One year...and then some

I know its been forever since I have blogged. I have so much to catch up on. I just wanted to jot down a few things that have happened over the last ummm....7 months? I think thats the last time I blogged.

Lilly has turned one year. This year flew by. This little girl brings me more joy than anything. I KNEW she was supposed to come to our family, and she completes us. She has such a spunky personality.

Lilly Paige Brooksby,

Oh how I love you. I love your beautiful blue eyes. I love your smile. I live your sweet little teeth, and how they show with each smile. I love how you are hooked on your mama. You would choose me over anyone, and I love that. You adore every single one of your siblings. Whenever you see Ashton, you get so excited and SCREAM "AAAAAAAAAA", he makes you laugh your little belly off. Boston tends to drive you crazy. He likes to get in your way, or knock you down. Sometimes you think its pretty funny, other times, you cry and push him away, but he always makes you smile. You have a special bond with your sister. When I ask you "where is sissy?" you look around the room saying "where, where?" YOU LOVE RYLEE. Rylee loves to take you into your room and play with you for a good hour or so. Gives me a break, and I can often hear you laughing over the monitor.

You are THISCLOSE to walking. You cruise furniture. You finally crawl like a normal person. You did an army crawl for the longest time, and honestly, as cute as it was, I hated it. You got so dirty. Maybe it was a good reminder that I don't shampoo my carpets, or mop my floors often enough.

You love cell phones. You will take mine, hold it up to your ear and say "Ello, Hi".

I think you are obsessed with Beau. You love him. You love when he licks your little baby face. You love to stand at the back windown and watch him outside. You love to sit in front of his kennel and say "beau, beau" I think it was a good choice to get a puppy.

Your hair is out of control. We do piggies, ponies, and headbands. Headbands last about 10 minutes if we are lucky.

You don't like babyfood anymore. You eat pretty much anything, but you have a secret love affair for watermelon and yogurt. You also love strawberries, banannas, cucumbers and avacodo. Not a fan of grapes.

You FINALLY sleep aobut 10-11 hours at night. Heaven sent I tell ya. It feels so good to get sleep again. This was a long long long 10 months of no sleep.

You no longer breastfeed. I weaned you at 11 1/2 months. You take bottles and sippy cups well. You love milk.

You are pretty dang good at sign language. You know milk, shoes, eat, please, thank you, more, all done, daddy....I think that may be it. You are a smartie pants.

You love shoes, and want to try my shoes on all day.

You pull hair, and it hurts. Not sure what to do about this one.

Pretty sure you are the most spoiled baby ever, but also the most stylish.

Your birthday was fun. We went to Pizza Factory, and then came home for cake and ice cream. You did not love your cake, after a few pinches of frosting you were DONE. Pictures to come soon.

You take atleast 2 naps a day. Love this.

I feel very blessed to be your mother. You make me smile every single day. No matter how tired, exhausted, or upset I get, you make me smile. Being a mother is such a neat thing to experience.

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Need to blog:

Lagoon

Bostons birthday (the big four years old)

Ashtons menchies birthday (seven years old)

Our move

Getting a puppy

Preschool graduation

and...lots lots more :)

twinners???

a) b)

c)

d)

Just some pictures. Many people have said that Lilly has her own look, doesn't look like her sister...I beg to differ. These are pictures of Rylee as a baby and Lilly as a baby. They look so similar! Lilly is going to look like Rylee as she gets bigger/older. I have to precious little princess' on my hand. Can you guess who is who?

This teeny tiny little nugget.....

Is NOT so teeny tiny anymore. She was sick this last week. I took her to the doctor on 1/10/11 (3 days before she turned 5 months old) and she weighed in at a whoppin 19 pounds 13 ounces. Oh how I miss the days of carrying her around in her carseat, and she was oh so light!! Now, its hard for me to carry her, without the carseat! She is one hefty little mama :)

A few things about Lilly Lou that I always want to remember:

- she is a total mama's girl. She can be screaming, but the second she see's her mommy, she knows she is safe. LOVE THIS.

- she fits into a size 4 diaper. Yikes! I never have had a baby wear past size 4, but Lilly just may....

