My love....

Thanks Michelle for showing me http://www.picnik.com/ It's SUPER easy and I love it (plus it's free which rocks!)

I'm a REAL mommy....

So today was a great, fun and super busy day (all without leaving home). Stephanie and I slept in until 11 (she didn't go down for the night until midnight due to a late nap). We got up, had a bottle, played out back with the dogs and played in the living room for about an hour an a half before she went down for her afternoon nap. While she was sleeping I cleaned the house....well the living room and kitchen, then did all our laundry. Stephanie woke up and had a bottle (she's so cute when she eats :) I put her in her swing after her bottle because she WOULD NOT burp and I didn't want her to spit up. While she was in her swing I vacuumed the house (and she didn't mind the noise at all!)

In the middle of my vacuuming I noticed the house (and sky outside) get very dark. I turned on the TV and we were under a severe storm warning....which is typical for this time of year in the afternoons. So I stop vacuuming and watch the tv.....after about 15 minutes of storm coverage they announce a tornado warning (this is the serious kind) for our county. I quickly grab Roxy (my small dog) and Aspen (Kati's dog) and put them in the laundry room....don't worry, they were in their crates (they fight). Then Boulder, Stephanie and I watched TV to see where the rotation was (no tornado actually touched down). It was in Kimmi's neighborhood and my schools area....wow! We never had to go to the bathroom and I was able to finish cleaning the house....but it was strange to deal with this on my own. At my school the students were in the hallway waiting out the storm...duck and covering and all! At most schools in the area they brought in all students from the portables and were prepared for the worst (which we never got). The worst we got was some strong winds and hail (I'll post pics later).

So I cleaned my house (which I haven't done in about a year), I did ALL my laundry, washed and sanitized all our bottles, cleaned the kitchen (including mopping) and checked some email!! I feel like a "real" stay-at-home, productive mommy (and all this right before I go back to work ;) Today was a SUPER fun (and VERY productive) day! I look forward to more of these this summer!

I am so looking forward to going back to work....I miss my friends there and my kiddos, I have my dream job~Thank God! Stephanie will stay with one of my good friends so I won't have to worry about her one bit while I'm at work. Stephanie has put herself on a WONDERFUL schedule that will be perfect when I go back to work! I go see the surgeon Wednesday and am hoping they have to drain my little pocket of stuff for the LAST TIME and that my health will be 100% when I go back to work. Stephanie and I look forward to this next chapter in our lives....being a working mom will be tiring, but I look forward to it. I am so blessed to work such a short day and during her big nap time....I'll get to have most of the afternoon and evening with her for walks and playtime :) Despite the difficult road that has brought our little family to this point I am VERY happy with where we are and look forward to where we are going. God has given me such a great little family....I am so thankful!

Daddy's Little Princess

And you thought the last one required a box of tissue.....

(pics thanks to my counsin, Michelle)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Stephie Jo's Bedtime Routine

A detailed look at Stephie Jo's bedtime routine that WORKS LIKE A CHARM! (thanks again Kinome for The Baby Whisperer!) Grab some tissue before you start this! I cry EVERYTIME I watch it!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Brooks Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Genelogy - Free printable family tree

Spring Break Fun (Finally)

NEEDING (okay, wanting) A BETTER CAMERA! After hanging out with Michelle all last week I realized how LACKING my camera is! Hers is able to do "rapid" fire which pretty much ensures a good shot of a baby on the go :) I am borrowing moms "high tech" camera and letting her use mine for a month or so to make sure it's worth the investment....but am pretty sure we'll end up getting a new camera this summer to document all of our family fun! Moms has "rapid" fire and is an overall a much better camera! So here are all the newest pics of Stephanie Jo....and the last to be taken with my "old" camera (that I just got for Christmas) **For more Spring Break pictures check out my cousins blog and AMAZING montage! It's under Michelle's Blog....the first song is what Josh and I left our wedding to :)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Shots Suck!

