Happy Birthday to Me!!!!!

One year older and maybe wiser too. We celebrated my 26th birthday this past weekend starting with my birthday dinner at Red Robin Friday night. Brooke was fabulous the whole time. She didn't make one peep and all the waiters thought she was cute. I got a free burger and a sundae. If you haven't signed up for the birthday club there you must so you can get your free burger. Saturday, Robyn drove down and we went to go see Night at the Rodanthe. Troy took one for the team and stayed home with Brooke. We then had chicken kabobs, twice baked potatoes, and fruit salad for dinner. It was all very delicious. Afterwards we had cupcakes. I decided this year that I wanted all the candles on one cupcake. Let me tell you, that flame was pretty high but it was funny.

Brooke wasn't sure what to make of all this fun.Troy came close to singing off his eyebrows.Luckily the smoke alarm didn't go off!!!The cupcake after all the candles were taken out.Robyn got me The Five People You Meet In Heaven and a cookbook for making soups. I'm excited to dive into both of these books. Today was a pretty chill day for it being my birthday. I was all celebrated out from Friday and Saturday. After Troy came home from his meetings we opened my other b-day presents from his family and him. His family got me a cool cookbook for making creative cakes. It will definitely come in handy in the future. Troy got me the best present of all...a 85 minute Swedish Massage at some spa. I had told him a little bit ago that what I wanted for my birthday every year I had a kid was a massage. It's amazing what pregnancy has done to my back and I am looking forward to scheduling my massage. I will have to let you know how it goes. It will be my first one ever. So all in all I had a fabulous birthday. Thanks to all for the phone calls and emails.

Just thought I'd add a cute pic of Brooke. Don't you just want to eat those cheeks!!!!!

She's what?!?!?!

Can you believe that it's been 2 months already?! I can't. Time has flown by too fast and Brooke is getting so big. We had her 2 month check up this morning and here are her stats:

Weight: 10 lbs. 3 oz. (25-50%)

Height: 23 in. (50-75%)

Head: 15 1/4 in. (50%)

She originally measured 23 1/2 in. but the nurse didn't believe it so she re-measured and knocked a half inch off. Brooke also had a series off vaccinations and she did really well. Now she's sleeping peacefully.

Weekend Update

So I feel that Tracie is generally better at posting ever since Brooke was born. She's got all the funny anecdotes, etc. Maybe it is because she is around Brooke all day. So Tracie spend the afternoon with Robyn and I watched Brooke. See if you can notice an improvement in this post. First order of business is that Brooke is into sucking her hands. This leads to the inevitable slobbery face, chin, mouth and also to Tracie and I pondering whether or not she could get the whole fist in her mouth.

We went on a walk after Tracie got home. It was a little chilly outside so we put on her ear jacket. Tracie is hoping that it is cold next week in Utah so she can wear the whole outfit. This is a frequent position for Brooke when she is being burped. Somehow this helps.

So Brooke is beginning to make more noises, especially when she is happy. When she is sad, she makes this face, which despite her best efforts, make Mom and Dad laugh. Love the lower lip.

So I did not anticipate how fun it would be to dress up Brooke on Sunday. It makes it that much easier to get volunteers to hold her during the meetings!!

So on a somewhat related note (Brooke watches the games with me), I find it exciting that BYU is ranked #11 in the country. Usually I try and downplay the BCS talk for BYU, since it generally leads to disappointment. But I embrace it this year, since there will be no controversy about BYU going to a BCS bowl if BYU goes undefeated. This season has been two years in the making, and BYU won't get this kind of chance every year. Take advantage of it if you can. (We'll do our part at the Air Force game!)

The Start of a Beautiful Friendship.

This One's for You, Erin!!!

Erin wanted to see pics of our garden since she last saw it so here it is...

Here's out traveling zucchini plant. This is the other side of the fence. I think the vine would be longer but some guy was out weed whacking the other day and chopped it. No fun. :(

How many zucchini?!?!?!?

