Brooklyn is 3 months!

It has been so fun to see how much Brooklyn has changed over the last 3 months.  I can't believe how much she has grown.  She is now a smiling, laughing, observant little girl who always seems to be soaking in everything around her.  The other day I was watching her in her carseat as she was concentrating so hard to get her pacifier.  She leaned forward in the seat, lifting her head and chest up a little bit and finally got a hold of it.  Then she even got it into her mouth.  She is constantly grabbing at anything she can find and getting it to her mouth.  She loves to suck on her fingers and tries to get as many in her mouth as she can.  But it is never her thumb.  She loves people, especially her brother and sister, and just lights up when she sees them.  She is a very ticklish baby and will laugh and snort when Abe tickles her.  She is my first baby that sometimes just wants to be put down when she is fussy.  I always assume fussy babies want to be held but sometimes she is happiest in her bouncer with me sitting right beside her talking to her. 

 We are constantly asks if she looks like Ethan or Taylor so I'm always trying to decide myself.  Here is a picture of Taylor at 4 months (left) and Brooklyn at 3 months (right).  Brooklyn definitely has her beat on size.  I see a lot of similarities, like they both have very expressive eyebrows but Taylor definitely got the brown skin and her square jaw.   But they are both so cute in their own way.  I just love both these little (and not so little girls).

Brooklyn's Blessing

It was so wonderful for Abe's parents and my dad to come into town to bless Brooklyn on October 27th.  We had such a wonderful weekend and the kids were thrilled to have plenty of grandparents to go around.

On Saturday we took a hike at Enchanted Rock.  On the way we had a great bbq lunch in Fredricksburg.  The weather couldn't have been nicer.  We hit some rain on the way there but luckily this is Texas so five miles down the road it was clear and sunny.  Even Taylor made it to the top on her own this time and Brooklyn slept through most of it.

Ethan helped lead the way as we headed down so everyone took the hard path.  There is nothing like crawling down rocks on your butt with a newborn in a carrier to give you a real workout.  Good thing I had been working out before I had the baby because after 6 weeks of not doing anything this hike might have killed me otherwise.  Hopefully everyone had as much fun as the kids and I did.  Taylor didn't want to let go of her Grandpa Singletary's hand the whole way down.  And Ethan wanted to hear about everything his Grandpa Fish pointed out to him along the trail.

Here is Miss Brooklyn after her first hike.  The poor thing got so sweaty in that carrier.

On Sunday we rushed around to get a picture of everyone before church and I was pretty amazed when we got one of everyone looking at the camera with the timer.  Brooklyn has been trying to ruin her blessing dress since the first time she put it on.  I tried it on her a few weeks ago to make sure it would fit since we blessed Taylor when she was a little younger and Brooklyn is a little bigger than Taylor.  Even though she had not eaten in FOREVER she still managed to spit up on the dress during the 5 minutes she had it on.  I made sure on Sunday to wait until the last minute to get her dressed and sure enough she spit up a A LOT all over me after I fed her.  I about needed a new outfit it was so bad.  So we put her in the dress just before the picture and while Taylor was holding her Taylor said "She is poopy."  Taylor has a very sensitive nose to these things so I thought she was just exaggerating.  So we drive the 2 minutes to church and once we get into the chapel I realize that she has pooped and it has leaked out onto her dress in the back.  Thankfully such a poofy dress has a lot of folds to hide it but there is nothing like knowing your beautiful baby has on a poopy dress.  Brooklyn was very fussy when we sat down at church but luckily Abe was able to get her to calm down and she was a perfect angel for the blessing.  It is such a sweet time to see the wonderful men in her life circle around her and give her a blessing.  She is one lucky girl.

Taylor had to wear her white dress (although slightly too small) to match her sister.

Granny and Papa Fish

Grandpa Singletary

My talented mother-in-law always makes two beautiful quilts for each of the grandchildren.  These are the two that she made for Brooklyn and they are ADORABLE.  The patterns and colors are just gorgeous.  We love them!  We had such a wonderful weekend with lots of walks, good food, and wonderful company.  We can't wait to see everyone back again.

