Cool girl

Daredevil

First Pigtails

I guess I'm a lazy mom since I've never tried to fix Brooke's hair, but Aunt Elise took action and gave Brooke her first set of pigtails!

Ariya and Brooke Bonding

Ariya and Brooke also had a good time playing together. They get to see each other more often than the other cousins though. I had to let some of my paranoid mommy issues go as all the babies crawled all over the deck and got their skin and clothes completely dirty. Brooke would still try to pick up any scraps of anything and try to put them in her mouth so we'd have to keep a close eye on her.

Brooke and Hadley bonding

Hadley is a month younger than Brooke but is closer to walking than Brooke. This table was a popular one for the girls to walk around. I have a feeling these two little monkeys are going to be very good friends!

Flying to Virginia

I flew out to Virginia when Brooke was a few months old and that was considerably easier than this trip. My sister loaned me some wheels that attach to the carseat so I was able to stroll Brooke through the airport so that was a lifesaver. But Brooke is a very active child and containing her in a small space on the plane was quite exhausting. Luckily 6 of us flew out together and between us we managed to keep her occupied. Even though it was way past her bedtime she never fell asleep though. She's definitely a handful!

Who needs a walker . . .

. . . when you have a laundry basket!

Various family pictures from vacation

Our Tree

Ryan proposed to me in July of 2004 at Big Cedar Lodge (just outside of Branson). Big Cedar plants trees and makes plaques to commemorate things for people so Ryan's mom arranged for a plaque to be made with our initials and our wedding anniversary and here are pictures by our tree from various years.

2005

2006

2007 (can't find picture by the tree)

2008 (7 months pregnant)

2009

First Boat Ride

Brooke went on her first boat ride on Table Rock Lake. We started with grand plans that Brooke wouldn't even be able to get on the dock without a life jacket on but as you can see in the first picture she wasn't a big fan of the life jacket. I can feel my older sister's horror as I write this, but after listening to her fuss on the boat in it we relented and took it off of her and kept it nearby. Luckily we barely even saw any other boats so safety wasn't an issue. Brooke enjoyed watching the water behind the boat as we were moving!

First Fourth of July

Brooke, Ryan and I took our annual trip down to spend the 4th of July week with the Whelans at Big Cedar Lodge outside of Branson. Gammy got Brooke a festive dress! Unfortunately Brooke is too little still to enjoy the big fireworks production that Big Cedar puts on.