Pops and Gammy come to visit

My mom and dad came to visit the week before Christmas to hang out. Brooks loved it when Pops would sing him songs, and Brooks had lots of fun spending time with Gammy. Here are just some random pics from their visit.

zzzz....

Brooks has always been a great sleeper (praise God); he started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks...and he has never had a problem since. He used to sleep on this little incline mattress thing, and I would come in in the morning and I would find him with his head wedged in-between the sides (mind you, he was swaddled). And then there was the time that I found him swaddled and he had rolled over on his tummy. The other morning, this is how I found him...


And maybe it doesn't look like much, but I actually put him in on his back with his feet at the other end of the bed. So not only did he roll to his tummy, but first he turned his body 180 degrees. He's going to be one of those kids who never sits still.

A Boy and His Dog

So recently Brooks has really been interested in Kansas. The other day, Chad and Kansas were playing rough and Brooks was just watching and cracking up. And Brooks will be sitting on my lap and just watching Kansas walk around. Kansas is such a good dog, and he'll come up and let Brooks just pull on his hair, stick his fingers in his nose, etc. Kansas is real gentle with Brooks and I think they are going to grow up to be good friends. I got some pictures of them hanging out the other day in Brooks' room.

6 months old

I can't believe Brooks is already 6 months old! The old ladies in the church always told me to treasure every moment because they grow up so fast. It is so true! 6 months means he's half-a-year old, he's rolling over, and he's eating 3 meals a day. 6 months also means he looks when he hears his name, he smiles when I come into the room, he talks more and makes all kinds of noises with his mouth, and he smiles and laughs all the time! He is so much fun to be around. His personality is much like ours - he's a good sleeper, he loves to interact with people but also enjoys his alone time, and he is totally chill. After our doctor's appointment, it turns out that not only does Brooks have much of our personalities, but also much of our physical features (more Chad I think). He was 13lbs 12 oz and 27 1/2 inches long. Turns out he is in the 3% for weight, 5% for his head circumference, and 50% for his height. He is a long and skinny baby with a tiny head. The doctor said he is moving up the curve just fine, but that he is just a skinny kid and probably will never be a chunky baby. Surprise, surprise! She said it means that he'll probably walk sooner rather than later because he doesn't have much weight to carry around (and he has strong muscles). She said that it also means he will continue to be skinny and maybe fall below the curve because he'll be burning so many calories when he starts walking. Chad walked early and actually kind of skipped the whole crawling thing. He never crawled with his knees on the ground. Instead he moved around with his hands and feet on the floor and his butt up in the air. His mom said that then he never really walked, but just started running. We'll see if Brooks follows in his steps. Overall, the doctor was very pleased. It is always good for me to hear things like that considering the hardships of the pregnancy and Brooks' tiny size at birth. He is a strong and happy baby who is absolutely perfect in my eyes. I fall more in love with him everyday.

Some Family Pictures

Chad and I took some family pictures in the backyard a couple of weeks ago. I asked Chad to go buy Brooks a new little outfit to wear, and he picked out these adorable overalls with a brown and white plaid shirt. He looked so cute! We took so many pictures, and Brooks never smiled. Of course he still looked cute, but I was so sad that he wouldn't show off his big smile. And trying to get a picture of the whole family without any assistance was interesting. I had to hold Brooks and Kansas while Chad pushed the timer for the camera, then he would run over to get in the picture, hold Kansas, and then throw a rock at the last minute to get Kansas to look. We just had to hope that Brooks would look up too. We took about 10 pictures, and only one or two really worked.

Just the Two of Us...

While in San Francisco we were able to leave Brooks with family for about 6 hours so Chad and I could go out on the town. I'd never seen the city and really wanted to take advantage of our family. It was nice to know that Brooks was well taken care of. I did have to stop in a Marriott bathroom to pump once, but it was totally worth it. Chad and I ate at this fantastic restaurant on the bay, with a view of Alcatraz. We ate crab, shrimp, mussels and had a dessert that was to die for!

We had to walk off all that great food, so then we walked around Pier 39.

And of course, we had to go and see the Golden Gate Bridge. It was actually a pretty cloudy and chilly day until we got to the bridge. It was beautiful!


It was so fun getting out just the two of us.

Thanksgiving in San Francisco

We were so blessed to be able to go visit family in San Francisco for Thanksgiving. Brooks got to hang out with his cousins, Bryan, Dawson, and Megan, as well as Aunt Joy, Uncle Craig, Birdie and Scoops. We had a great time! For Thanksgiving, Joy's cul-d-sac meets up at a park and does a pot luck style Thanksgiving. There ended up being about 50 people there. We played games and had lots of yummy food. I love being around family.

Bass Pro Shop

It's always fun going to the Bass Pro Shop. We just walked around for about an hour and then took some fun pictures. Brooks took a picture on the 4-wheeler so he could show Santa what he wants for Christmas.

5 months old

I can't believe that Brooks is already 5 months old. Time is going way too fast. And when I think that next month he'll be half a year old - I can hardly stand it. I know there is so much to look forward to as he grows, but I treasure these moments because... He is still totally dependent on me, he still likes to cuddle and rest his head on my shoulder, he can fall asleep in my arms, and the latest thing that he does is take a break from breastfeeding to look up at me and give me a big smile. He is just so cute and cuddly.



Chad said that (in the picture below) it looks like Brooks is imitating Chris Farley as Matt Foley the motivational speaker:

Happy Birthday Gammy!

For my mom's birthday, Brooks and I flew down to surprise her. It was a great success! We had a lot of fun hanging out with Gammy, Pops, Auntie Pat and Uncle Gene. It's always fun being around family.

