Get ready to laugh...

When we got to the house, Kansas was beyond excited to be in the mountains. He started bouncing around and barking like crazy. Brooks thought it was hilarious! I was in the outhouse (fun times) and I could hear Brooks cracking up inside. I peed as fast as I could to get inside and capture the moment. I missed the real loud laughter (I guess Brooks got tired) but I still think this clip is pretty funny. I watch it a lot just to make me smile.

Grand Lake, CO

For my first Mother's Day, we packed up the family and headed up the mountains to our favorite place...GRAND LAKE! A lady in our church owns a house a "vacation" home there, so we stayed in her house. When we got there the house was FREEZING! The house isn't used much in the winter (only for hunting purposes). Things are a little different out here in Colorado, so let me explain a few things. They turn the water off in the winter so the pipes don't freeze, so we had to bring bottles of water and use the outhouse. They also don't have the heat turned on, and we couldn't light the burner to turn it on, so the house had no heat. Now, you might be saying, "No heat in May?! That's no big deal!" WRONG! At night it got to 20 degrees inside the house! We brought 2 space heaters and kept them in the bedroom. We pretty much just hung out in there because the rest of the house never got warm. We totally bundled up and played with jackets and gloves on in the bedroom. We also forgot the pack-and-play and Brooks' noise maker, so Chad had to move furniture together to make a crib and we found a radio for noise. It was interesting! We hung out by the lake a bit before dinner and then we ate at our favorite restaurant with our favorite margaritas - Pancho and Lefty's. That was pretty much it for the night, and I think Chad and I even got into bed around 9:30. Brooks was sleeping in the warm bedroom, so hanging out anywhere else was too cold to bare. We just headed back to the bedroom and went to sleep. The next day we had a picnic and then went for a hike. Brooks is a great little hiker! The views out there are spectacular! Kansas got to swim in the river, we ran across some moose bones, hiked through some mud, and saw some pretty waterfalls...it was a great day! It's trips like this that make me think about how much I'm going to miss Colorado and the mountains.

Such a little "boy" on Daddy's shoulders:


Mommy and Brooks down by the lake:


What a Look:


The crib:


Watching some Baby Einstein:


Brooks and Daddy:


Our Little Hiker:


Cooling off by the river:


The boys:


Brooks and Mommy being silly:


Brooks and Mommy:

Yummy!

Since Brooks started eating with his fingers a couple of months ago, he is getting more picky about what he eats. He just simply chooses to pick up or not pick up what I put down on his plate. He loves meat, cheese, peaches, pears, sweet potato fries, and will eat some other stuff too. But trying to get him to eat veggies is a tad bit tricky. So, I found this recipe on one of my favorite baby websites:

Brooks would eat these all day if he had a choice. He LOVES them. I tasted one to see how good it was...and then I ate three. Just thought I'd pass on this super-easy/delicious recipe to other moms.

Only 2 months away from being 1!

(A not-so-clever way of saying Brooks is 10 months old.)
I'm not going to go on and on about how fast Brooks is growing up and how I can't believe how big he is. Instead I'd just like to share some of my favorite pictures from this past month.

The monthly chair picture is getting harder to take with a boy who wants nothing to do with sitting still:






The kid LOVES to eat:



He's attempting to clap (Mollie - maybe you can show him how it's done). Instead of bringing his hands together in a clapping motion, he just brings them together once, squeezes really hard, and shakes them up and down...it's hilarious!


Saturday, April 18:





Tuesday, April 21:




Brooks LOVES being outside, and the next best thing is looking out the screen door:


Brooks ate his first watermelon the other day. At first I was just giving him pieces, but this was much more entertaining. I think it might be his new favorite fruit:


I realize that I just posted a lot of pictures, but I had a lot to share (it's been a while).

Good-Bye Pumpkin!

My first year teaching I had this adorable little girl in my class, Katie. Now I never call anyone pumpkin. Usually I refer to my kids as sweetie or sweetheart or bud or something else along those lines. But for some reason, I always called Katie, "Pumpkin". She was the cutest little kindergartner you've ever seen! I remember one day she told me that she would like to make an announcement about how messy and disorganized the art tub was. I had her stand on a chair and she began her lecture, "I just wanted everyone to know that the tub is very messy. There are markers without any tops and paper everywhere! It's not fair to have it so messy. So I think we should work really hard to keep it nice and neat." She cracks me up! She had a reward system at home, and one of her rewards was that she got to invite someone over for dinner...she invited me! As a kindergartner, she invited her teacher over and cooked me wonderful chicken nuggets and a milkshake for dessert. I got to know her family really well, and eventually I had her brother, Andy, last year. Well, this past weekend the family moved to Wyoming. I was so sad to see them go! Katie and her mom came by to hang out a bit and say good-bye and I took this picture of Katie and Brooks:

You've never seen a 9 1/2 year-old so good with a little baby. Brooks and I miss you already, Pumpkin!

Back is Best?

Brooks has gone through different positions of sleeping throughout his 10 months of life. He went from being swaddled to not swaddled, to swaddled again, to a sleep sack, and now to a wearable blanket. He has slept in his crib, in my arms, in his swing, on the airplane, in the car, in the baby bjorn, on the floor...just about anywhere.





I got him a wearable blanket called the halo sleep sack. I want to make sure he stays warm through the chilly Colorado nights. Here is a picture of what it looks like (this is obviously not a picture of Brooks since this child is clearly Asian):

The interesting thing about this thing is that on EVERY single one that was at the store, it has a place on the blanket where it says, "Back is Best". I guess no one mentioned that to Brooks. 90% of the time I see him sleeping on his tummy (ever since he learned how to roll over).
Here is an adorable picture of Brooks sleeping and cuddling his favorite blankie, he's not in the new blanket, but it is still so cute:

The more I talk to "experienced" more, the more they say they put their second of third child on the tummy to begin with. I think it's one of those debates that goes back and forth. At this point, I just care that Brooks is comfortable and sleeping well.

Put your best foot forward...

Recently I learned about a company called "TOMS". They sell these great canvas shoes, and for every shoe you buy they give a pair to a child in need. Check out their website www.tomsshoes.com . We're starting something at school to get people to buy a pair of shoes to provide for those children in need. Tomorrow is a day of awareness and you're encouraged to go barefoot. The kids in my class will be working and playing without shoes to teach them a little empathy. Here are some pictures from the website to give you an idea of the kind of company it is: