Brooke–a–licious!

Happy 3rd birthday to my happy and sweet girl -- the one who notices everything pink, purple, and sparkly, the one whose wardrobe preference is determined by how well it twirls so she can be a ballerina, the one who tells me multiple times a day how much she loves me, the one who notices each time I'm wearing a necklace, asking if she can wear it too, the one who tells me I'm beautiful as I come out dressed each day. While she may cry at the slightest bit of disarray (or let's be honest, anytime anyone is upset!), and has shed enough tears to flood the plains of Kansas, her spirit radiates happiness! She is my little ray on sunshine and every day is a little brighter when she's around! I'm so thankful God sent her to me!!!

 

 

 

More about Brooke!

She’s independent and strong spirited, yet gentle and kind.  She knows what she wants and insists on doing must things ALL by herself. 

If you ask what her favorite color is, she’ll usually respond pink – but quickly add  purple and red too.  Ok, she likes them all!  Glittery, sparkly, fluffy, lacey, twirly, the more bling the better. 

And no matter how hard I've tried to fight it, she’s a total girly-girl.  She loves princesses, ballerinas, mermaids, dolls, ponies, pretty much anything pink or purple she sees she assumes is hers.  She’ll accessorize and collect millions of items in a purse, backpack, bucket, anything she can find. 

She loves to draw rainbows.

When she prays, she lists all the favorite parts of her day, not missing one single detail. 

Of course, they typically involve outings with her two favorite cousins – Quincy and Scarlett!

 

And she’s a genius.  Or at least has a better memory than I do, which I guess doesn’t say much at all.  One night Tanner was going to read her a bedtime book, and instead, Brooke started saying she could read it too – and she pretty much repeated the book word for word.  If it would have been a book we read regularly, I wouldn’t have been surprised, but it was a fairly new one from the library. 

And when we got a new CD filled with kids song – she could tell me which song was next after only listening to is a few times.  Now – just channeling all that smarts into something useful!

 

 

She finally lets me style her hair!  She usually requests braids or pony tails – but I’m just  happy she let’s me brush her hair!  Her hair is getting so long – it won’t be long until she’s ready for a cut. 

Fully embraced the “you’re 3, you’re a big girl now!”  Good-bye diapers and paci, hello big girl bed.  She even tried to tell me she didn’t want a straw cup cuz she’s a big girl now!

Only downside – now she thinks she doesn’t need a nap.  And when she does nap, she’s up forever at night, but still, it’s a hard balance to find.  Cause when she’s tired, it brings out a whole new side of her that no one should have to experience.  it’s epic!

Potty trained in one day!  We started one morning, she had an accident in the morning, and in the afternoon, I heard Brooke screaming for me while I was upstairs.  I came downstairs to the bathroom and Brooke told me, “I just went pee on the potty.  Can you help me get my leggings back on?!?!”  Not to say that she hasn’t had an occasional accident here or there, but she’s pretty much been a dream! 

Even at night, she was morally offended at the thought of wearing a pull-up again.  After she kept it dry for 3 nights it a row, we gave it a go and she’s done awesome! 

They say to wait until they’re ready – and now I’m SOLD – it’s entirely true!

Drama

She’s my reality check.  When I get mad or frustrated, she’s the first one to respond in a kind, gentle voice, “Mom, why are you yelling?!?!”  Good question Brooke, good question.

She knows how to add DRAMA! to any situation. 

Try to get mad and angry at her never ever works.  She has a complete and total meltdown!  Things get bad and ugly fast – and she’ll be inconsolable and run to far corner of the house.  And

When she’s nearly ready to calm down, she’ll still ask for her paci – which has been gone for months – finally!  but she’ll still ask for it – her main source of coping/comfort for years.  

Fighting her never works.  But reasoning and logic works magically.  Usually if I just ask her to be happy when she’s grumpy, she’ll flip her mood in a few seconds and just start bursting out with giggles.  I need to find out how she does that – laughter is contagious!

She has a sensitive spirit and can’t handle loud noises or screaming.  She still gets scared of vacuums and public bathrooms – flushing toilets, hand dryers, all of it!

She cries anytime anyone is upset, Rylee and Tanner included, so things get crazy around her fast. 

Cries every.single.time. Rylee pulls her hair.  Can’t say I blame her for that one.

“I don’t want lunch.  I want a SNACK!”  Yep, she always wants to snack on something, but always a sucker for fruit – especially those strawberries!  Or fruit snacks.  Those are definitely worth climbing the pantry for!

