Mommy Of A Wild Child

Mother's Day

2011-03-03T19:48:00.000-06:00

Luke was actually just a week old on Mother's Day. Here he is in the double stroller for the first time. It looks like he was trying to blow me a kiss!

After a long day they were both passed out!

Luke looks so tiny and Brook looks like she does not fit at all!

Catching Up!

2011-02-10T16:00:00.002-06:00

I have sooooo been wanting to post, but it's just so hard when so much time has past. I know that if I post on here that I am going to catch up......I would have to stick to it. So bear with me as I catch up the last 8 months of our lives! It is going to be picture overload!

1 Month Old

2010-05-28T18:22:00.006-05:00

Luke you are one month old!

this week you weighed 9 lbs 7 oz

wear size 1 diaper

wear 0-3 month clothes

eat every 3 hours

nurse all day and take bottles at night
at 3 weeks old we started putting cereal in your bottle (it didnt help you sleep any better)

sleeping in a cradle in our room

you have been to HEB, Target, out to eat, to my school, gymnastics to watch Brook, a graduation party and the dr 3 times

when you are upset you settle down when your sister sings Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

you love taking baths

Yeehaw! Brook is 3!

2010-05-11T18:19:00.001-05:00

At the beginning of April, Brook turned 3 years old! I can't believe she is already 3. Before I know it she will be 16! She is in love with horses so I was not surprised when she said she wanted a horsey party. She used to call horses "black booties", but now she has changed it to "fat booties". I have no idea where this girl comes up with some of the stuff she says.

Here is her invite we sent out. I had it made on etsy and I forgot to put where the party was. Oops! Oh well, I think they still turned out so cute!

Here she is posing at the dessert table!

Our family of three!

Memaw Bear has made all of Brook's cake and she did an awesome job again this year!

Its kind of hard to see but I made this birthday banner that said "Happy 3rd Brook". I used pink and chocolate cardstock and lots of horse scrapbook paper.

Nay-Nay and Grumpy got a carousel of 4 horses for the party. We knew we needed more than one horse because no one else would get to ride if we only had one. It was so cute when the truck and trailer got to our house. Brook almost started crying when she saw the horses. She was sooooo excited. This purple guitar was her favorite gift! She is in love with the song Cowboy Casanova and the singer Taylor "Fish".

Mawmaw and Big Papa gave Brook this little maltipoo puppy! Brook named her Mia and she is just the cutest thing ever!

The kids had a lot of fun hitting the pinata and jumping in the jump house that Brook's Nana and Papaw got her.

Here she is all grown-up blowing out the candles for the first time on a birthday cake.

At the end of a fun filled day sharing a capri sun with her "big sissy" Hunter.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Our New Baby Boy

2010-05-05T17:03:00.006-05:00

We are finally getting settled into our new life with a three year old and a newborn. I made it to my scheduled c section date last Wednesday and delivered a healthy little boy. He was perfect in every way and I was so relieved when I heard him cry for the first time. This pregnancy was not at all normal with blood tests coming back almost every time with different concerns. So when the doctors said he was as healthy as can be we were so relieved. He did swallow alot of fluid so he was kept in the nursery for almost 7 hours for extra monitoring. When we finally got him to our room it was so amazing to share him with his big sister!

Introducing Luke Anthony Locascio

9 lbs 20.25 in

full head of black hair

When Travis left the OR to take Luke to the nursury he picked up big sis on the way. She was more concerned about her daddy being a doctor than her little brother. He was in his scrubs and she kept asking him "Daddy you are a doctor?.......Doctor Travis?" She loves to watch Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice with me so she was kind of excited that her daddy was a doctor!

When Luke finally came to our room she was smitten by him. She is totally in love with her baby brother!

We had a special gift for Luke to give his big sister and then Brook had picked out a few things for her baby brother as well. Brook got a horse necklace from James Avery and Luke got a horse lovie and a Build a Bear that Brook made him a few days before his arrival!

Happy Easter 2010

2010-04-21T21:23:00.003-05:00

Easter weekend was packed full of fun family festivities! On Saturday we spent the day with my family over at my mom's. We had a good ole fish fry with all the sides. We spent the evening with lots of cousins and good friends.

Brook was very excited that her Nana and Papa gave her sunglassses from the Easter Bunny! She is totally into accessories these days.

We had an egg hunt for all of the kids and this picture says it all! She had an absolute blast hunting eggs.

On Sunday we went to church and then headed to Uncle Ronnie's for an Easter buffet. There was also lots of family and friends there to share the day with.

Uncle Ronnie and Wawa got Brook some baby ducks and geese and one little red chick! Brook loved the red chick the best!

Here she is posing with her chick with Memaw and Papa.

Rodeo 2010

2010-04-19T12:52:00.005-05:00

Back in March we took Brook to the rodeo two different times. Of course she loved every part of it. Her favorite part hands down was the pony rides!

Brook went to her very first concert too! Her favorite song is Big Green Tractor by Jason Aldean so she was very excited to get to see him at the rodeo!

