And where did November go?!

Happy December 1st! Those who know me know Christmas is my MOST favorite time of year ever! But since I haven't really blogged lately, I better catch up from October and November before forgetting all else and focusing solely on Christmas! Here's my attempt to remember what we've been up to recently: WARNING--PICTURE OVERLOAD BELOW!!

Brooklyn learned to roll over in October. She even surprised herself with her skills. She still only rolls from back to stomach, but it's nice that she now enjoys spending time on her tummy!

We had tons of fun dressing Brooke up for Halloween, making mummy hot dogs, and of course, spending time with family! Oh it's fun having a little buddy for each holiday!

Brooke spent lots of time cuddling...with dad, mom, grandma's and grandpa's, aunts and uncles..you name it! She sure is one lucky little girl!

(We went to watch Madi run at State XC in Pasco,.clearly Brooklyn was wiped out!)
Brooklyn learned how to sleep on her tummy in weird positions. We just hope she can breathe with her face smashed against the mattress. She is just like her mommy with her sleeping patterns :)

Brooklyn learned to sit up all by herself! (We just can't go too far away..we don't totally trust her yet.) And of course, she has watched too much TV with grandpa (yes, we are bad parents!)

Grandpa took her to get her ears pierced. She did so well and looks even cuter! Now hopefully people don't confuse her for a boy with her bald head

Brooklyn has gotten lots of grandma cuddle time. Grandma is the master at rocking babies to sleep..she always has been and always will be!

Brooklyn loves stuffed animals. They are especially fun to eat. She loves Mr. Duckie (thanks Sam and Trent!), and also loves playing with her uncles and aunts. We can't wait for aunts, uncles and cousins to come at Christmas..we are SOOO excited!

We have spent lots of time playing with Brooke in the bath. And my oh my does this girl love bath time! I think the only bath she didn't like was her 1st one at home (because we had the water too cold!) She loves sucking the water out of the washcloth and splashing like a crazy girl. I think we have a little fish on our hands...

And let's not forget the time we spent watching football. Brooklyn is a True Blue Cougar Fan, and she especially loves showing her support for BYU by getting messy with blue frosting!

Blog Slacker

I'll admit it..I'm one poor blogger. It's not that we just sit around all day everyday (at least Curt doesn't)..it's that I can't even remember what I did yesterday. And the truth is, our lives really aren't glamorous. Most things we do I don't think of as "blog worthy" but you know what? That is real life! And even though there are days when I don't leave the house, don't shower, or can't even answer Curt's daily question of "What did you do today?," I really am satisfied and happy with my life. Being a mother is SO MUCH FUN!! A lot of hard work? Heavens yes (although it would be a lot harder without so much family so close by). But it really is worth every minute. I live to see Brooklyn's smile, to hear her laugh, and to get the occasional cuddle (it's getting more and more rare!) I love the times when I "disobey" Babywise and rock her to sleep. I love watching her light up when Curt gets home from school. I can't get enough of watching her stare at Grandma or Grandpa until they look at her, and then her jumping and going crazy when they look are her. I love watching her develop more coordination and learn more about the world around her. I wasn't always sure if I was going to be content with being a stay-at-home mom, but I certainly am! Although I know that I will have to work some while Curt is in school, there is no where I'd rather be than playing at home with my kid(s). (Plural meaning that we have decided that we want more than one child..someday!) I am looking forward to many more fun, challenging and rewarding experiences of motherhood.

7 months!

Our little sweetie is 7 months old! Holy cow..where did the time go?! She is at SUCH a fun age! She will smile at pretty much anyone and loves to laugh. She had her dr. appt yesterday and here are her stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 10 oz (44%)
Length: 26 1/4 inches (46%)
Head: 17.5 inches (86%)

She is doing great developmentally and is right where she should be. She has learned some new tricks lately:

• She started rolling almost 2 weeks ago. One time she rolled both ways (must have just gotten lucky!) She showed grandma and grandpa her new trick when they got home from their vacation, but really hasn't done it much since. Then again, when grandma and grandpa are home, she doesn't spend much time on the ground (spoiled girl!) (As exciting as this is, I kinda liked knowing I could leave her on a bed, counter, table, etc and she wouldn't go anywhere..This adds a whole new dimension of safety!)
  
