Daddy's Big Girl...

She truly is a BIG GIRL NOW!

Yesterday was Brooke's 2 month check-up (even though she'll be 11 weeks tomorrow!)...and let's just say that it has taken me this long to get her settled enough to even THINK about blogging! Poor little thing...

She did fantastically throughout the check-up with Dr. Sheilah! We were so proud - and also very happy to have had a very sweet nurse this time around. Last time, I wasn't too sure about the staff at FHA, but this time was much better...

The best part of the whole appointment was stripping Brooke down to weigh and measure her! I was shocked to hear that our little Beam was 12 pounds 5 ounces and 23 inches long!! SHE'S HUGE! Well actually, she's still considered pretty small! Dr. Sheilah kept saying she was 'just a little peanut!' To Mommy and Daddy however, having a 12 pound-er is just crazy! I guess it's just proof that we're doing SOMETHING right...she's eating and growing and is very healthy!

So that was the easy part...

Next came the shots! ALL...THREE...OF...THEM! She was first given an oral medication, directly followed by the shots. I've been trying to prepare myself for this for weeks...just knowing that she would be in pain broke my heart!

The nurse, who must have said "I really don't want to do this to you, Brooke!" about 10 times, positioned Brookie so that Daddy could be at her head, I could be right beside her, and so she could be scooped up into Mommy's arms as soon as the yucky shots were over! And that's just what we did! I keep trying to block out the image I have in my mind of her little face after that first stab - God lover her, she had no idea what was happening and just wanted the pain to stop! And that CRY! Oh the cry! It was definitely different than any we've ever heard...and I hated it! I'm pretty sure I cried as much as she did...

And Zig... Brooke had calmed down in my arms, so Zig took her while I got all of her things ready. He gave her lots of kisses in order to get rid of the tears and told her "You're a BIG GIRL now hunny! Daddy will have to buy you something!"

His heart was absolutely broken for her - and he was willing to do whatever or BUY whatever it took to make the pain stop! What a good Daddy! We'll have to remember that as Brookie gets bigger!

The rest of the day was a little 'ouchie' for all 3 of us! Brooke was fast asleep by the time we put her into her seat at the doctor's office to go home, and with the help of Tylenol, we figured she'd get a good nap! She slept the whole way home and an hour passed her feeding time. When she woke up, she was happy and smiling, so I thought maybe she would be fine for the rest of the day. After she ate and took another long (Tylenol induced) nap, she woke up in hysterics! It was over an hour before she was due to eat again but it seemed that a bottle was all she wanted! So we ate...and screamed...and slept...and screamed...and screamed...and screamed...and slept...

She was just 'ouchie' - and for as much as she uses her little legs to kick and stand on Mommy's lap, I'm sure she was sore and just not used to that kind of feeling!

She didn't sleep very well through the night either - she was up a few times every hour just whimpering...broke my heart. She woke up smiling this morning and seems to be doing just fine... So hopefully, the shots and pain in her legs will soon just be a distant memory! Just in time to do it again in 8 weeks! HOORAY!

Still sleeping in her carseat after the S-H-O-T-S!

In other news, we GREATLY enjoyed a trip to Carlisle for Brooke's first Thanksgiving last weekend! We hit her nap times perfectly, so she slept the whole way there and the whole way home! Yes!

We had such a great visit with everyone - and can't wait to do it all over again at our house for Christmas!

Well DUH! Of COURSE we had an outfit perfect for our baby's 1st Thanksgiving! And yep - we have 2 more for our next 2 Thanksgivings this week!

Grammy's latest project for 'her girls!' An old highchair to decorate with their names and hand prints. Needless to say, Marlee and Brooke's handprints didn't turn out too well - but Princess Zoe's was perfect!

As the princess sleeps...enjoy a few of our latest snapshots!

Big Girl can hold her head up!

Check out our new FAVORITE blanket! It's soft and warm and makes the perfect tummy time blanket! Thanks Vicki and Danielle!

Mommy's Helper...

She's just the best!

These pictures are of her sitting in her bouncy-seat in the kitchen while she watched me make supper for Daddy! We were having one of those days where Mommy needed to be in her line of sight for the entire day - so she came with me into the kitchen to prepare supper! She smiled and squealed as I explained each step of my tater-tot casserole - we popped it in the oven and waited for Daddy to get home! This was new recipe that I probably wouldn't recommend to anyone - but I've been trying some new things... Having Brooke be my supper-helper was the best part of this new experimental meal!

