It's been a while...

She's 4 months old! Can you believe it!??

I've spent a lot of time recently looking back on the last 4 months of our life as a family - and MAN do we have a lot to be thankful for!

Although there is never enough time in the day to get anything done, and I'm now realizing how selfish I was in my prior life - we are adjusting to being a family as best as we can!

In the matter of 4 months, Zig and I went from being a young married couple to being PARENTS! PARENTS!!! Who would have EVER thought that the dramatic, high school sweetheart couple would have grown up to be more in love than ever before - and now the parents of the most beautiful child ever known to man??!! Amazing...

Zig and I recently celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary (Dec. 29)! We didn't really do anything special, since frankly, there isn't much to do around here. Zig had worked extremely late the night before and slept through most of the day. When it came time to have dinner to celebrate, we were both too tired to really go on a date! We ended up grabbing sandwiches at our favorite dive, then doing some quick shopping for New Year's Eve, and heading home to enjoy a quiet night with our daughter. It doesn't get much better than that!

These two years of our marriage have been incredible!

We have an incredibly strong foundation of marriage, a beautiful home that keeps us warm and cozy, and now a daughter to complete our love for each other and challenge us every day!

We're moving ahead around here! We've taken on our latest project - the kitchen!

Faith, the owner of my favorite country store (that I'm pretty sure I pay the light bill for with my weekly shopping trips!!), has agreed to re-do our kitchen cabinets! The cabinets are in great shape, although over 30 years old, but just in need for a little make over! She will be working on all of the cabinet doors in her shop, which equals a goofy-looking kitchen for about a week! She'll then come a few days later to paint all of the existing woodwork in the kitchen! How fun!

We've already ordered new counter tops, back splash, a custom cabinet, all new appliances, fixtures, and flooring! Whew! It's a good thing I'm not working right now - I think I'd be OVER THE TOP STRESSED if I had to work around the mess that is bound to be my home!

Over all, we're psyched about this new project - it's something we've wanted to do since we bought our home - and we can't wait until it's finished! Stay tuned for some fun 'before' and 'after' pictures! We're expecting it to be done by the first week in February! Here's to hoping anyway...

In the world of BEAMER:

~She's not only officially 4 months old and 1 day, but she's wearing all 6 month clothing! YIKES!

We received some cute 6 month outfits for Christmas that I was excited to try on her, and before we knew it, I was shopping my heart out for more 6 month outfits because her 3 month-ers didn't fit! Her pants were 'high waters' and the sleeves on her onesies were half way up her little arms! I swear - she's growing like a weed!

~The growing has to be the result of her eating habits these days! Weeks ago, I blamed the change of schedule on a growth spurt that normally happens around 3 months, but this 'spurt' lasted the entire third month! She went from eating 4 ounces every 4 hours, to eating 5-6 ounces every 3 hours!

I think part of her issue is those darn teeth already! Poor baby slobbers like a dog and constantly is sucking on her fingers and her toys! We've not been afraid to load her up with Tylenol when we can tell she's just off - and we've tried Orajel once...she didn't like it...

~She's still showing zero interest in rolling over - I'm a little concerned! She rolls with help with Mommy, but won't roll by herself and doesn't seem bothered by the fact that she's stuck on her back! We work on it every day - as we have tummy time and floor time daily! She's really playing with her toys and showing an interest in how things work!

~The Beam is starting to develop her own language! She squeals and screams when she sees the TV every morning - and she seems to respond to noises around the house! As long as she can see me or her Daddy, she's talking to us, telling us what she thinks about things, and I love it! Pap even got to hear her babbling over the phone and he just couldn't believe how much she was carrying on!

She's quite the giggle box and really seems to be showing more and more of her little personality every day! We can already tell that she's going to be a firecracker! Look out world!

~Her newest nickname is "ScarFace!" Yep - no joke! Her little fingernails are like razors! Even though I trim them almost every day, it seems that every time one scratch heals, another appears! For example, I went to greet her after he nap yesterday and found blood all over her face and fingers! She had scratched her cheek in her sleep and was bleeding all over the place! Luckily, it's not that bad, but JEEZ! She's a modern day Edward Scissor Hands!

~Brooke's sleeping patterns is a little wacky these days! I know it's not nearly as bad as it could be, (Sorry, Meg!) but it's odd - for her! She was sleeping from 10pm to 10am almost every night for a few weeks, and now she's waking up around 3 or 4 every morning to eat! Little piggy! It's not too bad, since she usually goes right back to sleep for a few hours. Even still, 3am is not a good time to start the day! I guess this is just another clue that she's growing...

I reminded Zig of something I said when I was 7 months pregnant with Brooke and couldn't get a good night's sleep - I'm done sleeping through the night for the rest of my LIFE!

~Tomorrow is Brooke's 4 month doctor's appointment. More shots. Yuck.

I can't wait to see how much she weighs and how long she is! I'm betting she's at least 15 or 16 pounds! Hopefully she does well with the shots and we don't have an awful day like last time!

~Zig and I are finally getting over our colds! YAY! I spent a day with my sixth graders last week and I just KNEW that I would come home with cold germs! And I was right! Later that night, I had a sore throat and woke up during the night incredibly congested! It got worse and worse throughout the week! It was so bad that I had to cancel my play-date with Michelle and Leah TWICE! There was no way I was going to take my germs around the other babies and their Mommies!

I'm going to be sure that Doctor Sheilah gives Brookie a good look tomorrow to be sure she isn't developing any of our cold symptoms! Her first cold - yikes!

What a hodge-podge of stuff!!

I think that's all for today...

I'll be sure to post soon about her doctor's report!

Happy Snow everyone!