Go Irish!

As many of you Notre Dame fans know, today ND plays Michigan and daddy & Brooks are way too excited. We had to take a picture of the two of them this morning before our walk to the bakery. I'm sure today's game will be the first of many more games to come that they will watch together! Brooks' ND onesie was a gift from Tim & Sondra last year before he was even born. For those of you that don't remember, I did a blog about his first ever outfit with a picture of it. It was hard to imagine our little one in it, and is so special to actually see him in it now. Go Irish!

P.S. Daddy didn't want me to post this until ND won today, but I disagreed - this picture is way too cute for words! :)

How He Loves

Recently I heard a song on the radio that brought so much emotion up inside of me. You know how you can hear something one day and you don't think a whole lot about it, but then the next day, it touches you so differently or more intensely? Scripture will jump out at me one day and the next I can read the same exact Scripture and have it mean so much more. Holy Spirit, I'm sure. Well, while I was driving along my merry way the other day, I heard this song and started crying - very unexpectedly since it wasn't the first time I had heard this song.

Since I was a young girl, I have wanted to become a mommy. My mom had always told me that the love you have for your children will be indescribable and like nothing you have ever imagined. She was right. The love I have for Brooks is so amazingly wonderful, beautiful, abundant - words cannot express my love for him.

And when I heard this song, it made me really think much deeper about the love God has for us. He loves us much more than we can imagine - much more than I could ever possibly love Brooks. We will never be able to know the depth of His love here on earth. This is something I have always known, but don't always take the time to really reflect on God's love. Sad, but true. This song is so special to me - yes because the Holy Spirit spoke to me through it, but also because it describes so eloquently the depth of God's love.

I hope you are able to feel the words of this song as I did. After reading below, if you haven't heard the song, I encourage you to click on the link below to hear it. Beautiful, beautiful, song.


He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

Oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.

And Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AIF_ieVre0

5 Months...

And here we are again...at another birthday...Brooks is 5 months old today! I so cannot believe how fast time is flying. It feels like my little boy should still be a newborn and he is getting bigger and bigger as each day passes by.

At around 4 1/2 mths, Brooks started sleeping 10-12 hrs at night. It took me by surprise and I thought it was just a "phase" or a "growth spurt" at first. But he is our little sleeper. Although, when he started sleeping so long at night, he doesn't take 3 hr naps anymore! Only 1-2 hr naps in the morning and afternoon and sometimes in the early evening he'll take a cat nap of 45 min. He has a bedtime still of 9-9:30. It's so crazy how like clockwork, he'll get really sleepy and want to go to bed at the same time every night. How does he know what time it is? And he'll rise around 6:30-7:30. Sometimes if mama is really sleepy, I'll put him in bed with me and we'll have morning cuddle time. He will just lay there next to me for almost an hour talking, cooing, and playing. My eyes will be half closed, but I enjoy every single minute of it. It is just one of the many thousands of moments that I hope to remember forever. It is so special and I am so thankful to share those times with him.

Brooks displayed his first little "stranger anxiety" moment. It was quite a little one, but felt huge to me. So far since Brooks was born, during church Matt will hold him during worship and then I will hold him during the service. Just recently, he has gotten a little more verbal and may disturb those around us so I end up walking him around the back of the sanctuary. He's so good, but mama needs to learn and listen to the sermon, so I reluctantly agreed to see how he does in the nursery. I was uneasy with handing Brooks off to a "stranger", even though I know of the couple who were taking care of him, Jacob and Kris. So Matt suggested taking him while I got a bagel and coffee. Matt said that he handed Brooks to Jacob and Brooks looked at Matt, then back at Jacob, and then back at Matt with his lower lip puckered out ready to cry. Thankfully, it never turned in to a cry. But let me tell ya how happy I was that it was Matt to see that and not me! I would have caved and taken my baby boy with me into church. It helped knowing that Brooks was only going to be in the nursery for 45 minutes since we got to church late. Will someone please tell me that this part of parenting gets easier?! It's probably difficult for me since I had such a difficult time as a little girl with the whole "stranger" thing. I was attached to my mama's hip until I was about 7 years old!

Brooks has discovered his voice...it's so funny to hear him coo and talk just making noises to hear himself! And the other day, we had him laughing for over 10 minutes straight! It was too funny - and oh how he loves playing peek-a-boo.

