Connor and Brooke...for the Baby Books!

Well, since I've been absolutely horrible about updating their baby books lately, (actually, I won't lie--I've rarely EVER written in Brooke's...sorry, baby girl), I figured I'd write a post about the recent happenings and accomplishments of these two precious kiddos!!! ;)



Connor is getting sooo big and grown-up. I can hardly believe that he will be FOUR in less than two months. Wow! Where, oh where does the time go? He is very athletic and loooves to play outside, and has learned to ride his bike very well (with training wheels, of course) this summer. He'll start soccer in the fall (bumble-bee soccer, as Daddy likes to call it :), which we're really looking forward to. His little legs are always covered in scratches and boo-boos, and he will proudly tell anyone who will listen where each and every one came from!

He is excited to start pre-school in the fall, and loves to ask, "Mommy, will you miss me sooooo much when I'm at school?" To which I reply, "YES, I will miss you soooo very much--I ALWAYS miss you when I'm away from you." "Don't worry," he'll then say, "I'll ALWAYS come back to you, I promise.." :)

What I'M getting a huge kick out of is the fact that he's SINGING on KEY now!!! He's able to match pitches, and I ADORE hearing his little voice, singing away..it melts my heart, and brings tears to my eyes! Oh, how I love my baby boy!



And then, there is Brookie!!! Ha!!! I can hardly think of Brooke without laughing, because she is just the epitome of a tornado in toddler-form! :) She is into everything--literally, and is wise beyond her years when it comes to picking up a new skill or idea (I'm sure this is because she is learning from her big brother)! ;)
Brooke is such a happy little girl, and always smiling, however, she definitley is not afraid to express her opinion about something she doesn't like...most of the time by crying and throwing a down-right temper tantrum! Terrible two's a little early, just like everything else!

Though she's not saying many words yet, Brooke understands nearly everything we tell her to do. She's a great communicator, and gets her message across by nodding, saying, "dah", for "yeah", or "dah" while shaking her head "no", for "no"! ;) She's able to get into everything by pushing chairs around the kitchen to reach what she wants, or opening one drawer, to climb into it, only to reach what she wants in another! She keeps us on our toes, this one!

She's such a lover, though, and adores giving hugs and kisses to anyone, and everyone who will accept one from her!! ;) I ADORE being the recipient of her sweet kisses and hugs, and quite frankly, cannot get enough! ;) We just had her 15 month appointment the other day, and her Pediatrician said, "Wow, Brooke could not be more different in personality from her brother"! Although, she does think they look exactly alike...the verdict is still out, on this one. We love our little Brookie-Pie sooooooo much!!!!

Benjamin..(cute as a)..Button :)

Lyndsay, Stephen, and Benjamin visited this weekend! We had sooooooo much fun with them on Saturday night. I made a pitcher of Sangria (my version which is very easy--I just cut up a bunch of fruit and add white wine...sometimes a little sparkling soda for bubbles :) We ordered pizza for simplicity, and let the kiddos play while we caught up! We had such a wonderful time with them, and wish they didn't have to go back to NC on Sunday! Hopefully we'll be able to see them again, soon. Benjamin IS as CUTE AS A BUTTON... ;)

Dragging....

I am dragging today...ugh. It's Monday, but a GORGEOUS Monday. The sky is brilliantly blue, and the sun is shining beautifully...it's only in the mid-seventies, too. PERFECT. But, all I want to do is go back to bed. I would give anything to take an un-interrupted nap this afternoon. Or, to take my book outside on this sparkling day, lemonade in hand (I do have organic lemonade in the fridge), and just SIT...for hours. Ahhhhhhhhh....

Unfortuantely, that's not on today's agenda. The kiddos and I are fighting a mild bug. Both kids have had fevers, and Brooke's sneezing quite a bit. Upset stomachs seem to be a part of this thing too, and I am just exhausted. Apparently, fatigue isn't affecting Connor and Brooke too much. Brooke just woke up from a short nap in the car, and now she's climbing the walls (literally), and Connor is hitting both of us with a book...that I promised to read him, after I'm done being tired! ;)

Someone send me some motivation so I can get out and enjoy the day...or, better yet, send over someone to watch the kids so I can take a nap!!! ;)

We <3 the Fourth of July!!!

I love the fourth of July in small-town, America!!! We had such a wonderful weekend! Many wonderful friends were in town, as well as family (Auntie Anna and Brad, Aunt Marcia, etc.). We had a fabulous weekend from fireworks, to enjoying the midway downtown (Connor about broke the bank playing those silly fair games, but he sure did have FUN), eating fair food, livin' it up at bbq's with friends and family! We LOVE the fourth of July!!!!


Kid's at Maria's...

Anna and Brad!!!

Connor won a fish at the far--which is still goin' strong three days later! ;) It's a record at our house!!

Brookie and Mommy uptown

Connor and his best friend, Eli

Daddy and Connor on the ferris wheel! Connor loved it....thank the Lord! Tommy wasn't sure what to do if he didn't! ;)


Erin, Eli, and Brookie jammin' out to the band on the grand stand!



