four

brooke,

i love this picture of you.  it captures you so perfectly.  dressed up as belle, holding sleeping beauty and deep in thought.  you are my pensive little girl.  you always have been.  your mind is always working.  you have no problem sitting quietly, but you're always taking everything in.  you hear everything i say, no matter who i'm talking to or how softly i'm talking.  you remind me of myself in this way.  bar bar and gigi used to call me elephant ears :)

i think the 2 words that best describe you at this stage are "pretend like...."  i hear those words about 1,000 times a day :)  we are usually pretending that we are princesses or teachers or animals or characters in a movie.  you have a great imagination and you get ideas to fuel your imagination from friends, school, TV, movies and books.  today while eating lunch you said, "where does a cow go on a date? to the moooovies."  i think that is the first time you've told a joke.  you said you learned it from your new pinkalicious book.  you love for us to tell you stories at bedtime, and you always beg for more.  you also like to interject your own ideas for the story as it's being told :)  i can often get you to tell me a story, and i love to hear how you string many different thoughts together into one story.

you think you can get anything by sweetly saying, "extra special super duper please with sugar on top."  i think you learned this from angelina ballerina.  you love to watch angelina, curious george and super why on TV.  your favorite movies right now are shrek and toy story, but you also rotate through all of your princess movies pretty regularly.  you recently also became interested in strawberry shortcake after being introduced to her through a library dvd.  now you have a strawberry shortcake doll, memory game and multiple dvds.  it's surreal to see you playing with something that i loved as a child.  that smell hasn't changed a bit.  but at the end of the day, the princesses rule the house around here.  i think you must have over 20 of them now.  and you think you can never have too many :)  you also have just about every princess "dress up" dress.  some mornings you wake up and come out of your room already dressed as a princess.  other days you might be 3 different princesses in the span of 1 day.  to think that when you turned 2 the vast majority of your gifts were "cars" themed because you loved the movie so much...  who would have thought that 2 years later it would be all princesses all the time?

you still love ballet and often dance around the house.  you've recently begun singing along to songs and will even grab the remote to pretend you're singing into a microphone.  you have a very sweet voice.  you're 2 weeks into ski lessons, and i'm so proud of your willingness to learn.   you're doing great!  we're on a break from gymnastics, but it was a real joy to see how much you grew through your experiences at the little gym.  you loved your teachers, and you had so much fun in class.  you also overcame your fear of the balance beam and the high bar.  you've been taking swimming lessons off and on for over a year now, and you have come such a long way.  you aren't quite ready to go under the water, but you are much more confident in the water - blowing bubbles, putting your nose in the water, jumping in the pool, climbing out unassisted and swimming with a dumbbell float.  you eventually do everything, but only on your own timing and under your own circumstances.  you continue to be a very clear communicator and strong negotiator.  like i said, you want everything to be on your own terms.

you enjoy going to school and spending the day with your teachers and friends.  you always come home with lots of energy!  you imitate your teachers and really look up to them.  you love to play school and have pretend "circle time."  one night at dinner you casually said, "when i grow up, and i'm a teacher, i'll be able to cut out really good hearts."  you said what we already know... you love to be the teacher.  who knows, you just may be one day... or life may take you in a different direction.  either way, you will know that your first instinct was to be a teacher.  i think you have many qualities that would make for a great teacher - you are smart, you are kind, you are compassionate and you want everyone to follow the rules :)  like you, i loved to play school as a kid, and i always insisted on being the teacher.  i have always loved school, and i have often thought that at some point, my life would lead me to teaching.  i guess it has, and you are one of my students.

your very best friend in the world is hanna, and she is a big influence in your life.  the two of you have a love-hate relationship, but you're both maturing and learning how to play together very well.  lately, the two of you seem to be on the same page more often than not.

you are an amazing daughter and such a loving sister.  your relationship with gavin has become even more nurturing, and the two of you seem to be forming a little team of your own.  you are very sweet to him, and i love to watch the two of you together.

it's a little unbelievable to me how much you have grown up in the past year.  i don't see any traces of baby anymore.  you have grown and matured into a young girl.  you make us so proud.  we love you so much.

love,

mommy

christmas part II

well, i sure did take long enough getting around to this!  and, once i did, it sure did take me a long time to prepare the pictures for this post.  i should also mention that some of the photos are really not very good, but they still capture the memories.  phew, here we go!

so christmas part II took place in cincinnati and dayton with our families and closest friends.  we had lots of fun and also had lots of time to relax at heather and danny's house.  i swear kevin and i watched more movies in the span of 10 days than we have in the past 3 years!