• She is getting really good at reaching for objects. She'll drop her binky and then reach down and pick it up (it usually takes a few tries). It is so fun to watch her make connections and learn new things.
  
• She loves to play with paper. She loves crunching it and of course, sucking on it.
  
• She has started eating rice cereal and is getting good at swallowing it. She always make a funny face the first bite, but then she remembers how much she loves it and usually has her mouth open and tongue sticking out with only half the bite swallowed. I don't think we are going to have a picky eater on our hands! She had her first taste of real food last night (sweet potatoes) and loved it! She didn't even make a funny face for the first bite.
  
• She can sit up independently for a few seconds. I definitely have to be close by for this trick because she is still wobbly, but she is getting so much better at it. It's only a matter of time before she will be Little Miss Independent..

She is the light of our lives and has us laughing and smiling all the time! Pictures coming soon..and lots of them!

Celebration in Montana

My Grandma Murphey celebrated a momentous birthday! She turned 80 years older on 10/10/10! It was a fun weekend spending time with my grandma, as well as Trent, Sam and Tyler who came up from Utah. We finally got a 4 generation picture with Gram, my dad, me and Brooke. We were so glad we got to celebrate with her, and of course, the party included lots of food and cake. Happy 80th gram!

As anyone who looks at our blog can see, I love collages! They save me lots of time, and since I can never decide on only a few pictures, they are good for me! As you can see above, we had lots of fun together! I finally was able to show Curt the cemetery where my grandma and grandma Cooper, uncle Farrell and sister Amanda are buried. It's a beautiful place. We had a fun trip and it's always nice to get away!

Seattle? Yes please!

After much talk of going to a Mariner's baseball game, we were running out of time and games! We finally decided to go to a game in the last series of regular season against the Oakland A's. The M's had no hope of a win by the 2nd inning. Even though it was a 0-9 loss, you can't beat ballpark franks and famous garlic fries! Even Brooklyn enjoyed the game..She should have been napping but that girl doesn't wanna miss out on anything so she took a quick catnap and otherwise was awake the whole game all bright-eyed! And she looked stinkin cute in her snuggly suit. Our cousin Shelby came to the game with us and we had a fun night!! We stayed in hotel in Seattle and then left early the next morning headed to Yakima for Madi's Cross Country Invitational. It was a beautiful day and Madi ran a good race! Overall, it was a fun weekend and a nice little getaway. Hopefully next trip to Seattle involves a little more time (aka shopping :)

Happy Girl

Brooklyn is so happy and smiley..it's contagious! Glad we were able to capture her excitement for life!

For journaling sake, here are some things Brooklyn likes:

• Dogs-Nana and Papa have 2 dogs are Brooklyn watches them and tracks them around the room. Yesterday Nana helped her "pet" the dog and she was SO excited! She was giggling and thought it was great. (Unfortunately, she was a little rough so Millie didn't want to go around her again)
• TV-Call us bad parents but when she rolls on her side and arches her back so she can see the TV, we don't stop her. She hasn't rolled over yet, but I have a feeling either the TV or the dogs will be the motivating factor for her.
  
• Talking-We were at my cousins' soccer game last week and she just talked to herself the entire first half. She has the cutest little voice and it is fun to listen to her "stories"
• Being sung to-She was hungry and mad last week while we were in Montana and Ty was in the back with her. I told him to sing to her (and it has to be a certain song.."I love Brooklyn, She loves me...") She calmed right down when he started singing. If he stopped, she started crying again. If he changed songs, she would cry..So young, and already she knows what she wants! I love her little personality!
• Getting someone's attention-She'll stare at someone until they look at her, and then she will smile when she has their attention. It's really cute! Then sometimes, when someone is trying to get her to look at them, she will look everywhere but at the person. I think we are in for some attitude in the upcoming years..Bring it on!
• Naps-I'm not sure she loves going down for naps, but as soon as she starts rubbing her eyes, we all know it's time to a nap! She almost always goes down really easily. Just wrap her up, put her in her bed, turn on the mobile with music and she's usually out within a few minutes. It's wonderful!
  
• Outside-I'm sad it's getting cold out because Brooklyn loves being outside. The other night she woke up screaming (upset tummy I think), and I tried rocking her, walking with her, but what got her to calm down was walking outside (even though it was COLD!) She also loves looking around and being able to see everything that is going on. She's very observant.
  
