Good-bye Pumpkins!

The change to true fall weather brought the end of our pumpkins! We were very sad to lose the pumpkins with our names, but also loved helping Mommy clean-up all the "baby pumpkins".

Neela on her BIG pumpkin

Neela on "Baby" Brooke's pumpkin

Kylie & her Cindarella pumpkin

Helping Mommy clean-up pumpkins (or are they maracas??)

Our last "drive" before winter!

Brooke's First Thanksgiving

We traveled to Sioux City to spend Brooke's 1st Thanksgiving at the Estochen's! She does very well in the car - sometimes better than her big sisters :-)

Brooke & Mommy

Mommy & the Girls

Brooke & Uncle Chuckie

Kylie helps Grandma set the table...

... and so does Neela!

We were BIG HELPERS all day! We helped Grandma make the deviled eggs and the relish tray. We tried the relishes, but didn't care for most of them:-) We watched the Macy's parade - and danced a lot to the music on TV. Kylie went with Daddy to pick-up Big Grandma B., too!

Big Papa wanted to take a Steelers family picture for the Steelers Digest. Unfortunately, Neela had just fallen asleep when they decided to take the picture - so she's missing. She has seen the picture - and keeps asking where she is, and why she isn't with everybody. We might have to do a "redo" at Christmas!

The Estochen Family - including John, Trudi, Dustin, Erika, Hunter, Adi, Amber, Chuck, Chuck, Chuck, Marcy, Darlene, Brad, Jenny, Kylie & Brooke... and missing Neela, Renee, David, Cory, and Kara's family...

Brad, Brooke, Hunter, Big Papa & Dustin

Brooke, Dustin & Hunter

The day after Thanksgiving, we helped Grandma put up her Christmas tree - in the cute shirts she bought us for Christmas! Daddy did his shopping - both online and in store, and everyone else just tried to enjoy the day before it got cold!

We colored on Grandma's driveway with chalk and played hopscotch, too! The neighbor had some awesome Christmas lights - so we walked down the street to check them out - EVERY NIGHT! Neela and Kylie enjoyed "shaking their bootie" to the Christmas music blasting at the sidewalk, as well as SpongeBob Santa, the snowball throwing penguins, Santa Snoopy...

Kylie also managed to pick-up a nasty cold, and so did Daddy. We left on Saturday afternoon, but not without a quick stop at the Palmer Candy Store. We each got our own bag of candy, so we didn't really eat our supper in the car :-) We got to play on the slide at the rest area, too - and, in Dora fashion, we will tell you our favorite part of the trip was the slide :-)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We helped Daddy celebrate his "Happy Birthday" with cards and new shoes! Of course, we gave them to him early in the morning - since we told him we finished coloring his "happy birthday cards" the night before his birthday!

Brooke in the Bumbo & Silly Sisters

It's hard to believe Brooke is almost 3 months old - and ready to try out the Bumbo! As you can see, she really seemed to enjoy it! She couldn't stop smiling - and is doing great with her head control!

Of course, her big sisters are always up to something - we had ravoli for lunch, and we enjoyed every bite!!

Neela learned to dress from Papa G -- can you tell??

Love to all!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Yesterday was Mommy's birthday! We made her cards, bought her flowers and cheesecake, and sang Happy Birthday to her! She had a great day with her girls (and Daddy and Cy, too!).

Jerome

Last weekend, we got a surprise package in the mail - our very own "Elf on the Shelf" (http://www.elfontheshelf.com/). We named him Jerome - and we know all his rules already. No touching, he's always watching, and he visits Santa every night to tell him how we did that day! Every morning, we wake up and have to find Jerome before we go to Tracy's!

Here's Jerome sitting on the ledge in the loft...

If you are wondering where "Jerome" came from, Daddy helped us find a name -- and of course, it has something to do with the Pittsburgh Steelers... for you Steelers' fans - remember the Bus (aka Jerome Bettis). Neela is struggling to pronounce it, but in a few weeks - she'll get it!

Brooke's Party (aka Brooke's Baptism)

This weekend, we traveled to Grandma & Papa's farm for "Brooke's Party". We had Brooke's baptism the same place as Mommy was baptized, and Brooke was baptized in the same gown as Mommy, her brother and sisters, and Grandma G. and her brothers and sisters. She looked very pretty in her gown!

Brooke in her gown:

Pictures from the "Big Day":

Brooke & Daddy

Brooke receives Holy Waters of Baptism

Brooke receives Chrism oil (and lots of it!!)

Brooke's candle (that Neela blew out during the blessing!!)

Brooke's "Gown" from the Church

Brooke, Big Grandma & Big Papa E.

Brooke & Big Grandma B.

Brooke's Godparents: Angie, Chuck & Cory

Kylie has blessings for Brooke

Family Picture at the Church (do you like our new Christmas/party dresses?)

Brooke's baptism cake (Thank you, Grandma G!)

We had a lot of fun showing off all our stuff at Grandma & Papa's farm to our other grandmas, papas, and Uncle Chuckie... Mommy told Neela we'd have "5 Grandmas" at the farm - Neela responded with "and 1 Chuckie!". We got to show them Slick, our playhouse and our sandbox! We also showed off Papa's "swing" chair (otherwise known as Neela's indoor monkey bars) - and Brooke liked it too!