Nana, Mimi, and Brooke on the fourth. Brookie is wearing a dress that Nana made for Mimi, circa 1952!

Happy July!

Lovin' Summer!

What a gorgeous June we've had! I'm so sad to see it go....I LOVE summer, and while I love every season (well, except that yucky winter muck that seems to drag on through March), summer defintely takes the cake! We've had so much fun seeing friends and family, lazing around by the pool (er, rather, tirelessly chasing the kids around the pool ;), going on long walks, enjoying sunsets at our new favorite winery, and breathing in that warm summer air! Below are some pictures from June with some of our most favorite people!!!

One of my longest and dearest friends, Maria has been in town quite a bit with her two gorgeous girls, Claire and baby Eleanor. We've had so much fun catching up with them. It's been so much fun to get to see them so much!!! Yay!





Tommy's brother and family came in from Texas, and his sister and family came in from Charlotte, and we had such a wonderful time with everyone. The kids love getting to play with all of their cousins--this side of the family can't have a party without a heated game of "something" taking place. So, true to form, an old-fashioned game of baseball occurred, spanning an entire late afternoon/evening...what's a little healthy competition between siblings/mothers/daughters/fathers/sons....Ha! ;)



The kids have so much fun at Mimi and Grandpa's house digging for worms, etc. Mimi even made Connor a "worm garden" (in part so he stays out of all her flower beds and REAL gardens--ha!). They were playing with a slug!!! :)

BFF'S! :)

Sadie, daughter of my dear friend Steph, is two weeks older than Brookie. They are sooo funny together. Here they are "playing" today. Well, really, Sadie was sitting nicely at the table, eating her dinner quietly, while Brookie climbed all over her left-overs and demanded her poor little friend's attention! Ha! I'm excited these two will grow up together, and I'm sure this is only the first of many crazy pics we'll post of the two of them! :)

Picture Time!

Trying to get one of my flowers outside... ;)




Showing off the Buddah Belly to the whole 'hood! :)

Again, they can sleep anywhere! ;)

Reflecting....

I've been frustrated lately. Tommy has been working a lot, the kids have been more difficult than usual, Connor is turning into a B-O-Y through and through, and is testing my patience, pushing my buttons, driving me crazy--I'm sure most of you can relate! ;) Most of all, though, I've been frustrated with myself. Before I was a mother I never knew what it felt like to want to scream into a pillow as loud as humanly possible, while maybe even banging your head into the wall! I never knew I could yell--never really did until my kiddos came along! I never knew what a HIGH PRESSURE job raising children really was. I always pictured motherhood filled with days of playing on the swings at the park, walking to story-time at the library hand-in-hand, tickling, playing silly games, kissing boo boo's, and accepting wet sloppy kisses and hugs all day long. Well, I've come to find out that motherhood IS all of these things. The joys of being a mom have FAR surpassed my high expectations!! However, so have the stresses and the frustrations.

I take my job as a parent very seriously, as do most of the wonderful parents I know. And no other job that we do has so much at stake! At the end of the day, WE are totally, 100% responsible for bringing up these little ones to be all that they can be, teach them right from wrong, instill our values, faith, beliefs, teach them the ways of the world, shelter them from hurt and fears, and keep them safe, healthy, and happy! What a gift this is--and I truly, truly believe that! It's so hard when we get caught up in the little frustrations of the day (which sometimes seem like HUGE frustrations) and see the BIG picture! I love my babies more than life itself, and nothing makes me happier than to see them smile, hear them belly-laugh, watch them discover something new, or most of all, accept one of their wet, slobbery kisses! I'm praying that I can see that BIG picture, and not get so caught up in why the kitchen floor is never clean, why I can never get a load of laundry folded, or why my life sometimes seems to resemble the screen-play from the movie "Groundhog Day"! :)

I discovered something today. My journal from when I was pregnant with Connor. I got teary-eyed just thinking back to that precious time in my life. I spent a great deal of time living in fear that something would go wrong with the pregnancy, but oh, how I wanted that precious baby with every fiber of my being. I decided I would keep this journal handy so that when I find myself in a particularly frustrating situation I can look back on it. I'll share an entry with you now (if you've stayed with me this far--Ha!!! ;)

January 16, 2005
....I am so blessed with this pregnancy! It's such a true miracle of life and no matter what, I know that the Lord created this little one and that He is in complete control over it's little life--even as new as it is! I pray for the day that I hear this baby's heart beat, and then, when FINALLY I get to hold that BABY in my arms...a little less than nine months now (Lord willing)! :)

Oh what a true "miracle of life" these little ones are, and I'm sooo thankful for the gift of motherhood. I pray that I would be the mother that God has called me to be, and remember how blessed I really am!!!! Mommy loves you dearly, Connor and Brookie, and I'm so sorry for all of the times I get frustrated with you for silly things....I'm working on it (or rather, God's working on ME)!!!! ;)

SHOUT OUT TO MS. HARTMAN'S SECOND GRADE CLASS!!!!

