Where is Brooks?

Brooks' kitchen is finally put together! Yeah! We were still shorted one piece, which was the piece to the back of the oven. Of course, Brooks figured that out in a hurry. Look closely and you might be able to spy him!

How can we not laugh? We (I) are so frustrated with the Company Store and their lack of service, BUT at the same time having no back on the oven has given us plenty of smiles and laughs.

Brooks loves rice. Can you tell? If you enlarge the picture you will really see what I mean!

This is Brooks' new facial expression. He is infatuated with his lips and can be found with this expression on his face much of every day. I don't really know what he is trying to do. I think he just likes the feel of his lips.

Christmas Photos!

We had Auntie Bean come over this week to take some pictures for our Christmas card. We had some done professionally, but none of them turned out very good. Auntie Bean is just about as good as a professional, so we were thankful she took time with us. These pictures below are NOT our Christmas card, that will remain a surprise. These are some really cute ones though.

Brooks loves to "rocky-rocky" on his horse. The other day no one was paying attention to him, so he decided to stand up on the back of the horse. I told him he was going to fall and hurt himself. He did fall, but not much pain (I don't think).

Brooks is obsessed with these animals on our porch as I mentioned before. Here he is kissing the Polar Bear.

Brooks got a whole bunch of snow in his face and didn't like that very much. I hate to take pictures of him crying, but it is just so cute.

I just love him so much.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Greg took me to a concert in St. Paul on Sunday! It was a perfect day. The music was fantastic, the light show was amazing and the musicians were incredible! I can't say enough good things about this band. I suggest everyone go to itunes and download Trans-Siberian Orchestra music for Christmas. I can't wait until next year. It was awesome.

This picture was all we got because they didn't allow cameras in the show. This was in a pretty little park on our way back to the car after the show. Ahhhh.....I love my husband.

Maggie Jo's Day!

Yesterday was Maggie Jo's 4th birthday! It really seems like yesterday that Greg and I were at the hospital welcoming her into our lives. Maggie is a very special girl. We call her our very own "Fancy Nancy"! She loves pretty and beautiful things and is 100% girl. Rumor has it that Maggie changed her outfit 3 or 4 times yesterday for her party.

Maggie's party was a tea party. We were all told to dress up very fancy for the party. (You can see, Maggie decided not to wear her fancy dress!). So, the whole family put on formals from events past and celebrated with miniature sandwiches and hot tea. We had a great time celebrating this special little girl.

Here is Mags and her mama. The dress Steph has on was from our wedding!

Opa showed up in a full tux in honor of Maggie! He looked very handsome.

Oma dressed up as some sort of Siberian princess...she forgot her pretty tiara at the office, so we had to do some improv. She looked so beautiful according to Maggie.

Kennedy (nice smile) was a ballerina princess and I was a beautiful princess from the 80's. I had some very big hair and a turquoise dress. Maggie thought we looked perfect.

We love you Maggie! Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.

6th Folder--6th Picture

Don't kill me, Steph! I was tagged by a fellow blogger! The task is to go to your sixth folder in your pictures on your computer and pick the sixth picture and describe it. This was it. I suppose it was in July because my pictures are organized by month backwards. That would make sense.

Here is the description: Steph showed up at my house on a Thursday night. We were going to tennis lessons at Northland. We decided to ride our bikes to the lesson (that's why I have my HELMET ON!). Steph asked me right before the picture "Heather, why do you have your stupid helmet on?" I obviously kept it on for some reason. I actually have a couple of these pictures that look pretty similar because I am sure we had to proof the picture before we were satisfied with the final outcome. I don't know if this was a proof or the one we liked.

Anyways, we had a lot of fun biking to the lesson. Steph did fall off her bike on the Lakewalk though. She wasn't even going forward, really. She just had her feet clipped in her bike, was almost completely stopped, and fell over. I was laughing so hard I almost wet my pants and she might have wet her pants. I can't imagine how funny we looked all tipped over on the Lakewalk! It is so fun having sisters!

Christmas!

We started to decorate for Christmas this last week. Brooks loves the animals we put on our front porch. He has become mighty obsessed with them and has small temper tantrums when we won't take him outside in the freezing weather to look at them. Of course his Daddy gave in and took Brooks out to look at the polar bear. Notice the matching outfits? That is what I came home to on Monday after work. Greg had taken Brooks shopping and got matching outfits. They were so cute. I love my men!

Greg had a great idea. He connected Brooks' water (juice, milk) to him by using our running belts. Brooks is super cute taking his sippy cup in and out of his holder. He stops, takes a sip, and puts the cup back in the holster.

Today we FINALLY got to see our cousins. We've had some illness in our household and have not hung out with them since last Friday! We really missed them and Brooks was overjoyed when they showed up this afternoon. Maggie and Brooks took a turn playing nice together. They don't always play nice. In fact, Maggie hits Brooks and Brooks hits Maggie. Maggie might not be doing anything and Brooks pulls her hair. Brooks might be minding his own business and Maggie pushes him. They are so funny. I know they love each other so much, but I think it is the ages of the two. Brooks really gets on Maggie's nerves when he "wrecks" her stuff. Brooks doesn't understand. Here they are though being buddies.

Opa took Brooks tonight for the entire evening! We needed to finish putting up our tree and decorating, so my dad was kind enough to take Brooks to dinner and shopping. Brooks came back a Minnesota Vikings fan, I guess! We don't follow sports in our household, but I sure think his little wind suit was adorable. Brooks loves his Opa to pieces.

We are going to Trans Siberian Orchestra this weekend! Yeah! We are so excited that Auntie Linda has volunteered to take Brooks overnight on Saturday and all day Sunday! It should be a great weekend to re-connect with my hubby and listen to some great Christmas music!

Thanksgiving and a Birthday!

We had a blast on Thanksgiving. We got to celebrate with our immediate families. Greg's parents came to my parent's cabin. They had a very short drive since they actually live on the same lake that my parents cabin is on. Small world. Who knew that in a Land of 10,000 Lakes, we would all end up on the same little lake? Funny.

We stuffed our faces (okay, I did, I don't know about everyone else) and I thought I was going to throw up. So, we decided to ice skate on the lake to try to make some more room. It was a blast. We cleared off a pretty decent sized "rink" and had relays, passed the pucks and tried to do turns. Greg had not skated since 4th grade and he did great. He seems to be a natural at whatever he does. It was nice to come inside to a steamy hot sauna. I tried to take pictures in the sauna, but DUH...they just turned out foggy. Smart girl.

In honor of the grand kids my mom and dad dressed up for Thanksgiving. It was so cute to be greeted by these two. Do you think they love being grandparents?

We went to the Cities today to celebrate our nephew Dylan's one year birthday. It was fun to see him and spend time with the Greg's side of the family. I think Dylan waved today for the first time as we left. He is growing up so quickly! He got his own slice of ice cream cake but just analyzed it and didn't really know what to do with it. It was pretty cute.

It is amazing we were able to get a good picture of Dylan and his Uncle Greg!

Brooks likes to give kisses and enjoyed giving kisses to his cousin. S0 cute.

Thankful.

I always think that the current Thanksgiving is the one that I feel the most thankful. This year is no different. I have thought in the past that I could "never be more thankful than I am this year", but each year I am proven to be wrong. I am so thankful this year for so many things. I will list some, but not all since there are so many.

First and foremost I am thankful that I was raised to love the Lord. I am thankful for this because now I have an awesome husband who loves the Lord and an awesome responsibility to teach my child to love the Lord.

I am secondly thankful for my beautiful baby boy and my wonderful husband. This blog is all about both of them, so if you read this frequently, you know how awesome they are. They are my two best buddies and I am glad that I have two main men in my life.

I am also so thankful that I am able to live near all of my family. It is such a blessing to work for a family business and such a blessing to have two sets of Grandparents who are so involved in Brooks' life as well as a Great Auntie Linda who loves Brooks like her own.

I am ultra thankful for the friendships I have with my sisters. I have two built in friends and to be honest that is all I really need. We have so much fun together and share so much.

I am thankful for my church, my trainer at the gym, my house, my athletic ability, my great chiropractor, my co-workers, the YMCA, my I-Pod, my bikes, my scooter, my jogging stroller, my hairdresser and so many other people and things.

Okay, so don't be offended if I mentioned something like an I-Pod and forgot to mention you or something you think should be much more important to me. I am thankful for so much that I can't even scratch the surface on this blog. I thought I would give you an idea of what I am thankful for.

If Brooks could tell me what he was thankful for some things would be:
His Mommy
His Daddy
His Soose
His Bow-Wow
Ka-ka and Jo-Jo
Treats
TB
Praying
Juice

Again, I am sure he is thankful for more than this, but these are his obsessions right now.

I am sure Brooks is thankful for his toys. He has enough of them to supply a day care center.

Kennedy told me that tonight at church she is going to talk into the microphone and tell the people that she is thankful for her little boy Brooks. How sweet. She loves him so much.

No Wonder...

It is no wonder that Brooks likes his Daddy so much. Greg has so much fun with Brooks and never seems to get tired, annoyed, worn out or lazy (all things that happen to me every so often). Don't get me wrong, I know I am a good Mommy, but I really think that Greg has most parents beat. Any Mommy would be happy to come home to these pictures on the camera. Once again, don't get sick of me saying this, I am BLESSED.

