Up, up and away!

I agree. :)

Special Blankie

Brooklynn has a special blankie that she loves and we wanted Emory to have one of her own as well (since most of her things are hand-me-downs from Brook). So, we got her this cute one at a craft sale in Southport. It's purple fleece on one side and this pattern on the other side and has tags around it. Here's a little peek! Oh, and I will probably be wrapping it up for her for Christmas even though we've already technically given it to her. 6 month olds are so easy for gifts, aren't they? :)

Another Fun Onesie

Look at this sweet onesie that Auntie Angel got for Emory. I love it! I've been waiting for her to get to wear it. You're so creative with the stuff you send our girls! Thank you!

Starting out "birthday party" day

Even though we didn't have Brook's birthday party on her actual birthday we still wanted to make the day extra special for her. I set the breakfast table with her cupcake plate and a potted flower that says "You're Special." We made chocolate chip pancakes and tried to explain to her over breakfast that she'd be having a birthday party with her friends that night. She had no idea what that meant, but the minute we said friends started saying, "More friends, please." This is her new kick where we name all of her friends and she asks where they went. It goes a little something like this:

Mark/Katie: Brook, who are your friends from nursery? There's Hudson...

Brook: Go go, Hudson? (Translation: Where did Hudson go?)

Mark/Katie: Hudson's at home.

Brook: Hudson house.

Mark/Katie: That's right, Hudson's at his house. What about Ruthie?

Brook: Go go, Ruthie?

...and we start all over again and do this until we can't take it anymore and have to tell her no more talking about our friends.

A tangent, but a little picture of daily life with Brook. :) So, we enjoyed a special breakfast, played, had naps and then headed to church for the party. A fun day!

We are rejoicing in the Lord for giving us our sweet little girl for these last two years. She is a true joy! We love you, Brooklynn!

Brooklynn's Flower Party!

Brooklynn turns two the day after Thanksgiving, but we had a birthday party for her last night. It was so much fun! One of Brook's first words was flower and she's still a big fan of them so we decided to have a flower party. It was a fun theme! I used lots of bright pink, green, orange and yellow, had a garden rake as the weight for the balloons, sent out flower invitations, made dirt cake in "flower pots" and gave the kids garden pails with a few goodies inside for their favors. Mark got the girls dressed for the party and put flower bows in both of their hair and Brook had on some wild flower tights.

We held the party at a playroom at our church building which was PERFECT. There was plenty of space for all the toddlers to run around and for parents to chat/patrol. :) Brooklynn received some fun gifts from her friends (including two My Little Ponies! How's that for a flashback to my childhood?!?) Thanks to our friends for coming out to celebrate with us!

The rest of our time at the beach...

On Sunday the weather was beautiful so we took the girls to the beach before lunch and naps. It's an ordeal to get a 2 year old, 9 month old and 5 month old packed and hauled to the beach! But the weather was great for playing and it was well worth it. Probably the most notable event was Matt diving into the ocean. The air temp was in the 60s and the water was cold. And, if you know my brother, you know that the water must be almost like a hot tub or he will not go in. But, he said if he was at the beach he might as well go in. We took pictures to prove it.

On Monday we went to Wrightsville Beach on our way home (didn't get any pics) and had lunch at The Oceanic. Love that place. It was sunny and in the 70s, and I'm glad Matt & Kristen got a nice taste of pretty NC weather before heading back to MN. When we got back to our house, Mark & Kristen tried to get a picture of the three girls sitting together on the couch. You can imagine how easy that was. Mark was snapping pictures and they were both pulling out every silly face or song they could think of to get Julia and Brooklynn to smile (Emory's smile is almost permanent, so no worries with her). I've included a few of the outtakes.

Thanks for coming to visit Unky Matt, Auntie Kristen and cousin Juya! We can't wait to see you guys again next month!!!

A visit from Matt, Kristen & Julia!

Matt, Kristen and Julia got to Raleigh on Thursday afternoon and we headed to Oak Island that night. We're having a great time! It was Mark's first time meeting Julia and Matt & Kristen's first time meeting Emory. It's been fun watching the girls together! The weather's been a little cloudy and cool so today will be the first time we'll all be going to the beach together - hopefully a little warmer and better for playing. I'll post some pics of that later. Enjoy pics of their time here so far!

Can you get enough of this sweet face?

Neither can we.

Tis the Season

In preparation for winter coming, the girls broke out their winter gear. Emory donned her reindeer outfit for the first time and Brook followed suit with her winter hat. She wore that thing around all morning. Emory spit up and was out of her outfit within 10 minutes. :)

Her excited face. She's playing with shapes.

Kimmy Gibbler?

Some new toys

When we were pulling stuff out of the attic for our yard sale we got out a few toys for Emory. She's enjoyed playing in her exersaucer and laying on the floor playing with her activity gym. Emory also started rolling over about a week and a half ago (which I have yet to capture on video) so she'll do that under her gym as well. It's fun watching her enjoy her new toys!

(Notice how focused and serious she is in her exersaucer. Love it!)

Yard Sale

The yard sale was a success! We didn't sell everything, but did sell a lot. Our first shopper showed up at 6:30. Yard Salers are hard core! We were out at 5:15 in the dark and 34 degree weather setting everything up, but it was worth it. It was nice to get rid of a lot of stuff we didn't need!

And look who held down the fort for us inside...

Pebbles?

Yard Sale!

Come on out to our yard sale tomorrow morning from 7:00 - 1:00. We're selling tons of stuff!

-Baby gear and baby clothes

- Blankets

- Bedding, sheets, towels, pillows

- Mens and women's clothing

-Christmas stuff

- 2 Christmas trees

- Camping gear

- Kitchen items

- A spud bag! (huge bean bag, only much better than a bean bag).

- ...and much more!