12 Weeks: Another Checkup

I had my 12 week checkup this past Wednesday, and again, all is well. I whined to the doctor a bit about my continued nausea and acidic-nasty-mouth-taste. She suggested I try something like Pepcid to help. I was so excited for a possible solution that I practically ran right after my appointment and got some. Since I felt so gross, I also popped the container open while in the store and had one. I've tried it a couple of times over the past few days and have not had any sort of change. Arrrh.

The doctor also told me that I'm experiencing sciatic pain and round ligament pain. More fun. She assured me that these symptoms would likely go away over the coming weeks, but that (of course) they would be replaced with other things. So, in not those exact words, she told me it isnt going to get much better :)

I'm nearing the end of the first trimester. While the time goes by quickly, I have felt rotten enough that each day has been a bit of a struggle. I'm looking forward to what the coming weeks will bring!

I Knew It Was Too Quiet

Brooke was hanging out by herself and was awfully quiet. I figured I
should check in on her. She had pulled every item out of my
wallet ... And, yes, that's a dog leash around her neck.

Lots Of Bows

I just mentioned a few days ago that I wished Brooke would leave a
barette in her hair. She actually is getting a lot better though ... A
drastic improvement over a month or so ago.

You can see from the pics we took at the studio that she was wearing a
barette, and you probably notice a barette or two in other recent pics.

Today she found a package of barettes her grandma gave her and wanted
me to put one in. Well, that's what I thought she wanted at least.
Actually, she wanted me to put them ALL in. I put in three and ran
out of room ;)

18 Month Pics

It took us a while to get in and get Brooke's 18 month pics, but we did it today. After pics we went out to lunch with Uncle Brad, which was the thrill of Brooke's whole week. Perhaps her whole month, in fact.

Here are a couple of pics from today...

We tried to get her to smile and she wasnt buying it.
So we said "show your teeth" ... and she did just that :)

And here she is practicing her sweet-n-innocent pose. What an actress.

Finally Getting It ...

It took a long time, but Brooke finally seems to understand the point
of sunglasses ... Now we just have to work on the whole barette thing.

Zoo Trip

It was a nice day and Brooke (and I) were a bit stir crazy. Her activity level is through the roof and it can be challenging to find enough in a day to keep her busy and entertained. I decided it was time we made our first zoo trip of the year!

Brooke was excited to be there from the beginning, immediately requesting so see the monkeys (by shouting "oohhhh ohhhh oohhhh" from the stroller as we entered the zoo gate). We went right to the monkeys, followed by the gorillas.


After the gorillas, Brooke kept making cow and pig noises. Luckily, the zoo has a farm section too ... so we head off to her next "request". She was a bit challenging the whole trip, insisting on walking (versus riding in the stroller). If I put her into the stroller she would have a fit, but when I let her walk she was all over the place ... often playing keep-away-from-mommy. The farm was a pretty good place to be because it wasnt crowded and it was separate from the rest of the zoo. I let her roam on her own with only a couple of incidents (both involving that wonderful keep-away game).


Here she is, cruising along, trying to pretend like she doesnt know who I am. I thought they didnt start doing this until they were teenagers ... but I guess I was wrong ;)


We ended our day looking at some fish and statues of hippos (which Brooke assumed were alligators for some reason).

In the picture on the right she isnt clapping ... she is "chomping" like an alligator. She was quite smitten with the "alligators" and gave the Momma one a kiss, but I didnt capture that action shot!

Tree Hugger

The other day when Brooke was picking the buds off our new flowers, she also made friends with a tree in the neighbors yard. It must have been a really nice tree, because she gave it both a hug AND a kiss ... things she does not offer up very freely.


In addition to her new tree friend, Brooke was pretty thrilled with all of the sticks a recent storm had scattered all over the yard. She found quite a few of them that were much bigger than her, but that didnt stop her from taking them for a little walk.

New Bloom

Our flowers are blooming ... and if Brooke continues to pick them we
won't get to see them past the bud stage ;)

9 Weeks: 1st Photo

Today I went to the doctor for a 9 week checkup. Right now, Brooke's little sibling is about the size of a grape...
But looks more like this...

The doctors visit went well. They took four VIALS of my blood, which was fun. In addition to a whole bunch of Q&A, we did a little photo shoot ... and I got to see the hearbeat. All is well and only 31 more weeks, or 217 days, to go (insert evil laugh mixed with sobs here).