I've Got a Feeling

Brooke had had a LONG day the other day, but we didn't want her to fall asleep on the way home so we cranked the radio. "I've Got a Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas came on and the next thing we knew, Brooke was singing along:

I can't say I'm a huge fan of her music taste thus far, but maybe she's at least been cured of her Bieber Fever (actually, she still sings that all the time).

About Last Week

Last week was a little hectic for us, but all for good reason. After our visit to St. Louis, my mom drove back up with us to watch Brooke for the week. We loved having her up here, both for the company and the help. We missed her as soon as she left. Brooke still wakes up asking about "Dama" and I totally get why rich people have live-in nannies. I'm still waiting for some photos from my mom of their time together, but I get my penchant for not taking photos from her, so we may be waiting for those for a while (I love you, Mom!).

It was extra-helpful having my mom up last week because in addition to wrapping things up at work, at the end of the week we were getting ready for Scott and Kristina's wedding festivities. I had expected the wedding to be pretty epic, and they definitely delivered. We had so much fun with family and good friends. While I've made great strides in taking pictures where my daughter is concerned, when she's not around, I still stink at it. So, these photos are courtesy of my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Here's the Alley clan, minus Brooke.


Along with a live-in nanny, I'm also accepting hair and make-up artist applications to join my entourage.


They were such a stunning bride and groom. Despite appearances, it wasn't a vampire wedding. Apparently eliminating red-eye on downloaded photos is beyond my technological capabilities. Sorry, S & K!


After the wedding, my dad came up for a brief visit and to pick up my mom. He brought a bubble machine with him, which was a big hit, as you can see here:

Even with the cool bubble machine, she couldn't pass up giving it a try the old-school way:

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day weekend (which feels like a month ago), Brooke, Ozzie and I took a quick trip down to St.Louis while Matt played a ridiculous amount of golf up here.

Tim, Krissi and the kids met us at my parents' as soon as we arrived and we took off for Grant's Farm. I'm not a fan of using this blog for endorsements unless I've been offered a lucrative contract (happens all the time), but this place warrants a free shout-out. It's somewhere that I'd been to in the past, but wasn't spending my own money, trying to entertain a toddler, or 21 at the time, so I didn't fully appreciate it for all that it was.


You basically only have to pay for parking. Then they load you on a tram, take you through some "woods" to see "wildlife"and a couple of historical buildings and drop you in an petting zoo-type area. There are tons of things to do in this area (many of them cost a dollar or two, but you could easily stay busy for free). Cherry on top? The visit ends in a courtyard where everyone of age is given 2 free glasses of beer - and the beer options were legit.

I was so impressed getting off the tram that I kind of went crazy with photos in the kid feeding area ("baby goat feeding area" sounds a little less questionable) and barely had any battery left for the rest of the Farm, let alone the rest of the trip.



At first Brooke was a little freaked out by the aggressiveness of the goats. They are all about gnawing on clothes. But when she realized they couldn't hurt her, she really got in to chasing them around and trying to feed them. It's worth noting that if you come as the Farm is closing, the goats aren't very hungry anymore.



Of course Lexi helped to show her the ropes.



It is SO humid in St.Louis (sidebar- the humidity does wonders for Brooke's hair. Instead of a tangled mess, it's cute and curly in the back.) Brooke was happy to run through the misters with Tim and Lexi.


Luke ("Baby Lutey") was his fat, sweet, content self.


We also had a BBQ at Grandpa and Grandma Gigi's. There were babies EVERYWHERE. It's so chaotic - and fun!


Finally, we embraced our South City Hoosier roots and had the girls play in the sprinkler in the front yard (yep, Lexi's in her underwear). Brooke's already wary of walking in grass in her bare feet, so she had to be carried through.




After breakfast and a visit to the pool Monday, Brooke was wiped.


It was a great visit and we're looking forward to many more this summer.

For Die-Hards Only

I had to post this video. The quality is horrible and it's pretty boring if you don't love her.

I love when Brooke makes the connection to people in her life even when they aren't around. Brooke was playing on her "inside car" and randomly decided she was going to see Papa T and Grandma.

Baby Country Club

I finally got around to taking some photos of Brooke at My Gym (aka "Baby Country Club"). It was tricky keeping the other kids out, so the shot selection is a little iffy.


This class is seriously one of the highlights of both of our weeks. Brooke wakes up asking, "Gym?" and is SO happy when I say yes. She's been singing their "Hello" and "Goodbye" songs since about our third week there. And being an OT who works in a preschool, it's obviously my thing. I hate to brag, but I always know the songs and am not afraid to sing them loud and proud.


It's fun to see her trying new things and branching out on her own. It's also good for her to learn to be around other little ones. She seems to need it - as evidenced by her hitting one of them on the head, twice, for sitting down next to her.


I'm hoping Miss Shaniqua won't mind being posted on here. She's one of Brooke's favs and I figured the chances of her knowing one of the 3 people who read this are slim.


Classes for the summer are unlimited so I have the feeling they'll be seeing a lot of us!

Must-Have Accessory

Brooke was fascinated by my "ea-ings" (iPod Shuffle) when I came back from a jog the other day, so I let her try them on.


Of course she figured out how to start the music. Now we have to hide them when we're going out or coming in. Otherwise we have to say "no" to that face.

Party in the Back

Brooke's hair is really starting to grow...on the back of her head, at least. Her hair wasn't well combed here as she'd just woken up from a nap, but let's be honest, the combing really doesn't help that much.


I don't know if I'd call this a "party", but she definitely has something going on "in the back". I see a baby-mullet trim in our future. I'm also toying with the idea of Baby Bangs. (Thanks for the link, Jamie.) Seriously, though, I had always wanted ear piercing to be a fun significant-age-birthday surprise, but I'm totally understanding why people get it done on infants/toddlers.


And speaking of hair, this poor guy now look ridiculous thanks to a butcher-job haircut the day after I took this. It's a good thing he's too busy being scared of random inanimate objects to notice his reflection or he'd probably be scared of that, too.