- Lilly does not like fruit!

- I finally got Lilly to like squash, peas, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes and avacodos. She definatly does not have a liking for sweet stuff (pretty sure this trait does not come from her daddy!)

-she has rolled over a handful of times, but prefers to lay on her back.

-she is a very chill baby.

-Lilly loves her big brother and sister, she lights up when they talk to her.

-Boston isn't the most gentle boy around, so he is a little too rough with Lil at times. I'm sure she'll learn her own defense quickly.

-She sleeps in her crib, in Rylee's room.

-She usually wakes only once a night, but lately, with her being sick, its been a lot more frequent.

-Lilly loves her jumperoo. Loves Loves Loves it.

-She is the most precious and adorable thing ever! She has some MAJOR thunder thighs, but we couldn't love them more! She is able to brighten anyones day, with her HUGE, open mouth smile. It makes me smile, just to think about it.

-Lilly is still 100% breastfed. She eats atleast 6 times a day, then baby food one time a day. I love breastfeeding her, its our time together.

-Lilly usually ends up in my bed by morning time. She wakes in the night, I feed her and then bring her to bed with me. We snuggle :)

-Boston will ask to hold her and when I say no he says "but she's my best friend"

-Lil got spoiled for Christmas, but can't play with any of the toys she received...but this next year as she grows, she has many things waiting for her!

Lilly, Please stop growing. You are our last baby, and I an enjoying you being my little chubs. I love your smiles, your giggles (lately, I have been the only one to make you laugh), I love your snuggles, your snorts (remember she's sick ) and your chubby thunder thighs. Please please please stop growing!

A new year, a new me?

I have been trying to think of a personal goal, for me, as a mother to work on through out this new year. I always have the main goals: read my scriptures more often, pray, have more patience with my family, eat healthier, exercise, work harder on a consistent FHE...those type of goals, but I needed a goal for me. A goal that I personally, as a wife and mother, could work on each day to better myself, and in turn better those around me.

Do you remember that part in the movie Gone with the Wind when Scarlet has just had her baby and is upset because Mammy can only get her corset laced up to 21 inches instead of her pre-pregnancy 19 inches?
Mammy tells her "Honey Child, you done had a baby, you ain't never gun be a 19 inches again"
I believe and think these are some of the wisest words of the entire show. These words keep going through my mind again and again.
My little Lilly, who is 5 months old, and my body is still not back to where it was before I had her, or before I was pregnant with her, I guess I should say. Even though, I quickly dropped my weight gain that I had during pregnancy (nursing works wonders to do that), but my body is still differnt. I'm sure you can't really tell, by just looking at me, but I know. My hips are a tad wider, my chest is more saggy, my core muscles aren't quite as tight, I constantly have bags under my eyes...and the list goes on.
I have to keep reminding myself "Meghan child, you done had FOUR babies. Your body ain't never gun a be the same again"
It has taken me lots of years to come to terms with it, but it is true. No matter how hard I try, my body is never going to be the same as it was before I had my precious babies. My children are literally parts of myself and they exist because my body sacrificed blood, cells, calcium, iron, and a million other things to helpt them grow and develop. I am literally missing pieces of my body that I will never be ablet og et back because they are now walking, talking, breathing, laughing, crying, and living in the form of FOUR beautiful, precious children. Becoming a mother, even if you don't physically give birth to a child, requires a HUGE sacrifice from your body and your spirit. It is a sacrifice, that according to Elder Bruce C Hafen and his wife Marie K Hafen, greatly paralles the sacrifice made by our savior, they said
"Just as a mothers body may e permanetly marked with the signs of pregnancy and childbirth, the savious said "I have graven upon the palms of my hands (1 Ne. 21:15-16). For both a mother and the Savior, those marks memorialize a wrenching sacrifice, the sacrifice of begetting life, for her, physical birth; for him, spiritual rebirth"
It gives me strength to remember that just as Christ bears marks in his hands, feet and side as symbols of his blood sacrifice; I too have marks that bear testimony to my sacrifice of blood and my willigness to bring life into the world. I find strength to go forward with my mothering by remembering that just as Christ's body was resurrected, making him complete physically and spiritually, that my body is constantly renewing itself, and that one day, I too, will be complete, physically, and spirtually. I also know that my joy is more full, because of my sweet babies, and because of the sacrifice I have made, life will go forward and my family will go on eternally.
So for all you mothers out there, I offer this goal. Remember to rejoice in your stretch marks, or bags under your eyes, your wider hips, your love handles....be grateful for your extra weight, accept your c-section scar, and find joy in your tired bags under your eyes, and remember they are a symbol of sacrifice.
And for all you women who are struggling with loving and accepting who you are. I want to remind you that anything or anyone that belittles, exploits, demeans, or mistrusts your body, is not from God. Your body is beautiful and mind boggling. It so deeply symbolizes Christ. Also remember in the eternal perpective of things Frankly my dear, no one will give a damn if you had a 19 inch waist or not :)

