Brooklyn's Mommy

I would like for you to meet Brooklyn's mommy! She is a very good little mommy! She gives Brooklyn blankies, babas and even shares her papas with Brooklyn. She also takes Brooklyn on the fastest stroller rides she has ever had in her entire stuffed little life! This little mommy doesn't take her baby for walks in the stroller, she takes them for runs up and down the halls! Who is Brooklyn, you might ask? Brooklyn is every single babydoll that lives in our house! Our sweet friends Paula and Mark have a new granddaughter and her name is.....you guessed it.....Brooklyn! We met Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago and ever since then all babies have been named "Booklyn" by the little mommy herself!

Sometimes even little mommies have to stop and take a milk break!

"Hold You Horses"

Little Miss LeLe came home with a yucky cough today from daycare. I knew something was going on because she didn't sleep well at all the night before last. I even had to go rock her for a little bit around 4 am which NEVER happens. She seemed to sleep okay last night but this morning she was a little nasally. I was holding her this morning before she left for daycare and she gagged and threw up all of her milk on Mommy! If you don't know what regurgitated milk smells like, you're lucky! It makes me want to gag just thinking about it! Yuck! She was as perky as could be, though. We asked her if her tummy hurt and she said "yeah" and then said "feet hurt" so we didn't think too much about it. It was obvious that she was just gagging on the snot in the back of her throat! She gets this from her Mama.....I gag when I brush my teeth! We sent her on to daycare, though, because she didn't have a tummy ache and her boogies weren't totally green. Pam said she had a good day but that she coughed alot. It sounds like she didn't get a good nap, either, because she was coughing so much! Poor girl! It'll be interesting to see how tonight goes. So far, so good! She went down around 8:45 and we haven't heard a peep! (We did lube her feet up in Vicks, though, which always seems to help!)

Tonight after her bath, she was running around here like a wild woman and found my lunch bag that I take to work in the pantry. She had it in the living room and was pulling all of my stuff out. I asked her to please give it to Mommy and she said "HOLD YOU HORSES"! What? Where in the world did she learn this? I have never in my life said this to her! Just to make sure this is what I heard, I asked her what she had just said and, sure enough, she told me again to "hold you horses"! Luke and I were cracking up! My first question to Pam tomorrow morning is if she says this to the kids! It was too cute!

It Must Run in the Family

I have a serious addiction to cookbooks! I have tons! How many, you ask? I just did a quick count and came up with 139! I just ordered two more last week that should be here any day! (I actually ordered 8 last week but have already received 6 of them!) This cookbook addiction really isn't my fault. It's in my blood. My mom and Mimi are both serious cookbook fiends. I can't even describe to you how excited I get when I come across a good cookbook. I'm always looking for fun, new recipes to try and perfect. Two of my very favorite cookbooks are personal ones.....one handwritten by my Grandma of all of her favorite recipes and another one written to me by my Mimi of all of her favorites.

My Mimi has started Leah with her very own little collection of cookbooks. She has three 'princess' cookbooks that have lots of fun things to make for tea parties and other fun girl parties. I keep these in her armoire along with other books that aren't completely "Leah friendly". We get these books out occasionally, though, so she knows what's in there!

As part of her bedtime routine, Leah gets to choose any two books for us to read to her. She can choose any two from her playroom or her room. Completely her choice! We had to start letting her choose what books we read, because if we choose the response is "no, no, no" no matter what the book is! Well, tonight, guess what she chose for Daddy to read to her.....

.....a COOKBOOK ("cupcake" as she calls it because it has a cupcake cookie on the back cover!) I asked Luke how it went and he said she asked him to read it again!

Speaking of letting her choose any two books to read at bedtime.....I had to work an event on Saturday night so it was Daddy/Daughter night. On Sunday morning, I was picking up Leah's room and came across a "Stonewall Kitchen" catalog and asked Luke what that was doing in her room. "That was one of her books" was the response I got (as in one of the two books she chose that Daddy had to read to her at bedtime). A future chef maybe?

"Mommy Bootsies"

Tonight after her bath, Leah was SUPPOSED to be picking out two books to read at bed time out of her book basket in the playroom. Luke and I were in the living room and sent her on her way to the playroom with her little assignment. It seemed awfully quiet so we got up to investigate. All of a sudden we heard a slow motion thud-thud-thud sound coming from the garage entry hallway where we keep our shoes. This is what we saw as she was saying "Mommy bootsies":



She stepped into the boots and managed to walk all the way down the hall with them on! She even left a little collateral in their place!



*Just a little side note: it's exactly 11:04 pm and Leah is still wide awake, giggling and talking up a storm in her bed! We put her down at 9:30!

We Miss You Daddy!

