our christmas

i feel like it has been forever since my last post. i know, i'm a slacker. i've just been enjoying my family and not sharing the love with the computer. we had a pretty good christmas, except we had to cancel our plans to spend it with scott's mom. since the weather was so crazy scott made the decision that we should wait and visit his mom this next weekend. so, yay we still have something to look forward to! since our plan was to be out of town, scott asked my mom if we could do the traditional "christmas eve nacho dinner" a day early so that we could all be there for it. so, we had nachos on the 23rd, and then we ended up being there for christmas eve anyway. i guess we could've had leftover nachos, but we opted for pizza instead. since scott and i have started our family, i wanted to start a new tradition: christmas jammies on christmas eve. i had a heck of a time finding some for scott that matched halfway with the jammies that i got brookie and i. can you believe they don't make red and white snowflake jammies for men? well, i couldn't find any, which scott is probably thankful for. so he ended up with ones that look like the inside of a sleeping bag. at least the colors matched. :)


on christmas morning we slept in until brooklin woke up at 8:30. i have a feeling we won't be so lucky next year, but i've got my fingers crossed. we did our own little christmas at our house, it was great. we checked out all the great stuff santa filled our stockings with and then opened up presents. i tried to fit all of brooklin's stuff in as few boxes as possible because i knew she wasn't going to be at all interested in tearing off the wrapping paper. she did pretty good though, probably because i got it down to two boxes.







after all the presents were opened we braved the snow and headed over to my parents' house. can you believe it? it actually snowed on christmas. how often does that happen? it was beautiful!


when we got to my parents' we had a yummy breakfast and then brookie took a bath in grandma's big tub. this time she got the whole thing to herself and she had a ball. she loves the water! her bath tuckered her right out so she took a nap while we opened presents. shortly after we were done she was up and ready to tear into her's.



then bonnie, tyler and lucy came over from the haas's for a quick visit and to open their loot. that evening we had a yummy ham dinner and then shanna, jonathan and jackson came home and we got to watch them open their presents. we kind of did christmas in shifts, which was cool because we were able to see the things that everyone else got for christmas and see the joyful expressions on their faces as they opened their gifts. this year was a lot of fun for a number of reasons. we got to see bonnie, tyler and lucy. i got to do christmas with my own little family, and i was able to experience the joy making christmas fun for my child. i can't wait until next year!

rub-a-dub-dub...

three cousins in the tub!

let it snow!

we've been having quite the crazy weather this past week, but i do have to admit, i've been loving it!





the boys went out to build a fort underneath the trampoline. some guys just refuse to grow up. i guess it keeps us feeling young, even if we don't look it.

holiday pictures

so, i found this really great photographer (my brother in-law, jonathan) and we asked if he'd take some pictures of us all dressed up in our christmas duds in front of our tree. here's a few of my favorite. check 'em out!

teeth, finally!

that's right, brooklin has finally got some teeth coming in. i've been thinking that she has got to be teething because she has been really not herself lately (not wanting to go down for naps, really ornery, and extremely clingy). i've been checking her gums for the past two weeks, and then yesterday morning i hit the jackpot. her two bottom front teeth are coming in at the same time. i was so excited and it was kinda funny because i felt really proud of her, not like she really chose to do this herself, but i just felt like she's really becoming a big girl. a week ago when i took her to the ped. he said that 2/3 of babies usually have their first tooth by now, so brooklin was in the 1/3 that was still waiting to join the club. and now she finally has. while i'm really excited for her, it also makes me realize even more that she's growing up. she's come to another milestone. how many more do we have left??? i know she has a lot more to come, but every one is so precious and i'm learning to savor the moment and not wish that the next one will come so quickly (i'm not saying that i want her to fall behind or anything. you know what i mean.). nothing has ever brought me such a sense of joy and purpose as motherhood has. although i am still learning as i go, i feel like i was truly meant to be a mommy.

tradition of the ornament exchange

every year jessie, jonathan, crystal, jason, tif, john, scotty and i get together and we have an ornament exchange. we draw names, usually in october when we have our pumpkin carving party, and then we go out and buy/make ornaments for the person whose name we've drawn. we are so lucky that tif and john are willing to continue on this tradition even though they've moved away. it makes our get-together even more exciting because we get a visit from them!



everyone had a great time at the exchange and it was fun to see all of the ornaments. some were quite interesting, especially this year since we included our kids. i think that i got the most memorable one, thanks to jax. what a little sweety, he picked it out all by himself.



my very own rainbow trout christmas tree ornament! i'm so glad we have such great friends and that we have these special traditions with them. i'm reminded of a saying i once heard, something like, "there are people who come into your life and go quickly, and then there are those that leave footprints all over your heart." i probably butchered that, but you get the idea. these are friends that we'll have forever. we love you guys!