• Sitting-up (with help)-She can sit up by herself for a few seconds, but her balance isn't too good yet so she gets a little tipsy. But she loves to sit up and be able to look all around.
• Back-seat buddies-She has been spoiled lately with having someone next to her in the back seat of the car. She loves having a buddy, which also means she doesn't like it when she is alone in the back. She is definitely spoiled!
• Sleeping in our bed-Lately, she hasn't been sleeping the best at night. We have a rule that we don't start her out in bed with us. But if she happens to end up with us in the middle of the night when are both exhausted..that's a different story. So she has ended up in bed with us a few times this past week and she sleeps so good! (But we're not going to make a habit of it..at least I hope not!) She likes herself a cuddle buddy.
  

September In a Nutshell

Once again, another month has flown by! September was a fun month for our little family. Here are some of our highlights:

• Cheering on our BYU Cougars! Brooklyn dressed up so cute for the season opener. We have since told her she needs to cheer louder..they are in need of some serious help!!!
• Eating some delish food at Pig Out in the Park. Brooklyn was so overstimulated by all the people that there was no way she would take a nap. She loves looking around at people and what is going on.
• Lots of playing on the play mat. She has really gone crazy with her hands and loves grabbing at everything and looking in the mirror. That thing can occupy her happily for a nice chunk of time!
• Practicing sitting in the high chair. Since she loves to look around, I figured she would like it and indeed she did! She thought it was great. We won't start feeding her solids for maybe another month or so, but it was good practice for when it will happen.
  
• Went to the fair. We watched the hypnotist, looked at the animals, walked through an old train, ate an elephant ear and funnel cake and had lots of fun with grandma and grandma Murphey! We made sure to keep Brooklyn warm as it was a chilly night.
• Bundled up to stay warm at a CV football game (the Greasy Pig). It was fun to remember the days when I would go to the games with my friends. Brooklyn was liking watching too. She must be my daughter
  

• Playing with creepy Halloween decorations, thanks to Grandpa :P
  
• Lots of smiling and laughing! She really is such a good baby. The other day Curt said something like, "She's happy in the morning and she's happy at night..are we sure she's your baby?"
  
• Celebrating Nana's birthday. (We didn't take any pictures of the cake and candles, but at least we got one with Brooke and Nana together)
• Sleeping in weird positions (arm up in the air, neck bent back really far, hands over eyes, etc)
• Enjoying time with daddy! He quit his job a couple weeks before school started to spend some time with us.
  
• Taking a day trip to Tri-Cities simply to get donuts at the Spudnut Shop. The donuts weren't as good as Curt remembered but it was fun showing him around the neighborhood I grew up in. And it's always fun to have lots of time to talk (even though I was so tired I might have slept more than chatted :)
• Going to lots of sporting events..Alex and Nicole's soccer games and Aunt Madi's cross country meets.
• And let's not forget that this handsome man started his first day of Physical Therapy school! One week down, and many many more to go! (I'm most excited for when he learns massage!)
  

We are currently loving our 70-80 degree weather and hope it stays for a while! Although I like fall, it means winter is coming (and I sure don't like cold), so sunshine, please stay and play for as long as possible!

5 Month Check-up

With the move and the fact that pediatricians are hard to come by around here, Brooklyn had her 4 month Dr. appt at 5 months. She weighs 13 1/2 lbs (correction from 8 1/2 lbs that I had accidentally written..oops!) (25%), 25 inches (55%), and head 40%. Just as we suspected, she is doing great and growing like crazy!! She does have thrush, but she has been just as happy and playful as always so we had no idea. Hopefully it goes away soon with the medicine. She sure keeps us smiling with all her new tricks!

• Loves sucking on anything..hands, rattles, stuffed animals, burp cloths...you name it!
• Is silly at night! Every night, she just giggles, laughs and wants to play (right before bed time of course...It's so hard to put her to bed when she's being so cute!)
• Is generally a good napper and falls to sleep on her own (usually without fussing)..still working on sleeping through the night but after a rough week last week, we are grateful for only 1 wake time at night!
• Getting so good at holding her neck up (to no credit of our own..we are horrible with tummy time). But now that she can lift her neck back up when it falls, she actually enjoys tummy time for at least a few minutes so she is getting a bit more of it.
  
