Christmas

Christmas this year was very different for the sole reason of not having our mom there, but we made the best of it and cherished the time spent with family. Collin and I took off to spend a few days in Spearman celebrating Christmas with his family, and then came back to Fort Worth to celebrate with my family. There is always so much hype around the holidays that they seem to come and go way too fast, but I am very lucky to be on maternity leave this year and soaked up every bit of the holiday time. I am dreading next year when I only get a couple days off work to spend with our little girl. I have loved every minute of it!

 

I love holiday jammies!!

Collin and I decided to take Brooklyn to get her picture with Santa. Clearly all for us.. she had no clue... but she did NOT like anyone else holding her that night. I love classic pictures like this!

She has been so strong with her neck lately, so we couldn't help but try out this bumbo chair. She did pretty good!

Collin found all his toy cars in Spearman. He lined up all of his corvettes.. haha!

Again, I love holiday jammies!

 Christmas Eve dinner at Copeland's!

 

The boys trying to comfort Brooke :)

She has just recently started to notice toys and loves to stare and touch them!

Big helpers loved feeding Brooklyn!

Christmas at my dad's!

 

It's hard to describe the worst year of my life when my biggest blessing was born this year, but 2014 was just plain awful in many ways. I thank God everyday for our daughter and she is everything to us, but the loss we experienced this year has weighed heavy on my heart. During my challenging days with Brooklyn, there's nothing more I want than to hear my mom's advice, or just hear her say I'm doing a good job. I want to be able to send her pictures and tell her all the silly things Brooklyn does. I am thankful for my family and friends who have been amazing this year and love Brooklyn just like my mom would.

Here's to 2015 bringing joy and laughter back into our lives. There is no doubt it will as we watch our little girl grow. She is our miracle.

 

 

One Month

Where has the time gone?! Our little girl is already a month old. She has been such a little joy!

At one month she is 9 lbs 1oz (42%), 22 inches long (85%), and head circumference is 14.75in (76%). She has been eating 3 ounces every 3 hours, and will even go a good 5 hour stretch at night for us! She has been a good sleeper pretty much since day one (knock on wood!). She will wake up, eat for about 20 min and go right back to sleep without a fuss. Her days are a bit more challenging though. She loves to be held all the time and will start crying as soon as I put her down. I don't mind it most of the time! :) She is about 50/50 when we are out and about running errands. Sometimes she will be a trooper and sometimes she will cry so loud in the back seat that I end up just heading home.

She absolutely hates being naked. Diaper changes and bath time are a major scream fest! She has to get naked at all her doctors appointments to be weighed, so she has yet to make it through an appointment without crying! She had her one month appointment today and took her shot like a champ. She just whimpered a little after she realized what happened. Her whole body turns red when she really gets worked up!!

She is a strong little girl and does really well with trying to hold her head up. She can hold it up for a little while and then she will try to throw it back or it will fall to a side. She tries to wiggle herself from her back to her side!

She has the sweetest little coo's while she is eating, and every once in a while we will get a little smile when she is sleeping. It's the cutest thing!! I cannot wait until she is interacting a little more with Collin and I and will smile and laugh. There is no doubt that her first smile will come from all the silly faces her daddy makes at her!

She is the light of our lives right now and we love watching her grow everyday!

Here are a few newborn pictures. She was 10 days old in these! :)

Her first Thanksgiving!

Gaylord for Dinner. It was decorated so nice for Christmas!

Big one month girl!!

This mean muggin' look cracks me up!

Nathan came to visit Brooke when she was a week old! I can't wait to watch these two grow up!

A fussy picture just for good measure ;)

One of her sleep smiles. I cannot wait for a real smile!!

Brooke pee's almost every time we change her diaper without using a wipe from the wipe warmer. We realized real quick we needed to buy one because of this. We always put a diaper down underneath when changing her, but it was super early and I wasn't thinking. She peed all over our bed!! Don't mind the her flailing around in this picture. Ha! I had to quickly move her out of her own pee!

Visiting Dad at work!

