learning

It makes me so happy to see my little girl learning.

She is like a little sponge!

You teach her something.. and she learns it!

It sounds so simple but it is truly amazing!

the farm.

The weather was SO nice today, so we headed down to Thanksgiving Point to go to the little farm they have there. They have a pony ride that I really wanted Brooklynn to go on. I knew she was going to either love it or hate it and I wanted to see which it would be. 

Turns out she absolutely loves pony rides! As soon as her little pony started walking she started cracking up laughing! She loved it so much! She was less than happy when she had to get off. She kept pointing at the ponies when we were looking at the other animals.

She did really enjoy the other animals too. 

She looked sticking her figures in the holes of the fence and touching their noses. 

SO FUNNY!

Here's a little video of her pony ride. 
Sorry it's a little bumpy, 
but I was mostly concerned with making sure she didn't fall off the pony! haha :)

my man.

Can I just brag for a sec?

This photo of my husband kind of takes my breath away.

whewweee!! He's all mine!

oh darling, don't you ever grow up...

My little girl is just getting way too big! Her personality is blossoming so much! She is learning new things every day. 

Every day that goes by is another day closer to her moving out and going off to college! Too much for me to bear. I know she's only one but these things happen in the blink of an eye.

I am trying my hardest to soak up every little moment I get with my sweet angel. 

Last night when we were in the grocery store she kept holding her arms out and saying "hug! hug!" ah it made me want to cry happy tears.

I love the way that if I'm sitting on the couch, she'll climb up and come put her little head on my shoulder or sit down next to me and pat my leg. 

She really is the light of my life.

Sometime Curtis and I like to sneak into her room while she is sleeping and just watch her. So peaceful. Dreaming. It takes all of our self control not to wake her up and snuggle her!!

This girl needs her 3 B's to sleep.

Binky, Blanky, and Bee

 

Mama loves you Brookie!

Happy 17 months of life!

dino museum.

The other day I met up with my friend Jocelyn and her little boy Brix and the Dinosaur Museum! Brooklynn had a great time running around with Brix! So much fun!

she is definitely my child.

I put High School Musical 3 on and she pretty much danced through the whole movie! 

I was dying! I love my little dancer girl.

HAPPY WEEKEND FRIENDS!!

words.

Okay, the amount of words that Brooklynn can say is getting insane. Every day she says new words that I didn't even know she could say. And if you get her in the right mood she will say almost anything you ask her to. It's so much fun! Here is a list of the words she can say that I can think of off the top of my head.

mama

mommy

dada

daddy

bath

eyes

ears

mouth

nose

hair

toes

snuggle

hug

elmo

barney

outside

off

no

ashley

cheese

trees

moon

fly

hello

bye

ball

play

hot

coco

dog

wow, as I'm writing out this list it's longer than I thought. I know there are ones I am forgetting too! She even can say a two word sentence which is "Let's go!" Which she says often! I am so proud of my little talker! She is the bestttt!!!

bullying.

I don't know if any of you have seen the trailer for this movie coming out on bullying but if you haven't you need to watch it, it's at the end of this post. Every time I see it I start to cry because it literally hurts my heart.

Bullying is something that I wish did not exist but it does. When I was younger there were times in my life where I was on both sides. Now when I was in school I was not a bully. But there is one particular thing I did when I was in high school that will literally haunt me for the rest of my life. I don't want to get into it but it had to do with a group of girls being mean to one particular girl.

Now I have tried to find this girl via the internet but I have had no luck. Even though it was so long ago and it was one time and I was one of many involved I seriously feel the need to tell her I'm sorry. It makes me sick.

There are millions of kids that get bullied each year and it kills me. Especially having a child of my own. I am so scared that she is going to be bullied, or be a bully. I will do every thing I can to make sure my children aren't on either side of this and if they see it happening will be strong enough to stand up to it. 

People say, kids will be kids, which is true to some extend, but it seems to be much worse now than when I was a kid. The hitting and name calling is absurd. 

