Sweet Silly Girl

Brooklyn- "I'm so scared I wish I had a ham sandwich to calm my nerves." She said this today as we are driving in the car. Turns out it is a quote from Shaggy. It took me completely off guard and I just could not stop laughing. Her voice was so sweet ! I love that she is in a joking phase now and wanting to make people laugh more and more. She also enjoys making up stories. It has been SO fun to watch her put one together right off the top of her head. She is SO imaginative ! I do wonder if this is also a sign to me that she may be watching Scooby Doo too much. She still LOVES that show.

Thoughtful Prayers

So lately I have been encouraging Brooklyn to think of new things to say to Heavenly Father in her prayers. I told her that he wants to hear what we have to say and that we should ask him for things to happen. Well she caught on to the idea really fast and has started really enjoying saying prayers and not speeding through them quite so fast now. She takes pride in her individual thoughts and ideas. Tonight her prayer went something like this...
"Dear Heavenly Father, we thank thee for this day, we thank thee for our home, please bless papi and nana, and all of our friends. Please bless Ma Ma ( Madison) on the bus that she will be safe. Please bless Ma Ma on the bus that she will buckle her seatbelt by herself . We love thee very much and we say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I often have to hold back my little giggles so that I do not break her honest concentration. She is quite proud of her thoughts and often repeats to me afterwards her new thought. I love my independent and thoughtful thinker. She also has learned to sneak in some suggestions for what she would like to do the following day. Like the other night she said, "and please bless that I can play with Blake tommorrow and that we can share with each other." Note that there was no playdate set up with Blake at the time of the prayer. That is when she is testing out my " Heavenly Father answers prayers lesson." Needless to say we managed to sneak in a playdate with Blake the next day to prove the point.

Snuggle Bug !

Each day when we are at home for an extended period of time, I hear a sweet little voice call out to me "Mom, come snuggle me on the couch". She is such a sweet little love bug and I cherish these moments !

Happy Birthday Lady Bird !

So Brooklyn is officially 3 ! Where have the years gone ? Today I remenisced about the day she was born... the laboring at home , the frantic car ride to the hospital an hour before she was actually born and the 48 hours I got to be with her one on one in the hospital room. I think if I could go back to one day in my life at this point , then that would be it ! It is quite possibly the best experience of my life. The delivery was an AWESOME family experience and even Madison got to participate in the fun as she sat in the stroller in the back of the delivery room ! I could go on and on about all of the wonderful details but instead I will tell you what I love most about our little Brooklyn...
She is AMAZING in everyway ! She is loving , patient and compassionate . She has exemplified these qualities to the fullest with her big sister Madison. She is everything I prayed she would be . She is the perfect fit for our famiy and we could not feel more blessed in how she is growing and the person she is becoming. She has an amazingly mature spirit for her age and we feel that that is the gift that Madison has given to her. We appreciate all that she brings to our family... the good times and the crazy times. She is a HUGE blessing from our Father in Heaven and with her we wouldn't change a thing ! We nicknamed her Lady Bird because I like to call my girls ladies for the little ladies they are and the bird was a perfect fit when we first saw her hair and it looked like a little feather flying in the wind. It always naturally fits her personality even as she grows because she is our little song bird . You name it she sings it ! We love you, our sweet bird !

Up in Stitches !

It was another first for us here at the Emery home. Brooklyn decided she wanted to spice things up a bit come bedtime hour. So it happened right after I had just finished bathing her. She ran downstairs sopping wet with a towel wrapped around her body. She was doing her normal naked prancing around before putting her PJs on and BAM ! She somehow fell right into the edge of the doorway that leads into our kitchen. The sharp edge hit her smack dab on the left side of her forehead. At first I just grabbed her up to comfort her thinking it was just going to be a bit black and blue the next day but to my horror I saw a big and deep gash and lots of blood ! I got a bit weazy and quick freaked to be honest , but then Jake calmed me telling me that head wounds can really bleed. No kidding ! YIKES ! Anyhow after putting the biggest bandage I had on her wound, I grabbed her favorite blanket and some fresh baked cookies ( Jake had just made them... what better way to cheer up a child ! ) and we headed for the After Hours pediatrics place. I LOVE THIS PLACE ! No more late nights at the ER !(This place is brand new, quiet and it might as well be drive through because that is how quick it is !) Once they numbed her with some cream and then a shot they started stitching. I think there was about 10 stitches total counting the ones underneathe the surface. She was SO BRAVE the whole time and the doctor and the nurse were just so in awe of her maturity and her courage. The whole time they were stitching her up she was talking to them and telling them all of the characters on Scooby Doo as well as sang them the theme song ( a few different versions !) She had them tickled to death on how expressive she was and how well she handled it . She proved to be one TOUGH cookie. She even grew proud of her wound as she would lift her bangs to show everyone . She would say..."I got stitches. I ran into the wall." It is definately going to leave a good size scar but Brooklyn has already shown that it will just add to her character !

Halloween Party 3 .. The Finale !

So Halloween Day finally came. After Brooklyn and I went to Madison's class party (unfortunately my camera died and I have no pictures to show for it ) we headed home and slowly got ready for the infamous night ! All of the weeks festivities were leading up to this one crazy night. After having done the school party which included a school parade to show off the costumes ( which unfortunately bombed for Madison this year as her black cat accessories would not stay on her :0( )and doing 2 hours of behavioral therapy at home afterward, Madison was EXHAUSTED by the end of the day and falling asleep at 6:30pm. Our plans of going out trick or treating as a family this year were once again thwarted ! Last year I had laryngitis and Madison was grumpy so daddy and Brooklyn did the hour long excursion together. So Brooklyn and I headed out this year together. I am so glad I got to go too. Brooklyn had me laughing hysterically as she would knock on doors and ask people right off the bat if they had a doggy . Then as they would respond "no" she would continue with asking them if they had a kitty . When I would finally get a word in and say "Brooklyn, what do you say to get candy" she would perk up in her cutest voice and say "Trick or Treaters"! She had them all quite taken back and we instantly made friends with neighbors we had never met before . With all of the questions she had for these new friends, it ended up taking us 2 hours to get around our whole cull-De-sac and home. By the last house she was asking me to take her home. It was a great finale for the holiday !

Discovery Day 2007

A few weeks ago, Brooklyn and I spent a few hours on a Saturday going to a VERY fun event at the local college ( Moorpark College ). It happens to be conveniently located across the street from our house. It is a fundraiser for the schools Child Development Center ( where Brooklyn goes to preschool 2 days a week ). It is a day full of hands on displays for exploring , outdoor playtime and food. It is our first time going and it definately will NOT be our last ! It was fabulous ! Brooklyn and I enjoyed all of the wonderful ideas of household substances that you can make ( in place of the traditional playdough ). They had so many homemade simple ideas for indoor fun and discovery . There were also wooden mobile type toys that they could maneuver and explore. Brooklyn enjoyed dying jello, making styrofoam boats to float, bathing baby dolls and squishing oozing goo ( made with elmers glue and some other substances ) out of plastic strainers. But by far her favorite activity had to be the face painting ! She spent atleast a half an hour drawing on her face and even creating some art on her friend Carly's face as well. We will definately go again next year ! I'm not quite sure who is looking forward to it more , me or her ?!