Swaddle Me, Daddy

Written by: Brooklyn Grace

Daddy put me to bed on Friday night because Mommy was feeling a little under the weather. He read me my bedtime story and swaddled me up! I was very cozy and warm.
During the night, I tossed and turned, like I do every night. Around 7:45am, Daddy came and kissed me goodbye before he went to class (I wasn't awake, but I know that he did because he does it every morning).

Later, I woke to Mommy giggling at me. "What?? What's so funny, Mommy??"





I overheard Mommy telling Daddy later that she will stick to swaddling me at night.
I saw nothing wrong with Daddy's swaddle job! :)

Big "D" Event

Aaron and I have decided to run in the Big "D" Half Marathon on April 11th, rather than the Rock-N-Roll in March. The Rock-N-Roll was the same route that Aaron ran for his Marathon already and the Big "D" costs $40 less per person. (It is crazy how expensive it is to run yourself sore!) I will get the opportunity to have a few more weeks of training and preparation. This past Saturday, I had a great run! Unfortunately, my right ankle has been giving me some problems ever since. I am almost positive it is my shoes, so Aaron and I will be headed to the running store to lay down some cash for a few good pairs.

I am not sure what made me decide to do this, but fingers crossed!

Paci-Less

Not sure how the whole thought came about at this point because our original plan was to cut Brooklyn off from her paci in the summer. This way I could take the grunt of the "blow" and not have to worry about being exhausted from work. Somehow, we have begun the process and so far her fit-throwing comes in waves. B was never so attached to the pacifier that "all HELL broke loose" when you took it, but she had begun to get that way for her nap time to a certain extent.

So, we are now in the mist of a battle! When I say "we," I mean Aaron, Nana de Wolfe, myself and Brooklyn. Sorry Nana!

She is great at night....pretty much goes right to sleep and she no longer cries because it fell out of her mouth; it's just not there. And one thing B does very well is SLEEP!! Out in public or around a lot of people, she does fine as well because she is an observer, but if she is getting tired and you are putting her in the pack-n-play.....possibly watch out!! Like I said, it comes in waves. Sometimes she freaks out and cries like a madwoman and other times she does a few grunts and falls right to sleep.

Brooklyn is by no means a difficult baby and is really pretty quiet, but paci-less doesn't always bring out her best side. Of course, now it's the hand in the mouth. Oh dear! That might even be a worse habit to break!
I wonder if this ever ends??

A Twisted Fairy Tale

You know those wonderful fairy tale stories about a beautiful proposal. The man orders a dessert at a restaurant to share with his girlfriend. The waiter brings it out and there on the top is a gorgeous engagement ring. The woman pans up from the dessert and the man is down on one knee asking for her hand in marriage. Awww, how sweet!!

How about this one??
Your husband cooks dinner for you one night because Wednesday's are always long days at the school. The meatloaf tastes great and the next forkful is.....



If you can't tell: that is Aaron's wedding band cooked inside the meatloaf. Apparently, it slipped in when he was preparing the meat and he didn't even notice! HEHE!!

New Routine

Aaron and I are training for the Rock-N-Roll half marathon on March 14th, so our daily schedule has become a little more exhausting, I must admit.
We come home from work, change, strap Brooklyn into her jogging stroller and head for a run (2-4 miles usually during the week). When we return, we feed her, cook dinner, eat, play with B, feed her again and then its time to put her to bed followed by ourselves. It certainly helps this momma sleep through the night!

Saturdays are our longer runs, but since it was raining and wet yesterday, we decided to run today. We ran 5.5 miles and it felt pretty good. I was actually impressed with myself because I am not a "good" runner and to be able to run about a 10 minute mile pace for that long (an hour) was an accomplishment for me. It's sad to admit, but I haven't ran since August. Postpartum, I didn't hit the gym until a month after Brooklyn was born and since then it has been a very sporadic trip on the elliptical or weights.