Brooks likes to wear Mama's new helmet. We both have super big heads. I bet this helmet will fit him perfectly some day (it is an XL). Not that I will encourage him to wear flowers or anything.

Brooks likes small spaces lately. Right now he really likes to "party" in this little nook outside our bedroom. We chant "party in the nook, party in the nook" and he laughs and claps. Today, while I was at work it looks like Greg and Brooks had a super fun "party in the nook". It was so much fun, I can't even find Brooks!

Brooks loves playing with his play food. He got a kitchen in the mail this week but it didn't have all the parts. (BTW: If you want my opinion on The Company Store, I would say DON'T DO IT! They are slow to deliver their products and the items are not worth the price. We've have two or three bad experiences now.) So, Brooks climbs up to the table with his food and wants to pray lots and lots of times a day for his play food.

These are my boots. This picture speaks for itself. Do you think Brooks likes it when his Daddy stays home with him?

Girls Weekend...Thank you Keven!

Keven, who is Steph's husband, planned a getaway weekend for the girls in honor of Steph's birthday! It was a blast. We started by shopping all day on Saturday at a place called Arbor Lakes. It is an outdoor mall with great stores, all of which we don't have in our hometown. We shopped until we literally dropped and ate dinner at Buca de Beppo's. It was a really nice chance to be together, enjoy the company of each other, laugh and get some fun clothing! Yeah for shopping! Greg gave me a "pillow present" as we call it and put a bunch of cash under my pillow the night before. He told me to spend it however I wanted. I can always spend whatever I want (within our budget of course!) but it was really fun having cash and knowing that I got to spend it all on things I wanted. We had so much fun.

The next day we hit the spa! We started Sunday with a trip to the workout room to sweat out some of our garlic from the night before! Once we were done exercising, we sat in the hot tub and talked about everything for a very long time. It was fun to have our mom all to ourselves with no Blackberry, no kids and no interruption. I liked the whole trip, but this was one of my favorite moments. I think my mom would agree. The hot tub was outside which made it even more fun.

At the spa, Keven lined up massages and facials for us. It was super relaxing and a great way to end the mini-vacation.

Heather, Laura and Steph at Buca's waiting for our table. We were starving. By the time we got our food it was already 9:00 pm. Eating just isn't important when there is shopping to be done.

Steph got this cake for FREE! Happy Birthday to her!

At the spa. It was so relaxing.

These are just the bags that didn't fit in our overhead carrier on the van. Yep, 5 girls and lots and lots of bags. We had so much fun.

Happy Birthday, Sissie!

Today is my older sister's birthday. Happy birthday, Steph (a.k.a. Auntie S'ers, Ti-Ti, Sissie or Obsessalee...)! We love you. You are such a blessing to our family. It is so cool that you had kids first, so you could teach us how to be better parents. It is the BEST that we both get to stay home (well...3 days a week) and be together. Maggie and Kennedy have such a passion for life and it is a direct result of your enthusiastic parenting and love you give them. It seems like you "do it all"! I admire you, respect you, and want to be you most of the time! I am so thankful that we are buddies. What would we do without each other?

Burrito Union 10-hour triathlon. So fun. Remember that we had enough food for around 50 people and there were only 11 of us? Funny.

Brewhouse Tri. I remember being soooooo sad when you were just finishing your run and I was just starting my bike. Of course, you cheered me on, but to be honest I was really jealous of you. We look happy in this picture. Probably because we were done.

Got to love Body for Life. We've been on so many journeys together, but this one was the best! Too bad we don't fit those dresses anymore. A lifetime battle, right? At least we are in it together!

Oh yeah, not to be left out is Brooks. He loves you dearly. He asks for Ti-Ti EVERY SINGLE DAY! I am so glad that you know him, love him, pray for him, and treat him like one of your own.

Steph: Happy Birthday! You are an amazing friend. I love you.

Just being really cute

We had the whole family home today. Greg is sick. Super sick. Yuck. We feel so bad for him. Get better soon!
Brooks and I went outside today (it is COLD) and played. Brooks was so helpful. He brought me Scout's (our lab) water dish. He also took off the top part and put his whole mouth around the opening. Gross!

Bringing Mama Scout's dish.

He was so happy in this picture. Don't tell Daddy, but I had just given him some Sprite in his cup. I don't think he's ever had his own Sprite, but I snuck it to him while Daddy was sleeping. Hee, hee!

So happy! Saying "cheese" to the camera! Okay, I admit I had also given him a sucker from Halloween. I am the worst mama but at the same time I am the best mama in Brooks' eyes! (That really is all that matters, right?)

I love this little boy.