Surprise!

Caitlin, Brooke and I flew down to Palm Springs today to help out our family. We only told our dad and left it a secret to Mom, Grandpa and Grandma. Our first stop was to Eisenhower Medical Center to surprise mom. We knocked on her door and peeked around the curtain to see her face light up like the Fourth of July! We hugged her and all burst into tears. It was so incredibly hard to not tell her we were coming for the last two days, but it was all worth it in the end.

(Photo Above: The Wenatchee Alaska Airlines staff moved us to an empty row so we would have more space. Brooke slept in my arms the whole way over to Seattle and from Seattle to Sacramento, she was awake down to Palm Springs but behaved herself really well!)

The next stop was to surprise Grandpa Wally when we picked him up from his eye appointment (see the fancy glasses!). We got out of the car and walked towards him shouting "Hi Grandpa!" Because his vision wasn't 100% he wasn't sure why these two girls were blocking the car from picking him up! As we got closer, he realized it was us and gave us both a big hug.

The final surprise was Grandma Koke! (We'll work on getting a better photo Grandma!) She made us a lovely strawberry salad for lunch.

Great-Grandpa Wally hasn't had a chance to see Brooke (other than on the blog) since January! She's loving all this attention!

Brooke being a silly little girl! News from the hospital: Sounds like Mom may be able to come home tomorrow. I think she'll feel so much better being in her own bed and cared for by her daughters! Caitlin and I thought she looked so good at the hospital today. I hope she continues to feel better everyday.

We Love Books!

We received two great Easter gifts from both sets of Brooke's grandparents! They must know how much we like books around here and how important they are for little girls to read. Each book had a different feature that Brooke enjoys. One book has great textures to feel, one has flaps that fold out and one plays music! We will definitely be enjoying these way longer than just on Easter.

Yippee! Clap for books! Brooke loves to clap. At the end of the Easter service the choir sings Handel's "Alleluia Chorus" and then everyone claps. This was the first moment where I was certain that she was clapping because she joined everyone in the round of applause!

What's that sound!?! Brooke enjoys hearing me sing "Here Comes Peter Cottontail"... at least I imagine she does!

She's the cutest bunny I've seen this Easter!

Happy 1st Easter!

Brooke was a very happy girl and sat wonderfully through church on her very first Easter!

Brooke wore her mother's first Easter dress! The dress is in perfect condition and such quality that I couldn't resist putting Brooke in it.

Here bunny, have a flower!

Our Easter day started off so wonderfully until I received a call from my father telling me that my mom had to have emergency surgery. By 10pm we got another call telling us that it was a successful surgery. I was so nervous today that I felt some of my mother's pain. My stomach was in knots, my hands were shaking, and I constantly prayed for the surgeons to use their skills to help my mom. It was gut-wrenching to hear the pain, uncertainty, nervousness in my mother's voice as I told her I loved her and would pray for her before the surgery. It was painful to hear the fear and love in my fathers tearful voice as he sat by my mother. Now we continue to pray for a less painful and quick recovery. The doctors will be watching closely for infection in the new few weeks, so I hope that there is no infection found. My mom is a very tough, healthy, beautiful woman that will fight hard through this obstacle!

8 Months Old

It's really hard to believe that Brooke is eight months old! We learn more and more about Brooke's likes, dislikes, and temperament everyday. She is a very happy baby for ninety percent of the time, but when she wants new scenery, is bored, or hungry she lets us know! Her form of communication can be a very loud, "AUUUUGGGHHH!". I have started to think of her as a mini Tarzan. She is still scooting around the floor. She loves getting into the junk mail box and crumple, tear, and throw the magazines about. When Brooke glances at strangers (especially children and other babies) she get very excited and waves her arms, kicks her legs, and makes an excited "EE, EE, EEEE!" sound. If she gets upset, our quick response is to grab her hands and let her lead us around the house. She goes in spurts of saying "Ma, ma, ma ma" and "da, da, da..." but she hasn't put two and two together.

I just love the new friends I have made recently. It's so fun getting to know other mothers that are experiencing the same things I am. La Leche (for breastfeeding moms) meets the first Tuesday of the month and I love seeing the babies and mothers interact there. Brooke has become more independent and not so attached to me now. She rolled and rolled and rolled after a toy truck into the center of the group (the center of attention!) and loved laying there basking in all the attention.



I attended my first MOPS meeting on Wednesday with Whitney and enjoyed meeting new people there also. I can't describe how hard it was to hand Brooke over to the ladies in the daycare type setting. I had a pager for them to beep me (and it did go off!) but it was still pretty hard for me to see her there with all the other kids.


