The Adventures of Brookie Bear

.5 Years Old.

2012-02-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

I don't know how the past 5 years have flown by so fast. My little Brookie Bear is going to be starting Kindergarten in the fall and is halfway through Pre-School.

I have been thinking back to when it was just Brookie and I. When my days were filled with watching Finding Nemo OVER and OVER, Mommy and Brookie nap times, helping her brush her teeth & hair, loving any game I made up for us to play and my little helper who wanted nothing more than to help me mop the kitchen floor.

Now my days are filled with a little girl who has a slew of favorite shows (right now it is Fairly Odd Parents on AutoPlay ALL DAY), she is dressing herself with a style all her own, is learning how to clean up after herself, brushes her own teeth & hair and is teaching ME how to play make believe and make up funny songs.

I am pretty sure this is where all my parenting skills will start to become defined and everything I know will start to be put to the test....can't they just stay 2 forever???

.Brookie the Astronaut.

2011-12-03T13:54:00.001-08:00

Brookie & Aaron were having a conversation in the car about what Brookie wanted to be when she grew up.

She promptly replied "I am going to be the first girl to go to the moon!"

Aaron explained to her that she would have to go to College first to become an Astronaut.

Brookie said "I already know how to put a flag on the moon Dad!"

.Dinner Blessing.

2011-11-08T17:36:00.000-08:00

Brookie asked to bless the food tonight at dinner.

Her prayer went something like this:

"Thank you for this food.

Please bless that it won't be yucky.

Please bless that it won't taste gross.

Please bless that the pasta will be yummy."

I guess it worked...because she ate every last bite.

.Primary Program.

2011-10-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Brooklyn's Primary Program. She had to memorize the above scripture to recite along with the rest of the Sunbeams. We started working on it with her Saturday afternoon...and she got it memorized by that evening!

The Sunbeams were the first ones to recite their part. They had them all standing on one side of the pulpit and someone held the microphone and swept back and forth so you could hear all of the children. Well, Brookie leaned as far forward as she could and followed the microphone the WHOLE time...speaking as loudly as she could...you could only hear Brooklyn. :)

She sang all the songs as loud as she could and did such a good job. She had a hard time holding still and was moving and talking the whole time...what else would you expect from a 4 year old that is expected to stand in the same place for 45 minutes straight??

We were so proud of her for doing such a good job.

.Preschool.

2011-09-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

My big girl Brookie enjoyed her first day of Preschool today!!

We were a bit worried she would be missing out due to her having had the stomach flu ALL weekend.

She woke up this morning and seemed as good as new. I am so glad she didn't miss out on her first day.

Showing off her new backpack! Last week, after her preschool orientation, her Daddy Chris took her out to dinner and out to get some school supplies. This is the new backpack she picked out and made sure I got a picture of her backpack before she headed off to school.

We all love our little Brookie Bear! I am so excited to watch her as she grows and learns. She is turning into quite the amazing little girl. :)

.LoveSac.

2011-07-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

Brookie was sitting on the LoveSac the other day and asks me...

"Why is it called a LoveSac Mom? Are you supposed to hug while you sit on it?"

I explained to her it was just the name of it, but that you could definitely hug while you sat on it if you wanted.

Next thing you know she has me come sit next to her so we can hug and cuddle on the LoveSac.

Love that little girl. :)

.You Lied To Me!.

2011-05-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn came out of the restroom carrying a package of my prenatal vitamins. She comes up to me and questions me as to what they are.

I respond "They are vitamins that help make the baby in my belly grow bigger."

She immediately gets angry, stomps out of the room and slams them down on the nearest table. She turns back to me and says "You lied to me! You said the baby was growing by itself in your tummy!"

I had to try not to giggle at her, as I could tell she was very serious about this. So instead, I sat her down next to me and told her that the baby is growing on it's on. The vitamins just help make him stronger and healthier.

I am glad she accepted that answer and the conversation didn't need to continue any farther.

.Baby Brother.

2011-05-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Brookie is VERY excited for her baby brother to join our little family.

She gives him kisses AT LEAST once a day.

She also reminds me almost daily how big my belly is getting.

Yesterday I had to take my glucose test. Knowing that I would have to be there for at least an hour and also get my blood drawn, I asked Aaron's sister Katie to watch the girls.