• Tries helping hold her bottle. She either has to be helping with her bottle or holding our fingers during feedings. We prefer when she holds our hands..it means she isn't knocking her bottle out of her mouth. But she is a good helper!
• Loves being outside. Whenever she gets fussy (which doesn't happen too often), we take her outside, layher on a blanket, and she just calms down and kicks to her hearts content. She is quite the active little thing!She liked looking at herself in the mirror..until the shots came. But she did so good and only cried for a minute, then slept most of the day!
  

What a fun month!

While daddy has been working tons of hours, Brooklyn and I have been having lots of fun! (But we feel bad that daddy has had to miss out on lots. We'll have to make it up to him.)

Opening Brooklyn's first Savings Account at Numerica.
Playing with cousins, second-cousins, great aunts and uncles.
Watching TV with grandpa (and with anyone else who has it on for that matter!)
Trying on dad's tie.
Smiling, laughing and giggling LOTS!
Catching some ZZzz's.

Cherry picking at Greenbluff and dad was able to come! Wahoo!
Hanging out at the lake in our swimsuits and happy as a clam!
Celebrating cousin Kylee's 1st Birthday.
Checking out Riverfront Park.
Catching some more ZZzz's.

Sporting sweet shades.
Camping in a tent and having a fire at Petty Creek.
Spending time with Aunt Sam and Uncle Trent (we miss you guys..move closer to us!)
Sitting in a high chair just for fun and lovin it!
Trying to hold a bottle (Miss Independent)
Not loving a photo op to show Aunt Lisa the super cute outfit she gave her (promise it wasn't the clothes that made her angry!)
And of course, catching some ZZzz's!

To be continued... (I'm too tired to get to the rest!)

Brooklyn Laughing

Uncle Tate had Brooklyn seriously laughing. (She LOVES boys..dad, grandpa, Tate..they can get her giggling and smiling better than anyone). She might have shaken baby syndrome, but she sure loved every second of it!

We like to move it move it!

I have thought for several weeks now how I should probably update the blog but I get overwhelmed too easily. Well, three weeks later there is even more to post about so I better start now!

On July 22nd, we packed our apartment into a Uhaul trailer and the back of Curt's uncles truck and said goodbye to Provo. We loved our time at BYU and it was such a huge and important part of our lives and it was sad to say goodbye. But we will definitely be back to visit and to show Brooklyn where she was born and where we fell in love. We went up to Bountiful to get an hour closer to Spokane that night and hung out with Curt's awesome Aunt Tara.

We left Friday morning to make the drive. It's always a little stressful driving with a baby since you don't know if it is going to be a good or bad day. Well, luckily Brooklyn was an awesome traveler and it made the trip go by pretty fast. She pretty much just ate when we stopped (and just one extra time) until the last hour of the drive..and then she was done! She was not such a happy camper but we were sick of being in the car too so you can't blame her!

Curt's aunt and uncle, Tina and Rob, were so so kind to drive their truck and pull the trailer up so we didn't have to rent a moving truck. It was so nice that we were able to be together and that I didn't have to drive all the way (don't think I could have done it!). We unloaded everything into the basement and storage unit that night (with lots of help!) and were glad to finally be moved!

Brooklyn slept in her own room for the 1st time that night, and she did great! My dad, mom and Tate had the walls painted in her room and ours and everything ready for us to move in. It was soo nice of them to do that!! Brooklyn's room is adorable! I still have to get it decorate before I post pictures but I LOVE IT!

We are still working on settling in and unpacking. We have been busy busy!

Sadly, we didn't take any moving pictures (too stressed and busy to think of that apparently so no pics for once!)

Summer Stylin'

Grandma Murphey bought Brooklyn this adorable swimsuit. (I might have an obsession with baby swimsuits :) But since she really isn't supposed to be out in the sun, I knew I had to put her in it just in case we don't make it to the lake before she grows out of it. (Although I'm hoping for some day trips to Lake Coeur d'Alene soon!) I'm not sure if she loved us playing dress up with her, but we sure thought it was fun!

