Christmas 2008-a photo montage

At Norwood for the Meiners Family Christmas!

Brooke and Grandma at Norwood for Christmas!

Posing with the tree-best shot I could get!

Brooke with Santa (who looked mysteriously like her Grandpa!!)

Brooke having a BLAST with Uncle Brian & Aunt Lisa!!! We love having them in town!

Getting ready to open present at Grandma & Grandpa's house-looking a little mischievous!

Deciding to take it all off! She always is ready for a photo op-good pose Brooke!

Brooke running down the hall and finding what Santa brought her-a kitchen set!

She LOVES IT!

She HAD to get the phone down first and text all of her friends.

Tea Party Time! Gary was PUMPED!!!!

Christmas morning at mom & dad's-Maggie is Sasha Fierce.

Brooke's 2nd Christmas is complete! she had a BLAST!! Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Family Fun Night-Fleming Style :)

Brian and Lisa (Gary's Brother and Sister-in-Law) arrived yesterday from warm and sunny Orlando to freezy cold STL. We are so excited that they have arrived and we started the fun with an evening of pizza and games at Mike & Lindsay's house. It was so much fun seeing everyone and we got some good pics of Brooke with her Aunts and Uncles. We cannot wait to continue the festivities this week! ! !

Brooke was starting to wind down, but once we let her sit on the 'big girl' couch with Lindsay she was game on once again :)

So pumped that her FL Aunt and Uncle were in town!! Brian totally wants matching GodDaughter/GodFather PJ's.

She is oh-so relaxed on the 'big girl' couch-hanging out with the fam-raking in (and LOVING) all of the attention!

I think that Brian was also trying to make Brooke smile-even though she couldn't see him. She looks more confused..what do you think?!

Nativity Scenes & a door bell ditch

Last week, while we were putting Brooke to bed, the door bell rang. It was dark outside and there wasn't any way I was going to answer the door so I sent Gary. There was no one there. When he looked down, though, there was a Nativity Scene in a box. Strange right?? We took it inside and chalked it up to a neighbor wanting to leave us a surprise Christmas gift...without a note...but ok.

Two night later, another door bell ring. This time we were not home as my mother in law was watching Brooke. When I came home that night around 9:00 p.m. I noticed two glass figurines at the door step. Two sheep's and a Shepard...ok, what is going on?!?! I asked my mother in law what she thought and light bulb went off that maybe I should open up the Nativity set. Low and behold, there were no 3 Kings or Baby Jesus. When would they arrive??!!

The next evening I was resting (fighting off a nasty cold) and Brooke was playing. Bella started baking like a mad women so Gary headed to the door to 'catch' the door-bell ditch in action. When he opened the door there was a little boy with Baby Jesus. Gary thanked the little boy and looked up to see three cars and about 25-30 people standing in front of our house!! They burst into song-Silent Night-only to be followed up with a enthusiactic We Wish You A Merry Christmas. They gave Gary a bag a treats and a smile :) Gary had to ask, though, "are you from our neighborhood?" They said, "no, not really, we are from the Frontenac Ward." Well, ok. They also asked us if we knew who lived at another house down the street because they accidently got our three kings-I wonder if they are totally confused??!! Poor Gary was left alone outside for the festivies, while I was inside getting mad at him for wondering what the heck he was doing!!! What a start to a great Christmas Season! :)

Laundry Basket-what fun!

Last night while I was finishing dinner and Gary was working on the computer, we turn around to find Brooke on the couch-all by herself squealing with excitement! For a second we couldn't figure out how she had gotten up there (Girl has short legs). Then we saw that we had a laundry basket out. She had climbed onto the basket and then crawled onto the couch and she was PUMPED. Of course, then she kept standing on the couch, etc so that party had to end. However, for the next 30 minutes she would climb on the basket, and off the basket-it is so fun! Sometimes she even just likes to sit on it and read. She is so 'wild!'

This move from the laundry basket to the outomen did not work out so well-this move is going to take a little more practice.

It kind of looks like she is trying to get on a pommel horse or something-not quite sure, but she looks so determined!