As we were getting ready to leave, I explained to Brookie that she would be going to Aunt Katie's while I went to the doctor that day. Her face instantly lit up and she got this HUGE grin on her face as she says "And then you are going to have the baby?!" It was the most adorable thing ever. Sadly, I had to explain to her that was still a few months away.

.Spring Break.

2011-05-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

I feel bad that I don't post about Brooklyn as often as I do Lily.

They are both quite the comical little children and I have loads of stories every day that I could post about both of them.

The thing about that though, is that Brooklyn's funny moments aren't always ones that other people would understand. We have a lot of little inside jokes that make her crazy moments so hysterical.

The week before last was Spring Break for our school district. Easter also happened to fall right on the tail end of Spring Break this year. It was her Dad's year to have her for Spring Break, so we didn't get to enjoy her for Easter this year.

It was a bit of a rough week and weekend for me, since I am so used to having her home with me every night and cuddling until Aaron comes to bed. That is my special time with Brookie that we enjoy almost every night. I started to realize, while she was gone, that cuddling in my bed at night is probably going to be changing to a rare occurrence once Baby Boy arrives. Which makes me sad, since I know how much she enjoys that time every night and is always a bit let down when Aaron comes to bed at the same time as us and she has to go straight to her bed.

I haven't had to worry too much about Lily being jealous of mine and Brookie's little time together every night. Lily isn't much into cuddling and never really has been. She likes her own space and will just talk your ear off if you let her into bed with you most nights.

Needless to say, I am VERY happy to have my Brookie back home! I have missed having her around all the time and I know Lily missed her playmate.

2011-04-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

My little Brookie Bear is growing up way too fast. :(

I am so proud of the little girl she is turning into though.

Brookie is our little artist. She LOVES to draw and is quite good at it. You can tell what most of the things are that she is drawing and she gets the biggest grin when you guess right what is in the picture she has given you. If you get it wrong, she will make you guess over and over until you get it right. She won't let you give up easily either.

Last week she came over to me with a Princess Letters book of hers and said "Look what I did Mom!" She had copied the letter S and written it all by herself. No tracing or help at all. She has gotten really good at just copying what she sees. She can write MOM without any help or even seeing the word now. If you write her name, she can copy all of the letters and write it out.

We are still working on her recognizing what all the letters are, but I think she is on to a really good start.

Her new favorite thing to do is model for pictures. She will have me take pictures of her in certain outfits and she will strike different poses. It is SO adorable.

.Yes Mommy!.

2011-03-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

Ah, the two words that you feel like you NEVER hear as a Mommy.

I told Brookie we needed to take a shower. Her response "No, not right now."

So instead of fighting with her, I went upstairs and made us a snack.

I came down the stairs, snack in hand, to find Brookie undressed and all ready to get in the shower.

I hope one day her favorite thing to surprise me with is cleaning the house...

or maybe just her room. :)

.4 Year Old Check-Up.

2011-03-07T09:16:00.001-08:00

Last week, Brookie had her 4 year old check up at the Dr.

She is definitely not the shy little girl that she used to be. It was almost impossible for me to talk to the Doctor because she had so much she wanted to say.

She weighs 33lbs and is 39 inches tall. She is right at the 30th percentile for both height and weight.

She didn't pass her eye test...but I am not too worried about it at this point. The reason she didn't pass is because the very bottom line she said was "too small". Knowing Brookie, had she not been able to actually see it, she would have said that it was blurry or something. Things are always "too hard, too small, or too complicated" for Brookie. Classic excuses of hers to get out of doing things. When it's time for her to start school I will get her eyes checked just to make sure.

.The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

2011-02-22T18:08:00.000-08:00

This morning we were invited by our neighbor Ashley, who has 2 kids the same age as Brookie and Lily, to go to friend day at the kids gym that they go to once a week. I knew the girls would enjoy, so of course we accepted.

The girls loved it. Brookie had so much fun and kept yelling out in class "Hey! Everyone! Look at me!" while she did what she had just learned. That was DEFINITELY an hour well spent...and an hour that clearly wore her out.

Then we ran some quick errands and grabbed some lunch. I took the girls in to JoAnn's with me so I could get some yarn. While we were in there, Brookie found this ball that was rubber and had gold sparkles in it that was kind of like a snow globe when you shake it up. She kept telling me she wanted to get it and I kept telling her that we were not going to buy anything except yarn. When we got up to the register we waited in line for a few minutes and the girls played with all the dollar stuff on the way up to the register. This next part caught me SO off guard, I reacted the best way that I could...