Stephanie had her two month shots today and it sucked! She has been fussy since and having a hard time getting comfortable....her little legs hurt! She got two in each leg :( Please pray we have no reaction from the meds, for her comfort and for her to get a good nights sleep tonight. She had a short nap in her gammas arms, one in the swing and now we'll try to go to bed...Shots are no fun!!! They make me super nervous and make for one unhappy princess.....

Preview of our Spring Break Fun....

Opening her Easter basket with her Gampa......

Fun in the dirt
Precious sleepy baby!! She loves her soft blankies

Sweet little babies! My cousins little boy and Stephanie Jo

My Sweet, Happy Princess is Back!

Stephanie has been fussy and hurting since I started on antibiotics about 23 days ago. They just kept having me try a new one, then a different one, and now another one....which made her tummy hurt and her burps were SOOO loud and made her whole body shake, so sad!! She has now been on formula for a little over 24 hours and is SUCH a happy baby!!! She has been content, napped well without being held the whole time, burped right after eating (and not an hour later after much fussing and pulling up her legs) and is just such a precious, happy little one. She has smiles, coos and giggles for all....my sweet, happy princess is back :) Not that she was horrible while she was nursing (and I was on my meds)....she was just not her happy self and that was sad for me. God is good and despite my heartache about having to go to formula I now have my happy baby back and that is worth it all ;)

We also had our first visit to church today (she slept through it) and I LOVED it! I SOOOO missed being there to hear Matt and be both encouraged and challenged. Josh can download the podcasts and listen to the message as well so we are able to discuss them which is great because the message today was great!!! (www.thevillagechurch.net)

Have a great week, much love to all and Happy Easter :)

God has a Plan (and it doesn't match mine)

This talks about all things mommy....read at your own risk ;)

Well God has a plan for our lives.....but mine always seems to get in the way! I planned on an easy, healthy pregnancy but it turned out to be a difficult pregnancy and instead of eating healthy I ate whatever I could keep down (which often was deep fried and covered in ranch...so much for a healthy pregnancy). Then I was going to have a natural water birth....no meds for me! Of course things didn't go according to my plan.....I labored for three days (two at home, on in the hospital) when my dr (who is amazing!) told me I had two choices....an epidural so my uterus could rest or a C section (I didn't see how that was really giving me any choices!) Of course I went for the meds and avoided an emergency C section....but this was not my plan!

Now comes the newest part of having a child that is not in my plan.....breastfeeding. I had a issues with breastfeeding as soon as the dr's got involved at the hospital! Stephanie and I were doing FINE until they stepped in and made their suggestions....which lead to poor latch on, plugged ducts, mastitis and my newest issue....the ever returning pocket of milk that causes INSANE pain all the way around to my back!!! I've been toughing it out for 6 of Stephanie's 8 weeks of life.....but now after a hospital stay, TONS of meds, several attempts to drain it and all the while a VERY cranky baby (due to the meds in my milk) we have made the VERY DIFFICULT decision to stop breast feeding. This was so NOT in my plan!

So I have made plans for how I would have a baby and how I would feed and care for that baby and things have not gone according to plan.....but God's plan is perfect! The fact that I wanted a water birth I had to change hospitals and OBGYN's and found Dr Cummings....who is AMAZING! When he told me I had to have an epidural I trusted him and knew it was a last resort. All the drama in the hospital with Stephanie has made for a VERY smooth transition from mommy milk to formula. The hospital made me give her formula for a few feedings there and so she already was accepting a bottle and took that brand of formula without a problem. She is SUCH a happy baby now that all the meds are out of her system....she's back to her sweet, smiley self :)

My ultimate plan was to have a happy healthy baby.....and that is where God's plan and my plan are the same. Stephanie Jo is perfect and has taken all of this so well....she is her daddy's daughter :) Through all of this God has taught me that I need to rely on Him, trust that He is on my side and only wants the best for me. I was making all of the plans for my life and wasn't really consulting Him....now I have been humbled and am in situations where I have NO choice but to take a deep breath, a step back and take everything to Him in prayer......Thank God he has a plan and it doesn't match mine :)

To anyone who runs into me the next few weeks and asks how I'm doing.....please excuse me if I burst into tears ;)

Five Year Anniversary

So proud of our troops! You are doing an amazing job and we can sleep better at night because of your hard work. We think of you often and pray for you always. Get the job done and may God bring you home safe.