This picture is from our second trip. I had a dr's appointment right down the road so we stopped by the rodeo for another visit. This day we did "Down on th Farm" and Brook loved it. You get to see all the aspects to living on a farm. Her favorite part was milking the cow with Grumpy!
Here she is posing in the corn field with her bucket of "crops".

Underwater Baby Shower

2010-03-19T22:02:00.000-05:00

Baby Luke will be here in just 6 short weeks so my sis and cousin Holly hosted me a wonderful baby shower to get ready for his arrival. His nursery is done in the ocean critters theme from pottery barn so that is what the baby shower theme was as well.

We had sherbert punch with worms and sweet tea!

The food was delicious. We had salad, chicken alfredo, cake with strawberry filling, cake balls and little cups with dirt cake.

I got many great things. Lots of clothes, diapers, lotions, and towels. I got a matching boppy cover with Luke's name on it and a nursing cover. I also got this double stroller that I cant wait to push my 2 sweet babies around in!

Big sister was also showered with some gifts. She got big sister outfits, a big sister doll and some coloring books.

She was very excited to be the captain for the day. Everyone made the day very special for me as well as Brook.

Thank you Cortney and Holly for a wonderful baby shower!

First Official Haircut

2010-03-18T09:23:00.000-05:00

This happened so long ago but I came across while organizing pics on the computer and didnt want to not document it. Back in November Brook got her first official haircut from Julie! I have been trimming her hair since she was about 6 weeks old. She was very excited about it because she has been with me when I have gotten mine done but it all changed when it got to her turn. She did not want to sit in my lap or in the chair by herself. So we had to trick her. Nay-Nay was just standing there holding her and Julie just started trimming away. Brook didnt even know anything was going on!

Polar Express 2009

2010-01-06T20:30:00.001-06:00

This Christmas we took Brook to East Texas to ride on the Polar Express. She loves trains so we knew she would have fun. We made the 2.5 hour drive and she did great! On the way there we stopped at Bucee's to use the restroom and grab some snacks! This was Brook's first time to go to Bucee's so of course I had to take a pic! Brook picked out her favorite snack.......beef jerky. On the drive up we sang songs, ate beef jerky and played babies.

We got to Palestine early so we shopped and then checked into our hotel room early and just lounged around for a while. Our ride was not until 8:15 so we had time to kill! She kept asking us when she was going to get to ride the train and we kept telling her not until it was dark outside. Here she is with her daddy checking out the window to see if it was dark yet.

Finally it was time to go! Here we are waiting outside the train depot for the train. Once she heard the train whistle blow she kind of got scared. She would not take her hands off her ears.

Once we were on the train she started to get a little more comfortable. The story came on and then we got our hot chocolate and cookies. She was in shock when we pulled up to the North Pole and saw Santa outside of his house. She just started screamin "water babies, black booty, water babies, black booty." It was so cute. She totally thought Santa could hear her. And then Santa got on the train with us and she was sooooo excited......until he came to take a pic with her! She liked the elf much better!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-03T19:30:00.001-06:00

Now that we have made all of our stops I can post about our Christmas. We had 7 stops to make over a weeks time and Brook was such a trooper! We started off with Christmas with Memaw Locascio then the Douglas', Uncle Ronnie's, Nana and Papa, Nay-Nay and Grumpy, Memaw Bear and then Nana and Papaw. We had so much fun getting to spend time with everyone and we definetly ate to much. We need to build on a whole other room just for all the stuff Brook loaded up with this year. I dont know what we are going to do in a few months when it is her birthday.

Here is Brook with her Papaw

Here she is giving her Great-Grandma, Memaw Locascio her gift.

Here we are with my SILs, Shelbie and Lauren
One of our many Christmas Outfits, Thanks Aunt Coco!
We had Christmas Eve at our house with my parents, sis and BIL, and Nana, Papa and Bubba. We had a cajun dinner with Seafood Gumbo, Crawfish Fettucini, and Cajun Eggrolls and it was soooooo yummy! Uncle Randy's Ag students built Brook a playhouse for the backyard and she loves it. She calls it her "shop" so she can be just like her daddy.

We watched Brook bake cookies for Santa and make Reindeer food.

Brook was very excited because we let her "big sissy" Hunter sleep in the house on Christmas Eve. Hunter thought she was in heaven getting to be back in the house with us.

This is what Brook woke up to on Christmas morning. She was not at all excited because she thought Santa was still in our house. After we reassured her he was already gone she started looking through her gifts.

After we had Santa we headed to my parents house to see my dad's family. Pretty much all Brook wanted for Christmas this year was Water Babies and Black "Booty". Santa brought her Water Babies and Grumpy, my dad, got her Black Beauty. She also got some new really cute cowgirl boots.

Gymnastics

2010-01-03T17:00:00.000-06:00

At the beginning of December we finished our gymnastics class and Brook recieved a medal. She has grown so much these past few months. She has learned so many things and she is getting stronger and stronger. We have had lots of fun and cant wait to start our new class on tomorrow!