Lost and Found

This weekend was pretty exciting as we found something that we had been searching a very long time for and it is all thanks to a couple of friends that decided to stop by on Sunday. My friend Marci was in town from Chicago this weekend and she and her boyfriend came by on Sunday afternoon to see Brooke (so nice of them!). Gary and I decided to 'straighten' up the house a bit so that they didn't totally think we were slobs...I was cleaning the main room because Bella had recently gotten sick all over the couch. I had cleaned the mess up, however, the cushions still needed to be vacuumed. There was not enough time so I contemplated turning them over. When I had reached in to try and turn the cushion over, I saw what I believed to be a key ring that my sister Amy would have perhaps left at my house. I went to grab it and realized it was Gary's missing wedding ring!! He had lost it almost a year ago-maybe on purpose??!! We were so excited! I went and showed Gary and then realized I better check the inscription to make sure it was his-my brother in law lost his too so there was a chance...There it was 10/07/2006. Yeah!! Now he will have to get used to wearing it again :)

Brooke's Aunt Marci is constantly spoiling her!! When Marci and Sean came by to visit, they came bearing a gift for Brooke-another ADORABLE outfit! How cute is this little number??

Practicing her 'serious' model face..fierce.

Just kidding! I Love my outfit and look FABULOUS!

Full body shot.

Thank you so much for making me look so cute Aunt Marci-I just love my new sweats!

Brooke-Warrior Princess

Is this not the funniest thing that you have ever seen?? A guy at Gary's work got this hat for Brooke as a Christmas gift-I don't think that she needs anything else-I love it!!

Christmas Card....take one, two, three, four.....

Brooke was so good last year for her Christmas card photo. Maybe it was because she couldn't talk or move, but even when she cried, the pictures were still cute. She was not so willing to participate in the festivities this year..

Whether we were pooping (seriously...not making that one up)

Falling into the tree

Looking for Dad down the hall way (to quote, "Da....Da...) notice the hand gesture...come on mom, tell me where he is...I haven't a clue...

There he is! Standing by tree-of course!

And...she is spent. Exhausted from all of the trauma her parents (mostly her mother) had caused her. I think that we were able to get at least one good shot and if you have been good this year, check your mail box in the next coming days :) The suspense is killing you isn't it???

Jack n Beans

Everyone needs to visit my sister's new website www.jacknbeans.com

She just recently added new designer labels to her site and they are FABULOUS!! They include Baby Jakes, Bella Tunno, The Baby Bunch, Text Message Baby, Princess Linens, Scandeez, Yellow Label Kids and of course her own personal monogram items..by Jack n' Beans.

Whether you are looking for a personalized gift for a new mom, friend, baby or anyone-your sure to find what your looking for on her site. The Yellow Label Kids items are ADORABLE-all hand made knit toys for the little ones!!! The Baby Bunch makes a GREAT new baby gift too!!

She is udating constantly so make sure to check back in-also, until December 12th, you can recieve 15% off by entering thankyou at the checkout-there is even pick up availalbe if you live in Missouri so no shipping required!!

Happy Shopping!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving (late) to everyone! Brooke had a FAB Thanksgiving with both of her Ohio Aunts (Tracie and Maggie) in town for break. We had a low-key Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Johnson and Brooke had her first 'real' Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, green beans and bananas!! Who doesn't eat bananas on t-day??

Brooke was so full after her Thanksgiving feast that she had to veg out in the chair so she could push that gut out. Washing it all down with a glass of whole milk...heck ya!

So excited to have my God MaMa in town!! She is so fun!! She should totally move back to St. Louis...hint, hint...

Time to decorate for Christmas!! We move right on to the next holiday! We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with family and friends and putting up decorations around the house. Brooke had a great time and is totally fascinated with the 'new toys' that we brought up from downstairs..i.e. all of my decorations. We are just hoping that she doesn't climb up the Christmas tree like her uncle Mike and take the whole thing down :)

Brooke is a Dancing Fool!

Brooke loves to dance! As soon as she hears the music (and sometimes even without music) she will start to rock out! Gary was playing the guitar the other night and she just couldn't contain herself any longer! I tried to get her to keep dancing-but when she is done...she is done! Diva...

