Basically Brooks

As many of you know, Monday was a big day for our family.   We would go from a family of three to a family of four!   Monday morning was the day Anniston was born, and what a day it was!   Let me share a story about this special day. Sunday night was a restless night for me.   Kyle had been sleeping on the couch so I could be more comfortable in our bed, and around midnight Ava came in bed with me.   She was very talkative and wanted to stay with me the rest of the night.   It was like our last few hours with her being my only baby.   So of course, I didn’t mind at all. I tossed and turned the rest of the night and woke up at 2 a.m.   I tried staying in bed reading a book, but I was just too distracted.   This was a big day!   Many things were running through my mind … .first I was a bit nervous/terrified of going through a csection again.   No, the surgery isn’t that bad, but all the waiting and anticipation before the surgery is terrible.   And the recovery is sim

Well, last week Kyle and I went to the doctor for a baby appointment.  Two weeks before-hand I had failed   my one hour glucose test.  My doctor thought it could've been a fluke, but nevertheless, I had to go back for the dreaded 3 hour test.  As a girl with a phobia of needles, the thought of something being in my arm for 3-4 hours was just about the most awful experience I could imagine.  Still, it had to be done, so done it was. Here's how the day went.  We went in at 7:30, and they stuck a device in my arm and drew a vial of blood from it.  They handed me a small bottle of lemon-lime sugar drink to down in 5 minutes or less.  Now, I was there on a completely empty stomach, the drink was TERRIBLE, and I immediately started feeling queasy.  I drank it down and the lady showed me and Kyle to a secret waiting room where we could watch TV and wait out the next three hours.  The first hour was the WORST ever!  I was nauseated, dizzy, and suddenly very cold.  My arm and hand start

It's the end of summer and I think I may have done two things on my 3 mile long to do list.  I'm bummed about it.  I don't know what happened with my big summer plans to get things done. I planned on getting Anniston's room ready.  Well, this is what it looks like.  No paint, no furniture put together, just junk.  The only thing we've done is gotten her bedding.  It's sitting in a big box. I planned on having my room look AMAZING at school.  It looks okay, but I still have tons to do there too. I planned to get my maternity plans done for when Anniston is born.  I did a little of that, but it isn't legible or organized. So, I really don't know where my summer went or what went wrong with all my plans.  Needless to say, I'm a bit overwhelmed.  The good part is that I've gotten to spend lots of time with Ava and that is priceless!  I know the rest will get done in time!

We are in Texas, and one of the worst parts of being here is.....the lizards.  Every time you step outside you will see one. This is like one that I saw just sunning on a gate the other day. Last night, at approximately 11:00 p.m., Kyle asked me to let the dog out.  I opened the door, and as I did, I noticed something scurry into the house.  I thought it was one of those nasty silverfish bugs like we have back home, but once I looked a little closer, I saw that it was a disgusting lizard.  It looked like the picture below. Yes, I know it is small, but it is a TERRIFYING creature!  It got into the house, ran under a sleeping dog, and continued to run around until it hid under the couch.  I jumped up into a chair (because that's what women are supposed to do when they get scared of a creature) and started panicking.  My sister in law (who we are visiting) was upstairs so I texted her that there was an emergency and when I got no response I ran upstairs to tell her.  

Let me start off by saying that I was never the kind of kid that especially liked to get dirty.  Lots of things grossed me out as a child and I gagged over things...a lot.  I remember crying over our worm lesson in 3rd grade.  They made us take a worm, touch it with our hands/fingers, and measure it on a ruler.  Do you know how hard this was for me?  Worms are A) disgusting and B) most likely carrying many diseases.  As I have gotten older, and especially since becoming a mom....things have started to bother me more and more.  One of those things being....germs. I cannot turn off my mind when it comes to germs.  It's really bad when we are out in public.  I have decided to create a not-so-short list of all the things that I have germ issues with and I'd like to see if I'm the only one out there with this problem or not. Here goes my list: 1.  Ketchup/Condiments that are on the tables at restaurants for everyone to use.  (Do you think they sanitize those?) 2.  People

So far this summer has been fabulous!  We are so enjoying our family time.  I sometimes just have to stop and think about how blessed I am to have a husband and daughter that I want to spend every second of my time with.  So often you hear wives/moms complaining about wishing to get away from it all, but I am loving every second of it.  We're trying to fill our days with rest and fun.  And when it comes to fun, we are always looking for ideas that are FREE! The past couple of weeks we have gone to the public library's story time for toddlers a couple of times, and the Butterfly House at Lost River Cave.  We've also played with water balloons in the backyard.  (Now that was lots of fun!)  We read TONS of books during the day and have gone on a few walks (which we need to do more of).  Kyle and I racked up some gift cards from our sweet students at school, so we have been able to eat out (a lot) with no cost to us!  (So thoughtful!)  Ava was a little scared of the butt

