Tonight was a big night at our house.  Our baby girl isn't a baby anymore.  She took a huge step towards becoming a big girl tonight.  Boo-hoo and hip-hip hooray all at the same time.  

We can't have any more babies, so this is it.  

We are crib free FOREVER.  

It's sad and happy all at the same time.  

After Chloe had her cup of water for her night stand (yes, Stephanie and Keven, I did say I'd never let my kids have water by their bed), snuggled with her brother and said her prayers (which I need to record and post someday) she was ready for lights out.  No tears and no negotiating.  She rocks.

Chloe loved her big girl bed and and BLESS HER HEART  didn't get out of bed once.  Before falling asleep she yelled out "daddy...daddy...daddy" until Greg went in and got her her baby to sleep with.  Then she yelled out "daddy...daddy...daddy" a few minutes later until Greg went in her room and took her baby away from her (at Chloe's request, of course) and put the baby to bed in the baby's bed next to her big girl bed.

She's sleeping soundly now and I'm sure feeling pretty special that she's finally a big girl.  Little does she know that she's not really a big girl yet.  Potty training is next.

Goodnight.

If I sent out a Christmas card I absolutely would not send the first picture because quite honestly that would be too fake.  

The second picture, however, would be just perfect.

Merry Christmas from my Super Hero's.

The blogging has taken a back seat to something called LIFE.  Wow, things are busy around here.  Between school, speech, swimming lessons, Community Bible Study, staying in shape and trying to be a working mom, I've found little time for blogging.  Since I write this blog as my children's baby book/scrapbook, I will do my best to back up and report to you (and them someday) what we've been up to.

Chloe is still 100% diva and is just about the most adorable little girl we know.  Lately, she's been insisting she's a boy.  So when we tell her that she's such a pretty girl she gets  upset with us and screams that she's actually a boy.  

She doesn't say "actually" though. She "actually" doesn't say much and until a couple of weeks ago I was starting to worry a little bit.  I worried mostly because Brooks was a genius child and was reciting chapters of books at this age (well, not really but pretty close). 

This week though, she's begun to speak much more clearly.  Yeah! Her favorite sentence is "NO WAY".  She replies "NO WAY" to almost everything.  She says it so much that Brooks told me the other day that he is "so sick of hearing Chloe say NO WAY."  And to that comment from her brother Chloe would most definitely say "NO WAY!"  We think it's darling and will proclaim that as her first real sentence.  She had one other sentence much earlier on, but it's not appropriate to talk about on the blog (no swearing or anything like that, just something that might make you think we are goofy and we wouldn't want that! wink, wink.)

 We had a fabulous birthday party in November for an even more fabulous sister.  We were thrilled to honor my sister Stephanie at our house for a super fun night of games, food and stories about our favorite girl.  Brooks had a secret date with his Ti-Ti in the bathroom and came out with some tattoos on his back.  Yes, this is the whole package.  This kind of stuff is why he loves his Ti-Ti, I'm sure.

Do you want to know what true love looks like?  See below.  Steph is such a good mom.

 During the party Brooks had tons of fun playing Wii with the boys.  He fit right in with the older kids.  They were so nice to him.  It's neat to watch him learn social skills and master the art of taking turns and getting along.  Lakeview Christian Academy is worth every penny to us.  He's learned so much about loving Jesus and so much about becoming a polite young man who kids want to be around.  It's such a blessing to watch him make friends.

 And my little girl boy Chloe loves her guns.  What a doll cowboy.

Daddy's little helper.

That's my kid!

It's been a fan--tas---tic Fall.  It's the middle of November and Brooks was outside today without a jacket!  It's warm and sunny and pretty tropical for Duluth, MN.  We are loving  it and are going to try to remember how beautiful the Fall was when it is April and we still---have---snow (boo).

We had some friends over on Sunday.  It was a blast.  The kids played together perfectly and having four around instead of two actually seemed easier than having just our two.  Brooks  told me he wishes we could have another baby.  No chance of that here.  Poor kid, he's so deprived.  I told him we can have babies come and visit.

  

He's already forgotten about wanting a baby. 

Now he's onto wanting super powers that would let him see inside of people and a grey Batman costume.

During our time with friends we loved watching the girls be girls and the boys be boys.  

It's amazing, really.

Brooks is a busy boy. On top of school three full days a week, he attends speech therapy twice a week. He's learning to say his "s" more clearly. It's starting to work when he's rested. When he's tired, not so much. He's been a great student so far. He's trying hard to make his tongue a cup and is getting much better at keeping his tongue behind his teeth.

We skipped trick-or-treating this year.  The kids had no clue.  Brooks had swimming lessons and quite honestly it seems like Halloween every day at our house.  Brooks does not go one day without multiple costume changes.  The best part of it all?  He thinks (really believes) that we have no idea who he really is when he is dressed in costume.  

Recently, after running around the house for an evening in his Spiderman costume Brooks called my dad (his Opa) aside to whisper something in his ear.  

What did he whisper you ask?  

"Opa, don't tell anyone, but it's really me...Brooks...under here!"

(I am sure my dad fell in love AGAIN at that exact moment.)

We did have a chance this past weekend to attend trunk-or-treat at our Auntie's church.  What a great idea.  No traffic, cars close together allowing less walking for a two-year old, daylight, quick, minimal candy and lots of fun letting the kids run free.

I think Chloe won the award for the cutest Batgirl they've ever seen.  At least if there was a contest, she'd of gotten an award.  I'm sure of it.  She's such a diva and loved her pleather Batgirl outfit.  

Mostly she loved being just like Brother.

  

She adores her Brooks.

This is Auntie Linda.  She loves Angry Birds.  Just ask her Carpal-tunnel Syndrome about it!

Now that I can blog from my phone, I can easily share my phone pics! Yeah! It's the small things these days that make me so happy. At church on Sunday our pastor talked about stress and worry. My new goal is to trust Him and find joy in everything. Because really, He's in control so why waste time taking things into my own hands. Right? Right.

Enough about that. Here are some sweet pictures from a recent fall festival we went to. We had fun. It was perfect for a two and four year old and very simple. Sometimes simple is just better.

Test...test...
Two awesome things tonight.
Coffee with Tamika.
Learned to blog from phone.
Love this girl.