Growing up way to fast

I can't believe how fast Brennan is growing up. On Oct 19th she took her first steps. She would occasionally take steps but preferred crawling until 2 weeks ago. Over a couple of days she started walking more & more. Then all of a sudden she was walking everywhere!! We love it! It's the cutest thing to watch her walk. Ethan loves to take her hand and walk around the house with her, it's adorable.

Brennan is also saying a bunch of words. She can say: Mama, Dada, Bubba (aka brother), Papa, Grammi, Grandpa, Grandma, book, bye bye, good girl, doggie, woof woof, more, hi and hello. I feel like I'm missing a couple too. She loves to look at pictures. Every time you pick her up she points to pictures and we tell her who is in the picture. I swear we do this 100x/day. She also loves to look at books and loves to be read to. When I sit on the floor she'll go get a book, bring it to me and sit in my lap while I read it. When I'm done she'll get up, go get another book and bring it back.

The other night we went to Chick-Fil-A for milkshakes. I gave Brennan some in her own cup. Once she took one sip she couldn't stop. I'm glad I didn't give her a lot! She was so cute drinking that milkshake that I had to take pictures!







Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving Day:

Halloween

I was so excited for Halloween this year. I couldn't wait to pick out Brennan's costume. At first I wanted her to be a lady bug but the store was out of them. So we decided on a witch, it was the cutest witch costume that I have ever seen. I couldn't wait for Brennan to wear it.

The weekend before Halloween, Sterling on the Lake had a Pumpkin Festival. All the kids were encouraged to dressed up because they were going to have a Costume Parade. So we dress her up and she was so cute! Her witch hat was almost too small but we managed to keep it on her for a few minutes while we took pictures. We went to the Pumpkin Festival and met Gammi & Poppy there. It was a really cold day so we had Brennan in her stroller most of the time bundled up with a blanket. When it was time for the parade the kids & I went and got in line. We couldn't keep Brennan's hat on because it was too windy.

A few days before Halloween we decided to carve our pumpkin. Ethan's favorite part is picking out which face Stephen will cut out. He doesn't really like cleaning out the pumpkin. Not Brennan, she was putting her hands all in it! After we cleaned it all out I told Stephen to put her in the pumpkin, she wasn't so sure about that.















On Halloween we put her in her costume again and we all went to Publix to trick-or-treat with The Lee's. Then afterwards we went to The Lowe's to trick-or-treat in their neighborhood. I didn't take Brennan door to door, we just walked around with Ethan. When we got back Kimberly took some pictures of Brennan in her costume and they turned out really cute. In one pic it looks like she's posing . . .



















Ethan & Brennan getting ready to go trick-or-treating











Here are some pictures we took before we dressed the kids up. We all had our Halloween shirts on.

1 year checkup

At Brennan's 1 year checkup she weighed 21 lbs 10 1/2 oz. and she measured at 29 1/2" tall. She is about the 60th percentile in both. She had to get her follow up flu shot and a couple of others. The day after the shots she ran a little fever for about 1/2 the day. This was a first for her, she's never had any problems with the shots other than soreness.

She can now say Mama, Dada, Papa, Bye Bye, Hi, Hello, Thank You and Bob. We are not sure what Bob is but we think she's referring to Ethan. She is standing on her own a lot more now and has taken a couple of little steps but would rather crawl. I would really like for her to walk but I also know that means a lot more work for us. :)

ETA: I thought of a few more words Brennan says. She also says nana (banana) and I love you!

Last week I took Brennan to get her one year pictures done. They turned out awesome (of course)!!

Brennan's 1st Birthday

I am still in shock that our baby girl is a year old. I can't believe how fast the past year has flown by and how much she has grown. On Friday (her actual birthday) I made cupcakes with chocolate icing so she could have something on her birthday. My brother & nephew were already in town so they got to celebrate with us. I put her in her chair and she started crying. As soon as I brought out the cupcake the tears stopped instantly. She dug into that cupcake so fast and I think she ate it in 3 seconds! After she got the cupcake all over her we gave her a bath and then let her open her presents from us. She was excited to rip the paper off the presents, it was so fun to watch. We bought her a cute little outfit that came with a matching purse and a tea set. She picked up the tea cup and put it to her mouth like she was drinking it! I'm sure we'll be having lots of tea parties!!