She loves looking at the lights on the Christmas tree

Look at that belly!!

Brooke's "group shot" with her cousins at The Galleria!

After her shot at the doctors. Poor girl! :(

We love you so much, Brooklyn! Watching you grow is the best thing we have ever experienced!

Thanksgiving

I stole this from a blog I occasionally follow. This is a short message from Pastor Rick Warren that I hope sticks with you as it did me.

"Thanksgiving is a difficult holiday for many.

How can you be thankful when your doctor says it’s cancer? How can you feel grateful when the one you love just walked out of your life? Or when you’ve been fired, or your dream has collapsed, or an economic tsunami has wiped out all you’ve worked for?

This year became the worst year of my life when my youngest son, who’d struggled since childhood with mental illness, took his own life. How am I supposed be thankful this Thanksgiving? When your heart’s been ripped apart, you feel numb, not grateful.

And yet the Bible tells us “Give thanks IN ALL circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” The key is the word “in.” God doesn’t expect me to be thankful FOR all circumstance, but IN all circumstances. There’s a huge difference. The first attitude is masochism. The second shows maturity. We’re not supposed to be thankful for evil or sin, or the innocent suffering caused by these things. But even in heartache and grief and disappointment, there are still good things that I can be thankful for.

I used to think that life was a series of mountain highs and valley lows, but actually we get both at the same time. In our world broken by sin, the good and the bad come together. On the cover of my wife’s book, Choose Joy, is a photo of a railroad track heading into the horizon. Like that photo, our lives are always running on two parallel rails simultaneously. No matter how good things are in my life, there are always problems I must deal with, and no matter how bad things are in my life, there are always blessings I can be grateful for.

So what am I thankful for this Thanksgiving?

I’m thankful that although life is not always good, God is always good. Having had a close friendship with him for nearly 50 years, I know without a doubt that God sees all I go through, he cares, he grieves with me, he is close and his strength is available at all times.

I’m thankful that even though I don’t have all the answers, God does. In tragedy we seek explanations, but explanations never comfort. It is God’s presence that eases our pain.

I’m thankful that this life is not all there is. It’s not the end of the story. One day God will right all wrongs, even the odds and settle all accounts. Justice will be served. Evil will not win.

I’m thankful for the hope of heaven. I won’t have to live with pain forever. In heaven, there are no broken relationships, broken minds, broken bodies, broken dreams or broken promises. The Bible tells us, “God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.”

I’m thankful that God can bring good even out of the bad in my life, when I give him the pieces. It’s his specialty. God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections, and then benefit the whole world. God never wastes a hurt if we give it to him.

Itzhak Pearlman once broke a string at the start of a Lincoln Center recital. Rather than replacing it, he played the entire concert with a broken instrument. At the end he said, “Sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.” That kind of humility honors God. This Thanksgiving, don’t dwell on what’s lost, but on what’s left." 

Brooke's First Week

Our first week at home with Brooke has been amazing! We have been spoiled by family with lots of food and plenty of visitors. We are loving every second of it and will never turn down a chance to show her off! We couldn't be more proud!

Overall, she is a pretty calm baby. She mostly sleeps through out the day, and we never know what we are going to get at night! So far, we will get one good night where we will wake her up to feed, change her diaper, and she's right back to sleep, or she will have a hard time falling into a deep sleep and keep us up most of the night! It's safe to say she is a little night owl right now. She absolutely hates getting her diaper changed and being naked. She screams and screams and calms down as soon as we are done. I don't like being cold either, so I don't blame her! :) She loves to be cuddled and held, and of course we can't get enough of that!

Here are some (A LOT ) pictures of our first week!

These sweet girls made Brooke a welcome home sign!

 

Not a fan of her first bath!

 

  ...but she sure looks cute all wrapped up!!

Her first time coming home!

Poor girl had to go back to the hospital for a blood sample to check her jaundice levels. She is just fine, though! Slept right through the heel prick!

This tired little face melts me

 A little nail grooming with daddy!

This first week has been such a whirlwind of emotion. We love you so much little Brooklyn.