANK YOU LORD! I definitely feel like I'm getting back to myself with more sleep - I didn't realize how much sleep deprivation was going to effect me!

Here is B with some of her friends on her 3 mo b'day! :)

Here's the smile that we so desperately try to get her to show us all day and night...can you blame us?? :)
Matt reads to her at night when he's home in time. He was home last night and he read this sweet book to her before she went to sleep - I remember this book from when we were little. Hopefully she will play w/ the little caterpillar that came with it soon!

Disco baby! Love this dress!

Truckin' in Tennessee

2010-04-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

Dad...is this ok??

Yes, Brooklyn has already ridden in the back of a boy's truck! :)

Below is Levi 2 1/2 years

I just love these boys! Jesse at 2 1/2 years

Camo Brooklyn

2010-04-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Mister (my dad) for getting Brooklyn her first camo outfit - she is ready to go hunting or fishing or whatever! I think these pictures are so funny she looks kinda ghetto w/ her hat on then redneck with her camo onesie. When she's not smiling she's Matt jr and when she is she's me jr...or at least I like to think so!

Found the Thumb

2010-04-18T06:36:00.000-07:00

So, B has been sucking on her fist ever since she was born! I've been trying to see if she'd take a passie but she really doesn't like any of them. She will take a soothie for about 2 minutes then she spits it out and cries, so I've quit trying. I knew eventually she'd find a finger. Yesterday Matt and I went to wake her from one of her naps and she totally had her thumb in her mouth! We freaked out, it was so cute! When we woke her up she starting back to sucking, it was so cute! I guess this will help her soothe herself so I'm glad w/ it - I just hope we never have to threaten to chop it off in the future!

B is 2 Months!

2010-04-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I got to spend some time in Nashville. Matt has been working some crazy hours so we took the opportunity to go see some family and carry on some conversations!!! We'll just say I've been a little stir crazy and needed some family time! Brooklyn did great traveling, she just slept the whole way up there and the whole way back. That is a good thing about traveling so young, they sleep so much, I know I'll miss these days later. Here are some pictures we took of B I guess they can be her two month picture. Here's what she's doing at 2 months:

- sleeping GREAT! naps well during the day and is starting to stretch night time sleep

- starting to smile at us when we talk to her

- LOVES her activity mat - she comes awake and alive when she plays on it

- likes to walk in the neighborhood - does well in the stroller or baby Bjorn

- B has gone to church a few times including Easter, she usually sleeps in the Bjorn

- starting to make small baby noises when we talk or sing to her or when she's on her activity mat

- still eating, pooping, and sleeping!

We got to spend some time with the cutest little boys in town - Jesse and Levi came over to play (thanks Rochelle!) on Friday for a little bit. Then we got to have dinner w/ Brian and Rochelle and some of mom and dad's friends.

This picture says a lot about Jesse - he has two things in his hands and is playing with a third! He plays so much and has to have multiple toys around! He's going to be a busy boy!

And this says a lot about Levi - he LOVES books! Mom and dad get to read a bunch of books to him and he absolutly loves it. He brought me this book and we read it a few times. I can ask him where things are in the pictures and he loves to point them out (ex - there was a man w/ a phone in this book and we kept finding the phone).

Bebe and Brookie

Brookie is propping her feet up on her future cousin - Avery - may be a sign of things to come!

Smiling with auntie Em and Bebe - I think she actually looks a little like me in this one! Everyone says she's just like Matt but I'm going to keep this picture for proof that she can at least make a face that sort of resembles her mother. If you think this looks nothing like me then I'll find my mom's pics of me as a baby to prove it! :) Happy Spring!!!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

Is this normal?

2010-03-31T05:55:00.000-07:00

So, being a new mother and all I'm just not always sure what B should or shouldn't be doing so any mothers out there reading you may have to let me know if my child is doing appropriate things!!! I couldn't believe she was doing this over the weekend, I think she may be fighting tummy time already!

Trip to Nanny and Paw Paw's

2010-03-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went toDothan to see Matt's parents and to introduce B to the family. It was a great weekend and B traveled eally well. She got to meet three great aunts (Jewel, Gail, and Linda), two great uncles (John and Styner), two cousins (Heather and April) and her aunt and uncle Jason and Tracie. It was a beautiful weekend so we got to grill out and enjoy a game of Jarts - thanks to Nanny and Paw Paw for a great weekend!

Nanny and Paw Paw loving on B
B loved all the attention from Nanny!

All cozy in Nanny's crib.

Four Hands and 1 Month!

2010-03-16T06:43:00.000-07:00

So - the longer I'm a mom (haha its only been five weeks!) the more I'm wanting two more hands! When Matt is here to help I can get things done so much better - especially when changing a diaper or giving a bath, I'm not sure how I'm going to give a bath by myself. Fortunately I haven't had to yet but I know that day is coming soon. I'm so thankful for Matt's help and if anyone knows how I could get two more hands added to my body...or I guess train my feet...let me know! Here are some pics from our trip to Nashville - I guess I could just make this her 1 month post...

At one month Brooklyn is doing the following:

- eating

- sleeping

- pooping (Kerry got the best poop experience so far, yes mom and dad she beat yours!)

- peeing (on me and Matt a lot)

- repeat all of those 7 times a day!

Seriously - that is pretty much all she does but she does smile some and she is starting to make little cooing noises. She is sleeping really well at night (I hope I'm not jinxing myself) she goes from 10:30 until 4:00 then after a bottle she will sleep until I wake her up at 7:30. If we can keep this up I just might make it! :)

Pic of B

2010-03-07T18:18:00.001-08:00

So, I promise I'll someday blog about something other than my child...but for now, that is all I'm doing - keeping her alive! :) She's doing great - better than me probably! Here's an updated pic or two - I just love her! Oh - and she is one month on Tuesday - CRAZY! I'll post some facts abt her on Tuesday or well, somewhere around Tuesday - all the days are still running together.

Uncle Wes and Brooklyn!

Aunt JJ and Uncle PaPai

Brooklyn w/ Aunt JJ

Aunt D'Arcy and Brooklyn - you can thank aunt D'Arcy someday for your schedule!

Sweet Pea in her bouncy seat.