9 months old

Happy 9 month birthday to my little boy! It won't be long before he is one.
Here's just a cute pic of Brooks watching some March Madness. Doesn't he look like such a big boy?!


Here are some "Brooks-isms" for his stage of life right now:

9 month old Brooks-isms

- He can wave. It is totally spastic, but it's a wave.
- He loves to take things off of shelves or out of baskets. Taking the DVD off the shelf and taking his books out of his book basket are two of his favorite things.
- Eating with his fingers is much more fun then being spoon fed.
- We like to play chase.
- Brooks has a huge vocabulary (well in comparison to the previous months). He says, "momma", "dada", "uDU" for dog, and today he looked at Brooks and said "uuuf" for woof...so cute!
- By the looks of Brooks' teeth, you would think that he was from Tennessee. He has 2 teeth on the bottom, and is getting 4 on the top. That's right - 4 at one time! Only, instead of getting the 2 teeth on top in the middle, he has a fang on the outside. It's pretty funny.
- The first of many serious bumps happened today. Chad and I were hanging pictures, and Brooks was in the kitchen. Then there was a BANG and then there was a WAAAAAAAAA!!! He now has a bump across his forehead...he seems okay.
- No longer a little boy, Brooks sits in the high chair and feeds himself and grabs his sippy cup to take a sip. It makes me happy and sad.
- If the sippy cup isn't around, Brooks loves to drink out of a cup (with the help of mom or dad). The water doesn't just dribble all over, he is actually taking sips and swallowing.
- Who needs toys? Brooks loves to play with his sound machine.
- Nobody can make Brooks laugh like his daddy. That beard gets him every time!
- Some times Brooks get so excited that it takes his breath away.
- Nothing better than the outdoors for this little guy.





There is so much to soak up everyday as I try not to miss a beat.

It's Official!!

No, I'm not pregnant. It's funny how that is the first thing that people think of you when you tell them you have news. Although, our news is pretty exciting. After much prayer - Chad and I have decided to move our family down to Texas. The first week of June we will be packing our bags and driving South to Austin. We have no definite plans thus far, but we know that God has some big plans for us being back in the Lone Star State. I will continue to give updates and more information as it comes. Thanks in advance for your prayers.

3 Cheers for Goldens

My dear friend just lost her sweet golden retriever, Gus, and reading her sad story made me cry. It made me think about how much I love our sweet golden, Kansas. The poor guy has been through a lot this past year. When I had my little "vacation" in the hospital for 5 weeks, Kansas got the shaft. Chad was always either working or hanging out at the hospital...not a lot of time for walking the dog. Kansas did come to visit me once at the hospital. I held on real tight to his leash and he pulled me around the sidewalk. And now, with Brooks around, Kansas has taken a back seat. He has been so wonderful through it all. He is the best dog, considering that instead of tons of fun walks and chasing rabbits, he gets attacked by a little boy. Brooks will seriously lay on Kansas and just pull out his hair, or pinch his nose, or crawl over his body. Kansas just lays there. Don't feel too bad for Kansas though. He is still deeply loved. He gets to sleep on the couch every night, we just went on a fun hike the other day and he went swimming in the river, and now he gets extra treats that Brooks drops from the table. In saying all of this, I would be very sad if Kansas were no longer around. Now, if you don't have a dog you probably don't understand what I'm saying or what my friend is going through, and you probably didn't see "Marley and Me", and if you did you didn't like it. (Oddly enough, "Must Love Dogs" is on T.V. right now.)
Anyways, I love Kansas. And I am very sad for my friend that lost her buddy, Gus. Here are some pictures of Brooks and Kansas to make sure that we treasure every moment with him.





Chad and I are marking Brooks' first word as "dog". When he sees Kansas we point and say, "doggie...woof, woof!", and Brooks says, "uDU". Sometimes he even gets the /g/ sound in there. The word is very different from "dada". Brooks loves Kansas as much as we do.

Birdie and Scoops in Colorado

Birdie and Scoops came out for a long weekend to hang out. The original plan was for me to join the youth ski trip and Birdie and Scoops would babysit. The girls that were planning on going on the ski trip backed out last minute, so there was no need for me to go. But, it worked out well to have them around to help since Chad was gone. We had lots of fun and lots of meals out. Every time we went out we just packed tons of food and Brooks - he loved it! He is really getting excited about feeding himself noodles, peas, black beans, and turkey meatballs. He had so much fun showing off for Birdie and Scoops - He is getting real good at pulling up on everything and crawling real fast. Thanks Birdie and Scoops for the great weekend!

Now you see us...Now you don't!

Brooks and I just popped into Texas last weekend. In the short time that we were there, Brooks had great fun hanging out with Gammy and Pops. Pops liked to sing Brooks all kinds of songs, and Gammy spent most of her time either crawling around with Brooks on the floor or feeding him...two of his favorite activities.




Gammy and Pops also gave Brooks this ridiculous OU shirt. Daddy said that he's going to teach him to poop on it. He still looked so cute though.



It was such a fast trip that we didn't really get time to call people to visit. Aunt Cari did come over and hang out a bit so Brooks could spend some time with his unborn best friend. Aunt Cari looked so cute in her new shirt to show off her belly. Brooks gave her belly a little tap just to say hello. We can't wait to meet him/her in June.

The La Jolla Aquarium

While in California, we took a gloomy day with the family to go visit the La Jolla Aquarium. Brooks seemed to enjoy the fishes and all the bright colors. He loved tapping on the glass, even though it made mommy and Gammy a little nauseous to get too close to the glass. Outside at the aquarium, they had tide pools with sea cucumbers, sea anemones, and starfish. It was fun sticking my hand in the freezing cold water to touch everything. Brooks wanted to play in the water so bad. I thought at one point he might just jump in. Even though it was a cloudy and "cold" day, we had a great view of the surf below and La Jolla's Cove off in the distance.

Mommy and Brooks with all the pretty colors:


Brooks and Gammy taking a closer look at the sharks:


Owen and Brooks:


Exploring the tide pools:


Gammy, Great-Grandma Ruth, and Brooks:

Who's that stud?

Oh - that would be my little boy with a mohawk!

Brooks has these cowlicks in the front of his hair line that make it impossible to comb nicely or get to do anything! He gets these from his daddy. My mother-in-law has already told me that they make things hard, and she can remember Chad wanting a flat top (back in the 80's) and that it just wouldn't work. Hope Brooks never wants a flat top. So, I figured out that a mohawk actually does work with his hair. I thought he looked pretty darn cute. Kind of like a tough guy.