8 months + week review

this week, my tiny baby turned eight months old. holy cow she is growing like a weed. she changes every day. this week she had three teeth pop through. nightmare. and it also makes me so sad. once they get those teeth and that gummy smile disappears... they're basically teenagers. seriously makes me sad. kendall is straight faced, but also quick to smile. she is tender hearted but she is tough. she loves her big sister more than anything else and screams when she is not in her sight. she loves to cuddle her mommy while she falls to sleep. which is cute, but also means she is sleeping with us. i can't help it you guys! she has chub everywhere and it pains me to see her become so mobile. she army crawls everywhere and i can see her slimming out right before my eyes. oh this girl is something else. i kiss on her all day and hate being without her.

story time on thursday rocked. it's usually packed with children, but we lucked out and only had a few other kids show up. it was so much easier for brooklyn to sit and pay attention. she learned all about chinese new year and was obsessed the rest of the week. 

kendall even sat for a good five solid minutes and listened to the books.

we lucked out a few hours later and were joined by whit and her kids, chelsea and ellie, and kayla at the park. we loved it! brooklyn has been wanting livi to come to our house and play for weeks! i think they all had fun, and i loved being able to hang out with my sistas!

late friday afternoon, james and i tackled our taxes. it really wasn't bad and it didn't take as long as i thought it would. kendall slept and we kept brooklyn busy with her art kit she got for christmas (thanks nana!). she did this for hours! 

saturday, i made pancakes for breakfast and then james helped me get some major cleaning and organizing done. then i got my bum to the gym and got my best 3 mile time yet. like i've said, i'm not a runner, but dang that felt good. we ran a few errands later in the afternoon, and jeremy and ellie came over to hang out with us. we loved it. james let me go to the adult session of our stake conference while he watched the girls. it was bliss. i wore my favorite boden dress (cause i knew i wouldn't be nursing a baby. i miss dresses!), and took notes through the whole session. definitely a good little break for me! when i got home, james and jeremy went and got us all shakes from nielsen's and our favorite neighbor lee came over to visit for a little bit. it was so good to see him!

we had a lot of time to kill before stake conference (at 2) so we slept in a little, caught up on downton, and ate lunch. we got ready in between all of that headed out the door on time! 

i wanted to get a picture of the girls before we left but brooklyn was hooked on a movie with her daddy. so keni took some with me.

brooklyn was more than happy to pose once we got to the bountiful regional center.

then, during the opening prayer, she zonked out! she stayed asleep for the whole two hours.

kendall also fell asleep for the first forty minutes. 

we were happy parents! it was nice to sit and listen for the first little bit.

then, kendall woke up. james and i took turns taking her out and walking around with her. little dickens. back at home we did some relaxing, a little more organizing, and lots of cereal eating. we were content with a low key evening. i needed it!

we have a lot to look forward to this coming week. we're hoping for some sunny weather so we can have a few park days. james' car is in the shop so we'll be carless tomorrow. i'm hoping that will motivate me to get all my laundry done, folded, AND put away. i can do it!

h a p p y  m o n d a y !

"This is the best thing Ever!" -Brooklyn

"This is the best thing EVER!" -Brooklyn

VIDEO- Brooklyn Flying Her First Kite- Easter 2014

sand + park

oh this weather we're having! oh man. it's happy, bright, and honestly exhausting me to my core. who knows. at least i was happy and tired right? 

brooklyn got to play with her favorite neighbor friends, and go to the park twice. twice. she was in heaven. mostly though, she wanted to play in the sand. i think she went down the slide four times and the rest of the time, she wanted to 'build sand castles'. oh that girl.

before her daddy came to the rescue with an ice scraper, she patiently used a plastic spoon to dig in the sand. spoonful by spoonful, she filled that bucket half way with sand. she was so proud of herself.

(yes, she did have a little outfit change. too much sand the first time.)

when james arrived, he took over as park-watch-parent and i headed home to make dinner. we scarfed down our fajitas and then snuggled up on the couch to enjoy a show together. it was so nice. i love nights like these. and days.

parks + being sick

after a rough night, i wasn't sure yesterday was going to be a good day. brooklyn got a really nice cold before bed and did not sleep well. neither did her mommy or daddy. no bueno. but to my surprise she acted happy when she woke up. asked for one of her usual breakfasts and then asked to get in the tub. 

i obliged. we love tub time.

i checked the temperature of our place of residence and deemed it warm enough to go to the park for a quick swing and slide. brooklyn was stoked. she could hardly stay upright as she ran clumsily for the swing. sadly, it was taken (there's only one baby swing. the nerve.) so she explored the slides and other playground equipment her mother says is ok for her. 

