Well, I'm a little behind, but with the update I need to do, I knew I'd need to have lots of time for it! :) Wow, we had such a wonderful Christmas. It was so full of family, fun, joy, and laughter. It's so exciting to Ryan and I that this is just the start of many wonderful family Christmases!
On Christmas Eve morning, we drove out bright and early to meet Ryan's parents, and his brother and sister, at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and a present exchange! :) Even though we'd be spending Christmas at home, it was really great to be able to see them, and exchange gifts in person. They were very, very generous gift givers, and aside from the gifts for us, they got Brooke the most adorable rocking horse you've ever seen, (it makes realistic neighing and galloping sounds, and shakes it's head and tail!) along with a personalized "Brooke" frame, and a Raggedy Anne doll. Her Uncle Jamin got her a pink Care Bear, and her Aunt Kendra got her an outfit, shoes, tights, and a baby doll with it's own stuffed horse.
My parents offered to watch Brooke while Ryan and I went to the Christmas Eve service with my brother. Even though it was just a two hour break, it was kind of nice to have some time as "just us!" :) We spent the rest of the evening at their house, and opened gifts around the Christmas tree with Christmas music playing in the background. We've opened gifts on Christmas Eve since my brother and I were in our teens, (a "right of passage" of sorts so that we could sleep in on Christmas morning) and it's definitely a tradition that I look forward to! :)
My parents were also extremely generous this year! Our big gifts were a Canon SD900 Elph for me, (which is amazing!!) and a 6-piece cordless tool set for Ryan. We got many wonderful gifts in addition to that, including movies, Harris Teeter gift cards, (our local grocery store) Starbucks cards, and even a certificate for a pedicure, (!!!!) but quite possibly my favorite gift, in addition to the camera, were 36 DVDs that my parents transferred ALL of our old home videos onto! My brother and I each got a set. I cannot even tell you how precious they are to me!
Brooke really made out like a bandit! In addition to the gifts she got from Ryan's side, my parents got her a tumble top ball popper, a play cell phone, (they don't make the rotary ones we had as kids anymore!) a Pooh bear, an outfit, and a set of fun bath toys! Her Uncle Daniel also got her a Leap Frog Barn Yard Animals toy.
Christmas morning was spent at home. Ryan and I got up at 7, before Brooke was awake, and exchanged our gifts to each other. It was really special to be able to have that time just for us. Once Brooke woke up at 8, I brought her downstairs so she could open up her big gift from us. (this is probably the only year where one gift worth $25 will be plenty for her!) We got her the Fisher Price Amazing Animals Sing-N-Go Choo Choo, which is so adorable! She loves the animals, and likes to watch it light up and sing.
Christmas dinner was at 3:00 at my parents house, and we had a house full of people! My Aunt Karen's and Aunt Lynne's whole families were there, including spouses. It was wonderful! I have lots of pictures to share, so here we go...
Christmas Eve -
Beautiful Brooke!
Opening up her bath toy set!
Ryan opening up one of his gifts..
Brooke's tumble top toy :) She LOVES this thing
Ryan opening his White Christmas DVD
My brand new Canon SD900 Elph!!!!
Brooke's Leap Frog Barn Yard animals toy from her Uncle Daniel!
Secret Santa -
Some of the Xanga girls, Becky, Amanda, Tiff, Megan and I did a Secret Santa gift exchange this year! We had a $20 limit, and had Becky's hubby, Casey, draw names and distribute e-mails to let us know which person we had. I got Amanda! (see her super cute post about opening her gift HERE) Becky was my Secret Santa, and she got me two beautiful photo albums, and a fabulous lip gloss!! Thank you, Becky!! :)
Christmas Morning -
First time trying out my new camera.. here's our tree! Notice all of Brooke's stuff on the left?!?!
I have my new American Eagle cami from Ryan on! :) He also got me matching sweatpants with a pink eagle applique
Ryan's new electric razor :)
New pink slippers with Scottie dogs on them!
