Talk Talk Talk!

Okay, for those of you that I talk to frequently, you have probably heard of the list that I have been compiling of words that Brooklyn knows how to say. Why, you may ask? Because I read a book that children between the ages of 18 and 24 months are supposed to be able to say between 50 and 170 words and understand more than 200. So I've been updating the list as I think of words that she knows how to say. Well, I have passed the 100 word mark, which would make me think that my darling baby girl is above average intelligence. I would list all the words on here, but it would be a long list. Instead I'm just going to post a picture that Nick, Brooklyn, and I took a few days ago using the web cam.

Terrible Twos!

So it seems to me a bit unfair that there is a phase in toddler-hood called the terrible twos. Because, my mom explained to me, that it can happen anywhere between 18 months all the way to 42 months. Sure enough, my daughter started her terrible two stage the day she turned 18 months old. It seems that no is a much more fun word to her now that she is 18 months. Oh, my favorite part of this phase is the constant whine my daughter has. She just wakes up whining, walks through the house, whining. She whines when she wants up, down, food, drinks, you get the idea. Oh, and the joy of tantrums over not getting every single little thing the way you want when you want! Those are truly a gift from God.

I love that little girl, I really do. But sometimes she can just be a little more than I expect. When I get her dressed and she doesn't want to wear clothes, she kicks at me and says 'bit'. I can't help but recoil a bit. I know my daughter doesn't actually know that word because we have completely stopped cursing since we moved. But it's kind of shocking still when it happens.

Oh, lord, thank you for my darling husband who knows not what he teaches. Daddy taught Brooklyn that toilet paper goes in the potty and then you flush it. So that is now one of her favorite games. Let's just put toilet paper into the potty and flush and repeat. She is so cute though. She looks so proud when she does it right. She just gives this big cheesy grin that says 'I know that I'm cute, and you can't really be mad at me when I grin like this'. She has learned to close all doors and only open a few. That's given me a few mini heart attacks. I look for my baby girl and can't find her. Sure enough, she's almost always in the laundry room, the kitchen pantry, or the bathroom across from the pantry. She also seems to be particularly fond of the closet upstairs we use to keep towels in and medicine.

Raising Brooklyn is harder than I expected. I thought that I could just have a baby and everything would go magically as long as I tried. Wrong! Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change that precious little girl for anything in the entire world, but she is just very opinionated and finicky.

Before bed, she has to say goodnight to EVERY SINGLE BABY DOLL in her room. She wants us to lay them down and tuck them in then she hugs and kisses every single one of them. In the morning when she gets dressed, the only way to get her to do it is to dress her life size Barbie along side her. Some days she loves her grandma and her pop-pop, and some days she just isn't sure about them. Life is full of little surprises lately.

On another topic, Nick and I have found a church that we really enjoy and we are wanting to call home. It's called Desperation Church and it's not a traditional kind of place. First of all, it's in an old warehouse. They fixed it up and it looks really good. When you first walk in, to your right you'll see aluminum fencing attached to the wall. It's their wall of accomplishments, and it just displays artwork of some of the teenagers and even maybe some adults. They have a little cafe and against the wall on the left a little ways back, they have three refrigerator doors attached to the wall that have pictures of the kiddos in sunday school. I know Brooklyn is safe there because all the teachers have background checks and she goes to a class called Beautiful Babies. She absolutely loves that classroom and I think that she also enjoys being around kids her own age. We absolutely love the services. The pastor is AWESOME. His name is Michael and he and Nick are kind of getting to know each other. This past Saturday there was a men's Breakfast and Nick met a lot of neat people. This church is a nice size. Not huge, but not tiny either, and they really make an effort to make everyone feel welcome.

Well, I think that I'm all typed out for a little while. I swear I am trying to get better about posting, so just be patient with me please. God Bless All of you!

Geez Louise!!! Time Flies!

A lot has happened since the last time I posted. Brooklyn is in the phase of her toddler-hood that she likes to try to say everything that everyone says, so her vocabulary is expanding everyday. We bought a potty for her in early January and the day that we bought it she used it twice, but since, we have been lucky to get her to sit on it. We've moved, so my anxiety levels have gone down a lot. Not that I didn't love living with my in-laws, but seven people in a three bedroom duplex with five dogs gets really crowded really fast. Add to that the seemingly endless flow of teenagers that visit and you really do almost have every element you would need for an insane asylum. Today is Valentine's Day, and Nick took me to a local restaurant for lunch and gave me the most perfect present, a cross necklace to help remind me of the steps I am taking to get closer to God. Nick is doing really well in his sobriety. He even quit smoking! All in all I feel like our little family is getting closer and that makes me very happy. But Nick's family really is going through a hard time right now and it's taking it's toll on everyone. Brooklyn slept in her crib for a whole 12 hours last night. It was completely unexpected but thoroughly appreciated. She has to go to the doctor on Wednesday though because she has bumps popping up on her arms and face. Nick has the same thing so we are thinking either allergy or virus. Although if it was a virus, wouldn't I be getting it too? I'm around them both all the time so I am leaning more towards allergy. Anyways, this is my first blog in 2011 and I'm a little scatter brained so I think this is the end of this post for now... Hopefully I'll get my swing back and be posting more frequently now. God Bless everyone that reads this.
P.S. Susan, if you read this, we miss you terribly. And we love you so much.