My dear, sweet, friend Teah (also known as Ms. Hartman) told me that she has been sharing our silly blog with her second grade class!!!!! I hear about these wonderful kiddos all the time from Teah...(excuse me, I mean MS. HARTMAN :), and It's an honor and a joy to hear about your class and all of your splendid progress and adventures you've had this year!!!! And to think, you're just about ready to graduate to the THIRD GRADE!!!! WOW!! I am so proud of Ms. Hartman and her amazingly AWESOME second graders!!! Here is a picture of those baby birds (who will fly any day now), just for you!!! ;)

Yeah, that's me in the Mini....

So, we did it. We bit the bullet, took the proverbial "plunge", crossed over to the "dark side" (as one friend so eloquently put it), and bought a MINI VAN. Something we swore we'd never, ever do. When Tommy and I were younger, living the high life and kidless, we looked at families we knew who were buying vans and swore, up and down, that we'd never go there. Never cross that line. We were NOT going to be "those" people. We would find a way around buying a van and continue to drive in style.

Well, we made it work for 3 1/2 years in a truck and an SUV, pretty well, I might add. But then, it happened. Tommy's older brother was visiting a few weeks ago, and they drove down in high style--cruisin' in a mini. Tommy laughed about the van, until his brother showed him the inside, and walked us through all of the little perks and features that a minivan now possesses. DVD, Navigation, lazy susan in the floor boards, all of the latches and tethers to insure that the carseats will be as snug and secure as possible...yada, yada, yada...and most of all, ROOM. Room to store things, move around, and space between the kiddos so they aren't always poking each other (that was starting to happen in the SUV). I was swayed. Pushed over the edge. Enough to go home and search Craig's List for Odyssey's.

We found one, and now, I am a driver of a minivan. I've joined the club of soccer mom's and taxi drivers. I have to say, it's not sexy...but I like it. I really like it. I like the features, and I like the space, and I like the safety. I like that I can pop a DVD in and totally entertain Mr. Connor in the car. It's nice. I'm old. Whatev...it is what it is! :) And, Connor LOOOOOVES it! He plays in it, wants to stay in it after we pull into the garage, and was very nervous parking it uptown the other day while we were running errands. He kept saying, "but I need to see MY minivan..." So funny! I'd tell you to honk if you see me driving, but really, I think you might pass at least 15 other silvery-green colored Honda Odysseys on the highway in one 10 mile trip! ;)

Vacate the Nest, Yo!!!!

Okay, so the baby birds were cute....eggs are beatiful. I love bird's eggs, and have always had a minor obsession with nests and eggs. Eggs are so fragile and delicate, while also being beautiful and vibrant. They are such an awesome reminder of new life and rebirth, and how God creates even the tiniest of creatures mysteriously and carefully. I always think of Matthew 10:29-31, which says "Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to Him than a whole flock of sparrows."

That being said, I am soooooooo ready for these baby birds to grow some feathers and take their flight!!!!! I guess once Mama bird had a chance to really bond with her babies her protective instincts took over, and she went from chirping from a near-by tree, to now dive-bombing and attacking the "enemy" (which happens to be us). Well, me being protective of MY babies, who would like to be able to go out in the backyard on a gorgeous sunny day such as today, yells loudly at her while she dive-bombs my head, and we kind of battle it out for ownership of the swingset. Today, after making Brookie cry (Mama dive-bombed her at the same time as I yelled), we threw the towel in, and came back inside. It's beautiful out--narry a cloud in the sky, mid-60's and brilliant, and we can't be anywhere in the backyard without fear of attack!

I'll admit it--although I do adore birds eggs, nests, and cute little hatchlings, birds that come flying at my head (or my children's heads, for that matter)scare the living heck out of me. I surrender to the Mama, but ask that her prized baby birds hurry up and grow, so that we can have OUR yard back! Wouldn't ya know, a barn swallow has chosen the eve of our FRONT porch to build her nest in. Sigh. Maybe we'll be able to go outside again come June...

New Tenants....

New tenants moved into the kiddos playset a few weeks ago! It's been so much fun watching our mama robin make her nest, lay her eggs, and meeting her new baby birds! :) Tommy and Connor just happened to check out the nest just as birdie #1 was poking his little beak through his beautiful blue egg! Wow! We came back to document quickly after his emergence...but didn't want to disturb the nest too much, or mama bird for that matter! Poor thing....the kids really like to swing...she's forever chirping at us!

Pretty Floors!

Daddy rocks...with the help of our WONDERFUL Dads and AWESOME friends (i.e. Hartman's :), we have brand new hardwood floors! We've been talking about this since we moved in three years ago, but decided to let the kids destroy the old floors as much as possible, first! :) They put down a LOT of flooring in just 3 short days...Daddy was worn out but, it's sooo worth it! The kids and I were vagabonds last weekend, floating from house to house, and camping out at Mimi and Grandpa's...we were all glad when our house was liveable again! We decided the kitchen tile project will happen when the kids and I are in Michigan without Tommy this summer!