New pink boots to replace my old ones! Yes, I love pink :)
Christmas Day -
One last diaper change before everyone arrives!
Aunt Karen holding Brooke ~
The cousins' table--11 of us, including spouses :)
Brooke with her Uncle Daniel.. SO cute!
Cousin Stephanie holding Brooke :)
Our family of three :) Brooke's first Christmas!
Our beautiful tree in the dark
Diet -
Ryan and I started a low carb diet a week before Christmas... and I lost 5 pounds the very first week! It wasn't easy at first, but seeing how much I lost was all the motivation I needed! We're still trying it out, but so far so good. I had hit a plateau with my weight, so seeing it drop was awesome! We definitely splurged a bit on Christmas, since it only comes once a year, but now we're back on it. I'll let you know how it continues to go.
Teething -
Brooke has been teething since the day before Christmas Eve, and it hasn't been pretty! You can actually see the outline of a tooth just under the gum line! She slept fitfully that first night, then did a little bit better the next night, and finally slept till 6:30 on Christmas Day, but last night was rough again. She was up at 1:00, then 6:30, and wound up sleeping till 9. I have a feeling that a night routine will pretty much be out the window till this tooth finally comes in! Poor baby girl. I've been giving her infant tylenol, and some orajel before bed to take the edge off, but it only works for so long.
Oh, and for whoever asked about what bottle works for Brooke--I honestly have no idea what it's called! It was a gift at one of my showers. It's not so much the bottle, but the bottle's nipple, that matters for her. The Dr. Brown ones have just a small hole, and she was getting frustrated with how slowly the milk came out, and how hard she had to work for it. So, I looked at the other bottles I had been given, and the one I liked (and she likes) has a top-to-bottom slit instead of a hole. That way, when she squeezes down on it, it opens up to a large hole, and the milk comes flowing out so much easier. Hope that helps! :)
Well, I think that's all that I wanted to update about! :) I have Brooke's portrait pictures I still need to post, along with some pictures from my old camera, (all of these were taken with the new one, and I still have a lot to figure out!) but I just don't have the time today. Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Christmas, and, if I somehow don't update till then, I hope you all have a fabulous New Year's! :)
It may be the most wonderful time of the year, (and absolutely my favorite, hands down) but it sure is also one of the busiest. :) At least I've managed to finish all of our Christmas shopping! I've been gone for a while now, but it was actually kind of a nice little break. I think I've been able to enjoy this time of year a little bit more without a computer. Imagine. :)
Brooke is getting bigger and is growing up so fast--it's unreal. She'll be 4 months old on Christmas day. 4 months! She laughs every day now (usually around bedtime) and LOVES to sit up. (supported by us, or in her BebePod chair--a wonderful early Christmas gift from her Grandmom!) She's little miss independent--likes to do big girl stuff. :) She gets so proud of herself when she does something on her own! She had lost most of the hair she was born with, which is common, and is now growing it all back pretty quickly. We were wondering if she may be a blondie, because her eyebrows and eyelashes were so light when she was born. They've darkened since then, though, and the hair coming in on her head is DARK brown, like her daddy's. :) Super cute. She looks exactly like I did as a baby, though. Exactly.
We're really looking forward to our first Christmas with Brooke. I've discovered there is nothing like enjoying Christmastime with a child! While Ryan and I definitely treasure our past Christmases together, Christmas as a family of three is proving to be way more fun! :) Knowing we will have this to look forward to for years to come is really exciting to me. Sharing this time of year with a child really makes you reminisce about Christmases as a kid, and figuring out what you want to pass on for your children to enjoy as you once did. :)
Well, before I go, I'll share a few pictures! I did get Brooke's portraits back, but I won't be posting those two until Christmas day. :) For now, here are a few from the past 3 1/2 weeks.
All snuggled up with her ducky--this one was taken the week after Thanksgiving
Tummy time on her Veggie Tales blanket --she loves the characters!