Luke's gone to North Carolina for market, so it's just us girls for seven whole days! We've got four days down and three to go! We miss Daddy alot but sometimes it's fun to have girl time! We've played, cooked, read books, watched "Chuggington" (her new fave), ran races, all the fun things Brooke Hendricks likes to do! Yes, she still calls herself "Book Hengies". Here are just a few pictures so Daddy can see his girl! I don't want Daddy to feel like he's missing anything so I even included a few tantrum shots! We love you and miss you Daddy very much! Hurry home!

P. S. Thank you so much for the beautiful roses! They are very "pitty fowers" and "mell good"!

"Mommy cookies" are yummy!

"Pink yogurt, pink yogurt, pink yogurt!!!!!!"

Brooke Hendricks

Now that Leah knows her name (E-yah) and will tell you her name when asked, we decided to start working with her on saying her whole name.....Leah Brooke Hendricks. Well, today she decided that she would drop Leah and just go by Brooke Hendricks. We've been asking her what her name is all night and every time it is simply "Book Hengies". Too cute!

Hide and Go Seek

Leah and I were stuck inside today because it rained and poured all day long. I took advantage of the gloomy weather and got all caught up on laundry. (This is saying ALOT because folding and putting away clothes is one of my least favorite domestic duties!) Leah likes to help me with laundry, especially putting clothes into the washer. Today, however, instead of helping me, she discovered that she could fit into the cabinet in the laundry room. This child has no fears, not even of the dark. She kept the door closed for several minutes and ever so often would open the door to tell me "boo" and give me the biggest, happiest grin! If she ever decides to hide, I now know exactly where to start looking!

*On a completely different note, my girl is famous for the second time in her life! I'm sure hoping these modeling jobs help pay her way through college! Check her out at Polka Dot Market! She's the Halloween Bag Girl!*

Stomach Bug

Little Leah was a sick baby girl last night. Yesterday was Daddy/Daughter day and they went to the park before dinner. I had dinner out with the girl's last night so I didn't even get home until around 8:30. I called home on my way to dinner around 6:00 and all was fine. They were just home from the park and were just about to have leftover lasagna for dinner. When I called to say I was on my way home at around 8:00, Luke told me we had a sick baby girl. He said right when he strapped her in her highchair and was just about to start feeding her dinner, she threw up and then continued to do so several more times throughout the evening. She has never had a "throwing up bug" before so we didn't know what to do. I called my mom to see what to and what not to give her. She suggested, also, that I not put her in her bed but just make a palate and sleep with her on the floor. I must admit that the one positive of the evening was our little slumber party. Leah and I both had so much fun! By the time we laid down on our palate, she wasn't throwing up anymore. She just wanted to snuggle with mommy and hold my hands. This was one of my most favorite moments with Leah ever. She would just look over at me and giggle or would grab my hands and make me play pat-a-cake. She was also being a stinker and would lay her head down like she was going to sleep and would suddenly pop up saying "Elmo wake, Elmo wake" just like Elmo does in one of her current favorite movies. Ever so often she would tell me "tummy hurt" and I would grab the beloved red throw up bowl but she never did get sick again. Today she felt much better but hasn't really had much of an appetite. She's just kind of picked at her food all day and didn't drink near as much as she normally does. She did get a special treat, though.....a Pedialyte popsicle! She chose blue! I'm hoping tomorrow her appetite is back and that she's back to 100% (and also that Luke and I don't get it)!

Happy Birthday Easter Bunny

Guess who came to see Leah this morning and left behind a basket full of goodies.....the "Eader Bunny"! She got an Easter egg magna-doodle, bunny book, play dough eggs, a choo choo electric toothbrush (that she absolutely HATES and wants nowhere near her mouth) and a bucket full of sidewalk chalk! Lucky, lucky! We told her to say 'Happy Easter, Easter Bunny' and it came out "Happy Burday Eader Bunny" so this has been the phrase of the day! Leah also got Easter goodies from Nana and Papaw, Mimi, Grandma and Grandpa and our sweet friend Paula. Thank you all for thinking of sweet Leah!

Church this morning was quite an adventure, although Leah and Daddy looked awfully cute in their matching green! About twenty minutes into the service I see "Leah A34" scroll across the nursery alert marquee. I thought to myself that it can't be my child because there has to be tons of other Leahs. (This was one time I thought it was great that she has a very common name because I was in denial that it was my child.) I couldn't remember her number so I start digging in my purse for the other half of her sticker that she has to wear on her while she's in the nursery. Luke has no idea what I'm doing because he hadn't seen the alert bulletin just yet. I finally found the sticker and, sure enough, my Leah is A34! I head off to the nursery, give them her pacifier and milk and head back into the service. About ten minutes later "Leah A34" pops back on the screen. I head back into the nursery and this time I just get her and hang out with her in the foyer until church is over. She did not want to be without Mommy or Daddy this morning! Just to give her a little credit, I think she might not feel the greatest because she woke up from her nap screaming bloody murder this afternoon which is very unlike her (either that or she was having nightmares of us leaving her in the nursery again).