There’s not a day that goes by Brooke doesn’t tell me she loves me.  Usually it’s out of the blue, when I’m buckling her in the car seat, helping her get dressed, or just out of the blue.  There’s nothing like having a thankful child that warms your whole heart!

Loves books!  Especially Pink-a-licious.   Anything princess.  Or “Mix it up!” or singing.

She's expanding her tv choices – still loves Team Umi Zoomi, she’s also discovered Wonder Pets, Doc McStuffins, and Daniel Tiger. 

 Pictures from her birthday!

We had a family party filled with her favorite people.

She got a package of princesses she’d been eyeing all weekend.  She (along with Tanner) could not possibly wait a moment longer to open them so she got them in the morning instead.  She’s in LOVE with them.

 

From the mouth of Tanner, “Brooke just loves princess's. Everything she has should be princess just for her!!!”  Yet when she returns, he promptly tells her, “Brooke,  there's lots of cute things to like other than just princesses.  Maybe you should like puppy dogs too?”

Originally she wanted a Pink-a-licious cake, but changed it to the purple as I was making it.  Thankfully, purple food coloring was just a cabinet away.  And it’s purple, even if it looks pink in all the pics!

When it came time to open presents, she put on quite the show!  Brooke is no longer the shy little girl she used to be.  Look at her pose for the camera!  I love all these shots!

I had another outfit in mind today, but of course she wanted her favorite butterfly dress so she can spin and twirl.

But the video is even better :)

When I told our friends, Zach and Sara, what to get Brooke, I insisted she didn’t need more presents, but finally settled that candy was the way to her heart, and that she’s been asking for sparkly nails just like Q’s. 

I thought she would be 15 before she’d ask for her nails painted, turns out it’s 3!  We gave it a go!  As I was painting them, she insisted I use ALL the colors (we settled on 2).  When it came to wash hands, she nearly freaked out “Don’t wash the sparkles off!”

Legoland

We went to Legoland before her birthday, well, cause she was still free!  Plus, Tanner had Friday off of school so we wanted to do something special. 

The kids love the place, but I still loathe it!  It’s NOT designed for little kids.  But…we still had lots of fun!

 

Rylee’s first ride!  While I was busy shooting villains, she stood up and got us kicked up the ride before it was over.  Embarrassing!

They had the coolest Star Wars exhibit – Tanner was stoked!

 

Rylee must have gone up and down the slide 100 times.

 

Brooke was busy playing house, this time making some yummy cupcakes for us!

While Rylee was reeking havoc wherever she went, lol!

And this pic of these two girls just melts my heart away!

 

And I’m pretty sure they’re both too big to be doing this!

 

The 4D movies are always are favorite.  If only Rylee would agree!  She was busy trying to pick my nose or escape, not sure which was worse!

And Tanner got to pedal his was through the wizard ride while the girls were very sad they couldn’t go.  *sigh*

But craziness for me always equals a super fun time for the kiddos so we were glad we could go! 

Birthday Party!

I also put together a simple little party for her closest of friends – Quincy and Scarlett. 

We met up for Pizza West – the bestest, yummiest pizza ever!  Of course, Brooke was so excited she didn’t touch her food. 

.

Then we headed to open gym to jump, run, and twirl to our hearts content. 

I did a horrible job taking pics, which is really an indicated of how much fun they were having, or how crazy Rylee was being!

 

She’s such a brave soul – climbing onto the vault and jumping into the pit.  I “made” her hold my hand but she was NOT happy about it!

Happy Birthday Darling, sweet Brooke!!!

10 Year Anniversary Cruise

Anthony and I celebrated 10 years of marriage in December.  10 awesome, amazing years together, and it only gets sweeter with time.  Anthony planned a fun getaway vacation for jus the two of us and it was absolutely wonderful!

Departure -

We had to go with Plan B for the kids when grandparents could no longer make it down. Don’t worry, there was an excel spreadsheet involved for all the coordinating that took place :) Thanks to some amazing friends and family, we were still able to go. 

Not even the stomach bug could keep us away, but it sure tried!

Let me tell you, everyone needs a friend like the Wises.  They were absolutely wonderful and saved the day – taking care of our kids and our home.  Not only were the kids still alive (we set the expectation real high, lol!), but they were bathed, home completed, house cleaned (even the fridge!) – and a meal cooked and ready for the next day!  They were amazing and we are SO grateful for them!

Setting sail – a view from the cabin.  Wide open seas, no wifi, no cell phones!

