Free Entertainment

Brooke loves to entertain her sisters! Any chance she gets to do something to make them laugh, she goes for it! The other night she had one of the girl's punch balloons, and she was going nuts with it. Once she realized that the girls thought it was hilarious, she took it up a notch and got really crazy! Love Kacy's giggles :)

Nammie Fun

Every time Nammie comes to visit, the girls always have so much fun! I am so glad that she has such fun grandparents. None of my grandparents were ever "fun". They took us on some great vacations, bought us things, were around for special occasions, but I wouldn't classify them as "fun". A couple years ago when Mom visited she started bringing them little gifts from the dollar store. Of course, once she did it a couple times, it became expected. So now, as soon as she shows up, the girls ask for their surprises. This time she brought them stuff to have a Mardi Gras parade at the house. They were so excited to see their masks and other decorations. Little do they know what really goes on at a Mardi Gras parade! Even Brooke got in on the bead action. :)

Such silly girls!!!

Adilyn...5 going on 13????

Adilyn's attitude and behavior definitely goes in up and down cycles. She will be her little happy self for a couple weeks, then bam, for no reason crazy Adilyn shows up for a week or so. Last week we had a some rough times with our sweet 5 year old. A couple times, I swear it was a tiny window into the very dramatic teenage years that we have ahead of us...oh my! One time last week she literally yelled at the top of her lungs, "Why do I ALWAYS have to do what you guys tell me to?!?!? I never get to do what I want to do!!!" To which I calmly replied, "You have to listen to us because we are your parents. Get used to it. We will be telling you what to do for the rest of your life." To which she replied with a grunt that I thought only 13 year olds had perfected. The girl has an attitude. I am doing my best to help her learn to deal with her emotions in a calm, productive way. Seeing how she can be now and imagining how she will be when puberty hits...I am terrified.

Dress Up

Ever since the girls were little, they have loved dressing up. Thank goodness, it's not always just in princess dresses, but they dress up in fancy dresses or silly outfits. I love seeing what kind of get-ups they can find. I always had a rule that they couldn't go outside the house in their outfit masterpieces, and they have always followed that rule thank goodness! Our littlest addition got into her first dress up outfit just the other day. Welcome to the wacky world of pretend play, sweet Brooke!
Here are some pics of my favorites-

New Year's Resolutions

I always like to have some ideas of what I want to do differently in the new year. I don't really like to dwell on the fact that they are typical "resolutions", but I do like to think about how I want to change some of my bad habits. I also like asking the girls what they want to do/learn in the new year. Here are our thoughts.
Me:
1. I want to get on a schedule. (life as a stay-at-home mom is busy in ways that I could never imagine - I need to get on a schedule for working out, cleaning, and doing things with Kacy on her days at home)
2. I want to try some new recipes to change things up in our normal dinner routine.
3. I want to read more books.
4. I want to stay off my phone at random times. No need to be checking it constantly!
Adilyn:
1. I want to learn to ride my bike without training wheels.
2. I want to make even more new friends.
3. I want to be nice to Kacy.
4. I want to learn to read.
Kacy:
1. I want to do gymnastics.
2. I want to play nicer.
3. I want to learn my letters and numbers.
They even made some for Brooke:
1. She wants to learn to walk. (from Adilyn)
2. She wants to grow more hair. (from Kacy)