the day after we arrived in cincy we went downtown to see the trains.  it was cold outside, but we warmed up afterward with a great family meal at mccormick and schmick's.  it was pretty funny going in to ask for a table for 13 - 7 adults and 6 kids!  we sure have multiplied in the past 4 years :)

the next night heather, mom, jennie and i took brooke to see cinderella at the ensemble theatre.  it was heather's idea, and it was one of the best christmas presents i received.  seeing brooke's face light up when all the actresses/actors stormed the stage for the opening number was so priceless.  it was her first time seeing a play at a theatre.  the ensemble theatre is very small and intimate, and we were in the first row.  it was a great modern-day story of cinderella, and i'm so glad i shared it with the girls i love most in the world.  brooke even got her picture taken with cinderella after the play :)

like i said, we also did a lot of relaxing.  always a good thing, especially with family over the holidays.

i can't go without mentioning the newest addition to the family - boden - heather, danny and stella's new puppy.  he sure is cute!  he's also a really great dog.  brooke doesn't like dogs at all, but she was forced to live with boden for 9 whole days.  it took her a while to be comfortable around boden, but she did eventually warm up to him ever so slightly.  i will say that she's been very into "pretend" puppies ever since we left cincinnati.  i think she secretly has a soft spot in her heart for boden :)  gavin was a much easier sell.  he loved boden from the get go, and so did i.

christmas eve was wonderful.  perhaps my favorite yet.  heather and danny's new open kitchen made for a very nice gathering. everyone arrived early and stayed late.  we ate, opened presents, played throw-back video games, ate some more, drank a little, talked a lot, played with new toys and finished the night with everyone (adults and kids) dancing around heather & danny's kitchen island to some great tunes.  it was the perfect way to end the night.  only for us, this year the night didn't really end there.  since we were staying with heather and danny we got to stay up late and witness "santa" getting ready for stella.  we also got cozy on the couch and watched salt.  like i said, we watched a lot of movies :)

on christmas morning we got on the road and headed to dayton.  we had a great brunch followed by presents, quality family time and a great dinner.  it was nice for us all to be together and fun to see brooke, gavin and pierce play together and bathe together :)  it was a little bittersweet to know that next time we're back in cincy/dayton, carl, mercedes, pierce and baby #2 will be in chicago.  soon they'll know what it feels like to travel for the holidays :)

we spent the night in dayton and played a fun card game with bob and kaye that i always enjoy.  the next day kaye's family came over to the house to visit.  we used to get together with kaye's extended family every christmas evening; however, that tradition has passed and now we rarely see them.  as a matter of fact, some of the family had never met brooke, let alone gavin.  so, it was great to introduce brooke and gavin to family and really nice to visit with everyone.  gavin was so wiped out that he put himself down for a nap on the couch, which ended up being right in the center of the party.  no worries... he slept right through it and then awakened to join the party.  brooke was so excited to meet new cousins, and she had such a great time playing with them.  you'd never know it was the first time they'd met!

we also got to visit with my wonderful group of book club girlfriends and their spouses over a delicious dinner at nada.  seeing them is always a highlight of coming home for me.  i treasure their friendships so incredibly much.  we saw randall and antje at dinner and also the next day at their house.  it was the first time that brooke and gavin got to play with lexi and kenzie, and it was very cute to see the 4 of them together.  antje and randall are so special to us, and it's wonderful to see them as parents.  lexi and kenzie are so cute!  so were the capes that antje and randall gave brooke and gavin.  we had a house full of superheroes :)

i always love to spend time with the people that mean the most to us.  i love that the kids' relationships with family and friends continue to grow even though we don't see everyone that often.  whenever we come back, it feels like we pick up right where we left off.  one of my favorite moments of the trip was watching gavin and stella grab pears out of the fruit basket and start eating them together on the kitchen floor.  it was so precious.  i wish we had these moments more often, but i think i appreciate them more because we don't.

dear brooke & gavin

dear brooke & gavin,

it has been a busy week full of excitement.  in the midst of all i have done, and all i still have yet to do, there's a little voice in my head that keeps telling me "you are living your dream."

you see, more than anything else i have always dreamt of being a mom, and there is honestly no better feeling in the world than being your mother.  your mother.  but never could i have imagined or dreamt of a life so full, of a husband so wonderful, of children so special.  i am living my dream, and i am very aware that i am living the best days of my life.