 

Bahamas -

The beaches were breathtaking! We rented a jet ski and cruised around the open seas, seeing smaller islands, private beaches, and the most ginourmous beach homes imaginable.   One day, maybe one day! 

The beach was packed by the hotel, but we walked another few blocks and had the whole place practically to ourselves! 

We crashed on the beach! I soaked up some rays while Anthony hid in the shade.   While I was laying out in the sun,  before I know it, there’s a group of people around Anthony.  Even in the Bahamas, he make’s friends  with everyone! 

I learned Anthony can talk to everyone and everyone, even people that don’t really want to talk. Even on our 6am flight out of KC, and he’s alive as can be.  That’s why he’s a dentist -- he’s used to talking to people ALL DAY long!

We  jumped and swam in the brilliant crystal clear blue water.  I would have been totally content to never leave the beach the entire trip.  I mean, is there any better feeling than sand between your toes!?!?

Looking back, we didn’t get any good pics of us on the beach.  The sun was shining and we were squinting.

And even better – was Anthony’s hand placement holding up the towel.  Just doesn’t look right! :)

Taxi ride in Bahamas was hilarious. Clearly, the taxi driver was not happy to be driving a taxi.  He gave me dirty look and insisted that I shut the van door – even if the dang thing wasn’t budging.  But that didn’t stop Anthony from striking up a convo.  “Oh, you’re listening to R&B, I'm surprised you’re not listening to island music!”  And the only nice non-tourist building on the entire island was a hospital -- brand new!  He starts to boast, “This is our new hospital.  Health care in Bahamas is free!” onviosuly with great pride and the only enthusiastic thing I’ve heard him say.  Anthony’s response, “Yeah, I’m sure with all the taxes you make off of tourism, your country can afford a nice hospital.”  Anthony was super genuine, but the guy pulled over at the next corner in the middle of nowhere and told us, “You can get out here.  The shopping district is just a few blocks away!”

But no worries, we did find some shopping -- picking up some souvenirs. We found a store that sold unique, quality items that happened to be on sale -- and bought a little something for everyone. The cashier was awesome -- trying to sell us some added sneakers and other items, and they laughed out of their seats when Anthony told him he ‘wasn’t cool enough to wear those.’  Clearly, in the us, you had to be black to pull of that look.

A new wedding ring – another present!  I may (or may not) lost my old one when I took it off while I was pregnant.  I put it in a really good spot – just not sure where it was – lol!

All aboard – a view of Nassau from our cabin

Aboard the Cruise Ship

When we returned to the ship, it was time to get ready for formal night.  We were super S-M-A-R-T and left the sunscreen on the cruise ship – so were were so burnt!

 

We watched the sun go down – breathtaking.  I’ve never felt so small that looking out on an endless ocean blue.

Up on deck– trying not to get blown away by the wind :)

Our view out the window at dinner :)

 

The next day we slept in or at least tried.  We had a relaxing day on the cruise ship.  We sat by the pool, while Anthony hid underneath clothes and towels.  While I had every intention of reading a book but the people watching was so much better! A dance party on the pool desk with the DJ, Alejandro (Alej-awesome) was teaching people his moves and everyone showed up, from a 4 year princess to a 99+ old lady. It doesn’t matter how old you are, you either have the rhythm or you don’t -- and that’s that.

Here’s some pics of us out and about – exploring the cruise ship, seeing some shows!  We’ve never taken so many selfies in our life – but still – I wish I would have taken more!  The yellow sculpture hanging above us was amazing – glass blown chandelier that must have been Chihuly’s work for sure!

  

We also enjoyed relaxing couples massage, every which part felt amazing!  Even better, we had a some onboard credit to use so it was an great deal!  I asked Anthony if he enjoyed it, but he uttered something like, ‘Yeah, it wasn’t bad!’ Come on, an hour massage!!! In the waiting room, they had heated tiled chairs. It was so hard to leave!

Each night they had a different show to go see.  I’d say the singing and dancing weren’t fabulous, but for free, hey, that’s hard to beat. The comedian and ventriloquist, and i admit, i wasn’t expecting much, but they were so good! totally awesome!

The comedian was a grumpy Italian making fun of stupid people saying things like “are those real dolphins” when they pass by several in the ocean on the ship or people putting their luggage on “outside” on the balcony to be collected the next morning for their departure.

The ventriloquist was more of a comedian than a traditional ventriloquist, but the best act was when he brought out his wife and they both were the voices for each other, and even signing one of my fave songs from Les Miserab. He did a magic act making a banana disappear in bandana, yet said the real magic is when you connect with people and build memories together.  Couldn’t agree more!