Brooke at 9 months

9 months is always a little milestone for me. It always seems crazy that they were growing in my belly for the same amount of time that they have been on this earth. To go from a teeny, tiny bean to a "cruising" little one that laughs and smiles in 18 months is amazing! Brooke is still so happy all the time. Well, so happy all the time during the day...the nights are still rough times! She loves to watch her sisters be silly, she gets so happy whenever she sees Cory or me. Besides us, Ryan is her favorite person. The girl lights up when she sees him! Brooke is a mover. She is everywhere! The minute she started crawling, she was off and moving. She is quick, and she is always getting into stuff. I think she might be our crazy one! I can clean the floors and think that I have absolutely everything up off the ground - the next thing I know she is finding a bead, piece of paper, or tiny toy. Of course, the minute she finds that, it's right in her mouth! She started cruising a couple weeks ago, and she had totally mastered the art. I don't think the girls were ever as talented at cruising as she is! I looked up today, and she was cruising on the wall of the cabinets in the kitchen. She wasn't even holding on to anything, just using the wall for balance! She might actually be the first of our girls to walk before their 1st birthday. She can also pull up on anything. I saw her pull up on Willow the other day!
If I could change one thing, it would definitely be her sleeping! She wakes up all the time, and I have no idea why! She rarely sleeps for more than 4 hours at a time. Right now, she usually wakes up somewhere around 12am, 3am, and 6am. And that's a good night. :( I don't know if her teeth are bugging her, if she is hungry, if she just wants to snuggle, or if she doesn't know how to "self-soothe" or what. It's so frustrating! I hate trying to figure out what's wrong, what to do to not make is worse, and how to get her to be a better sleeper. I am not one to let them cry it out forever, and when I do let her cry she gets so upset that it makes it even harder her to calm  down. Also, she has woken Kacy up a few times in the middle of the night when she cries, so then I have two kids awake at 3am. No fun! I don't think she is hungry, but I usually end up feeding her so she will go back to sleep. I am trying not to obsess about it, but I would LOVE a full night's sleep. Hey, I would just take 6 straight hours :) I am sure we will figure it out, but I just don't want to be doing things now that will make it harder on all of us later down the road.
Some other things about my little 9 month Brookster...
*She is always in the middle of the action. We were at a play group at Dana's house, and there were some boys about 3 years old playing legos. She kept going right over there and sitting right in the middle of them.
*Anytime she falls down on her back, she panics! She cries, she moves her hands like crazy, and she lifts her head and her feet like she is stuck on her back. It's not like she can't roll over, but I guess she just forgets.
*She grinds her 4 little teeth together. Yuck! I am not a fan of that sound.
*She is getting better with eating. She still gags on food if she doesn't like it, but she likes almost all fruit, squash, sweet potatoes, and everything but peas and green beans. I have started giving her little bits of food, and she is great at grabbing her food. She was getting after the broccoli the other night. That little pincher grasp is working!
*It seems like most of us call her Brookie more than just Brooke, wonder if that will stick?
I love this kid, and I am so incredibly blessed and happy that she came into our family. She makes me smile everyday, and I love being able to be home with her everyday!

Smothering Brooke

The girls are always "loving" Brooke too much. Now that she is crawling and cruising, they are always in her business. Picking her up, trying to "help" her, and just generally pissing her off. I keep trying to tell them to leave her alone, but it's a lost cause. The other thing that is hard is that lots of time when they bug her, she ends up getting hurt. So, she goes from having a grand ol' time hanging out and cruising around to falling and bumping her head. So sad! The other day, I was taking a shower, and Brooke had woken up from her nap. I told the girls to go keep her company, and they took me literally! When I got out of the shower, all three girls were in the crib. I had to record the monitor to capture this cute little moment!

And yes, Adilyn is wearing a mermaid dress...it's always dress-up time at the Hendersons! :)

Annual Frio Trip

We have gone to the Frio between Christmas and New Year almost every year, and it's always a great time! The girls loved playing outside this year and doing scavenger hunts. The girls helped me come up with our list, and Adilyn even wrote out the things we were looking for. Unfortunately we never found bones or an old boot. Maybe next time! The dogs had a ton of fun running and playing in the river. Everyone slept well (except our favorite little almost 9 month non-sleeper), and we had good food and good times! It's great to get away and relax after the craziness of Christmas.

Scavenger hunt! Kacy must have found something!

Just swinging!

Everyone loves a ride in the Mule (4 Wheeler)

Throwing rocks in the river...endless fun!

Kacy went on a crazy running spree when we were on one of our hikes. The girl ran, and ran, and ran...Forrest Gump style :) It totally cracked me up for some reason.

One of many fires! 

"Sis"

Nine times out of ten, when we are out and about the girls usually get along fantastically. When we are at parks, they especially have fun together. The other day, we were having an impromptu afternoon at the park. The girls were playing some silly game about alligators and having a great time. While they were playing, I noticed Adilyn was calling Kacy, "Sis." It was so cute for some reason! She kept saying, "Come here, Sis" and "Hurry, Sis!" It was adorable. When I asked her why she was calling her that, she said, "I don't know, I just like it." :)