Sorry to keep you all hanging the last couple of weeks but we're finally back and ready to roll. Some fun and exciting things have occurred since our last post beginning with the newest addition to our household....we sadly said goodbye to our trusty ol' Acura and welcomed with open arms, our new Pilot. Troy surprised me the Tuesday before we left for California. He called around 5 saying that he was on his way home and that he would be home around the same time the day before. That was around 5:45. There was no way that he would be home by then but I didn't really think anything of it. He called again around 6 saying that he was stuck in traffic and that he would be another 20 minutes. He said that he was calling from the Castle Pines exit which is maybe 5 minutes away but it had been snowing so I thought I would give him the benefit of the doubt. He calld again around 6:30 saying that he would be a little bit later than mentioned before but that he would be bringing home a surprise. The wheels started turning in my head and lo and behold, I was right. He came pulling in with our brand new Pilot. It was a great surprise.

Thursday we left to head down to California. It was a mini vacation just for kicks but we thoroughly enjoyed getting away. Brooke did great on the plane ride. She whimpered a bit on our decent which isn't surprising but all in all she was great. She is a well-seasoned traveler now. She's been on 4 roundtrip flights and has done pretty well on all of them. Friday we headed over to the Getty Museum. It was a rainy, cold day but we enjoyed the one exhibit we saw before we had to leave to meet my mom at her school. We met up with my mom so she could show off Brooke to all her co-workers then headed home. My dad had to head to Hong Kong that night so we went to Sam Woo then my mom dropped him off at the Flyaway. Later that night I got to see my piano teacher, Sis. Neilson. I hadn't seen her in about 4 years so it was great to catch up.

Saturday we went to San Diego and met up with Matt and his family and Jonnelle. We had lunch at Point Loma's Seafood. It was so good to see them and enjoy the California weather. A storm was supposed to roll in that day but luckily it was all sunshine the whole day. Sunday we had church and then a family gathering. All of my mom's brothers and sisters showed up except for one and some of the cousins that live in the area. It was definitely a full house. Monday we laid low but got to meet up with my friend, Megan, for lunch. It was great catching up with her and now all we need to do is convince her to move to Denver! :) Tuesday we came back to Denver. It was a great vacation but it's always nice to come home. The bad thing now is that we're all sick. Brooke started getting sick Wednesday, me on Thursday, and Troy yesterday. It's just a cold but poor Brooke is just Miss Snotty Nose. Hopefully it'll pass soon. Luckily Brooke has been able to handle it fairly well. Yesterday Robyn and Aaron came down and we went and saw He's Just Not That Into You. It was an okay movie. It's been a busy couple of weeks and there's still more excitement to come. Rachel, McKenna, and Ryleigh are coming to visit Tuesday and Dan will be joining us on Friday. We're excited. Now all I have to do is come up with stuff to do while they're down here.

Lastly, here are some goofy pictures and videos of Brooke.

What happened to the snow?!?!

I can always tell when it has been a busy week if I can't remember what we did on Monday. But I can tell you that on Tuesday Tracie and Robyn went out for a "Movie Night". The quotes are because they actually didn't make it to a movie, partly because they didn't have anything good to see, and partly (mostly) because they just enjoy talking to each other!
The weather has been unseasonably warm for the past couple of weeks. Lexie has been enjoying soaking up the sun, and Tracie doesn't mind getting out and enjoying the 60 and 70 degree weather. For those of you who don't live in Colorado, I'll let you in on one of our state's best kept secrets, this isn't all that uncommon.
On Thursday we had our friend Stacie over for dinner, since her husband was out of town on business. We had a lot of fun, and it was nice having a change of pace in our weekly routine!

Friday night we played hooky from our weekly Marriage class that we have been attending, picked up some ice cream from Cold Stone (sidebar: Tracie usually orders the same thing from Cold Stone every time we go there, sweet cream ice cream, strawberries, bananas, and graham crackers. Only this time, they were all out of bananas! Are you seroius, on a Friday night, you run out of bananas!) and got the movie Eagle Eye from Red Box. It was a good movie and a nice relaxing night.