Team Blue

2009-12-08T19:44:00.005-06:00

We are officially on team blue! Today I had an ultrasound and it is a BOY and we cant be more excited! Brook has been saying for weeks now that it is going to be Luke and not a girl. We went to a birthday party on Saturday where there were lots of babies and she told me she wanted a boy and not a girl. She is going to be a great big sister in a few months. As far as the baby goes everything looked great. I am 18 weeks and 2 days and he was measuring 19 weeks so we are right where we should be. All of my test results came back from the first screenings and everything was normal. Praise God! I feel so blessed because now my family will be complete! A girl and a boy, I cant believe it!

Dewberry Farm

2009-12-05T19:37:00.000-06:00

Back in October we took Brook out to Dewberry Farm to pick a pumpkin and have some fun. Nay-Nay, Coco, Nana, Papa and Bubba went with us to enjoy the festivities. There was so much to do there but by far her favorite thing was to ride the ponies. I think she rode them at least 6 times. We had fun swinging in the haybarn on the rope swing.

Aunt Coco had to go down the big slide with Brook because we were scared it was going to shake the baby out of me! It was made out of pvc pipes and it was a very bumpy ride.

Next we did the hippity hop and Brook had a lot of fun. I dont think the baby enjoyed it as much because I was very nauseous when we were done.

Here she is walking through the flower patch.

Here is Nana, Papa and Bubba waiting for us on the wagon while Brook decides on a pumpkin.

I definetly think this will be a tradition from now on. It was so fun and there were so many things to do!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-28T06:30:00.002-05:00

Catching Up

2009-10-25T19:57:00.004-05:00

Well a lot has been going on since my last post. Our lives have changed and we are getting into a new routine. Brook started off this school year staying at home with Ms. April keeping her and going to MDO at the baptist church on Mon and Wed. She was going to storytime at the library on Tue and Thur. Here are a few pics from storytime and playing at the park!

Here she is on her first day of MDO cheesing for the camera!

When I mentioned we were getting into a new routine I was referring to the fact that Ms. April had to get a new job and we had to find a new sitter for Brook. She is now a preschool teacher at a new daycare/private school that just opened in our area and Brook is now going there full time. I was really nervous at first because of her being around other kids all day long and all those germs. We toured the school and it was awesome so we decided to enroll Brook and I felt a little better knowing Ms. April would be there with her. At first Brook had a hard time with me dropping her off in the mornings but she is starting to get settled in.

Brook is going to be a...

2009-08-30T19:33:00.003-05:00

BIG SISTER!

We are so excited and praying for a healthy pregnancy and baby!

First Day

2009-08-17T09:15:00.000-05:00

Today was my first day back to work and Brook's first day of gymnastics! I was very sad this morning when I had to leave :( Travis is off this week so she gets to have fun with Daddy! When I got home she ran to me and gave me the biggest hug and was patting me on the back. I cried again, it was so cute and sweet!

I was unsure of how she would be at gymnastics, but she loved it. It is a parent and tot class but she did not need me at all. She saw all the fun stuff and she was kicking her shoes off to get in the room! At first the teacher did some stretching with them and she didn't want any part of it. She wanted to play but when she saw everyone else following directions, she joined in. Little Miss Emma is in our class so Laura and I had fun watching them.

The room was set up in a little obstacle course. The teacher showed them what to do and then we all kinda began at different things. The slide was first and of course she loved it.

After the slide she jumped on the hopscotch and over the hula hoops. She kept wanting to pick them up and swing them around her!The teacher was at the next thing which was the "cheese" mat where she was helping them do forward rolls. Brook passed it many times until I showed her myself what to do. Yes, I was the only Mommy that did a forward roll. Go Me!
Next there was a tunnel that she crawled through but I didn't get any pics. Then she walked on the balance beam.

She thought she was so big and strong on the bars! She could hold herself for about two seconds and then she would drop.

The trampoline was real long and there was a mirror wall behind it and she loved running down it and watching herself in the mirror.

The rings were at the end and I think this was her favorite! She would scream "swing!" She was really good at them. The teacher would tell her to pick up her legs and she would and hold them up and swing.

The cutest thing of all is that when she is really into something or concentrating she sticks out her tongue just like her Daddy. Travis does this all the time when he is building or working on something. It was so cute!

Here they are at the end of class. The teacher was so sweet and good with them. She put a little sticker on each foot and hand and then one on their nose!
I think the first night was a huge success. I had a lot of fun watching her and doing some of the things with her. Daddy was off tonight so he got to come and watch. Nay-Nay and Coco came too! Brook was so proud to show them what she could do!

Thank you Nay-Nay and Grumpy for the gymnastics class!

Saying Goodbye

2009-08-14T20:58:00.004-05:00

Today we said goodbye to Sarah and Leah. They are Travis' cousin's daughters and I watch them every summer so they don't have to go to daycare. I am going back to work on Monday so today was our last day together. These two little girls are like Brook's big sisters. They are sure going to miss each other. We have spent the summer hanging out at the water park, shopping, playing on the water slide, watching cartoons and a couple of days of babysitting Emma and Gavin. We have definitely eaten enough frozen corn dogs, chicken nuggets and pizza to last us until next summer! We spent our last day together by eating donuts and kolaches, shopping at IKEA and getting my classroom together. We love you and are sure going to miss spending everyday with you!

