happy birthday brookie

last week brooke turned 5. five is such a big birthday. it marks the beginning of the academic career. and once they get into school the time flys so fast! it still seems like yesterday to me that brendan started school and he's in fifth grade this year. so in many ways i was dreading this birthday. i don't like that my kids are growing up so fast.

to keep the blog birthday tradition going, here's our little birth story (minuses all the gory details)brooke was a little bit of a surprise. i got a new promotion at work and found out i was expecting all in the same month. it was crazy! i was sure that i wouldn't be able to work after i had her but the thought of giving up the career that i had worked so hard at was a big decision. and working while pregnant is just not a fun thing to do. running to the bathroom to puke, hoping that whoever was in the stall next to me wouldn't recognize my shoes, trying not to fall asleep at my desk fifty times a day, trying not to take my raging hormones out on everyone in fits that would have resembled a two year old tantrum. and of course there's the whole "i'm pregnant so my brain is on vacation" issue. it was a great time those last few months. i have to say that i prefer being at home, having kids running around and screaming to working in the office while pregnant any day ;) but we made it through and she was so precious!


as far as labors go, her's was the easiest out of all the kids. the only complication we had was that the epidural would only take on one side for awhile. i learned during that time that natural birth is not something i am interested in. bring on the drugs baby!! the funniest part of her delivery is that in the packing bags for the other two kids in the middle of the night i forgot shoes. so brendan had to wear a pair of cowboy boots that belonged to my friend amy's girl. i felt so silly when she told me what happened. how could i forget the shoes?!? he of course didn't care one bit.

for the first several months brooke's hair stood up all the time. one of my friends dubbed her the fraggle rock baby. and it was so fitting. her hair was insanely crazy. and we totally stole her name from my friend michelle. larry and i just couldn't agree on anything and she told me she had always loved the name brookelyn. i immediately fell in love with it and asked her permission to use it since they were not going to have anymore kids. her full name is brookelyn paige and my brother in law teased us stating that she was the only baby he knew of that all three names were a noun. so true. i didn't even think of it. but even if i had, i wouldn't have changed it. i love her name.

she was a very happy and content baby. but when she did get mad - look out! i guess that was a prelude of things to come. but we love brooke so much. she brings joy to our lives everyday and we are so grateful to have her in our family.

we need a puppy

lily loves, loves, LOVES dogs. big dogs, little dogs, yippy dogs, calm dogs ~ she loves them all. and everytime we go to the park there is at least one dog there. which means lily spends most of her park time trying to pet the dog. usually i try to run interference because strange dogs make me nervous. but the other day we were at the park and this sweet little retriever was there. i even got a few pets in myself. what a sweetie she was. she even smiled for the picture!

silly sentiment

i love hand me downs. when it's time to break into a new bin the excitement hits almost like it's christmas. so many treasures to behold! outfits that i loved but had forgotten existed until my hands pull them out of their hibernation place. each article overflowing with fond memories, anxious to make new ones. one of my favorite hand me downs is this outfit that my mom bought for bella when she was just a wee little one.

i don't know what it is about this particular outfit, but i love it so much. i think i appreciate the sporty\casual look. the comfort it provides to the little one wearing it. the snappy blue, yellow color combination. it's charm is a mystery but i have to say that i shed a little tear the other day when i realized that it's time to pack it away forever because it's just a smidgy too small. so goodbye to you, you have served us well and provided us with many wonderful memories.

look what i found

on my counter.

hmmmm..... i wonder which girl this belongs too?? after interrogation it turns out that brooke snipped a little bit of lily's hair. thankfully she had a little pony in at the time so this piece of hair came from underneath. when her hair is down you can't even tell it's been cut. i think that brooke has a future in hair design though because she is very fascinated with cutting hair. after cleaning up the infamous hair i stepped on this little guy.
he is very squishy so when i stepped on him i jumped and screamed providing everyone with some entertainment. it's good to start your day out with a laugh.

snow day part 2

the snow is done falling and this is the accumulation we received. not as much as i would have liked, but still enough to slow things down for a day or so. although i did feel really bad for larry who was in the springs yesterday and had to battle traffic for over 4 hours to get home. not a fun trip for him. since the sun is shinning this morning the kids are dying to go out and play in the snow, but it's bitter cold so i'm not sure that is going to work out so well for them! at the moment i am content to just bundle up inside. but i'm sure by later this morning cabin fever will hit and i'll be forging out into the snow.

snow day

apparently we are under a blizzard warning today so the schools are closed. wish i would have known it was a snow day BEFORE i woke brendan up for school. the funny part is that at the moment it's not snowing at all and it's just a light dusting on the ground. so i thought it would be fun to take a picture now and then one at the same angle later today to see how much we actually get. i have to say that i'm a little sad the schools are closed. brendan was invited to sing in a special choir and the concert was scheduled for tonight. we have all been really excited. oh well, they will reschedule it. maybe it will be while larry's parents are here next week. that would be really cool. anyway, stay tuned for a blizzard update!!

a trip back in time....

today brooke's preschool went on a field trip to the transportation museum and for once i was able to go (thanks angie and jami for helping me out). we had such a good time. it's amazing to look around and really ponder how much transportation has evolved in the last 100 years. i don't think that i would have enjoyed some of the earlier forms. such as the wooden train cars and the stage coach's that just looked so unbearably lacking in comfort and hot. the saddest thing we saw was a little white horse drawn hearse with small windows meant to carry children. i think the scariest was an early school bus fashioned much like an old milk truck. i can't even imagine sending my kiddos off to school in that thing!! i took a few pictures, but the lighting was pretty bad so only a few are really worth posting.

the kids enjoyed the museum so much! they couldn't climb\touch everything but they were able to climb onto a lot of it and push buttons without anyone telling them to stop!! every kids dream!! this was a model t and they had period clothing that the kids could put on and pretend to drive.
i love this picture because brooke and her friend torri are smiling at each other under the brims of their hats.


this old fire truck was amazing to me. i can't even imagine trying to fight a fire effectively with it. especially when you compare it to the modern day ones. huge difference!

and this sheriff's car was great!! it reminded me so much of the andy griffith show which i loved as a kid!

brooke and i standing by the wheel of a train. it's amazing how big and tall they are.