She is my daughter....

During Christmas I was worried that maybe Brooklyn wasn't my daughter since opening presents did not seem to be a huge concern....



Shortly after I was reassured that she definately IS my daughter.....


Here she is GLUED to the TV watching.....nothing else but..... THE SOUND OF MUSIC!!!! Although the movie is entirely too long for her, she loved watching them dance and sing! And although she can't recite the songs word for word, I am hopeful that someday she might!


Oh, these are a few of my favorite things!!!

Other Christmas shots

This was a Cinderalla dress Brooklyn got awhile back from Grandma Iowa. She wanted to wear it on Christmas day, and performed some ballet for us in mid-present opening. Brooklyn also got a microphone, she loves singing and dancing!!!

Her new bed for her babies. She does an excellent job of feeding them, putting them down for naps, covering them up, sharing Jamison's toys with them when he isn't using them, she is a great "mommy"!

This is a picture from Christmas eve. How cute is this. Brooklyn was watching a video and sitting by Jamison so he could see. She reached over and grabbed his hand! I am not sure what he is thinking about it, but it was darn cute!!

A White Christmas

We woke up on Christmas morning with 8-10 inches of snow. Although that keeps people homebound for days in Oklahoma, it was a nice sight for this Iowa girl! After bundling up, putting plastic sacks on her feet to keep them dry, and changing gloves often to keep her hands dry and warm, Brooklyn had a fun first experience in the snow!

She reports that she made snowballs and threw them at daddy. Daddy reports that she went behind him and undid all of the shoveling that he had done! Overall great first experience in the snow! Too bad we aren't in Iowa to enjoy all 35 inches of what they got!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

December 25th is also Daddy's birthday! So that night we sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candles with him!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!

CHRISTMAS DAY!

It was finally here! (I think I was more excited than Brooklyn!)

Santa came and filled our stockings and left lots of presents!!!

Santa left a book in Brooklyn's stocking. So mommy made some cinammon rolls for breakfast while Daddy read it to Brooklyn and Jamison.

We then tore into the gifts. Brooklyn did an excellent job of helping Jamison open his gifts since he was "too little". He did manage to get his hands on some though!

Brooklyn and Jamison got a lot of great things, here are some highlights....

Brooklyn-Superman Cape (she specifically asked for this, can you tell she plays with the boys at school). A new bed for her babies, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and a vacuum. She got clothes, puzzles, toys, books, some hair pretties, and some chapstick amongst many other things.

At one point I thought "This can't really be my daughter" She ACTUALLY SAID, "We could jus take a break and open the rest later". Hello, are you serious?????? Wow, she learned this from her father or a stranger, definately NOT from her mom!!!

Jamison-clothes, socks, books, toys.

Well, I guess I better "Take a break.....I can post more later"

But atleast you have a glimpse into how our Christmas morning went!!!!

Christmas Spirit!

What an eventful Christmas!!! Brooklyn was a great age this Christmas, and Jamison loved the paper!!!!







Let's start on the topic of Santa Claus. When we first mentioned this guy, Brooklyn wanted NOTHING to do with him. Didn't even want him coming to our house! So we got our Christmas tree up right after Thanksgiving, I thought maybe if we had decorations up she would warm up! So thanks to Aunt Julie and Uncle Jeffy for helping put up the tree! Brooklyn really enjoyed it also!!! This was our finished product.

We made a trip to the mall, but made sure to just watch Santa from a distance. Brooklyn might have snuck a peak, but otherwise had her head buried in my shoulder clinching for dear life with her hands over her head. When told not to be scared, she replied "I'm just sleepy". YEAH RIGHT! That girl is too smart! However, but Christmas she was excited to get presents and surprises from Santa, but still didn't want much to do with him. Even after Christmas I said something to her about maybe going to see Santa next year when she was bigger, she gave me a very panicked look!

The shopping got done as good as it was going too, and we were ready.....well almost. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with us much. We were looking forward to Uncle Jonny and Papa Iowa coming down for Christmas. But lots of ice and snow later, didn't look like it was a very safe thing to do!

Luckily Santa has Rudolph, and he was still going to make it!!!!

Christmas Eve we went to the Service of the Bells. It is a service more geared to families with Children, and it is at 2 in the afternoon. When we went to the service, it was cold. When we came out, it was colder, and everything was covered with ice. We were glad to make it home safely!

We each got to open One gift on Christmas Eve. I will admit it.... I can't wait to open presents. Never have been able to wait, I would go through boxes and closets! So for me to just have everyone open one is saying a lot!!! Luckily since it was SO cold outside, we each got some FEETY PAJAMAS!!! Doesn't that sound like fun!!! I am sure I will get in trouble for posting this picture, but we sure had fun taking it. (Please note that Chris and I returned ours as they aren't quite as comfortable as adults as they may sound!) But boy were we ready for Santa in the morning!!!