Neela & Kylie got to sleep all over the house. The first night, they slept in Angie's room. The second night, they slept in Tony's room. The last night, they slept on the porch with Grandma & Papa. Now, the 2nd night sounds seemless, but Neela actually woke up - and found Grandma & Papa before Mom & Dad. Neela ended up in bed with Papa, and Grandma tried to sleep crosswise on the queen size mattress with Neela - before going for the real bed the normal way!We had a lot of fun helping Brooke celebrate.

Here's a list of who was at "Brooke's Party": Mommy, Daddy, Neela, Kylie, Grandma G., Papa G., Grandma E., Papa E., Big Papa E., Big Grandma E., Big Grandma B., Big Grandma W., Heidi, Cory, Angie, Tony, Chelsea, Chuckie, Roger, Karen, Arleen, LaVonne, Sister Ellen & Father Paul. We sang the Appleseed blessing, and had lots of good food. Brooke did not get set down very much - but she didn't complain. She loves to snuggle!! Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate Brooke's special day!

Love, Kylie & Neela

Brooke's 2 Months Old!

Brooke turned 2 months old on November 7. Can you believe she's been here for 2 months already? Time is flying - and she is growing so big! At her 2 month appointment, Brooke weighed in at 14 lbs, 2 oz. and measured 23 inches long. She was in the 98% for weight, the 70% for height, and the 95% for overall size -- she might be measuring on the large side, but she is sure cute and cuddly!!

What else is happening? On November 7, we went to the fire station to welcome home one of our troops (and a Woodbury Fire Chief) from a tour in Afgahnistan. The girls said "Thank you" and "Welcome Home" perfectly in the car, but would not say it once we found Greg! They also did a bronze star ceremony for him - and the girls asked Mommy if this was church since she kept saying "Be Quiet", and bribing them with goldfish. That evening, Katie S. came over to babysit for the first time! All 3 girls had a blast - and it was great that Katie was home from college and could babysit on short notice.

The big sisters have started to do a lot of talking and thinking. When we told them we were going to Brooke's party in a few days, they asked if they could dance at Brooke's party like they danced at Jesse's party. We said, "Sure, we'll turn on music at Grandma & Papa's". (Brooke's party is her baptism - at the farm.) Then, Neela was trying to figure it all out - so it was "Tracy's, then Little Gym, then Brooke's party, then Christmas". We have sinced convinced her a few more things happen in there - Mommy's Birthday, Daddy's Birthday, Thanksgiving, Cory's Birthday, Christmas... so the list is getting much longer!

We had a playdate with the Flahive's - and the girls were very excited to go visit! When we were driving, they kept saying "Go fast, Mommy, you can do it" (thanks, Papa G!!). Then, when we got there - the door opened, and Kylie told Reardon "We're so happy to see you!!". We had to drag the kids out of the basement! Now, if you want some size perspective - here's a picture of Brooke with the Flahive twins. Brooke was about the size the girls are now when she was born!! And, in a year or two, all 3 will probably be close to the same size - but now... :-)

Brooke's Visitor Log:
11/2 Joanne & Autumn
11/4 Great Aunt Carol
11/9 Jon F.

Love to all!

A GRRR-eat Halloween 2009!

We had a GRRRRR-eat Halloween with 3 little tigers!

It was Brooke's first Halloween! We're not sure how much she was awake for, but she certainly looked cute all day long!

We got dressed up early in the day so we could visit a few homes in our old neighborhood before walking around our new neighborhood. Aunt Angie helped get Kylie & Neela dressed up, while Daddy fed Brooke and showed her off on the webcam.

Neela, Brooke, Kylie & Cy

All 3 Tigers

Kylie & Neela took a bunch of pictures before they went to find Brooke!

Check out Daddy's "in between" hair do - with no top, but still a lot on the sides!

Neela & Hambone (she scared him!) - even though "we are friendly tigers!"

Daddy & Mommy all dressed up for their party

Brooke models Daddy's wig in her "Daddy does my hair" onesie!

We visited the Stehura's, Starken's and Soderstrom's before heading back to our new house to knock on doors! Neela was very excited, but Kylie got very shy about the experience. Brooke slept through most of it!

After we got home, Kylie went to Greg & Michelle's (to our west) and Mike & Kelly's (to our east), and decided that was enough. Neela wanted to keep going, so she and Mommy started down the block. At every door, Neela said "Trick or Treat", then checked what was new in her candy bucket before saying "Thank You!". Then she'd jump up and down and say "More trick or treating! Can we go to that house next?". Neela made it to a lot of houses (Mommy stopped counting), and a lot further than we planned on! She was so excited when she got home - Neela wants to do more trick-or-treating still!

Last night after the girls were in bed, Brooke made her first "raspberry" sound! It was so cute, and she's also starting to coo... she seems to be growing up so much faster than her big sisters did!

Here are a few cute pictures of Brooke from this week:

Neela helped Daddy rake the backyard to burn off the candy!