Until next summer!

Trip to the Circus

2009-08-11T20:26:00.000-05:00

The circus came to town and boy did we have fun! Last year Daddy was working when we went so we made sure he was able to go this year. Brook loves animals and people watching so she had a blast. We went to the 7:30 show so we had time to eat dinner before we went. We asked Brook what she wanted for dinner on her special day and of course she said "beans please!" The kid loves to eat beans........breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner, whenever you will let her.

Here she is at Pappasitos eating her beans and rice!

We got to the show a little late to see all of the animals up close but we did get to go down on the floor and see some good stuff. She loved watching the elephant paint a picture!
Here she is riding on Daddy's shoulders so she could have a better view.

I think her favorite part of the show was getting this neigh snow cone! Her little green eyes spotted this thing as soon as we got there. We held her off until intermission though.

One funny thing that happened was when a motorcycle came flying above us on a wire and she screamed "there's Bubba and John and Mark" Travis and I started cracking up laughing! All three of them have motorcycles and everytime she sees or hears one she thinks it is them!

I'll take you for a ride on my............

2009-08-05T07:45:00.000-05:00

big green ranger!

Daddy got a new toy and Brook and Hunter just love it! Travis has been wanting one of these since we bought our property 2 years ago. He has dreamed of riding around our neighborhood with Brook and Hunter enjoying the country life. Well anyone who knows me, knows that I am a planner and a saver and it took him awhile to convince me we needed it. We are on this thing all the time now! We took about a 20 minute ride (one way) to the next town the other afternoon. We went all the back roads. Of course we had to stop at every pasture that had a moo cow or a neigh-neigh! It was so fun because we could drive right up to the fence and see them. Our favorite ride though is at the end of the day after dinner. We all load up and take a drive as the sun goes down and it cools off. Brook has been know to fall asleep a couple of times because it is so peaceful!

Brook's New Babysitter

2009-08-04T16:58:00.004-05:00

In just 2 weeks I will be sadly leaving my little girl and heading back to 22 first graders. Wow time flies when you are having fun. I can't believe summer break is almost over. Brook has always stayed with family and this year will be the first for her not to. This year she will be staying with my friend April. She is from the same town that I grew up in and she was my teacher's aide for 2 years when I taught Pre-K. When I moved to my new school she decided to go back to school full time. I also had her daughter in my class the first year I taught. This year she is going to watch Brook and continue to go to school at night and take some online classes. She came to spend some time with Brook today so they can get to know one another a little better. I have been so nervous, not because of April but just because of the fact we just moved, she will be staying with someone new and starting MDO at a new church. To me that is alot for a little girl to go through. (or maybe just her mommy) Today went really well though. Brook talked to April, took her into her room to show her all of her toys, and the best thing is she gave her a big hug and smile when she left!

Happy Birthday Grumpy

2009-08-03T20:56:00.009-05:00

Tonight we went and had dinner for my dad's birthday, Brookie's Grumpy! We ate at one of his favorite Mexican Food restaurants, Las Polamos. Brook played outside most of the day in her pool and on her slide and did not have a nap. She fell asleep on the way there and slept through most of dinner.

Here she is asleep.......oops I dropped queso in her hair while I was trying to eat and hold her!

She woke up long enough to give her Grumpy the card she had made him and for this picture!

Nay-Nay just had to send home the whole box of cupcakes! As you can see this was her favorite part of the birthday dinner!

Happy Birthday......We hope you had a great day!

Playdate

2009-07-28T20:30:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago Brook hosted her first playdate at our house. Three of my high school friends came over with their sweet babies. Alecia brought Makaely who just turned 2, Ashlee brought Aidee who is about 7 months and Brandy brought Brayden who is 5 months. We are so excited that Alecia will be adding another friend to our play group in about 8 months! It was fun to sit and talk with the mommies while the kids played. I made pasta for lunch and the two big girls had cupcakes for dessert. Once the two babies went down for their nap Brook and Makaely had fun playing with the baby toys!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-15T11:27:00.002-05:00

Planting Trees and Waterslide

2009-07-14T21:18:00.005-05:00

Today we planted five new trees in our yard. Travis did some research on these trees. They are called Royal Empress. They are supposed to be the fastest growing shade tree. They are about two feet tall and should grow atleast 15 feet in the first year. They should grow to be about 45 feet tall when they are done. We lost so many trees during Hurricane Ike so we wanted to plant some more but we didn't want to wait forever for them to grow.

So here is what our little tree looks like!

Here is Brook watching her daddy give it some water!

Hopefully this is what they will look like in a few years!

