It's beginning to look a little like Christmas!

Even though she can't open her Christmas gift from her Great Aunt Rita, Brooklynn still loves to play with it near our tree. It's going to be a lot of fun celebrating BGC's first Christmas this year and it'll be really neat to see her open her gifts...if she can figure out how to do it.

Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up let's go!

We went to MiMi and PaPa's mall up here in Normal, Illinois and it ended up being a mall trip like no other for Brooklynn. She got to ride her first merry-go-round as MiMi put her up on a horse...er, cow...and rode with her. She absolutely loved it and smiled each time she passed by us! Later on we blew a couple quarters on a much more stationary horse, but Brooklynn loved that one too as it galloped in place. I gathered after this quick trip to the mall that this little girl is going to love amusement parks when she gets older!

Vacation with MiMi and PaPa!

Brooklynn finally made it up to MiMi and PaPa's house to see them this week. They hadn't seen her in several months, and it was great to finally be able to come up north and visit. MiMi was worried that Brooklynn wouldn't remember her, but that went by the wayside as soon as Brooklynn reached out for MiMi and gave her a great big hug right after we got off the plane. It's going to be great to get away from our busy life in South Carolina and relax up here in the cold Illinois. (We all brought our coughs and colds up with us as well.) Look for more updates the next couple days!

My first Thanksgiving!

Brooklynn thoroughly enjoyed her first Thanksgiving by eating her share of green beans, sweet potatoes, and stuffing. We all had a great day with Joy's family and Grammy Griner cooked an amazing meal. All of Brooklynn's cousins kept her entertained all day long.

9 month picture time!

Brooklynn turned 9 months last week and once again it was time to take photos of her at Picture People at the mall. She was perfect and we really got some amazing shots. Thought I'd share a couple with you.

Just a cute little something...

I thought I'd post a little something that will brighten up your day. Brooklynn is growing up so fast and changing every day. It's truly amazing to just sit back and watch her learn and do new things. Oh, and she's cute as ever during all of it too.

BGC and the BBG...can you get any cuter?

Brooklynn's younger cousin Blythe came over for a photoshoot on Saturday and we got some very cute shots. They both looked adorable in their matching dresses that their mommies had conveniently picked out for them. I have a feeling these two little girls are going to be best buds as they grow up. Look for more photos from the shoot to come.

Gotta love the 'do!

Brooklynn's bath time turned into "let's see how crazy we can get her hair to look." She seemed to enjoy it. She really loves her bath time each night and pushes my hands away when I try and lift her out of the tub.

I just want to go to bed...forget the food!

Feeding Brooklynn right before bed is sometimes a challenge because she just falls apart when she is so tired. Although a challenge, it is still entirely way too cute. I just had to capture a few moments of it and share with you.

Is that our little baby Brooklynn?

Brooklynn is growing up so fast. When I looked at this picture from yesterday's Halloween get-together, I just couldn't believe how tall she looked when standing next to her big cousin Anna Kate. Wow, she'll be walking before we know it and then we'll really have our hands full!

Trick or treat! Halloween 2005.

Happy Halloween everyone! It's time to reveal what Brooklynn was this year. She got to spend her first Halloween as a white tiger, and the cutest one at that. The absolute greatest thing was when she would grab her tail and suck on it.

Her cousins Anna Kate and Lauren stopped by and showed off their cute costumes. It also gave us a chance to take a picture of all three little girls. We ended up getting one great shot out of the whole bunch.

A big day of firsts!

I had my annual work picnic this evening and Brooklynn got to experience all the activities along with us. She got to take her first hay ride, see her first horse up close, and watch her daddy stuff his face with apple pie in a pie eating contest. She got to wear her brand new fall attire, and then break out her winter hat and coat as the evening brought in even colder weather. It was a fun time all in all.

Wow, a whole new world out there!

Brooklynn loves to pull herself up onto everything and stand up. We caught her looking out the window today looking cute as ever. It didn't last long though as she was off looking for something else to pull herself up onto. What a busybody...always on the go.

Too many toys, not enough time...

Brooklynn really enjoys playing with all of her toys each night. She drags out more than she can handle and our living room turns into a whirlwind of noise-making toys and fluffy animals in no time.

Who's that old man out there trying to play?

Brooklynn braved the cold weather Tuesday night and came out to cheer her daddy on as he played his softball game. She gets so excited when she sees me out on the field, which is such a cool thing to experience. She looked especially cute in her little snow cap.

Rub a dub dub, Brooklynn in a tub...

I think that Brooklynn's favorite part of the day is her bath time each night. When I pick her up from her changing table and start to carry her to the bath tub, she just goes crazy and can't wait to dive in. She loves to play with her rubby duckies, many times taking one in each hand and pounding them together making squeaky music for all to enjoy. The craziest thing is that once you take her out and start getting her ready for bed she just falls apart and can't function enough to put her pajamas on.

Will you just sit still for one minute!

Our cute little "ruffle-butt" is always on the go. It's really hard to take her picture these days. As soon as your camera focuses on her, she's crawling away!

