Our Little Rock Star

Remember how we did our first portrait sitting a couple of months ago? Well it was a pleasant experience for us since Brooklyn was so cooperative and smiley that day. Apparently we weren't the only ones impressed. JCPenney's photo studio called tonight and wants us to bring Brooklyn in so their new hire photographer can practice taking photographs. The manager told me that she specifically remembered what a great experience it was to photograph our baby. *HUGE GRIN*

We put Brooklyn in a nice dress, clipped a bow in her hair (wow! Didn't think she had enough hair for that yet. Sweet!) and drove down to the mall. As soon as we walk into the place the manager treats Brooklyn like a celebrity. Brooklyn responds with a thousand huge smiles. As I had hoped, the shoot goes splendidly. Again, I had to resist the urge to buy every photograph. And as a thank you for the hassle of us coming down on such short notice they gave us 3 sheets of photos free of charge.



To top things off, there is a huge display of pictures from Brooklyn's previous photo shoot plastered on the wall of the studio. Yes, I was stoked. Am I making too huge a deal out of all of this? Probably. But my baby rocks and it is just great that complete strangers recognize!

You never wake up thinking

today is the last day I'm going to be able to hug and kiss my daughter. That is just what happened for some sweet precious friends of mine. I found out this morning that their 2 1/2 year old daughter Reagan passed away Tuesday, 3/30 after contracting bacterial meningitis. They had less than 24 hours with her after she became sick. Nothing could be done. They held her as she slipped away, from this earth and into the arms of Jesus.

I'm shocked. I'm horrified. I'm heart broken. I can't stop crying. I have too many thoughts. And I feel guilty for feeling any bit of grief and sorrow. Her parents probably feel that all the grief in the universe is theirs to bear. That no one has the right to share in any of it. I wouldn't blame them if they thought that.

I went to visit Reagan's parents as soon as I found out. What do you say? What could anyone possibly say? What words could bring even a fraction of comfort? I scrambled to try and find a silver lining. There was non. I said nothing. I just cried with them. I let them share what they wanted to share. We cried some more. I prayed with them. They asked about Brooklyn. And we cried some more.

So how were they? I have so much respect for how these people are leaning on their faith in God rather than blaming Him for their loss. Both parents are doing what they can to comfort Reagan's twin brother, who at 2 1/2 years old most likely has a hard time understanding what has happened.

And so I leave their house to go to work. My life goes on. Business as usual. The world keeps turning. The red lights continue to change to green. The DJs on the radio keep babbling. But I can't forget about the people who's lives were just ripped into two.

Lord, please comfort them. I beg you.

And when I got home I hugged Brooklyn. More than I ever have before. And I thanked God for every minute I've been able to enjoy.

Sickness has come to our home!

John was sick last week. I felt so bad for him. He suggested I pack up the baby and go stay with his parents to keep from getting sick too. I did that. We did everything we could to keep Brooklyn and I safe from the pukies. Well, it's just bound to happen I guess.

Brooklyn and I both got sick around the same time, Friday. Which I guess is good since they won't let her go to daycare while she's throwing up and I prefer not to go to work while I'M throwing up. I figured I'd just stay home with her and take care of us both. But John stayed home with us and he took care of BG while I rested and ran to the bathroom every 15 minutes. Ugh. Soooo unpleasant.

Today I'm starting to feel better though. Thank God for John. He makes life so much easier. I'm so thankful for him. He takes such good care of us.

Nicknames

So I plan to do a scrapbook page on Brooklyn's nicknames:

Butter Bean, Bean, Beanie Baby
Sweet Pea
Crunchy, Crunch-n-munch
Squirrel, Squirrel Butt
BG, Baby Girl
Sprout - by Grandpa Robert
Peanut - by Grandpa Freebie
Poopsie
Smiles Davis
Droolia Roberts
Milk Dud
Mini-Muffin

Daycare Day 1, How did it go?

It went great. I got a good report from a close friend (Traci) who's infant son also attends this same daycare. Traci saw Brooklyn when she dropped off her own son in the morning. Traci told me that Brooklyn recognized her and waved to her when Traci left. This is amazing to me because we've not seen her wave before. She does this neat little wrist motion that looks like she's revving up her motorcycle. Little did I know this was her way of waving. So yay....add this to the list of posts labeled 'firsts.'

Then I went to visit baby girl at lunch. She was sleeping soundly in a swing. I chatted with the teachers and they seem like really great women.

And this morning when I dropped Brooklyn off, the sweet little boy from yesterday remembered her. His name is Brady and from across the parking lot he yells "It's BROOKLYN!!!!!!!" as his mommy walked him to the building. I thought that was the cutest thing ever. She's already welcomed by some of the other kids.

First Day of Daycare....

So we tried the grandparent/nanny care thing for as long as we could manage. I really enjoyed knowing Brooklyn was with family or close friends during the day, but schedule conflicts and poor health have made it necessary for us to go the daycare route. At first I was really annoyed that, with all the people and family that we have near us, we STILL have to use daycare. But now I realize that it worked out for 8 months and for that I'm thankful.

I thought today would be hard, leaving her with strangers, but I feel like I handled it well. It helps that Brooklyn is a social baby. I dropped her stuff off in the infant room then strolled her out to the gymnasium where all the kids gather (under supervision) before being separated into their individual class rooms. She watched two little boys playing with some toys and did her I'm-so-excited "ooo! ooo! ooo!" noise. She smiled at the teacher and was her normal curious happy self. One little boy came over to meet her and was so sweet and gentle as he reached out to shake her tiny hand. She doesn't get the whole hand-shaking thing so she grabbed him and probably would have tried to nom-nom-nom on his hand if he'd let her.

I'm sure things will go great for her today. And she's not far from where I work if anyone needs me.

Have fun sweet angel. Take good naps, eat well & make friends. You are loved and prayed for today.

Not fair!

So Brooklyn has gotten to the wiggly stage where she doesn't want to hold still to be cuddled. She wants to look at everything and turns around right away once you pick her up. I'm not ready for her to move on to the next phase. Yes, I'm pouting! I don't feel like I got enough cuddle time. Is there such a thing as 'enough cuddle time?'