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.