So, needless to say, my knees have been struggling during our longer runs, but all in all, I am doing well. I am not a huge fan of simply running, which is probably why I always played soccer (it is disguised running). But my personal drive and competitiveness keeps me going and once I say I am going to do something.....I do it. This will probably be my first and last half marathon, but Aaron thought the same thing!!!

And Aaron is such a trooper because I know he is dragging himself at this slow pace I am going, wishing we were not running together, but he is dead set on us doing this together and we will pass that finish line hand in hand.

I am tired and a little sore, but to reap any kind of benefit, I believe you have to endure some discomfort and pain along the way. Aaron and I run for ourselves, each other and for Brooklyn.

Back to Front

Well, for a few weeks now Brooklyn has begun to roll over, but very sporadically. We had to remove the bumper from her crib because she is like a wind-up doll at night and moving all over the place including flipping herself on to her stomach. I was just expressing my concerns to the pediatrician on Monday about the fact that she has not been consistently rolling over (and yes, I am that freak parent who is constantly reading and comparing Brooklyn to the "should-be-doing" child. I am currently attending counseling by everyone in the family and getting better).

Anyhow, she got the complete hang of it tonight and will now not stop rolling over. Literally, will NOT stop! The minute we put her on her back, she is tossing herself onto her stomach. She does not do stomach to back.....she just decided to conquer the more difficult one first.

I will spare you the long video of her doing it over and over. Enjoy!

4 Month Appointment

We just got back from Brooklyn's 4 Month Appointment. She weighs 12 pounds, 5 ounzes (20th percentile). She is 25 1/4 inches long (80th percentile) and head circumference is 15 1/2 (1oth percentile).

She is still our little peanut!

The doctor said that she is doing fabulous and is developing wonderfully. She got her DTap, Hib, IPV, Rotavirus, an Pneumococcal Conjugate boosters and did pretty well. She was a little more worked up this time than the last, but is fine now and fast asleep in her swing!

Brooklyn's Cousins

Since the holidays hit, Brooklyn has been able to meet her cousin Addy and Kate de Wolfe and now her cousin Remi Hein.

She loves her cousins and has had a blast hanging out with them :)

You can definitely see the Hein resemblance but not so much the de Wolfe.


Brooklyn (4 months) and Katelyn de Wolfe (5 months)


Katelyn, Addy de Wolfe (almost 4 years old) and Brooklyn


Remi Hein (3 months) and Brooklyn (4 months)

de Wolfe Family Pictures

Here is the link to the pictures. There are several of all of my family, but if you keep looking through them.....there are some really cute ones of Aaron, Brooklyn and I together!!

And the ones of Brooklyn with her cousins Addy and Kate are adorable, especially since Kate is holding B's hand....AWWWW :)

(I am too tired and lazy to try and edit them all right now, so sorry. Enjoy anyhow! And if the link does not work here, just scroll down to the picasa link on my page.)

http://picasaweb.google.com/erin.hein/Brooklyn4Month#

Try to keep up.....

*The holidays were very pleasant, with plenty of visiting with my brother, sister-in-law and 2 nieces......Brooklyn finally got to meet her cousins!!

*We had family pictures done with the "de Wolfe" side of the Family and they turned out great. (working on uploading to my picasa account)

*Aaron and I have already begun our training for the half marathon in March....super tiring.

*New Year's resolution for Aaron and I: no sweets, deserts, cookies or candy. We will see how long that lasts, ha.

*I absolutely love chatting with my sister-in-law, Jen...she is so awesome!

*Aaron's brother Dan and Amanda and their newborn are coming this Wednesday....another cousin for Brooklyn to meet!!

*I was physically sick to my stomach today from my return to work. I was missing my baby like crazy.

*I am looking forward to Brooklyn's 4 month checkup to find out how much she has grown, but dreading the immunizations :(

*I went on a wonderful trip with my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law to San Marcus for a couple of days....fun!

*I am becoming a terrible slacker at blogging.