Enjoy some recent pictures of our little bundle of joy!

4 Months Old!

Brooks is 4 months old as of a week ago. He is changing so much every single day. At his Dr.appt. on Tuesday, he weighed 15lbs 11 oz and is 25 1/2 inches long. He is in the 75th percentile, so he's not THAT big of a boy! :) He has been sleeping great for a while now, so thankful for that. He goes to bed around 9:30 and wakes at 4 or 5 for breakfast and then back to sleep until around 7 or 8. He also takes a 2-3 hr nap in the morning and a 1 hr nap in the afternoon. Sometimes he naps longer, but I think he's starting to take shorter naps the older he gets. He has been able to roll over since he was around 3 1/2 mths, and does it all the time! One of the funniest things he does now is the relationship he has with his friend the bird on his bouncy seat. During our dinner time, we'll usually put Brooks in his seat so he can be next to us. After a few minutes of playing, he grabs a hold of his bird and argues with it! He won't let go for anything and starts to get mad after a while. It is so funny. We will have to get that on video. He laughs, giggles, smiles, talks to us, and loves to cuddle. He is definitely a physical, touchy baby, which I love. I love it when he is eating, he will rub his fingers on my arm. And when he is falling asleep on me, he will rub his fingers on my face or mouth. So precious! I just melt! Here are a few recent pictures of our little Brookser...

Brooks & Mommy waiting for Dr.Evans

Brooks & Daddy

Brooks' First Swim & Visit with Tatum

Brooks & Tatum

We went to Indianapolis to visit friends last weekend. It was the first time Brooks has swam and he had his 2nd date with one of his girls, Tatum. She is such a doll baby. Can't wait until they are a bit older and interact more with each other. Brooks liked the water and enjoyed his first swim so much! Here are a few pics of our wonderful time with the Humphrey family...so glad they got to see Brooks for his first swim! :)

I love his face in this picture...I think he's ready to get out!

This is such a common expression on Brooks' face

Charity & Tatum

Happy 4th of July!

Brooks in his 4th of July outfit...

We spent the 4th with friends in Indianapolis. Since it rained most of the day, we didn't see any fireworks. But if you know me, I wasn't disappointed since when it comes to fireworks, I can take'em or leave'em. I don't think Brooks would be crazy about them either (at this age anyway)since he's not a fan of sudden loud noises. Here's a few pictures of Brooks' first 4th of July! He is too precious for words...

My sweet smiling boy

Brooks & Aden
(I think it's funny how Brooks looks almost as big as Aden and he is almost 2!)

The guys and babes

Steve, Brooks, Isabella, Matt, & Aden

Brooks is 3 months old!

Okay, so my baby boy is already 3 months old! I'm about a week late on this post, but that's okay. Every day with Brooks is absolutely amazing and wonderful. I love him so much, and more and more everyday. He is changing so fast, it seems like my little boy is growing up already! His 0-3 month clothes are getting too small, and he already wears some 3-6 mth clothes. We put him in a 3 mth sleeper last night, and his toes are squished at the edge, so when that comes off today, it will be put in a box with his newborn things. I don't know why, but it makes me so sad to see him getting bigger - I think because I can already look back and say, "when he wore that...blah, blah, blah". My baby is only 3 mths old, how can I already be talking about his past wardrobe?! Anyway, he is right at about 15lbs! My little chunker! He has been laughing more and more, especially when you tickle him. I've been trying to get his laughs, smiles, and jabbering on video, but he immediately gets camera shy as soon as the camera comes out. My mom saw him roll over twice! Despite my attempts at encouraging him to do it again, I haven't seen it yet. He sleeps through the night for the most part, getting up once to either eat or to be put on his belly. I know you're not supposed to, but he LOVES his belly and will sleep so sound and for hours! His head has great control and strength so I'm not worried. I have to admit, I miss some of those nighttime feedings with him. Those were such special times for he and I and even though I now wake up more rested, I wake up with a feeling of missing him. I can't wait to get him up and cuddle him. He wakes up with a huge smile on his face and talks to me as if he's telling me all about his dreams...I think he misses mommy at night too!

He loves to nuzzle into mommy's arm