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.