On Saturday we had her birthday party. It was a huge success and we had 41 people at our house. We had the party from 11:30-2p. I chose that time because that is one of her happiest times of the days (except for when she wakes up in the morning but I didn't think anyone wanted to be here for a party at 7a!). We made BBQ pork & chicken for lunch and it came out awesome. After lunch we let Brennan open her presents. She got some really cute outfits, books, toys, a baby doll, a stroller that is also a walker and a princess car. I don't want to offend anyone that gave her a present but the princess car is her favorite. It is the first toy she goes to when she wakes up everyday. She has even used it as a ladder. The other day Stephen & I were in the kitchen making lunch and Brennan was playing in the living room. Stephen looked up to check on her and she was sitting on the ottoman. She had pushed her princess car next to the ottoman, stood on it and climbed up on the ottoman. Yes, she is our monkey and trouble maker!! :)

After presents we let her eat her cake. She had her very own cake and got really excited when we pulled it out. She had it all over her and was rubbing it in her hands like lotion. I had her wear her Birthday Girl shirt so it would get dirty. I thought it would be cute to keep it and when she gets older I could pull it out and show her how stained it was. I washed the shirt 2 days after the party and it came out completely clean, I couldn't believe it. She had cake and icing everywhere on that shirt. Oh well, we have plenty of pictures to show!

On Sunday, we went to Canton to visit my grandmother. Since my grandfather passed away she has been in a home and there was no way she could be at the party on Saturday. I decided that we would go up there and have a little party with her. I brought the leftover cupcakes from Friday and I let Brennan have one again. My grandmother couldn't believe I was letting her get it everywhere but I think she enjoyed watching her eat that cupcake. It was a bittersweet day, I was glad to be able to spend time with my Granny but was also sad that my Granddaddy wasn't there. I'm sure he was looking down on us though.

Click here to see all the pictures from her birthday weekend.

Vacation '09

A couple of weeks ago we went to the beach for our summer vacation. This was Brennan's first time at the beach. I wasn't sure how she would react to the sand. The first time Ethan went he was 9 months old and he hated the sand. Well, Brennan loved it! Not only did she eat a few fistfuls but she had no problem crawling in the sand and getting it all over her. One day I was sitting in my beach chair (which is low to the ground) and she decided she wanted to crawl underneath it. She literally had her face in the sand and didn't care a bit. She had a great time exploring the beach and destroying the sand castles. Every time we would walk out onto the beach she was practically jumping out of my arms to get down.

To see all our pictures/videos click here.

It's hard to believe that in less than two weeks she will be one! Where has the past year gone? We are really excited for her party and to celebrate with all our family & friends. I can't wait to see her dig into the cake, I know she is going to love it!!




On Labor Day, Gammi, Poppy, Memaw & Papaw came to visit. We were able to get the kids to take a couple of pictures with their great-grandparents (and it was no easy feat!). Brennan was crying in some of the pictures and Ethan was pouting in some (he didn't want his picture taken) but we finally got a cute one! They won't be able to be at Brennan's birthday party so they brought her presents. Memaw & Papaw bought her a cute little dress for winter. Gammi & Poppy bought her a cute dress for the spring and some touch & feel books. She loves books and especially the touch & feel ones!

I have some catching up to do

Wow, I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted. I guess we've been busy. Brennan is eating everything! She loves just about anything you give her except cottage cheese (she gagged when I fed it to her). Right now one of her favorite foods is bananas. This is shocking to us because neither Stephen, Ethan or I like them. I can tolerate them a little more than Stephen (he won't even feed one to her) and I'm glad she likes them. She will eat a whole one for snack! She also loves pancakes. I occasionally make them for breakfast and she'll eat one or two. She is still mostly eating baby food but always gets samples of what we are having.

A few weeks ago Brennan started waving. She has a Tickle Me Elmo and every time we would turn him on she would start waving at him. I've also been trying to teach Brennan how to clap. Then couple of weeks ago while she was sitting in her high chair waiting for her lunch she started to clap! It was so cute!! A day or two later when we turned on Elmo she didn't wave, she just clapped. Check out this video:




An extra picture, she loves wearing my sunglasses! Oh, I failed to mention that she finally got her other top tooth. No more Ms. Snaggletooth!

9 month checkup

I took Brennan this week for her 9 month checkup. She weighs 20 lbs 11 oz and was 29" long. I was amazed that she had only gained 1 lb 2 oz in the last 3 months. All the crawling and pulling up must be burning a lot of calories! They had to take some blood to check her iron and when they pricked her toe she didn't flinch. (Ethan left the room because he can't stand it when they prick her.) She did get a little mad when the nurse was squeezing her foot to get blood but she never cried. When the doctor came in she said her iron was perfect and so was everything else. She was happy to hear that Brennan was eating so many different foods. Brennan had to have one shot so while the nurse was giving her the shot I held her hands and played with her. She didn't cry at all! I was so shocked and Ethan was happy! She's such a brave little girl.