Puppies!

Okay, we have not blogged in a while so I will try and catch up...

We went to the farmer's market with our friends Zach an Jessica. They have 2 dogs, Pancho and Paloma. Pancho came with us to the farmer's Market. Brooklynn was not too happy. I think she heard not to trust a skinny Santa :) She cried at first when Pancho licked her hand in the car seat, but she warmed up to him after walking around the market some. we met Santa at the market, but Brooklynn wasn't happy to see him. Maybe she knew she shouldn't trust a skinny Santa :)


Brooklyn petting Paloma.

Brooklynn had her 9 month appointment on December 3. She weighed in at 16 lbs and 2 oz. She was 26 inches long and her head was 42 cm. She's in the 10-25 percentile for height and weight and the 10th percentile for head size. The doctor was impressed with her development. Brooklynn has started to wave to people when they say hi or bye to her and she also is babbling as if she is having a conversation. The pediatrician got to see her grab my hands and check out the office-he seemed to think she'll be walking soon. She just started using a push walker that her cousin Jadyn let her borrow. She can get going pretty fast (especially when Daddy is chasing her) and is already learning to slow it down by standing on her toes. She is having a little trouble figuring out reverse when she bumps into something though.

1st Thanksgiving

Brooklynn's first Thanksgiving is being spent in Indiana and Kentucky. Last Saturday we flew up to Indianapolis to stay with Grandmama and Grandpapa Clark. Brooklynn was all packed up and ready for travel with her giraffe backpack that she got from her Auntie Sue.

That evening after we arrived, Brooklynn had a bath before bedtime in the laundry room tub. Auntie Kimberly let Brooklynn play with one of her childhood bath toys...a My Little Pony seahorse. Brooklynn enjoyed chewing on the hair the most.

Keeping the cousins apart is like holding two magnets near each other and expecting them to stay put...even when one of them is supposed to be sitting at the table and eating...

On Monday, we were visited by Brooklynn's Great Granny Helen and Great-Great Aunt Edith. On Tuesday morning, we went out to breakfast with them before they had to head back to Kentucky. Brooklynn is very blessed to have such a large extended family that loves her.

On Thanksgiving day, we traveled down to Kentucky to visit the Clark side of the family where Brooklynn met her Great Grandmother and Great Granddaddy Clark. Brooklynn is their first Great Granddaughter.

Nancy and Kimberly made some special Thanksgiving desserts. The arrangement is actually a tribute to a song that select members of the Clark family have sung called "A Turkey Sat on a Backyard Fence". We'll have to post a performance later.

Later that same evening, we went to Cracker Barrel where Brooklynn met her Great Uncle Carl, Great Aunt Sharon and second cousin Leesha. I think the kids were more hungry then that adults were...

Although not widely publicized, Santa made an early stop in Indianapolis and dropped off some presents for the kids. Brooklynn enjoyed the festivities so much, she broke into singing carols...LOL

Tommorrow we head back home. The week has flown by and we wish everyone was closer so we could visit longer and more often.

Next week, Brooklynn will have her 9 month appointment and I'm sure some new pictures too!

Not the momma....

I am so blessed with my family. I love my family dearly, but when Brooklynn cries and she only wants me or when Piggy is trying to curl up in the one space I have to myself on the bed and the dishes and laundry start to pile up- not to mention all the feedings and cleanings...I find myself a bit worn out.(Piggy likes to eat grass or small crawling things and then spit it back out, usually on the carpet or my clean laundry-bleck) but then moments like the one pictured above remind me why I love being the momma.

8 Months

Brooklynn is 8 months old today. She's flying through the baby milestones. Brooklynn started crawling a few days before she turned 7 months old and now she cruises along like she's been doing it her whole life. At 35 weeks old now, she can take alternating steps if someone is holding her hands, pulls herself up to a standing position when she's near furniture or a coffee table and claps her hands in response to praise.


