Dancing Queen

Brooke's latest thing is dancing. I wish I knew how to put videos on here so I could display her amazing talent. Whenever there's music (and even when there's not music) she moves her hips and shoulders back and forth. Every now and then she throws her arms in the hair and moves them back and forth. She's too funny. Sometimes I wonder if she does it once then sits back and laughs as everyone tries to imitate her as they get her to dance again.

She is officially a toddler, and walk so fast it's almost to the point of running. Church has become a new adventure as Tyler and I try to corral her in the pew and then with us either in Primary or Young Men's. We are excitedly awaiting the day she can go into Nursery.

I've started putting her to bed earlier, and hallelujah, she now goes to bed between 7:30-8 pm and sleeps until 7-8 am. This is wonderful on nights when we are home and have the whole rest of the evening to hang out. It is not particularly great though when we are out doing something and bedtime comes around. She is not a happy tired camper.

I finally established a working bedtime routine (now that I'm no longer nursing) and feel like that has really helped her to fall asleep easier. We get her dressed in her pj's, brush her teeth (which mostly consists of her sucking the water out of the toothbrush then putting it back under the faucet for more), turn off the light to the bathroom (which she sometimes finds to be much more exciting than brushing), read a story- her favorite before bed, I Love You Through and Through, sing "I Am a Child of God", give kisses and say goodnight, then it's bed time. For Christmas she got a Leap Frog toy frog that sings when you push the hands, feet, and belly. It also sings lullabies so I put that in the crib with her. She has since come up with a game to play with it. We have her crib at a slant against the wall and once I leave the room to let her fall asleep, she will take the frog and drop it off the side. The next time I put her in her crib she will immediately go to that side of the crib to watch me as I crawl under the crib to retrieve the frog. I guess she'll be a good dog trainer someday!

I have been terrible about taking picture lately, mostly because Brooke won't sit still and all my pictures are a close face shot or one where she is reaching for the camera. Regardless, here are two of the stinker's latest poses.This one's a little too mischievous!

Tagged!

There are several things I should be doing right now instead of being on the computer. Tyler is on a trip to Lake Tahoe that he earned from his work and I'm trying to get things caught up around the house while Brooke is asleep. Oh well, those toilets can wait! I was tagged by Britt a while ago and I've been thinking of this. So here goes.....

10 years ago: I was 15. I was a sophomore in high school and totally nervous to turn 16. If I remember correctly, I was just at the tail end of the awkward stage...you know, when you're still trying to figure out your hair and your ever-changing body and all that stuff. Wait a minute, isn't that how I am still?!?

5 things on my to-do list today: #1 Go to Target (trying to get some free dishwasher detergent with coupons, and Brooke is out of her Gerber crackers) #2 Clean the bathrooms- the most dreaded weekly chore #3 Continue to tidy up the house. I'm working on my junk piles while Tyler is gone. #4 Go to CVS.....free razors!! #5 Decide what I'm doing for Tyler for Valentine's day. (I'm tempted to tell him that my permission for him to get a new TV was his gift:)

5 Snacks I enjoy: #1 Lately in my quest to eat more veggies I have been eating a lot of celery with peanut butter (better to have it with peanut butter or ranch than not at all!) #2 Oranges from Grandpa Carling's trees #3 anything chocolate (duh!) #4 Ritz toasted chips, and $5 Gum (to keep me from snacking)

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire: Buy a house, retire, let Tyler go on an electronics shopping spree, invest, donate to various organizations, build a craft room, travel, and hang out with Tyler and Brooke.

3 of my bad habits: 1. This has become very apparent to me lately, (and sorry if you've been on the receiving end) but I like to finish people's sentences and cut them off before they're finished talking. I know, I'm working on it! 2. This is very hypocritical because I talk to patients all the time about not doing this, but I am a zit picker. I grew up with a mom who said "The family that picks together, sticks together!" This means that nearly every night we were at each others faces with a bobby pin. I'm surprised my face isn't scarred more! It's a habit that has carried with me through my youth, and I still cannot leave those pimples (mine or Tyler's) alone. Gross, I know!!

5Places I have lived: Raft River and Rexburg, Idaho and Mesa and Tempe, Arizona

5 jobs that I have had : 1. CNA (aka certified geriatric bum wiper) 2. Catering Assistant (fun college job) 3. Transcriptionist for Physical Therapy office 4. Medical assistant for Family Practice and now for Dermatologist 5. Lab rat for a birth control study....the best college job ever!

5 Things people don't know about me:
#1 I am kind of a neat freak when it comes to my house. It drives me crazy if things aren't cleaned up and put away. Having said that, there are several places in my home that are not so tidy, but if the living area is not picked up it drives me crazy. (This only applies to my own home, I don't care if someone else's house is messy)

#2 I want to write a book someday. The title would be "1001 Ways to Make Your Life Easier". In college I started to compile ideas, but it has since been put on the backburner. I'm sure by the time I get around to it someone else will have already written it!

#3 I was voted "Personality Plus" by my Senior class. I think they passed out crack before the vote.

#4 I was on the all girls clogging team in college. It was a lot of fun and we got to travel, although our outfilts were AWEFUL! We had to use old old old costumes, but we had a lot of fun.

#5 Most people know this, but I can't think of anything else. I love coupons! I am always trying to find a way to get things cheap or free. Then once I find a way I usually go overboard. Let's just say this. I have a house full of toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, diapers, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, cereal, and so forth. I just call it my "hobby"....that's why nothing else gets done!

Thanks Britt, that was fun! Now I tag...
Emily
Camilla
Lauren
Lizzy
and anyone else who would like to fill this out!

We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet!

I was shocked to hear the news of President Hinckley's death as I had not heard anything about him being ill. I am so grateful to have grown up with him as our Prophet. He was such a great example of what it means to be genuinely caring, kind, and happy. He always brought a smile to my face. I will miss his talks in conference and his positive attitude at all times, but I am so happy for him that he is now with his sweet wife as well as the Savior whom he served so diligently.

I'd like to get a collection of favorite quotes by President Hinckley, so if you have one please post it in the comments.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKIE!!

Our Little Miss Brooke is now officially ONE YEAR old! She had her birthday on the 10th and it is so hard to believe that a year has already passed since that day she was born. It is amazing how much she has learned and grown in such a short amount of time.

Brooke seemed to really enjoy her birthday and all the attention she got. She loved opening presents and was absolutely spoiled! She got a lot of toys that play music, and she dances whenever the music comes on. What can I say, the girl's got rhythm! I had a hard time getting her away from her toys for the long awaited event of eating birthday cake. At first she didn't know what was going on. It was the first time she's had sweets (with the exception of the times that her daddy sneaks her bites of ice cream and such) and she kinda looked at me like "Are you really letting me eat this?!" After I gave her a taste of the frosting she was in heaven and from then on was trying to take the biggest bite that she could. Her birthday cake wasn't the cute one I was wanting to make, but I guess when Fry's gives you a free cake you take it! Here she is eating her cake.

She was still so excited that night that she stayed up until 1 am playing with all her toys. Here she is posing next to some of her birthday loot.Here's a little about Brooke these days......


- I took her for her 1 year apt on her birthday and she was 29 1/4" long (55th %) and weighed 19#9 oz (24th %). The doctor said she looks great!


- She has 12 teeth. She had 7 for the longest time then got 5 all at once. So now she has 4 on top, 4 on bottom and one in the back on the top and bottom of each side.

- She has decided that walking around is her newest favorite thing. Three days after her birthday she took about 5 steps. Now she is up to around 12. When she isn't walking from thing to thing she is holding onto the wall, couch, or whatever else she needs to get around the house. She has had quite a few bonks to her head, but all in all is doing well.


- She leaves a trail of destruction from the cupboards in the kitchen where she pulls out boxes of food, my purse that she pulls everything out of, her bedroom where she pulls all her books off the shelves and toys out of the bin, our bathroom where she loves Tyler's cupboard and pulls his shaving bag out, and the living room where she loves to pull the DVDs off the shelves. Sounds like we need to kid-proof, eh?



- Every now and then she'll take a break and sit down to read a book. She absolutely loves books. - She loves her blanket, still.

- She also loves other babies, and is a great help in taking care of her cousins. Here she is playing with her friend Ethan. They are becoming great friends!

- She is so sweet and gives kisses all the time, even to herself.

- She loves her bath and is her loudest while in the tub. She has gone through a stage where she poops everytime she gets in the tub. I guess she just likes the freedom of being without her diaper!

- Her most ticklish spot is on the inside of her thighs.

- Her favorite games are "Peek-a-boo" and when we say "I'm gonna get you!" She will run to the nearest thing she can bury her face in (usually the couch or LoveSac) and try to hide from us.

- Her favorite song is "If you're happy and you know it". She starts clapping as soon as she hears it.

- Her favorite foods these days are: ice, yogurt, spaghetti, peas (if they're frozen and then only sometimes), oatmeal, peanut butter, crackers, chicken nuggets, cantaloupe, oranges, and of course any sweets that her daddy can sneak to her.

-She has done really well lately with her sign language. I'm trying to teach her not to whine, but rather to sign what she wants. She has since figured that if she signs for "more", she'll get whatever she's wanting. The problem is, we don't know what she wants more of! The other signs she does are: please (she signs "more please" without being asked), cracker, ice (this is a sign I made up because she loves it so much), hungry, and drink.

Catching Up

I'm sure it's not hard to believe that the holidays have been crazy and that I have gotten a little behind in my blogging. Brooke had her first Christmas this year, and to tell you the truth, I don't think she had any idea what was going on. She enjoyed it though, of course, because she loves to be around everyone and she got totally spoiled! Here she is playing with some of her new toys.She loves this new doll that she got. It has hair that she can pull and play with. She sat quietly and played with it for a long time after she got it. She also loves the horse that Workmans got for the grand kids at their house. You push its ear and it makes horse sounds.

We had to take the traditional Steadman pic of the dad holding the baby by the tree in a huge stocking on their first Christmas. We opened presents at our house then went to Grandma and Grandpa Workman's to open more presents over there. We all got totally spoiled! Tyler got a photo book from Brooke titled "I Love My Daddy". I think he liked it! :)We got to talk with Cindy on Christmas day and that was great. She only has until the first part of March until she comes home from her mission in Kentucky. We are so excited to see her!

Tyler and I both got to take time off from work during the holidays so that was nice to spend time together. We spent a lot of time with family, including his aunt and cousin who came down from Canada, and did a lot of running around for after Christmas deals (gotta love Target and CVS 75% off Christmas items, but we won't get into that!)

We went to Stradling's for New Years Eve and had a fun time over there eating too much and playing the white elephant game. Being the old people that we are, we came home long before midnight. Brooke had other ideas though and wanted to ring in the New Year. Tyler fell asleep on the LoveSac while I watched Brooke play with her toys as the ball dropped and the clock turned 12.

My Mom, Dad, Emily, Terah and Kyden all made the drive down to see us just after the first of the year. They spent 4 days with us and we had a lot of fun going to Bass Pro, the Mexican Store (or the FP store as my mom calls it because she refuses to call it by it's real name) and visiting with family. Terah had an interview at the dental school that is here in Mesa. They have since received good news.....he was accepted the same day he applied! They will be moving here in July and starting school there. It will be so fun for Brooke and Kyden to grow up together since they are only 4 days apart. It will also be good for teaching Brooke to share and not be a crib hog. She was pretty distraught that she had to give up her crib for a couple nights! This is sure to be a blackmail pic some day!

Next on the catching up agenda.....Brooke's 1 year Birthday!

Merry Christmas!

I have been so busy lately...I need to take a minute and wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I did get some Christmas cards out this year, so if you didn't get one I probably don't have your address! So please send it......:) This is going to be an especially fun year since it is Brooke's FIRST CHRISTMAS! I am trying to copy all my pictures to CDs so I have space on my camera for the big day (of course with me it has been an all day event!). We are so excited. She is just getting to be more and more fun, and more and more into everything. She has only pulled a couple ornaments off the tree which I kept off so now she just plays with those. Here is my somewhat sad looking tree. For some reason the left side is not as full as the right. No matter what I do it still looks that way. Oh well! I have since sprayed that fake snow onto the star to make it look more winter-ish...although I'm not sure it does!

Two days ago Brooke signed 'please' for the first real time. Up until then she was combining 'more' with 'please' in some kind of gesture that I'm sure no one else recognized as being that. Now she does 'please' (rubbing her chest in a circle) by itself. Her newest thing is to make a face where she crinkles up her nose, smiles to show her teeth, and sucks air in through her mouth. It's quite funny.