So since we harvested our first zucchini back at the beginning of August I would venture to say that we have picked at least 40 zucchini and they're still coming! Troy's mom was right when she said that we only needed to plant one seed. Originally we planted 15 seeds (as directed on the seed packet). Nine of the 15 took and Troy thinned out the mounds. Luckily, the six that he transplanted died. I don't know what I would have done if we have 9 zucchini plants. The funny thing is that one of the zucchini has actually grown to be a vine that has decided to migrate to the other side of the fence. Good thing the other side of the fence is just open space. Troy says that there's a zucchini growing on that side too. We also have a one too many rows of green beans. I'd say that we get at least 1/2 - 1 lb of green beans a week. Good thing we have plenty of neighbors to pawn them off to. We decided to harvest our potatoes this last week and what a disappointment. They were just little dodes. I'm thinking we're going to have to wait until fall of next year before we can pick them! Anywho, I think we've had a good season of vegetables. Maybe next year we'll try to venture out and plant something else besides green veggies.

Besides harvesting vegetables, I've been able to enjoy seeing how quick Brooke has been growing. She's getting better at being put down for naps and bedtime although she's extremely spoiled on Sundays because she does not like being in her carseat if it isn't moving so we end up holding her pretty all 3 hours. I've been able to also distinguish her tired cry from her other ones. I still haven't figured out her other cries but this is a start. I have also noticed that she's becoming more independent as in there are times that she does not want to be held. Earlier this afternoon Troy was holding her and she began to fuss. He thought that she was tired but I told him that she might not be. He put her on the play mat and she had a great time batting at the rattles for a good 10 minutes. I can't believe how much she has changed in these past 7 1/2 weeks. She's almost 2 months old!!!! Where has the time gone?!?!?!

Naps...

So, I think we're making progress. I don't want to jump the gun but Brooke put herself to sleep twice this week. Once without even a whimper. I think putting her down for her morning nap is a lot easier than the afternoon ones. This morning, I was in the shower when she began fussing a little bit. I figured it was about time and wrapped her up and stuck her on her side and wah-lah she fell asleep. Hopefully this means good things are to continue...at least in the mornings.

IKEA coming to Denver

IKEA just announced a new store opening up in Centennial (just north of Park Meadows Mall). We love that place, it is a dream! It is never crowded, the carts are easy to steer, and we like the furniture (for the most part.)

It should be open in two or two and a half years. We will prepare a room for Heather, because we know she will want to be here for opening day!!!

Horse Face

Paternity week was great this week. It was nice to relax, take care of Brooke, let Tracie take naps, and get some work done in the yard.

Luckily the US Open was on, and we got our fair share of watching in, including Brooke!

She even liked the commercials! Especially the Mannings vs. Williams Oreo commercial

We've been trying to get Brooke to put herself to sleep for her naps. At times it can be very trying, but once she falls asleep, she is just so darn cute!
Inspired by Julie Dawson's blog, Tracie and I took pictures while blowing air through our lips (aka the horse face)
This was Tracie's reaction after seeing my result.
Still trying to get it together.
Here it comes!
We regressed.
Well worth the wait!

The Belle of the Ball

We had Brooke blessed this past Sunday and man, was it a busy weekend. She was completely spoiled by all aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas, grandpas, great aunts, great grandpa, and especially great grandma. I don't think Brooke was put down for even a minute during this weekend. Will and Kristin came in Friday and everyone else on Saturday. All in all, we had 24 people over and it was a blast. The weekend was filled with catching up, playing the Wii, enjoying the backyard, and eating a lot of food. Troy did a great job blessing Brooke and didn't even drop her afterwards. (that was a fear of mine, that Brooke would all of a sudden squirm and fall out of his hands). We are sad that our house is now empty and quiet but I'm am definitely grateful that Troy is on paternity leave this week. Today is Day 1 of trying to get Brooke to be able to put herself to sleep and it hasn't been too bad. (Knock on wood) The first time we put her down, Brooke cried for maybe 5 minutes then fell asleep. Hopefully that means good things are to come. We're keeping our fingers crossed that this week will go smoothly and Brooke will be able to put herself to sleep by the time Troy has to go back to work. Thanks to all who traveled here this weekend. It was great seeing everyone.