And what's even worse it the internet. Kids don't even have to be brave to bully anymore. It can be done on the internet in the comfort of your own bedroom. Your child doesn't even have to have access to the internet to be a victim. 

I wish there was something I could do to stop this from happening. But I feel like the first step is to talk to your child and let them know they can trust you. Talk to them about bullying. About being a victim of bullying or actually bullying themselves. Because if they are in fact a bully if you let them know exactly what they are doing to the other child maybe they will stop.

I dunno, this post is really all over the place and my child is only 1 but it is something that I feel really strongly about. It breaks my heart.

over the weekend.

This weekend was a fun relaxing weekend. We went to the Zoo where Brooklynn went on her first train ride. It was so much fun! She liked it a lot! I didn't take a lot of photos at the zoo because I was just enjoying the time spent with my family. But I did get a couple. I definitely want to go back again soon for the train ride. I am however excited that in just a few weeks we'll be in Texas and we can go to the Fort Worth, Zoo! YAY!

I also had my first attempt of making these homemade doughnuts that my mom used to make when I was younger. (warning.. these are NOT healthy! haha). But they turned out delicious as ever. Here's how they're made.

1. Get the pre-made biscuit dough. Like the pillsbury or the generic brand either work. Break them apart as if you were going to make the biscuits.

2. Take one of the biscuits and pull it apart in the middle and shape it like a doughnut and put it in a sauce pan with heated vegetable oil.

3. Once browned flip.

4. Dip it in cinnamon sugar.

THEN EAT THE DELICIOUSNESS! 

happy weekend friends!

Now, I may or may not have a little bit of an addiction to diet coke.... yesterday Brooklynn had to have a can for herself. Don't worry it's not open. She has never ever had soda and wont for a very long time. But this video of her mimicking me is so funny! And she doesn't say it in the video but she calls is coco.

the 5 love languages.. of adults and children

Have any of you read the book "The 5 Love Languages, The Secret to Love That Lasts"? It's pretty much amazing. After reading this book I also read "The 5 Love Languages of Children". 

I truly believe the concept of these books. It makes complete sense. If you don't love your spouse or children in their love language then they wont feel the love you are giving them.


"Your emotional love language and the language of you spouse may be as different as Chinese from English"

Now just in case you haven't read the book here are the 5 love languages::

Words of Affirmation

Quality Time

Receiving Gifts

Acts of Service

Physical Touch

My love language is physical touch followed closely by words of affirmation. Curtis' is acts of service. I can definitely see that when Curtis' speaks my love language and I speak his we are much happier. 


"If your spouse's primary love language is physical touch, nothing is more important than holding her as she cries."

Same goes with Children, when you speak their love language and feel loved they are more likely to behave and listen. Not fool proof of course. Children are going to act out and misbehave. It's their way of communicating before they know how to do it with their words. But it definitely helps.





Brooke's love language of course is going to change throughout the years but right now her love languages are physical touch and quality time. When you take the time to take her to the park or to the aquarium or read her books she is always happier. 


And of course we can't forget physical touch. This one is easy for me. I love giving kisses and snuggling with my little girl. It's my favorite!



I would definitely recommend this book to any and every one! 

"Love is something you do for someone else, not something you do for yourself."

funny funny girl.

I forgot to share this a while back.

When we were on our way back to Utah from California we stopped at a Del Taco.

At Del they have these little baskets full of all the sauces nice and neat..

Now this is how the baskets get like this..

You have a baby who is very bored of the car and needs to release some energy..

Seriously, they were ALL over.

But I felt so bad that she had to be in the car all day I just let her have a little fun.

AND she got to drink some of Daddy's root beer shake. :)

It was a pretty funny Dal Taco experience. 

my husband the hockey player

Curtis' company Vivint has a hockey team that plays every year. This year Curtis decided to join the team. It was his first time every playing ice hockey and maybe his 3 times every ice skating. 

He's actually really good. I was definitely impressed!

He's #60.

that's him in the penalty box. haha ;)