just....exhausted...

SERIOUSLY...I am exhausted! This week has been...well...THE WEEK FROM HE**!!

The Fleming family has been so, so busy. We are THIS CLOSE to being finished with the basement (thank goodness) and I am slowly but surely adjusting to my new schedule at work. My sister and I are also doing a 'co-op' of sorts so once a week I get all three kiddos and vs. versa. It is GREAT because I really think that they all do like being together and I also think it is going to make them so much closer as they get older. So today while I was with the little angels, I decided (quite intelligently) that I should take them all for a walk! The day was BEAUTIFUL and why not take full advantage of it while we can-it could be 20 degrees tomorrow right?? My sister has a double stroller so I began the 'process' there. I first loaded up Lily as she would be sitting captain in the front. She was so excited!! Jack went in next to sit in the back seat. He did great getting in, but then was extremely upset when his shoes (crocks) kept coming off (well don't kick them off right??!!) Once I had the brother and sister team in place I went back for the single. Brooke was going to be riding with me-literally on me in a baby carrier. She has only been in one once when she was younger, but she did a pretty good job. Once we got moving, the party started. We had only made it to the first neighbors house when Lily was totally over having socks on-go figure right? It is almost May...I didn't realize that I had lost two socks (and cute ones no less) until we were on our way back-don't worry Amy, I saved them :) We honestly only walked two streets as I couldn't breathe and it was not because I am out of shape (which I am), but I cannot manage almost 17.5 pounds on the front while managing 40 + pounds of stroller-who do women do it!! We got home and I then had to figure out how to get them all inside. Jack hopped off and ran through the door-great I thought-one down. I then had a dilemma, I couldn't pick up Lily with the baby carrier on, so I would have to put Brooke down first. I quickly opened the front door and took off the carrier-it had not been even 10 seconds when Jack FREAKED OUT! He sees that I am taking Brooke out of her carrier, but could still see Lily through the storm door (and I quote)

Jack- "LILY!!" Kwely....LILY!!!"
Me-"Yes, Jack I know-I am not leaving Lily I just have to take Brooke off of me first ok?"
Jack-"NO...LILY!!!"

He finally calmed down when I went to get Lils. Keep in mind, this all lasted under 30 seconds, but he was honestly afraid I was just going to shut that door and leave her outside :)

Ahh...brotherly love...even though Jack does push the girls, step on them and such, he really, really does LOVE the women in his life!! He is too GREAT!

Lastly, I wanted to give a SHOUT OUT to my youngest sister Maggie who has been a source of TREMENDOUS love and support and help with Brooke ever since she was born. She especially has been helpful as of late and I don't know what I would do with out her (and I better figure it out b/c she is headed to Ohio in the Fall...:( Thanks Muggie!! OH-and CONGRATS ON YOUR LAST DAY OF HIGH SCHOOL!!

OK, that wasn't really lastly, because I also want to send a HUGE THANKS to my mom-in law who also has been SO AWESOME since Brooke arrived and especially lately-your the best (I know she is reading this :)!!

Teething...

So, Brooke is TOTALLY teething and is officially MISERABLE! I feel just terrible for her :( She has been doing such a phenomenal job sleeping in her crib 95% of the night up until last night. She woke up at around midnight just screaming in pain...you know how you can tell the difference between an "I'm hungry" cry vs. "I want attention"? Well this was 100% "I"M IN PAIN PEOPLE" cry. We gave her some Motrin but it only helped somewhat. She wanted to cuddle with us and she was waking up (and therefore I was waking up) every 30 minutes. She has been religiously chewing on everything and anything that she can get in her little mouth and the drool is like a faucet...but no teeth yet. Last night-by far-was the worst night in terms of her being in such distress..

For all of you Moms & Dads out there-are there any tell tale signs (or old wives tales) that can give you a clue as to when those teeth are going to pop through?? My doctor says that with the two bottom teeth-you don't even really see them coming in until they actually break through. I am more inclined, though, to listen to first hand experience :) Feel free to let me know or to give any advice on how to beat these teething pains!!!

OK-so even though this picture has NOTHING to do with Brooke teething, isn't it just a funny one of Brooke & Bella? I mean, they will get no closer for a picture together! They both look sooo serious-like, "I only want MY picture take" "I DO NOT want to share the SPOTLIGHT!" Love them both to bits!!

6 Months!

Brooke's 6 Month Birthday is today! We have had a pretty exciting and busy week so here are some pictures to share :)

We started to show Brooke a sippy-cup to see if she liked it-so far it is more of a toy then a drinking device..but we are working on it

Meet Brooke's newest friend Lauren-they were just getting to know one another in the above picture...Lauren is totally showing Brooke who is boss! As you can see, though, by the end of the day, they were best gal pals! We cannot wait to play again!!!

Has anyone else had the "Bisphenol A" issue happen at their home? Well, the Fleming household had to 'clean house' after discovering that ALL of Brooke's bottles were 'Bisphenoled.' THANK YOU to our friend Lindsay who helped us to discover this-Brooke is now Bisphenol free!!! We purchased all new bottles-BORN FREE Brand (highly recommend)...don't worry, all bottles were recycled :)

Aren't they CUTE??!! Grandma J bought all of the kids Mickey (Jack) and Minnie Mouse (Brooke & Lily) hats from Disney Land. They LOVE them-Jack especially loves wearing his backwards :) Although they all look serious-they were loving on their new gifts!!

I got a couple new pictures of Brooke outside today-for her 6 month birthday. It was not easy, though, as Brooke woke up tis morning not feeling so hot. I think that she had a 24 hour stomach bug-luckily, she is now starting to feel A LOT better!! We went outside for about 5 minutes before it looked like the sky was going to open up and here are a couple of pictures of miss 6 months!

