Easter Weekend

Darren had Friday off from work, so we all went and had Hippo's Hotdogs for lunch. If you've never had a Chicago-style hotdog - this is the place to try one! They are awesome!!

We just hung out together for the rest of the day. I wish Darren had every Friday off!

On Saturday, I worked in the yard and then we dyed eggs with Nana that evening. Brooklyn had her first hard boiled egg, which then warranted a bath.

Easter Sunday was a very fun and busy day. Brooklyn was very excited to see what the Easter Bunny (Nani, Nana, Mimi, Mommy, and Daddy) had brought her. (I wonder if she will ever realize how much she is loved!?!)

Then we drove up to Midland and went to church with Pop and after lunch spent some time just hanging out at the house. You probably won't believe this - but the Easter Bunny left her a basket at her Pop's house too!! Out of which, Brooklyn got to enjoy her first Peep!

We changed our clothes and spent a little more time just lounging around.

Like father - like daughter! :)

It was a lovely weekend!

Brooklyn's First Steps

Brooklyn has started taking her first steps toward walking, and this is her dad's first try at video editing. Hopefully my multi-media skills will progress fast enough to keep up with her.

Just hanging out

So...this morning Brooklyn and I were hanging out in the basement after breakfast. She loves to climb up the stairs these days. I thought I would be smart and tried to wedge a gate at the bottom of the stairs, hoping that it would keep her from trying to go up them, or at least slow her down a little bit. I suppose you can say it did that....just not exactly how I thought it would. :)

She cracks me up!! :) Eventually, we got ourselves dressed and had lunch and spent some mall time with Pop. Brooklyn played in the children's play area for the first time, and had a blast!! I'm sure we will be doing that a lot on our Fridays together.

Grandpa weekend

My dad came to visit his granddaughter this weekend and to introduce Brooklyn to her soon to be Grandma, Kathy! We just hung out all weekend, and Sunday afternoon we went to a nearby nature center. Here are a few pics....

Congratulations, Dad!! We wish you and Kathy all the best!!

One a side note...this was also a big weekend because Brooklyn took her first steps!! Darren is putting a video together, so hopefully that will be up and running soon! :)

Big Birthday Weekend!

This past weekend was Brooklyn's big birthday weekend.

It started with a visit from her Mimi, Opa, and Aunt Katie. Mimi and Opa came in Thursday night, and then Aunt Katie came in on Friday afternoon. However, while Aunt Katie arrived, her bag did not. So, we spent a couple hours at the airport waiting for the next flight from Atlanta to bring in her luggage. We waited.....

...and waited....

and waited. But eventually, the bags did show up!!

Aunt Katie was good for entertainment!! :) The rest of the evening was spent decorating the church and spending time with family.

Saturday was the big day! It was a very sweet little party - perfect for a sweet little girl!

Brooklyn was able to spend time with family and friends. We are so blessed to have such special people in our lives!

Brooklyn and her best buddy, Ella.

The best picture I could get of the birthday crew: Trent, Ella, Brooklyn, Logan, Emerson, Soren, and Nate.

Brooke and Mimi (wonder where she gets her "Lizard Lips" nickname!)

Brooke and Nana

I love this picture of such a sweet moment with her great-grandmother, Nani.

Brooklyn's cousin, Logan, and his parents, Chad and Darnell, drove in from Grand Rapids just for Brooklyn's party. We are so happy to have them back in the state again! It really meant a lot to us for them to be at the party!

Pop and Grandma Mary

Time for cake!! We ended up going the entire morning without a nap, so there were a couple of tired moments throughout the party, but all in all, I thought she did pretty well.

She had a phone call - I hate it when that happens!

Clean-up time! We definitely utilized our resources and used the giant church kitchen sinks to help with de-icing our child! :)

We opened several beautiful and thoughtful gifts from everyone. Unfortunately, I was helping to open the presents and Darren was videotaping, so I didn't get any actual pictures. Afterwards, we cleaned up and spent the rest of the day hanging out with Mimi, Opa, and Aunt Katie.

Saturday night we went out for dinner and Brooklyn wore one of her new outfits she received for her birthday. Aunt Suzette and cousin Allison picked out this awesome outfit! Nice taste ladies - Brooklyn said you are allowed to shop for her anytime!! :)

The next day, before Mimi and Opa left town, we all went out for breakfast. Here are a couple more cute pictures to end a very long blog - thanks for hanging in there! :)

I just want to say thank you to my mom and sis for helping me this weekend - I couldn't have done it without you!! Thank you to everyone for being there to share this special time with us - we love you all!!

Mail Call!!

I don't think the Postal Service will be calling her for a job any time soon! :)