After church we went to our neighbors for brunch. Leah had so much fun playing with the big kids! She even got to hunt Easter eggs with them! We had to do it quickly because it was cold and rainy here today. Leah was a pro once again and hunted the eggs like she's been doing it for months! Some of the eggs were the real, dyed eggs and Leah soon discovered that she could peel off the shell. This entertained her for quite some time.

After Easter brunch we all came home and took a nap! This was a nice treat because Mommy and Daddy usually don't get naps! We hope everyone had lots of fun celebrating the Easter Bunny's birthday today!

She loved the toothbrush until it came time to put it to use!

She thought Daddy should wear Mommy's shoes!

Pretty girl, all ready for church!

Spring EGGstravaganza

This morning we went to a fun Easter shindig at the park put on by our local Parks and Recreation Department. Leah got to visit the Easter Bunny, hunt Easter eggs, pet real bunnies, goats and chickens and ride a train! She had so much fun!

She was a pro at hunting eggs! She was on a mission to make sure there were no eggs left on the ground! She really liked petting the bunnies! The girl let her hold the bunny in her lap. She loved this! She kept petting the bunny saying "soft, soft". She then got to feed a goat! There was also a snake that she could have petted but she chose not to touch it! Mommy didn't want to touch it either! When it came time to visit the Easter Bunny, I didn't know what to expect. We had to stand in line for a couple of minutes, but Leah didn't want to wait! She tried walking up to him when it was someone else's turn. We pulled her back, of course, which she didn't like at all! When it was her time to visit, she walked right up to him like she'd known him all her life! She wouldn't sit in his lap but sat on the bench beside him (with Daddy by her side) and wouldn't take her eyes off of him. She didn't want to touch him at all, but didn't mind hanging out for a bit! I think her favorite thing of all was riding the choo choo train with Daddy because it blew bubbles and played music! She LOVED the bubbles! It was so fun to get to experience the fun of spring through Leah's eyes!

She wanted to hold on to ALL of her Easter eggs on the way home!

Mama's New Ride

We've known for awhile that we have completely outgrown our Accords. Last year when we went to Tahoe for the weekend, we had to leave Luke's snowboard and Leah's pack 'n play at home because they just wouldn't fit in the car! This meant that Luke had to pay to rent a snowboard and Leah had to sleep in bed with us! Ha! Let's just so NO ONE slept that night! Then, when Luke's family came out for Leah's first birthday, we had to drive two cars to the airport to pick everyone up! It was so nice not having a car payment but the time has finally come, so.....

This week we bid farewell to Luke's 214,000 mile silver Honda Accord and said hello to a shiny black Acura MDX! I'm not gonna lie, I'm in love! My Accord will now become Luke's mobile office. Leah loves the new car because she can now watch all of her movies on the go! In fact, the moment she enters the car she starts saying "Elmo, Elmo". We have got to teach her to wear headphones pronto! It even has a navigation system and backup camera so I can now look at the grass as I'm backing over it!

We signed our names on the dotted line late Tuesday night. It was 10:30 pm when the silver Honda pulled out of our driveway for the last time with the car salesman behind the wheel. Luke took care of all of the paperwork and all of his signatures at the dealership, but Leah and I had to go home because it was waaaaaaaay past her bedtime. Luke and the salesman then drove the MDX here to the house, I signed my life away and then the salesman drove off in the Accord.

We're having roof rails and running boards put on so we only got to play around with it for a couple of days before handing it back over to the dealership. We hope to have it back on Monday, but in the meantime we have a fun little Acura TL to drive around! We now have room for 7 and can tie the snowboard to the roof rails! We're now all set for our next ski trip to Tahoe!

Chuck E. Cheese

Leah had the time of her life this afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese! Luke was working from home today so we scheduled a family lunch date. We had told Leah that we were going to see the mouse at Chuck E. Cheese so for most of the car ride there (until she conked out) she would say "chuck e. cheese" over and over and over! This was her first visit there so we didn't know what to expect with her! When we first walked in the door she started squealing with excitement! She had so much fun playing the games, riding the rides and dancing to all of the music. She was even a good girl and stopped to take a break to eat her pizza. While we were eating ol' Chuck himself came walking by our table! I think she enjoyed him in his non-life form more! If I were to guess, I would say her favorite game of all was skee ball (or the baseball throwing game Daddy was playing)! I LOVE skee ball so I see lots of challenges in our future!