Bubble wrap and duct tape?!

I Hate it when Brooke gets hurt. I don't use the word hate much, but I hate Brooke getting hurt! I thought when she was first learning to walk was hard, then I thought the terrible two's would be hard. Now we are on to three's and I am seriously considering dressing Brooke in a turtle neck and long pants on a hundred degree day just to cover the bumps, bites, rug burn, scrapes and bruises! I have seen little boys look like this, but have YET to see another little girl look quite so....well, beat up! I seriously hope she did not get her coordination from ME! I too always have bruised up knees. While at Nana and Paw's she got a few mosquito bites, it is amazing how only 45 miles away and their blood suckers are twice the size of ours here, and like myself and her Paw she gets welps from mosquitos that swell and get feverish. She constantly runs everywhere and today she was running into her room and tripped on her recliner, rug burning her knee and landing against the corner of the wall with her back. We've known about the rug burn all day because she has been walking with a limp because it hurts to even bend her knee, and lots of tears have been shed over this. But, it wasn't until her bath tonight when I stripped her down and saw the huge black, blue and red long welp/bruise across the small of her back. UGH, it makes my heart hurt! So, I am contemplating wrapping her in bubble wrap and keeping that on with duct tape. Do you think it will work?! ;o)

A fun filled day with Nana (Paw too of course).

Yesterday Brooke, Cooper and I took the short drive to Plainview for our yearly "help Nana plant flowers" trip. I hope Nana looks as forward to it even half as much as Brooke does. Brooke normally sleeps until around 8am, but yesterday hit the ground running at 7:15 to go see Nana. The pictures were so much fun to take, and there was SO much laughing yesterday that I could not decide on just a few....so LOTS of pics again!

I should have saved one of my favorite pictures for last, but since I am posting SO many I put this one first. This is also a yearly tradition. A picture with Nana and Paw in the swing. She adores these guys, and I have to admit I am pretty partial too. Who would have EVER imagined I would have so much fun with people referred to as IN LAWS?!

This was at the start of our morning together. Brooke was at this point, afraid to get her hands dirty. Do not fret, that changed. Notice who else is 'helping' in this flower bed....hint, he is black, white and furry. Cooper kept getting in the middle of wherever they were.

Proof that Paw was part of the fun too. Brooke took a break from hard core planting (you know how hard SHE was working, right?!) to play soccer with Paw. When Paw walked out in his hat she squealed in delight, "PAW, you're a COWboy!"

I hope Nana (and Paw) rested well last night. I took this day as a sit back and watch them work sort of day. Notice how much help Brooke is being....juice in one hand, helping push with the other.

Brooke's favorite part, of course, is always watering...

Unc Trac and Aunt Angie (Thomas too of course) gave Brooke this awesome watering can for her birthday. It is the perfect gift for Nana's house (since I tend to not water things at our house). You sit it on the base and it fills itself.

Notice who ended up using Brooke's water can. She still wanted the huge one of Nana's.

She followed Nana's every move yesterday. Some of it was actually helpful, some of it was pulling the plant she had just put in the ground with delight. Either way, there was lots of giggling. Paw and I stood in the background just listening to them chatter while taking pictures.

Yes, Brooke has her own gardening gloves at Nana's. This was the first step to her actually touching the dirt yesterday. It was all over after that. ;o)

Watering....see where this is going yet?

Watering the wind sock, which would smack her in the face with every gust of wind...

Yep.....watering Momma and Paw!

And, she turned on Nana too!

Nana came to our rescue....Brooke was gravely disappointed with the kinking of the hose.

Taking a breather, and pushing Nana on the swing.

After some relaxation in the house we headed back out. Brooke was carrying a little handheld fan, and discovered what fun it was to stick it in the bird bath. Side note, the bird bath water WAS clean (Steven). Oh, and in Nana's defense....she doesn't normally go around with such accessories, but she had help.

Forget the fan!

Does she look guilty or what?!

The water was nice and warm...who needs a pool when you have a bird bath?!

Dunking her entire head in it.

Getting Cooper out of the garden AGAIN!

Thank you Nana and Paw for a fun filled day. It was filled with priceless memories. We love you!

Summer fun...

Can I technically call it summer yet?! It's been beautiful here in West Texas and we have been spending LOTS of time outside enjoying it, slathered in both sunscreen and of course bug spray. I was reminded yesterday by a certain grandparent that it had been several days since I had posted pictures, so here is an overdose of them.

Brooke loves playing t ball over at Aiden's house, so we took a handy dandy coupon and got her a girlie one. She loves it. Note: her form is much better when she is not posing for the camera while attempting to hit the ball, which also normally goes a tad bit further.

Proof to Nana that I am NOT the reason the Marigolds might not make it! She loves to squeeze them and then gripe about how shewy they are.

The look on her face is when she heard her Daddy pull up in the farm truck....excitement!

A little better.....

Memorial Day garb....yep, she had to wear the boots.

Pointing at me telling me NOT to take her picture "anymore."

Apparently life is NOT always full of excitement.

Having fun....notice Cooper in the background. He has been SO bad lately about agging on the dogs next door to play and bark with him. He gets sprayed with the water hose nightly.

Nana gave her a broom, so she LOVES to make a mess with sand just so she can clean it up.

Of course, more bubbles.

Side note. We had our carpet cleaned yesterday, and my handy dandy manly hubby did the manual labor of moving all of the furniture out of the way and staying to watch them clean it....then left to go drive a tractor, leaving me to TRY to keep a three year old AND a dog off the wet carpet....THAT was work! I just locked us all outside after about 30 minutes of hollering, NO, don't go over there.....

To come, we are headed to Plainview tomorrow (if we all stay well) to help Nana and Paw plant flowers.....lots of fun and tons of pics to come!

Brooke's latest obsession.

LIP STICK! I don't have to worry about her sneaking in our bathroom for any reason other than lip stick. She loves it. Loves to smear it on. She even had so much on this morning that she told me she looked "siwwy" and wiped it off, just to start over. Oh the joys of a girl!! AND, believe it or not the shirt she is wearing is still white......so far anyway.

It's always something, part II.

Apparently I should have saved the title for this post, so I will deem this one Part II. Steven is recovering from his injuries (an extra knot on the head) nicely. It is a great color purple right now....why I didn't get a picture of it, well I couldn't catch him. Brooke is recovering from awful sinus problems and her first ear infection. In the doctor's words, "she has the beginnings of an ear infection, so I will put her on antibiotics before it gets worse." So, thanks to an awesome doctor we will be enjoying our long weekend! I went to the doc for my hand that has been bothering me and found out I have a sinus infection, so I too got put on antibiotics BUT my headache is gone....woo hoo! I got a miracle shot from the doc which happens to have cortisone in it and it helped my hand more than anything else I have tried. As for the hand, after getting it xrayed we still know nothing and I don't want to take the suped up pills he prescribed, so I guess I will either deal with the pain, take the pills, or find something else....?!

Enough about our not so fun week. I will share a few pictures to prove Miss Brooke is on the mend. She has been catching up on some much needed rest, and I love to watch her sleep....so, here's another one like this. Man, isn't she cute?! Yes, I am partial. I still love her sleeping under a quilt my great grandmother made. I know how much my great granny would have loved being around her great great grandkids.

You cannot see it very well, but I got a brilliant idea (not really) of how to make Brooke another really girlie hair bow in less than 5 minutes. I love making things for her in my own attempt to make her at least appear girlie! I know I could have cropped Cooper's rear end out of this picture, but I had to once again prove how he follows Brooke around.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I am hoping for rain for two reasons, one of which is completely self LESS, the other is completely selfish. The farmers need the rain badly for the cotton crops they are about to plant, and if it rains we might get to see Steven! He is already out on a tractor this morning and all I keep hearing from Brooke is a very pitiful, "Momma, I neeeeeeeed my Daddy" with the saddest pouty face you've ever seen. SO, if it doesn't rain Brooke might end up riding a tractor with Daddy to get in some much needed time with him!

It's always something...

That is what Steven says on a regular basis. Normally when something negative happens. It's always something. Well, yesterday (after a wonderful weekend I have to add) Brooke had severe congestion, fever and some mild vomiting (from congestion) and Steven came home with the biggest goose egg on his poor forehead that I have ever seen and a busted swollen knuckle. Fight?! One would think to see him, but if he was fighting he lost to a John Deere and a pipe wrench. My poor babies!

I think they are both on the mend. Brooke seems to be feeling better, just a little run down from the medicine to help with congestion. Steven sounds exhausted and says his headache is a little better after sleeping with a cute teddy bear ice pack on it. I am finally caving in and plan to go to the doctor about my aching hand later in the week....and hope we can ALL be on the mend!

Busy week.