No Surgery Yet.....

Well I went to the dr yesterday and they pretty much threw up their hands and couldn't help me. They sent me to a breast surgeon who squeezed me in today (after a two hour wait). She was WONDERFUL and SUPER encouraging! She was able to drain both and adjust my antibiotics to take care of the larger lump. She thinks that it will clear up with antibiotics and possibly being drained a couple more times. Worse case I'll just have to get it drained every few weeks until I stop breast feeding (which won't be until this summer at the earliest, that's only if I have to which would be super sad!)

Praying that draining it today and going on the new antibiotics will do the trick and it will be cleared up in the next week or two. Thanks again for the continued prayer and support. As always, God is good, He worked things out and the Brooks girls are just fine ;)

Daddy and his little Princess

This sums it all up....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfxL0S-7yVo

~Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman

Always on our Minds!!!

Be Safe, do your thing and know we love you!

and the results are.....

The results of the fluid they drained came back and it's not infection. This is super good news.....but also very perplexing! We are trying to figure out why my milk is backing up (in LARGE amounts)....I go to the dr Monday (if not before) to try and figure things out. Until then I'm to continue my meds and keep an eye on things....the drama continues :) Praying we can figure this out and don't have to do surgery...

Baby Momma Drama....

Well I'm the babies momma and my life seems to be FULL of drama! My body is SOOO not cut out for this! I have spent the last 5 weeks dealing with breastfeeding issues that turned into mastitis (a yucky infection). The infection got so bad that I went to the dr and got on meds just over a week ago....but by this past Friday (the 7th) it was so bad I had to go to the ER and was admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics and some SUPER strong pain meds! They biopsied the infection that was about the size of a lime and hard as a rock....they took out a TON of fluid and sent it to the lab. They then discharged me with some strong antibiotics to continue at home.

The time I was in the hospital Stephanie stayed with mom and dad which was a huge blessing because I didn't have to worry about her....but I missed her so much! It was awful to be apart from her!! Especially during our super special morning hours!

I should have the results of the results of the lab tests tomorrow to know if I'm on the right meds or if meds will even work.....worse case I have to have surgery :( The mass is growing again and starting to be painful. I'm a LONG way from where I was last Friday when I went to the ER, but I'm not letting it go that far again! I'll be calling the dr tomorrow for a plan of attack....

Please pray my body is able to heal and I am able to FINALLY just be a mom.....no infection, no flu-like symptoms, no pain....just be a mommy! That's what Stephanie deserves and SOOO what I need! Will keep ya'll posted!

Snow Day March 6th

Here is some fun video of our snow adventure from about 12-3 (then I took a nap and got too busy to shoot more :) It shows the rapid snowfall (we ended up with around 6 inches) and all the fun Stephanie and I had....toasty warm inside :) Enjoy!

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Six Weeks Old!!

Playtime with Stephanie...so big!

Big smile for her daddy! and a big hug :)

Well our little princess is SIX WEEKS OLD! She's getting so big! Here are some cute pictures from our playtime today...she's wearing the outfit she came home from the hospital in (from Miss Penny).....really shows how big she's getting!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

pictures of the snow!

Here are some pictures from our snow storm. It's still coming down and I'll post more later....my favorite are what I take at night :)

This is about 2 hours into our snow storm....

These two are three hours into our snow storm....it's still coming down!!

Snowed in IN TEXAS!

Well it happened again! Today the snow/sleet started around 11 and hasn't stopped! The sleet gave way to HUGE snowflakes (blog update later). We have about 4-6 inches right now and they are saying we could get up to 8-10 inches. This is round one and we are supposed to get another round later on tonight!! This is twice in one week and BOTH in March! Crazy!! They are adding about an inch or more snow per hour! It was in the 60's yesterday....and now it's super cold and TONS of snow! The roads have gone from okay when kati left for work an hour ago to HORRIBLE now at 3. Kimmi is almost home (she's on Main street in Lewisville which is GOOD!) and Kati will be heading home once all her students are picked up....which may not be until 7 or 8 if parents are stranded at work! They canceled her work (ESD) but she can't leave until all kids are picked up. I just hope parents left early or were able to call a friend to pick their students up. 34,000 people in the DFW area are without power! It's nuts!! Glad Stephanie and I decided to stay home today! People are stranded everywhere and they are opening up shelters for them to stay for the night! Stephanie and I have been warm and playing :) I took some cute pictures and video...will update the blog later.

