Lately

We are fascinated by big yellow trucks.
And our jumperoo! (Thanks, Sherri!)
{Ignore the weird lady with the nasal voice. I don't know her.} Oh, and how do I turn a video sideways? Sorry.

9 month pictures coming soon! We had to find the sheep buried in packing paper.

Pregnant Jeopardy

Category: Weight Gain and Loss of A Normal Body Shape

$500 question
During this season of pregnancy a woman's weight skyrockets all the while her thighs turn to jelly but she is happy and her hormones seem to rely completely upon this very season.

What is Girl Scout Cookie Season. Final answer.

Ding ding ding. You win a box of tagalongs with your $500.

9 big ole' months!

The baby boy is 9 months old today. And just as I said last month and the month before and the month before - this one is going to be so much fun. Within the last week Curious Brooks has perfected and learned so many tricks. I love watching him do something the first time and then within 20 minutes act like he is the master of universe which of course he is to us!

He had his 9 month check up today and there is nothing major to report other than he is about average on all accounts (of course, way above average in my mind!) and he is super fidgety and likes to flirt with the nurses. He has to take his clothes off to get his weight and you know how he loves naked time! He was crawling all over the office and squealing like he was at Disney World. He wasn't as thrilled about the attempted (note: attempted) vision test. Oh well, we'll try that one next time and in the mean time just believe even his eye sight is perfect. Just in case you are on the edge of your seat wondering....he was 21lbs and 28inches. He was so happy to be back in his regular Pediatrician's office. He loves Dr. Pip and so do I! Dr. Pip told him he could have a grilled cheese any day now and Brooks leaned over and kissed him on the nose for that news!

Note to new moms - don't mention to the nurse that you've had a rough morning because your baby fell off the bed and slammed his finger in a cabinet. I thought we were being cordial - just shooting the breeze and then I was interrogated with questions that made me feel like I had thrown the baby off the bed by his feet and into a wall or something. Baby is just fine after some "I've never done that before, why did my mom abandon me for .2 seconds, I think I should cry even though I am tough and not hurt" screaming but I am still severely scarred. I vowed to him that I would never ever do it again and that I was so sorry. There was an angel protecting that fall - I promise because somehow the gymnast did 1.5 flips and landed on all fours like a cat. I've replayed the event over and over and every time I want to turn curl up in a ball and declare worst mom of the year but I still can't figure out how he landed so perfectly (other than he is perfect) and he was certainly being protected from someone above who loves him very much.

Just so I can remember this for this second baby (because isn't it true that when someone asks you how you did this or when Brooks started doing that - you don't remember what your child even wore the day before! Nod your heads - very true)...so here we go...
Brooks
*pulls up onto anything that is 6 inches above his crawling eyesight whether it is remotely stable or not
* is actually real baby crawling rather than that one armed injured army veteran crawl he had so mastered last month
* sleeps 7:30-7:30 pretty consistently and now takes the longest morning nap ever - long enough to make me actually twiddle my thumbs in anticipation for him to wake up! But he takes a quick hour afternoon nap and he fights it the whole way.
*drinks 4 6-ounce bottles and eats breakfast and dinner. He love blueberries, black beans, rice, yogurt, socks (yes) and of course bananas and sweet potatoes (and anything grandma Nise isn't supposed to give him but does anyway. Gotta love grandma!)
*likes to clap his hands if you ask him to and he has sort of started giving me a slobbery kiss though you might mistake it as a messy head bump or something
*wears 12 month clothes, loves bath time still, loves being naked, likes to throw things on the floor as a game, holds his bottle by himself and doesn't want me to feed him, plays peek a boo, thinks Amos is funny and likes to pull on his face, and giggles the whole time he is in a swing at the park!
*says "da da da" even after I say "ma ma ma"
*doesn't think teeth are cool
*flirts with anyone who will give him attention
*is currently licking the window of the sliding glass door because it makes a funny sound and he can see his reflection (and who knows, maybe it tastes good? The boy hasn't found a menu he didn't like!)
*makes my heart flutter when he smiles at me or reaches for me or makes a noise at me or heck, even when he poops on me - I fall more in love.