More tummy time! She had some dry skin, thus explaining the shiny Vasoline on her forehead :)
For this entire week I've been struggling to remember which day of the week it actually is. I thought yesterday was Monday, and today was Tuesday. The days, though eventful and different, do sort of all blend together. :)
Monday was our 2nd wedding anniversary! Can you believe it? Sure, that's not a long time, but I think we can safely say we've lasted longer than 99% of Hollywood marriages.
Two years seems so short; it feels like we've been married a lot longer than that. In a good way. ;-) This year's celebration was a lot different from last year's, (click for pictures!) when we went back to the winter ski resort we had honeymooned at, and found out a mere two days later that we were expecting Brooke. :) It's funny, because on your wedding day it's really hard to imagine that you could ever love your spouse more than you do on that very day. People tell you that you will, but it's hard to imagine. Now, though, I think back on what we knew about each other then, and think of how much we have learned since then and how we've grown together, and there's literally no comparison. Sure, we argue every now and then, (I prefer to call it, "discuss" :)) but marriages, like anything worthwhile, take a lot of effort.
I really am thankful that we took premarital counseling before getting married, because we still think about things we learned from it, and apply it to how we treat each other. Also, I think a big thing for us, since we're both stubborn, is being able and willing to say, "I'm sorry." So important! Nothing can diffuse an argument quicker than those two little words! You know how you can get into a "discussion," only to realize pretty early on that you are actually wrong, but your pride can keep you from admitting it? I don't know if anything can destroy a marriage quite as quickly as pride. Thing is, even if you don't think you're wrong, so what? I don't even remember who said it, but the question, "Would you rather be right or married?" is so powerful.
This year, we planned on having dinner at home, and then we were going to go out and get a drink before heading to the movie theater as JUST a married couple while my parents watched Brooke. Well... Brooke had other plans. :)
I dropped her off after her big nap, at 2:00, and ran errands. Ryan was able to get off work early, at 4:00, (something his last company NEVER would've let him do) and got home before my big dinner I had planned for 5:00. Well, my parents called to say that Brooke wouldn't take her bottle, after three separate tries. She was very, very hungry. We finished a dinner of almond-crusted chicken with butter and basil sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus, and white wine, then we had to pick her up. So much for the movies! On to Plan B. :) After picking her up, we picked up a movie from Blockbuster instead. It was still a great, memorable night! We didn't buy gifts, just exchanged (very, very sweet!) cards, didn't go out for dinner, (good thing, since Brooke needed us) and didn't make it to the movies. But you know what? It was a really fun night! Sometimes plans don't work, but it all turns out in the end.
It had been a little over a month since we last left Brooke, so she hadn't had a bottle since then. She never really had a problem with them. Thing is, she NEEDS to be able to take a bottle, or I'll never be able to leave her for more than 2 hours. So, it has been my mission these past couple of days to get her used to the bottle again. Yesterday wasn't pretty, and I only got her to take a whopping half an ounce, but it was a start. I tried a different bottle today, because she seemed to get frustrated with the Dr Brown ones we had been using with her. Not only did she not fuss, but she was actually happy about taking it! So, I think I discovered what the problem was. Thank goodness! I still plan on giving her one about once a week, just to ensure she's comfortable with taking them.
Pictures will come after I upload them over here. :) I have some cute ones to share! Hope you all are having a great week! :)
Nearly a week has passed since I last posted. Sad. All I want for Christmas is my computer to work again! I miss it.
We've had a very busy week! Wednesday, in particular, was especially exciting. For one, we woke up to find a dusting of SNOW covering everything! Best part was that it wasn't finished! It snowed for the entire day, and we ended up with about 3 inches of it. In early December!! That's pretty much unheard of here. It was beautiful! A tiny bit of it is still lingering...