As we walked up to the register, Brookie must have thought we were leaving and heading out the door, she yells out just as I get up to the register, "Mom! Look what I stoleded!" as she opens up her jacket pocket to reveal the ball I had told her she could not get. I wish the store had been empty and that 5 other people had not seen and heard that moment, but sadly, they did. I quickly rushed over to her, took the ball and walked back to the register asking the cashier how much the ball was. She looked at it and said "I don't think we even carry these in the store. Someone must have left it. You can just have it."

At least my child wasn't stealing something that they were actually selling???

I didn't even know she was old enough to know what stealing was OR where she learned it!!

After dinner I realized we needed a few things from the store and figured we could just make a quick trip over there before Aaron got home from working late. I got the girls in the car and we headed to Walmart. Brookie loves the carts they have with the extra seat that are insanely big and ridiculous to steer. I will only get them for the girls to sit on if we have a large shopping trip ahead of us. So, when we walked into Walmart, Brookie insisted that we get one of those carts. I told her no and got another cart and put Lily in it. She demanded again and I just ignored her and started to push the cart towards the produce section. Brooklyn RUNS in front of the cart and starts pushing it back screaming at me that she wants the other cart. I push back and tell her no and that we are in a hurry. She CONTINUES and starts having a MELTDOWN!! I have NEVER had anything like this happen in my life...or even seen it happen. I did the only thing I really could do at that point...I grabbed Brooklyn by the hand, left the cart sitting in the middle of the walkway and marched out of the store with her crying and screaming the ENTIRE way to the car saying "I'll listen Mom! Go back to the store!" over and over. People stared, which I can't blame them for, I would have probably stared too. She continued to do this the whole way home. As soon as we parked the car at home, Brooklyn unbuckled her seatbelt and CLIMBED over the front seat and climbed on my back still crying and screaming BEGGING me to go back to the store. I sat there stunned for almost 30 seconds before I just climbed out of the car with her hanging on my back like a little monkey.

I honestly can't help but just laugh about it. What else can you do?

.Since When?!.

2011-02-17T20:02:00.000-08:00

When did 4 become the magical age that my little girl started doing

"EVERYTHING" for herself??

Brookie can now brush her teeth perfectly and do "spits" (mouthwash) all by herself.

She dresses and undresses herself like a pro (no backwards pants, shirts or panties here!)

She helps clear and set the table.

It definitely comes with it's perks...

like the small amount of extra time it adds to my daily routine.

The downfall??

It reminds me that my little girl is growing up faster than I would like.

Thank goodness she still loves to cuddle with her Mommy every chance she gets.

Don't you DARE tell me that is going to end soon!

.A Princess Party.

2011-02-17T09:43:00.000-08:00

I am doing my best to catch up on some things that have happened that I haven't had the chance to blog about.

The first one on the list...

Brooklyn's 4th Birthday Party!

When I asked Brooklyn what she wanted her birthday party to be about, she chose "A Princess Party".

It ended up being VERY easy to plan and put together, which I was grateful for. My energy level had JUST started to come back. The biggest thing she wanted was a castle cake. That took me a few hours to do, but I enjoyed doing it.

We just did a family party, as we have every year in the past. I think once Brooklyn starts school, she will probably want to invite her friends. For now, I will enjoy my sanity. :)

Princess Brooklyn in her special Princess dress

Brookie & her cousin Emily

Brookie & her cousin Vanessa

Lily taking off her Princess crown

As you can tell, this was Brookie's favorite gift.

An airplane from Daddy.

Her castle cake

Overall, her party went great. I was extremely exhausted afterwards, but it was all worth it. She loved all of her gifts and didn't make fun of my cake making skills TOO much.

.My Favorite 4 Year Old.

2011-02-10T18:53:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that my little Brookie Bear is now 4. It makes me so happy and a little sad too. She is only getting closer to not being my little girl anymore.

I was thinking about the relationship that I have with Brooklyn and the one that I have always wanted to have with my children. I can honestly say, I have formed a very strong bond with Brooklyn. She is still defiant, like most children her age, but still is the biggest sweetheart. She is always thinking of others. She hates to see other people sad or upset. She is usually willing to help, if she isn't already busy in her own little world.

