Things about Colorado that I love...

...The Hill Family. Being with them this weekend has been so wonderful. I have laughed so hard watching the kids play together and I love my time with Kristen (and Nate, Tenley, and Tessa of course). When I was in the hospital prior to Brooks, Kristen came and saw me almost everyday. Her husband was out in the woods doing wilderness training for the duration of my hospital stay, and she lived a couple of block away. She would bring Tenley (Brooks' girlfriend) up and they would hang out at the hospital for hours. She has always been a great resource for me as a parent (since she has 4 months on me). One night, Brooks busted his lip pretty good on the tile floor, and he had a good amount of blood in his mouth. Kristen very calmly washed out his mouth, told me it was alright if I wanted to cry, and calmed both of us down. I miss my Kristen when I'm in Texas.

...The snow. It snowed Friday night and again on Sunday. Sunday it snowed a whole lot. We dressed the kids and let them go wild outside. Tenley was all decked out in her Columbia snow gear, and poor Brooks was wearing the only "winter" jacket that he has with some windpants from Children's place, and some yarn mittens from Target. Despite the lack of appropriate gear - Brooks absolutely LOVED the snow. Brooks and Tenley spent the first 5 minutes just eating the snow. And Brooks spent the next 5 minutes picking up snow and throwing it up in the air above his head. He ran back and forth on the sidewalk a little bit, and it wasn't until he starting exploring "stomping" in the snow that he got cold. And then he was done.

...Ski racks. I forgot what it's like to be driving around and seeing ski racks on everyone's cars. It just reminds me of the mountains, and the mountains make me happy. Chad finally took our ski rack off the top of our car...now it's just a regular car in Texas.
...The mountains. They were kind of hidden all weekend with the snow clouds. But I knew they were there.
...Charles Hay. On Friday morning I went up to my old school to visit the teachers and students. It was such a strange feeling being in that building and just being a visitor. I got to see tons of my old kids. One of my students from last year said, "Mrs. Hoffman! It's me - Ethan! Do you remember me?!" So cute! I miss those hallways and everyone who occupies them.
..."Brooks and Tenley sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." I miss watching Brooks and Tenley playing together. This is actually the first time that they have been on the "same page" as far as their mobility. There are 4 months inbetween them which has always been just enough so that when Brooks when learn how to do something, Tenley would learn something new and better. For example, once Brooks learned how to crawl, Tenley learned how to walk. Well this time, they were pretty much evenly matched. They were so much fun to watch...probably because they LOVE each other. They were meant to be from the very beginning. This time they had fun finger painting, playing in the snow, running around the house, jumping on the bed, tickling each other, bathing together, screaming together, and dancing together. Okay, so dancing is one thing that Tenley still has on Brooks. She is quite the expert dancer. Take a look for yourself...

I know this picture is slightly blurry...but it is still SO cute!

First Train Ride

There's a park close to our house where we go play tennis. There's a jogging path, a small lake, a playground, and tons of playing fields for sports. There is also a small kiddie train. I've been wanting to take Brooks on the train, and what better time than with Gammy. My Mom and I were like contestants on the Amazing Race trying to run and catch the train. We were the last ones on before hearing "All Aboard!" I don't really think Brooks knew what to do on the train. He wasn't upset, but as you'll see in the pictures, he wasn't really excited either. He just kind of sat there with a blank look on his face. Not really sure what was going through his head.

Bobo and Brooks

Brodie is Brooks' cousin. Brodie sounds a lot like Birdie (Brooks' Grandma). So, since we are getting to spend so much time with our family now, we wanted Brooks to be able to communicate without being confused. So - we nicknamed Brodie: Bobo. Brooks caught on instantly! Brooks and Bobo had so much fun over Halloween. They are really good buddies, and I know that their bond is only going to grow with time. When Jill (Brodie's mom/my sister-in-law) tells Brodie they are coming to visit us, she said that that's all he talks about for the week. This time, on his way down, he told his mom, "Mom - I'm going to put my arm around Brooks and smile real good for pictures." How cute is he? He is so sweet to Brooks. He pushed him around in the small car...He got him extra candy while trick-or-treating...And he did put his arm around him and smile "real good" for pictures.



This last one is my favorite! Jill and I got the afternoon to go shopping at the Round Rock outlets while the boys stayed home with Chad. Children's Place was having a MAJOR sale! We got these shirts for $1.99 each. I also got Brooks a pair of shoes for $.99 and a bunch of other shirts and stuff. Jill got some girls hats for birthday presents for $.19!!! Ridiculous! We had so much fun shopping and couldn't resist the matching shirts.


