iPhotos

I'm not one for high-tech gadgets. It's actually a pretty huge feat for me to blog regularly. I wait a few years to upgrade my cell phone and when I do, I still get the free one. No need for fancy games, internet or GPS for me.


However, awhile back Matt got an iPhone and I must admit, I'm impressed. Except for the whole "phone" feature. The thing gets horrible reception. It can do some other pretty cool things, though, including giving you a full screen image of what you're taking a picture of. Because of that, he's gotten some great shots of Brooke hamming it up (pardon the poor lighting and shakiness of some of them). He loaded them on to the computer the other day, so I thought I'd share...

Cheap Laughs

My mom and dad also came to visit 2 weekends back. We're all always happy to see them. Because meowing is one of Brooke's favorite sounds to make, they bought her a cat that meows. She wasn't too impressed. Knocking down the blocks was another story. It entertained her the whole weekend!

Double Trouble

Tim, Krissi and Alexis came up to visit us this weekend and we had a lot of fun just relaxing and following the Toddler Tornadoes from room to room and up and down the stairs. And yes, that is a Baby Mullet that Brooke's beginning to rock.


Playing in the couch fort...


A perfect cage...I mean, stage.


Tim and Krissi even taught Brooke how to go down the stairs. I think that's a good thing...



Have I mentioned how much I love seeing these two play together?




And Uncle Tim LOVES to spoil his niece. She knows where to go for Bavarian Creme donuts.



What a great way to spend a cold winter weekend. Thanks for coming up, guys. We love you!

Caught on Film

Brooke's been doing so many new things lately and seems to find a new way to crack us up daily. The tricky thing is, the more mobile and independent she is, the more difficult it is to capture these things on camera/film. (Hopefully my new DSLR camera will help that - woohoo!)


I was able to capture her fork skills thanks to her booster chair containment.


Same with the funny eyes.


But for the most part, these are how most photos of Brooke look these days...

St. Louis Visit (a.k.a. Photo Dump #3)

On the last leg of the Alley Family North American Holiday Tour 2010, we spent a few days in St. Louis with my family. It was really nice because almost everyone was off for the whole week, so we did a lot of hanging out and watching movies. Sidenote: May I strongly recommend "The Fighter" and "The Town" if you haven't seen them yet? While it wasn't bad, you'll probably be okay if you miss "The Ghost Writer."


Brooke had fun checking out Lexi's new toys. She actually really liked the trampoline, which kind of surprised me given her wimpiness for most gross motor activities.


She also showed Lexi how to use her new rocking horse since Brooke had gotten one for her birthday already.


Baby-zilla knows no zip code!


They even had a tea party one night and the little girls actually lasted the longest at the table. If you wanted some tips from me on your camera work based on that fourth shot, just leave your info in the comments section. I was obviously really careful with the lighting.





Looking at these photos gets me all verklempt for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's so fun to see them "play together" and reminds me of growing up with my cousins. I really hope their bond just gets stronger as they get older. But it also makes me realize how quickly this time will pass and while I can't wait to see the little girls and even young women they become, I'd really like to just stop the clock for a little while. Okay, enough with the Debbie Downer ruminations (That's SNL reference #2 for this post if you're counting.).


I was also "that girl" and asked our waiter to take a family picture while we were out to dinner. You laugh, but I think this is the first photo with all of us in it (except Bonnie - sorry!) since Thanksgiving '09.


The girls also got a little lap time in with Papa T and Grandma.



Whew. Okay, now I've posted all of our holiday photos. Brooke's been doing some pretty cute stuff lately, so I need to be better about keeping the camera on-hand. Stay tuned!

Christmas Recap

While we were waiting for the rest of the family to arrive back from Florida on Christmas Eve, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's that afternoon. Brooke LOVES the stairs at their house and gave herself quite a workout going up them over and over. Then she relaxed in Grandma Johnson's lap for a while.



We were also happy to see Uncle Dave that day.


Once Matt's parents and Jamie were back on Christmas Eve night (after a several-hour delay at the airport - SO glad that wasn't us!), we headed over to their house for dinner and gifts.


Ozzie even got in on the action.


Notice Brooke's tongue sticking out? That's her new go-to when she's really tired. She used to suck on her arm, then her shirt, now she's content to just thrust her tongue in and out.


We woke up on Christmas morning and opened our gifts as a family. Thanks to Oz's freshly groomed *ahem* "area" that happens to fall right at Brooke's head level when she sitting, these are the only decent ones I can post. The first is a pretty good shot of her bed head, though. (And while she's smart, I realize Fridge Phonics is way too old for her. I was waiting for the farm one to come in, but wanted something for her to open in the meantime.)



After opening our gifts and breakfast, we headed down to St. Louis for Christmas with my family. The girls are always happy to see each other, even if you can't tell by these photos.




They finished the night by getting into matching jammies from Papa T and Grandma (the girls - not Matt and Tim).

I'm saving the photos of the next day's celebration with my extended family for my post about the rest of our visit. Merry Belated Christmas!