First Steps and First Lost Tooth

April was full of firsts.  Brooklyn has been walking around the couch, pushing things like her baby stroller, and even walking in her walker a lot lately.

We kept trying to get her to walk on her own but she would just sit down anytime we let go of her hands.  This went on for a while until the other day she just took off!

Emily was holding her hands when I sat down on the floor by her and said, "Come walk to me!"  Brooklyn turned around and took two steps before falling.  We were all in shock that she actually took a step!  The rest of the night we practiced and practiced until she was taking multiple steps.  She was having a lot of fun and would laugh out loud each time she walked to me.  One time I had her walk to Emily and she fell before Emily could catch her.  That was a bad thing because after that she would not walk to Emily at all.  Emily felt so bad that Brooklyn didn't trust her anymore.  I told her not to worry about it and Brooklyn would forget in a minute. Well finally about an hour later, Brooklyn would walk to Emily again.  

We were so excited for Brooklyn and she was so happy to be walking too.  She is still pretty wobbly but she is getting it!

Another first is that Brooklyn finally got her first and second tooth to pop through.  These teeth have been kind of sitting there for a while.  We could hear them with a spoon but we couldn't see them until now.  I can't believe she is a year old and only now getting her first teeth.  

Well Brooklyn got her first teeth and Charlotte lost her first teeth!  I told Charlotte that maybe Brooklyn found her lost teeth and put them in her mouth.  Charlotte didn't really believe me at all.

Charlotte's teeth have been getting more and more wiggly over the last little bit.  Charlotte kept saying that she didn't want to pull out her tooth until after Easter. Finally, after Easter, the first one was so wiggly it was hanging by a thread so we told her it was time.  She was excited but scared.  Russell barely pulled it and it came right out.  Even though it was a relatively easy pull, it was traumatizing to Charlotte.  She was so sad she was crying.  But the tooth was out.  Her first tooth was gone.

The second tooth came out a few days later.  This pull was similar to the last and there were tears but not nearly as many as the first.  I guess she knew what to expect and it wasn't as traumatizing.  Charlotte was really excited for the Tooth Fairy to come and give her some money for her teeth.  Charlotte received $1 for each tooth!  Now she is toothless and loves it.  She was so proud she told her Primary class and Preschool class all about losing her teeth and showed everyone how her tongue can fit through her teeth holes.  She is a nut.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!  We had a great holiday this year. 

As you can see, Brooklyn was so excited to put on her Easter dress and celebrate.  She was so cute just smiling and clapping.

This year I made Brooklyn her own bunny basket for Easter.  It even has her name on it.

She was happy to play with it and put it on her arm.  Of course she would not hold still for even a second so I could get a good picture though.  So they are all blurry.  

Now all of the kids have matching bunny baskets with their names on them.  I wasn't sure what color I should make for Brooklyn.  I only had a limited supply of felt and did really want to go to the store.  I thought about purple but then thought it would be too dark.  Finally I decided on yellow but after I cut it all out, I worried it would look like a big lemon.  When I finally got it put together though, I turned out to be pretty cute.  It is bright but I like it.  Brooklyn likes it too. 

No Easter would be complete without dying eggs!

This was Brooklyn's first time dying eggs and she thought it was the best thing ever.  We stripped her down and then gave her the yellow dye because we figured it would stain the least.  She grabbed an egg and just went to town dunking it in the dye.  Then she dunked her hands and splashed around.  By the time she was done with her three eggs, there was yellow dye everywhere.  Not only were her eggs very yellow, so were her hands, legs, and body!  It was great.

All of the eggs turned out so good.  This year I ran out of liquid food coloring so we tried out my old gel food coloring.  This was actually pretty interesting because the dye seemed to be multi colored leaving the eggs looking a little bit tie-dyed especially the purple color.  I think we will use the gel colors again just because of this cool effect.

On Easter morning, the kids were surprised to find their baskets full of fun things like candy and little toys.

Russell also made us this nice Corn-hole game set.  We have always loved playing Corn-hole and have wanted our own game for a while.

At the city Easter egg hunt, the kids really gathered a lot of eggs and candy.

This was Brooklyn's first time going to the hunt and she didn't really know what to do.  She was happy just sitting there with one or two eggs in her hands and watching everyone else.  She just sat and shook the eggs and smiled.  I gathered her a few more eggs to put in her basket.  Meanwhile, Charlotte grabbed a bunch of eggs in her age group area.

The boys really cleaned up in their age group and gathered a bunch of eggs.  They even climbed trees in order to find hidden eggs.  Unfortunately, Emily is too old now to join in the fun of the egg hunt so she got to just watch with the adults.  Oh well sorry Emily...

Before leaving the park, we had to get a picture with the Easter Bunny.  We were happy this Easter Bunny looked normal, not like the creepy bunny in St. George. 

