First Christmas

Our first Christmas with our little angel was so much fun. On Christmas Eve we opened our gifts and as predicted by everyone we talked to she was most excited by the bows on the packages. The very first present she opened had a silver curly-q ribbon on it and after that we could hardly even get her to open anything else because she was so caught up in the silver bow. Once we distracted her and got the bow she had a blast with all her new toys and books...thanks everybody!!! Christmas morning we got up and she got the couple of stocking stuffers out of her stocking and Shawn made breakfast and we just kept playing with all the toys!

Note the silver ribbon in the mouth!

Thanks Grandma and Papa!

Her very first Cabbage Patch even has a place to ride!

Oh my gosh I have a LuLu like my Aunt Sissy had!!!

How did Santa get these in here?!

He told me that he was coming to my house when I sat in his lap the other night!

Are you sure it is too cold for a ride outside?! GranSan would let me if she was here!

Helping Daddy with breakfast

The tires look good...it is definitely time for a ride! PLEASE!!!

Fine, I'll settle for a ride in the living room until it is warmer.

Daddy, did you see my cute fuzzy boots from Aunt Sissy?!

The Nice List

We took Emerson to see Santa last night not really knowing what to expect. There was one family in front of us with 3 kids. After just a few seconds of watching them with a big smile on her face she wanted me to put her down and she started walking to Santa! When we got close to him she wanted me to pick her up again but as soon as he started talking to her she went right to him! She took several cute pictures and afterwards Santa had to get up and come over to the computer to see how they turned out...he had so much fun with her. It was soo cute!!!

I definitely think Emerson can expect Santa at our house this year!

The Blessing of Family

A Perfect 10

Emerson turned ten months old yesterday and we would have to say that she is pretty perfect! I think that I have probably said this on every monthly update but this age is so much fun! It is so fun to watch her little personality develop. She is very determined but minds very well. She amazes me with the Christmas tree...she rarely pays any attention to it but the jingle bells will occasionally grab her attention and all I have to do is say "no" as she is reaching for it and she goes on her merry way. She has figured out how to stack her cups that my mom got her for Christmas, she gives "high 5", waves bye, and walks better every day. She loves pat-a-cake but now rather than me grabbing her hands to help her do it, she grabs my hands to help me! Most of the time she is perfectly content just playing in the floor and minding her own business. She still doesn't have a single tooth but that doesn't slow her up in wanting whatever we are eating-rumor has it that at her daycare Christmas party yesterday she had cupcakes, Cheetos, and who knows what else! We are going to hit a somewhat sad transition after Christmas...she is moving to the toddler room at daycare!!!!

Chillin' by the fire!

Cuddling with Daddy on the couch.

Everything goes in the mouth!

Movin' and Groovin'

I know many of you were starting to think we had fallen off the face of the earth but we are still here and loving life! I have been meaning to post this update for at least a week but between being super busy and having technical difficulties with loading the video, it has taken awhile! Emerson is walking!!! She started a couple of weeks ago taking a few steps but know she is walking pretty well. If she keeps focused on her target, she can make it all the way across the living room! If she gets distracted it messes her up a bit! It is so cute!!! She is not supposed to be able to do this yet!

Gobble Gobble and Ho Ho Ho

It was a very fun week around our house. My mom came in for the week to celebrate Thanksgiving and to kick off the Christmas season. She came in last Sunday and was able to keep Emerson until Shawn got off on Wednesday and I was off Thursday and Friday. Let's just say they are going to think Em is totally rotten this next week at day care-they had a blast! When I got off work on Wednesday we got out and got our cars washed and then came home to cook. We went ahead and cooked on Wednesday so that we could relax on Thursday. Shawn played golf while we were cooking and when he got home we headed out to dinner at Buca di Beppo-one of our favorite places that we haven't been to in awhile. Thursday was a very relaxing day and then on Friday we got in the Christmas spirit! We put up the tree and even opened some presents. Since we are staying here for Christmas we went ahead and exchanged gifts with GranSan. Christmas is going to be so much fun this year with Em! Thanks GranSan for all our gifts and for helping so much around the house this week!

Waiting for our cars at the car wash-it was such a pretty day!

All ready to go to dinner at Buca

Hey-where is my garlic bread and pasta?!

She was such a big help getting things ready for Thanksgiving!

Daddy and Em made breakfast burritos for us on Friday morning.

Emerson had a hard time letting go of her fall pumpkins when it was time to kick off Christmas!

We got most of the decorating done while she was napping-this is her reaction when she came in to see the tree for the first time. She seemed a little confused!

I have always loved Christmas but this look on her face gives it a whole new meaning!

Oh my gosh, is this one for me?!

How cute is she?!

Thanks Mom for the new piece for my Christmas village and for the additional place settings of my dishes!

Mom got Shawn a BB/pellet gun complete with a scope-let's hope my next post is not about Shawn's stay in the slammer!

I think GranSan liked her grandmother's bracelet!

I always heard that kids like the boxes best-I guess it is true! This is Em getting in the box from one of her gifts from GranSan!

She has not stopped playing with all of her blocks and stacking cups-thanks GranSan...I REALLY needed some new toys!

9 Months

The last nine months at the Brooks house have been such an amazing adventure that we wouldn't trade for anything in the world. Emerson has changed us in ways we never imagined. We always know that no matter what kind of day we have had, she can always bring a smile to our faces. It is so incredible to watch as she learns new things every day. She waves hi and bye, says Dadda, and after I stack her blocks and she knocks them down, she then tries to stack them herself. When she has had enough to eat, or doesn't like what I have given her, she shakes her head "no". She can stand by herself for a few seconds but when she realizes what she is doing she sits down really fast! We went for her check up today and she weighed 22 pounds(92%) and was 29.5 inches long(97%).

She FINALLY holds her own bottle even at home(she has been doing it at day care for months but had Mommy and Daddy fooled at home!)

If there is anything soft on the floor, she will just fall down and lay her head on it-folded laundry, blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, even one of her books that is fabric.

She takes laps from the living room through the kitchen and back with her push toy but still not walking by herself!

We can just sit and watch her no matter what she is doing!

Round 1

This Saturday was Round 1 of the playoffs for the Bears. They took on the Del Valley Cardinals in Waco on Saturday night. GranSan and Patsy came in town to watch Emerson so that I could head to Waco-she loves to cheer her Daddy to victory but that is a pretty long drive for so late at night! The Bears beat the Cardinals 42-20...it was awesome!! I am still hoarse from yelling so much. All of a sudden all those long hours seemed more worth it!

Patsy hasn't seen Emerson in a few months-she made up for lost time getting plenty of sugar!

Are those pjs cute or what?! Thanks GranSan!

What am I doing in the toy basket?

It's game time!

We were only favored by 6 points...I think we did a little better than that! Way to go Bears!

Time for the school song.

Bi-District Championship trophy

I love my championship coach!!