BBQ . . . well more like a Fiesta!!

On the 26th of September Brandon and I went down to SLC for a BBQ with our friends. Considering we had really yummy Costa Vida style sweet pork burritos, I would say it was more of a fiesta than a barbecue. :) We had so much fun playing games outside like little kids. Gotta love friends!!Me, Chana, Amanda, Tawna, and Dana!Can you say hot?!!We played a game called Loaded Questions. It was so fun. It's a great way to learn things you never knew before about your friends. Example: Biggest pet-peeve = cheaters in buncos!! All I have to say is amen sista, amen!!
I don't know why but Brandon seems to always put Brooklyn's bows on like princess Leia style. I love how much he loves his little girl. She's got him wrapped around her little finger! He's such a good dad.
We sold all of Maggie's puppies!! I was so sad to see them go, but happy at the same time. The first four weeks were simple, Maggie did everything. But after that they started getting out of their box, peeing, pooping, etc. it's hard to keep track and clean up after five pups and a baby.They all went to really cute families so that made letting them go a little easier. Worth it though. I would definitely do it again. I mean we made a ton of extra money that we didn't have before and that is always nice. Plus puppies are just so darn cute! So here they are my little Shih Tzu puppies!!

First Feeding!

Okay, so any tips on how to introduce food into a babies diet?? We started Brooklyn on a rice cereal last night and lets just say more ended up on her than in her mouth. She loved trying to grab the spoon and smacking her lips against it. She just didn't quite get the swallowing motion. Does it eventually come? She was a mess in the end and so were her parents. Parenting Rule #75 Do not bath a baby before a first feeding!!

Dang Thunder!!

Brooklyn has been sleeping so well lately. Well, since about 3 months old, she has been sleeping through the night. I've kind of been spoiled in not having to get up with her, but last night there was a huge thunder storm up here in Logan . . . and we know what that equals . . . scared baby. It was the loudest thunder I have ever heard. Both Brandon and I rushed in to Brooklyn's room in the middle of the night. The room was lit up so bright with all the lightning outside. Brooklyn eyes were squeezed so tight shut, and she was just bawling! I felt so bad. She was so sleepy too, but the noise just made her cry. It turned into a snuggle fest night for our little family. So everything turned out alright. :)

Busy Weeks!!

We have been going no stop these past couple of weeks, so it is good to finally be home and resting. First off we went down to Fountain Green for my cousin Josie Aagard's Bridal Shower. I love bridal showers and baby showers!! It's just so fun to get together with everyone and catch up. Brooklyn with her Aunts Annie and Ellen.
Then right after the Bridal Shower, Brandon, Brooklyn and I took off up Fairview to go camping at my Uncle Russ's trailer. Our friends Landon and Amanda came with us. We took four wheelers from Fairview Lakes down to Mammoth Lake. It was way crowded over Labor Day weekend, but way fun. We got so dusty on our four wheeler ride that we decided to jump in the creek for a bath when we got back.
Talk about freezing!! It was worth it though, cause we felt much better afterwords. Here are some classic freezing faces!! Classic!
Brooklyn loved watching everyone take their river baths. Us watching the festivities. She does so good camping.
We got back sunday night to Logan and then monday morning Brooklyn and I took off to go stay with my sister Jenny while her husband was in the hospital. We decided we would make baby bedding for her twins that will be here in a couple of months. With the help of my little sister Jessica, and my Grandma Smith we were able to get a lot accomplished. Still not quite finished, but that is because of Hobby Lobby!!
Just have to tell this quick story. I went to Hobby Lobby in Logan and they didn't have all of the fabric I needed so they called the Layton store. Layton said they had the fabric in so I drove all the way down there, and the fabric is no where to be found!! I was so mad! You don't tell someone you have it, they drive so far to get it, and it not be there. Hobby Lobby really dropped the ball on this one!! I talked to the manager, they searched the store for a minute or two and then said that there was nothing they could do. Yeah, I love the store, but they have horrible customer service!! So needless to say we couldn't finish the nursery sets because we didn't have all the material. I'll post when they are finished though.

Brandon arrived Friday night so that we could go to Josie's endowment session and we also went to her wedding Saturday morning. She looked so beautiful. I don't know many people who can pull off those mermaid dresses, but she looked so stunningly gorgeous!! I loved her husband Marc's suit too. It looked like old school gangsterish. Their wedding was really beautiful. I am so happy for them. They make such a great couple.
On our way back to Logan Sunday afternoon we stopped in Salt Lake to meet my cousin Brian and Britnie's new baby. They haven't named her yet. She was 8 lbs. 12 oz. and 21 inches, so a fairly big baby. Brian and Britnie are going to make great parents. Holding this little baby makes me remember what a miracle all little ones really are. It brought back some scary memories of the NICU for me, but wonderful memories as well. We are so blessed to have our little girl!!

Green River Trip!