Here is Brooklyn sporting a pair of baby shades. I decided that this is the perfect time for her to wear them since she hasn't really found her hands so she can't take them off! (Unless she gets lucky while wiggling). Lovin' the shades!

And another swimsuit pic. We sure love this little girl (who actually is not so little...10lbs 13oz!!) We are so thrilled to have her in our family!

Doo Rag or Nun?

Curt thinks her towel looks like a doo rag, I think she looks like a nun...At any rate, she's cute! She loves bath time and only hates the cold after getting out before she's dry. Love her big eyes! (We think they are going to be blue

Sweet Smiles :)

I always said that I wasn't going to be the mom that only posted about my kids...and I'm trying not to be, but it's hard not to post about Brooklyn when she is our life! Not to mention she is much cuter than Curt and I (although I think Curt is pretty dang good lookin!) How can you not want to pinch those chubby cheeks and cuddle this girl all day long? And let me tell you, she is a good cuddler! A bit on the high maintenance side, but she is a girl after all. Would I expect differently?!

It's so hard to catch her smiling on camera! It's almost like she knows what we're trying to do and she likes to be difficult :) But we have caught a few and they are priceless! Her smile melts our hearts and makes all the sleepless nights worth it!

Long Time Friends

In the past couple weeks, I've been able to chat with two really good friends from junior high/high school. I forgot to take a picture when Holly came over with her two beautiful girls. I did remember to get one of us and Natalie and Mckenzie. It has been so fun to catch up with friends from the good old days! As I've grown up (and hopefully matured at least a little), I've realized more and more the value and blessing of life long friends. These girls are both such good examples of wonderful mothers and friends and I'm glad we've been able to catch up. Hopefully there will be more of that in the future!

Better Late Than Never?

Because Brooklyn came so early, and we were so busy spending all our days driving back and forth from the hospital, it took us a while to finally get a birth announcement made. Curt made this and I think it's adorable! We still haven't sent them out...hopefully they will be out before her 1st birthday!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a nice, relaxing 4th of July weekend! We woke up early Saturday morning to go see the hot air balloons. But Murphey's law (it doesn't go away even though my name changed!) it was too windy for the balloons to take off. But it was still fun to get out and enjoy the crisp morning air. In the evening, Curt's favorite mission companion and his wife came down to Provo and we had fun chatting and eating while waiting for the Stadium of Fire fireworks.

Sunday we just hung out..nothing exciting but it was nice just to relax!

Monday night we went to a very fun FHE at Sam and Trent's. It was a Tea Party where we were quizzed on the Founding Fathers and played trivia about the start of our nation. We didn't win at anything, but we had a really good time and good company!

Brooklyn looked adorable in her way too big Old Navy tee! We had fun taking pictures of her. We are grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy in this great country. And we are excited to spend the 4th of July in Spokane next year (and many other holidays!!)

We miss Uncle Elder Murphey

This handsome man left us for 2 years on June 23rd to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We miss him so much already but we are so proud of the decision he has made to serve the Lord. He is currently learning Polish and will be heading to the Warsaw, Poland mission at the end of August.

The MTC is literally in our backyard which is fun, but also hard since we can't see Troy. Although I won't deny the fact that I almost crash everyday while looking for him on the MTC field...we only have a couple more weeks to spot him before our big move! I want to send him a bright orange or lime green shirt to exercise in to increase my odds of seeing him :)

Brooklyn will be almost 2 years when he gets home which is crazy to think about. But fortunately, we took lots of pictures of them together before he left. We will make sure she knows him! We love our Elder Troy Murphey and are excited for our Elder Tyler Murphey to come home in August. Brooklyn has some awesome uncles!

Brooklyn's Blessing

Brooklyn was blessed by her daddy in Spokane on Sunday, June 20th. This was the same day that Grandpa Murphey was called as the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric and Uncle Troy gave his mission farewell talk. Needless to say, it was a very exciting Sunday!

Brooklyn shared her blessing day with all her grandparents, all her aunts and uncles (except Ty who is on a mission in Guatemala), as well as many great aunts and uncles and great grandma Murphey. It was a very special day and the blessing was beautiful, as was her dress that Nana Barnes made (thank you!) Brooklyn looked like an angel.

Murphey Fam

Barnes Fam

Proud Parents!