p.s. sorry about the red eye

scotty's ornament

well, tif, i actually did put it on the tree but then scotty took it off. he doesn't want it to get all sappy, plus he really likes it when brookie plays with it, probably because it's not such a girly toy. but, here's proof that i did have it on there. :)

dressing the tree

saturday afternoon scott, brookie and i went out to cut down our christmas tree with jessie and jonathan. this is one of my favorite things about christmas. we found the perfect one within no time at all. it was raining, so we decided we'd get it in water and then keep it in our garage overnight to dry off a little, and hopefully some of the bugs living in it would take that hint that we were stealing there home. that's pretty much the only thing that bugs me about real trees, i hate the bugs that come with them. anyway, after church on sunday scotty brought the tree in and i went to work getting it dressed. thanks to our ornament exchanges we've accumlated some pretty cool bling for our tree. check her out!


brooklin was down for a nap while i was hard at work, so i'm excited to see what she thinks. hopefully i won't have to spend all day everyday for the next couple weeks keeping her out of it. she is a curious one though. we shall see.

cunningham elves!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

9 month check-up

brooklin had her nine month well baby check today, which i was really looking forward to because i've been really curious to see how much she's grown in the past three months. she did so well, no crying whatsoever and she was just as happy as could be. and, yay, no shots today, well except she did get a flu vaccine and she took it like a champ! the doctor told me that i couldn't have had a healthier, more beautiful baby on my hands.

so, here are her stats:

height: 29" (90th percentile)
weight: 21.4 lbs (80th percentile)
head circumference: 17 3/4" (75th percentile)

turkey day

thanksgiving started with being able to wake up next to my hubby, which usually only happens on sundays. scotty decided to go out and play football (yeah, you heard me right) with some guys from our ward, which i was a little nervous about because the last few years he's done this he has been really sore afterwards. and this year was no exception. although, i was happy to see that he didn't come home a muddy mess this year. thank heavens for the rain holding off. :) we went over to my parent's for the feast, and it really was. there was so much good food: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (stovetop is the tradition in my fam), a yummy fruit salad, raspberry jello salad (another tradition), rolls, cooked carrots (my favorite), yams (not my favorite), fresh veggies with dip, corn, and very delicious pies.


i did really good this year and did not go back for seconds. i didn't want to be a victim of the triptaphan (sp?). after dinner mess was cleaned up the girls took off to Fred Meyer to go shopping while the guys babysat and took naps. this is something we're thinking about making a tradition. i felt a lot better being able to shop off some of the calories i just consumed rather than sleeping on the couch, which of course i knew i wasn't going to be able to do anyways having a 9 month old baby and all. so, we shopped 'til they kicked us out the door. check out what i got for brookie.


i just couldn't resist. you know how when you have kids you want them to like the same toys you liked as a kid. i'm sure she wasn't as stoked as i was, but she did play with it. i think she just likes the hair. maybe it will keep her from pulling mine. :) we had a really great day just hanging out with family, and i do have to say that is one of the things i am most thankful for, my amazing family. i just wish all of us could have been there. we missed you: bonnie, tyler, lucy, russ, shannon, mackenzie, payton and doug. the best times are when we're all together. i look forward to the next time that will be.

new winter coats

last year scott really wanted an insulated dickies work jacket. we looked everywhere and couldn't find one in his size. everyone else had snatched them up before we got there. he was a little bummed and ended up having to wear several layers of shirts and jackets to work. the shop he works in is not heated, or even insulated for that matter. all they have is a little wood burning stove and a space heater, which broke. so, i decided that this year i was going to start looking early and get him one for christmas. well, he found out that i got him one and was really excited. he said to me, "it would be really nice to have right now. what if i gave you one of your christmas presents early. maybe one that would keep you warm too." i had been wanting a new winter coat this year, and it has been getting pretty chilly already. so we exchanged christmas presents a little early this year. i guess that's one less present that needs to be opened on christmas, and we'll get a little more use out of them this winter. plus i don't have to feel so bad about my scotty working in a freezing cold shop. check us out!

nummy sunday breakfast

i bet you wish you came for breafast. yup, that's belgian waffles with strawberries and whip cream, scrambled eggs with cheese, and some crispy bacon. yummmm!

fun birthday weekend

thursday afternoon my sister and mom took me out to lunch for my birthday. scott came home from work early so he could spend the day with me, but ended up watching brooklin so that i didn't have to try and wrestle with her at lunch. thanks scotty! then that evening scotty took me out to dinner, which was really yummy, but i was still a little full from lunch so i could barely eat anything. luckily dinner made great lunch for friday. :) we just kind of chilled the rest of the evening and watched the office over at my parent's house. i thought that maybe scott had something else planned, since it was my 25th birthday, but we just went home and straight to bed. i guess i was a little disappointed since we had a pretty big party for scott's 25th, but then i felt a little silly because i did have a pretty good day, and scott got me a great gift.


he could tell that something was bothering me so he told me that we'd have a big party next year. why? 26 isn't that great. oh well. saturday we went over to my parent's and i went to costco with them and left scott in front of the tv. we were at costco forever just looking at everything, which was great because when i go with scotty it's in and out within 5 minutes. we get what we need and that's it. he's not a big shopper. so, by the time we got back to my parent's brookie had about had it and was ready for a nap, and scott was insisting that we leave right away. okay, fine, whatever, she wasn't freaking out that badly. we had brought separate cars so i went straight home and got brookie in bed while scott stopped at DQ to get an ice cream cake for my family party on sunday. when he got home brooklin was sound asleep and i was playing metroid on my game boy (don't ask). i asked scott when he wanted me to start dinner and he told me to wait until 6. fine. i thought i heard brooklin and then a knock on the door. scott told me to get the door and he'd check on brookie. why can't you get the door? was what i was thinking, but i went downstairs anyway to see who was pounding on my door, and they just kept knocking and knocking. i was getting a little annoyed. when i reached the bottom of the stairs they just opened the door and let themselves in. it was a bunch of family and friends. i had no idea what was going on. scott didn't say anything about people coming over and i wasn't exactly prepared for company (ie. ripped sweatshirt and pink ring in the guest bathroom toilet). i didn't figure out what was going on until we got to the top of the stairs. it was a surprise party. i immediately felt terrible about how i was acting thursday night when i found out that we were just going home to bed. scott had a huge grin on his face and i could tell he knew exactly what i was thinking. we had a ton of people show up and we had lots of great food, and the DQ cake was for this party. the cheesecake my mom bought at costco was for the family party. so i got two cakes, mind you my two favorites! and i got to celebrate my birthday all weekend. it was great! and my mom made cooked carrots to go with dinner on sunday, which i've been craving for a while. thanks everyone, especially my dear sweet husband, for making my 25th great. i think i'm ready for a nice quiet and relaxing birthday next year. maybe on a beach in hawaii???




oh, and scott did clean the pink ring in the toilet that i was meaning to get to, just never did. :) somehow we managed to not get a single picture from the surprise party. :(

quarter of a century

well, tomorrow is the big day. i will be turning 25 years old at around 8:30 tomorrow morning, and i am not looking forward to it at all. i'm sure everybody thinks i'm crazy, but i am kind of depressed about being 25. 25 used to seem so old to me, and now here i am. i guess the real reason that i'm depressed is because lately i've been realizing how fast time is going by. when i was a kid it seemed like time went by so slowly and i was always trying to hurry it along. i couldn't wait to turn twelve, and then i was really stoked to be sixteen, and then 18 was really cool. but then when i hit my twenties things kind of changed, which i know is silly and i shouldn't be feeling this way until i reach my 30's or 40's, but i honestly feel like the clock is ticking away. this year has flown by. my little niece, lucy, is going to be a year old tomorrow! that's insane to me, and i'm not even her mother. little brooklin is growing way too fast with the crawling and having to lower her bed and all of the other things that she's learning. i just wish time would slow down a little bit, and i didn't think that i would ever say that, especially at 25. that's something you hear your parents say. there's just something about turning 25 that's making me realize how precious time is, and it makes me want to sleep a little less and play a little more. so, i'd like to give a little advice: cherish every moment, even the cruddy ones, and don't wish for time to move faster, it will go by quick enough.

flowers

don't you wish that when your sweet husband brings you home a bouquet of your favorite flowers they lasted a little longer? i sure do. i love getting flowers, it just sucks that they only last a week or so. i know some people give potted flowers for that very reason, but that wouldn't matter with me, i'd kill them even if they came with their roots still attached. actually, now that i think about it, i'd rather get a bouquet because when the flowers die i know that it's not because i killed them.


these were the flowers scott got me for our anniversary, almost two weeks ago. they're looking pretty sad, and i think that they're about to go bye-bye. but they were gorgeous and i'm glad i have a hubby that brings me flowers. :)


i got another gift that will last a little longer.

goin' down

for the past week i've been thinking that it was about time to move brooklin's mattress down in her crib since she's been trying to pull herself up. saturday when i went in to get her up from her nap i found her sitting with both hands holding onto the railing. so i let scott know that it was time. well, it didn't get done, but i figured it wouldn't be that big a deal if it waited a day or two. well, look what i found this afternoon when i went in to get brookie up.


i couldn't believe it. i was so shocked to find her like this since we've yet to see her get to a standing position on her own. i was excited and worried all at the same time. excited because she finally pulled herself up, but worried because we weren't prepared. luckily she didn't try to bail out. i called scott at work and told him that tonight was the night and it was a must!! and i'm glad to say it's finally done. my little girl isn't so little anymore.

for bonnie

see what i mean?!

for tif

i think scharae has got some competition!

holding on

brooklin is learning how to stand up holding onto things, she can't quite pull herself up to them, but she likes standing there once we help her up.


she's definitely trying, though.


it's probably about time to move her mattress down in her crib. we wouldn't want to have a little humpty dumpty on our hands.