21 Months!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...