Saturday was the highlight of the weekend. We went to Dim Sum for lunch with 4 of our friends. It was nice to go with a bigger group since we didn't have to wait for a table, and we were able to sample more food. It was a lot of fun, and led to a day full of hanging out with friends. All in all, it was a fun, busy week. We are looking forward to all the big events of this week...

Yay for Visitors

Okay, maybe not visitors but one visitor. My cousin, Jonathan, flew into town to interview at CU-Denver's pharmacy school. We were able to have him stay Thursday night which was fun. We figured that it had been a little over a year since we had seen each other. We had fun and I definitely appreciated his willingness to watch Brooke while I helped someone from church. Brooke definitely liked having him around.

Saturday was a very productive day for us. We went car shopping once again but I think we've made our choice. We're excited but you guys will just have to stay tuned to see what it is. I'm sure it's a no brainer. We also headed to our friends, the Stokers, to hang out. We ate some good grub and played the Wii. They had a game called Big Brain (I think) which was a lot of fun. They also have a little girl that loved playing with Brooke.

Some other funny things:

I gave Brooke a highlighter to play with and apparently there was a leak. If you look closed to the right corner of her mouth you can see a little bit of a blue hue. Whoops. Good thing it's non-toxic.Lastly, Brooke somehow got herself into a bind. We thought it was funny.

6 Month Stats

Head: 16 7/8 in. (50-75%)

Height: 26 3/4 " (75-90%)

Weight: 14 lbs. 10 oz. (25-50%)

k./'''b,.hc m4- Brooke really wanted to type and this is what she came up with.

Her check-up went well and she was champ during her 3 shots. I'm still clueless on where she's getting her height from but hey, I'm not complaining. Now for the highlights of what she's up to:

-she can roll over from back to front but she hates to roll from front to back. She forgets that she can do it and ends up spreading her arms out and rocking on her belly. Most of the time it leads to a tantrum.

-she started eating solids at 4 months. She likes oatmeal, green beans, and applesauce. Not so much on peas, bananas, peaches,and plain rice cereal.

-she's starting to sit up although she prefers to stand. She can sit for a good couple of seconds then she tips over.

-she has found her tongue and loves to stick it out all the time. Makes it difficult to feed her sometimes.-she's sleeping through the night which is fabulous for Troy and I.

-she loves to play with her pacifiers and yank them out of her mouth with a popping sound.

-she loves to grab anything and everything within her reach. She especially loves to eat paper.
(sorry no pics of that)

All in all she's a great kid and we love her to pieces.

Here's a little bonus of her talking while trying to be fed.

Gung Hay Fat Chow

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!!!! My mom would be proud. I hosted a Chinese New Year dinner last night and we had some of our friends from church come over. I made egg drop soup (I know, so authentic), chow mein, potstickers, and almond jello. I do have to say everything was muy delicioso. Troy helped wrap the potstickers and he even crimped the edges. I never do but since we were having guests over, I didn't want to be outdone by my white husband. Thanks Troy!!!!! The other highlight of the week was car hunting. Troy had Monday off from work so we went out to lunch to celebrate his passing his exam. We even had Brooke sit in a highchair. I think she liked not being stuck in a carseat. Like Troy mentioned in the post before, we checked out and test drove the Honda Pilot. Saturday, we went to the GMC/Chevy dealership and test drove the Acadia and Traverse. I'm still a big fan of the Honda Pilot and I think we're leaning more towards that way. Stay tuned. Hopefully in the next few weeks we'll have some pictures.

Making silly faces with Daddy

Just hanging out

I forgot to mention the fabulous weather we had last week. Monday, we were in the 60s. It was windy so it made it slightly chilly but Tuesday and Wednesday were absolutely gorgeous. I believe we broke the record high Wednesday with 71. I wore capris and Brooke was able to wear one of her spring dresses. It was a great couple days but a cruel teaser to spring since it's still January. Currently we are sitting at a whopping 14 degrees. I am so ready for sunshine so we can go on walks. Yesterday we woke up to frost on all the plants and trees. It stayed cold enough all day for it to last. It was pretty to look at but I wish the sun had decided to show it's face.

Brooke loves the beanie uncle Brett made her.