this sign let us know something crazy must have happened there the night before. the tunnel was cracked right through the bottom. yikes. 

history was made at that park on that slightly warm day... brooklyn went down the big twirly slide all by herself. she talked herself into for five minutes. the reward? to swing. that girl will do anything to swing. so she braved the death defying slide (not really). got down and ran straight for the swing with my laughing all the way behind her. funniest thing ever. 

we stayed along enough until it was time to meet james for lunch and a little shopping. i would call it a success. these cuties below got to come home with me because they were on for a killer deal. i love them dearly.

after kissing our husband/daddy goodbye, the day kind of just got worse. brooklyn cried all the way home. she was tired and she couldn't breathe due to her nose being stuffy. poor thing. 

we got home, snuggled up in blankets, put on a movie, and brooklyn fell asleep. i got a few things done and a little bit more of my book read and then her short lived nap was over. she was sad, and feverish. i tried to feed her some yummy hot food, but she wasn't really having it. i really wanted her to eat so i bribed her with a cookie. it worked. she forgot about the cookie too. i took her outside bundled up in her blanket and we read some stories. the sun kind of zapped her out of her sick funk. 

she was happy for about an hour.

james got home, she was happy again, and then we started preparing dinner. james grilled asparagus and fish on the grill and i baked the potatoes. a nice simple, light dinner. heaven knows we needed it. nice and light. 

brooklyn then turned ornery sick again, just in time for james to leave for a church meeting. blah. i kept her busy with stickers. it seems to be her craft of choice these days. the stickers become body art. she'd leave them all on all day if i let her.

it was a lot of nose wiping-sticker sticking-book reading while james was gone.

here's how the night ended..

james and i both getting distracted doing our own things and brooklyn doing this...

h a p p y  t h u r s d a y 

parks.

park day. that's what we deemed our day yesterday. it was full of sunshine, parks, sand in our shoes, a long nap for brooklyn, and a nice day of relaxation for me. it was a perfect spring day. even though the parks were crowded, due to spring break, brooklyn had a blast and i thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine and watching brooklyn explore and look like such a big kid.

we hit two parks before her nap. we even got some cookies at cutler's and then called it a good first half of the day. brooklyn kindly allowed me to put her to sleep while we watched les mis and then once her eyes were shut, i headed outside to my "brooklyn's taking a nap so i'll take my books/phone calls/to do's/sun bathing office". yep. my office in the sunshine. gosh it was nice. as much as i enjoyed the alone time, i couldn't wait for brooklyn to wake up and come outside with me to enjoy the sunshine. 

she did.

two hours later.

girl was tired.

so she ate some of her lunch out on the tramp with me (it's not my office anymore once she's awake. it becomes the tramp again. got it?. k good.). in just her diaper and a onesie, this girl was happy happy.

she rolled around that tramp and cuddled on my lap for a good half hour while she ate that tiny little granola bar... and i may have had a few bites too, nonetheless, she takes forever to eat. but who could blame her. she probably thought that when she was finished, her mean mom would make her go inside. not the case my darling daughter. we stayed outside for most of the day.

and when james got home, we quickly had our dinner of turkey burgers and baked beans, and raced out the door to enjoy the last few hours of light.

brooklyn insisted on getting in her 'ween', so james hooked it up and let her relax in there before we hit up the last park of the day.

she loves her 'ween'.

the air turned very chilly while we were exploring the last park. we hurried to do and see what we wanted so that we could jump in the warm car and head home. brooklyn really could've stayed there all night. she loves to be outside. what kid doesn't? won't she be sad when she finds out she has to go to the dentist today before she gets to step foot on a playground. but maybe, just maybe, that visit to the dentist will earn her a popsicle... a sugar free one. eh, who are we kiddin'... a good ol fashioned popsicle! if... she's good at the dentist.

the favorite.

meet willard.

brooklyn's most favorite and prized possession in the world.

willard is a lawn ornament.

but he makes her more happy than anything else.

she loves to take willard wherever she goes.

the tramp.

inside for a snack.

on the couch for story time.

every.where.

her molars are still making her life miserable though. even willard can't make that all the way better. yesterday she did a lot of cuddling and even more whining. hard to be too mad at her when she just wants to cuddle with her mama. i'll take that any day.

the night ended with a trip to our new library to get library cards. i was feeling naked without one. can't wait to put it to good use. 

then, we stopped by the park for a quick swing. fun swinging. not fun to make this girl leave the park. she obviously had much more playing she wanted to do. it's a rough life. growing molars and leaving parks early and all.