Thank you, Mr. Brooks for giving me a purpose on a daily basis. Thank you for giggling even when your mom and dad are overwhelmed, exhausted, and a little out of it from the last 6 crazy months! You are our joy every single day! Now off to celebrate at mom and dad's favorite place - Taqueria Del Sol.....welcome home!

We're here!!!!

I wish I had some pictures to share with you of this 72 hour journey but if I could actually remember where the camera cord is packed I would award myself the smartest packer in the world and take a break for the rest of the day. For the most part we arrived in Atlanta intact and smiling. Here are just a few of our hiccups. Minor in scale if you ask me but comical.
1) There is a small to medium divot in the Savannah yard from the first attempt to back the 26 foot yellow truck into the driveway. Sorry!
2) Amos nearly lost his left arm as he bolted under the brake pedal of the Big Bird when Brad has just pulled into a little Atlanta traffic on Saturday. To brake this 8000lb truck with my entire life in it or to spare my dog his arm? That was the question. Amos still seems a little shaken but we know after a trip to his old dog park he'll be just fine.
3)I packed all 9 boxes of wet wipes I had just bought and Brooks didn't care. He has taken to black beans lately and his diapers are representative of his new favorite food. {Why do moms feel the need to describe their baby's diapers on the world wide web?}
4) Somehow our once seemingly even king size bed is no longer even. Have we been sleeping in a crooked bed for 18 months now or were we just too delirious to figure out why the four even sides of the bed rails don't make an even square last night? Mama said the crooked bed may be the cause of unexpected pregnancies. Thank you mom, we've been looking for the most logical explanation.
5) We somehow seem to be missing a box full of lamps and light bulbs. This wasn't an obstacle yesterday as we unpacked as it was sunny, bright, and 65 degrees but last night when we came home to a home with minimal overhead lighting and no functioning lamps and a flashlight packed in the bottom of a nameless box and boxes in every corner - dancing in the dark took on a new meaning.
6) The green truck got a warning. A dear Savannah friend offered to drive Brad's over sized South Georgia vehicle (his 2nd wife) up from Savannah to Atlanta. This was the biggest blessing last week! I was so worried because I can barely get in his truck without a boost but our sweet friend was fearless. Until some bored Atlanta police officer pulled her over - in what looked like a stolen truck with an expired registration. I would have been shaking in my boots but she seemed to laugh as she recalled the story. Luckily, the registration is up to date - the sticker just had fallen off. Of course someone doing us a favor would get pulled over for this even though Brad has never run into this little problem during his many run-ins with the law??? Oops.
7) We are living out of a Styrofoam cooler until we find time to buy (or accept an unused) fridge! If you stop by we have beer, butter, and some applesauce. Dig in!

Overall, this move was pretty seamless so far thanks to my hard working husband. You would be proud, too, we reused every piece of packing and paper that the professional movers used just 6 months ago and I was given strict orders to save every piece again - as there may be another more permanent move in the future. Really though, if you need help moving - don't call Brad! He is awesome and literally moved our 8000 lbs of stuff by himself and I hope he never has to do it again. He can give you some great advise though...and he looks pretty hot driving a 26 foot truck. I think his tractor's sexy!

Oh, and to top off this whirlwind of a weekend we had three dear friends just pop by yesterday to check on us. Goodness, we hadn't had anyone pop in to see us in such a long time and despite the chaos in the house we welcome any visitors! We are so happy to be back to a city that knows us even if it means a few more weeks in boxes!

Oh, and (my mind is racing as I am a little overwhelmed...I didn't get one hour of sleep last night due to this silly anxiety (and a loud thunderstorm)) Brad went to his first day of school today - or so it felt like. I packed him a lunch in his lunch pail and he skipped out the door. He'll be working about 4 miles away so we are so excited for many lunches together and hopefully a very pleasant commute - which is rare in Atlanta. He says he has a window office and he likes the restrooms in the office - so far so good. Those are the essentials to figure out on one's first day, right?

A day at the park

I will miss Forsyth park. Situated on the west end of the city and marked by the perimeter of moss adorned trees, this mile stretch of the city has come to be one of my favorite places anywhere. Due to this horrid winter weather this season experienced throughout the typically mild South East we haven't been able to spend hours on end in the park like I would have liked when we first moved here. Yesterday Brooks and I had lunch at a new cafe in the middle of the park with some friends and then we spent the rest of the day taking in one of our favorite places. I was a little weepy strolling around because I could just see the activity and life that would come to live at the park in a few weeks as the temperature creeps a little higher. Of course, the perfect Savannah weather is on it's way just as we are set to leave. Needless to say, we had a fun afternoon hitting all of the corners of the park and getting a little wind burnt in the meantime!

