2 Year Pix

-Here are a few of Brooks's 24 mo pix he got taken at Portrait Innovations. We had a gift card from his Great Aunt and Uncle that we finally got to use for the pictures. What a ham he was during the shoot!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

X-Mas Morning

Wonder why Mommy and Daddy are making me sit here?

They seem so excited.

Hanging out with my "Pops"

Daddy had to keep me on task with my present opening

Then we were off to Grandma and Papa McCarroll's

house with the rest of the family

I liked sitting in everyone's lap to open presents

-Merry Christmas! We hope everyone had a blessed holiday. It was such a nice Christmas at home with our family. Brooks got to wake up in his home to see what Santa brought him. He was super excited to see a choo-choo train! Josh and I refurbished an old lego table (my mom has kept through the years) and made it into a duplo table. I then purchased some Thomas the Train duplo sets on Ebay to finish it off. Brooks LOVED it and plays with it all the time. He can flip the top over to color or play. His favorite thing to do it actually climb on TOP of it to play. Oh well.

-He was a pro at unwrapping presents by the end of the morning. He then wanted to help everyone else open their presents. I think he was a little confused at first because he kept saying, "Happy Birthday"! I had to then say..."Yes, Happy Birthday Baby Jesus". He now says, "bye bye Santa, Elf" so I think he knows the festivities are over. It is kind of sad. You spend so much time decorating, shopping, cooking, baking, wrapping, and stressing.....and it's over in a blink of an eye. Josh and I really got into the spirit of the season this year. Having a toddler in the house adds SO much excitement to the holidays. I look forward to continuing our family Christmas traditions and adding to them each year. Can't you just feel the love during the holidays? Childhood memories of story times, Santa pix, Christmas pjs, trains, sleep overs in my older sister's room, Santa's cookies, turkey/stuffing, surprises, songs, etc came rushing back. I can't wait for Brooks to enjoy Christmas for years to come.

Happy Birthday "TWO" Me! (and Uncle Ty-Ty)

It's my birthday!

December Babies

I have been saying Happy Birthday ALL day long!

I think I can get used to all the presents and cake.

-Today was Brooks's actual birthday. Yep...no more counting his age in months anymore! He is now 2 years old (not 24 months). Ugh....time keeps slipping away. Today was a wonderful day and he really understood that he is now "twoa". He shares his birthday with his Uncle Tyler and they had a blast hanging out today. Brooks continues to keep us laughing and smiling. He helps us remember that the simple things in life are what living is all about. One of his favorite things to do at our house is "hiding". He likes to put the blanket over his head and say, "I hiding". He pulls me underneath and drags Brutus in too! It is really something funny to see. He has gone pee 1x and poop 2x on potty! Of course he has not initiated it...but what a good start! He was so excited to flush it all away (again...the simple things in life...ha!). He loves to sing along to songs, dance, and be silly. He is also a great helper! He really enjoys helping me cook, clean, or do projects. He likes to do "big kid" things. Some of his favorite things to play with are balls, trains, play dough, books, blocks to name a few. He is putting 2-3 word phrases together....but still working on clarity. His favorite color is yellow. He is singing his ABC's and trying to count past 2 now...finally ;) He still eats a pretty good variety of food, but his favorites are mac and cheese, pizza, spaghetti, avocado, artichoke, and turkey. He can now go to 2 % milk and turn his car seat around (per doc). Yep...I'm one of those paranoid mom's when it comes to car safety. I still have him turned backwards! Precious cargo on board! It will be fun to see what he thinks of facing forward...a whole new world!

-Brooksy----you will always be our "baby" and can't believe that at 10:35 am, 2 years ago, you forever changed our lives for the better. We love you to the moon and back! Happy Birthday! luv, Mommy and Daddy xoxo

Happy Birthday Party to ME!

I loved my Thomas Cake...

Thanks Aunt Tara!!

What's a party without balloons?

I knew what to do with that candle!

Hanging out with my cousins

And my friends Reese and Jack!

I got to see Santa's Reindeer on Saturday!

And of course saw Santa himself

I did not cry...but did not smile either, however

could not stop talking about him afterwards!

-We had a fun filled birthday weekend. On Saturday we took Brooks to see Santa and his reindeer. I did not know how he would react since he cried last year. But...he did great! He talked a little to Santa, but preferred to just look forward (almost frozen-like) and not even smile for the pix. It was kind of funny.

-Sunday evening we had a little birthday party to celebrate our little man turning 2!!!! (actual birthday is the 20th). My family and best friend's family were able to make it. Brooks had a blast with everyone and really liked all the gifts. I think it is a good warm up for Christmas. All day he kept saying (in his own way), "Happy Birthday, Party, Balloons, Two". It was really cute. I think he actually understood that today was his special day.

Happy Birthday to Mommy!

-Today was my birthday....yep...turned 3-5!!! Ugh...doesnt' that sound old? I must admit this birthday was a little harder than years past. Not sure why....I still feel young, but I guess I am only getting closer to 4-0. Brooks greeted me with a smile this morning and was SO good all day long. I got to hang out with my little man on my birthday. Josh had to work, but was very sweet to leave me my present, card and sent an email all before I woke up. Brooks did NOT want me to wait to open the present. He kept saying (in his toddler way), "Mommy, Happy Birthday, Open". He said Happy Birthday all day and even tried to sing to me at bedtime. Brooks and I met Grandma for lunch....yummy Chick-fil-A. I went out to dinner with Brooks and Josh (after lots of pushing from Josh) and I am glad I did. I got out of my afternoon funk and had a nice birthday evening. Thanks to all you remembered my birthday this year. Things get crazy this time of year and December birthdays just seem to slip by. I have vowed to NEVER forget Brooks's birthday, to always make his day special, and to never wrap his birthday presents in Christmas paper!

-Brooks also had his 24 mo checkup today. He is in the 97th percentile for height and the 55th for weight. He is now 28.4 lbs. Doc was happy with everything and nothing exciting to report. I feel so very blessed to have a healthy little man.

(oh yeah....he has been calling me MOMMY now and not Mama. I love it! Such an easy thing to say, but for some reason he was stuck on mama. Those simple things just make my day)

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells....

Getting ready for a morning of tree hunting

I found one!

Need my help Daddy?

You sure you did not need my help?

Who are these guys then?

I'll just wait here...

Are we done yet?

This is what I found after waking up from my nap!

I loved helping hang ornaments...or trying to hang them!

-Yesterday we made the annual trip to the Millbrook Tree Farm. It was a beautiful day and the farm was packed! We quickly found the tree....but it had a big trunk and was more difficult to cut down than usual. It did not help that Josh had pulled a neck muscle before we left. So....we recruited some help. It took 3 guys to get that tree down! It was a 10 ft tree...but we cut it down to about 8.5 by the time it was all said and done. Brooks really enjoyed singing songs (he fills in the words to Jingle Bells) and the dogs loved getting out of the house.

-Today we finished decorating the tree, putting out decorations, and getting the train track together. Brooks got a big surprise after coming downstairs from his nap. A TRAIN! He played with the train all evening long! I just love his time of the year!

-On a side note....we started the Elf on the Shelf tradition this year. Brooks likes to search the house in the morning for him. We keep telling him he needs to be good because the Elf will report back to Santa if he has been bad. So...if he does something bad we say, "Elf, Brooks just hit BruBru and that is bad." Brooks is such a stinker....he now will do something he is not supposed to do and then look at us and say, "Elf...no no". Oh well.....it was worth a try!

Happy Turkey Day!

I'm Thankful for my Family!

And Choo-Choo Trains!

I loved hanging out with my Aunt Tracey

And Cousin Miranda

Hanging out with my "Pops" in my cozies

Luv you Great Grandpa (G-G)

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday in St. Louis with Josh's family. We enjoyed some football Thursday morning with friends, a wonderful dinner with at Grammy's house, a trip to the Transportation Museum (train heaven!) with Grammy, and play time with "Pops" and Kap'em. It was a jammed pack weekend of fun. Thanks to all for the yummy food and good company!

23 months: Mommy's Little Man

I cook!

I do laundry!

I play music....

All for my Mommy!

Look what I learned to do!

This is my favorite song to sing along to...

I ask for it every morning in the car with mommy.

Peek-a-boo!

-Brooks is now 23 months! Only one month to go before we no longer count in months ;) He is learning how to help me out by cooking, cleaning, and even entertaining me. Ha ha.

He did have fun baking cookies with me and always likes to throw the laundry into the dryer. He has been testing us again (wonder if I can blame it on teeth this time?). He is hitting and throwing things because he thinks it's funny. Time out really does not seem to work very well. He does understand what it is...but will do it again the next hour. Oh well....I know it is a phase. I just thought we were out of the phase already. I think he does it when he is bored or we are not showing him complete attention. It is very challenging. The reason why I say it may be teeth is because he has been waking at night crying. He needs rocked for a minute then goes back to sleep. What is up with that??? I am not used to getting up in the middle of the night. I also think it may be nightmares. He always talks about ghosts and these episodes happened shortly after Halloween. Some of my friends said it happened to their child at this age as well. Who knows....but it has to stop soon! Come on molars...pop on through and ghosts be gone!!

Happy Birthday "BruBru"

Brutus has taken over the empty guest room

Don't think you can squeeze through....

Sweet Brutus

Shotgun!

-Brutus turned 5 today! He is such a fun and loyal dog. He brings so much joy to our lives with his funny faces. We spent the day loving on him and even took the family for pictures in the park. It was a beautiful weekend and we took advantage of it.

-Aunt Tammy's Birthday was on 11/3 (Happy Birthday!) and we went out to eat Sunday to celebrate. Uncle Tyler even came back in town from IU (with his new girlfriend ;)). Hope we did not scare her away!

BOO!

-Painting and Carving Pumpkins

and practicing "trick or treat"....good try!

-Huh...a monster pumpkin and Elmo?

Hey Ya'll...I'm Farmer Brooks!

Lets go get some CANDY!!

I needed mom to help me the first few houses...but then I was a pro!

-Headed to next house with my barn animals

-Enjoying the evening with Mama, Dada and Grandma

-We had SO much fun on Halloween in our new home. It was the first time we had trick or treaters. Brooks loved handing out candy to all the kids and almost emptied us the first few visitors. He was actually sad to leave the house and try it himself. Once he understood that HE could GET candy....he was off to the races. He always asked, "one more?" and wanted to go into all the homes (especially the ones with kitty cats "yayas"). I thought he would get scared with all the crazy outfits...but he did great. Only if I could read his mind! He was probably wondering why the heck we were all dressed up asking for candy from everyone. Too fun! He was sad to come inside, but quickly recovered when more trick or treaters came knocking. Of course he has been wanting candy every night and we have had to limit it...but still allowing him to be a kid. Don't you remember how fun it was to go through all the candy? Those were the days and now we get to live them again through Brooks's eyes.

-We carved the pumpkins the night before Halloween. I made an Elmo "La-la" pumpkin (for Brooks) and Josh made a scary faced pumpkin. Not too bad! Brooks had a blast painting the pumpkin....we may have a Picasso on our hands...ha ha.