Basically Brooks

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...

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 yo...

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!) ...

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...

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 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...