February 3rd, 2007

My little Princess was born

I had already fallen in love with this little girl long before seeing her face. The moment I held her for the first time and looked at her beautiful little face...that was one of the best moments of my life.

The love I have for her has grown more than I could express as I have watched her grow and seen her personality shine.

7 Months Old and making silly faces

My little 1 year old

2 Years Old

3 Years Old

My 4 Year Old Princess

I feel so lucky to be able to have this little girl in my life. She brings me so much happiness and teaches me so much every day. She will always be my little girl and my little Princess.

I LOVE YOU BROOKIE BEAR!!!

.Not A Justin Bieber Fan.

2011-01-24T10:41:00.000-08:00

.Christmas Is About Sledding.

2010-12-28T21:31:00.000-08:00

This little girl, given the choice, would have gone sledding first thing Christmas Morning

...instead of opening presents.

.I Just Can't Take It Anymore!"

2010-12-26T22:40:00.000-08:00

After a nice fun weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Achilles, Brookie clearly missed one thing...

I was setting up her brand new Dora Doll House set with her and she stands up and walks over to the couch. As she sits down she says...

"I just can't take it anymore! I NEED to watch TV!"

.I Am A Princess Robot.

2010-12-14T12:27:00.001-08:00

.Computer Games.

2010-11-29T21:48:00.000-08:00

Brookie enjoys playing computer games. I let her play on sites like PBS.org and NickJr.com

She honestly learns quite a bit from the games she plays. A while back she was trying to figure out how to rhyme. She did pretty good for playing ONE game that teaches rhyming.

Tonight, Aaron was playing his computer games before I put the girls to bed. Brookie was sitting on the couch with me and Aaron stood up from his game and said "I keep dying, I think I am done."

Brookie's reply..."Dad, you can play my games. They're not hard."

Gosh I love this kid.

.Who Likes Driving Anyways??.

2010-11-19T21:35:00.000-08:00

Earlier tonight, Brookie and I were coming home from running some errands. We were stopped at a corner waiting to turn right when an ambulance and police car came up behind us and rounded the corner. They parked right next to the sidewalk immediately after making a right hand turn. There was an older gentlemen, probably in his 40's or 50's, sitting on the ground with about 3 or 4 people standing around him that had clearly just gotten out of their SUV that was parked right next to him. Brookie asked me what was wrong with him. I told her it could be anything and that maybe he had a heart attack. Honestly, I think her idea was much better...this is what she said to me immediately following my response...

"Maybe he just doesn't want to drive anymore."

Ha ha I love that kid! The answer is usually a lot simpler than we think.

."Hi Mr. Goat!".

2010-11-03T21:28:00.001-07:00

I guess goats don't handle being teased very well...

.When I Was A Baby.

2010-10-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

Yet again, Brookie let her imagination run a little wild today.

We were driving back from picking Brooklyn up from her Dad's house in Orem and just as we were getting on the freeway a "Brookie is a big girl" conversation was started. I truly do not remember a single thing of what was said due to a side comment she threw in out of nowhere...

"When I was a baby, I was goin' ALLLL crazy and POOPIN' in my DIAPER!!" Aaron literally stopped mid-sentence and we both just laughed and laughed 'til we couldn't laugh any more.

I truly can not explain my child or her creative mind, but I sure love it!

.Minnie Mouse Voice.

2010-09-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

I have been told by just about everyone that knows Brookie that they can't help but laugh at her high pitched voice. Of course, it can also be quite piercing when she is throwing a tantrum and can travel farther than the average voice.

My response is almost always the same...

"You think it's high pitched now? You should have heard it when she was 2!"

This video was taken about 2 weeks after her 2nd birthday.

...yes, she get's it from her Mommy.

."Why Did They Do That?!".

2010-09-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

This morning Brookie & I enjoyed a lazy morning watching her shows on the couch. A show about Volcanoes came on after one of her shows ended. It seemed fairly interesting, so we sat and watched it for a bit. They started talking about Mount St. Helens and showed how it was starting to bubble in an area where the gases were rising to the surface...meaning it would ultimately erupt at some point.

From a child's point of view, this meant absolutely nothing to Brooklyn until they did a little demonstration. The expert took a can of soda and shook it up as he explained how there are gases in the can and they are rising to the surface. To show the eruption, he quickly opened the can letting the soda explode everywhere.

This was Brooklyn's response...

(Expert open's can and soda explodes all over)
Brooklyn: *Immediately looks up at me with a very upset look on her face* "Why did they do that?!"

Mommy: *A smirk quickly crosses my face before I reply sarcastically* "What's wrong? Did you want the soda?"

Brooklyn: *An embarrassed look takes over her face and she quickly turns back to look at the TV*

She is so much fun to tease. Yet another trait she gets from her Mama.

.To the Moon & Back!.

2010-08-19T21:42:00.001-07:00

Tuesday I took the girls to Discovery Gateway & Clark Planetarium in Downtown SLC. I have a 6 month pass to Discovery Gateway that I haven't used since May and Clark Planetarium is free...what better way to spend the day then not having to spend any money! :)

Discovery Gateway was a mad house. I didn't even think about it being probably the last week of summer for all the kids going back to school. Plus, I heard they were having some sort of "Free Day". So you can imagine most of my time was spent trying not to lose Lily.

One of the only pictures I was able to take

We then moved on to the Planetarium which was practically empty!! It was SO nice!

The first thing you see when you walk in is the "Sphere". Brookie immediately pointed out that this planet had an eye on it!

The girls ran along freely looking at different things and I didn't have to stress over them getting lost. Lily ran a bit too freely when she slipped under the safety rail under the planets just as I started to point out Mercury to Brookie.

I somehow tricked her into coming close enough to me so I could grab her somewhere around Neptune

Brookie's best impression of a Rocket Ship

The girls favorite part of the entire Planetarium...

The Moon...

As soon as Brookie stepped on the Moon she started saying it was cold and pretend shivering...she even had the little boy behind her doing the pretend shiver while he got his picture taken.

She LOVED the rocks...after this picture the Moon turned into her obstacle course.

Lily "conquering" the rock.

"Brr!! Mom it's cold! I need my coat!"

...and Mars

Just as I snapped this picture Brookie yelled out "Oh no! We left Lily on the Moon!"...guess what Lily was doing on the Moon??"

She conquered this rock as well.

Right after this picture she walked down the slope making sure she DIDN'T avoid the rocks...she just wanted to make it interesting.

.Trim Turned Accidental Haircut.

2010-08-19T20:21:00.001-07:00

Every couple of months I take about an inch off of Brookie's hair to help it grow faster and more evenly. If you have ever seen a picture of her even just a month after I give her a cut or trim...you can tell it has grown.

So today, I was just going to take off an inch. Due to the many distractions I was facing I think I didn't realize that I had actually started out by taking off 2 inches instead of 1. Honestly though...it looks SO adorable on her and I love it! Plus, it will grow back...quickly I am sure.

.Special Message for Uncle Kyler.

2010-08-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

Brookie is leaving tonight to go visit with her Dad for 2 weeks in Orem. We will all miss her dearly...but there is one person in particular that I think she is going to miss the most (via Skype anyways). Here is her video she made for Uncle Kyler since he wasn't on Skype for her to talk to.

.Shoes?!.

2010-08-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

Last night, Brooklyn was half woken up out of what I assume was quite the strange dream. Lily was screaming louder than normal when she woke us all up around 3AM.

Brooklyn screamed out something that was very hard to make out, except for the last word, which was shoes. I gave Lily her bottle and went over to Brooklyn's bed to ask her what she had said. Her response sure surprised me...

"I wanna eat shoes!!" she said in a very demanding voice.

All I could do was giggle softly, give her a hug and kiss her on the forehead before going back to bed to laugh about it to myself.

That was the last thing she said for the rest of the night.

.Playdoh Snakes.

2010-08-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

This was the morning after Brookie's 2nd Birthday Party. My favorite part of the video is what she does with the snake's head at the end.

.Excuse Me!.

2010-08-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

Aaron, Brookie & I were all having breakfast together one morning back when Brookie was a little over a year and a half. As Aaron got up from the table he let out a burp. Brookie decided she wanted to imitate it. This is her version of Daddy's burp.

.The Planets.

2010-08-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

Brookie has been getting really good at her planets. She used to have them all down by the nicknames that Aaron gave them...but with a lack of practice she has forgotten some of them when you associate them with their nicknames. She still knows all of their names with a bit of a hint on some. She has Earth, Neptune & Pluto down just by looking at them. She gets a bit camera shy and makes me give her a hint on Neptune.