After we got done planting the trees while it was 100 plus degrees outside, we set up Brook's new waterslide to cool off in! At first she was a little scared but after she tried it one time, she was hooked. I got it on clearance at Walmart and I am totally glad I got it. It is the perfect size for her because she can climb up the back all by herself and when she slides down the pool is the perfect depth!

Here she is getting ready!

And weeeeeee......what fun!

And of course it wouldn't be fun without "Big Sissy" Hunter to swim with!

Happy Birthday CoCo

2009-07-13T20:54:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday dear CoCo, Happy Birthday to you! CoCo you are the best aunt ever! Thank you for staying with us when Daddy had to go back to work when I was still little, thank you for going shopping with me and Mommy so she can actually look around and not have to worry about me, thank you for taking great care of me this past year while Mommy was at work, thank you for all of the great gifts you ever bought me ( I am very excited that you got a new JOB now!), and most importantly thank you for loving me and spoiling me rotten! We had fun taking you to lunch today (Mommy forgot the camera so we dont a have a pic) and hope you had a great day today! P.S. The next best thing to you would be a cousin!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday CoCo! Love, Brookie

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

We had a blast last night! We had great food and fellowship with my parents, sis and brother-in-law, Nana, Papa, and uncle, Memaw and Papa Bear, Uncle Ronnie, Lynda and Courtney, Bubba, and our old neighbors, Kenneth, Dawn, Cody and Kasen! We had fajitas with all the trimmings, played washers, had sparklers, made S'Mores and just enjoyed the evening! Brook and Kasen had a grand time riding the tractor, jeep, 4-wheeler, and wiggle car. Cody had a great time riding around the neighborhood on Travis' 4 wheeler. Hunter loved having so many people there to love on her and of course when they dropped her a little snack! Once it got dark and the fireworks began she ran in the shop and hid in her kennel. We had to let her sleep in the house because she was so scared. It was like old times having her sleep in our room. It was so good to spend time with everyone! I am so glad that we are in our new house and can have get togethers again!

Big Girl in the House!!!!!!!!

2009-06-26T17:00:00.000-05:00

Make that two big girls! Ha!

We definitely have a big girl in our house! We have been potty trained for about 2 months now! Potty training was a wonderful experience for us. We did it cold turkey.......no potty chair and no pull-ups. We spent the weekend at home with no bottoms on! About every 15 minutes I would take her and put her on the big potty and let her try. If she would try we would give her 1 M&M and when Travis or I would use the bathroom we would eat 1 M&M so she could see the reward. The next week we wore panties and the rest is history!

The past 10 weeks...............

2009-06-25T21:00:00.000-05:00

have been filled with many happenings for us! The last time I posted we had just gotten moved into our new house. It took forever to get internet at our house so I have not been able to post. I was able to check in on the blogs that I love to read before school started each morning but I didnt want to post while I was at work. We are well into our summer break and I must say I am loving being home with me little girl! I am not big on writing tons so I am just going to fill this post with many pictures of what has been going on!

We moved in Easter weekend so we got to hunt eggs in our own yard this year. It was forecasted to rain so I hid the eggs in the house just in case! Once we got up Easter morning and I saw it was not raining I put eggs out in the backyard as well!

We had Brook's 2nd birthday at our new house and it was filled with many family members and friends! We didnt have a theme but just a few different things Brook likes! Memaw Bear made a farm cake which was soooo cute! Brook picked out her own birthday outfit with cupcakes on it. We had good ole barbque with all the trimmings and homemade ice cream. The kids had fun blowing bubbles and loving on Hunter. Brook was still getting over her ear ache so she was not into opening gifts, but thank goodness we had Emma there to help out!

My mom, dad, Nana and Papa went in with us to get this swingset for her! Her Nana and Pawpaw got her a yellow bucket swing to go with it!

Here is a pic from Mother's Day with my Mom, sis, and Nana!

Here is a pic with Brook and Papa! This shirt has since been retired! Ha!

Then we had Father's Day......I must say that I married a wonderful daddy! We had lunch with my dad, aka "Grumpy" and this is what he did after he got his belly full!

Here is Brook enjoying some beef jerky and swimming with her Daddy and Pawpaw.

Now I feel so much better to be all caught up and can continue to post more of our sweet angel!

Home Sweet Home

2009-04-15T14:50:00.003-05:00

We have finally made it!!!!!!!! We are all moved in to the new house. I cant believe it. Its like a dream come true. Everything is perfect except for the fact that we do not have gas yet so we cannot cook or take a hot bath. So we are eating and bathing with family or just eating out. I dont have pics to post today because my camera is at home and we dont have internet yet for me to blog at home. Thank you for all of the prayers for my Papa. He came home from the hospital yesterday! He is going to have to have weekly check-ups to see if and when he will be having surgery. Now please pray for little Brookie. I had to take her to the dr yesterday and she has her first ear infection. The dr said we caught it pretty early. We are having her party this weekend and I sure hope she feels better. Poor little thing has been up for two nights straight. Hopefully with three rounds of antibiotics she should be able to sleep a little better tonight.