The 'Snowbunny' outfit she is wearing in these pictures is probably Mommy's new favorite! It's a 0-3 month size, so I knew I needed to wear it on her soon - and with the snow flurries that have been making an appearance in the area, I thought this was the perfect time! The weather is getting colder - and with my house already prepared for the holidays (with the exception of outside decorations), I'm getting more and more excited about the holiday outfits that Brooke has to wear!

I'm spending part of today washing up her 3 - yes 3 - Thanksgiving outfits and her wide variety of Christmas outfits! This will be the only year that I will be able to dress Brooke in 'holiday first' outfits - so I'm going ALL OUT! I can't wait to take lots of pictures of her in these outfits and post them on here for all to see!

Anyway - beyond the world of clothes and girlie things - Miss Beamer is getting stronger and growing more every second! I swear, every time she takes a nap and wakes up, she looks different than she did before she fell asleep! She's changing her looks and getting heavier! She's just awesome!

Brooke is also sleeping through the night! Without any help from cereal or baby food, she sleeps from about 10:00 pm to 8:00 am! Cool, huh!!?? She's a big girl now!

We spend time on our tummy and our back every day! Although her neck is incredibly strong when you're holding her and she basically sits up by herself in your arms, she doesn't hold her head up yet while she's on her tummy! We're still working on that... We're also working on rolling over! I know it's really early for her to be rolling on her own - but we practice - just incase she's advanced for her age!

We enjoyed a visit with Great Grammy Janet and Great Pappy George in Belletown a few nights ago! We're sort of the Wray family outcasts because we don't live in Belletown, so it takes great effort to coordinate a visit with the family! We see them a lot between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we have been trying to get extra visits with them since Brooke was born! Enjoy a few pictures of her with Gram and Pap!

We are looking forward to our first Thanksgiving celebration with Grammy Kathy, John, Uncle Scub, Aunt Stephanie, Zoe and Marlee in Carlisle this weekend! Mommy is a little nervous about the long car ride - since Brooke isn't always the best passenger in the car! I have a feeling it'll be a long ride...there AND back... I'm sure we'll have TONS of pictures of her adorable turkey outfits in a few days!

Until then, enjoy a few more pics of our gorgeous girl!

Yep - she's watching Brad Pitt on Oprah! Good Girl!

Kinda looks like a mug shot!

The Notebook

ABCFamily has started playing a few holiday movies, and in my attempt to look ahead on the TV schedule and record some holiday movies to watch this season, I was able to catch "The Notebook" and schedule it to record.

"The Notebook" is probably my most favorite movie (tied with "The Wizard of Oz," "Mary Poppins," and "The Sound of Music!") - and the reason it's my favorite is mostly due to its sentimental value. The story of Alli and Noah is so close to my heart -

I remember an evening nearly 4 years ago, when I sat in my parents basement (before it was "Club Bob") and watched "The Notebook" for the very first time. I was dating someone other than Zig at the time - but found myself in tears for most of the movie because I knew at that moment that Zig was 'my Noah,' and that somehow, some way, we would find each other again.

The story of young but very true love was a reminder that the love Zig and I had was real from the beginning. It never mattered where we were, or who we were seeing at the time, Zig and I always came back to each other.

Throughout our college years, Zig and I were apart for close to 4 years - but it never seemed to change the fact that he was my first and truest love. Somehow, my thoughts always came back to him. No matter how many people told me that we would get back together - I fought it - and I continued to date other people who I thought I was meant to be with, and maybe even marry!

In the movie, the very moment that Alli accepts the proposal of Lan, the extremely rich southern gentleman, Noah's face popped into her head. I remember having many of those moments while dating the two other men I was with. Many, MANY times, I found myself comparing them to Zig - never speaking my thoughts - but wondering what a situation would have been like with him instead of them.

We always had contact with each other -
I remember a day during the summer of 2004... I was working as a waitress at a local restaurant and as far as I knew, Zig was living life on his own... During my break, he called my cell phone from OUT WEST! This was very Zig-like! Even though we were both dating other people, we talked quite often... He called to tell me he was moving to South Carolina to pursue his dream of moving 'away' and building a new life at CCU... He called me when he had made the decision to move back home... He called me to warn me about rumors that were circling about me... For whatever reason, things were never 'over' with us - no matter how hard we tried to fight it.

In January 2005, when Brandon and Amanda were getting married, and Zig and I were both in the wedding party, we spent the night celebrating our friends and ended up rekindling a flame that had never truly died.

There is a moment in the movie when Alli and Noah are falling in love on southern beaches, splashing in the waves and watching seagulls dive for fish. Alli decides that if she were to die and be reincarnated - she would come back as a bird! She flaps her arms and 'caws' like a bird as Noah laughs and thinks she's crazy! Alli insists that Noah agree that she could be a bird and makes him announce that she, in fact, is a bird! His love for her brings him to this realization:
"If you're a bird, I'm a bird."

At that moment of the movie, I looked at my husband and said "Ziggy, if you're a bird, I'm a bird." He smiled and said "See...that's why I love you so much! I have the best wife ever!"

We then started talking about what that really meant and I told him about the day I cried as I watched this movie and thought only of him. As we thought about how far we've really come in the 11 years we've known each other - and the best part of our lives together - all we could do was look at our gorgeous daughter and say "and look what we have now."

So - My dearest Ziggy -
If you're a bird, I'm a bird - for the rest of our lives, I love you! Thank you for loving me and for the greatest gift of all - our daughter.



Alli: I was afraid you were never coming back.
Noah: I'll always come back.
Alli: What's going to happen when I can't remember anything anymore? What will you do?
Noah: I'll be here - I'll never leave you.
Alli: I need to ask you something.
Noah: What is it, sweetheart?
Alli: Do you think that our love could create miracles?
Noah: Yes I do. That's what brings you back to me each time.
Alli: Do you think our love could take us away together?
Noah: I think our love can do anything we want it to.
Alli: I love you.
Noah: I love you, darling.
Alli: Goodnight.
Noah: Goodnight. I'll be seeing you...

It's beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS!

Nope - not kidding! My house is now officially ready for Christmas - TREE and ALL!

I've always been the kind of girl who wants Christmas to last all year long, and since I've had my very own home, I've been known to go to extremes and decorate early! This year, however, I was put to shame as Manda and a few others beat me to the punch in Burnham! I started seeing stores, businesses, and a few neighborhood houses getting ready for the holidays and I certainly don't want to be left out of the Christmas loop - so I broke out the Jim Brickman Christmas CD yesterday afternoon and began the hurricane process of 'un-doing' Fall and 'decking the halls' of 225 5th Avenue! (I have to mention that it made Zig absolutely CRAZY! But he enjoys his gorgeous home and feels very lucky to have such a decorative wife like me! RIGHT!!??)

I think our precious little girl is going to be a Christmas - lover just like Mommy and Manda!

I was checking our favorite blogs yesterday morning and when I opened Manda's page with all of her new Christmas music, Brooke's eyes lit up, her arms and legs went crazy, and she was trying so hard to giggle! It probably helped that Mommy was singing and dancing along with the music, but it was obvious that she loved the music! All the more motivation for me to get this house ready for the holidays!

Beyond the world of Christmas - our baby girl is growing like a weed! It seems every time I pick her up, she feels heavier than before! I can't wait to see how much she weighs at 10 weeks on the 24th of November! She'll also be getting her first round of shots at that doctor's visit - so maybe I shouldn't rush the date! Yikes...Mommy is NOT looking forward to that!

Big Girl has been spending lots of time with Nana these days! I am so glad that my Mom is so close by - so that when I need to run somewhere quickly, she's right here to visit with Brooke! Yesterday, I desperately needed to get to Wal-Mart for a few last-minute Christmas things, so my Mom came and sat with her for an hour!

And tonight - OH DEAR, TONIGHT - Mommy and Daddy are going out for an adult evening with Brandon and Manda! I'm terrified that I'll cry the whole time we're gone - since it will the longest time span and the farthest distance away that we've ever been! I'm scared...

But Nana is excited about spending the evening with her granddaughter and I know everything will be great - so I'm going to try to enjoy myself and remember what it's like to be me!

Beamer will be 9 weeks old tomorrow - can you believe that? We celebrated her 2 month birthday with her yesterday! What a big girl she is!

She's much more alert, awake, and active throughout the day - only taking short cat naps with the occasional long afternoon snooze that Mommy enjoys!