Great Wolf Lodge Round 2

 Abe was able to move around his schedule to take his paternity leave over a weekend when the kids had off school on Monday so we decided we had to do something fun.  We decided we weren't brave enough to take a one month old camping so we decided to go to Dallas and enjoy the Great Wolf Lodge.  It was also a great excuse to visit our wonderful family up in Dallas.  The kids loved the last trip we had to the Great Wolf Lodge with all their cousins so they were a little disappointed that all the cousins couldn't come this time too.

We didn't know that they do lots of Halloween events at the Great Wolf Lodge during October but luckily we read about it before we left and made sure to bring the costumes along.  Batman and Batgirl were a big hit.  Oh how Taylor loves to hold Brooklyn.  She is getting a little better at it all the time and Brooklyn rarely makes this face any more.

 Brooklyn got to wear her bathing suit for the first time (even though she never got in the water).  It was really hot just hanging out watching the kids so she was happy to have it on.

I wish I had gotten some pictures when we went to see Leah and Zeb and their family.  All the girls were so sweet holding Brooklyn.  It was so great to have a little visit with them and the kids enjoyed playing with them all so much.  We can't wait to get to go up again soon.

It's Corn Maze Season Again

Once again we were able to make it out to the Corn Maze for their free military weekend and take some great friends with us.  Even though it never feels like fall it is a fun fall tradition.  And of course we had to left Brooklyn enjoy her first fall (although she didn't make it into any of the pictures). This year they had some pig races that the kids enjoyed watching.

Maybe we just paid more attention this year but the maze seemed a little easier.

 

 Taylor loved to pose throughout the farm for her picture to be taken.

 What kid doesn't like a hayride.

 The kids got these lovely pig noses from the pig races and couldn't wait to show them off.

I can't wait to see if where we move to next has some real pumpkin patches and real fall weather.  After 3 years we are really starting to miss those fall colors.

Family Photo Shoot

Taylor has dreamed of having a matching outfit with her sister since she found out she was having a sister so while my mom was here we went and found some adorable navy dresses that Carter's had in Taylor and Brooklyn sizes.  And since we had an extra set of hands here we tried to take a few family photos.  Of course the morning we picked to do it was the first cool morning we have had this fall and the wind was blowing like crazy but everyone, except Brooklyn, had a great attitude about it.  I think it was nearly impossible to get all 5 of us looking in the same direction with some sort of a smile on our faces but we did the best we could.  Ethan and Taylor both fought over who could hold Brooklyn and did such a great job (which you may not believe when you see how mad Brooklyn was).  I sure do love these cute kids. 

Brooklyn is about a week old in these pictures and I can't believe how much she has already grown.  By her two week check up she was 9 pounds 14 ounces and now she is almost 4 weeks old and is continuing to grow like a champ.  There is another baby in our ward that is 2.5 months old and Brooklyn is bigger than her.  She is a healthy girl!

Brooklyn Kathleen is here!

We have all been enjoying the first few weeks of Brooklyn being home with us.  It seems like forever that we have been waiting for her and now we already can't imagine our family without here.  Brooklyn was born on Thursday, September 12th at 11:33 PM.  It was just 30 minutes before her actual due date and she seemed to be in quite a hurry to get out once she had made up her mind.  With both Ethan and Taylor I was induced but nowadays they don't do inductions, unless there is a medical reason, before 41 weeks so I was starting to wonder if she was going to come on her own or if I was going to have to wait until past 41 weeks for an induction.  At my 39 week appointment the doctor said she didn't think I would make it to my due date so that gave me the idea that she would come early and made for a long week of waiting and wondering.  I started to wonder if I would even know what going into labor felt like since I had always "gone into labor" in the hospital and there was no doubts.  On that Thursday night Abe had gone to a work function and I had warned him about not staying out too late just in case.  Thankfully he listened and came home around 8pm and around 8:40 I felt the first contraction and I was pretty sure this was the beginning of the end.  But they were probably 10 minutes apart so we didn't feel sure they were going to last.  Since the doctor had told us to wait at home until the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart for an hour we didn't feel in any hurry to head to the hospital.  We did start the process of getting ready to go and told my mom not to expect us to be there in the morning.  But still we were in no hurry.  I went to finish packing my bag and get a shower.  I started to realize that the contractions were coming closer and closer together but I hadn't looked at the clock.  Finally Abe came up and started counting them again and we realized they were only 2 minutes apart and then we realized we better get moving.  By the time we got to the hospital they were 1-2 minutes apart and it was around 10:20.  Thankfully the nursing staff decided quickly that I was really in labor and didn't make us wait in triage so we went straight to the delivery room.  They started the million questions that they have to ask and got me all hooked up to monitors and all.  There is nothing more annoying than people peppering you with questions during contractions at the final stage of labor.  I had finally made it through all the basic workup and the nurse finally told me that I could move around and find a more comfortable position.  I had sort of decided to not have an epidural again but I was really regretting that decision (like I always do) while laying there and had almost made up my mind (in my head) that if I didn't feel better once I moved around that I was getting the epidural.  But the nurse wanted to check me once more before I got up and quickly decided that I was not getting out of the bed and she was going to get the doctor to deliver this baby.  And when I say "the doctor" I really mean get the 12 people that they felt they needed to have around. Oh the joys of delivering at a teaching hospital.  There was the OB staff, the resident, the intern, and the medical student and then because of some issues that Brooklyn had they had a full pediatric team with the staff, resident, intern and medical student.  Even the nurse had her own trainee in there.  Oh and did I mention that there were some other people restocking the room during the whole process too.  Thankfully the delivery was just as quick as the labor and after a few pushes she was out.  Unfortunately we couldn't hold her immediately because they wanted her checked out completely but we could hear her loud screams and knew she was just fine.  No one could believe what a big baby she was.  The doctor had guessed earlier that week that she would be 7.5 or 8 pounds. So when a chubby 9 pound 4 ounce baby came out they were all shocked.  She looked so much like Taylor with her chubby cheeks and dark hair.  It felt like an eternity while they stitched me up and I waited to hold that sweet little girl.  It was a long night as we waited in recovery until 4a.m. and then we finally got to "sleep", if anyone really sleeps with all the monitors and nurses coming through. 

We have been trying to decide who Brooklyn looks most like.  I think in these early pictures she looks like Taylor's twin.  But as she has gotten a little bigger she looks more like Ethan. i guess we will have to wait and see.

And School Begins Again

I can't believe summer has ended and the school year has began again.  It was a whirlwind of a summer and I think we were all ready to get back to the school routine.  Ethan is so excited to be in First Grade (which he figured out quickly last year was much cooler than Kindergarten).  His teacher is much more outgoing and fun and he really likes her.  Unfortunately I think she is going to be way too easy and he will take full advantage of it.  It was nice to hear him come home on the first day of school and say it was "awesome".  It is so easy when so many of his same classmates are back for the second year.

Taylor had to wait a week until her preschool started and it was a long week for both of us.  She went from a house of 3 playmates to just me in a very short period of time and it has been a hard adjustment.  And she was so excited about starting school that it was just hard to wait.  But finally preschool started again for her and it has been good.  I should have done a better job of explaining how "pre-K", as she likes to call it, will be different from last year but I didn't. So she was very disappointed in the amount of play time they have compared to last year where it was 90% playtime and 10% learning.  It doesn't help that the learning time is spent on ABC's and very basic skills that she isn't thrilled about.  Just like Ethan, she came home from the first day of school disappointed that she wasn't reading yet.  She did tell me that on the first day of school one of the boys told her that she was his girlfriend.  I asked her if he was nice or cute or anything and she just shrugged her shoulders pretty unimpressed.  I asked if he was as cute as Keaton (her crush from preschool last year) and she just got a silly grin on her face and said "of course not".  I guess that crush continues.

Taylor has been amusing me lately with how grown up she can be.  She is so logical for her age.  We were at a playplace and she was annoyed that Ethan wasn't playing with her.  I suggested that she go and play with some of the other girls that were there.  She walked over to them and talked for a minute and then came back.  She said "Mom, they are going to play freeze tag and I think that is a bad idea.  We are inside and someone is going to get hurt.  I don't want to run into anyone so I'm not going to play."  It was really hard to argue with that.  I just love that cute, sweet girl.