On the move!

My sister definitely said it best today... It's so hard to believe that my little girl who took nearly 8 months to figure out how to ROLL OVER has totally taken off - wasting NO TIME learning to crawl, climb, and take her first steps!

We've had such a crazy week - so full of life outside of our little home - and so much development with our sweet girl...

Going all the way back to last weekend -

~We are still recovering from our first patio party of the season! A million times since Saturday I've said, "I'm too old for that crap...!" What started as a cook-out with Manda, Brandon and the kids, quickly turned into a party for all of Burnham! All of our favorite people turned up for some great food, a warm fire, and good company! The fire in the new 'poe-valley-esque' fire pit was burning until well after 1:00am, and after a sleepless night with Brooke, it has taken most of this week to catch up and recover! I really AM too old for late night parties anymore, but I truly loved spending time with some of our favorite people!

~On Tuesday, Brooke and I made our 'maiden voyage' to Milton to visit with Aunt Meg and Josh! I had never had Brooke in the car for a long trip by myself... Zig and I have traveled as far as Carlisle with her, but never have I had the guts to do it myself! I hadn't been to my sister's house since the weekend I was 36 weeks preg with Brooke and stayed with Josh while they went out of town for the weekend! Luckily, I have a very thoughtful (and well traveled!) sister who doesn't mind ALWAYS coming to Lewistown to see us!

We had such a great day with the kids! Aunt Meg broke out some of Josh's baby toys (which she will have to get out again very soon!) so that Brooke had some new things to play with - although she showed much more interest in the Josh's garbage truck and drums! Cool!

After lunch, we loaded the kids in the wagon for a walk to the swings! I've been wanting to get Brooke into a swing for a long time! It seems strange to get excited about a swing, but think back to how much you loved swinging as a child and multiply that by a million! She loved it! She giggled and kicked her legs as if it was her favorite thing in the whole world! If the sky hadn't started to turn gray, we probably would still be swinging at Aunt Meg's!

As Brooke was doing the 'sleepers-head-bob' in the wagon on the way back from the playground, we decided to load up and head home so she could sleep on the way. She was a fantastic traveler - so much so, that I just might have to plan another trip to Milton very soon! Thanks for such an awesome day, Aunt Meg!

~Wednesday, we enjoyed a special playdate treat with Leah and Caleb! We decided to meet at Walmart, eat lunch at the Subway inside, then get some shopping done! Don't make fun of us for enjoying ourselves so much at Walmart! We had a blast! The kids ate their lunch while the Mommies shoveled lunch in their bellies - then we loaded the kids up in the carts and covered the entire store! I wonder if our 'jabber-jaws' actually made our feet move quicker?! Or maybe it was the fact that nap time was quickly approaching and we had to get the cars before one or both of the angels started to melt down!? Either way, we crossed off a few things from our store list AND got to spend a few hours with our favorite play daters! (Please note: I came home with a PINK Fisher Price SWING for our back yard. Thank you very much!)

~Although the events of today were unfortunate, they gave me a reason to be anxious for the weekend to come! Read on...

My cousins Stephy and Stacie's grandfather passed away this week. Although it wasn't the grandfather that we share, these girls are about as close to me as we can get - and I wanted to be there at Pap RJ's services today to tell them that I love them.

The services were beautiful - and I was glad that Zig and I were able to be in attendance.

Where was Brooke, you ask?

Zig's Aunt Kim was available to keep her for the short time we were gone!

I had to laugh, because this was the first time that I ever had to search for a babysitter! I'm used to picking up the phone, calling my Mom, and saying "Do you want her,?" followed by, "Of course! I'll be right there!"

So this morning, Kim arrived, Daddy came home to change his clothes, and we made it just in time to visit with the family and celebrate RJ's life.

While driving home, I started to think about the fact that Brooke was at home. And she was fine. And she was surviving. And I wasn't AT ALL worried. Cool!

As much as I love being at home with my daughter, I need time to myself. Lots of it.

Even though I don't consider a funeral to be free time, it was time alone with Zig. Time to talk about things other than poop and how tired I am.

And it made me SUPER excited for this weekend!

My cousin Abby is getting married on Saturday and Grammy Kathy will be here with Brooke all afternoon and evening!

I'm not anxious to be away from her, but I'm very excited to be with my cousins, celebrate Abby's marriage, be an adult for a few hours, and maybe even have a 'beverage' or two!

I'm looking forward to some time with Zig and to the same feeling I had today - I'm fine. Brooke's fine. It's all good!

And speaking of Brooke... (since that's who you tune in to read about!)

This child has literally TAKEN OFF!

I spent yesterday afternoon sending videos on my cell phone all my friends and family - Brooke has mastered walking behind that crazy lion! She walks the entire length of our living room and back, over and over and over!

Then, last night, she decided to follow her Daddy up the steps. Yep. Up the steps. I was standing right behind her, but she climbed our entire set of steps, all the way to the top, to get that Daddy! It was in utter disbelief!

Like Meg said, she took her good old time with the rolling, and now she has found her independence and is totally sick of just sitting around!

Needless to say, I have a ridiculous amount of gates in my already small living room area! Crazy...

There's a gate to keep her out of this kitchen...

...and a gate to keep her out of this dining room...

...and a gate to keep her off of the steps...

"Daddy! Wait for meeeeeeeeee!!!"

"Look, Mom! No hands!"

Have I mentioned that I'm going to have my hands full with this child?? Ugh...

Have a great weekend everyone!

P.S.

Today was the last day of school around here! That means, that my true countdown begins for the first day of school...yikes!

P.P.S.

Meg hasn't blogged yet, but I can't wait anymore!

It's official!!!! I'm going to have a new little NIECE in September! HOORAY! Someone to take all of Brooke's clothes! YAAAAAY!