Brooklyn Brittney Hall

Looking for bugs
I usually like to post birthday tributes on the actual birthday...but life sometimes just happens. Here is the wrap up post in dedication to our sweet Brooklyn. She is loved by many and brightens many lives with her cute smile, outgoing personality, and giving heart. So here goes...

Our beautiful birthmom, Brittney, gave birth to our sweet Brooklyn on Aug. 23, 2006 at 2:21 am at American Fork Hospital. Brooklyn weighed 4 lb. 13 oz and was 16 1/2 inches long. We were able to be there minutes after she was born. Brittney was in labor for many, many hours. We are so grateful to her for making the ultimate sacrifice for us. Brooklyn is so special. Words can't express how much we love Brittney and Brooklyn.

Here are some things that our little 3 year-old LOVES:

*Bugs...anything to do with bugs. We have a rule of no spiders though. Her favorite bugs right now are ladybugs, grasshoppers, caterpillars and rolly pollys. However, she can never pass up a good worm, slug, or ant. Her Dad made her a bug catcher for her birthday. She even sleeps with her bugs at night (in her bug catcher, of course).

*Learning. She loves doing puzzles, reading books, drawing, coloring, learning new letters, numbers and colors, playing with legos, and playing match. She is really curious and likes to know how things work. She has an amazing memory. She remembers EVERYTHING. We have to be careful what we say and promise because SHE REMEMBERS.

*Watermelon, but she LOVES all fruit and veggies. Her favorite veggies are corn and peas. She also loves tomatoes with salt on them. She prefers these over meat. Don't get me wrong though, she will always go for a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. That is her favorite. Brooklyn is just a good eater, overall.

*Riding her bike. She asks to ride her bike every morning. She is pretty darn good at it too. She can turn around, stop, avoid objects, toot her horn while riding, and also go "really fast" as she calls it. We keep raising the training wheels so that she gets more and more comfortable on 2 wheels rather than 4. She is also very agile. She already hops forward and back and up and down. She is learning how to skip and hop on 1 foot. She has great eye/hand coordination as well as eye/foot coordination. She is always amazing us at all she does physically. I could go on and on at all she can do.

*Her sister, Mackenzie. She is so sweet to her. A lot of mornings she will make sure I get some milk for her then she will bring it to Kenzie. They play really well together. Rarely do they fight or gang up on each other. They usually back each other up, if anything. I know Brooklyn is grateful to have a sister and I know Kenzie feels the same way...and so close in age!

*Being social. She seems to make friends really easily because she is very easy going and accepts everyone. Anytime I have kids over to play, they tend to gravitate towards her because she just loves everyone. She really enjoys going to the park, the zoo, her cousins house, her friend's house (when we lived in Utah :( ), and playing outside. This kid just loves to play. She takes it very seriously.

*Animals. She has loved animals from a very young age. She has never shied away from animals. When we had Snickers, our puppy, she LOVED that dog. She toted him around everywhere. It really broke my heart when we had to let him go because I saw how attached she was. She still names her stuffed puppy Snickers. When driving, she notices animals everywhere. She notices dogs in the back of trucks and a horse or a cow from far away. She is drawn to them. Whenever we see a dog outside she has to pet it. She is a very nurturing person and it is very evident in how she treats her bugs and animals.

*Singing and talking. There are times when we put her down for her nap and she sings the entire 2 hours. She always wants music in the car too. Her favorite songs are "2 Little Ducks", "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed", "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam", "Twinkle, Twinkle", "This little piggy"...I could go on forever.. This kid just loves music. She is also an avid talker. She gets going so fast that she starts talking in Chinese...or rather, that's what it sounds like. She loves to tell me all sorts of stories and what Kenzie is doing. She has the cutest little voice.

*Saying her prayers. She always makes sure that we say prayers before the food and when she goes to bed. She is so cute when she prays. She has her eyes open and she looks around at everyone in the room and prays for them. She usually adds some random people in there as well.

I know that I missed some of her LOVES... We just LOVE this kid more than we can express. She adds so much joy in our lives and we feel blessed every minute to have her in our family. She is a keeper for sure. Happy 3rd birthday Brooklyn. You are a delight.