Everywhere we went – Yolanda was there!  She was hilarious!

The food was amazing at first, but by the end, was ready to have my own cooking.  There’s only so much mass produced food you can have before it gets old, really old.   Anthony will always try the weirdest items on the menu -- escargo (snails!) and even talked me into getting frog legs.  Not bad – tasted like shrimp – only with bones.  But I still would have preferred shrimp!

I always tried to save room for the desserts (surprise, surprise)! just don’t feel sorry for me when i don’t fit into my clothes!

Key West

In Key West, we signed up for a shore excursion - kayaking tour.

We headed out first thing in the morning and kayaked on the open ocean, seeing some wildlife along the way: birds, jellyfish, coral, and other creatures I've never even knew existed. One huge snail-like creature left purple ink on you every time you touched it to try to protect itself.

99% of the people didn’t want to touch or get close to the thing -- but Anthony picked it up no problem.

The shore line along Key West

Anthony kept trying to give me pointers here and there, but after several attempts, I asked “Would you prefer for me to stop paddling?” Lol! Apparently my paddling in random bursts of energy and was not smooth or steady enough...despite all my experience canoeing as a kid! But hey, I I had no problem putting my paddle down and started taking pics!

But in most I still managed to cut off Anthony’s head!  

The scenery was beautiful -- but the real fun came from watching other couple navigate the kayaks, and trying not to crash into the mangrove trees along the way. one couple was hilarious -- he’s say absolutely ridiculous things like, hooting and hollering at his wife up front to steer and turn the kayak -- when everyone knows it’s the guy in back that determines the directions.

     

Then we headed into Downtown -- of course eating some seafood -- best calamari ever! 

Key lime pie everything!

Tasted tons of hot sauces from Peppers, where the sauces kept getting hotter and hotter.

We spent most our time walking along Duval street the entire length, shopping at boutique stores along the way. We passed by a lighthouse with the coolest tree,

 

Earnest Hemingway's old home,

and many other random places as we strolled along.

 

A  US coast guard ship,

and several other museums. We got lost several times -- taking us to places we didn’t intend to go -- but saw much of the islands old quant city charm.  This was one of my favorite residential streets!  It’s beautiful—and everyone rides bikes everywhere!

But alas, it was time to head back to the cruise ship!

And see another gorgeous sunset!

As the ship pulled away from Key West, we saw the sun begin to set on the horizon. The wild was strong enough to knock my flip flops right off and practically knock me right over.  But the sights were breathtaking.

We saw one last show, had one last dinner, and heck, for kicks, decided to go watch the some open mic karaoke. Anthony shocked me when he signed up to go -- quickly regretting the decision -- but the DJ didn’t give him anytime to change his mind.

“This is my first time and I’m totally sober” are words you never hear at karaoke bar. Signing Bare-Naked Ladies, “One week” Anthony didn’t fail to impress. Such great entertainment folks, I tell you! He’s amazing!!!

Fort Lauderdale

Since we were in denial of our cruise being over, we squeezed in a little more adventure.  In Ft. Lauderdale, we headed to the wetlands and went on a Gator tour.

Because who can resist sticking your head through a whole…

In the everglades, only “air boats” are allowed.  They have huge fans at the back that propel you along – causing you to glide along the water.

Drifting may have been Anthony’s fave part!

 

We got within several feet of several gators!  Even when we got close, they didn’t move or swim away.  They'd just sit there and stare at you!

The tour guide thru some popcorn out and birds came out from everywhere.  Who knew birds like popcorn so much?

He also caught a fish with his bare hands…impressive!

And we even say a “Gator Boy” give a presentation about alligators, putting her face and hands in it’s jaw.  While they have impressive jaw strength to close down, they have very little strength to open – so she’s easily able to keep it’s mouth closed when she wants.  Not that I would ever stick my head in it’s mouth…  

I wish I could have brought Tanner along to see all these gators!  He would have loved it.  Next time, the kids may just have to come along!

And we had a few more hours to kill, so we relaxed on the beach and had fun “people watching.”  And we decided you don’t have to go to Bahamas or Key West to have gorgeous beaches! 

 

And that’s our vacation.  We/re hoping to make this a new annual tradition.  Perhaps not as far, but just escaping even for a weekend.  Kid free, worry free, it’s amazing! 

But even more amazing is Anthony.  He’s the best companion  ever, at home and at seas!   Here’s to an amazing trip, an amazing 10 years together! let’s do it again (hopefully not 10 years away)!