A Perfect End

The last couple of weeks have been great getting to spend so much time together as a family.  We had an oppotunity to go to a New Year's Eve party but instead spent the day and evening with the girls and had a great time.  Daddy and Emerson went to pick out fireworks early on and we went ahead and did some of them because we weren't real sure what the weather was going to do.  After we got home from Incredible Pizza it was raining so we thought we were out of luck for the rest but luckily there was just enough of a break in the rain for us to finish up with the fun.  We have so many good memories from 2012 and look forward to the joy ahead in 2013!

Emerson wanted to do everything herself...NO FEAR!!!

Braelyn was very curious but there was definitely fear there for her!

What in the world is that?!

I could eat her up!

As Daddy would light it, Emerson definitely knew to run, Braelyn kind of missed that part.

In a fog of smoke!

Emerson loves doing the little poppers that you throw on the ground.

She also loved it when they didn't pop when she threw them because then she could stomp them to make them pop!

We already had our jammies on when Daddy said it stopped raining.  Yea!!!! More fireworks!

Daddy getting the "fountains" ready.

Braelyn and Mommy ready to watch the show.

Emerson, are you in there?!

These long sparklers are so much better than the regular ones.

She had so much fun!

Braelyn was not real sure about it all, especially the fountains!

Celebration Dinner

Emerson has some pretty big accomplishments to be celebrated so we decided to do something special today for her.  Since we have been home for the holidays she has stopped sucking her thumb and got back on track with wearing big girl panties at night.  We are so proud of our big girl!  She wanted to eat and play games so Incredible Pizza it was!

Ice cream was the secret weapon to help us stop thumb sucking so of course it had to be part of the celebration!

Way to go sis!

I think she could play games until she literally dropped and never get tired of it!

The Joy of Christmas!

I have always loved Christmas but having the girls now has added whole new meaning!  Seeing the smile on their faces as they ran to the living room on Christmas morning is all the gift I needed!  We had the best day.  After they saw what Santa brought, we opened the rest of the gifts and then made pancakes for breakfast.  Given the nasty weather on Christmas day, the rest of the day was spent playing with all the new toys.  The girls had a blast.  It was so funny to watch them because I think they almost liked each others' toys even more than their own! 

A lot of princesses and one castle!!!

I think they both would have been perfectly content if the princess castle was all there was!

Santa brought Braelyn a Leap Frog game where she has to find which foot the ball is under.

The prince and his little princesses!

Checking out the goodies in her stocking!

Braelyn's hair cracks me up now...one little poof of curls in the back!

She is growing SO fast!

Braelyn has been dying to open this big present for weeks now!

Emerson's new Baby Alive from Grandma and Papa.

Emerson loves her new nap mat from Gransan!

As I mentioned before about them liking each other's gifts...Braelyn took over Emerson's new stroller and that is Emerson's nap mat hanging from her neck!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was very relaxing around the Brooks' house.  It was such a warm day outside, we did a lot of playing outside and had lunch on the patio at Rancheros.  When we got back from lunch, Emerson and I went to work on our cookies for Santa and then the girls both took good naps before the candlelight service at church.  When we got home, we finished up our preparations for Santa and the girls each got to open one gift.  After Emerson had been in bed for about an hour I heard her crying.  I went in to see what was the matter and she said:  "The cars are too loud!  I am not going to be able to hear Santa's bells!".  It was too cute.  I tried explaining to her that Santa was not going to come if she wasn't sleeping and she said that the people in the cars weren't sleeping!  I pointed out that Santa only visits little boys and little girls and that the people in the cars may not have little boys or girls.  That seemed to satisfy her!

Wow Mom, it's bright out here!

Sweet girl

Emerson learning how to shoot the BB gun.

"Sugar and Spice" describes Braelyn perfectly!

She is convinced that she is big enough to do anything her sister can do.

Flip flops and t-shirts...doesn't exactly look like Christmas Eve but we loved every second nonetheless!

Emerson loves to bake.

What was I thinking?!

I don't know why she kept licking the flour!

She did a great job!

All ready for Christmas Eve service!  We gave up getting all 3 of them smiling at once...we settled for looking at the camera!

Time to decorate!

Working hard on her letter to Santa.  She insisted on telling him that he couldn't eat ALL the cookies!

They were both excited to unwrap their one gift...new books.

She picked the cookies she wanted to leave for Santa and then it was off to bed!

18

I think I say this on every update but I am completely blown away that our baby girl is 18 months old!!!  Developmentally she seems to be growing by leaps and bounds every day.  She surprises me all the time by things that she knows how to do or that she understands.  She LOVES to clean.  If she sees shoes on the floor, she will either take them to the closet of the person they belong to or put them in a row by the back door.  When I take out the trash, she will get a clean bag out of the box and start working to put in the trashcan, will push the trashcan back into the pantry and then close the door.  Any time she finishes a snack or finds any other trash laying around, she immediately has to put it in the kitchen trash.  If a door or drawer is open she goes to close it.  She gives Daddy butterfly kisses and loves to give her sister hugs.  Unlike her sister she does not care anything about watching TV but loves music and will dance to any tune she hears.  She is such a happy little thing a lot of the time.  When she is not it typically revolves around the frustration of not being able to communicate very well yet.  She had her 18 month checkup and is doing great on all developmental markers other than she is not really talking much yet.  Her measurements were 22 pounds 5 ounces(25%), 31 1/4 inches(60%), and head was 45 1/4 cm(25%).  He suggested that we try her on soy milk given that she still has not adjusted well to dairy.  Any time she has a significant amount of any dairy her stomach seems to really bother her.  On the day she turned 18 months, she went in for surgery to fix the clogged tear duct that she has had since she was born.  Dr. Miller thought the procedure went well and we are praying that it was a success.  She did great, by the afternoon you could not even tell that she had had surgery!  Kids are truly amazing! 

I love that smile!!!!!

Santa 2012

Our Santa visit went pretty much as expected.  Both girls were very excited watching Santa come back from his break ringing his bells.  Emerson was jumping up and down, Braelyn was saying "ho, ho, ho", both thrilled to be there.  There were two families in front of us so they got to see how it was all going to work.  It came to our turn and Emerson ran up to give him a hug, got right up in his lap ready to tell him that she wants "a lot of princesses and one castle"!  Braelyn was a different story.  She got within a few steps of him and u-turned out of there!  Shawn took her up there hoping that Emerson could convince her that it was fine.  As seen in the picture, she could not have cared less if Santa ever brings her anything!  She just wanted outta there!

Daddy and Em patiently waiting for Santa

Braelyn loved this little elf

Happy girl!

Em, you've gotta see this elf!

So sweet!

Not only is Braelyn upset but Em looks pretty worried about Braelyn!