Brooke's prayers

We try to do a nighttime prayer with Brooke every night when she gets into bed.  We started saying prayers with her when she moved in to her big girl bed last year.  Our prayers started out pretty simple and I always said them at first.  I would thank God for all the members of our family.  Sometimes I would pray for a sick friend or pray for some other need.  But I always kept it simple. 

It is amazing how far Brooke has come in her prayers just in this past year.  Now she likes to say the prayers herself most nights.  She prays for all of her family members and never forgets her grandparents.  She'll also pray for her behavior. She will ask God to help her be a good girl.  She'll pray for her school and Audrey's school.  She can be such a sweet girl and it is the highlight of my day to end it by listening to her sweet prayers.

I am a C...

Another video of Brooke singing one of her favorite songs.

 

Here are the words:

 

I am a C
I am a C-H
I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N

And I have C-H-R-I-S-T
In my H-E-A-R-T
And I will L-I-V-E E-T-E-R-N-A-L-L-Y!

Sleeping position

Just like her sister, Anna Grace gets into some interesting sleeping positions.

Unlike Brooke, Anna never took a pacifier. She prefers her thumb and blanket.

Update - 2012

Well, 2012 turned in to a pretty eventful year. It was the year of the hospital visit for our family. First, I went into labor on February 16 and gave birth to Anna Grace on the 17th. She had to spend her first few days in the NICU. Once I was discharged, I has to spend a few more nights in the hospital with AG.

We were home about a week before we had to return. AG was running a temperature which requires a hospital stay for a newborn baby. Needless to say, those first few weeks were pretty stressful.

In November, Trey had a scheduled outpatient procedure to repair a hernia. That outpatient procedure turned into a two night stay in the hospital. Those couple of nights were rough.  I do not know how single mothers do it. Even after Trey was released from the hospital, he was not able to assist much at home and could not lift AG for a month.

Our final hospital adventure was ear tubes for AG. Luckily, this was a very easy procedure. The doctor warned us that AG would be inconsolable for the first 20 minutes or so after surgery. However, she didn't even cry. It was such a relief to see her so happy after the surgery.  Here's a picture right after surgery.

Other than issues with her ears, Anna Grace is a healthy 11 month old.  She's had a rough year, but she is the sweetest baby.  She started crawling at 6 months. She is close to walking, but not quite there yet.  She doesn't seem to be quite as verbal as Brooke was at this age, but she still babbles a lot. She says dada, mama, and bye.  She likes to clap and dance to music.  Her hair is coming in more slowly than Brooke's.  It is lighter than Brooke's and looks like it might have a little curl in it. She loves to be with Brooke.  I love watching them play together.  Brooke is actually very good with her. 

Brooke had her 3rd birthday in November.  We had her first friend party at Mechie's.  It was a lot of fun, but also a little crazy. We definitely will not do the friend party every year. 

 

Brooke is growing up so fast.  She is learning to spell and write her name.  She loves to sing.  Her favorite movie right now is the Sound of Music. We watch it all the time and she loves to sing the songs.  Here's a short clip of her singing some songs:



 



 

The other big news from the end of 2012 is that Trey and I have decided to lose weight. We started in November.  I have lost 20 pounds and Trey has lost 30 pounds.  I'm doing Weight Watchers.  I'd like to lose about 20 more pounds.  



A day at the park

I need to update, but for now just a picture from the weekend.