Turkey Day.

Brooke's 1st Thanksgiving was delightful. Turkey? Check. Pumpkin pie? Check. Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade? Check. We hit all the highlights.

Hope your Thanksgiving was as blessed as ours was!

Pumpkin pie didn't go over so well. It's a texture thing, I'm sure.

Pretty Much Adorable.

Isn't she?

Things have been, well, a bit on the crazy side lately. Crazy in a good way, though. The Big Lady is keeping us busy, of course, especially now that's she's taking steps here and there. I wish there was a more dramatic way to say "she's getting into EVERYTHING" because I feel like a broken record. But, you guys, she is. Times ten. She is so much fun right now, I can't even explain it. So yeah, Brooke-o is keeping us busy.

But during those long naps and magical moments of quiet self-entertainment of hers, something else is keeping me busy these days. Remember a few weeks ago when I said I was grateful for family and friends that were supporting me in a new adventure? Well, I'm proud to introduce....

See that bow on Brooke's head in the picture up top? It's mine! I've started a new little business! After realizing that I could make the bows and headbands she's been wearing since birth (rather than paying a premium for them in stores), I decided I might try selling a few, too.

So, The Pretty Much Adorable Bowtique was born. I've been working on my inventory for several weeks now and have finally ventured into online sales. Am I nervous? Quite. Crazy? Probably. Excited? You bet. Especially when I made my first sale!! Within 24 hours of listing items in my new Etsy shop, I had my first sale. (Etsy.com is an online craft marketplace, similar to an ebay, but for crafters only.) Just yesterday, I put this in the mail for a stranger in Texas that decided my bow was cute enough to buy.

I'd love for all of you to see my handiwork in my little online shop, so please head on over to The Pretty Much Adorable Bowtique and look around. I'd love opinions on the products and any ideas you may have, so don't hesitate to send along comments. Word-of-mouth will probably be my best bet as far as advertising goes, so if you know a Mom with a little lady, I'd greatly appreciate it if you passed it on. I've also started a Facebook page to keep everyone in the loop to new products and promotions, so if you're on the Book, please "Like" PMA on Facebook (click here). Oh yeah - I'm also going to be in the Blue Ash Holiday Craft Show next weekend.

Oh my goodness. This is all sorts of official now. Crazy-excited :)

And big kudos go to my Mom for inspiring me to get started (as she was the original headband maker.) And to my sister for being my biggest supporter and Official Mom Counsel. And to the husband for not thinking I'm crazy and letting me overtake our house with grosgrain ribbon and glue guns :)

Thankful Thursday.

In one week, everyone will take a minute to reflect on the big stuff in their life that they are thankful for. Myself included, for this has been one hell of a blessed year. But right now? Here are the little things I'm thankful for on this cool and cloudy Thursday.

 ~ Breakfast for dinner (though I'm not super-excited that my whole house smells like bacon now...)

~ Household to-do lists, often with timing goals (i.e. clean bedroom in 20 mins, finish laundry by 10:30, etc.) Because then I actually do it. And I have a cleaner-than-usual house to show for it in under 2 hours. (Call me a dork if you want for the timing part; mind games work for me.)

~ A girl with a good appetite, who comes running (well, crawling) as soon as she hears the refrigerator door open in hopes that she'll get a bite of something, and who loves to help put groceries away, and by that I mean try to climb into the fridge and pull out anything she can get her grubby little paws on.

~ A girl with a good appetite AND an awesome palate for beverages. That's my girl!

 (Perhaps you're wondering why we have 3 bottles of champagne in our fridge. And, frankly, so am I. *Mental note to drink one or all this weekend.* And notice none of them costs more than $10. High-class folks up in here.)

~ Christmas music, the likes of Mariah, Celine, Michael, and, of course, NSYNC. And a munchkin that already appreciates it like her Mama. We got home from The Mart tonight and, when the music turned off in the car, she started signing/saying "more". Again, that's my girl!

~ Being able to sing along to said Christmas music this year (oh, pregnancy flashback...)

~Making it through tooth #6's arrival with minimal whining.

~ Belly laughs over the most mundane things. Apparently I am hilarious. If I lean down under her high chair to pick up her sippy cup (which happens about, oh, 9 times a meal), she giggles like crazy when I pop back up (and not in a "Haha, joke's on you for picking that up for the 9th time" kind of way, more of a "Mommy's playing peek-a-boo during lunch" way.)

~Being greeted each morning by this:

 "These lights are too bright this early in the morning, Mommy!"

Oh, and this just in: the Chickadee took 4 steps tonight! Woohoo!! And she was so insanely proud of herself. I'm not considering her a walker just yet, but we're so close I can taste it :)

Bliss.

