Updates

Brooke has finally got two more teeth to make a total of 4. Her two bottom teeth popped up in December and she has been a two teeth girl until now. Her upper incisor teeth have just popped through the gums, which kinda looks funny because her two big front teeth have yet to make their appearance. I don't think they are far behind because you can see the bulges underneath the gums. She only had a few fussy nights with these teeth.

She has also hit a growth spurt in the last couple of weeks and is starting to outgrow her 12 month clothes. When I weighed her tonight she weighed 18.2 lbs on our home scale, which is a pound more than at her 12 month check up.

She has also gotten a lot better at walking and prefers it to crawling. She can go from sitting to standing without help. She still walks with her hands in the air. She loves to babble all the time.
It is funny to listen to her. It is like she is telling herself a story and she will read books in her language. It is so cute to watch. Her new fascination is telephones. She loves to pick them up and babble, but if someone is actually on the other line then she is silent. I think I have a future talker on my hands. She is also discovering everything that she can get into.

Ryan did sign a contract with the Diagnostic Surgeon group in Longview. He will be starting in August. We are very excited to be moving closer to family. The hunt is on for a house in Longview, while at the same time putting our house in Arlington up for sale. It is a lot of work getting a house ready, but I hope to be done by the end of this week. We are very thankful for all the help we have gotten from family.

Last Saturday was a gorgeous day outside, so I captured some video of Brooke playing with her ball in the backyard.



On Monday, Ryan was post call, which means he came home at noon and we decided to take advantage of the nice weather a go to the zoo. It was a wonderful afternoon and Brooke had a blast. She was very interested in all the animals that were moving and liked the parakeet cage the best. We have some video of her with the parakeets. She got so excited that she was actually foaming at the mouth! We gave her a seed stick, but instead of trying to hold it for the birds to eat she tried to feed it to another girl her same size. It was funny. I just love all her squeals of excitement when she sees animals.


The lion posing nicely for a picture.


The tiger showing his teeth!


Brooke walking at the zoo.


The rarely seen Cheetah.

Easter Egg Hunt

Today our church hosted their annual Easter Egg Hunt/Picnic. There was a bounce house, petting zoo, arts/crafts station, and a band. Brooke's favorite part was the petting zoo. As soon as she spotted the animals she let out a loud squeal and squirmed to be put down. They had goats, lambs, bunnies, chicks, puppies, turtles, ducks, and baby pigs. She loved every animal. I got some video of her. It was really crowded, but just listen for her squeals of excitement. The second video is of her during the Easter egg hunt. She did very well and was putting the eggs she picked up in the basket. Sorry, the video is a little close up, but unfortunately Ryan was not able to come (he was on call today) and I couldn't back up far enough to get a good video.


Petting zoo


Egg hunt

1st swim lesson

Brooke had her first swim lesson today, even though it was 40 degrees outside with wind gust of 30 mph! At least, it is a heated indoor pool. She was a bit overwhelmed when we first started to get in the pool and had a worried look on her face. We sang a couple of songs and spun our babies around and she started to get a little more comfortable. I think she will end up liking it, but it may take a few more classes. Aunt Stacy was able to come with us and take some pictures.

The Big Surprise....

Wait for it........


















I am currently 13 weeks pregnant with a due date of 9/24/10. I feel great and actually didn't know I was as far along as I was when I visited the doctor. We went to the doctor to confirm the Friday before last. I was expecting to find out that I was only 6 weeks pregnant and it turns out that I was 11! Ryan and Brooke were able to go with me to the visit and see the ultrasound. It was a very special. We were thrilled to find out that we were positively pregnant and everything looks great so far. We could see the 4 chambers of the heart, spine, hands, fingers, and feet. In 7 weeks or so we will find out the sex. Brooke and her sibling will be 19 1/2 months apart. I am glad that our kids will be close in age. I bought the onsie above to break the news to family members this past weekend while we were in Longview. It was a great surprise and I hope that this pregnancy is as safe and healthy as Brooke's!

