10 Days in Vegas

On February 28th, Brooklyn and I went to Las Vegas to visit my family for 10 days. I started out the time going to a good friend's wedding, Cristy. It was great to see her and I am so happy that she found the right man for her.

On Sunday, March 1st, we had a little combined party for Brooklyn's 3rd birthday and my younger brother Mike's 27th birthday. Mike and Sara invited us over to their house and they decked it all out in princess for Brooklyn. Everytime we go to Vegas they spoil her rotten because there is only 2 girls in all of the grandkids. We had a great time and I decorated my first cake. Thanks for all the help mom! It turned out so cute and I was very proud of myself, I usually can't decorate a cake without getting all the cake in the icing. She got some lots of great presents, a my little pony, a tinkerbell tea party set, little mermaid dress up, princess dress up shoes and a little mermaid barbie.

We visited lots of family and while we were there we also went to the park and spent a day at the children's museum. We had a great time, but were glad to be home after 10 days.

Updating the Blog

So, I am finally updating the blog, since I have like three months to update. I am starting at the newest and working back. If you are interested you will have to keep scrolling down to read the new posts. I am backdating them so they are in order of when they happened. Happy reading!

THE Dora Party

One of Brooklyn's absolute favorite things is to have pretend parties. We have multiple parties a day with balloons and everything. She loves parties. So for her birthday we decided to have her the best party we could come up with. She loves so many things girly we had lots of options, but we were looking for something a little more unisex. So Dora it was.

I decided that we would go on a Dora adventure for her party and it was quite the undertaking. If you go on a Dora adventure you have to have backpacks, etc. She also wanted to make sure that none of her friends were left out. There were a total of 14 kids and they all seemed to have a blast.

To start they came in and we took there pictures with a posterboard drawing of Dora. There were tables set out with pictures to color and Dora on the TV. Once everyone got there we played "Pin the Tail on Boots." It went better than I thought and they all seemed to enjoy it. We then went into the living room and read a book. I had written a Dora book, called "Brooklyn's Special Day." I wrote and illustrated myself, so it wasn't fantastic but for my standards it was good. I wrote in each of the kids names that were at the party and they all seemed to get a kick out of hearing their own name. The story was all about getting the pinata back that Swiper had swiped from Brooklyn's birthday party. We then headed out to the backyard to find the real pinata. I gave all the kids backpacks to put their "loot" in and told them not to open them until we got outside. When they went outside there was no pinata, but there was a picture of Swiper pinned to the tree. Swiper had swiped the pinata and we had to find it. Inside their backpacks there was map. Map told them how to get the pinata back. They had to go through Isa's Flowery Garden, Past Crocodile Lake and over Shapes Bridge to Lollipop Forest. There were things in backpack to help along the way.

I was a little nervous about how the adventure would go over with 14 kids and with some of them being older, but they all seemed to have a good time. At the end they found the pinata, stopped Swiper from swiping, and broke open the pinata.

We then went had some Dora Cupcakes and opened presents. It took no longer than an hour and a half and she has been talking about it ever since. It was worth all the work and we had a great time. Thanks to everyone who came and made it so great!

Three Years Old

I can't believe our little girl is 3 years old today! Brooklyn is simply the sweetest, most adorable little girl and we are sooo blessed to have her. Every day she feels like more and more of a miracle to us and the time seems to fly by faster and faster. She had two birthday parties one in San Antonio with friends and one in Las Vegas with family. Brooklyn had a great time at both and a description will come in a later post, but for now here is a little about her at 3.

1. Brooklyn loves all things girly. And when I say all things, I mean all things. (Dora, My Little Ponies, Princess anything, Strawberry Shortcake, dressup, etc., painted toenails, lip gloss, and anything else she can get away with)
2. She loves to sing. I always catch her singing some song to herself. (Last night, it was Here We are Together and the other night it was All The Single Ladies)
3. She loves to talk and it is quite often like an adult. It is nonstop and always entertaining. She is so much fun to be with all day long.
4. Brooklyn loves golf and now baseball.
5. One of her favorite restaurants is the "Peanut Store" (Texas Roadhouse). Her favorite food there is ribs and sweet potatoes with marshmallows.
6. She loves to jump and dance. Especially her dance and gymnastic class.
7. She loves to water.
8. She loves her funny ponytails. They will be seen in her Birthday party post.
9. She hates to have water in her face.
10. She loves theme park rides, the more wild the better.
11. She loves to snuggle in her big girl bed for "just a minute" at night.
12. Every night she asks us what our favorite stores are and her responses are Academy, Sharkies, Hobby Lobby and Walmart.

We love you Brooklyn. Happy Birthday!