Daddy Daughter Dance

Lots of posts today, but this one is my favorite. :-)

On Saturday night, our church held its first ever Daddy-Daughter Dance. We all dressed up and attended with our "daddies" that evening, and it was such a great night. The little girls had a great time dressing up and dancing all night (and the bigger girls enjoyed watching). All the daddies were so proud and handsome, too.

Brooklyn and Daddy
Nanny and her Daddy (Great Grandpa)

Mommy and her Daddy (Grandpa)

Pinning Brooklyn's corsage

Zoe and her Daddy, Luke

Zoe, Allie, and Brooklyn in the picture booth

New Hairstyles

I never thought I would see the day (with such a bald baby) that I would be able to "style" my daughter's hair. Two of Brooklyn's current favorite styles are the french braid...

...And the waves that the braid makes when you take it out. :-)

Brooklyn's Birthday Bonanza!

Brooklyn's Birthday Week festivities continued after we held her "family party" on Sunday, February 22nd. On Tuesday (her actual birthday), Nanny picked her up from school and took her to Celebration Station. Then, she came home and opened presents from Chad and myself. She loved the Color Wonders and the apron we gave her, but her favorite present was definitely the big girl bicycle and pink helmet!

She has since decided that we have an indoor track and rides her bike around the downstairs every day. :-)

The following Saturday we held her "friends party" at the Greensboro Childrens' Museum. She had a great time with 13 friends and her Disney Princess Cake.

Playing with Daddy...

Eating her pizza lunch and, of course, cheese doodles....

It's been a busy time for us as a family....more posts coming!

Way Back When-esday!

Year: 2005
Age: About two weeks old
*She loved that papasan swing for about two more weeks, and then she would have nothing to do with it. :-)

Year: 2006
Age: 1 year (and a week or so)
*Chicken nuggets quickly became a favorite food of Brooklyn's (along with french toast sticks).

Year: 2007
Age: 2 years (and a week or two)
*This was one of the last pictures of Brooklyn with a paci in the car.....it went to just sleep time shortly after this picture was taken.

No pictures from 2008- so sad!

Brooklyn's birthday pictures from this weekend will come later, but I can't ignore that today is Way Back When-esday! :-)

Four Years Old!

Mostly, these posts are to help me scrapbook later on, but thanks to any of you who endure these ramblings. :-)

6 months ago, I did a post with some of Brooklyn's favorites, and I was curious to see how much has changed.

Favorites:
Food- Quesadillas and Pancakes
Song- Better is One Day
TV Show- Yo Gabba Gabba
Movie- The Wiggles
Friends- All her Shout sisters, and Kate, Sierra, Casey, and Anna Grace
Saying- "Actually...."
Animal- Fish
Restaurant- Tex and Shirley's
Story- Anything we make up at bedtime
Halloween costume- Sleeping Beauty
Candy- M&M's
Drink- Chocolate Milk
Outfit- Anything NEW!
Playground equipment- Swings
Game- Puzzles
Colors- Pink, purple, green, and blue
Shoes- Any
Ways to annoy mommy and daddy- Complete defiance; Getting out of bed at bedtime
Bath time activity- Pouring water
Breakfast food- Frosted mini wheats or yogurt with "crunchies"
Special treat- Something from the vending machine at school

Looking Back....

Last year, in honor of Brooklyn's birthday, I did a post with some pictures of Brooklyn over the past three years...Since then, I have also participated in several Way Back When-esdays. There is no reason to duplicate and make a similar post, so instead I will leave you with a few pictures of Brooklyn's first few weeks in February/March 2005. Oh, to have known then what I know now!

Happy Birthday Brooklyn!

Today is my sweet baby's 4th birthday. 4 years ago, I was hooked up to IV's receiving pitocin, had probably just received an epidural at this point, was starving, and would soon be wheeled into an operating room to meet my precious girl via c-section. Lots of things going on that day- there was so much nervous excitement and apprehension, so many decisions to make regarding the labor, and so many people praying for a safe delivery. Today, I find it interesting how we are so much more laid back.....McDonald's for breakfast, a regular day at school, and a pancake dinner. What could be more exciting to a four year old?

