PiGtAiLs!

Shortly after I found out that I was having a little girl I started to imagine the day that I'd be able to put bows in her hair and have her hair up in pigtails. Well, that day has finally arrived and it lived up to my expectations.

The hardest part of it all though was getting Brooklynn to pose for the camera.

Yesterday Brooklynn took her first "real" steps. We had a little neighbor girl over who is about 6, and we look over and lo and behold Brooklynn starts walking for her. My first instinct was, wait a second shouldn't she be walking to me (after all we have been practicing forever). I can't believe she is already listening to her friends over her parents..ha ha!



I couldn't resist! After Brooklynn took her nap and ate dinner this is how her pigtails looked at the end of the day.


The best part about Brooklynn getting dirty is the bath, she loves her baths.

California Trip

Derek's brother Taylor got married to his beautiful bride Heather in the San Diego Temple. It was a wonderful day, and we were happy we could be there.

The grandkids

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland. I was so excited about this, I haven't been there since I was ten. Derek's mom was super nice and was the nanny for the day so Derek and I could enjoy all the fun rides. Luckily, Derek's Aunt Jennette was there and she basically knows everything there is to know about disneyland. She was our tour guide and knew exactly where the best rides and best treats were! We had a blast with her.

Nate and Karly on the buzz light year ride.

I had to go on the tea cup ride. This was my favorite ride when I was little, and surprisingly I still love it!

Matt & Steph were able to meet up with us later on that night for dinner and fire works. My first time seeing the fireworks at Disney and they were spectacular.

What a fun day! Thanks for everyone that joined us. Disney land really is the happiest place on earth:)!

Wild Animal Park

I finally got to experience The Wild Animal Park in San Diego. When Derek was growing up he had season passes there, so I've heard a lot about this place. If you're ever in SD I recommend going especially if you have kids. I felt like I was in the jungle! And of course Brookie loves animals, so we had to take her there.

I'm thinking this bird better not poo on me.

A picture of us checking out the gorillas. It's been a while since I've seen a gorilla in real life and they are HUGE!

The next few pictures my father-in-law took of some of the animals we saw and I think they turned out awesome!

It was such a fun trip and it's always so nice to see family. We were excited to get out of the cold, but since we've been back it's been in the 60's. Oh it's like heaven to us in MI. Brooklynn has loved being outside any chance she can get, she has a little walker thing and she goes super fast. Now she just has to work up enough courage to walk all by herself.

Brooklynn turns ONE!

My little baby is turning into a toddler. She turned one years old today. I know I say this a lot, but really where does the time go? This morning she woke up sick. So most of the day we spent singing "it's your birthday you can cry if you want to". Last week we were in California (for Derek's brothers wedding), and we were able to celebrate a little early with family.

Here is a picture of Bryan (Brooklynns cousin) & Brooklynn. The day we celebrated was Bryans actual birthday he was so nice to share the celebrations!

We love our Brookie! We feel so lucky she is in our family, and everyday we get to know her even more. We can't wait to see what this next year brings us.

Brooklynn was born on my Dad's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! We love you!