Getting Crafty

(Some of you may have already seen this post...I wasn't quite done with it but scheduled it's posting and didn't realize that the date was for last night and not today! Oops! So I am reposting with the changes I made).

So my parents got me a Cricut for Christmas. Yay!! Well, I finally got it out and really used it (I played with it once before, but have been pretty busy). 

I wanted to make myself something that I could write my weekly "to dos" on. So I busted out the Cricut and a frame that I bought at he dollar store awhile ago and made this:

I wanted it to be dry erase, but didn't really want to buy a dry erase board (kinda boring). Since you can write on glass just like a dry erase board this was the perfect solution for me (I was originally going to use transparency paper that I had left over from a Young Women project, but then remembered about this frame). I put magnets on the back so that I can hang it on the side of my fridge and see it right when I walk in the Kitchen. I have to say that I LOVE it!! Well, I don't love the wood frame and I will eventually paint it when I decide what color to do. I love that I can lay out my week and even give myself a "reward" if I get all my work done. I feel so much more focussed and organized, and even though I've only been using it for half a week I feel so productive!

I have so many fun Valentine projects that I want to do! Here are a few of them:

I want to make a felt heart, but I can't decide if I want to do it on a wreath form or a plate. Which one is your favorite?

I found these here and here

I think these little felt poms are so cute (it's a whiffle ball under there)! My plan is to turn them into topiaries.

I found this here

I also want to make my own "LOVE" blocks (which probably wont look anything like these!)

these blocks found here

And how sweet is this:

found here

I also want something fun to give my Visiting Teaching ladies and I found a great idea on a link up party at one of my favorite craft blogs. This blogger made a super cute cookie bouquet that I might just have to replicate!

Isn't that fun?!

Working out with Daddy

Eric likes to do sit-ups and push-ups in the evenings while we are watching TV and Brooklynn thinks that it is absolutely the coolest thing in the world. When she sees him start to do his sit-ups she gets this super huge smile and "runs" to him. She usually ends up grabbing on to him and gets pulled around while he goes up and down. She loves it. It is absolutely the cutest thing! 

If you look closely you can see the excitement on her face!

In other Brooklynn news:

She is so confident in her walking and her balance now. She spends the majority of her day toddling around the living room, into the hallway, and occasionally into her room. Sometimes while she is playing she will look over at me to check in, give me a huge smile, and walk right into my arms for some love. Melt my heart!  

Remember the "I'm so excited" smile I  was talking about?
Well, this is one version of it!

On Saturday she proved to us that she is a pro at walking on slick surfaces in her socks. There is nowhere that she can't go now! With this newfound skill she has explored the kitchen with new eyes and found that she can open the cupboards! 

She also now stands up wherever she is without anything to help her. We have seen her do this on occasion the last few weeks, but it was always random. Now if she feels like standing up, she does!

Brooklynn has a new love for shoes. She loves to play with them, eat them, and carry them around. She loves her shoes and our shoes. It's kind of funny to see her carrying around one of our shoes because they are almost as big as her!

She continues to be a good eater, as long as you aren't putting a spoon in her mouth! But she has also started playing with her food. She loves to drop her food and then stare at it. It is such a fun game! She also really enjoys putting food in her mouth and taking it out, over and over again!

Yup, it's down there!

She has also decided that she is too cool to wear her bib and is constantly taking it off!

And last, but certainly not least, she cut her first tooth today! She was playing on the floor and I thought I saw blood in her mouth, so I was trying to investigate. I was sticking my finger in her mouth to see if it came out with blood and I felt a little poke of something hard. I fought with her some more and was able to catch a 3 second glimpse of tiny little nub of tooth poking out of her gum! (Oh, and no, there was no blood). I'll have to see if she will let us take a picture sometime soon...it might be impossible!

Shoes!!

So I broke down and finally bought Brooklynn some shoes on Monday. I have been putting it off because I thought the price of baby shoes was a little ridiculous. What can I say? I am cheap! But now that the little one is walking I decided I couldn't put it off any longer. Brooklynn is now the proud of owner of 3 new pairs of shoes (Payless was having their BOGO sale and I found a really cute pair for super cheap). She is getting used to the new sensation of having something other than socks on her feet and adjusting to the difference they make in walking.

 Look at that cute little foot all shoed up!

While she is getting used to that, I have my own adjustments to make. I feel like the introduction of shoes has made me lose a little of my baby! She is no longer my sweet, tiny, little baby girl. She is growing and changing so fast, probably a little faster than I would like! I look back at pictures of her first few weeks and I miss that sweet little bundle of love. But, I know that there is no turning back the clock. And while I will continue to mourn the little things that take away the baby-ness of my little one I also look forward to those things! I love to watch her as she explores and figures things out and realizes that she can do things. The look on her face when she is so proud of herself seriously melts my heart, there is nothing better!

What a difference 30 weeks makes!

Our little walker in action. She is getting so good on her feet! She gets more and more confident every day and is getting really good at stopping and turning. The only problem that she has is that she gets so excited and happy her smile closes her eyes (she gets that from me!).

Have I mentioned that her newfound freedom in movement means she is getting into EVERYTHING!?!?! I thought it was bad before she was walking!

She almost always has something hanging out of her mouth. It is especially cute when she is crawling around with something in there (well, as long as it's something soft), she looks like a little puppy dog.

Mommy's little helper!

7 Months

So Brooklynn turned 7 months last Friday. Once again I am asking myself where the time has gone?!?! It is so hard to believe that it has been 7 months since we were in the hospital welcoming in our sweet baby girl. She has grown and changed so much in those 7 months. We still love her to pieces though and enjoy watching her explore her world. She is getting more and more aware of what is around her and is even starting to test her limits (or mine really). I have no doubt whatsoever that I have a very strong willed, independent child. There really is no stopping my little girl! She keeps me on my toes and I don't think that will be changing anytime soon!

You pull, I'll push!

On Saturday we were at my parents house for a family dinner (my Grandma and Aunt were up visiting) and Brooklynn decided that that would be the night she would walk! She has been walking along things pretty much since she started crawling and right before Christmas she started letting go and taking a few steps (like 3-4). But Saturday night we were seeing some serious walking! She is so proud of herself and gets so excited about what she is doing that she will take a few steps backwards and/or lose her balance all the while smiling her ear to ear "I did it" smile! It is so cute! She is getting pretty good at stopping and balancing herself and even turning. I absolutely cannot believe that she is walking at 7 months! She is way too young (and little)!! But, like I said, there really is no stopping this little girl.

She still is not a big cuddle girl, one thing that I hope will change in the next few months (you can get her to sit in your lap while she is waking up, which takes 5-15 minutes). It is especially hard when she takes a spill (which have been happening a lot these days) because she wont let you comfort her. When she is upset and crying she will crawl to me crying and when I pick her up to give her love she pushes off of me and just stands upright in my arms crying. It's so sad! I think she knows that mommy will make it better, she just doesn't know how to let that happen! 

She may not cuddle, but she has started giving kisses! Last night I asked her for a kiss and I got one! I wasn't sure if it was a fluke or not so I asked her to give Daddy a kiss, and he got one! She gave P-Pa, Grandma, and GiGi (great grandma) kisses when asked as well!  We're going to have to work on her kiss etiquette as she tends to give a lot of tongue! For the time being though, if you ask for a kiss you may get licked! Either way, its a fun new trick!

No more pictures! I want down!!

She has a new favorite room in the house (although she still loves the kitchen)....the Bathroom!! I have found her in there many times standing up and looking into the tub! We now keep the bathroom door closed!

She now loves to play "I'm gonna get you!" Most of the time she gets so excited that she will crawl towards you and then she just flops herself on the floor and waits for you. It's pretty cute!

Good thing for her Grandma loves to play that game too!

(It is getting harder and harder to take these weekly pictures! She is way more interested in eating the paper than letting mommy get a good picture! I have to be really fast and I usually get just one chance to get a non-paper eating picture!)

Bring on 2011

Holy Cow 2010 flew by, but it definitely brought some amazing things with it! Namely: Brooklynn!! We spent the first half of the year anticipating her arrival and the second half of the year enjoying our precious little girl and being amazed by her! She was WELL worth the anticipation as we fell in love with her instantly. It's so funny that after just 6 short months (well, less actually) it's hard to imagine our life without her!

We had a pretty simple goodbye to 2010. We started the day of with going out to breakfast with my parents and "shopping" at Pacific Place downtown.

And we finished out the day with pizza, Dr. Pepper, and Netflix streaming. Pretty exciting! Well, as exciting as you can be when you have a 6 month old that needs to be in bed! It was perfect for us. We welcomed in 2011 with the 4th Annual Perkins Root Beer Tasting. My Dad loves root beer and he has translated that love into his yearly rootbeer tasting contest.

We do a blind test of 5 root beers, rate them and pick a winner. It's actually a lot of fun and we look forward to it every year.

The contestants in winning order. (The last one was pretty gross!!)

I am so excited for the changes and new things that will come our way in 2011. Brooklynn is just moments away from walking and that will definitely be the first and biggest change for us this year! We look forward to her accomplishing that amazing feat and all the other milestones she will make this year.
 I have quite a few changes I would like to make in my life, mostly so that I can be a better wife, mother, and person in general. My goals for 2011:

*Read my scriptures every day
*Be more organized at home, which in turn will help me keep the house clean
*Lose my "baby" weight (ideally by Brooklynn's birthday...still not sure of the reality of that goal!)
*Spend less time watching TV
 
Just some small little goals that should be easy to follow through with, right? Some are easier than others, and it probably wont be easy, but I hope that I can make these changes in my life this year!

Notice the squash in her hair!

Love this face! Silly girl!