We also left some milk and cookies out for Santa.....

Let's get up to speed.

This post is going to be some rambling of updates! I am going to go all the way back to just before Thanksgiving and try to share what I remember or what I feel is important. I will also do a seperate post for Christmas, and then will try and wrap up the year in another one, I have my work cut out for me! So, let's get started!



Well, just before Thanksgiving Jamison got his first tooth!! He got his second tooth the week after Christmas, this is a recent picture that shows proof of both!

For Thanksgiving Aunt Julie and Uncle Jeff came to visit! We had a lot of fun with them! Daddy had to work quite a bit, but we did get to enjoy a Turkey dinner Thanksgiving evening at The Nerio's, and also got to visit with Uncle Jason, Aunt Angela, and baby cousin Katherine. Otherwise, we were very lazy over Thanksgiving break! Well, I should say that Brooklyn and Jamison kept us on our toes, we just didn't leave the house much!

Chris ended football season earlier than we had hoped for. The football team kind of had a rough year, and did not make it to a bowl game. (As disappointing as this was, our Christmas break was VERY NICE, RELAXING, and we were VERY GLAD to be HOME AS A FAMILY!!)

I think Brooklyn might have had an ear infection in there somewhere, but only minor with no temperature or having to miss school.

Grandma Iowa came down for a weekend in December. We were able to celebrate an early Christmas with her, which was nice! Brooklyn got a lot of PRINCESS stuff! (Unfortunately, I didn't have my shopping done, so Grandma Iowa got nothing in return.....Yet). Brooklyn and Grandma Iowa made a lot of crafts and we had a great visit with her!! Too bad her flights didn't cooperate much! Hopefully she will have better luck next time.

Sadly, I don't have pictures from Julie, Jeffs, or Grandma's visit. I know Grandma has some, so you might eventually get to see a couple.

Daddy and Brooklyn had a special night out in early December and they went to see Curious George Live. Although she isn't overly familiar with Curious George she had a great time! And it was a special night for just her! Mommy and Jamison got to stay home and have a special night also!

I think sometime in November Chris and I went to see "Little House on the Prarie" musical at the Performing Arts Center. We have gone to quite a few shows. I was really looking forward to this, as I watched Half Pint QUITE A BIT growing up! And luckily Melissa Gilbert was playing Ma! It was a pretty good show, and we enjoy going to these for a night of just us two!

Well, I think that about brings us to when our life was somewhat turned upside down and then Christmas. So I will break here and get to working on a Christmas post! Hopefully now, you are up to speed!!!

Oh, also I have to mention how happy we are for Uncle Jonny being healthy! And we have to mention on his behalf how important it is to wear sun screen EVERY TIME YOU ARE IN THE SUN, and also to have skin checks if anything looks suspicious! We love you Uncle Jonny and glad everything turned out ok!!!

Christmas Pics

Well, if you got a Christmas card, these were the pics that you got! But I am going to share them with you again! If you didn't get a Christmas card, may be becuase we don't have your address anymore (see previous post!). These three pics are the most recent we have, and the only recent ones we have, so I love them more than any picture we have!

Hope you all have a Wonderful Christmas!! Stay warm!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am so thankful that my family is safe, we are all healthy, and that we have great friends, and that we both have cars to drive, a warm bed to sleep in, and good jobs so that we can support our family! Today I am thankful that no matter what happens to us that we think is a set back, we have family and friends there to support us, listen, and help us pick up the pieces!

Today while we were at work, and the kids in school our house was broken into. A scary and sad ordeal to say the least! There were some things taken, some can be replaced, some can't. We are mad, upset, sad and scared all at the same time. I am going to believe in my heart that whoever did this, needed these things they took and the money they got from them, worse than we did. Becuase we are blessed, and I am sorry they are not so fortunate to have all of the above great things in their life!

Without going into details, I do have to say that I really regret not getting some posts up this past month with some recent pics!! Becuase now all of our recent pics are gone! So the last month, may get re-told in stories! Luckily I had uploaded 3 recent pics to Walgreens.com the night before for our Christmas card, so we have those, and we will have a Christmas card!!!

So even though this Thursday might not be so grand, I am SO thankful for so many things! We are all safe, warm, and loved, and that is what matters most! And oh yes, Santa will still be making his way to The Nerio's this Christmas. Nothing can ruin Christmas, NOTHING!!

Look at me, I riding my bike!

Going.....

Going....

Gone....
A little blurry, but that is because she is so FAST!!

Brooklyn has gotten very good at riding her tricycle. Too bad she has only been riding it inside!