This Christmas is a special one for the Workman family. Last Christmas we would have never guessed we would be celebrating this year with not one, but THREE babies. I wondered how long it would be before Brooke had a cousin on this side of the family. She sure didn't have to wait long! This is a reminiscence of this time last year when I could barely get my arms around Santa (aka Tyler who dressed up to deliver some presents to kids) :)

We took the three grandkids to get their pictures taken for Christmas. Brooke looks ginormous next to Kayden (left, 5 weeks) and Landon (right, 3.5 months)! You can view all the pics that were taken that day by going to http://www.smilesbywire.com/ and put in Camilla Workman as the customer and this access code: LTPP0356100558JCPSHR. They are each so cute!!

Here's some more of Brooke....
I will have to post some of her recent pictures when I get some more time.

Tyler finished his classes for this semester tonight. We'll be glad to have a two week break before he starts up again! Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I feel like the biggest blogging slacker! So much has happened the past couple of weeks that I've wanted to journal but haven't had the time. I just got my house back into some semblance of order, so I'll take a minute to catch up.

Two weeks ago we flew up to Idaho for my brother Kyle's wedding. It was really kind of weird to think that my brother is a married man! He married the cutest girl Emily (aka Emmy, as Kyle calls her since our sister's name is Emily) and she fits right in with our family. I'm looking forward to getting to know her better! They had a wonderful ceremony and had a very good turn out. A lot of hard work was put into everything and it looked beautiful!

The happy couple.....

Family picture at the Idaho Falls Temple (you may see this one in a Christmas card....that is if I get them out this year!)

It was very convenient that Kyle and Emmy chose to get married the weekend before Thanksgiving, so we were able to spend that time in Idaho with my family. It is always so fun to see everyone, play a game or two of Settlers (especially when I win for the first time EVER), have Tyler go pheasant hunting for the first time, see snow, and remind myself how cold it really gets there. Everyone was so excited to see Brooke and just amazed with how much she has grown. She got to play with Kyden and they had a good ol' time. Brooke seems to be the bully of the duo since she is kind of the aggressor and Kyden is more passive. We had some cute pictures of them together and I'm not sure what happened to them on my camera, so those will have to come later. This was one of Brooke's favorite activities. Can't go around the Exersaucer...have to go through it!

We flew back on Black Friday so unfortunately yet fortunately missed this famous shopping day. I told my family I was making a sacrifice to be in Idaho because all the stores here were tripling coupons and it would be over by the time I got back. I don't think they completely understood what a sacrifice that was, but that's okay. I'll get over it...they'll have triple coupons again in a couple weeks :)

Brooke had a good time but was happy to get home and sleep in her own bed. Before we left she was diagnosed with the stomach flu and was just getting over that and starting to eat again. Well, the problem with starting to eat solid foods again was that she got "plugged up", as Tyler would call it. This led to sleepless nights and lots of prunes and apple juice. She then started to act like she was teething and just not acting like her happy self. She has since returned back to normal and we are sure grateful to have our happy, giggling baby back!

This is Brooke's serious face. She really did enjoy playing with her doll in the box. :)

Brooke in her "big girl" outfit. I just think she looks so much older in it. Here she is showing that she is "so big"!

After flying home, we spent the next few days hanging out with Tyler's Grandma, Aunt Linda and Cousin Mike before they flew home to Canada. It's always fun to have them here. That following Sunday I was in charge of Sharing Time then was in charge of the Activity Day yesterday. Needless to say, between unpacking, preparing for those, and trying to get my Christmas decorations set up, I have been busy. I did finally get the Christmas Tree all set up and decorated yesterday, which I was proud of. Pictures of that to come....

It has been so fun to watch Brooke grow and learn lately. Everywhere we take her she just sits there and waves to people, not even cracking a smile, just waving that pageant wave of hers. She is getting very good at pulling herself up onto things, and can stand on her own for what seems like a long time to us (only a couple of seconds though) before she tips over. She is understanding things more and more. The other day she was at Grandma Gayle's when she was cutting hair. She was scooting over to where the hair was on the floor when Grandma told her to stay over there. So she turned around and went back to her toys.

Last night I was teaching her to sign 'please'. She caught on that something needed to be done before I would give her another bite of her newest favorite food, chicken noodle soup, and would rub her hands together.

Brooke is really starting to thin out and is losing her chubby cheeks and thunder thighs. We will miss them as they are very cute, but we also think she is so cute the way she is growing. Tyler took her to the mall yesterday (I think the first time they've gone out together just the two of them. Tyler called it their first date) and she had such a good time sitting in the stroller looking all around.