Prayers Needed

2009-04-08T21:06:00.003-05:00

My grandpa "Papa" is currently in the hospital undergoing a lot of tests. He has not been feeling well for a few days and this morning he felt realy bad so my mom took him to the ER. He is diabetic, has heart problems and now his kidneys are not working properly. He had a high fever, very weak and kept having spells where he would just tremble. All he is worried about is getting to see his great-grand baby Brookie hunt eggs this weekend. He was finally stable so he got moved to a room. Please pray that they find out what is causing him to not feel well and pray for my grandma as she is getting over a bad sinus infection and she will need the strength to be with my grandpa.

Birthday Festivities

2009-04-07T20:26:00.004-05:00

WARNING: LOTS OF PICTURES

Our festivities started out with Brook wanting to eat pizza for her birthday dinner choice!

She picked out a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard cake from Dairy Queen.

Here is a close up of her cake. The candles spelled her name! She kept screaming fire, smoke, hot when the candles were burning.Here she is showing off her cow rubber boots that her aunt CoCo ad Uncle RanRan gave her! She was so excited about them.

This is my favorite pic of the night!

Her Memaw and Papa gave her this little doll. She was posing saying "cheese".

This is just one thing that we got her. She loves ducks so we got her this duck poncho that she can wear when she gets out of the bath and for this summer when we go to the pool! She took a big ol bubble bath to end the night.
Here she is sound asleep from all of the festivities.

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2009-04-06T15:02:00.004-05:00

Dear Little Brookie,

Today is your 2nd birthday and we can hardly believe it! It seems like just yesterday we held you in our arms for the first time. You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to us. You are so funny and keep us laughing all the time. You are up to so much these days. Your vocabulary is growing and growing. You love animals and would have a whole herd if you could. We can't wait to have your birthday party in a few weeks at your new house. We love you more than life!

Love,

Mama and Daddy

First School Pictures

2009-03-30T20:17:00.004-05:00

Brook took her first school pictures this spring! She wasnt to happy about it, but atleast she actually sat there this time. You see, in the fall she hda no part in it at all. She screamed at the top of her lungs and threw a huge fit. Of course I bought the whole package! They are definetly not pictures from Darla, but they will do.

Spring Break

2009-03-24T13:49:00.008-05:00

Well Spring Break is over for us :( I went back to work yesterday and Brook to MDO today! We had a great week off. Travis was home with us and we got to spend a lot of quality time together. We are not in the house yet.......we still need to get released for a gas meter. We did however get to move everything in except for our bed and tv. Brook's room is the sweetest thing ever! She just loves it. We went ahead and got her a full sized bed so we won't have to change her room for awhile. Our sleeping arrangements right now consist of her baby mattress on the floor next to our mattress. She started clmbing out of her crib at 14 months so we got her a toddler bed but since we have been in the same room with her she would just get out of her bed and get in with us. That is why we took the toddler bed apart and just put her mattress next to ours. Once we move we will start trying to get her to sleep in her own room!!!!!

Most of Spring Break was spent at the new house house moving in, unpacking and decorating. We did set aside one day to take our animal lover to the rodeo. She loved it even more this year! We stood in line forever not once but twice for her to ride the ponies! She was clapping, laughing, and screaming the whole time. She waved to everyone like she had just won the Miss America pageant! She was the cutest thing ever! She had real crepe soled cowboy boots and a bling belt. I for surely don't want her to grow up but I can't wait until the day we are out there with her showing her own animals! I am so glad she is taking after me in that area. I really think we will be bring home some blue ribbons in the future.

Here are a few pics of our break.

Daddy and Brook in the petting zoo.

Here is Brook on the way home from the rodeo........she is one cool chick!

We had a playdate with our old neighbor Kasen! Here they are driving daddy's boat.

Well I have been trying all day to get a video of Brook riding the ponies posted, but I still cant figure it out...oh well, Ill try again later.

In just one month...

2009-03-06T21:15:00.006-06:00

I can't believe that in just one short month my baby girl will be turning two! I don't even know where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday I layed eyes on her for the first time!

We were not in our own house for her 1st birthday so we are planning big fun this year since we will be in our new house! Brook was born on Good Friday, April 6, 2007. This year we plan to have a big celebration for her 2nd birthday and us finally moving into our new house! We are planning on doing it Easter Sunday this year so we can have a big family lunch and Easter Egg Hunt for all the kids.

We are getting really close to getting to move in. This week we had our walk thru to make our punch list. Everything should be all touched up and fixed and the appliances put in by Tuesday. All of our inspections are scheduled for the later part of the week. Hopefully we will be moving furniture in by Saturday! I am really excited to be settling in while I am off for Spring Break! We have a some fun plans set for Spring Break since Daddy will be off with us for 12 days! Brook is an animal lover so we will for surely be making a trip to the rodeo and maybe out in the boat if the weather is nice.

Here are some cute pics of her at the rodeo last year!