I think she's about seventeen pounds now, but she hasn't been weighed lately. Brooke's nighttime schedule is improving. She lays down in her crib and hardly ever complains. Her bedtime is around 8pm and will wake up every four hours until 7am.


Kent and I are so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter, we just love her to pieces!

Our Travel Baby

This little girl (and her parents) have this travelling thing down (for now)! We packed up and left Thousand Palms at 7am and headed to the Los Angeles airport. Brooke thankfully slept all the way there so she was fueled and ready to go. Brooke wants to be in the center of attention and she knows how to get it! She was the biggest flirt on the airplane ride up to Portland. We were so relieved to have such a social happy baby on the airplane.

Brooke spent 90% of the time in her momma's arms, but on the last two fights she enjoyed watching the world go by out her window.

This is the bright eyed baby that we had for two out of the three flights. Now that she's almost eight months old she fights taking naps when they are not at home or in a quiet place. She was very tired by the 6pm flight to Wenatchee. Thank goodness it was only 30 minutes long! She SCREAMED and squirmed like we have never seen before. Then in an instant she glanced at the lady next to us and have her the sweetest smile in the world. Kent and I laughed so hard because we know the Cashmere drama department has a very bright future with this little drama queen. I nursed her to sleep and we were in the clear for the rest of the trip. Overall, we had a wonderful trip with this little bundle of joy.

Golfers: Beware!

Kent, Dad and I went to the driving range and hit a basket of balls.

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Hopefully our blinding white legs and arms didn't hurt anyone. It sure felt good to feel the warmth of the sun for the first time this spring.


Dad looking like a pro. ;)

The Tale of the Rascally Rabbit

We were all wondering how the story of the rascally rabbit would end. Everyday we would find out what flowers the bunny had decided to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. How could such a sweet little thing be so hungry? And what good taste did that bunny have!

One afternoon I thought I saw the bunny run to the side of the house, so we went to investigate. As my mom cleared some brush I thought I saw it run by me so I screamed really loud! We looked around and saw nothing. My mom told me that it must have been a leaf. Boy, what a fast gray leaf!

Later she happened to tidy up her small woodpile and a spotted a cowering rabbit hidden amongst the wood. From inside I heard yelling. "John!" No one answered. Finally mom convinced me to wake up Kent from his nap on the couch and get the leather gloves. He grabbed the little rabbit like a pro.

Kent fired up the grill and we had a great rabbit and asparagus dinner.

April Fools! We let little fluffy go. Who knows where he's living now, but it sure won't be my mom's garden!

We actually had a wonderful flank steak dinner with fresh fruit salad and some $2 wine from Trader Joe's. What a fun day!

Playing Around in California

The next Victoria Secret model? I don't think so!

Grandpa John saw this cool blocks set at IKEA and thought it would be good for Brooke. She LOVED it!


Playing with Dad.

Hanging out with Grandpa chewing on blocks!

Bouncy, bouncy! Brooke also loved being outside watching all the birds and flowers.

Desert Climbing/Camping Adventure

On Monday of our southern Californian spring break, John and Kent packed up the car and went camping out in the desert of Joshua Tree National Park. John was really excited to try out his new REI "Half Dome" tent, and Kent was looking forward to doing some rock climbing. They spent the night at the Jumbo Rocks campground, where the overnight low temperature was 25 degrees Fahrenheit.

In the morning, they drove up to "Key's View" where the sky was clear, and they had a great view of the Palm Springs/Cochella Valley.

There are many interesting rock features in the desert. Skull rock is a big attraction in Joshua Tree.

Joshua Tree is full of great places to climb. Many places are easily accessible, and easy to top-rope. Kent chose this climb at "Cap Rock". In this picture he hiked up the back side and set up his top-rope by placing rope slings around several secure boulders.

After he made sure the top-rope was safe, he repelled down the face that he was about to climb.

After he repelled to the bottom of the wall, he began climbing, with John keeping him on belay.

John was able to take a picture once he was in a safe spot.

Success!

El Paseo

On Tuesday Great-Grandma Koke, Grandma Carol, Brooke and I shopped at Trader Joe's and then drove to El Paseo in Palm Desert. It was fun to walk around and see all the galleries and clothing stores. These photos were from The Gardens area. It's not every day that you get to enjoy an afternoon of shopping with four generations.

Look at this little tennis player! Kent and I got out to the tennis courts this morning and enjoyed hitting the ball around after two years of not playing. Being pregnant last summer kept me off of the tennis court. We had a few great vollies with Kent winning in the end!

"How does this thing work?"