Growing Up...

My little boy is growing everyday.

Sleeping.
At school this week he slept on a nap mat instead of in a pack-and-play...for THREE HOURS!!! That's right - from 12:30-3:10, Brooks has been sleeping on a mat...on the floor! He never once got up or ran around the room. He is the youngest in his "school" so apparently Ms. Kelly said that he thought it was the cool thing to do to sleep on his mat. He even gets up before the others, and he still just lays there and "talks" until Ms. Kelly's gets him up. I can hardly believe it!
My Little Helper.
He is also getting more interested in "helping" around the house. He helped me "clean" the other day:

Okay, so maybe I posed that picture a little bit. But he was using the paper towel to clean after I sprayed. He LOVED it!
Eating.
This kid eats A TON! On Tuesday night he ate 4 snacks, half a chicken breast, half a tortilla, 5 strawberries, cheese, and broccoli. Really? I can hardly keep up! At 5:00 on Wednesday he took his highchair tray to Chad and said, "Eat!" And then he walked Chad over to his chair. I have to try to distract him every night while I cook his dinner. And THEN while Chad and I are eating he comes up to us and says, "Bite?" He's so cute, I can't resist. Chad, however, doesn't share well.
Parrot.
He tries to repeat almost anything that we'll ask him to say. He loves to say people's names, animal sounds, and he points out lots of things in books. It won't be long before he's speaking in sentences.
I love EVERY minute of my time with my son. He is totally lovable, totally fun, and totally adorable. I feel so blessed that God has trusted us in raising him. Thank you, Lord.

"CHEESE!"

Brooks is learning to pose for the camera by saying, "CHEESE!"

Christmas in Corpus

After spending time in Austin with Gammy and Pops, we traveled down to Corpus to meet up with EVERYONE. This is the first time in 3 years that the whole Hoffman Crew has gotten together, and it has been 5 years since we've been together for Christmas. That's 8 adults and 5 children sharing a roof. It was an absolute blast. It was Christmas Eve before everyone arrived, and we rushed and got ready for church. Here are all the cousins lined up after church in front of the Christmas tree.
(From left to right: Dawson, Brodie, Brooks, Bryan, and Megan):

Christmas morning we opened so many presents...it was a little overwhelming. Brooks actually did great digging into his stocking and helping to open his presents. A little different from last year when he just sat there. Brooks got lots of Elmo stuff, books, some clothes, and a cho-cho train. He loved every minute of it.

This was Brooks' face after every present that he opened, accompanied with a long, "OOOHH!"

More important than opening presents, is celebrating the birth of Christ.
Isaiah 9:6 says: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." We had party plates and hats that said, "Happy Birthday Jesus", and we had a cake and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. It was such a wonderful reminder about why we celebrate Christmas.

While in Corpus Brooks also got to experience his first taste of Mimi's Tacos. Mimi is Brooks' Great-Grandma and she makes the best tacos! I think she cooks them for us every time we go to Corpus. She makes the tacos shells and seasons the beef just right. Brooks had two helpings!

A special treat was that Scoops and Birdie treated the whole family to a few nights in a condo on the beach. We stayed at Port Royale and split up between two 3-bedroom condos. It was windy and chilly, but we made the best of it and spent some time on the beach. It was Brooks' first time on the beach! I can't wait to take him back in the summer.

Christmas in Austin...Finally!

2002. 2002 was the last Christmas that we actually LIVED in Texas. 2003 we were in New Zealand celebrating Christmas while horseback riding through the South Island...not too shabby. And ever since then we've lived in Colorado. Most of the time we came down to celebrate Christmas with family in Texas, but this is the first Christmas in 7 years that we've actually lived here amidst our family in Texas. We started celebrating with Gammy and Pops the week before Christmas. We did Christmas early so Brooks could have some time to play with his new toys while Gammy and Pops were here:

The boys assembling Brooks' new work bench...a little ironic:

We spent our nights hanging out, going for walks, and smoking cigars:



And we started a tradition at Zilker Park:


We ate at Chuy's and walked over to Zilker Park and the Walk of Lights. It was a perfect night...not too cold, but it was cold enough to remind us that it was winter. We started to walk under the huge tree and spun around under the tree of lights. I could hardly look up without getting dizzy. Brooks and Chad spun a lot and Brooks LOVED it. He thought it was pretty funny. Then we strapped him into the BOB and strolled around. The lights were fun, but we were glad we didn't have to pay to get in. The decorations and displays seemed kind of old. Like they used to be really cool and have bright colors, but now they are just old, faded, and out-dated. But, Brooks loved looking at the lights, and I'm sure it will be something that we'll do every year.

Merry Christmas from Texas!
Love,
Team Hoff

18 months old

Stats:

Weight: 25 pounds - 40%
Height: 34 inches - 90%
Head Circumference: 18 3/4 inches - 25%

Again...my boy is tall and skinny with a tiny head.
Looking at pictures of Chad as a baby and seeing home movies of him as baby is just like watching Brooks. Brooks may look like me in the face (or so people tell me), but he has Chad's body FOR SURE!
Brooks turning 18 months old brings more curiosity, more independence, more communication and more time-outs.
Here are some pictures we took in Corpus at The Hoffman Co. to show off my adorable 18 month old:

Christmas Wreath Craft

It's never too late to create a Christmas craft. Although I think you could do this craft for any holiday or any occasion really. I found it on-line and thought I would give it a try. Here's what it looks like:

I used some red string to hang it up, and it looks pretty darn cute. I love pictures, so I thought this was a perfect craft for me. And it was actually fun and easy. Here are the official instructions in case you want to give it a try:

Merry Christmas Y'all

From Blue Bell to Whataburger...there is a lot that Texas has to offer. Here are some pictures that didn't make the Christmas card cut, but they are too cute not to share.