Under the Weather

2009-02-11T21:12:00.005-06:00

Not much has been happening around our household except for Brook having the flu. I feel so bad because I can't make her better. She has had a little cold off and on for about two weeks, but over the weekend she got a really bad cough. We could not get her in to our regular pediatrition so Travis took her to an urgent care clinic on Monday. She hasn't had any fever but she has all of the other symptoms that go along with the flu. She has never really ever had a runny nose so this is all new to us. We got some medicine and were hoping we were on the road to recovery but today we had major drama with diarreah. My sis watches Brook while I am at work and she was totally freaking out! We only had about 11 blowouts today! We now have more medicine to stop the diarreah. As of now she is peacefully sleeping so I am about to join her just in case if we have a long night ahead of us! Please say a little prayer for us that we can make a quick recovery!

Fun Filled Weekend

2009-02-07T21:43:00.009-06:00

We started our weekend with a wedding last night! Our friends Clint and Shawna tied the knot finally. We were running late and missed the ceremony but we were in time for a fun reception.

Here is Brook and me with the beautiful bride! Brook could not take her eyes off her sparkly dress.

Here we are stopping for a picture while we dance!

Travis worked nights Wed and Thurs night and went fishing Friday morning so he was pretty worn out and Brook partied like a rock star. Here they are sleeping while I made the hour drive home last night at midnight!

This morning we got up at the crack of dawn! I was sure we would sleep late since we were out late but that was not the case. We did actually get to sleep a little later than daddy, he got up at 3 this morning for a fishing tournament, we slept until 7. Brook and I did some shopping for decorations for her room and bathroom while daddy was fishing. We found some really cute stuff!

Here is a sham to Brook's new big girl bedding and we found a really cute flower and dragonfly to hang in her room! My grandpa is painting new letters for her room which will be white with turquoise polka dots!

Here is some wall decor that we are going to hang in her bathroom. I just love chocolate and pink! Brookie really loved the rhinestones on them. My grandpa is also painting a bible verse sign to match. I can't wait to see it all put together and hanging in her new bathroom!

The weigh-in for Travis' fishing tournament was at 3:30 this afternoon so after Brook and I shopped, ate lunch at Chick-Fila and played, we headed over to cheer daddy on!

Here is Brook checking out daddy's fish!

Here they are weighing in! Way to go daddy, Uncle Ronnie and Darrel! They won 4th place out of 50+ teams! They had a hard time since it was so windy today.

Well it is off to bed. We have another fun filled day ahead of us tomorrow. We will be over at the new house spreading more dirt for the front yard and then off to eat with Nana and Pawpaw!

Our House......In the works

2009-02-03T19:57:00.012-06:00

We should be closing on our house at the end of this month! WOOHOO!!!!!!!! I wanted to share some pictures from the beginning to now on our project. In September of 2007 we bought 1.1 acres. We decided to put our house up for sale because we were scared it might take a while to sell.........needless to say it took only two weeks to sell and we were totally shocked! We had started to planning what we wanted to build but we were not sure yet.

November 07 we moved out of our house and in with Travis' grandparents. We told them we would be there 4-6 months while our house was being built. Ha! Its January 09 and we are still here!

We(I mean Travis) started clearing the land and meeting with different builders. In February 08 we signed a contract with a builder to begin our house. Processing the loan (we finally closed on that in May) and getting building permits (we got them in August) took forever......We finally broke ground at the end of August. We had the slab poured and house framed when Hurricane Ike hit.........we finally started all over again on November 1st!

As of today all we need is our yard smoothed, carpet in the bedrooms, appliances, touch-ups and clean up and we are done! We are set to close by the end of the month. I am so excited that my sweet angel with soon have her own bedroom again and we will be able to have her 2nd birthday at our own house!!!!!!!

Here are some pics of the property when we bought it and Travis clearing it!

Here is picture of Travis and Brook spreading some dirt and when the slab was done.

Daddy's Girl

Here is the front and back of the house.

This is Travis' favorite part of the whole place. His shop! I am sure there will be many cold beverages drank in here and many fish frys!

This is the view from the front door. The living room, dining and kitchen are all one room. We have an island with the same stone as the front of the house on it!

Please pray for smooth sailing from here! After 14 months without our own home, we are getting very excited as we see the end insight!

The New Year

2009-01-27T19:02:00.007-06:00

We have already had a busy start to the new year! With the holidays behind us we are closing in on a move in date! We got back into the swing of things with starting back to school for me and Mother's Day out for Brook. At my school we have had so many first graders enroll that we are over the state max and got a new teacher! It is pretty crazy with 23 six year olds. Brook's class also got some new students and they added a teacher's aide. Here are a few pics from our holidays!

Here is Brook standing by the tree!

Here she is dipping cookies in milk for the first time! She thought it was soooo much fun!

This picture is priceless! She was totally excited about her new bunny pjs that her Nonna and Poppa gave her!

Travis and I had a great New's Year Eve! We had dinner at Pappasitos!

Missing Granny

2008-12-24T21:01:00.005-06:00

It has been a rough past couple of weeks in our family. My Granny was put in the hospital and then passed away on Saturday. Brook was her first great-grandchild and they had a special bond. She was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease a few years ago and she hasnt been the same since.

