1st Haircut!!

My Mom and I took Brooklyn to get her 1st haircut today...it has been getting quite shaggy. I love the whispy look of it...but unfortunately when she wakes up, she can't see because her bangs come down to her nose!! We wanted to even it up in the back...get rid of her mullet look and cut her bangs so she can see the world around her, without always having to have her hair pulled up! (because if we just use a clip...she yanks it right out!). She will also tilt her head upwards to try and see out from under her hair...it's just kinda sad :(

The Before...

Mommy sprays my hair with water every day...but somehow this is different...and NOT fun

So...ten and a half months after she was born we took her to Cool Cuts 4 Kids and made an appointment with Mary Lou (recommended by Karol). Mary Lou was so so good with Brooklyn, however Brooklyn might beg to differ. Unfortunately, I think it might have been a traumatizing experience for her. It was really no different than me fixing her hair (because I use a spray bottle of water), however they had to put a cape on her...and she was not a fan!! She loves to grab the comb when I do her hair and try to see what I am doing...the cape prevented her from getting her arms up and being Mary Lou's little helper...so that frustrated her from the beginning.

Why me??

Ok, maybe we can play beauty shop...

No more mullet...

However, they do everything in their power to make it fun for kids...they have movies playing...sit them in cute car hair styling chairs...and it is just a fun environment. Brooklyn loved sitting on the Lego table and playing with Legos...we decided they just should have cut her hair there...haha.

Time for bangs! Now do you understand why I can't see?!?!

Ok, I think this is better, but I might need a nap first...

Getting cute is hard work!!

The sum of our outing and first hair cut experience...is out little baby girl now looks even more like a little girl. She is more girl and less baby every day (and her BIRTHDAY is in less than two months...how??). Anyways, she is precious...and looks like a doll (I think she likes it too...she waved at herself in the mirror on the way out).

The 1970's Dorothy Hamill wedge...

No, she isn't going to have a haircut like I did when I was little...the short "boy cut"...although to my family it was known as the "Dorothy Hamill" style...and in my defense, my hair was always neat, clean and cute...and not long and stringy...I'm not a fan of stringy hair on little girls (long hair seems to frequently be stringy unless it is nice and thick).

(I will insert an old pic of me here)

Anyways, Brooklyn's hair is now evened up and super cute...we will let it continue to grow and just have her bangs trimmed from now on. My favorite part is the curl that she has (we think this is from her Daddy)...it curls so perfectly above each ear and looks like we used a curling iron...too cute!!

TaDa!!! Ok, Mommy save me!!

Ok, out of that silly seat...Mary Lou has stepped away and I'm back with Mommy. Phew, what a hard afternoon...but I feel like a cutie pie!!

Will try and post a non-fussy pic later so we don't have the snot flying and red eyebrows look going on...

Brooklyn LIVE!!

Here are a few videos of Brooklyn in action...playing in the pool, crawling...and just being silly!!

Fourth of July & Summer Family Fun!!

Remember how I said she would make a few lurches and then go SPLAT...well SPLAT no more, we are on the move!! Brooklyn is a crawling machine!! She is zooming down the hallway and out of our sight in just seconds!! I love the way her hands sound as they slap the hard surfaced floors...however, she doesn't like the way her head sounds when it "slaps" the floor. Poor little thing still goes SPLAT every now and then and has her first little knot on the forehead!!

So her first "boo-boo" didn't photograph very well...but if you look carefully you will see the red/blue spot above her left eye. We even got out the frozen "boo-boo" bunny, Brooklyn wasn't a fan....

just a 'wonky' hair picture...got out a headband to keep the hair out of her face ...it was cute while it lasted...

For the 4th of July we took Brooklyn to a dusty parking lot. While our intentions were good, this was not our initial plan. We were headed out to watching fireworks at Lackland AFB...and then saw a crowd on the side of the road gathered to watch the festivities at Sea World. Turned out to be a gravel parking lot, which included clouds of dust every time the wind blew or a car entered. Anyways...we perched on the back of our car...patiently waiting. Then they began...and the were so crummy!! They weren't shot up high in the sky and they weren't loud. Not that I was wanting to traumatize our child with loud BOOMS, but it is part of the experience!! Then all of a sudden we heard BOOMS and big fireworks in the sky...but they were coming from behind us. The Hyatt Hill Country definitely upstaged Sea World...so at least she got a somewhat decent firework experience.

we all know fireworks are quite difficult to take pictures of...so here is the best of her 1st 4th of July Fireworks!!