Our own little cupid

He's got me. And his dad, too. We are both smitten and head over heels. Thank you, Brooks, for stealing our hearts! Thank you, too, for your personal Buzz Light Year Valentine you game me along with a pencil. I need a pencil. I love you little man!

Here is a glimpse of our gorgeous Valentine's Day and Brooks' new toys...the activity table and the pregnant mom/jungle gym who did not wish to be photographed.

But now we've come to the end of the road

I can literally feel my 10 year old heart thumping so hard as I recall pulling away from our typical-Florida, 4-sided brick, one level home on that sunny Saturday in December.

For weeks I refused to unpack the tall boxes in my new extra large room in Marietta, complete with my own bathroom and walk in closet. We used to drive up to Georgia during my early childhoods years for holidays and visits and I loved Georgia...to visit. I thought the girls in Georgia were all pretty....all of them. I didn't understand why everyone didn't have a pool in their backyard. And I seemed to be the only one wearing my newest shirt from Disney or Hard Rock Cafe on our many visits. As much as I hate to say it now - I absolutely loved growing up in Florida on the water. We spent every single weekend out on the boat - hopping islands that were only accessible by boat, picnicking, learning to bait our own hooks, and hearing stories from my dad of those wretched trolls that lived under the bridges in deep water. On the weekends that we didn't hit the water - we were on Spaceship earth at Epcot or riding the tea-saucers at the Magic Kingdom. Sadly, we had been to the amusement parks (thanks to the FL resident passes) so many times we couldn't begin to count and for Floridians (or atleast Catholic families with too many young kids to know what else to do) you went to Disney or went to the beach on the weekend and that was normal life. This certainly made for a phenomenal childhood. I can taste the strawberry cream drip down my throat if I close my eyes long enough and picture the Mickey ice-cream cone with strawberry ice-cream and graham cracker cut outs that I just had to have each visit.

Anyway, mid-way through 5th grade we moved back to Marietta where I was born and for a 10 year old - that was devastation. Ahhhhh.......Just writing a hair about these pre-teen years makes me want to dedicate a whole new blog about the past seasons - from childhood, to high school (skip in between there), to college, and on to my single days in Atlanta.....I have such fond memories of each. To a fault, I do a very good job of living in the past and literally reliving moments and feelings from past seasons all day long in my head. But this wasn't one of those memories. This was the most sadness I had known to date and I was fine just being sad for a long time. I listened to Boys II Mens', "It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday" over and over and concluded to be miserable the rest of my life as long as I was away from my neighbor Allison, my 5 "boyfriends", the horses we rode on the weekend at a local barn, and the unforgettable weekends on the water.

So I've obviously moved several more times since then and each time I am a little more numbed by the experience. I remember after the 4 years in Athens thinking that the end would just be unbearable. The end came and we were left to clean our indescribably putrid refrigerator before we moved out our of our beloved town home and somehow that experience alone eased us right out into the real world with minimal tears regarding the most amazing season to date. Then when Brad and I left the condo just 6 months ago I was just in a fog. I woke up one morning, went to work out, came home and my stuff was in boxes. Brad and I went to get our favorite ice-cream after lunch and we came home to an empty condo. This move was the hardest since that dreaded move to the Peach state nearly 20 years prior. It really wasn't until Brad and I were taking pictures off the wall the night before the movers came that we realized all of the wonderful "just-us (and Amos)" memories we had made in those 1300 square feet. That's always how it happens, right? You fully realize the joy (and pain) you've experienced as you see a chapter come to an end?

Well, this move 273 miles north has just been odd. We started packing the day after we found out we were leaving but in our heads I don't think either of us really thought it was happening. Life has been coming at us so fast these last two years and I guess our coping mechanism has just been to keep pushing on - rather than to stop and really see if there is any feeling regarding these cards we've been dealt. We had high hopes for Savannah. No, not because of the oyster roasts, and the drive by the water every time we leave our house and not because of the green beer in March. We just knew in making this crazy decision that God had something big and unfathomable for our family. Had you asked me three weeks ago what that big something was I may have laughed and had some sarcastic remark. I'm sorry. Today I can tell you confidently that God did big things with our family here in a very short time and I know there is still more to come.
1) We've learned to slow down and actually enjoy down time and sometimes even (gulp) a boring night or two.
2) We know for certain that a community of friends who seem to want the same things in life - a life that stands for something and overall - brings glory to God - are SO vital. We have craved that community feeling for several months now.
3) But we have also seen God truly bring us to our knees over several things that were so unexpected in these few months. I would redo even January (which in my head goes down as the worst month of the 300+ months I've known on this earth. Yes, that bad. Sick, tired, lonely, confused, sick, cold, and sick from yet another surprise pregnancy) just to feel like I do today - humbled. I've truly been brought to my knees and fully reminded that I am absolutely not in control and I don't want to be. Some of the most powerful words I've ever heard my husband say are these very same words. Thank you, God, for breaking us here.
4) We've learned to prioritize our family of 3.5+fluffy dog before anything else. Before my family (ouch, really hard lesson), Brad's family, work, opportunities, you name it......our little family is first and it feels good to know that and not just say it for once.
5) We are anxious to have that settled/not going anywhere for awhile feeling back in Atlanta. We both finally realized that having roots and some stability isn't always that boring. Bring on the "normal" please!
6) We like to play tennis together.
7) There is nothing in Atlanta or Savannah or anywhere beyond as entertaining as watching your own child learn about the world. We have loved getting to spend so much time with Brooks as he learns about boats and stars and trucks and grass and the moss in the trees. I love watching his inquisitive eyes scope the scenery around us just to take it all in.

8) We like to meet for lunch. It feels like a spontaneous date when I get to see Brad in the middle of the day. I like to get a peek into his big people world and he likes to talk human-to me to make sure I don't go insane by the end of the day and start calling him "da-da".
9) We miss Mexican food and good Tex-Mex. Atlanta has alot of this and we can't wait to get back and go overboard on hitting up all of our old favorites. Bring on the heartburn, too!
10) Islands are a dark place to live with zero street lights and the glow of a cuty but there are no words to describe the stars at night. I am sure we won't get a glimpse like we've seen here for a long time so we will soak it up for a few more nights!

I am sure there are more things that we will take with us (including how to pack the craziest shaped objects perfectly in a box -thanks to my personal professional mover Brad) but I know that the biggest morale's of this story probably won't come to us for many years when we really need them to make yet another decision or to pull us through in some way. Of course I'd love to tell you we followed our hearts, made millions, feel like rockstars, are in the best shape since high school, and couldn't be more happy and though there were some really good parts of our adventure I think we both could say we are coming home a little beaten up and worn down but ready to inhale and rest and be settled. We would both say, too, that we feel closer to our Father in Heaven than we have in a long time and that is worth every lonely, sick, seemingly purposeless day.

4 posts in 24 hours

We don't think that much of ourselves I promise - posting every 3 hours about a whole bunch of nothing. Well maybe the baby thinks that highly of himself. I would too if I looked as Rico-suave as he does in the picture below. But let's face it...it's frrreeeezing outside, our house if fully packed, and we can't spend any money so we are stuck inside having photo shoots. The picture below just cracked me up...as if he was about to smoke his stogey and read the paper after he finished his bottle. This was au-natural...no posing here! This kid's amazing and the best entertainment around.
Pass the remote, mom, I need to watch MASH!

The cat and the fiddle

(The theme on my midrif shirt pajama top if you can't tell)
This is the picture of a happy boy in a funny pair of pjs (that show his fully belly when he stands up. Brad dressed him and didn't realize the boy is "top-heavy") who found random pieces of Special K cereal on my unvaccumed carpet and had never been more interested in his find. I am sure the carpet fuzz added a special texture and some needed fiber, right? Sidenote: We are a clean family but with a move 8 days away everything has fallen to the wasteside. Note the overflowing basket of clean laundry in the background!

And the cow jumped over the moon

That's what we've heard would happen before we were to ever see snow in Savannah. We've seen our share of cold down here though not near to the extreme that our friends in the nation's capital have experienced. My friend, Heather, up there has been burried since last week in her sweet 600 ft condo! You don't even have to know her to agree that that is the mark of a patient woman. At first we looked enviously upon their covering of snow but a week later I couldn't imagine being stuck inside with an almost 9 month - moving, squirming, curious baby! Then our friends in Atlanta have really just had the worst of it and that is because the bitter, gray cold has rarely produced a monumental "Snowmageddon" - rather, just awfully ugly days that just make you wish the weeks would speed by and the warm would come. That was one glimmer of hope in our move to the coast - the slightly warmer weather than the metro area. And that "slight" has made all the difference this winter - enough of a termperature difference to atleast get out for a walk during the day and an occassional lunch on the dock.

But now WE WANT SNOW and our local weather dude is saying, "tomorrow night any rain could turn to, yes, snow!" How promising does that sound? (I'm not running to the store for milk and bread - let's put it that way). Brad doubts that the white-airy stuff would reach the islands even if it did make it down here to our corner of the state. Bah-humbug, Scrooge! I told him we would camp out in Forsyth park just to take the little guy's picture in his first blizzard if he thinks our zipcode doesn't have a chance. We will NOT miss the snow should it make it our way.

So, do your snow dance for us tomorrow night. I couldn't imagine the fire in Amos' belly were he to see his favorite stuff dusting our oversized back yard! Oh, and please on Saturday afternoon break out your bathing suit and let's all start hoping this nasty winter is behind us. I just want to taste a snowflake on my tongue but after that - bring on the typical warm Southern skies. Get this, my sun-craved friends and I used to sit on the sun deck at the Theta house in Athens come February 1st!

Yucky lessons learned

Warning: This post may or may not specifically site such horrid things involving liquids and solids leaving one's body. Ewww.

We've learned some tough lessons lately. I won't go into the big life lessons Brad and I have painfully been accepting involving career decisions, employer contracts, autonomy in the workplace, and the worst of all - budgeting stuff. Yuck yuck yuck.

I'll tell you about the more obvious ones that have invaded our home this week and seemingly taken up much of our time and all of my Lysol. The first of a many painful lessons this week began Sunday afternoon. We were sad to not be in Atlanta at a certain someone's neighborhood SuperBowl party. We wanted to eat pigs n' blankets and 7 layer dip and drink an adult beverage or too (not me, unfortunately) and talk about the commercials with other friends - many of whom are recent parents. Instead we were here trying to soak up one of our last weekends on the coast. So instead of pouting our lip out at each other and thus, receiving no sympathy whatsoever (because Brooks didn't seem to mind that it was just us 3 once again) I hopped over to Publix with all the other last minute party throwers and I grabbed our own most-amazing-Super Bowl-party supplies...or really, what was left on the shelf. I came home and made some home made pigs n blankets and some chicken chili. Just as every attempt-to-be-thrifty (and lazy) woman would do I roasted the chicken for two meals: the chili and enchiladas for the next night. I'll speed this up....Brad ate some of my chicken as I was bathing Brooks....the chicken I purposefully didn't cook all the way through because of the extra cooking that would occur in the above dishes. Fast forward: 330am. Chili in toilet. 430am Pigs n blankets in toilet. 530 am. Trip to the toilet. 630am - let's go have another party on the toilet. Poor poor Brad. I babied him all day and brought him gatorade. I called the doctor and even offered to call his boss as if he was in elementary school and needed a note from mom.
YUCKY LESSON #1: Don't touch your wife's food! She has plans in her head and may have poisoned something on accident so always ask. Always! Usually this principle applies to the uncooked cookie dough that mysteriously disappears before the oven has preheated. I'll admit - I am flattered that the mister of the house enjoys my culinary skills and I sort of like that he always wants a sneak peak but my advise would be to wait for the dinner bell unless you want to hang out with Mr. Commode all night. No fun.

Well, the following three days were just as unpleasant and personally, much more disgusting but fortunately involved the little man and not the big man. Bath time comes about 7 every night and right before we love our naked time. If I can find a way to video these 10 minutes without exposing the babies man parts all over the internet I would because it is good entertainment. Brad was out of commission Monday night, and at a work event Tuesday night. So as I was multi tasking - getting bottles ready, cleaning baby boogers off the crib sheets, running bath water, and having naked baby play time. Somewhere between cleaning a bottle and throwing away a diaper the little guy -2 nights in a row- pulled himself up on his dad's leather chair and literally proudfully dropped a surprise on the floor. I am temtped to say he was nothing but "sh*@'s and giggles" but that sounds so crass. It is the perfect depiction of the scene though. Luckily, I only unknowingly stepped in this surprise one of two nights, much to my sons amusement. You'd think I'd have learned from day 3 that little boys pee all day long, they poop as soon as you open the diaper, and they are instantly interested in what's behind the barn door. But no, nearly 9 months later I still think I can un-diaper the fine fellow and he will behave as every civilized human would. Not so much.
YUCKY LESSON #2: You are dumb, mom! I WILL drop a bomb the moment you take off my diaper even if I just did the same things in the diaper 3 minutes prior! Don't be fooled by my innocent smile and cute little baby-butt cheeks.
That's enough for now. I'm grossed out and I know this is only the beginning of the gross things a baby boy and a grown husband will teach me over the years.
I'll leave you with a few sugar and spice type images so you don't go to bed thinking icky thoughts about us. Here is Brooks with his South GA grandparents and his new cousin Max who was born a week ago today! I am biased I know but he is truly a cute infant. I would admit that even Brooks looked a little scary in the first hours of life but this 10lb2oz hunk is a heart breaker! Unfortunately, Brooks wanted him to wrassle and he was too tired from the whole birth thing. Isn't he so yummy?

Yes, my redhead is yummy too with baby Max.

My Vote

The Google "Parisian Love" Ad won my heart last night. I want to be that girl in the French cafe wondering about the American boy that seems to be looking deeper in my eyes than anyone else has before. And then I want to gobble up the French chocolates on the steps of the Louvre. Nice google, very nice.

Though it is a little scary how stinkin smart Google has become - knowing how to finish my sentences for me....suggesting the very thing that happened to be on my mind in any particular moment, giving me the right recipe for the right time and any image I could ever imagine for anything - I sort of like the "friendship" we have developed; that google and I. On a lonely Savannah day Google can tell me just what to do, what the weather might do if I do that thing, and I can even pseudo beam myself to where I want to be through Google Maps.
Great commercial, google folks. I'm even more of a fan.

Did you have a favorite commercial? Brooks liked the E-trade babies best, especially that little girl.

I say it every month

but an 8 month old baby is my absolute favorite baby in all my baby experience. Brad wants to know if we can just pop this next one out after about 17 months of growth in the womb so "shim" can be just like his big brother Brooks is now? I'll work on that one, honey.
I remember liking 4 months because I finally felt like the baby was my baby. Is that a problem that it took that long? He started smiling because he was happy and you could start to see his own little personality coming out. In Brooks' 4 month we spent most of our time in and out of a half-decorated condo while dad was starting the new job in Savannah. We missed him so much so we ate out lunch everyday and took two walks around our pretty neighborhood in the baby Bjourn. We both love September in Atlanta and we just had a blast getting to know eachother and keeping each other company.

Well, 5 months comes and the worm just starts rolling all over the house like that what was he was born to do. The first time he did this was in his crib and then just like he should do - he made us wait a few weeks before showing us his trick again. He is not a puppet he says. In October we enjoyed getting to know our new town by once again walking the neighborhood over and over and - aha! - eating lunch out! (We can have a budgeting discussion later.)

Oh and then came 6. Brooks hit all the high marks at his 6 month appointment. He is better than 90% of the kids out there in his weight and his height. JUST KIDDING! I don't understand those percentiles and personally hate that right out of the womb the world starts slapping my baby with numbers to live up to! I want him to succeed and all but couldn't we give the boy a chance to recover from the traumatic trip through the birth canal he just took? Anyway, just as the holidays were gearing up for some good Southern eating - so was our boy! He started with mama's mashed sweet tatoes and bananas and from the moment the spoon hit his tongue he has been a believer! Over thanksgiving he impressed his south Georgia grandparents and the rest of Plains, GA with his sitting capabilities. He kinda reminded me of humpty dumpty just sitting and waiting to be fed but he was sitting and that was all that mattered. At the time, I thought 6 months was the most adorable of all months. We must have been baby happy this month with all of Brooks' cuteness so the stork (because that is how it happens) plopped a sign on our door telling us there would be another one of these things next year. We were too in to Brooks to really care at the moment.

But then came 7. At the beginning of our boys 7th month of life he told us that he wanted to enlist in the reserves by age 4. Immediately he put his heart and soul into learning the most amazing army-crawl technique our troops may have ever seen. He uses one arm so the other is free for the grabbing of any lose object in his path - carpet fuzz, leftover Cheetos, computer chord, dirty sock, stray bullet....you name it - he can find an entertaining way to get to it and stick it right where it belongs in his mouth! This month we really got to see in to a little of Brooks' laid back demeanor. He is his daddy in this way to the fullest. We travelled with him 3 of 4 weekends, kept him out way passed his bed time at night and pretty much made him freeze at night until we figured out how cold his room was...all of that and not one complaint or whimper just a big ole toothless grin. He is just happy to be included in our little family adventures.

And as I've said before, Brooks ate his way into his 8th month. We discovered this month he likes lemons, pickles, and cucumbers. He likes to lean back in his high chair at a restaurant, get comfy, and just wait for the spoon to stuff him. This boys knows how to eat and will never say no to a swallow at something. I started cutting back on his milk intake this month because I realized he would drink a gallon ever other day if we let him. Buy the kid a cow for his birthday please! Whether he is hungry or not - he will eat and drink and maybe come up for air once. Fortunately, his one arm-army crawl has hit records of speed so he is sort of balancing out his calorie consumption. This month he pulls up on anything, loves to stand on his own, claps his hands if I say "clap, clap, clap", he makes the funniest squeals to get our attention or especially the attention of a toddler little girl, he notices everyone and follows them as they enter and leave a room, he sleeps like a champ, buries his nose in my chest when he is tired, flips over before you can start to get a diaper on him, crosses his legs at the ankles as soon as he falls asleep, giggles at Amos, sucks on his toes when he can get them over his belly, loves naked play time with dad before bath time, drinks margaritas, and says da-dy though he isn't sure yet what that will do for him. Of course Brad hears this and comes scooping him up with kisses galore. I love our 8 month old and I am sure that this will be the best month yet....until 9. And yes, he put his whole mouth on his dad's margarita glass last week and moved every body part he could to try to get himself in that drink. T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

He even has started to help us Brad pack the house. He's already working hard for his allowance.
Maybe I should get up and help, too??? Grrrrrrrr.....I have been dreading the moment I actually aknowledge that we have to pack this house up (twice) in the next few months before we actually get settled. Luckily my husband is amazing and loves having a project so he started last week while we were gone. Funny, he says he gets more done when I am sleeping or away???? Complain much? Not me!

Tired that I never knew

For many of y'all that have known me any length of time you know that I love teaching the 6m aerobics class, I can't sleep later than 7am, I can't sleep if I'm not in my own bed, I like to have walked 5 miles when I'm on vacation while everyone else is fast asleep, I was the girl that woke up from the slumber party and stared at every picture on your wall and went through all of your yearbooks while you were snoring, I usually can dance on a table with zero alcoholic drinks preceding, and I can never, NEVER nap.

Nearly 6 weeks ago I stopped exercising. I leave my baby to fuss in his crib in the morning until atleast 7:45 unless Brad has already scooped him up because I just. Cant. Get. Out. Of. Bed......
I've taken naps in the parking lot of the grocery store and Nordstrom in my car, I am in bed at night by 9pm but usually only after I have fallen asleep on the couch an hour before, I haven't danced on a table, and like I mentioned I must, repeat - MUST, have a nap - daily.

You can thank those good ole pregnancy hormones.

{Wipe up the coffee you just spewed out on your lap}

Yes, here's your official announcement. Baby B -numero dos, due mid-August and I think if I had the energy I may smile or laugh about this news but honestly, I have never ever fathomed this level of exhaustion.

Most of you have already picked up on this little "situation" (as my friends on the Jersey Shore might say) through some of my posts. I tried my hardest to keep this secret tight for some time for several reasons but supposedly I said back in December that I "had been sick for a whole season." I remember specifically not using the word "nauseous" but some of you are so good and you knew right away.

Anyway, we are seriously a little too tired to know how to feel. As we tend to do things around here, this situation miracle was not part of the plan. {You know, the back of your mind plan that you never really write down and somehow it never works out anyway.} Thus, we were once again pleasantly surprised with what most people say is one of life's biggest stressers (this isn't discounting all of the wonderful things about having a baby but it is supposedly in the top 5 list of life's biggest changes.) And yes, we have heard this news twice in about a year now. Added to the changing of two jobs which happens to be another one of those "stressers" "they" say. Oh, and pile that on top of **two relocation's. Relocation being yet another one of life's big changes "they" say. Bottom line - WE ARE POOPED!

**My amazing husband was offered an amazing job in Atlanta on the spot! I am so proud of him and I just want to tell the world. We had hoped to move back sometime early fall but once again, our plan has been thrown to the birds so we will be making the move back in less than 3 weeks. We now have 17 days to find a place to live in Atlanta, pack our house, move our things, beg our doctors to take us back, switch utilities and memberships, learn to crawl, finally eat at our few must-eat places in Savannah before we leave, kayak our backyard just so we can say we took advantage of our settings, throw an oyster roast for our Savannah friends, and start a new job. Whew. I need a nap again.

I can't lie - I wanted to wrap my Savannah experience with a pretty yellow bow and then say, okay let's go home now, I'm ready. I am not good with endings, you know that. But all of a sudden last Friday I found myself accepting a sweet invitation to join a women's bible study in Atlanta all the while knowing that my husband was about to get off the phone with his potential new employer and most likely tell me that he would need to start asap - hence, no new friends and bible study for me. Yes, I've wanted to come back to the comforts of home...a church we love, grandparents and family close by, familiar dry cleaners and favorite lunch spots but I really thought the fat lady would sing before that really happened so soon. I wanted to tie that perfect ribbon around the lessons we learned while being out of our comfort zone and somewhat- isolated for what seemed like forever but was merely a blip on the radar screen. I sort of feel like we are giving up too soon but in my sheer tiredness I just have to exhale and trust that this is our story and not our timing.


So once again the lesson in all of this....repeat after me......I AM NOT IN CONTROL. Ouch. Again, I AM NOT IN CONTROL. YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL. The first post I started to write today said just that over and over as if writing on a black board in middle school for punishment but I thought you might send me to the crazy house if I actually hit PUBLISH POST.

And that's the beauty of it all. We are not in control and as much as we plot and seek and plan and strategize and dream, we serve a much larger God that delights in His plans for us and His plan for the world - which thankfully, He uses me in that plan. How cool! Today I cant think of the teenciest reason why we would have children less than 15 months apart from each other but I know God has written our story and He has the most divine purpose for this little baby's life. He already knows the deep bond that will be formed between Brooks and his slightly younger sibling. He knows the way my heart will crumble once again when we finally meet this "shim" in nearly 6 months. He knows. Luckily, in this state of mental and physical exhaustion for both Brad and I - we can know that He knows and that is all we need to know. I am so so thankful that I don't have to have answers for myself right now. It would take too much energy to come up with some. I am so glad that I can just rest in knowing the the Lord knows our steps. He knows the hairs on my head just as He knows why we spent these short six months on the coast. He knows that my heart doesn't have the capacity to take all of this in right now so I can just rest in Him and trust wholeheartedly that I am not in control because I am so dearly loved - not because I am not capable. His story is so much better for me than any chapter I could start to author. I guarantee I'd still be writing about my purpose and my passion and asking you to tell me "who I am" were I to even try to write even just the prologue of this story. Thankfully, 2 short years after marriage I know my purpose atleast for now - to pour into my spouse and build him up so he can be the best father, worker and husband. Secondly, right now I have two precious lives to look after but more so, two fragile little souls to point to our gracious God. That is huge purpose but purpose I never would have dreamed 2 years ago. (Realistically my purpose this month has been to wear in our couch and our cozy bed!)

Oh, and I've chopped my hair to my shoulders and gone blonde! I love it!
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I lied. I am just wondering what more big news I could throw into this one post. Thank you for walking beside us in this adventure. Thank you for sending me your recipes when I am too tired to even think of a meal to cook my poor family. Thank you for encouraging me when I "dump" all of this news on you. Thank you for praying for the details of this move to work out perfectly. Thank you for offering your blood, sweat, and tears to help move our things into place. Oh, ooops, no one has been that generous. We're still grateful though. Thank you!!! Atlanta bound in T-minus 3 weeks.