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!