14 months

Brooke's first trip to the zoo was on November 6, 2011 at the

Chaffee Zoo in Fresno with her cousins Abby, Adam, and Madison and Grandma and Mommy.

I can't believe that it has been 3 months since my last blog. I have wanted to come on here and let you all know how fun Brooke is and everything we are experiencing as parents, but our family has been overwhelmed with school, work, traveling, and family that everything is lacking in our lives; we haven't taken pictures of her, been able to be in the Word, menu planning is just starting up again, I haven't worked out, laundry is piling up, I have 453 emails to look at, and so much more. But as of today, school is pretty much done and I can now catch up on blogging, making bows, her baby book, and hopefully a work out!

Feeding the giraffe. She was a little unsure so I helped.

She was so happy when she saw the animals, she starting clapping

Let’s talk about the cutest little mini mite I have ever seen! She is now 14 months old and talking up a storm. She said her first sentence, "Hello dada!" the other day and it was adorable. She really emphasizes the O and it is too cute! Others words she can say are, more, bye, sippy, shhhhh, woof, momma, dada, poppa, bobo aka Bernard, and I can't think of anything else. She is pretty good and communicating what she wants- she can sign all done, more, please, thank you, and help me. Sometimes she mixes up more and help me, but I understand. She

loves to sit on Bernard and she loves to talk on the phone. She seems so short and it is so cute to watch her run around the room. She LOVES to eat; I think she could do it all day and never be full. She still isn't a fan of watermelon, but is starting to enjoy turkey and chicken more, as well as milk and green beans. She has been more interested in using a spoon lately and can do a pretty good job. It works best if I help her get the food on her spoon, because she usually can’t get the food on her spoon and pretty soon she is back to using her fingers. I have been having a hard time figuring out her nap schedule. She can go down at 9:30am still, but she has a hard time taking that afternoon nap and then is just grumpy most of the day. I have to push her past 10:30am by using snacks and then she is fine, but when I put her down for her one nap at 12:30 she has a bowel movement consistently and 1:30pm and usually can not go back to sleep. She is asleep now and I am hoping that she will go down for a short second nap this afternoon.

Playing with Bernard when we decorated for Christmas on November 8, 2011

She also can nod her head yes or no, but prefers to say no. Some things that we are struggling with and would love some advice is she likes to hit. She hits us when she is upset or hits others when she says no. We reprimand her, but she is still doing it. She likes to test us all the time; we put a gate around the Christmas tree and even though we kept telling her no and taking her away from the tree, she kept going back. Last night I was doing school and she was wondering around as usual. I saw her stop in front of the fireplace and look at me. I looked up at her and gave her the look; she then turned around and touched it. I got up to scold her and she ran off. After her little scolding I looked at Kyle and starting laughing- the look on her face before she touched the fireplace was priceless.

She loves to dance and will lie on the floor and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Sesame Street with us. She is so much fun and it is amazing how much she is teaching us about ourselves, Jesus and his love for us, and how to be a parent.

She strutted around wearing her Santa hat. It was so cute!

Hopefully today I will be able to post some stuff about Halloween, her birthday, and thanksgiving too!

Thanks for reading!