She's sleeping better and better through the night - which is great! She's a bit of a night owl, though - she's usually not OUT for the night until 10-11:30pm! We're working on that...

She's always working really hard on a giggle! She belly-laughed in her sleep a few nights ago! I have to say that I've never laughed so hard in my entire life! My laughing woke her up and then she just smiled at me...but I'd give anything to hear that belly laugh again really soon!

As the weather gets colder, and we await more snow flurries and the arrival out outside Christmas lights - we will continue to enjoy every moment with our precious baby girl!



A wonderful husband, and beautiful daughter, and the approaching Christmas season - how much better does it get!

Latest and Greatest...

Big Girl in the Tubbie! She's starting to like it more and more!

Big Girl and Daddy! She looks so cute sitting in her Bumbo Chair!

All dressed up for church! Thanks for the adorable 'shoe socks' Em!

She has her Daddy's BIG eyes!

I think this might have been the longest time frame between posts since Brooke was born! I guess I was relying on the fact that the Halloween pictures would be cute enough to hold everyone over for a few extra days...

As for the latest in greatest in our household...

Brooke has taken on a few nicknames that I thought it would be fun to share!

The classic "Brookie" is used most often, while "Beam," "Beamer," and "Button," and "Bunkie" are used often by the grandparents!

Mommy's personal favorites - "Booger," (because she's the cutest little booger ever!) and "Big," (short for BIGGIE GIRL! or Mom's Big Girl!)

This child has nicknames in her blood - since Daddy doesn't go by his given name and neither does Uncle Scub!

It seems no matter what we call her, she just keeps getting cuter and cuter!

Our gorgeous girl has also hit the 8 week mark since I've last posted! Having an 8 week old is exhausting, but I truly love the fact that she is getting bigger and growing into such a cool little girl!

She's smiling ALL THE TIME and almost has a giggle! She's extremely ticklish-like her Mommy- so we've been working very hard to get that giggle to come out! Right now, she sounds like Ernie from Sesame Street whose giggle sounds just like Grandma Mary's! She must be looking out for this little girl and showing herself through Brooke! I love it!

She's always been great at holding her head on her own - very strong little booger! We practice tummy time every day to make her neck muscles even stronger - and we spend time on the playmat on our backs in order to get the rolling process started soon as well! It's funny - for two girls who have NO SCHEDULE, we really do try to accomplish a lot during these days at home!

And speaking of days at home - it's official! Zig has allowed me to take the rest of the school year off! Can you believe it!!!???

So - this means that I don't have to stall Christmas! I've been saying since Brooke was born that I wasn't letting Christmas come, since, as soon as it did, I'd be getting ready to go back to school! I just didn't want to get excited or celebrate, making it come to quickly! But now that Zig has decided that I can stay home with our precious baby girl - BRING ON THE HOLIDAYS!! WOOHOO!!

I've started my shopping, gotten the itch to hear some Christmas music, and even watched a few rounds of 'The Polar Express' at Amanda's with the kids! In the next few weeks before Thanksgiving, I'll start the decorating in our house! I think I might need Nana to come over and entertain Brooke - the decorating around here is quite the process! It'll take hours to change this place from Fall to Winter - but I can't wait!

Just think - I'm going to be able to spend every season with Brooke before returning to work! I have a whole year to get her onto the kind of schedule I'll need her to be on by the time I go back to school, instead of rushing over the next few weeks to make that happen.

We'll be around for all of her firsts - rolling, crawling, walking, talking - all of it! And I'm so thankful that Zig and I are able to do it - I love him more each day!

More news...

On Wednesday, at exactly 8 weeks old, Brooke slept through the night! We fed her at 9:15, she was still awake and pooped at 10:00, Zig put her to sleep and laid her down at 10:30 and we didn't hear from her until 7:00 am the next morning! It was GREAT - but totally a teaser, since she hasn't done it again since then! Her routine seems to be similar, except that she's awake and ready to eat around 5:00 am. She usually eats and goes back to sleep until 9:00 - which is pretty darn good - no complaints here!

Doesn't it figure that just as Mommy is getting used to zero sleeping at night - she decides she'd like to be a sleeper!? Too funny!

The pictures and stories are a bit of a 'hodge podge' as Aunt Meg would say - but we hope you enjoy none the less!

I promise it won't be so long between posts...

Take care everyone!