birthday girl

when i think of what i've always dreamed of being only one thing stands out - a mom. my children make my soul happy; they fulfill me in a way nothing else ever could. and raising a girl... well, there aren't words to describe it. i see the way she follows in my footsteps, and it makes me want to be a better person. the best person i could possibly be for her. because right before my eyes she's turning into a young girl. growing by leaps and bounds. there's so much i love about her right now... i just want to bottle her up. she has a great big imagination. she loves to role play - her favorite roles are teacher, mommy and Tinkerbell :) she's suddenly very into girly things like princesses, ballet and barrettes/ponytails. she still has a keen interest in music and loves to sing, dance and play the guitar and harmonica. she's a great big sister, and she has a huge heart full of love. she is our precious girl and she is 3.

christmas in our hearts

for the first time in our lives, we faced the challenge of traveling at the holidays. we were apprehensive... how to do it all and still make it perfect. we decided to celebrate Christmas in Seattle the weekend before the actual holiday. that way Santa could come to our house, and we would have some time to enjoy our new city. going in, we were a little skeptical as to how it was going to feel... maybe like a "mock" Christmas. but it wasn't. it had all the magic and love and specialness of Christmas and then some.

we started celebrating on friday with 3 holiday parties. saturday was designated Christmas Eve, and we spent it in Seattle at the city's most well-known landmark - Pike Place Market. we had lunch, strolled the market and planned a special Christmas Eve dinner.

that evening we prepared for Santa. it was the first year that brooke could fully grasp the concept of Santa, so we did the whole deal. milk. cookies. a special note for Santa. with lots of magic sprinkled in.

brooke was the first to awaken on Christmas morning. she stood in the hallway upstairs looking down at the Christmas tree and all the presents. kevin heard her exclaim "Santa came!" afraid that she was going to go running downstairs without us, we hurried out of bed, got Gavin out of bed and all went to see what Santa had brought.

it might not have really been Christmas, but it was Christmas in our hearts and that made it feel more special than it ever has.

hiatus

for those of you wondering, i haven't been blogging because our computer got all screwed up. i lost 3 years worth of pictures (arghhhhh!). we had to have a new hard drive put in, and now we're in the process of rebuilding our entire library of photos, music, documents, software, etc. right now, we basically have Internet and email and nothing else on our computer. so, maybe after Christmas we'll be up and running again. by then i should have A LOT to say :)

triangle

see the image in the bottom middle of this picture?  brooke drew that and said, "look, mom!  i drew a triangle."  i was speechless.  sure, it's not a perfect triangle, but it IS a triangle.  and she drew it without being asked to and without any assistance.  i've been working with brooke on her shapes, so to see this gave me such a good feeling inside.  i was so proud i had to take a picture :)

our little man is 6 months old

right about now i'm wishing i could slow down time.  my baby turned 6 months old last week.  we put away the baby swing and bouncy seat, which is a clear signal that we're on to the next stage...  i can't believe it!  a lot has happened in the last month.  gavin now has his 2 bottom teeth.  he's rolling from tummy to back and back to tummy and manages to move all around the floor so we can't turn our backs on him for long!  he grabs everything and has a super strong grip.  he loves playing with toys.  he puts everything in his mouth.  he's doing a lot of baby talk and forming new shapes with his mouth (like "O").  he loves to motorboat (stick his tongue out and blow air to make noise).  he loves food and has tried peas, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, prunes, apples and pears.  he completed 4 cross-country flights with ease and saw the beach and ocean for the first time.  he attended his first wedding - aunt heather & uncle danny's!  he was baptized.  and his beautiful smile continued to light up our lives every single day.

my girl

told me she loved me twice today.  unprompted.  nothing better than that.

my 2 1/2 year old

it's 6:30am, and brooke and I are up eating breakfast.  here's what's running through her head...

"so, today is going to be a better day for me."  (i swear she said it just like this.  we've been having lots of talks about how to be a good girl while daddy is out of town :)

"my belly is saying this is a good muffin" :)

"my baby doll doesn't want to wear a diaper to the mall because she's a big girl.  she's 3!"

"i need to put new PJs on because i can't see my fingernail polish with the footies on."

"i'm so excited to go to the dentist!  is he going to say, great job brushing your teeth brooke stealey?"  (we've been talking about going to the dentist.  i can only hope she's "so excited" when the time comes!)