Brooklynn's two bottom teeth have come all the way through and you can catch a glimpse of them sometimes when she smiles. She's responding to her name more and she'll even come crawling towards you sometimes when you call for her. She still likes for one of us to be near by when she's playing. She'll even call for one of us sometimes. It sounds like she's saying "Hey!".


Last Thursday, Nancy and I went and voted early for the 2008 elections. We thought we'd be in and out of there, but it turned out we waited in line for 1 1/2 hours! Brooklynn took it all in stride though. She entertained everyone in line with her laughing and squealing.

6 months +

We have been so busy this month we are a little late with our 6 month post. We had Brooklynn's 6 month wellness check on September 3rd. She measured in at 25.5 inches (50% percentile) 15 pounds and 3 ounces (25-50%) and her head was 40.1 cm (10-15%). At the beginning of the month she was rocking back and forth, getting ready to crawl. Now she can scoot herself forward. She can also get her legs straight up to move her feet forward. She was also cutting her first tooth. We could feel it, but were not able to see it. Now, you can see her tooth on the left side sticking out through her gums. Of course, we're too serious to smile and show it...


Brooklynn has been watching Christopher and I eat and reaching out for everything. I had been letting her gum on my apple slices, but one day she actually bit off a piece. I took it away to put it in a teething bag for her. Now, Brooklynn has never really cried other than being wet, hungry or dirty. She was very upset when I took away her apple. I will have Christopher put up the video and you can see for yourself. With the presence of a tooth, we gave Brooklynn some rice cereal to see how she does.


We took another picture with Luc and Ally. Luc had been out of town all Summer, so it had been awhile since all three have been together.

We also got a visit from Brooklynn's cousin during Hurricane Ike. They lost power for 12 days and stayed with us. Brooklynn picked up a few things while Rylen was here such as how to turn on her music cube and how to bang legos together.


She also had a friend in the car that made it easier to fall asleep.


Last Saturday, we hosted a get-together with the other families that were in our home birth group. It had been about 4 months since we had seen each other.


Having her fall asleep next to you never gets old.

Hey, this isn't my cowboy hat...

I wanted to write and celebrate. Brooklynn has learned to use the potty!

These are some pictures we took when we opened the new chair. Coco thought it looked like a hat.


I know she is only six months and we don't expect her to use the potty every time or at night, but it is sure exciting when she does. I do love using cloth diapers with her and I wouldn't change, but the laundry is enough to drive me crazy. I think to myself as I fill the washer "..didn't I just wash these yesterday?!?" So for her to use the potty chair and only use two diapers the whole day is something to celebrate.

Christopher's mom (yay momma) got us a book with our first pregnancy that had child training tips, one being about potty training from birth. The author learned it while on a mission trip. She taught it to her youngest. Intrigued, I searched the Internet and found out more. Others have done this successfully and I thought it was worth trying.

Well, I didn't follow the points exactly, but I did what I could and it is working! Brooklynn used her potty chair 3 times on Tuesday and three times on Wednesday!! Yay Brooklynn.

On the Move...

I can't believe how the time flies by each day. Brooklynn has had numerous adventures since we last posted. Her 2nd cousin Stacy from CA was here to visit. We got to play and Stacy spoke some Korean to her. Then we had Grandmama (Alice) visiting. Brooklynn got lots of love from her Grandmama... and the big kids did too :) Alice made us Granny's homemade chili-yum! Momma and Grandmommy had fun shopping for Brooklynn and cousin Rylen.

Brooklynn is growing like a weed. She is on target on her development chart. She has been transferring objects from one hand to the other. When she wakes up now, she rolls over and pushes up. Then she will start rocking on her knees and getting up on her toes and hands. In the last few days she has been creeping or lunging forward, but going backwards seems to be her most productive mode of transportation. Imagine my surprise when I put her down (in the middle of the living room) on her back to make a phone call and came back to find her under the coffee table behind her!

