New house in Texas

They broke ground on our lot in late January and the progress has been amazing. Here are a few pictures of our house over the past month and a half. Keith is going out there next week to do a walk through. Then all the drywalling will start.

20 Months

I can't believe that Brooke is already 20 months old. She has so much personality for such a little person. I wish that I had more pictures of her around this time, but she is on the move. She really is such a busy kid. She loves puzzles, the dogs, her stroller, books and so many more things. When I got her dressed for school today; I thought she looked like such a grown up little girl instead of a baby. She is wearing size 18-24 month clothing now. The tops actually need to be a 2T because her torso is so long. I have to keep onesies on her so she doesn't show her belly. Another reason for keeping her in onesies is that she has ringworm on her tummy. I noticed the spots shortly after she started her antibiotic; so we thought it was just a reaction to the medicine. Ten days later the spots were not any better so I took her back to the Dr. He quickly confirmed it as ringworm and told me it is very common. I was freaking out, thinking she actually had worms in her skin. He prescribed OTC Lotramin and it is doing the trick. He also diagnosed her with 2 more kinds of eczema on her back and tummy, poor thing. He recommended applying cortisone cream twice a day. Other than the skin issues, Brooke is doing great. She is learning new words daily and is quite the talker. She loves to skype with her Grammy and talk on the phone. She is a great eater; she loves almost everything you make for her. She is still a great sleeper averaging 12 hours a night. We are hoping to move her to a toddler bed next month. Stayed tuned for that post! She loves her friends at school and her buddies from the podiatry program. She is definitely a social butterfly. She stands in the window at our house and watches for the girls across the street to get home from school. She loves to play with them too. She gives the sweetest hugs and kisses; especially when she is stalling before bed. She loves to brush her teeth and wash her hands. Hooray for good hygiene. Although, she also loves to splash in mud and water puddles in our street. She will ask to put on her boots and play outside any chance she gets. She loves to watch for the mail truck and go outside to get her letters from Ron the mailman. She's going to be bummed when we move and have cluster mailboxes at the end of the street. She weighs 24 pounds, wears a size 2T and size 5 shoes. We have been talking more about her little sister; baby Annabelle. She will ask to see my belly so she can give Annabelle a kiss; so sweet! I know she is going to be a great big sister. We are so happy and blessed to have Brooke in our lives. She keeps us on our toes but we love her to pieces. Love you Brooke!

Valentine's Day

I dressed Brooke in her Elmo dress for Valentine's Day at school. She was very excited to share her Jolly Rancher lollipop valentines with all the kids. I wish the school picture was a little more clear. She has a great time playing with these girls; Riley, Fransceca, Felice and Brooke. She brought home a huge pack of Valentine treats from her classmates and teachers. The best treat was the applesauce squeeze pouch. I did not know these things existed. She can have her applesauce without making any mess; brilliant. We had a great Valentines dinner at home with Keith. I made one of his favorite meals, Chicken Picatta. It turned out really well. After dinner we exchanged our valentine cards. It was a very low key night but I really enjoyed it. I feel super loved by my little family. **You might notice the stickers on Brooke's head.  She likes to take her stickers and make them into a "hat" as she calls it.  Brooke got a card from her Aunt Liz that had stickers in it. She quickly turned them into a hat.

Face blemish

Brooke developed a "blemish" on her cheek. She gets eczema on her cheeks fairly often, so we didn't think anything of it. Well, the spot kept getting bigger and bigger. The pressure building around it turned her cheek a purple color and her eye even looked kind of black underneath. I asked Keith if he would try and pop it when she was in the tub for her bath. He used a warm wash cloth and blood sprayed out of the spot. The next day there was a raisin looking dried up scab on her face. I took her to the doctor and he put her on antibiotics just in case it happened to be an infection. She did a great job taking all her antibiotics. The spot looks much better but the Dr. said it could still take a month for it to completely go away. Poor baby!
 

Balls in the stroller

My mom got Brooke her very own stroller and baby for Christmas this year. She loves the stroller but the baby is not her favorite. Instead, she puts these plastic ping-pong like balls and golf balls in the stroller. She pushes them around the house and then throws them for the dogs to get. Most of the time they end up under the couch or chair. She will come and tell me which color ball is missing. Thank goodness for her plastic golf clubs. I use them to sweep under the couch and chairs to retrieve the balls. Here are a few pictures of her and the precious balls. ha!