A Mouthful...

of TEETH!! Brooklyn has her molars in on all 4 sides! Her teeth have practically doubled in count. At her check-up, the pediatrician said she had swelling and that the molars were coming, along with a handful of screaming-crying-middle-of-the-night-orajel-relief episodes, those BIG chompers have arrived!!

I can't believe how much she is changing and growing up so fast. On behalf of Momma's fingers: no pictures available :)

Lunar Eclipse

Last night marked the first Lunar Eclipse on the Winter Solstice in 372 years!! Aaron and I decided to wake up to enjoy the occasion, but unfortunately it wasn't a crystal clear night, so our eyes seemed to be playing tricks on us. There was a cloud haze during the event making it difficult to see the actual progress of the eclipse. Either way, it was pretty neat to see an orange moon.

The Moon before we went to bed.


The Lunar Eclipse

Dadda's MBA Graduation

Aaron and his brother, Nick, completed their Masters of Business Administration courses from the University of Texas at Arlington in August and their commencement ceremony was on Sunday. I am so very proud of my husband for his hard work and dedication. He is constantly finding ways to educate and better himself in his work field. Congrats to Dadda and Uncle Nick!! We are so blessed to have such a supportive family....and I know the two brothers were a motivating factor for one another as well!



The Hooding and Walk!



The Graduates

Prairie Lights

We went to see Prairie Lights this year for the first time in a very long time. So much has changed and the price has drastically gone up!! Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised at how "in-to" Brooklyn was with everything. Her and Remi were ohhh'ing and whoaaa'ing at everything and it was really fun to walk the Forest of Lights.





Some of the pictures turned out pretty wild looking!


Gamma, Brooklyn, Charlie, Gampa and Remi


Momma and Brooklyn

Santa #2

We attended Aaron's work Christmas function on Saturday and it was very nice. Brooklyn and Momma sat for pictures with Santa and instead of screaming crying, it was just the "scared" look with arms stretched for Dadda to take her away!



We walked around and met some of Aaron's co-workers. They had a gift shop for kids to pick out a present for their parents, have wrapped and take home. That was really neat. Dadda got an LED mini light for his car and Momma got a hand-painted ornament from Brooklyn. We participated in a cupcake walk and won cupcakes with the face of a snowman. Once B was comfortable with the surroundings, she was non-stop!! She also met another Brooklyn there.

Here she is chatting with the Santa Shop Ladies.


Here she is having our gifts wrapped and labeled.

Santa #1 (trial run)

Since I was off from work and her appointment was early, I took Brooklyn over to the mall to take free pictures with Santa. I wanted to get a feel for what was ahead this weekend when we head to Aaron's work place for activities and pictures.

Just as I suspected, she DID NOT like Santa. She was in a good mood in line, snacking, pointing and observing. Once it was our turn, I asked Santa to hand her the snack cracker (to coerce her) and he said he didn't want to get his gloves dirty. This forced me to pick her up and place her on his lap.....oh yeah, you guessed it....freak out mode!! She immediately began crying and that was that. I snapped a few shots and off we went shopping.

Brooklyn: pre-Santa


Brooklyn and Santa #1


This strong-willed child was trying to "run" from Santa!

15 Month Check-up

Momma took the day off to take Brooklyn for her check-up. I can't believe she is 15 months old already....anyways....she now weighs 20 lbs, 15 oz; the 20th percentile. She is 32 inches long; 90th percentile. All is right with the world and she is right on track! Her molars are coming in, so that has begun to affect her on a few nights, but nothing major yet (fingers crossed).

Her hair is getting very long, she runs ALL over the place, she knows and points to major body parts, "hi" is her favorite word, she makes tons of animal sounds and throws occasional tantrums. Yep, she is a toddler through and through!

Ranch Trip

It's been about a year since Brooklyn and I have been out to the Ranch. It was a pain to pack and all in all it wasn't a stress-free trip for Momma, but it was something different at least. The weather was pretty chilly and we only got out for a short time on Saturday afternoon.

A little unsuccessful fishing and exploration during the day.



No activity Saturday morning, but just as dawn was hitting, Aaron spotted a 6 point, which he eventually shot. The "wide-load" as we nicknamed it, came around to the blue feeder twice and Aaron passed him up. But when he came around perpendicular to the house, just 50 yards away, it was GO time! I tried to get video, but it was a lost cause. Unfortunately, it was too dark to see much after Aaron's shot, so a Sunday morning search was under way. After 5 hours of looking, fragments of bone, tissue and blood spatters were all that could be found. This buck played a hell of a game of hide-n-seek.....Aaron and Gampa Hein were extremely disappointed :(

Here is video of the "wide-load" at the blue feeder, prior to the action.

I'm Dancing, Oh Yeah!

Brooklyn has become the most hysterical dancer, thrusting her hips and all!! This is a tame version, but you get the idea! Sorry about the distraction at the end.

I'm Brushing My Hair

Brooklyn likes to brush her hair as part of her nighttime routine!! She is such a girl!!

Thanksgiving 2010

Yet another wonderful Thanksgiving with family! We spent time at the Hein House during the late morning and then time at the de Wolfe House. The food was fabulous as usual and it was so nice seeing family members that you haven't seen in awhile. Brooklyn ate more turkey than Aaron and I combined!! And she loved playing with all her cousins and second-cousins.

Gamma and Gampa Hein with B

Gamma, Gampa, Brooklyn, cousin Remi and Charlie


Aaron and I had a "dessert showdown" this year between just the two of us. Unfortunately, everyone liked both our desserts, including ourselves, so no definitive winner. I made a double chocolate cake and Aaron made a banana-strawberry cobbler. Oh yes, they were as good as they sound!




Wow....another holiday has come and gone and now it is Christmas time....wow!!

Leisure Visits

Over the past week, I had the entire week off from school, so Brooklyn and I got to visit some people and hang out together. It was so nice to spend some time with her; greet her when she woke up in the morning considering she is still asleep when Aaron and I both head off to work.

On Monday, she and I did some errands and prepped food for the week. Tuesday, we went to the Fort Worth Zoo with Auntie K (Kensley, my college roommate) and had lunch with Dadda since we were in the area. We had a wonderful time and the weather was gorgeous!!

Brooklyn and Auntie K

Giraffe's Kissing

Brooklyn loved this turtle!


Wednesday afternoon we left the house (it was being shown) and visited Gamma and Gampa Hein for a little bit. Once Aaron arrived from work, we went to dinner with everyone.

Friday, we did some Black Friday Shopping around 9:00, after all the crazies were back in bed!! And then Saturday, we drove up to Dan and Amanda's apartment to play games and chat. Brooklyn and Remi played with toys, we played Mah Jongg and ate outstanding tortilla soup......YUMMY!!!

All in all, it was a nice week off. Family, friends and fun times :)

Ditched for Deer

Oh Hunting Season, how I slightly loath thee!
Well, maybe it's not so bad....Aaron shoots deer, I spend money :)

Mule Deer in Midland, Texas.

Camera Lens

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

I just purchased a new camera lens for our Canon and I cannot wait for it to arrive. It was advertised in my Parenting magazine and after looking at reviews, it sounds promising. I emailed my sister-in-law, Nick's Amanda about it and she said it was a lens she was wanting too. Yes....if she wants it too, it must be good....she is the queen at deals and finding quality products!!

My uncle Gary is a professional videographer who he is coming in town for Thanksgiving and I am hoping to have the lens by then so I can pick his brain a bit!!

It helps you photograph the far-off action of athletes or zoom in for an intimate portrait with a blurred background....whohooo!

Sniffle, Cough, Cough

I apologize for my absence again. Work has been a bit stressful and uncomfortable (we'll go with that word for safety reasons). And just as all this is clouding my sights, Brooklyn gets hit hard with a nasty cold. She has been so very congested and coughing....we finally took her to the pediatrician this past Monday, but "ride it out" is basically what we have to do. She has been on a little Benadryl and Zyrtec, otherwise just a slew of home remedies. She is improving, but at a slow rate.

Wait, Momma gets sick too. URGGGGH!! I was out of work on Wednesday and Brooklyn and I got to mope around together.

It's a yearly trend I have started for myself.

World Series 2010

My brother, Jason, flew down from Pittsburgh for the World Series games here in Texas. My dad had tickets for the two of them for Game 5. I was dying to go to a game, since everyone had gone but myself. So the four of us (Dad, Jason, Aaron and I) headed to the ballpark on Saturday night to see if we could get some tickets from a scalper.....no such luck :(

We were terribly disappointed and ended up at a couple of different restaurants/bars to watch the game. After the win that night, Aaron and I were determined to find tickets and spend too much money to make it to Game 4! All four of us got to enjoy the game on Sunday (sadly with a tough loss).
Nonetheless, the atmosphere and experience was AWESOME!! It was so cool!! I am so grateful that all of us we were able to be there :)

Halloween 2010

For Brooklyn's 2nd Halloween, she was Tinkerbell. I must say, she fit the part perfectly with her pale skin; she was such a cutie pie!




In the afternoon, we decided to carve a pumpkin. B wanted nothing to do with the nasty, messy, gooey pulp....she did not want to put her hands in it.



So, Dadda got stuck doing all the work while B walked around with the top of the pumpkin.




Then her and Chip played ball with the small pumpkin we had.



We scored some tickets to the World Series game, so Dadda headed out the door to tailgate, while Momma and Brooklyn headed to the church for the Halloween festivities! Brooklyn walked around and waved to people, took a train ride and spent a few minutes with Nana and Papa.