At home, the kids were excited to do their own Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard.

Russell and I threw out a bunch of eggs for the kids and they had to wait their turn to come out.  Brooklyn was first and we just let her crawl around for a while.  She would crawl to an egg, shake it, sit there for a minute, and then crawl to another one.  After like 5 minutes of this, the older kids were freaking out wanting to come outside.  So we stalled for a little bit more before letting them come out.  The eggs were gathered pretty quickly once everyone was outside.  It is amazing how fast they can pick up eggs all over the yard but if you ask them to pick up their toys in the house, they cannot do it.

They all gathered on the trampoline to see what all they got in the eggs.  There was of course a ton of candy so they were all excited about that.

Brooklyn was just excited about all of the colorful eggs.  She just wanted to be covered in them and kick her feet in them. It was like a ball pit for her.

On Sunday I tried out a new recipe called egg blossoms.  They are little rolls in the shape of a flower with a dyed egg in the middle.  The rolls were really good especially with homemade chicken noodle soup.

We had a great Easter holiday.  We are happy to celebrate with these fun activities but we know the true reason for this Easter season is because of the Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.  That ultimate sacrifice and love is the greatest gift we have been given in our lives.  I hope we can always remember the true meaning of Easter and remember that Christ rose again on the third day so that he could overcome death.  He did this so that we could also be Resurrected and live with Him again if we are true and faithful and repent of our sins. What a great blessing!

Happy First Birthday, Brooklyn!

Brooklyn is ONE!  Where does the time go!  In one year Brooklyn has grown from this little 7 lb 6 oz 19 inch long baby:

To this cute 22 lb 2 oz (81 %ile) 28.5 inch (23 %ile) long baby girl!  I can't believe how much she has grown, changed, and progressed!

Isn't she the cutest thing ever!!  Brooklyn is just growing so fast and her personality is coming out more and more each day.  She is such a happy baby.  Nothing really bugs her unless her siblings try to take away her things or maul her. 

We had a really fun birthday for Brooklyn.  First we started the day by going to see the baby animals at the American West Heritage Center during their Baby Animal Days. While we were there, Brooklyn showed everyone that she was one by pointing her finger.

Brooklyn's favorite baby animals were the baby ducklings.  She loved holding them and petting them.  The ducklings were so soft and cuddly!

The chicks and ducks have always been my favorite too. All of the kids had a good time holding them and petting them.

On our way to see the other animals, the boys stopped to drive a couple of tractors.

Another favorite animal was the baby turtles.  These little guys were so small!  They fit right in the palm of your hand and tickled when they crawled around.  During Baby Animal Days, Emily got to volunteer at the center for the first time.  She helped with the pioneer site and with the baby turtles.  Because of this, she was able to tell us all about the little turtles.

We also saw the baby goats, cows, and piglets.  Brooklyn loved petting all of them.  This was a fun way to spend her first birthday.

On the way out we got some cotton candy and Charlotte just went to town eating it.  Before long, she was covered in cotton candy and super sticky. 

This picture was not taken on Brooklyn's birthday but it was a funny picture so I added it here.  While we were shopping for her birthday presents, we clipped her binky onto the stroller so it wouldn't get lost or dirty.  Well Brooklyn found it dangling there in front of her so she grabbed it and stuck it in her mouth.  All throughout the store, this is what she looked like with her binky in her mouth.  What a nut!

Anyway back to the birthday... After leaving Baby Animal Days, we headed home to get ready for her party.

We kept it pretty simply with just us and our neighbors, the Sunada's.  That was fine with Brooklyn because she was happy being the center of attention.  First we opened presents:

Brooklyn had a lot of help opening her presents because her older siblings got a little impatient waiting for her to figure out how to rip the paper.  Oh well, she was happy to let them open the presents as long as she got the stuff inside.  She received some new books, a ball, clothes, and a new car seat. She loves reading her new books.

Next it was time for cake!

After singing "Happy Birthday," we let Brooklyn loose on her cake.  At first she wasn't sure what she should do so she tentatively tasted the cake.  Then when she realized how good it was and that no one was taking it from her, she dug right in.

It was definitely a good smash cake!  By the time she was done, there was cake all over the place.  She was covered, her tray was covered, and there was even some on the floor.  Brooklyn thought this was the best thing ever.  Just look at that face!

These are the two cakes I made for her birthday.  Brooklyn got the little bear cake to smash while the rest of us got a piece of the big teddy bear cake.  Both were delicious and turned out really cute. 

Brooklyn also loved her balloons.  She bopped them and shook them all around.  She thought they were so fun.

Happy birthday Cute Girl!  You are such a blessing to our family and we don't know what we would do without you.  We love you so much!