Here is my Granny rocking Brook after she was born!

Here is another picture of Brook and Granny this past year.

This was from Halloween when we went trick-or-treating. Granny's house was the only place we stopped with our little zebra. Granny has had this Halloween shirt since I was a little girl.

Brook has not been much of a talker.......she hasnt switched to English yet, but she was able to start calling Granny...Nanny during the many visits at the hospital. It was so sweet to see her kiss her night night each night when we left and say Nanny to her.

I am so glad that my daughter got to know such an important person in our family!

Christmas Card Carousel

2008-12-18T08:40:00.012-06:00

Our photographer did a wonderful job capturing my beautiful family this year! We love to take outdoor country scene pictures so this year we chose a feed store near us! We took our family picture in the hay barn. Brook could hear the goats baaing behind the barn and she was having a fit to go see them. We finally had to tell her they were sleeping so she would sit still.

This is the front of our 5x7 linen card.

Of course all Brook wanted to do was play with the goats! Darla captured some great photos of her with them. She would live in a barn if she could!

And this is the back!

Merry Christmas to all! Thank you Darla for doing an awesome job again this year!

Its Snowing!

2008-12-10T20:45:00.003-06:00

It never snows here. I cant believe it snowed tonight! Brook thought it was the greatest thing ever....besides any type of animal! We played outside for just a bit and then watched through the patio door.

I helped her make a little snowball to throw at Daddy!

Brook loved her little mini snowman! She was very proud of it.

Rebuilding and Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-19T14:14:00.018-05:00

I know it has been a while since my last post. I find it easier and more fun to blog stalk than to post! Some of you know that we are building a new house right now and it has been nothing but easy. After 10 months of planning, clearing the land and trying to get permits we finally got started!

Well then Hurricane Ike struck! We had 3 trees go through the back of the house and we lost 7 others in the yard. We are just truly blessed that we weren't farther along or living in it! So now we are waiting for the insurance company and to start over again. This weekend we took our big 18 month old Brookie to a pumpkin patch! Of course her favorite part was riding the nay-nays! We had a great time playing with the animals and picking out the perfect pumpkin!

Hopefully this is the start to frequent posts! Till next time!

Summer is Over....Back to work

2008-08-10T20:07:00.005-05:00

Its official.....I am going back to work tomorrow. I am starting this school year off at a new district so I have to go back with all of the new teachers. I am so sad to have to leave my little girl but I am kinda ready to get back to teaching.

Brook turned 16 months this week!

We had a great last week babysitting the girls! We had lots of fun playing games and going to Chuck E Cheese. We sure missed our little Emma this week. The girls taught Brook how to play some fun games. Here is Brook and Ashley playing Connect Four. I cant believe my 16 month old sat still long enough to play. It was so cute to watch her wait until it was her turn to put in her piece.

Sarah and Brook played this elephant game that was super fun! There is air that blows little butterflies up through the elephant's trunk. The winner is determined by whoever catches the most butterflies in their net. Brook had so much fun running around trying to catch the butterflies in her net!

We also had a great weekend! Dada was off on Saturday so we finally got to take out his pride and joy......the Boston Whaler and go boating on the river. This was Brook's first time to go out in a boat and she loved it! We packed a picnic lunch and caked on the SPF 50 and had a great day out in the sun.

Here is a picture of Brook's single uncles if any one is in the market!

Girl time during Edouard

2008-08-05T16:00:00.010-05:00

Well it was a great day staying at home with Brook today while Edouard came through! We got to sleep in to the sound of rain on the carport. We spent the day in our pjs lounging around. After nap time we had little pedicures. Of course Brook wanted to paint mine after I was done with hers. Needless to say I had to use a cotton ball and remover to fix mine up!

The only thing missing today was our Dada! He is stuck at the plant for 16 hours. We are going to make him one of his favorie dinners tonight...fried shrimp. I am sure he will appreciate it after a long day of sitting around at work making double time!

Please pray for our friend Cody's family as they deal with the loss of his grandma. They are old neighbors that we dearly love and miss. Cody and Travis became close buds from the start! Here is a picture of them from Halloween '07. Cody wanted to be an Operator like Travis so my dad got him a "blue suit" with his name on it.

Blog Debut!

2008-08-04T08:02:00.003-05:00

Well I have been fixing up my blog for a week or two now and have finally decided to post. Thanks to my friends Laura and Tedra I have been hooked on blog stalking! I always thought that I did not have enough time to do something like this or myspace but my husband convinced me that all the time I spend stalking everyone else I could have one of my own.

Well I have really great news.....Brook's paci went "gone gone" over the weekend! It has been more than 24 hours without it. She has played, rode in the car and even went to sleep without it. I figured since she knows the meaning of "gone gone" now it was time to get rid of it. She was never going to learn how to talk with it always in her mouth! She is about to start Mother's Day Out in a few weeks and I did not want to have to worry about her having it with her.

This is going to be really fun sharing the everyday adventures with you of my family!

Oh by the way, these are Brook's favorite songs!