I never really had a clue just how much all of Brooke's growth and 'firsts' would affect me. I never realized I would have such a pit in my stomach from nerves when I dropped her off for a 45 minute class that she had to attend without ME. I never thought I would be one of 'those moms' pacing in the hallway waiting to hear if she made it through without me in the same room with her. Whew....I am kind of glad this week is over and Brooke and I are going to sit at home, just the two of us on this Friday evening and watch a Disney movie together and just be....together. I never truly understood the word 'bittersweet' until I became a Mommy. I love seeing Brooke grow, learn, make friends and just flourish in any situation but don't like having to let go already!!

I have officially pre-registered Brooke for a Tuesday/Thursday Parents Day Out Preschool that will start September 1st. Something I have put a lot of thought into and finally took the plunge before there were no more spots available. Now my mission is to get her as prepared as possible for me to "drop her off and leave her" all the while knowing I will be coming back. This seems to be taking up a lot of my thoughts these days. I have always secretly enjoyed Brooke being three and still wanting me to come get her before Bible class is over on Sunday mornings, I love the cuddling and knowing she wants ME! BUT, I am quickly realizing I don't want that anymore....I don't want her to feel any sort of worry about me not being there. Insert my current mission....to get her used to going to these activities and classes through out the summer without anxiety....from her of course, because I cannot get rid of mine just yet!

The picture above was Brooke telling me she was ready to go to school, backpack, momma's shoes that fit her "just perfectly" and all. Then after her first music class without Mommy, see below. The next morning she could not stop telling me she "is NOT a big girl", she "is a baby." She now thinks she doesn't need to go to school without Mommy, instead she needs to steal the pillowcases as I try to fold them and use them as a sleeping bag.

Other things keeping us busy this week have been wonderful play dates with our friends. Although, at one play date she fell off a slide as tall as I am.....it was one of those moments you see it happening and you just cannot get there fast enough. She cried, had a knot on her head and scrapes all down her arm....but she only cried for seconds, sucked it up and asked me not to take her home, but to let her play some more. Tough girl!

The rest of the pics are just fun ones in our backyard. Warning though, mosquitoes are already out here....the only place I didn't spray myself got bit, the bottoms of my feet and my face! UGH!

My little monkey. Why all kids must do this I have yet to figure out. Notice her 'mother hen' Cooper in the background.

For this pic I asked her smile for her grandparents and this is what she did....stinker!

This time of year brings SO much fun outside, but every night we have to wash the good ole Lubbock dirt back off. I should have taken a picture of the water to prove how filthy she gets, but instead captured her in shock over Cooper checking on her.

I think Brooke and I both over committed ourselves this week....or I did it for us both. Yesterday I walked in the living room to check on a really quiet Brooke and saw this. Doesn't she just look EXHAUSTED?!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Thankful.

I have a lot of days when I wake up and realize just how much I have to be thankful for...I am one blessed chicka. I am thankful for every single morning where my baby girl wakes up hollering for me "Moooooommmmmaaaaa" that makes my day. And although I joke about her hollering for her Daddy....I still love hearing that too. I am very thankful that I have become a mother for a number of reasons, but the one that comes to mind other than the obvious one, BROOKE is that it has given me a completely new respect for my own mother. I now know the depth of her feelings for me, and it has brought an already close relationship even closer.

Being a mom myself has made me even more thankful for my mother in law. She is an amazing woman who I call Momm (for my second mom or mom miller, whichever). I never imagined I could bond with someone else's mom the way I have with her. I am thankful for the wonderful job she did raising her son. He is an amazing man, husband, friend and most importantly....father. I am thankful for the wonderful mother's, whether grandmother's, aunts, cousins, neighbors, etc...Brooke has in her life. Of course I am thankful for the men in our life too, I am just focusing on MOM's because of Mother's Day yesterday.

This is the first Mother's Day since I have been a mom that I haven't had one or both mom's here with me to celebrate. BUT, with that said Steven and Brooke made sure to spoil me rotten yesterday and not give me time to think about missing anyone. I could NOT have asked for a better Mother's Day.

Here are several pictures of us just enjoying our evening out in our backyard, just the three of us....in the beautiful weather.

Me and my love.

And now the picture is complete.

I used to avoid the camera at all cost, but have recently decided that even I won't care in 10 years how I feel I looked in the pictures, and that I want photos of ALL of us to help us remember just how blessed we always have been. Us making use of handy dandy timers.

Me and my angel.

One proud papa.

While I sat on my rump relaxing I giggled so much while watching Daddy work with help from Brooke. She was working HARD. Raking up weeds after pulling them.

Steven decided to use the reel mower instead of the normal gas guzzling, smelly one so we could all stay outside....and of course Brooke had to help by mowing right behind him with hers.

I am one lucky lady!