Traveling Quotes

When traveling with a baby there are some things that I like to hear, and some things I don't like to hear - here's a list of some of the quotes from our weekend of travel:

THINGS I LIKE TO HEAR:
"What a cute baby!"
"He looks just like you!"
"I love babies," said the man sitting next to me on the plane.
"What a good baby!"
"He's so strong!"
"What a cutie!"
"He just smiles all the time - What a happy boy!"
"We're landing a little early," said the pilot.
"Can I help you?"
"Did he sleep the whole flight? What a good baby!"
"I didn't even know there was a baby on this flight!"

THINGS I DON'T LIKE TO HEAR:
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
"She's so cute!"
"Hello, Brooke!"
"Faaarrttttt!!!" went Brooks' behind as we were getting ready to take off (it wasn't just a fart of course).
"Can't you just feed him!!!"
"What is he, like, 8 weeks old?"
"Our gate is not ready yet, so we're going to have to sit here on the runway for a bit," said the pilot.
"Sorry - we have not yet located your carseat," said the customer service man.

Brooks will hopefully be the expert traveler with the many experiences that he has already had, and the ones that he has to look forward to this holiday season. Let's just hope that I can cope with all the ups and downs that come with traveling!

Brooks' First Snow

Finally Some Snow!!!

It is rare for us to get through October without snow falling here in the city. Here is an article from Tuesday to show how rare it is:

STILL NO SNOW IN DENVER...Tuesday, November 11
While there was snow in extreme eastern and northeastern Colorado on Monday, there has been no snow yet in Denver. It is rare to get past Veterans Day without measurable snow in Denver, but it has happened before. We made to November 15 before having snow back in 1987, and a year later in 1988. Denver's all-time record for latest first measurable snow is November 21, 1934.

So, here we are on Friday, November 14th and we are just now getting snowfall...and it's beautiful! I just told a friend the other day that I was ready for snow. Usually in October it starts to get chilly around here and then snow. Our average temps for October and now November are in the low 50's, and we've been having 60's and 70's! Does that mean a warmer winter for us, or that the weather is just teasing us and the winter is going to be bitter cold?! We'll have to wait and see. I'm just happy today to wake up to a layer of snow in the backyard.

Fun Times

After having kids, a lot of people say that it is hard to imagine life before kids...this is true. But, I think it is also important not to let go of the things that were so much fun before having kids. Last week we took a little road trip down to Colorado Springs and hiked around some waterfalls. Granted, we saw waterfalls bigger on the side of the road in New Zealand, but it was still fun to get out and hike around. It's fun that we can continue to do some of the things that we did before Brooks came along - now it's just a little different. It takes us a little bit longer to get out of the door, with a little bit more preparation. The timing is essential - planning around eating and nap times. With all this said, it worked out great and we had tons of fun. Brooks was a trooper in the Bjorn!

We also stopped at the top and took some cute pictures.



The waterfalls were great, but the car ride home was just as fun. Chad and I played a little game with the iPod. We play songs and see who can name the artist first. Of course, Chad is amazing at this game. He does have a slight advantage since he downloads most of the songs on the iPod. The sweetest thing was that every once in a while he'd let me win. After playing that game for about 40 minutes, the last 20 minutes or so I found fun songs to listen to. We jammed out in the car to the likes of Lisa Lobe and Men at Work.
It was a fun day from start to finish.

A Year Ago Today...

A year ago today I found out I was pregnant. Chad was out of town, but I couldn't wait to take a test. I woke up and thought, 'What the heck - I'll take a test for a piece of mind!' I took a pregnancy test for maybe the tenth time since we'd been trying for a baby, and for the first time I walked away from it and expected the single line just like all the times in the past. Instead, I came back to see two lines in that little "window". I'd love to say that then I went to the store and bought five more tests just to be sure - but I didn't. I knew that I was pregnant, and I was overwhelmed with joy. I couldn't stop rubbing my tummy and thanking God for the miracle growing inside me. Little did I know how precious that miracle would be. I couldn't have imagined Brooks any more perfect than he is.
A year ago I was worried about myself. A year ago I was trying to make sense of what was to come. A year ago I had no idea what being a mom meant. A year ago I underestimated what love was. What a difference a year makes.

Brooks and Daddy

Chad and Brooks had such a good time playing together the other day while I was sick. I snapped a video that is pretty cute. Notice our poor neglected dog, Kansas, in the background.

Just some cute pictures

Brooks is growing and accomplishing new things everyday, so it's hard not to just snap as many photos as I possibly can. Plus, I kind of think it's going to be harder to blog as Brooks gets older and more mobile. RIght now he's totally happy just sitting on a blanket for a while. When he starts rolling and moving and sleeping less during the day I probably won't have all this free time to sit and mess around on the computer. So for now you'll have to deal with all my pictures and silly updates.

Brooks is now playing with his exersaucer. The doctor recommended it since he is able to stand so well. He looks really tall in this picture, but actually it's because there is a folded blanket underneath him to help him stand. He is still a little short, and without the blanket his legs just dangle there (they really almost touch). He likes looking around at all the things there are to play with. Chad thinks those things cause ADHD...we'll take our chances I guess. The other picture I took because I saw all these adorable pictures of my friends' babies playing on their tummies. So I though, 'I should take a cute picture like that'. It turned out pretty cute - and I love how it really shows his bright blue eyes!

Having Fun with Daddy

Brooks is really able to recognize his mommy and daddy, and he is having so much fun playing with his daddy. The other night Brooks had so much fun playing with Chad and grabbing his glasses. It was so darn cute!