As for Brooke, she hit her 6 month mark on Saturday. Can you believe it?!?!?!?! She's 6 months. She has her Dr. appt tomorrow so I'll post her stats then but to give you a tidbit of what she's doing now, here's a video of her playing peek-a-boo with Troy.

I have a dream...

First, happy Martin Luther King Day to all! He was a great man, who did a lot for this country, without whom a day like tomorrow may not be possible. I'd also like to personally thank him for allowing me to have the day off today!!
Saturday night, we had dinner with Stephanie and Taylor, and it was a lot of fun. It's always good to get out of the house, spend time with other adults, have people make food for you... :)
Speaking of food, Brooke continues to eat well, and stick out her toungue when she is done.

Here she is getting bundled up for a walk to the neighbor's house. This isn't really necessary during the day, since it has been in the mid 60s for the past couple of days, and will be for the next few days. I think the snow and cold gods are just waiting to release their fury!

Our cute little sleeper and her sleeping bear blanket.

What happens when you flick a nipple out of your mouth with warm milk inside? It gets all over you nose!

Tracie and I are off to Old Chicago for lunch, and then on to some car dealerships to get some ideas about how we can stimulate this economy ourselves!

Exam Results

So, exam results came out today, and I passed! Now I can add a ,EA to the end of my email signature! Hooray!! Thanks to all for your support, especially you Tracie. Is it really possible that we may only have one more year of this? Let's celebrate with lunch on Monday, you get to pick the place!

I'm a Big Kid Now

Okay, maybe not a big kid but Brooke is growing up. We bought her a high chair this last week since the bouncer proved to not really hold her in. She seems to like it and I love the fact that I can pin her arms down with the tray so she can't swat at the spoon when I'm trying to feed her. She has also started sleeping all the way through the night as in from 8-7. Not too shabby. She's close to rolling over too but hasn't quite figured out how to get over the arm that's underneath her. I expect that she'll be able to figure it out by the end of the month. Other than that she's still the same easy-going kid and we love her to pieces. So much so that we could eat her cheeks.

This is the face she likes to make when she doesn't want to open her mouth. What a stinker.

We had guests this weekend. It was my old friend, Elise and her family. We didn't get any shots with all of us but we did of the kiddies playing together. I think Brooke liked the entertainment.

Dream

Have you ever had a dream so vivid, you thought it was real? Last night, I was asleep on my back, and I was dreaming that I was throwing Brooke up in the air. On one of the throws, Brooke drifted away from me to the right. So naturally I leaned forward and to the right and made an effort to grab her... and then, contact... with the sides of Tracie's head! I made a couple efforts to grab Brooke before I fully woke up, and realized that I had scared the crap out of Tracie. Sorry babe! At least I wasn't snoring!!!

As promised, video evidence

Happy New Year!!

Well, this has been a weird week from a timing standpoint, since Wednesday and Thursday both seemed like Saturday, and Friday seemed like Monday. Nontheless, it was a nice week to ease back into the routine after the big vacation.

Lexie has enjoyed having us back, especially since we brought home a new fuzzy blanket for her to sleep on.

We celbrated New Year's with some other friends at the Steele's home. The food was good (it always is) and the company was fun. We were going to leave at 10, but then Brooke fell asleep in her car seat. We ended up staying until 11, and by the time we got home, got everthing settled and had just started to doze off, our neighbors set off a nice fireworks display. Luckily it was visible out our bedroom windows, so we watched that and immediately fell back asleep.

On Saturday, we woke up to these ominous looking clouds. The sun was definitely deceiving and the 60 degree temperatures from Friday were quickly a thing of the past. In fact, the high on Saturday was 49, which happened at midnight. We ended up with some snow on Saturday and probably ended up with 3 or 4 inches by the end of the day.

On Saturday morning Brooke woke up with a little bit of a cold and a stuffy nose. She has handled it pretty well for the most part. It was easier to feed her food, since she had to open her mouth to breath. Yet today, she figured out how to breath with her mouth just barely open, making it harder to get the food in. Add that to her talents of smiling with her mouth barely open, laughing with her mouth barely open, and crying with her mouth open, and she has a full repetoire of skills to make feeding her difficult.

Brooke is starting to fill up her bathtub. Once she is able to sit up, we will transfer her to the big tub.

For perspective, here is a shot from 5 months ago.