Leanne's first night out - post baby!

Last night, the 20th, I snuck away for a few hours and hung out with some friends. I waited to feed Brooke and tuck her into bed. I left the house around 10pm. I met Nicky, April and her brother, Brett, at Ocean Brewery in Laguna Beach. We had a lot of fun and even danced a little. It felt wierd being away from everyone. I actually had to put make up on. I was home around 1am. Unlucky for me, Brooke woke up at 5:45am and wanted to play. Mark left around that time for a bike ride. Good thing I got her back to sleep at 6:30. :-)

Our first family trip to disneyland!

On Sunday, September 14th, the five of us piled into the man-van and drove to Disneyland. We got there around 12:30. It wasn't too crowded, so we got to park in Timon. This is the closest parking lot. We unloaded diaper bags, sweatshirts, stroller and kids. This time we had to wait for two trams to come because the first one had the stoller section full. We finally got into the park and ate some yummy corn dogs on main street. After eating, I went into the baby care center and fed and changed her. This is the best place to go if you have kids under 3. They have a changing area as well as a nursing area. It is very clean in there and there is an attendant to help you with anything you need. They also sell diapers, wipes, desitin, formula, bottles, etc. This is also a great place to go if you have a toddler has become overwhelmed from the going ons of disneyland. There is a little area where you can sit and read them a book where it is nice and quiet. What a great way to calm them down and help them unwind for a while. While I was feeding Brooke, everyone else went on the Matterhorn. After I was done, we headed to the Jungle Cruise. This was Brooke's first official ride at disneyland. Next we went on Pirates of the Carribean. After that, we went on Indiana Jones. We had got a fast pass so we didn't have to wait long. We also participated in their baby swap program. Basically everyone, including baby, wait in line. Then one adult and the baby step to the side and wait while the rest of the group go on the ride. Once they get off the ride, the adult that stayed behind with the baby, gets to go on the ride, without waiting in line. They get to ride with someone who just got off, so they don't have to ride alone. Anyways, we did this for Indiana JOnes, unfortunately, the ride broke down before Mark got to ride. By this time, it was time for Brooke to eat again. I brought Josh with me so he can cool off inside the baby center. Meanwhile, Mark and Carlie went on Big Thunder Mountain. After I was done, we all went on Pinnochio. Brooke loved looking at all the figures on the ride. 4 hours later, we were ready to leave. Brooke fell asleep on the tram ride back to the car. I have attached some pictures. There is one special picture and that is the one of Mark and Brooke sitting on a bench with the castle in the background. That is the very spot were Mark found out he was going to be a daddy. :) We also got some other nice pictures of Mark with all the kids. It was a very nice day!

A few very important firsts for Miss Brooke!

First First!
On September 11th, Brooke laughed for the very first time. I was in the process of changing her diaper and she was on her changing table. I grabbed her little hands and made her clap and she let out the most hearty laugh! It was one of the most precious moments ever. I actually teard up!

Second First!
..again, on September 11th, Brooke slept through the night! She slept about 7 hours straight in her crib. It was so nice to sleep that long, however, I was a tad uncomfortable when I woke up....if you know what I mean (aka I needed to nurse her STAT)

Third First!
Brooke caught her first cold. We started to notice it on Tuesday night, the 16th. She caught a runny nose. Poor baby couldn't breathe from her nose. I read that in the first 6 months of life, babies don't know how to breathe from their mouth, so its instinct to try and breathe through their nose. Well, since she was stuffy, this was very difficult for her. It was also difficult for her to eat. I was heart broken. I called her doctor and got the okay to give her Little Noses drops which is saline drops. After applying the drops, I had to get the nose sucker thing and suck out all the snot. Sometimes the snot was so long, it would make her gag when I was sucking it out. I know...TMI. We also got a humidifier for our room. The last purchase was a Wedge Pillow. We put this under her crib mattress so she can sleep at an upright position so it's easier for her to breathe. I would wake up to check on her in the middle of the night and she would be at the bottom of the mattress all curled up because she would slide down. It was actually kind of funny. 5 days later, she is doing alot better! She has that post nasal drip cough thing going on, but that is a sign that the end of the cold is near!