This is bliss, my friends. Bliss for the whole family. Brooke Mary is happy as a clam, bottle in the mouth & Elmo on the TV. Mama is happy as a clam, no bottle in my hands and 10 free minutes to be productive.

Let me reiterate the fact that I had no bottle in my hands. Somebody fed herself her bottle this afternoon. This is huge, kids. Huge. Normally she wants no part of holding it. When I try to get her to hold it, she looks up at me and is all "Woman, this is YOUR job."

Somebody's growing up.

The little things.

I know I'll forget. There are a million and one things going through this head every day, and more are added each day. I'm undertaking new projects and planning for upcoming holidays. She's on the move, I'm on the move; there's never a dull moment around here. Which is why I know I'm going to forget.

The little things.

She changes daily in such monumental ways that I know I'm going to forget all of these adorable little things that she does. Maybe not soon, but eventually. I'm already struggling to remember when she started crawling. If it wasn't for the blog, I'd surely not know what day that first tooth popped up. Or when she first climbed stairs on her own. Or the first time she was called "handsome". I've filled out some of her baby book, but it's not comprehensive (shockingly, there isn't a fill-in-the-blank in there for the "First time your little girl was called 'handsome' by a crazy old lady".) So thank goodness for this blog, because it's acting as a developmental timeline for Brooke's first year.

There are so many more little things that she's been doing lately that I don't want to forget.
~ She gives the most heavenly hugs. If you ask her for one (and she likes you enough to think you're worthy), she'll wrap those chubby arms around your neck and bring her little head in so you're cheek to cheek. It's pretty much the most awesome thing of my life.
~ She says "Hi" now, although it actually comes out more like "Ha" in a high-pitched voice. And it's accompanied by a hand wave, the open-&-close-your-fist kind. Precious, my friends.
~ She knows what to do with a hairbrush. If you ask her to brush her hair, she'll hold the brush up behind her ear and "brush".
~ She also knows what to do with a phone. She'll hold it up to her ear and say "Ha" if you ask her to talk to someone. (Her fake phone call of choice is to Daddy. "Ha dada!")
~ She's working on her balance a lot now. She'll let go of something she's holding onto and just stand for up to 5 seconds. She's so darn proud of herself when she does it, too.
~ She has learned her first sign. She signs "more" and uses it appropriately. The other day, we played patty cake about 15 times in a row because, after each one, she signed "more" and I was so proud of her that I couldn't say no. This is a big one for us, because we hadn't been pushing it all that hard. We only use it every so often so I didn't expect her to pick up on it. Clearly, she's a smart cookie.
~ No matter where we put her down in her crib, she always sleeps/wakes up in the same position: on her belly, butt in the air, with her head wedged up against the bumper, always in the same corner of the crib.

I know I've been blogging less & less lately, but I promise I won't abandon it completely. I love going back and reading about those first few days home from the hospital or even back when I was pregnant. It's so nice to have this virtual memory at my fingertips. I may start to forget, but these things will never be completely forgotten. And I owe that to my favorite girl.

You know, the goofy one who thinks Mardi Gras beads are the best teether and who crawls around with a winter hat on but no shirt. No way would I want to forget that.

Trick or treat!

Our first family Halloween was a success! The day was filled with pumpkin-carving (talk about last minute....), trick-or-treating, and candy-eating (by all 3 of us!) It was a best-explained-in-photos kinda day, so here ya go!

"You mean I get to put my hands in here and just play?"

Shortly after this was taken, she tried to eat the seeds. (Bet you didn't see that one coming...)

Our incredibly adorable Dorothy, in a very rare Toto-holding moment (she was NOT a fan.) Check out Brooke's pumpkin on the left, complete with a bow & her patented "O" mouth.

 Halloween is so much more fun with your very own trick-or-treater! (A little blurry, but look how excited she is!)

Stopping at the first house with Brooke's cousin Owen. It was the first of 3 total houses, not too shabby for her first time.

 Guess who likes Dum-Dums? It immediately went in her mouth when our neighbor handed it to her, so I just took the wrapper off and let her go for it. She sucked this thing all the way to the stick and got really angry if we tried to take it away from her!

 "Look! I found another Dum-Dum!"

 Brooke's favorite part of Halloween was unloading the candy bowl and spreading candy around the room. This made it a fun game for Mommy when actual trick-or-treaters came to the door!

Hope your Halloween was as delightful as ours was!

Ten Months.