I thank God every day for this beautiful girl and hope that we continue to share MANY more laid back birthdays together.

We had a family party this past Sunday with about 35 family and friends. Here is Brooklyn with her Princess balloon.

Brooklyn's Gramma made her a triple layer chocolate cake.

Opening some presents...

Today- before school in her new birthday shirt

She wanted to see how long her hair was today...

Way (Late) Back When-esday!

I almost skipped this week's Way Back When-esday, but when I realized this was Brooklyn's "Birthday Week" there was no way, I could not do it!

Year: 2005
Age: A few hours old
Party theme: Women's Hospital blue and pink

Year: 2006
Age: 1
Party Theme: Butterflies and Flowers

Year: 2007
Age: 2
Party Theme: Wiggles

Year: 2008

Age: 3

Party Theme: Dora the Explorer

Year: 2009

Stay tuned for pictures next week of Brooklyn's Birthday Bonanza! We have a family party Sunday, her actual birthday on Tuesday, and then a party with her friends at the Children's Museum the following weekend. Theme? Disney Princesses!

What do 840,000 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies, A six hour basketball tournament, and a bunch of sugar have in common?

...My Valentine's Day Weekend!

We started our Valentine's Day celebrations on Friday with Brooklyn's Valentine's Day Party and Dance at school. She looked so cute in her new outfit from Nanny and Grandpa. Here she is getting her own breakfast (yogurt) before school.

Here she is with a party cupcake...

And with her friend, Sierra...

She opted to not stay for the dance (that was fine with me!). It is a bit scary in a dark cafeteria with a bunch of kids (and their crazy photo/video taking parents!). We went home to get ready for Girls Night.

Here's Brooklyn, Zoe, and Allie playing on the counter (Nanny is spotting from the ground).

And then we decided to have a little fun with them....See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil. :-)

On Saturday, I spent my V-day loading thousands of cases of Girl Scout cookies as it was our council's delivery day. After 6 hours of loading, I then headed to Bishop McGuiness High School where the band played in between basketball games at a tournament sponsored by Our Lady of Grace. It was a lot of fun, but I was BEAT by the end of the day!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Way Back When-esday!

In honor of Valentine's Day, this week's Way Back When-esday is dedicated to my little funny valentine...

Year: 2006 (Learning to walk at 11 months!)


Year: 2007 (Growing some hair, finally!)

Year: 2008 (Crazy as ever, and in LOVE with lollipops!)

Grandpa and Way Back When-esday

First of all, thank you so much for the prayers. My grandfather is home, and hopefully recuperating in the comfort of his own bed and chair. Being almost 78 and having lived with Parkinsons for about 12 years now, we are amazed at how well he bounces back sometimes. God is truly watching over him and my Grandma!

And now, for this week's edition of Way Back When-esday!

Date: February 2006
Age: ALMOST one year!
*Brooklyn was learning how to eat with a fork. Here she is with her "Gerber Graduate Carrots."


Date: February 2007
Age: Almost TWO years
*This was how I found Brooklyn and Chad when coming home one day. My toboggan on Brooklyn's head cracked me up!

Date: February 2008
Age: Almost THREE YEARS OLD!
*Our friend, Brendan, came to Greensboro to do a show at Greene Street. Unfortunately, he had lost his voice, but we got a picture with the fam! Brooklyn was very shy, but now she only listens to Brendan's CD, Grace Reigns Down, and the Mamma Mia soundtrack. :-)

Prayers Needed

Please pray for my grandfather (mom's dad). He was admitted to the hospital last Wednesday and remains there as of this morning. More tests, more observation, more time needed to make sure he is well enough to go home to my grandmother.

Way Back When-esday!

As I scrolled through the pictures for this week's Way Back When-esday, I couldn't help but smile at each of these...

Picture 1: 2006
Brooklyn was 11 months old and had just started giving goofy faces to the camera.

Picture 2: 2007
Brooklyn was 1 year and 11 months old. She was still so attached to her paci, so when she fell asleep without it in the car, her little face was so precious, I had to take a picture. We ended paci in the car usage shortly after that (I think by her 2nd birthday). That's also my hat in the picture- but she claimed it as her own soon after I opened it on Christmas morning!

Picture 3: 2008
Brooklyn and Kate have been best buds for as long as I (and they!) can remember. On this Saturday we went over to Kate's house to play, and the girls took turns driving the Barbie Jeep (one of Kate's new Christmas presents!). We were so excited because Brooklyn's hair was finally catching up to the other girls' hair in her class!

Girls Nights!

Two Friday nights each month, my husband, father, and 8-10 of their closest male friends gather together for Poker and Fellowship (aka beer). They started their friendly game sometime when I was pregnant with Brooklyn (late 2004). Not to be outdone, the wives decided we needed our own Girls Night. What started as just me, my mom, and Brooklyn has grown to quite a group! We used to go out to eat and then have coffee and dessert back at the house, but as babies were born and our group size increased (and patience level decreased!), we decided to just make dinners at our house. Now, it's just easy to order pizza and let the girls run free! :-) Here is a few pictures taken last Friday. It was a "small" group of 8, but Brooklyn, Zoe, and "Baby" Allie had a great time playing with babies, sitting in little chairs, and goofing off.

A Snow Day...and Way Back When-esday!

In honor of yesterday's snow...er...dusting, I thought I would post pictures from Brooklyn's two previous snow days for Way Back When-esday and some pictures from yesterday's fun.

Year: 2007
*Brooklyn thought snow looked funny, felt funny, and was just pretty much not impressed with it.


Year: 2008
*Brooklyn thought it was hilarious to have snow covering the ground. We had JUST put our house on the market, so things were crazy in our house. I never bothered buying Brooklyn snow boots because well, in North Carolina, it's just not worth it for the 1-2 snows you get a season. But, she had a blast walking around in her makeshift "Uggs" (aka Daddy's tube socks).

Year: 2009
*Here are some pictures from yesterday. Since the "Uggs" were so succesful last year, we tried it again, and they kept her tennis shoes (and more importantly, her feet) super dry. Don't mind her crazy outfit...she picked out her own scarf, hat, and gloves. :-)

January...so far

January has proven to be quite a busy month so far! Within weeks, we celebrated New Years, my parents' anniversary, and my mother's birthday. Grace Reigns Down performed at iCoffee in Summerfield and we participated in the Youth (also Intergenerational) Service at church one Sunday morning. Following one crazy weekend, we enacted, "Stay at home week" where we managed to stay at home and eat dinner together every night for 5 nights. I missed Wednesday night for work, but Chad and Brooklyn had dinner waiting to be reheated at home when they arrived, and Brooklyn was in bed at a decent hour every night (our goal!). We have gotten ourselves in trouble, because now Brooklyn's favorite questions are "Who's coming over?" "Where are we going tonight?" "Where are we eating tonight" and "Who's picking me up from school?" She has been sleeping late in the mornings (I have to wake her at 8 to go to school & work), and I told Chad that when she hits kindergarten, we are in trouble. So, instead of putting it off until 2010, we decided now's the time. Weekdays are days at home. Unless we have band practice or something random come up, we are eating dinner as a family and Brooklyn is in bed by 8:30pm. Period. After having a low-key weekend as well, Brooklyn finally looked at us Sunday and said "Can't I have a friend over today?" :-) Seems our little social butterfly has had enough family time!

Way Back When-esday!

I really need to do better posting besides just for Way Back Wednesday! :-)

I usually don't take many pictures in January, having been on picture overload after the holidays, but this one was taken January 18, 2006. We were at our friends', Jon & McKenzie, house, and McKenzie took some cute photos of our 11 month old baby girl. That sweet bald head and precious toothy grin could melt anyone's heart!

So, hop on over to Cheryl at Twinfatuation and play along with Way Back When-esday!