I get it. It is so clear to me. I see now why there are two parenting books on raising children that at one time I may have thought contained redundant information.

Before my princess Chloe was here, I would have thought that Dr. Dobson could have crammed the information in his book Bringing up Girls into the book he had already written called Bringing up Boys.

Now I see that would be impossible.

There are so many amazing things about boys. I have been practicing embracing the amazing-ness of my Brooks.

Who wouldn't want a little boy running around the house protecting his Mommy all day long? Sure, he may break a few things while ensuring safety in the home. He may scratch the kitchen floor with his dart gun and may even scream so loud in order to scare the "bad guys" away, that the wakes his sister.

But, really, who wouldn't want this sweaty-headed sweetie, who looks at me and out of the blue and says, "I love you, Mom."

And who wouldn't melt into a puddle on the newly scratched floor when my block-footed, size 6 four-year old looks me in the eyes and tells me that time spent with his mom is the "best thing ever in his day".

Boys are amazing. I keep telling myself that.

Chloe had her two year pictures. They are stunning. Best part about it was that the photographer is calm and quick. It was stress free and her pictures turned out beautifully.

To view them click here. Then, once you are there enter "Client Proofs" then enter any email address (your own email works) and our password is chloe.

Brooks likes soccer much more than T-ball at this point. He loves that he can run after a ball. That just makes sense to a four-year-old boy, I think.

Brooks works really hard on the field and still scores goals on his own goalie at times. He's trying to figure it all out and it is starting to click. He scored his first goal during his last game. He had no clue how cool that was. He was more worried about the treat after the game and how much water was left in his water bottle.

Brooks is a great goalie and it comes to him very naturally. When he's in the goal he's intense. It's pretty cute as he uses his hockey moves to stop the soccer ball. He puts on his monster face and attacks the ball without fear. He even brags to us when he gets hit in the stomach by the ball and he knows exactly how many goals he lets in the net (exactly 1 goal so far).

The best part of the game for us is afterwards when the field clears out and we stay and let Chloe and Brooks have races. It's so fun to stand by Greg and watch as our kids run together across the field. It's even better when, for a few moments, they are not fighting and are showing us just how much they love each other.

We had a delightful and simple birthday party for Chloe. It was a picnic theme and was perfect for a hot July day. We didn't do the decorations on our own (if you really know me, you already figured that out) but we found a great website that is very user friendly and fun. The ladies are very talented and respond quickly. If you have can appreciate cute and crafty decorations, but are not the type to get out your glue-stick and scissors go here to find out more.

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