The BEST part about Wednesday, though, was that Brooke LAUGHED! (3 months, 10 days old.) Oh. my. goodness. I was getting her ready for bedtime, and had her on our bed. Meanwhile, Ryan is laying behind her, and tosses up our red bed pillow. As he catches it, Brooke erupts into laughter! So he does it again. And again. And again. Each time he does it, she laughs! She has the most adorable little laugh. :) Sadly, she hasn't laughed since, but that's apparently not unusual. It will come. We were just lucky to get a sneak preview! :)
Today, the three of us headed out to the mall to do Christmas shopping, and have Brooke see SANTA for the very first time! It was particularly special because we went to the very same mall where I used to sit on Santa's lap when I was a little girl. :) Though, I have to say, they didn't have the same kind of enormous displays they have today when I used to see Santa! This year they had a "Snow Globes" theme, including a massive snowglobe you walk through that had snow-covered trees, little elves, an HD TV, other various decorations, and falling snow!
While we were waiting in line to see Santa, a girl walks over to us, and says, "A few girls and I work at Sephora, and we just think your baby is beautiful! I just wanted to come over and tell you that she's so gorgeous." :) How sweet was that?!
Thankfully, the timing worked out perfectly, and Brooke didn't cry and wasn't fussy. :) We got our shopping (mostly) done, too, which feels really great!
To officially kick off the beginning of December, the three of us decided to trek out to a beautiful Christmas tree farm, about forty minutes away, to choose and cut down our first family Christmas tree! Actually, it's our first real Christmas tree as a married couple. Last year, we weren't allowed to have a real Christmas tree in our apartment. (fire hazard, I suppose) The weather was chilly, and the air smelled delicious--absolutely perfect for Christmas tree hunting!
Once we made it to the farm, we set off in the direction of the fir trees. I was a total novice at this, so I had no idea that certain trees were planted in different places, spread out across the many acres of the farm. They had concolor firs, (some sort of hybrid, which looked pretty in pictures but not-so-much in real life) and douglas firs, which is what we ultimately chose. With 9 foot ceilings, we figured we'd pick out a tree that was roughly 7-8 feet tall, with enough room for a star on top. The one we decided on was perfect all the way around! Perfect height, very healthy looking--we were sold on it, so Ryan cut it down, and carted it back with us to the barn. They picked up our tree and stood it up against a measuring stick, and it measured---are you ready for this???--- 8 1/2 FEET! It definitely did not look that tall out in the field!
It's actually really funny for another reason, too. I'd only ever been Christmas tree hunting once in my life, which is a notorious event in my family. Here we had chosen a cute tree, and it seemed to be the perfect size, only for us to get it home and realize it was roughly 5 feet tall--barely taller than my brother and I. A real-life, Charlie Brown tree. :) But let me tell you, we will always remember that experience because of it!
Brooke was bundled up, and was even sporting her mini Ugg-like winter boots for the first time! (a gift from Trish!) She enjoyed the festive excursion, right up until Ryan was cutting down our tree--then she had had enough! I video recorded the entire thing, which turned out really cute. :) After we got back to the barn, we sipped on free hot apple cider (delicious!) and browsed their little Christmas shop filled with fresh Christmas wreaths and homemade ornaments. We will probably return there next year!
Here are our pictures from our fun outing!
When I saw Snoopy, I knew we HAD to get a picture!
Our super tall tree!
Sweet Brooke--ready to head home :)
Us, with our first Christmas tree!
Well, I made up a new winter layout. (Snow!! In my dreams, right?) With my computer down for the count, I couldn't use the graphic I made last year. For anyone that cares, I found the picture on the stock exchange, (www.sxc.hu) and edited it in photoshop. Voila.
Oh! And to those who wondered about the age difference between my brother and I--we are 18 months apart. (though, I was born 6 weeks premature, so it would've been a tiny bit more) We sound like we're only a year apart when I have a birthday, (in May) until he has another birthday 6 months after mine. I'm sure it wasn't the easiest thing for my Mom when we were really young, but it was nice being so close together in age when we were younger. We had built-in best friends! Interesting fact: Ryan and his older sister have the exact same age difference between them. :)