i want you to know that i choose to be home with you every day.  i want you to know that i am educated enough, experienced enough and confident enough to do lots of things in this world, but the most important job i have is being your mother.  i love being the one that is always there for you, to care for you, to love you and to keep you safe.  i love teaching you right from wrong, showing you how to treat people and fostering a loving relationship between the two of you.  i love giving you new experiences, building your confidence and praising your accomplishments.  i love having the time to share the little things and the big things with you, and i love to watch you grow each and every day.  sure, there are days when it's tough... days when i need a break.  but, honestly, you make my job so easy.

i love you both so very much.

love,

your mommy

the full run-down: christmas part I

i love that we celebrate christmas for a whole week instead of just 1-2 days.  we start here in seattle the week before christmas by celebrating our christmas here at home.  we ask santa a very special favor to come to our house early since we spend the "real" christmas in cincinnati :)  we have our own little christmas eve and christmas day, and it's very special to us.

come to think of it though, we really celebrated the holiday for an entire month!  with all of the events and parties we attended, the kids ended up seeing santa 4 times in a span of 3 weeks!

we started the festivities this year with our first trip to leavenworth, wa.  it's a large bavarian village in eastern washington that does a huge christmas tree lighting complete with tons of festivities.  kevin's parents were in town for the trip, and we all spent the weekend together in leavenworth getting into the christmas spirit.  it was very cold, but we all bundled up and spent an entire day (9am-7pm) outdoors enjoying everything leavenworth had to offer.

next up was the holiday party at kevin's office.  they do a great family-oriented party every year with tons of treats and crafts for the kids, and santa even makes a special appearance to hand out toys to all the boys and girls.  the kids all sit on the floor together and sing christmas carols to let santa know they are ready for him :)  this year brooke colored a special picture for santa and gave it to him herself.  santa happened to pull brooke's present out of his bag first, and it was so funny to see her reaction.  she was excited and nervous and decided the best course of action was to drag her little brother up there with her.  safety in numbers!  gavin wasn't too sure about good old santa, but he went along with it.  santa brought brooke an olivia doll dressed up as a cow, and he brought gavin a train from the thomas the train set.  gavin still says, "ho ho.  tt (his word for choo choo).  daddy work."  so cute!

this was the 2nd year we took the "santa train," and it was just as special the 2nd time around. brooke and gavin both got up on santa's lap, and brooke was super excited to tell santa what she wanted.  they give out little wooden train pieces every year, and this year the kids decided they wanted to paint them.  it made for a fun family activity.

we also baked and decorated christmas cookies.  the kids helped with the cutting of the cookies and did all the decorating themselves!  i think more candies made it into their mouths than onto the cookies :)

on our christmas eve eve, anastasia and i took brooke and hanna to see the nutcracker.  it was brooke's first time to the ballet, and she sat through the entire performance and never once asked when we were leaving :)  her favorite part was seeing clara sleeping in the bed on stage.  it's a day i will always remember.  that night we celebrated christmas with the bakers and exchanged gifts.  it was the perfect way to start the weekend!

for the 2nd year in a row, we chose to spend christmas eve in downtown seattle with lunch at the steelhead diner and a stroll through pike place market.  gavin was sick, and it was pouring rain, but we made the most of it.

we had a late lunch so kevin and i decided to plan for a light dinner.  we purchased crab legs and shrimp at the market, cheese from beecher's and a baguette from three sister's bakery.  we had a nice evening at home with the kids singing christmas carols, writing a letter to santa and leaving cookies for santa and zucchini for the reindeer (brooke's idea :)  after they were tucked into bed, we enjoyed some champagne and a terrific seafood dinner.  then we spent most of the night wrapping presents :)

finally, christmas morning arrived.  brooke was the first to awaken at 7:30am.  we hurried out of bed, awakened gavin (poor thing was tired and sick on christmas) and then rushed downstairs to see the presents that santa had brought.  brooke spotted an unwrapped butterfly pillow pet from upstairs and couldn't contain her excitement any longer.  you know how the rest goes... paper flying, tearing through gifts just as fast as little hands can go.  brooke got everything on her list minus one thing (which came later from gram vicki).  she was a happy girl.  her favorite gift, among many, was princess presto (super why!).  gavin was still waking up and took his time with the gifts.  he liked to play with each one as he opened them.  might have had something to do with the fact that he got a lot of thomas the train presents!

it was a fun morning, but it was over too fast.  which is why i love getting on a plane and heading to cincinnati to celebrate all over again.  christmas part II coming soon... :)