The rest of the trip...

Well, we've been back for a couple weeks and have yet to update the rest of our trip to South Carolina. It's been a real busy August for us so far!

After the beach, we met some friends of ours who are living in Columbia, SC now. They drove down to Charleston and we went out to lunch and then downtown to walk around and see the sights.


On Monday, we met Rose for lunch before we left town early on Tuesday. It didn't take long in our visit for Brooklynn to recognize all the new faces she had seen and warm up to them when she saw them again. Rose and Brooklynn enjoyed playing "Patty Cake" over and over (and over...)


I love this picture of Brooklynn sitting next to Nancy in the booth at the restaurant.


By the end of the night, we were exhausted and so Brooklynn and I headed to bed while Nancy squeezed in a little more visiting.


We had to be up and heading to the airport by 4:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. And that was eastern time! I don't think my body ever left central time the whole time we were there. Brooklynn did great though. She slept the whole way from Charleston to Detroit. Once we got to Detroit, we got delayed and eventually realized we were going to miss our connection in Indianapolis. So, Nancy got off the plane and asked what our options were. The gate agent found a direct flight from Detroit to Austin that would get us home about an hour later than we were originally scheduled. But they only had 2 seats left...and they were first class!

Well, by this point in the trip, Brooklynn was a seasoned flyer, so she was ready for the upgrade to first class. She greeted everyone has they walked on the plane and made them feel welcome.

Once everyone was on board, she got comfortable in the plush leather seats. It's so roomy in first class.


Of course, Brooklynn fell victim to the classic rookie first class mistake. When the drinks are free, you've got to pace yourself...


We made it back safely and we were so proud of Brooklynn. Grandma Coco was there to pick us up and Brooklynn was excited to see a familiar face again.

5 Months

What an adventure Brooklynn had leading up to her 5 month birthday.  Nancy and I made plans to visit some close friends of hers that she knew while she lived in Charleston, SC.  Nancy hadn't been back to Charleston since a few months prior to our wedding and I had never been at all.  This would be Brooklynn's first airplane ride and we had no idea what to expect.

The route we ended up with was not what we would have chosen, but due to the rising airline costs, there was a big price savings if we flew to Indianapolis first, then to Detroit before finally heading down to Charleston.  3 takeoffs and 3 landings for Brooklynn's first flight was going to be a test by fire.  Brooklynn took it all in stride.  For those of you that spend a lot of time with her, this probably doesn't come to much of a surprise.  She often just goes with the flow and quickly adapts to her changing environment.  Plus, she's a complete ham to anyone that shows her attention, so the more new faces on the planes and airports there were, the better.

We left Austin at 2:00 p.m. CDT on Tuesday for our first leg of the trip.  Once we were in Indianapolis, we were able to visit with my Mom for about a half an hour or so. 

Our next leg was a very short flight which left us with an hour and a half layover in Detroit. After having some dinner, we left Detroit around 9:40 p.m. EDT and made it into Charleston just  a little before midnight.  Brooklynn slept most of the way on the third leg since this was around her normal bedtime.  Once we finally landed in Charleston, we felt so relieved that we weren't that family with the screaming baby on the flights.  Of course, I guess there's always a chance on the way back!

Today, we went to the beach and Brooklynn got to see and feel the ocean and sand for the first time.  I always think it's messy to go to the beach and you get sand everywhere.  Well, my experiences are nothing compared to bringing a baby to the beach.  Talk about sand everywhere!  And it's not as easy to clean her up as it is yourself.  Fortunately, the pictures make it look like it was no trouble at all and it did capture the enjoyment of watching Brooklynn see everything for the first time.  It makes you wonder what she must be thinking..."This is the biggest bath tub I've ever seen!"

By the end of the day, the sun and activities wiped everyone out.  Brooklynn was the first to go.

But on the ride back, she was quick to tell us that she gives Charleston two feet up!