I hope that everyone has a GREAT weekend!!!

P*A*R*T*Y

Jack had is 2nd Birthday today and we had a blast! He got TONS of amazing toys and my sister and her husband did a PHENOMENAL job with everything :) I think we have decided, though, on a possible joint birthday party for the girls-it is a lot of work!I have also decided that Brooke doesn't really need any cool toys when she gets older because she was totally fascinated by this water bottle her uncle Matt had for ever! The little things in life...


On of the COOLEST toys that Jack got yesterday was a ball pit from his Grandma & Grandpa Johnson. His cousin Lannah already has one of these and Jack was SuPeR jealous-it was only fitting that the Grandparents would get one for his Bday. When he opened up the gift, he was SOOO excited he starting clapping and then literally climbed inside of the box head first!! I thought that he was going to get stuck! We were finally able to put all of the balls int he pit (the kiddos were a big help) and then Jack dove in and I didn't think that he was ever going to come out - I seriously think that he would sleep in there if his parents would let him...if only there was a zipper on that door....

Jack and his new 'best friend' Molly..I seriously LOVE this girl! She is too CUTE! She came up to me while I was feeding Brooke and asked, "What are we feeding the baby today?" I responded, "Butternut Squash." and Molly says, "Butternut Squash...I think I will go look out the window now..." What?!?! Too cute! She also told Jack "Whatever.." when he got upset when she took his toy...totally BA! Love her!!!

There was also the CUTEST little baby boy there named Colin. He is two weeks older then Lily (one month older then Brooke). He had an awesome shirt on that said, "Lock up your daughters" and although I tried, Brooke and Lily were already fighting it out for his attention. Lily was in the lead smiling and batting her lashes, so Brooke took it a step further and just took off her clothes-she is very forward...OK-she was really hot...she tends to sweat easily...but you could take it either way. I think that she caught Colin's eye :)

Also today, Brooke had her 6 MONTH doctors appointment. She had to get a few more shots, but she took them like a champ. She didn't even cry too much (although I'm sure that the little bit of Tylenol I gave didn't hurt either!). She is 25 3/4 inches tall (only the 40%...) and she weighed in at 17 pounds 12 ounces (90%). Watch out!! The doctor thinks, though, that she will thin out eventually :)

Lastly....Brooke totally slept in HER bed last night for over 4 hours!! HUGE in our house!! She is getting better and better and I am just having to let her cry a bit (which is hard) but I think that she can do it :)

OUT

A few new pictures!

Brooke & Daddy in her favorite outfit...

Yes, Mom put my hair in a ponytail, robe and made me pose...

Mom & Dad's friend Miguel comes in town for a visit!!!

Not quite sure what the face is Brooke's putting on :)


Hope Everyone Has a GREAT Weekend :)

I feel the Earth Move...under my Feet...

Did you all feel that earthquake??

So, we were TOTALLY in an earthquake last night-BIZZARE! All of the sudden, around 4:oo am Bella started freaking out in our room as the entire bedroom started to shake. Gary and I were obviously awakend and he starts to get mad at me because apparently, I must have turned the air conditioner on (which he told me not to do...which he really NEVER told me not to do...so I don't know what he was talking about) which had caused the entire house to shake. He turned the air conditioner off which stopped the shaking. So we thought...the news came on at 5:00 a.m. and let us know that there was an earth quake..so much for our air conditioner causing the entire city to shake..one powerfull cooling device huh? All in all, Brooke made it through her first (and hopefully last) earthquake without even knowing it :)

The weekend that was....

We really don't get out all that much-especially together-usually if one is going to be out on the town, the other will stay home with Brooke. Last weekend, though, was my sisters Birthday and the first one in which is was not pregnant in the last two years-poor thing :) So, we both decided to head out for the evening. We brought Brooke over to Amy & Joes where my AWESOME cousins Lynn, her BF and Johnny babysat all three kiddos-they kind of rock... The 4 of us headed to the casino-which FYI, I have never been to a casino so it was kind of a big deal for me...not really into gambling..total tightwad.. When we got there, the bar that we wanted to go to that has live music on Saturdays was already packed and they were not letting anyone in, so we decided we would just head to the actual casino to see what that was all about-at least I wanted to know what it was all about...like do they really have slot machines that you pull levers on or are those just in the movies...

Anyways, I was totally pumped to take some pictures of my sis on her big 2 9...this needed to be documented right? Well, no sooner had I taken three quick snapshots, when a 'security guard' aka not a police man, came over to me and told me I had to "tear up those photographs." What is this 1982?? Did he think that I had a Polaroid camera that I could just rip up the pictures I just took?? I let him know that I could not destroy them as they were taken on a digital camera (this was probibly a forgien language to him). My sister also let him know that he "COULD NOT " take my camera from me as there were pictures on there of my daughters birth...so embarrassing!! He then informed me that he would watch me delete them-so, he did just that (and he did let me know that he really liked the pictures that I had on there of my husbands speakers...what??). So, unfortunately, I can not share the amazingness of this place with you all as there was this 'policy.' However, outside their walls, pictures are a plenty and we took many...
Here is just a taste...

Oh, and for anyone that is interested in knowing, casinos are on water (not under water) and they do not have to be on reservations...those who were there know what I am saying :)

The next day, we all went over to my parents house to have 'birthday dinner' for Amy and it was quite a good time. The girls LOVED the bouncer at G-Ma's and Jack was hamming it up for the camera all night-no surprise there...Can't wait for Jacks BIG 2nd BDAY this weekend!

Brooke and the Gipper (aka Grandpa J)

Brooke & Grammy & Aunt Muggie