We started off the trip to Green River on Thursday the 13th of August. And due to the extremely hot heat the first activity that we did, besides cleaning the motel, was swimming! Brooklyn wasn't really sure what to think about the water at first, but loved it after a couple of tries.Dad playing in the water with Brooklyn.Brooklyn catching some rays with mom.Then on Saturday when Brandon's brother Joseph and his girlfriend Beth arrived from New York, we went to Moab. This is us hiking to delicate arch. Brooklyn was probably a over dressed for such a hot hike, but you know how us mothers can be, I was just really paranoid that she would get sunburned. Guess all that clothing paid off, because she didn't get sunburned.Delicate Arch, you know the famous one that is on Utah License Plates.Us at the Green River Gyser, we still haven't seen it go off yet, but it always gets really close. We waited around extra long to see it go off, so in the meantime we did some shot gun bowling. Pretty self-explanatory. You set up wooden pins like bowling pins and get two shots, then keep score just like bowling.We left after being in Green River for a week to attend a baby shower of my cousin's wife, Britnie Olsen. They are having a little girl in a couple of weeks. She received tons of great baby gifts and they appear to have everything ready for their baby to get here. This is Brooklyn with her second cousin Baylor, Rusty and Kristen Olsen's little boy. They are three months apart.Brooklyn looked so peaceful sleeping. She was out, despite the noise and constant chatter from the women all around at the shower. Brandon came up after the shower and we had a family reunion with the Olsen side, my mom's side of the family. It was really good to see Jim, Angie, Bradley, Chris, and Laura, who live in Iowa and we don't get to see very often.
Maggie's pups are getting huge now. They will be four weeks old in a couple of days, and they are already starting to eat soft dog food. It's crazy that they will be gone in a couple of weeks!

4 Months!

On August 9th 2009 Brooklyn turned 4 months! We just had her doctors appointment and she now weighs in at a whopping 15 lbs 2 oz. and is 24.5 inches long. She is in the 80th percentile for her weight and the 60th percentile for her height. So she's made leaps and bounds from her preemie birth size. We couldn't be happier with our little cub-cub! Brooklyn still didn't care for her immunization shots and neither did I. I actually made Brandon come with me cause I hate it so much.
Brooklyn is turning out to be quite the giggler and squealer! Her smile is so adorable!We were able to go camping up to Soldier Summit this past weekend with my sister Jessica and her husband Coby. It was Brooklyn's first camping trip and she absolutely loved it. She was so good the whole time. We even took her on a four-wheeler ride and she would just smile until she fell asleep. (I kind of freaked out about having her on the four-wheeler, until I saw how much she enjoyed it. I still made Brandon drive super slow and careful though.)This picture is looking down on Scofield Resevoir and Valley.We found all these deer hunting perches up in the trees! One of my favorite things about camping is dutch-oven and smores. We had raspberry-peach peach cobler and did smores with nutella. I had heard that nutella was good on smores, but seriously you must try it, it was delicious!We had a "So you think you can dance" party with our friends to celebrate the end of the season. We were happy that Jeannie won and equally happy that Evan took third. I just hated how mean everyone was to Evan. This party wasn't just any party, it was a dress up party. Brooklyn wore her little tu-tu for our dance reenactments.

I think we all should try out next year, don't you?!

Hogle Zoo, Rodeo, and Puppies!

The weekend of the 24th Brandon, Brooklyn and I headed down to SLC to visit our friends, Landon and Amanda. We had such a good time! We miss having them live right down the street in Logan, so we have to go to SLC sometimes to visit. :)We all went to Hogle Zoo! One fun thing that came from Brooklyn's NICU stay is that we get 10 free tickets each time we go to Hogle Zoo, for life! I know right, the NICU really takes good care of their families and babies that come there. Brooklyn pretty much slept through the whole Zoo trip, but woke up just in time for the train ride.We ran into some of Brandons family while we were there. The David and Becky May's family were up from Overton, Nevada. It was good to see them. Brandon and I were like little kids! Since Brooklyn was sleeping someone had to fill the role. :) Our favorites were the giraffes, black bears, penguins, monkeys and of course the elephants!
Amanda and I made some tu-tu's for Brooklyn. They were so easy and turned out super cute. We also bought tickets to SYTYCD when it comes on tour to Utah!! I'm am so excited to go!!
On the 30th of July we went with our friends Penny and Colby Jensen to the Famous Preston Night Rodeo. (Famous because it was the first night time rodeo!) The rodeo was so fun. Our seats were right next to the shoots and fence so they were pretty much the best you could get. It did make me a little bit nervous for Brooklyn when the bulls would come slamming into the fence!
On the 31st of July at 8:00am Maggie had her first puppy!! Four hours later she was done and we now have five cute little Shih Tzu puppies! There are three girls and two boys. The little runt is so tiny. Maggie never leaves them. We have to pick her up and take her to the bathroom outside, because she won't leave the box of puppies. Guess those motherly instincts have kicked in over drive. You really have to see them. They are so cute! Brooklyn just stares at them and smiles as they wiggle around. Our place has now turned into baby mania!