the little girl that you used to babysit for (and you started babysitting her when she was 8 weeks old)...turns 16 today!!! I guess that would mean that she isn't a little girl anymore! I tried to find a picture of her and me from when she was a little baby but all those pictures must still be at my moms house...so you'll have to do with this one:
This was one of my senior pictures...and you're only suppose to look at the cute little girl in this picture...not me! hahaha! Oh my...how time flies! Brooke was my first real babysitting job and I was 13 at the time...she was 8 weeks old and her mom was going back to work...and it happened to land in the summer so it was perfect...I had so much fun that summer (and all the summers that I got to babysit her) with her...I couldn't wait to get to their house and hold her...in fact when I would get there I would pick her up right away and her dad would tease me that I couldn't leave her sit...I probably did spoil her...and now having a little one of my own I know how important it is for them to be content by themselves and not be held constantly...oops...sorry about that Robbie and Chris :) When it was time for my graduation pictures I knew that I wanted Brooke to be in them...and she did great that day...she was just the cutest little thing you had ever seen. I was also the one to go and sit with her when her mom went into labor in the middle of the night...they had told me that if she did go in the middle of the night that I would be the one that they would call to come and stay with Brooke...and so I secretly hoped and prayed that it would happen at night...and it did...I still remember it well...it was about 3:30 in the morning and they didn't live too far from us so I walked (or maybe ran) over there...I still remember how calm Chris was and thought to myself "well she makes this look easy"...she was tying her shoes and then got real still for a moment...let the contraction pass and went back to tying her shoes...funny what will stick in a persons mind...but she is the only person (besides myself now of course) that I have ever seen in active labor...and I think I learned a lot from her...to just stay calm and that it will pass. Anyway they left pretty quickly after I arrived and I camped out on the couch...they called around 6 to say that they had had the baby already...another little girl (Taylor!)...I couldn't wait for Brooke to wake up to tell her that she had a sister! Ahhh...the memories...and now that little Brooke is 16! A few weeks ago we were able to spend some time with the Vieaux family when they were in the cities...we met at the Mall of America for a little lunch and did some much needed catching up!
Here's Natalee with Brooke...isn't she just as cute today as she was 12 years ago! And I just can't believe that she is holding my little girl...I told her that I wished she lived closer 'cause I'd make her come and babysit for me :) Unfortunately Natee didn't have a nap that morning and so she isn't as smiley as she could have been! :)
And here's the whole gang of kids: Brooke's boyfriend Clint, Brooke, Natee and Taylor
Natalee did NOT like the mechanical bull...and it wasn't even on but she screamed from the moment she got on til the moment she was safe back in my arms! :)
One of the best parts of babysitting (or at least I thought) was getting to pick out Brooke's clothes for the day...and her mom made these cute little socks with beads all around the edge...well when we found out that Natee was a girl Chris sent Natee some socks of her own...and then Natee grew out of them...so Chris made her a ton more (thanks again Chris!)...now Natee has a pair (and then some) to wear everyday and she has so many color choices that she'll always have a pair to match what she is wearing! :)
Here's my socks!
Tay Tay and Natee...I did babysit Taylor too but I was also involved in more activities in school at that time and then I went off to college so I didn't get to watch her as much...bummer!
The whole Vieaux clan
Me and ALL my girls!
Chris and I
Brooke...you have turned into a beautiful young woman and I hope you have the best birthday ever! Happy Sweet 16 and good luck on that driving test...then you can come up and visit me!
Love you!
Ali
Our cute little family
Daddy and his girl
I thought I'd put a couple pictures on here in real color so you could see how cute her dress was! There's nothing like a little girl in an Easter dress :) And the flower...it was perfect...and she let me curl her hair that day...so it was even cuter! You'll have to check out my sis-in-laws blog to see pictures of Natalee and her cousin Ole...he looked so cute that day too!
Happy girls :)
We take this picture yearly...it's been so fun to look back and see how much the kids have changed...they used to all fit on the couch but now that they are getting older and we've added more kids we are running out of room :)
I thought this picture was funny...I didn't realize it at the time that I had caught him mid-fall
Greta the Easter bunny and me
Last year we shot off rockets after the egg hunt...so I think it's become a tradition since we did it again this year :) Isn't that all it takes...doing it two years in a row...doesn't that mean instant tradition?!?! :)
POOF...and it's GONE!
Good thing we still have young runners to go get the rockets!
had such a fun time celebrating what would have been her big sister, Emmalee's, 3rd birthday...see: 