However, next year we will be more organized and are DEFINITELY going to Landa Park in New Braunfels...my all time favorite place to be for the 4th of July!! A fun park to run around in, sit and enjoy the families...and just hang out in one of the all time best places in the world (ok, I might be a bit biased because of memories...but it is pretty great).

ahhh, yes...this was 4th of July in Landa Park many many years ago with Carinne and Scottie...and the infamous "ball of fingers"...that is a whole story in itself...

My Mom and I went up to New Braunfels on Sunday to visit Aunt Jo and her cousin, John. Brooklyn had a blast playing with Aunt Jo's oxygen tubing...and Aunt Jo always enjoys seeing her. She is her surrogate Mame...so I want them to visit as much as possible!! My Mom's other cousin, Mary Lynn...and Tim, Katherine and Drew also came to see us...so it was quite a nice afternoon!!

Aunt Jo & Brooklyn has so much fun swinging her tubing...if only they could have found someone to jump rope!!

...and for this reason we are glad that she is still toothless

(so far she is following her mother's teething pattern...I was 1 year)

Brooklyn was trying to grab the camera and crawl into it...and for some reason I just like these pictures...nothing special (other than what's in them!)

How could I resist capturing this face???
Hangin' out with Cousin John

(psst...wanna know a secret?? that fabric in the picture below is my very own Christmas Stocking that he is making just for ME!! Isn't is beautiful!!! He must love me a whole bunch!!!)

Still studying Cousin Mary Lynn's glasses...they are red, how fun!!

I don't know why she won't share...

Timmy & I...and I'm getting sleepy...

Cousin Katherine...she was so much fun!! We twirled and twirled together!!!

Brooks and I took her to the baby pool this past week and she splished and splashed!! We got her a little floaty seat and she liked being able to wander around the pool on her own...but she couldn't reach the water with her hands...so it hindered her splashing and she didn't last very long in it...

Do you see this piece of paper I found???

Now you see it...Now you don't...because it is in my mouth, as is EVERYTHING now days...

and I am so proud of my accomplishment!!! Silly Girl...

Now for a more impressive accomplishment...watch me GO!!

Hey, this seat is kinda nice...a new found freedom in the water!!!

I can't SPLASH!! I thought the seat was supposed to make this pool business more fun!!

Ahh, a book!! Maybe I can read in the pool...

That's better...out of the tube and splishing and splashing!!!

Ooops, I got water in my face!!

Trying to catch Daddy's toes!!

...and this is my "post" pig-tail hair do...with the lovely part down the center...

Daddy's Girl!!! For some reason I love the bottom picture...

Mommy & Me!!

One hot, tired, sweaty, sun-screeny baby...

I forgot to mention Brooklyn's favorite word "ooohhh"...she loves to "oooh" and "aah." ...and she does it with such inflection!! It is as if she is having a conversation with herself...but she will allow us to chime in, as long as we use the same vocabulary. It is truly priceless! Especially in the car...it makes us smile from ear to ear...

Really, we have a 10 month old??

This picture is older...but a fun "cartoon" pic of Brooklyn from BeFunky.com

Where does time go? I feel we are constantly on the go and time slips away from us. I have no idea how it is even feasible for Brooklyn to be 10 months old next week!! She is developing into such a little person and less of a baby every day. For such a "tiny girl" percentage wise...she is already wearing a lot of clothes that are 18 months. We have moved to two-piece footless jammies...and her clothes are less "baby" looking all the time. She is still an excellent sleeper and seems to prefer to "play" herself to sleep...

My 1st Pony Tail!

(finally doing something with all my hair!)