On to another week!

Is this what you feel like in the morning...Brooke too. Bed head much??

What a low key weekend we had! Lots of cleaning (both outdoors and in) and organizing-Goodwill loves my family this time of the year! I am sure that you all wished that you lived in my house so you could have partaken in the fabulous festivities-don't be jealous..enjoy the pics!

Brooke got a kick butt backpack from her Aunt Shannan this weekend. It is amazing! It is a turtle back pack and we are only fearful that her cousin Jack will try to steal it. She wore it around all night and didn't take it off until bath time. THANKS AUNT SHANNAN-you rock! Next time I want to go to NKOTB with you though :)


Trying to get a good shot of Brooke outside while Dad was cleaning up leaves-Thank God him and not me!! This was the closest that we got. Brooke figured out that if she kicked her feet, loud noises and parent reaction would happen-this went on for awhile. She refused to look at the camera, though-oh well! We are still loving our puma outfit though-such compliments she gets :)

Back to Blogging

So, it has been almost a week since I have posted an update and I guess I haven't really felt like I had anything 'bloggable' to share. I do have some pictures from over the weekend and that seemed good enough. Here's to hoping that my life picks up a bit!

Brooke and mom headed to the mall on Sunday to get a few errands down (i.e. Aunt Maggie's B-Day present). Who knew that the mall didn't open until 11:00?? I had not clue b/c I honestly never go! So, we hit up the play area at Chesterfield Mall until the stores opened up. Brooke had a FAB time playing with all of the toys and watching all of the kids. She just kept waving to everyone-it was so cute!!

Wednesdays are my day off and last Wednesday it was BEAUTIFUL outside! We are lucky enough to have a park close to our house so Brooke and I hit it up while we could. She got to do her favorite-the swings-but was still fighting a cold so was not too into anything else minus people watching-like mother like daughter!

We promise to update more this week!! I will try and do adventurous things to make sure I have something to share with you all :)

I caved.......

Brooke's new outfit from Aunt Marci-she is totally spoiled :)

So, I was not going to do Halloween this year. I did not want to go door to door trick or treating for candy that the people would know that I was going to eat (do to the obvious fact that my child only has 2 teeth that are 'fully' in...3 almost there). However, after I talked to my sister she convinced me that I could take Brooke out for a little while. I didn't spend any money on a costume, instead using Jack's costume from a few years back. I don't know how much Brooke enjoyed trick or treating, but it was an experience and one that I think she will totally be in to next year.

Lily the Lady Bug and Brooke the monkey girl. Even though she had some fabulous pink shoes on, people still assumed she was a little boy. So, of course, I had to leave the hat off the rest of the time so that her pony tail was in full effect. I need to get a life....

Here comes the monkey girl! This was our trial costume 'run' and she was totally in to it! Bella, on the other hand, was a little freaked out :)

Oh, and by the way, I was totally prepared for ALL the trick or treaters this year since we ran out of candy last year (I still swear that the kids were on walky talkies since we did have king size candy bars). So, the grand total....ZERO. If anyone is in need of a sugar fix, head over to our house b/c I am sure I can help you out...plus it will assist me in not gaining 50 pounds.

Brooke's Birthday-take 2

Brooke's birthday month continued this past weekend with dinner on Saturday night with Grandma and Grandpa Fleming as well as Brooke's Uncle Brian! We had a great time and Brooke was (as usual) on her A game all throughout dinner-such a great 1-year old!

On Sunday, we had a BBQ over at the Flemings house and Brooke had a great time-but was totally exhausted by the time we sang Happy Birthday. She got to play outside and visit with lots of friends and family-including her Favorite Aunt Bridget (told you I would get in that shout out!!).

Thank you to all for making Brooke's First Birthday such a great one!!!! No pun intended :)

Hanging out with Uncle Michael!

With Grandma & Grandpa after dinner on my birthday-many compliments were given on Brooke's Tiger apparel! MU won too!!!

With Uncle Brian-it was so fun having him in town!!

A trip down memory lane...

In honor of Brooke's First Birthday....

Just Born

1 Month Old

2 Months Old

3 Months Old

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

1 Year Old