That's right!  We are having another precious baby girl!  We are so excited!  Yesterday we went to have a 15 week 3D/4D ultrasound to determine the sex of our baby.  I felt in my heart that it would be another girl, based on the heart rate at our last two appointments, Ava was for sure that it would be a girl, and Kyle didn't really have any predictions.  We spent a good chunk of our Saturday morning watching our precious new baby inside my womb.  It was truly amazing!    She stayed in the same position the entire time we watched her...lounging away comfortably.  She is already a thumb sucker...she kept putting her thumb in her mouth throughout the entire ultrasound.  She also loves hanging on to the placenta that's floating around in there with her.  She held on to it with one arm and her hand was either by her mouth or in her mouth for the rest of the time.  This is totally unlike Ava when she was in the womb.  Ava was a crazy girl, flipping and flopping all around!

Since Ava has learned she will be a big sister she has become even more hilarious than ever.  I thought I'd let you know some of the cute/funny things she has said lately. The day we told her that there was a baby in my belly she really wanted it right then.  Then she lifted up my shirt to look at my belly button (she thinks that it is the baby).  I told her that the baby has to get really big before it can come out.  Now she checks the size of my belly button and declares that it has gotten bigger and it is ready to come out. The other morning she was brought her Aqua Doodle Mat into our bedroom while I was getting ready for church.  She had really drawn a face (circle-ish shape with what looked like eyes and a mouth and hair too!).  She said it was Gammie.  Then she decided to draw Granny, and finish up her masterpiece with a picture of the baby in Mommy's belly.  She came to me so serious and said, "Mommy, does the baby have on panties?"  I said, "Nope.  N

I can't stop thinking of where I was in life one year ago. I had just found out that I wouldn't be returning to my job of 4 years the next year. I was devastated. I was scared and confused and angry and hurt. Fast forward one year. How am I feeling now? BLESSED! I knew God would use that terrible time in my life for His glory. I can honestly say that being let go was one of the best things that has happened to me. God used that experience to grow me closer to Him, and for that I am eternally thankful! He has given me an experience that adds to my testimony and that I can share with others. I keep reflecting on the sermon from church on Sunday and how our pastor said that God teaches us best by letting us experience pain. It seems so crazy to us at the time, we may question why God puts us through something, or what we did to deserve it, and later on....maybe a month or so, or maybe even years later, we can see how His plan was worked out perfectly. I am so thankful f

Yay ! We are having another baby! This has been a terribly hard secret to keep for the past few weeks, but now we can shout it out! Yesterday we went to our first doctors appointment and then did about 6 hours of telling our huge family. Here's how our day went: Our appointment was at 9. We registered, sat down for 1 minute, and then we got called back to get the ultrasound. I had never had an ultrasound this early with Ava, so I really didn't know what to expect. The ultrasound lady just keep looking at this screen and there would be a beeping sound every so often and we were all so quiet for at least 5 minutes, it could've been an hour though. One thing I don't like is silence. And there was a lot of silence. The ultrasound tech and Kyle were both staring at the screen with straight faces, so at that point I started praying and waiting more. Finally, she turned the screen for me to see, and there it was. This tiny little baby...the head, the body, I could

So, a couple of weeks ago, in our ABF class we read a little bit from Proverbs 31. For those of you that don't know, this passage in the Bible is all about what a Christian wife should be like. One part of this scripture, verse 27, says "She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness." This sentence just resonated in my mind and heart and really got me to thinking about how I use my time. There are many times when we are just hanging out, watching tv, etc. that got me to thinking about how often I am eating the bread of idleness. I decided that I needed to change and try harder to be a Proverbs 31 wife. (Note: I am in no way saying it is bad to lounge around the house and watch tv, I'm just saying I feel the need to be more productive with my time.) Here are a few things I have implemented into my life to make me become more like the woman that God created me to be. 1.) Take some time each day to rea d a devotion and scri

I'm almost done with my Masters! I have a one hour course that I will be taking later on this month and my comprehensive exams in March and then I AM DONE! Excitement does not even begin to describe my feelings about finishing my classes. I have a huge sense of relief and accomplishment when I think about how close I am to being done. And then there's a hint of nervousness when I think about taking these exams in March. I don't know what to expect, but I'm hoping that with everything I have learned, along with my teaching experience from the last 4.5 years I will be able to pass! I am really looking forward to not having to worry about homework and grading papers on top of my number one priorities-being a wife and mommy! I wonder if I will get bored? I doubt it! I'm looking forward to getting to do some of my hobbies again! As you notice from the title of this post, I haven't explained the "Just Gettin' Started" part yet. Time to explain.