Stephanie started taking naps in her crib today....and it has been interesting! She started getting tired around 11 so we nursed and I put her down. She slept 20 minutes and woke up. This continued until 2, when we got up and played some. She was super tired, but happy playing for about 30 minutes. We nursed again and put her back down....so far she's sound asleep....we'll see how it goes :)

Still waiting to hear back from my dr. After reading an article my aunt sue sent me I am 99% sure I have an abscess that may need to be drained or something....my dr WILL call me tomorrow or I'll be the biggest pain in the neck to them! I'm having a hard time sleeping now it's so sore....and we all know I have a high pain tolerance!

That's our update....pictures and video to come once I load them....

~snowed in IN TEXAS!
the brooks' girls

Snow in MARCH!

Well Texas weather has done it again! Within a 24 hour period we had rain, hail, sleet and snow along with a Thunderstorm Warning, Tornado Watch, Flash Flood Watch and Winter Storm Advisory.....Sunday night we had some great Thunderstorms (that I would have enjoyed more if my weather radio was working!). We then had a cold, windy day Monday but dry....dry until about 3pm when the rain and sleet started. It rained and sleeted off and on until around 7...then these HUGE snowflakes started falling and we ended up with a total of 3 inches of snow! I tried to go home around 8:30 (had been at mom and dads)....i barely backed out to turn around when I slid and reparked my car. Stephanie and I stayed the night at mom and dads. So much snow had fallen so fast that it was packing down under my tires and I wasn't getting traction. By 1am all the snow on the roads was pretty much melted....but I wasn't heading home then :) By this morning there was no snow on the roads and everyone had to go to school/work. This evening when I went back over to moms there were a few surviving snowmen...but it got up to 60 today so most of them had melted. Here are some pictures.....crazy Texas weather (I love it!)

This snowman was about 3 feet tall! The neighborhood boys were having a blast!! I love how my camera was able to pick up the snowflakes falling.....it's amazing what this little camera can do!

This is mom and dads backyard...amazing how good the pictures are! It was about 10pm but my flash reflected off all the snow.
I love this kind of shot! Have one of our last snow "storm" last year. Something simple and pure about it.....

Playdate with Princess Lily

Colin, Kinome and Princess Lily came over to play Sunday. They hadn't seen Stephanie since the day we left the hospital so this was a long overdue playdate! Lily LOVED baby Stephanie! She also loved playing with Roxy (who was in her cage). This was a great day! Stephanie was great the first half and then started feeling yucky....but we still had so much fun! Will be so cute when Stephanie is big enough to play!

Uncle Colin was so outnumbered (6-1) with Auntie Kimmi and Bonnie added to the mix.....he didn't seem to mind though :)

The first time in our Boppy....she really liked it (she like anything soft!)
Lily just wanted to get her hands on baby Stephanie!
Auntie Kinome lovin on her little Stephanie

Kinome trying to keep Lily from climbing on Stephanie....and Auntie Kimmi playing too. Auntie Kimmi had so much fun with Stephanie and Lily! (Poor Colin was so outnumbered!)

More fun with Mamaw

Stephanie had so much fun with her Mamaw! Now she knows why her daddy loves her so much :) Mamaw just loved on Stephanie the whole time she was here and was a BIG help to me because I am fighting a HORRIBLE infection and feel like I have the flu (but I don't :( Mamaw's trip was timed perfectly and such a blessing! We look forward to heading up to see her this summer!

Mamaw's shirt says "My grandkids are tied to my heart", this picture was too perfect!
Stephanie slept soundly in Mamaw's arms for four days!! She is one loved little girl!