We also started our search for a home in Longview this past Saturday. We plan on moving back in June/July, but we wanted to have plenty of time to search.
We are also trying get our own house in shape to be put on the market. It is a lot of work, but at least there is a lot of family close by that is helping us. We are very grateful for all the help in getting our house ready!

On Sunday, my mom, Brooke and I went to Mrs. Lee's daffodil gardens located in Gladewater. Ryan nor I had ever heard about this before, but it is a paradise of daffodils. She started planting the daffodils in the 1950's after her husband had passed. After her death in the 1980's, at her request the gardens were open to the public. Every spring you can come and view the beautiful daffodils. I highly recommend it if you are in town. Here are a few pictures we captured of Brooke in the gardens.

13 months

I can't believe that Brooke is already over 1yr old! She also has known how to walk for a while. She would walk between Ryan and me for several steps. She had let go of a toy and walked a couple of steps to another object, but that was all. Today she officially started walking! She was letting go of toys and walking with to something completely across the room. She was very good at walking while holding on to a finger. I was walking and letting her hold on to my finger past the back door when she just let go on her own and walked to the back door to look for Sam in the backyard. We captured a couple of videos this evening of her momentous milestone!





Brooke petting the dog. Sam does very well around her and he is tolerating a lot more than I thought he would.




Brooke walking all on her own!

1st plane ride

Sorry, this post has taken me so long to update. We took our first plane trip to Park City, UT during the last week of February. It was us and Ryan's parents that went. Brooke did great on the plane despite being sick. The week before we left the doctor picked up an ear infection at her 1 yr visit and started her on some Omnicef. The night before we left I spent 3 hrs in the emergency clinic with Brooke because she was running a fever and had developed a productive cough while still on the Omnicef. They tested her for flu and RSV and both were negative, so the doctor decided to start her on azithromycin. She didn't sleep well that night, so I was worried about the plane ride. She actually did very well and slept most of the ride. Once we got there we had a car shuttle drive us to our condo from the airport and the carseat they provided was a forward facing one. This was the first time Brooke got to sit in a front facing seat. She loved it. The condo we rented was very nice. Unfortunately we didn't think to take pictures. It was a three level condo with a bedroom on each level and a loft area that had bunk beds. The owners provided a crib and highchair, which is what attracted us to the condo because that meant less stuff we had to take. Our first day skiing was at Park City and I signed Brooke up for this drop in daycare place right across from the lifts. It was a neat place. Brooke had jet lag and slept most of the time she was there. I ended my day a little after lunch, so Brooke didn't have to stay all day. The next day we went to The Canyons to ski. Brooke stayed at the resort daycare located at the base of the Gondola. It was a really nice place. I called in at lunch to check on her and they said she was doing fine. Just as I was finishing eating they called and said she had vomited and I needed to pick her up. I tried explaining to them that she vomits all the time. (Most days of the week she is changed in different clothes when I pick her up from daycare because she vomits. Her daycare in Arlington doesn't even call me anymore when she does it because they know she is prone to vomiting.) I tried explaining this to that daycare, but they said it was their policy and I had to pick her up. I was a little disappointed because it was sunny and the snow was great that day! (By the way, her doctor started her back on Prevacid at her 1yr visit because of this problem and he said if it isn't resolved by her next visit then we will take the next step, which is referring us to a gastroenterologist.) The next two days we skied at Deer Valley. Brooke stayed at their resort daycare, which was very nice and extremely organized. I had to have my hand stamped with a stamp that is only visible under UV light and then I was let through a locked door and down a hallway full of staff to her little tots room. All of the workers were very kind and there was plenty of toys and activities for her. We had a great ski trip and I am really glad we got to take one this year.

Brooke did not like getting dressed in her snow suit.
She started to get upset by even the sight of it towards the end of the week.

Brooke enjoys wearing her food. Here she is sporting a cereal banana hairdo!

Is this supposed to be fun?

Dad trying to convince her that snow is fun. Maybe next year she will get the concept.

She liked the sled when it was moving.