1 Month Check-up

Hi everyone!!!!!!

Brooke had her one month check up yesterday and she passed with flying colors. When she left the hospital she weighed in at 5 lbs. and 15 1/2 oz. Here are her stats now:

Weight: 9 lbs. 1 1/2 oz. (50%)

Height: 21 1/2 in. (50-75%)

Head: 14 1/2 in. (50%)

The doctor says that babies, on average, gain about 2 lbs./month and well Brooke exceeded that. There have been times where I didn't think she was feeding well and getting enough but apparently she is. Brooke has also started smiling. It's amazing what her little smiles can do. After having a rough couple days last week, all of that was erased Sunday morning when she threw out a million smiles.

I don't know about this...Just a teaser:
I think I'm a little gassy:
Just kidding, I'm just really happy.

Chunky Monkey

Tracie summed our week on her Friday post. We had a neighbor bring us dinner on Saturday night. It was much appreciated and very good timing. We are excited to see everyone next weekend, and Brooke is getting ready to be spoiled rotten. I'm leaving for Vermont on business tomorrow, so if you need something to do on Monday or Tuesday, feel free to stop by, give a ring, or send an e-mail. Since there is not much to post about, I guess we'll just have to put up pictures of Brooke!



So we can't be the only ones saddened by the end of the Olympics. We are going to miss the action, the games, the all-day coverage, everything. We were saying tonight that we have never been into an Olympics as much as we were this year. It was cool to watch the opening ceremonies with Joanna, and see her emotion for her country. It was surreal to watch Lezak on the 4 x 100 and scare Brooke when he touched first. We will miss the Olympics...


...at least 4 pm on Saturday. Go Cougars!!!!!!!!

Withdrawal!!!!

So, I made it through the week without my mom but I'm going through severe withdrawal. Okay, maybe not severe but I do realize how nice it was to have an extra set of hands. I did have my first breakdown last night feeling overwhelmed juggling mommyhood, Troy's new calling, and being sick with a cold (who gets a cold in the summer?!?!?!?). So these past couple of days I've been thinking how I need to have Brooke be able to put herself to sleep. She's really great once I put her down but she just can't make herself fall asleep. Well, I tried to start this yesterday and it did not go well. By the end of the day you could tell that both Brooke and I were exhausted. On top of that Troy was only home for about 30 minutes before he had to leave for a church meeting. It was a rough night. Thanks Rachel for lending an ear!!!!!! Luckily Troy was able to work from home today to give me some rest and hopefully recover from this cold quickly. I decided that we'll try to conquer this hurdle of Brooke being to fall asleep by herself in a couple weeks when Troy takes paternity leave. Wish us luck, I have a feeling we're going to need it.

Brooke is now 4 weeks old. Can you believe it? I can't. Time has really flown by. We have her 1 month old check up next week and I'm excited to see how much she's grown. It's funny, I haven't really noticed her growing until this last week and all of sudden she's not so tiny anymore.

Sad, sad day

It was an oh so sad day today. We had to say good-bye to my mom. She has been here since a week before Brooke was born and has been a huge help. I would definitely say that I have been spoiled rotten with her being here and I have no idea what I'm going to do without her. THANKS MOM FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE. BOTH BROOKE AND I WILL MISS YOU.

On another note, Colorado had a cold front move in Thursday and it has been chilly. Back at the end of July, Denver broke the record with 24 consecutive days with 90 or above temps. July was also the 3rd driest month in the history of Colorado. Within the last 2 weeks, we have received more rain than May, June, and July combined. This last cold front brought around 2 1/2" and great thunder and lightning. The highs the last couple of days have been in the low 60s maybe the high 50s. Luckily we're climbing back up to where August should be.

Say What?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Has it really been 4 years?!?! I just wanted to give a shout out to Troy and say thanks for a great 4 years. It's kind of nice that we can mark our 4 year anniversaries with the Olympics.



HAPPY 4th!!!!!!!!!!!

Two great weeks

Brooke celebrated her two week birthday by heading downtown to see my co-workers. They were excited to see her and she enjoyed the attention. We went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory afterwards and she slept nearly the whole time.
Her two week birthday means that she is old enough to take real baths. It took her a while to warm up to the bath idea, but she was quite content after a while.
Lexie was curious what the hubbub was all about. Thursday we also got the glider (finally) and it is really nice. It's amazing how well they work, although Lexie enjoys it as well, and has slept on it the last couple of nights!

She continues to do well during church, and the 9 o'clock schedule works a little better for her.

Sunday night our neighbors won an essay contest for a free block party sponsored by Dreyer's Slow Churned Ice Cream. We bundled Brooke up (since it was chilly with the rain earlier in the day) and took her for some free ice cream. Even with Aaron and Robyn coming, there was more than enough ice cream for all. It was a lot of fun.

We have been enjoying the Olympics since Friday night, and the DVR has come in very handy. Thanks Will and Kristin!!!

Back to your regularly scheduled program

Yesterday's post was pre-empted due to an amazing men's 4 x 100 freestyle relay last night. (Amazing finish by the way!). The Sunday weekly post will be published in its entirety tonight. We appreciate your patience.

Harvest Time

Our garden is finally starting to give us stuff to harvest. Like everyone said, our zucchini plants took off. They're huge. We got our first zucchini today and we picked a bunch of green beans. I have a feeling that by the end of this season, we will be all green beaned and zucchini-ed out.

Now on to the good stuff. Brooke is starting to chunk up. Or at least I think so. Her chin is starting to get "doubly" and there are a few folds in her thighs. We took her out on her first walk today since the weather has finally decided to cool off. It started to rain but luckiliy there were only sprinkles. I think she liked it and she looked so darn cute in her little hat.

Lexie has done surprisingly well with Brooke around. She even likes to play with Brooke's toys. Brooke is so nice to share.

Changes all around

In the spirit of big changes in the past couple of weeks, our ward was split this week. Having first heard about it last week, the crowds were packed in. We filled the chapel, the overflow, and nearly half of the gym. No wonder they are splitting it! We are in the new ward, called the Foothills Ward, and it encompasses the Meadows part of the old ward. In conjunction with that change, we are getting new callings. We will certainly miss our 4-5 year old kids, and I was grateful to have one last week to teach them. I was called as the Elder's Quorum President. Kind of a daunting task, but hopefully I will be up to the challenge. Luckily our new ward has a lot of the younger couples that I already know, so that is good.

We took Brooke to church today for all of the changes, and she did really well.

We have had some really hot weather as of late (22 straight days about 90) which makes it hard to get out and do anything. We ran a few errands yesterday and Brooke started out bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but soon she lost her spirit. Luckily the weather is cooling off a little and we were actually able to open the windows at night. I'm excited for fall.

Like mother, like daughter

Apparently, Brooke takes after me. When she was discharged from the hospital, she weighed in at 5 lbs. and 15.9 oz. We had a doctor's appointment today and she's up to 6 lbs. and 10 oz. and is in the 25th percentile. Go Brooke!!!!!

Hopefully her love of food will continue on for a long while.