She had her 9 month check up the beginning of June and weighted 16lbs 13oz. Still tiny...but she's healthy and Dr. Ferreris thinks she looks great! She got two shots and was a trooper! She has also had her first "sick visit" at the doctor. She had been messing with her ears a lot and had a small scab in one of them. My mom told me that she thought her ear was bothering her....I said "yeah I need to cut her finger nails"...because I was thinking the scab itched. Well...obviously I misunderstood my Mom. Sure enough...Brooklyn had her first ear infection! I felt so awful for not knowing!!! I was actually working an even for Thirty-One and Aunt Jamie was babysitting Brooklyn...so her super duper Aunt took her to the doctor. We went through ear drops for 24 hours (and yes, I wore them in my bra just like my Mommy and Mame did...so they stayed nice and warm for her ears) and did a round of liquid amoxicillin (...and it still tastes the exact same!). Since then, her ears have been clear and healthy...so we are hoping her setback was just a fluke and will not become a recurrence.

Sitting in my cute beach chair with my umbrella (from Aunt Jamie)

...and showing off my pigtails!

We had a great time in Midland. We went to see Grandma Q and Grandpa Joe mid-May. We were going to go swimming, but it wasn't quite warm enough (which you wouldn't guess by today's weather...my car said 106 earlier!!!!!). Aunt Betsy held a Thirty-One party at her house...we got to visit with Quentin, Gracie and Brinin some...and then we came home. Overall the trip was too quick and too short!! We hope to go back in July and October!!

Sitting with Grandma Q...the ribbons on her buttons were quite interesting!!

Hanging with Grandpa Joe! Did I mention I LOVE glasses?

Aunt Betsy & Cousin Gracie (Brinin crawled away)

Brooks has been AWESOME at work! We truly think it is a result of a lot of answered prayers! He is currently the #1 Sales Counselor for KB Home in San Antonio!! Could we have a more amazing Daddy??? He's working hard for his girls and making people's dreams of home ownership come true...I'm truly glad he loves his job!!

I have had a very successful start to my Thirty-One business! So far I LOVE it and hope it is our answer to a part-time job for myself! I have had fun, met a lot of great women...and has given me something to work on!
Brooklyn...what has been keeping her busy these days? Focusing on learning how to crawl! That has been her main objective lately! It's so funny how I think she needs someone to teach her these things...but then instinctively, she just starts to do things on her own! She has been spending more time on her tummy and not being cranky about it. Although, her time on her tummy is still short because she loves to ROLL!!! She can make it across one side of the room and back before you know it! However, this new love for being on her tummy has gotten her to figure this crawling business out! This past Sunday, Father's Day...she actually finally got up on her knees and made her first lurch. She will rock back and forth a bit...make a step or two...and then splat! I told her that by the end of the week I bet we are chasing her around the house!! Brooks stayed with her last night and they made a Father/Daughter trip to Wal-Mart and bought outlet covers...so I came home to a semi child proofed house. Now, we just have to wander around and look at what things she can tug on that she might pull over on top of her.

Watch me go!

Another big milestone in Brooklyn's life is sitting on her own...from the laying down position! She did this last night for her Daddy (and Mommy missed it)!! However, Brooks happened to have recording her...so we got it on video! I think it's neat that he was alone with her and got to experience one of her "firsts." I also just laid her down for a nap...and when I looked at the video monitor, the little stinker was sitting up! So maybe she has secretly been practicing in her crib...who knows!

I think she is destined to shop....she loves playing with credit cards and tags on clothing!

Grandma is currently on a mission to make cute hair bows for her. I used to be called "bow head" because of my crazy bows...so Brooklyn can now take over my nickname. She is going to be so stinkin' cute though!!! She is in desperate need of a haircut...because the poor child can't see. So, I have been pulling her hair half up and putting it in pigtails...talk about adding personality! She is so adorable...and will be even more so with her color coordinating bows!!

Grandma's "Corkers"

Once again, I have written way to much for any sitting...but this is a current update on our life and what we have been up to! Tomorrow we will be babysitting Rowan, so that will be a fun play date for both of the girls!! Congratulations to Catherine & Greg Lopez who's sweet baby boy was born yesterday!! 6lbs 7oz, 19inches...and a ton of dark curly hair...we can't wait to meet him!!

And seriously...is July really next week?