Lilly Paige Brooksby just turned 4 months old. 4 months?!?! Where the heck did time go?! This sweet girl has me wanting to remember so much about her.

• She has the biggest smile. She can light up any room.
• Her hair is still way fuzzy, and she hasn't lost hardly any hair. (not that she has alot to loose tho)
• I have yet to leave her with a baby sitter. She's my side kick.
• She wears a size 3 diaper
• She can fit into clothes up til 9 months. She still fits into some 3-6 months, but most are 6-9 months
• She is 18 pounds 3 ounces
• She is 25 inches tall
• She recently got her ears pierced and was amazing, hardly a fuss!
• She doesn't like rice cereal, tried once, and she gagged then puked. Guess I'll wait a bit.
• She has yet to sleep completly through the night...like 12 hours...like my last 3 babies were doing by this age.
• She is on a good schedule of eating every 3 hours during the day, and every 5 hours at night time
• she loves to cuddle (I like this too!)
• She doesn't love the bumbo
• She gets so excited and kicks her chubby little legs, when she hears the bath water running. She loves bath time!
• She loves to sleep on my bed.
• She lights up when she sees Rylee. She loves her sister. Its so cute the way Rylee cares for Lilly too!
• She loves her swing. My other kids didn't love their swings, and had definatly outgrown it by 4 months old. Not Lilly. She loves this thing.
• She is perfectly content to lay on a blanket and listen to soft soothing music.
• She loves to suck on her wrist.
• She is a binki baby. Loves the paci!
• She is usually found wearing a big flower bow on her head. I love them!
• She can roll belly to back, but not back to belly.
• She is a mama's girl.
• She is still 100% breastfed, and doing great at it.
• She has had 3 horrible colds in her short 4 months of life. I hate when my babies get sick!
• She is very loved and I couldn't imagine life with out her!

Lilly, please stay little forever? I love you sweet girl! Now, lets learn how to sleep through the night!

Criss Cross Applesauce

I just wanted to document this. Lilly has talent. She crosses her toes on BOTH feet. She crosses her middle toe with the one right next to it. It makes me laugh so much. Funny story about it. While at the hospital just after having Lilly, the nurses gave me a cute scrapbook page with her feet prints on it. The nurse had stated "now these are her real foot prints, not a stamp that we have" I just thought ok...nothing of it. Well a few minutes later I picked up the page, and noticed that there were only 4 toe prints on each foot. I asked the nurse (just to make sure) if these were her foot prints. She replies yes. I got kinda worried and asked if my baby only has 4 toes. We had to check to make sure...and come to find out she has all 5 toes, but just crosses her little toes so only 4 stamped down! 3 months later, she still crosses them!

Halloween 2010

This year for Halloween, we had IRONMAN, SLEEPING BEAUTY, PINK JAGUAR, and a SKELETON! We had a lot of fun trick or treating. We did our ward trunk or treat on Friday, then on Saturday we went with Jeremy and Hydie around their neighborhood. It was alot of fun, and the kids got lots of yummy treats. We planned on taking the candy to the dentist to cash in for money,but daddy paid the kids all $5.00 and kept the candy for himself ! Smart guy!