Our little coffee bean!

Brooklynn got to hang out with her uncle Tim tonight at the coffee shop. She enjoyed eating her finger foods while we drank our hot drinks and uncle Tim may convert her to a coffee lover when she gets older. She definetly won't get that love from us.

I love books...they taste so delicious!

Joy observed another really great (and cute) Brooklynn moment just the other day. Brooklynn has always loved her books...not necessarily to read, but to chew the living daylights out of the corners. This past weekend Brooklynn crawled over to her book, grabbed it, opened it up and then proceeded to page through each page and feel all the fuzzy parts of her "touch and feel" book. What a moment to capture!

Who needs a bottle anyway?

Look at our big girl! She is a whole 8 months today and she mastered yet another thing. I have been trying to give her a cup every now and then and today she figured it out.

DADDY!!!!

As Rich was working on the blog tonight, I had to snap these pictures. They say it all..."Daddy pay attention to me! Good Grief you are never going to get off the computer" She is taking after me more and more every day!!

Little busy body.

Brooklynn is quite the handful. After we come home from work it's another full-time job just watching her as she plays with all her toys and crawls all over the place. She's discovered the stairs and has successfully made it up to the third step all by herself.

My new little trick!

Brooklynn's learned a new little thing from her mommy and she's constantly showing off her new found trick. Joy always sticks her tongue out when she's concentrating on something and little miss observant has picked up on the habit. It's a cute sight!

Pull up, stand up, and cruise. Repeat.

Brooklynn is pulling herself up onto everything now and using all the furniture as her own personal "self-help" walking tools. She just loves to stand up all the time and cruise around every room.

...eyes tonight, are big and bright...

Can Brooklynn's eyes get any bigger? She's so attentive and is just always looking around at everything. Very observant!

Fall is coming...

As the weather begins to get cooler...ever slowly, but fall is coming...Brooklynn gets to wear her new fall clothes. She looked extra cute yesterday in her new sweater.

Another moment at the beach.

Thought I would put another shot up on the blog from the beach. We took this shot the first night we arrived. It was right as the sun was going down and Brooklynn was a little tired. Such a great shot though.

Check out my teeth!

Brooklynn's third tooth started coming in and she's chewing stuff more than ever. We are waiting for number four to appear. She is pulling up on everything and climbing on and into everything. We are on constant watch. Yesterday she made it up three stairs (Joy was watching and supervising - don't worry MeMe and Grammy)!

Mmmm, mmmm...that sand tastes good!

While we were on vacation this past week at Pawley's Island, South Carolina, Brooklynn was able to experience the beach for the very first time. She was pretty reluctant to even get close to the water the first day we were there, but by the end of the week she was enjoying the water and eating the sand.

Uh-oh...now what do I do?

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. We have been on vacation for a week so I should now be back in the swing of things. I thought this picture said it all. Brooklynn is crawling all over the place now and she gets herself into some crazy predicaments! Here she got herself stuck underneath her Exersaucer...after she gave a couple of feeble whines, we had to help her out.

One really big Sunday!

What a Sunday we had! After church, we went to pick up Brooklynn from the nursery and the poor frazzled nursery worker told us it was time to move Brooklynn to the next nursery. Even though Brooklynn isn't old enough she said she was so busy and crawling every where she was bowling the other kids over! And I thought we had a dainty little girl. After church, Rich and I took Brooklynn to the zoo for the first time. We think she liked it even though she was more interested in the plants. Finally, after much anticipation Rich got to dress Brooklynn in her Panther's jersey that matches his. Aren't they the cutest! I am sure Brooklynn will be just as big of fan as her dad. What a great day!

Brooklynn's First Festival

We took Brooklynn to the Apple Festival in Hendersonville, N.C. today and she really had a good time. She really loves watching all the people and just taking everything in. I can't wait until she's a little older so she can really enjoy all the cool things for kids to do there...well, then again...it WAS nice to just have her sit in the stroller most of the day.

Enough of the bottle, give me the real stuff!

Brooklynn is venturing into the "real food" realm and man is it messy! She's learning to love it though. This was her first time having carrots and she seemed to get more on her face than anywhere else.

Now we're in trouble...

What an amazing moment to experience as parents. Joy glanced over while we were watching a little TV and yelled at me that Brooklynn was crawling. I didn't believe her at first but after doing a double-take we were both scrambling for the video camera and the rest is history. Hope you enjoy this moment as much as we did.

Girly pink...but in a good sort of way.

I'm so blessed to have two amazing girls in my life. At first I was leaning toward the notion of having a little boy, but after watching Joy and Brooklynn these last six months bond in a way that only a mother and daughter can, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I love these girls (and all the pink that they bring in my life!)

Six months old and loving it!

Brooklynn turned six months old today! I can't believe it's already been half a year since we were in that delivery room welcoming her into this world. She's grown up so fast. She's sitting up without any problems now and she has two bottom teeth that are coming in more and more each day.