Dear Brooke,

Look at you, you big 10-month-old! It's been an eventful month, but we all survived and you are happier than ever. You are so full of life and energy, chickadee. You are go-go-go all day, right up until the last minute of the day and then you just crash. You play and think so hard all day that you're just wiped by the end of it. Your intelligence still astounds us; we constantly find ourselves saying "Should she be able to do that already?" More often than not, the answer is no. Like how you can climb out of your high chair & stroller. And how you can stand unassisted for several seconds before sitting down. You even joke around with us, offering us something and then pulling it away at the last second and giggling. And you even give hugs on command now, even though Mommy seems to be the only one blessed by these hugs so far. Here's what makes you an especially happy girl these days (and a few that make you not-so-happy):

Favorites
Your Playhouse - A very kind friend passed off her daughter's playhouse when she grew out of it and we were the lucky recipients. You spend a significant chunk of your day playing with this little musical house. Your favorite things to do on it are press the buttons on the radio, turn the light on/off, climb through the door, and open the mailbox. You learned to dance bopping along to the music it plays. And playing peek-a-boo with the door sends you into a fit of giggles!
Books, books, books - We have a Barnes & Noble explosion in our family room at all times and you are to blame! You are obsessed with books - big, small, touch-&-feel, lift-a-flap...you love them all! We probably read 25 or more books a day (thank goodness your cousins let you borrow theirs so we have some variety!) You will happily sit on the floor flipping through them yourself. But you especially love to have them read to you. When we tell you to go get a book and bring it to us, you do just that, cozying up on our lap for storytime. Sometimes we read the words and other times we just point at the pictures because you turn the pages too fast. We're thrilled you love books so much; we bet you'll be an early reader!
Food - Oh how you love to eat. Anything and everything. You are an eating machine. We fill your high chair tray with an assortment of bite-sized pieces and you gobble them up in no time. You aren't very picky and will try just about anything we give you. Fruits are certainly your favorite, with baby snacks (like puffs and wagon wheels) a close second. You've just started enjoying cut-up meats and cheese, too. Veggies are a little tough for you to eat as finger foods, so we still do quite a few purees of those, but we're working on it. We're so grateful to have such a great eater on our hands!
Playing Ball - There is hope for you, athletically-speaking, after all! Mommy & Daddy aren't the most athletic people you'll ever meet (especially Mommy) so we were concerned our children would be a bit uncoordinated. But you've already taken a huge interest in playing ball, and you're pretty good at it. So you may actually be able to take advantage of your well-above-average height on a volleyball court!
Tongues - You learned how to stick out your tongue this month. Talk about hilarious! It usually takes someone else sticking their tongue out at you to get you to do it, but once you remember how, that tongue goes in and out at a rapid pace. And you think other people's tongues are hysterical.
"Helping" - You're already trying to be helpful. You are the official Garage Door Button Pusher every time we come in and out. You like to try to turn off the light when we leave your room, just like you do with the giant light switch on your playhouse. You're a big help when Mommy does laundry; you help sort the clothes (i.e. you throw the sorted clothes all over the laundry room) and take them out of the dryer (i.e. Mommy puts the wet clothes in the dryer from the washer and you immediately reach in and take them right back out.) You especially love "helping" us use electronics, like answering the phone, changing the channel, and typing on the laptop. You just love to follow us around and "help" whenever you can.

Not-so-Favorites
Covered Feet - We aren't sure if you hate to have your feet covered or if you just love to play with sock & shoes, but you insist on removing them if we put them on you. Within minutes of strapping you in your carseat, off go the socks & shoes. Most mornings, we find you playing in your crib with your socks in your hands (or sometimes on the floor outside the crib.) You used to love playing with your toes, so maybe you just don't like to have them covered.
Animals - Your fear of dogs is actually a fear of all animals. You're okay with them if they are far away, but once they get in close proximity, you are very afraid. This doesn't surprise us, as there are zero animals in your life, but we are working to overcome this. We took you to the zoo and you did surprisingly well. However, we know we aren't making that much progress because you are afraid of the little stuffed dog we used for your Halloween costume. We'll keep trying in hopes that you aren't deathly afraid of animals until you're 12 like your Mommy was.
Getting in the Car - You really don't like getting into your car seat anymore. It started as just a nighttime thing, but now you don't want to get in all the time. You cling onto us as if you might be strong enough to resist being put in. We're able to distract you 90% of the time with toys or books while we strap you in, but sometimes you require a pacifier to keep you quiet. We think you'd be much happier if you were turned around, but, sadly, that won't happen for a long time (not until you hit 40 lbs, the weight limit for being rear-facing in our seat.)

You are so precious, little one. It's the little things about you that we just adore. Like how you cross your legs when you sit on the floor, proving you're already so ladylike. Or how you look at us each time you start having fun with something, as if you need assurance that it's okay to have that much fun :) Or how, whenever you see Mommy & Daddy hugging or cuddling, you crawl right on over and join in because you think group hugs are better. Our hearts melt minute after minute with you, Cheeks (Daddy's nickname for you.) Love you tons, girl!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy