Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our mouse to yours!! Yes, I know I am full of bad puns....but with a face like the one shown below I go into Halloween confident that we will have the MOST candy in town!! Who could resist such an adorable Minnie Mouse?! She keeps telling people she is Mickey Mouse, but people get the gist. This is by far the easiest Halloween costume yet. Steven's folks brought the ears back from California (imagine Gov. Arnold saying that), his mother made the adorable skirt and my mother found the adorable sparkly shoes at Wal-Mart!! She won't take the shoes off by the way, she calls them her princess shoes......so, my prediction is a picture with red sparkly shoes, a tutu and a purple hat!!

Happy Halloween everyone! Be safe!

Fall Fun.

Brooke and I went to a pumpkin patch yesterday with our good friends Angie (Gie) and Aiden. We all wanted to take advantage of the beautiful 75 degree weather while we still can. I have decided next time we go anywhere I will take pictures of Aiden and let Angie take pictures of Brooke.....they would only look at the camera for someone other than their own Momma! You can look at the following pictures and know that Brooke is looking at Angie in every single shot!!

Oh yes, between the two kids they tried to pick up almost every pumpkin they saw.

Smiling for Gie.

Good Friends, and cutie pies.

I know, I know....I snuck in one.

Just like last year, she was more fascinated with the straw than anything else.

Fascinated with the dried corn.

There will be more to come because we are supposed to go pick out a pumpkin with Daddy this evening! Brooke cannot wait to go back.

Baby bird.

I felt as though I was a Momma bird when we were eating lunch today. Brooke has always been a good eater, but we have almost always had to say "bite please" or "take another bite" regardless of what she is eating. Well, today after lunch I decided to try out some wonderful German Apple Strudel (sp) that Steven's folks brought back from Fredricksburg and when I looked over to ask if she wanted a bite I saw this......do you think she likes it?!

Busy weekend with a drama queen.

I am sure you all knew I had to have been extra busy to not post anything to this blog! Where to begin.....it was a crazy, hectic weekend filled with attempts to reorganize our front/computer/office/guest/craft/exercise room since we got Brooke a BIG girl bed!! Poor Steven was on call all weekend for his BMET job at the hospital, which he ended up having to put in a lot of hours for....taking him away from his farm work AND his relaxation time with us. He was ready to go this morning just to get rid of the silly pager! Nurses.....I love them, they take care of us....but when they call my husband at 3am to tell him something is broken that is not needed until morning....well, there might be some mumbling under my breath. Steven painted our newly fixed chimney, moved furniture around, worked normal Saturday hours at the hospital, moved more furniture (thanks honey!), and still managed to fix some farm equipment. I, however.....well TRIED to get things reorganized, and you will not see pictures of it because although I did get a lot done it is no where near finished! UGH!

Here are some pics of BROOKE'S weekend:

No, we didn't attend any birthday parties. As I was cleaning out her old dresser she saw several of these I had saved (no, I am not sure why now) from HER first birthday party. She wore it all day long. She is convinced that she is not a princess unless she is wearing a skirt or a fancy hat, so this was her princess hat Saturday.

The ONLY picture I managed to get of her somewhat still Saturday, she could feel the energy around the house apparently!

Brooke in her new big girl bed (courtesy of Craig's List and generous grandparents). She LOVES this bed, in fact is in it while I type this singing again as she was in this picture.

Here is to a fun filled Halloween/Birthday week! We have fun events to attend, and our week will be wrapped up with my sweet hubby turning the big 3-5!!

Thanks Grandad.

You know how sweet grandparents are?! Well, let me show you the latest sweet thing a grandparent sent Brooke. It's this purple fuzzy hat, and if you haven't heard purple is currently Brooke's FAVORITE color. She loves this hat. Wears it all the time. I called my Dad and let Brooke thank him when we got it in the mail several days ago, they talked for a while then I went on and on about how cute it is. Now on to the present day.....she won't take the darn thing off....I cannot get her to go ANYWHERE without it....she wants to wear this hat and one of the tutu's I've made her, along with the beaded socks Nana made her, a necklace or two, her sunglasses.....and we're all set. I suppose I had come to terms with all of the other accessories.....now we have a purple hat to turn heads too! So, however you want to take it.....Thanks Grandad! ;o)

Her "burple coboy hat".

For this picture I told her to smile for Grandad.

I know it's absolutely precious, so I don't fight with her much about it.....now when it comes to wearing it to church....well, that might be a battle! She woke up at 4am this morning ready to go, so she is currently wearing purple pajamas to go with the purple hat while watching some Handy Manny.

For those of you whom I have enlightened with our roofing fiasco stories.....well, it's over with! The wonderful roofers showed up when they were supposed to yesterday and fixed the roof, they are done with it!! YIPPEE!

Why it's so hard to get out of bed in the morning.....

Who wouldn't want to stay in bed and cuddle with this?

The Good Lord knew what He was doing when He gave me such a cuddle bug for a daughter! He knew I absolutely love to cuddle and doing it with the most precious creature I've ever met on a daily basis sure does spoil me....but it also makes me stop and thank Him for such a blessing! Every single morning she wakes up, stumbles into our room, climbs into bed with us (or just me on weekday mornings since Steven is already at work normally), and asks to watch cartoons while we cuddle. The ONLY time I find this hard to do is when we have things that have to be done by a specific time....which I now tend to avoid. If she happens to wake up before Steven leaves she very persistently tells him he needs to come sit down with her, which makes it even harder for him to go to work.

I hope all of you have such a wonderful start to your day!

Regrets....?!

I am sure all parents have some sort of regrets when it comes to something said to your child, at least I sure hope so. I pride myself in never saying anything inappropriate in front of Brooke, however when she comes up to me and says something.....and I realize I am the person that said it.....well, it pretty much breaks my heart. Not speaking cuss words or anything of the sort, but instead saying things I say in every day life. For instance, I work from home.....so I spend time on the computer. Last week she came up to me completely whining while I was working and said, "But Momma, it's MY turn." That stopped me dead in my tracks and made me realize SHE is why I am at home, not work! Another example, we were playing in the living room and she grabbed her "pomputer", sat it on the chair and proceeded to tell me, "Momma I busy, I wooorking, I can't play now." That brought tears to my eyes. Although I had never told her I cannot play now, that is obviously what she was getting when I tell her I am working. She also uses this talk to her advantage though.....like when she doesn't want to get dressed for bed she will tell me "Momma, I busy I can't change clothes right now." Boy, what have I started?!

When my closest Aunt and Uncle were in town a couple of weeks ago my Uncle made a comment that has stuck with me. He heard Brooke say "I too busy Momma" and said "as parents we all end up regretting the times we were too busy to play with our youngsters while they are still at home". In no way did he know just how much that statement would impact me. My baby girl is already two and a half and will be in preschool before I know it.....so, I am off to PLAY, sing, color and anything else my angel wants to do! I will work when she is sleeping!

The pictures are of her with her 'pomputer', she has started posing when I get the camera out.

Top O the muffin to you.

I was never a Seinfeld watcher until I met Steven, and I think by that time they were already on reruns constantly. There is one episode where Elaine has the brilliant idea to only sell the TOP of the muffins......and well, the other morning Brooke made me think of that episode....I made some Banana Nut Bread and always make a few muffins (or 'Nuffims' as Brooke calls them) for her because she prefers the handheld wonders, and she proceeds to only eat the TOP of the muffin, and tried to discard the rest......now tell me why?! I suppose I prefer the entire muffin, so I have never understood that.... :o)

I guess this is one of those things I no longer understand since I hit 'adulthood'....just like eating a sandwich from the middle and getting peanut butter and jelly all over your cheeks in the process, or preferring to eat spaghetti (or anything else for that matter) with your fingers......

Brooke's funniest thing this week has been after watching an episode of Backyardigans where they are circus clowns. She now walks around with her microphone saying "Ladies and Gentleman, boy and girls intwoducing my friend MOM!" as she points to me with her entire arm.....I feel as though I should attempt a trick every time I get an introduction like that! She also plays her piano and asks me to clap if I am not paying attention, then when I clap she puts her hand on her tummy and bows in both directions! Who says cartoons aren't teaching them anything?! HAHA!

A true Daddy's girl.

I know it is stereo-typically said that any girl is a "Daddy's Girl", but when I see the way this little girl looks at her Daddy I know it is not just a stereo-type anymore. This week it has been raining yet again here in Lubbock. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I love the rain. However this time of year the farmers don't necessarily need or want the rain on their crops. The one selfish side note to rain though is we get Steven all to ourselves, and Brooke and I have both enjoyed every second of him being here. Brooke is a constant chatterbox whether he is here or not, but for some odd reason she must think her Daddy is hard of hearing.....I say this because the SECOND he walks in the door her constant chatter turns into constant YELLING! She does anything and everything to make sure she has his undivided attention....which basically means the little calm girl that has colored and played with me all day turns into a wild child when he walks in!!

The shirt she is wearing in these pictures is SO appropriate to anyone that knows Steven. He CAN fix anything and Brooke already knows this. The other morning I was brushing my hair when I dropped the brush and it broke. Brooke hollered "Oh no Momma you're brush broken" then as she helped me pick up the pieces she patted me on the leg very gently and said "It's okay Momma, don't be sad Daddy fix it!" I won't be the one that ever tells her he can't fix everything that is for sure!

Have you seen the movie Forrest Gump? Well, there is a scene where he meets his son and it shows them both watching cartoons together sitting the exact same way, with their heads cocked to the side.....as I walked through the living room last night I saw this and it made me giggle at the similarities! She always wants him to get the 'pomputer' out and watch 'payhouse disney' which he obliges!

One more quick story that JUST happened....Brooke woke up from her nap, walked out of her bedroom.....asked if Daddy was here, to which I replied "No, he is at work", she turned around and said "I go get back in my bed then"......what am I chopped liver?! ;o)

My Baby is already 2-1/2 years old!

Time DOES fly when you are having fun! I listened as Matt Lauer came on the Today Show this morning and said it is Tuesday, October the 14th and I realized today my baby girl is already two and a half years old! I remember saying 'when she is three' about so many decisions in our lives....and now that it is almost here I am left in shock!

I hope other parents truly feel this way about their kids, because I am in total awe of our child on a daily basis. She carries on conversations with us very well, which is sometimes weird because yes.....she is already opinionated at times. When I tell her I love her she makes sure to run to me, give me a big hug and say "I Love you too Momma" which makes me so happy every time. I could go on and on and on about her (as you already know), but she is behind me requesting breakfast, so I will leave you with some fun picture memories of my baby!!

This was the Jane Fonda head band hospital picture Steven and I giggle about. She was 3 days old and we were finally being sent home!

This was her 1st birthday. I love this side shot because it shows how chunky her little cheeks were!

This was her while watching Handy Manny....with a hammer in her pants.... :o)

Another hand me down from her Mommy.

Anyone that knows me well knows how important family is to me. I want Brooke to have the same family values that Steven and I were both raised with. To learn that although sometimes you will want to strangle a family member, part of being a family is the love you share. I don't want this whole post to be sappy, but my Great Grandmother was such a huge part of my life all while growing up. We were very blessed to be raised in the same city with so much family. I got to spend summers with my great grandmother. She taught me SO many things, not just crafty things.....but a lot about life and about having common sense, as well as how to always be young at heart.

I also want Brooke to know that every handmade thing she's been given was made with unconditional love. She needs to know how much work goes into those handmade things. Case in point, her latest hand me down. My Great Grandmother made me this quilt when I was a baby, and I remember carrying this thing around....and having it with me all the time. Since Brooke loves to be "covered up" I thought it was time to share and let her have some of her own fun memories with this quilt. After digging it out, I put it on her bed as if to make her bed.....which didn't last long. She squealed "Momma, pretty blanket....cover me please" and she proceeded to do this off and on all morning.

Yes, Brooke is the lump under the covers.

Coming up for air after she heard the first camera flash!

I know it is with my 'Great-Granny's' blessing that I pass this on to her. It sends chills up and down my spine to imagine the giggle that would be coming from her right now to see yet another grandchild enjoying something she's made for them.

Over accessorizing....?!

My question for you is....is there such a thing as too many accessories for a 2 year old girl?!

I am learning more and more every morning just how fun it is to dress a little girl. I give her choices in outfits because if I didn't she would take all day trying things on herself, which she LOVES to do. Yesterday I got her dressed in what is supposed to be a dress.....yet again too short for these long legs, so we add tights....and I think she looks pretty perfect, all matchy matchy.

Now on to the accessories....she adds the tutu and some new socks her Nana made for her with the little beads crocheted on them....she stomps her feet when she walks with them to hear them rattle (she also added a hot pink cap that Grandad just sent her which she took off as soon as I got the camera....whew!). Brooke has never been ignored when she walks into a room, but the funny comments and giggles she gets when we let her walk in after she's accessorized an outfit has made us enjoy watching her budding personality even more.

Just in case you think I add these things for pictures, here is one of her doing normal kid things all decked out.....here she is drawing with both hands (still undecided on whether she'll be a 'righty' or a 'lefty'). She loves being girly all of a sudden, and we are having fun with it for sure!

Play Date Fun.

Brooke is finally over the last of her cold, and neither her nor her Mommy could wait for a play date with our good friends Aiden and Gee (Angie). Yes, the kiddoes benefit from playing together of course, but Angie and I definitely benefit from the adult girl gab as well.

These two are so funny to watch together to me. They act more like siblings than I have seen Brooke act with any other play mate. She really babies Aiden and makes sure he's okay if he's upset, and she even called her room "her and Aiden's room" yesterday, which showed me she is willing to share a lot more with him than she is with other friends too.

Now to the pictures.....Brooke has had this donkey for a while now (thanks to Nana and Paw's fun shopping sense), but Aiden spotted it first thing yesterday and asked to play with it. Well, of course they BOTH wanted on it.....leading up to what I think are cute pictures that show their ornery personalities.

Being innocent lil angels......

LOVE this picture. I think it shows Aiden's ornery personality, just look at him scheming!

See what his scheme was?!

The end result....he got smooshed by a girl a lot bigger than him! But, nothing but giggles were heard.

Apparently it was fun because Brooke wanted to try it next.

And Wah lah.....smooshing again!

Hope you all have a terrific Friday! Brooke and I get to go shopping and goofing off with Nana and Paw today.

Our vicious guard dog Cooper.

For those of you who don't know Cooper, he is our DOG. We have had him since 2001, so he was one of our first 'babies'. He is supposedly a ratt terrier, but if you cannot tell he is close to 30 pounds (although currently on a diet).....so, far from small like most terriers are. The funniest story I have about him lately is that on our Christmas card we sent out last year I signed it 'Steven, Vicki, Brooke and Cooper' and he wasn't included in the pictures....I got SO many emails asking if I were pregnant.....NO, I just didn't think to mention he was a DOG!

Back to Cooper's personality. He really is awesome with Brooke. He is very protective of her, loves to wake her up and when he gets tired of her wildness he just growls and goes and lays on our bed, which is too high for Brooke to reach. Now to explain the pictures. He is such a wonderful guard dog...YEAH RIGHT! Steven brought in a noisy wind up truck the other night, which Cooper despises, but as you can tell by the pictures he HID behind Brooke the entire time he was barking and growling at it! How brave is that?!

After all the wildness was over, Brooke turned around to comfort her poor pooch.

It reminds me of a time, years ago, when my cousin Nathan was coming into town. He had to drive in from Colorado, so he didn't get to our house until about 2 in the morning. I told him to just come in the front door and there was a bed ready for him....not thinking about our dogs. At the time we had two dogs, Bandit and Cooper. Bandit was seriously a great guard dog....he had my cousin pinned in the corner barking and growling at him, and would not let him in the house....and there was sweet Cooper, HIDING behind me growling at him.

A lot can change in a year's time.

How quickly one's tastes change! For starters I remember not liking coffee just 10 years ago, now I prefer to not live without it. Well, for Brooke.....things change a lot more rapidly. She was sick as a dog yesterday with a miserable cold, and after a dose or two of a wonder drug from her doctor she is back and ornery as ever! This time last year her Nana made her a bumble bee costume for Halloween and we had to BRIBE her to wear the tutu over it for us to be able to even take pictures of her in it....well, this year she loves to wear any sort of skirt, referring to herself as a "pincess" when she's wearing skirts. This infatuation has gotten so extreme that she will not wear pants at all unless she has a skirt or tutu over them! If I try to sneak her out the door with JUST pants on....I will turn around and her pants will be on the floor and her running from me begging for a princess skirt!

These are pictures taken just moments ago. She is wearing pants, but of course has her tutu over it and is as happy as can be! You can also tell she is feeling tons better, thank goodness!! You better believe we have invested in material to make other tutu's, as well as leggings for the Fall and Winter months!

Let's get physical....

I suppose you can add this to the blog posts about Brooke's hair. I remember back when we were bringing her home from the hospital right after she was born, Steven put a head band with a bow on it in her hair...yet she had so much hair we joked about how she looked like she belonged on a Jane Fonda work out video. The following picture will show how SHE likes to wear her head bands. She puts them on this way herself and after I took the picture the song by Olivia Newton John came to mind....."Let's get Physical, physical."

To compare......

Brooke has yet again been under the weather with what I think is allergies....but it could be an old fashioned cold. She's going to the doc today to have her cough checked out and get her flu shot, so hoping all is well with you!

Our living room during today's Tech game.

As I hope you know by now, Texas Tech creamed K-State earlier today....and as I was hollaring at a play....I started wondering why Steven was so quiet....well, I looked over and saw this! They enjoyed a nap through the entire first half of the game.....

When they awoke they cheered on Tech in the last half, as can see in the picture.

It's been nice to have Steven home this weekend. I cannot say we've done much, and it's been awesome! Brooke slept until about 8:45 this morning, but Steven and I are so used to schedules that we just laid in bed awake and relaxed until she came and got us.....a very nice treat on a windy Saturday morning. Brooke is apparently also allergic to West Texas DIRT....her poor allergies have been stirred up yet again today, so we've stayed in out of the wind.

Happy Friday Everyone!

All Brooke's life people have seen her and said "Just look at that hair!" Well, I have enjoyed it tremendously (of course)....I get to make her look even more like a girl with fancy hair bows, pig tails and so on, but I enjoy making fun wild shampooey hair do's to hear her giggle and squeal in the bath tub. Yes, I know....sometimes I have more fun than she does! She has such curly hair that it doesn't look that long, but when I rinse it out it is halfway down her little back. These pictures were some Steven took of the two of us having fun.

A Brooke story to get you through the weekend. The other day I was driving to the office, when the left hand turn signal turned, I hollared "people go!" Brooke threw her little hand up in the air telling me to stop, shooshed me and said "Momma, Be Patient!" Of course, how could I not giggle, feel proud and a little embarrassed all at the same time!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Bro.

If you have read much of this blog you have read about the wonderful Uncle Bro (real name Dennis) at least once. Dennis is one of those men you 'hear' about, but rarely meet. He is as genuine as they get....and we are very blessed to call him our dear friend. Today is his 29th birthday (for the 2nd time around), and I wanted to introduce you to him! Dennis has been in my life almost as long as Steven has. I think when I met Dennis it would have been a deal breaker with me and Steven if he didn't like me.....well, maybe not but he IS that important to this family. Steven and Dennis used to work together and became fast friends and it's one of those friendships that only comes once in a lifetime. He alone is reason enough for us not to leave the West Texas area.....I would never expect Steven to find this kind of friendship elsewhere.

ANYWAY, enough of the sappiness. For starters, he despises having his picture taken.....so the fact that I have him and Brooke in the same picture is pretty spectacular. He is a big ole softie that Brooke adores, and when he is at our house she uses him as a jungle gym.....and proceeds to attempt to empty his pockets, as any wise woman does to a man....hehehe.

Brooke was not ready for him to leave this day, so after he left the afternoon of these pictures she sat in the floor and 'talked' to him off and on for at least an hour.

Happy Birthday Dennis, we are so glad you are in our lives!