Since Bobo and Aunt Jill's last visit, Brooks finds Brodie's picture all over the house and says, "Bobo!". Being away from the mountains and cool, crisp air of Colorado is hard...but it's times like these past weekends that make living in Texas THE BEST!

THE FIREMAN

Brooks was a fireman for Halloween...so I can't resist...

"Well they call me the fireman, that's my name.
Making my rounds all over town, putting out old flames.
Well everybody'd like to have a what I got.
I can cool 'em down when they're smold'ring hot.
I'm the fireman, that's my name."
- George Strait

"First" Halloween

Aunt Jill and Brodie came down to spend Halloween weekend with us. We had a birthday party on Saturday morning: My vice-principal lives behind us, and her daughter was having a birthday party. The party was so adorable! The kids all dressed up and there were tons of games, food, and fun. There was a cookie decorating station with bowls of sprinkles and frosting. Brooks kept trying to eat the spoonfuls of sprinkles. He needed a little bit of help.

There was a bowl of water and spider rings. The kids used straws to "fish" out the spider rings. Brodie did really well. Brooks just kept dipping in his straw and taking it out and putting it in his mouth. He needed a bit of help. But did I mention that Brodie did really well?

Since it was Halloween, they thought they would let the kids practice trick-or-treating. They built houses out of cardboard boxes: There was Dora's Casa, Bevo's Barn, and Stripe's Den. The kids went around knocking on the doors and getting prizes. Brooks just kind of followed the crowd. He needed a bit of help.

After lots of treats, we took the boys home for some lunch and a nap.

After nap time it was hot dog time at the Halloweenie Roast that our neighborhood hosted. The neighbors all got together for a cook-out. The kids ran around and played and had a blast!

We also took some time to knock on some doors for trick-or-treating. Brooks and Brodie made sure to collect lots of candy (starting with the bucket outside of our house).


Last Halloween didn't really count since Brooks didn't really know what was going...so I'd like to consider this his "first" Halloween.

16 months

Another month has gone by, and this is the first one with no chair picture. Remember...I decided to just do that every 3 months since he doesn't sit still any more and he doesn't change as much by the month anymore. Although, I do think he has matured a lot this past month. He is saying more words and more responsive to everything that we say. The only time he seems to have a hard time understanding is when we're telling him not to do something...imagine that?! He is having a great time at Ms.Kelly's. He comes home with artwork and all kinds of fun stuff. She said that he eats more than any other kid (and he is the youngest). He has a snack there around 3:30, and we usually pick him up between 4:00-4:30. After walking in the door at home, he looks for daddy and then he goes straight to the pantry and bangs on the door and says, "NAC! NAC! NAC!" So, yes...he gets another snack when he gets home. The other night for dinner he ate a hamburger patty, fries, green beans, a string cheese, a clementine, and a cookie. When we think he can't possibly eat anymore we'll say, "All done, Brooks?" And he'll put his hands together and say, "Mur. Mur." (for more). Some times we just cut him off because I can't think of anything else to feed him. He sure is a good eater! His favorites right now are asparagus, green beans, peas, berries, clementines, peaches, chicken, meatballs, veggie burgers, fries, feeding himself yogurt, and cookies of course. He's down to one 2.5-3 hour nap in the afternoon and still sleeps great at night. He loves playing peek-a-boo and wrestling around with daddy. He pretty much is head-over-heels in love with his daddy. It's so cute! He is also getting pretty good at singing "Old McDonald"...take a listen...

On a family walk the other night I turned to Chad and mentioned how much I love this age, and I can only imagine how much better it's going to get from here. Here are a couple of cute pictures of Brooks at the age:

Taking a swim in the hot tub at Birdie and Scoops':

Brooks and Daddy playing:

Sniffing the flowers:

Driving around:

Fall is in the Air...

Well, the fall air in Austin is slightly different than the fall air in Denver. But we are having fun enjoying fall activities with friends and family. We had a great time in Corpus at the pumpkin patch with Birdie, Scoops, and Mimi:






There was also an octoBOOerfest in our neighborhood, so we joined the fun. Jess came along and we had a great time. Brooks was the cutest skeleton there. He tasted his first bite of cotton candy and met some new friends. One thing we love about our neighborhood is that it is such a family friendly place to be.