look, it's uncle carl!

so, brooke loves her uncle carl!  they are buddies.  we've noticed that occasionally when we're riding in the car, brooke will yell out "uncle carl!"  i finally put it all together and figured out that she thinks the guy in the verizon ads is uncle carl.  kevin and i find this hilarious!  think of it from brooke's point-of-view... she's riding in the back of a car, looks out the window and sees a picture of uncle carl on a billboard.  from a distance, you totally get it... dark hark, dark glasses, fitted jacket... it is uncle carl!  

naked dance party

last month my book club had our annual holiday party.  we always invite spouses and this year we included all the kids.  it's amazing how we've multiplied in the past couple of years!  there were kids everywhere.  three of the oldest kids - owen, reese and brooke - turned the festivities into a naked dance party.  i started changing brooke into her PJs when suddenly she looked into the other room and exclaimed, "they're getting naked!"  off she ran to join owen and reese, and they all danced the night away to kevin and samir's jam session...

pigtails

is it just me or are little girls in pigtails one of the cutest things on earth?  brooke is FINALLY into hair accessories so I'm taking advantage of this in case it's temporary!  mom could use some practice getting them to look even, but brooke is none the wiser : )

what a difference a year makes : )

So, we took Brooke downtown on Saturday evening for some good 'ole Christmas Cheer.  Macy's has a ton of stuff going on for the holidays - Santa repelling off a roof, fireworks, cookies & storytime with Mrs. Claus, etc. - and there were tons of people downtown.  This alone was nice to see in Cincinnati.  Brooke enjoyed the repelling Santa Claus until he started doing tricks and flips down the side of the building, and then she said "I don't like that!"  Then the fireworks gave her a big startle, so we headed into Macy's to see Santa.  I've been trying to get Brooke psyched up to sit on Santa's lap, but I knew I hadn't completely convinced her.  She'd go back and forth saying "I want to sit on Santa's lap" and then the next sentence out of her mouth would be "I don't like sit on Santa's lap."  So, as you can see in this picture, Brooke didn't want any part of Santa.  Luckily this was a free Santa Claus visit where you take your own pictures, so not much was really lost.  Brooke started screaming the second we got to the front of the line.  There was NO WAY she was sitting on his lap.  She did manage to hand Santa her favorite Christmas book "Santa's Jolly Belly" which you see Santa displaying in our photo.  He was a good sport!  Thankfully, Brooke liked Mrs. Claus a lot better.  Right after this experience we took her to the children's department for storytime with Mrs. Claus.  There were tons of kids huddled around Mrs. Claus, and they were passing out cookies.  Enough said.  Redemption! After our adventurous night out on the town, Brooke awoke the next morning saying "I sat on Santa's lap."  Kevin and I said "you didn't sit on Santa's lap!"  To which Brooke replied "I cried."

happy birthday, uncle carl & uncle zach!

happy birthday to carl and zach!  hope you both had great birthdays.  brooke has enjoyed singing happy birthday to both of you all week long.  we tried getting it on video tape for a nice birthday greeting for both of you, but of course, brooke decided she didn't want to cooperate.  so sorry, this is the best i could do.  love you both!!

girls and their baby dolls

i was wondering when a fascination with baby dolls would kick in for brooke, and about 2 months ago, it did.  brooke loves playing with her baby dolls at home and at school, and she particularly loves putting them to sleep.  she has this whole process she goes through - baby placed on stomach, blanket unfolded and very carefully placed on top of baby, baby patted on back followed by singing "night, night, baby" (which sounds more like "ni, ni, bity").  then after about 2 seconds, brooke decides it's time to wake them up, so she throws the blanket off of them and scoops them up saying, "bity woke up!"

several of brooke's baby dolls have pacifiers, which has led to an inadvertent obsession with pacifiers.  brooke thinks that she needs one and thinks it's funny to ask for one, even though she gave them up a year ago!

this is a picture of brooke making a home under our kitchen table for her and her babies.  the babies are "sitting up high" as brooke would say.

gotta love this age :)

  

my hiatus is over

today is the day i recommit myself to blogging!  i guess i've had too much going on, too much on my mind, too much to do....  kevin and i are on vacation this week, so it seems like as good a time as any to pick this thing back up again.