Happy 66th bday dad!

On September 12, my dad turned a very young 66. We all went out to Lucille's to celebrate! It was very very yummy! I am not a huge fan of BBQ food, but I had the burger and it was one of the best burgers I have ever had! YUM!

The new Beckam!

...well sorda! Josh has been doing really well in soccer. He is getting more aggressive as we get further into the season. His team won again this past saturday. It was a very early saturday for us. Carlie had an 8am game and Josh had a 9:15 game. The good thing is that we had the rest of the day to relax!

Got Soccer?

This past Saturday, both Carlie and Josh had their first soccer games. Josh's was at 9:15 and Carlie's was at 12:30. It was a very hot 90 degree day. Josh's team won! Carlie got to play goalie and had a few great saves. She was also voted team captain. This is great considering she just moved up a division and is now one of the youngest on her team. She played very aggressive and had a few shoves and pushes in there. Josh also did great...he hasn't played since he was about 5 years old, so he is having to learn the game all over again. He was definatley hustling during his game. Great job to both of them! Here are some pics, however, unfortunately, I forgot the camera for Josh's game (I know, horrible mom) but I remembered it for Carlie's game. I will bring the camera and take pics this saturday for sure!

My baby started 8th grade!

Carlie had her first day of 8th grade at South Lake Middle School. It feels like just yesterday she was starting kindergarden. She is very happy with her schedule, ESPECIALLY because she has PE last period. Last year, she had PE first period, so this is much better. She also has a new home room teacher, Mr. Leavey. He is very nice and she likes him much better than last years home room teacher. :-)

Carlie and Josh head to Pismo!

Over Labor Day weekend, Carlie and Josh got to go to Pismo Beach with their dad. They try to get up there every Labor Day to go dirt bike riding. This year, they left on Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday evening. They took their cousin Taylor with them. They came back with some fun stories...including Josh almost tiping a golf cart. Here are some pics.

Just for Grandpa Richard!

As mentioned in the post below, we tried to take Brooke to an outdoor restaurant. Daddy quickly thought of Cook's Corner. For those of you that don't know what this is, it is basically a biker bar. Everyone who's anyone that owns a Harley Davidson has been to or frequents this bar. So we showed up and the place was PACKED. We kind of forgot that it was Labor Day weekend. But, we decided to go for it anyways. We unloaded the stroller and Brooke and strolled our way through the dirt path lined with Harleys that led to the bar. Neither one of us had been there before, so we didn't know how the ordering worked. We kind of figured out that you had to order inside the bar, then find a seat outside (next to the tattoo'd, leather wearing, cigar smoking bikers) and they will call your number. After looking for a seat with not much luck, we realized that we were the only people with a baby at Cook's Corner. So, due to all the cigar smoke and Brooke and Mark being the only ones without a tatoo, we decided to leave. We did manage to grab a quick pic. :-)

Brooke's first trip to a restaurant

This past Sunday, August 31st, we decided to take a drive with Brooke while Carlie and Josh were in Pismo Beach. We were looking for somewhere outside to eat with the anticipation of Brooke waking up and me having to feed her. Our first stop didn't pan out (see next blog). Anywho, we ended up at TGI Fridays. She was awake when we got there and I had to change her, however, to our dispair, there was no changing table in the bathroom! WHAT THE HECK!?! I though this was a family restaurant. So, just to spite the staff, we changed Brooke in the booth. hehe. Lucky for them, it was just pee. So next comes the scary part....I actually had to breastfeed in public...for the first time EVER! Don't worry though, I wasn't one of those "pop the boob out in public" type of moms. I through a blanket over Brooke and my shoulder and away she ate. That gave me time to order and eat part of my food. The rest of the time, Brooke just sat up and looked around. After all, Friday's has a lot to look at. So, needless to say, Brooke did AWESOME for her first restaurant outing. :-)