Roadtrip to Aunt Vals

We had an AWESOME weekend at the Valdez House!!! Stephanie and Joel were precious together and as always Josh and I had a great time with Val and Izzy. Izzy had to work which was a big bummer....but we still had plenty of time to hang out and enjoy watching the kiddos play. I got HORRIBLE food poisoning one night (not really sure how that happened). Josh and I ate the same thing pretty much all day.....it may have been a combination of heat, dehydration or bad food....either way I was WAY sick for about 12 hours. Josh was super husband taking care of me and going to the store to get me stuff. He also was super daddy and gave Stephanie her bath, bottle and got her to sleep. He rocked ;)

Enjoy the pictures! More stories to come....but I spent several hours on this montage and now I need to go to bed.

Much love
~The Brooks' Three

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PICTURES.....finally!

Here are the last few shots we have of Stephanie's 6th Month. She's growing up so fast! I'm working on my montage from our trip to Vals. Stephanie will get to go swimming for the first time next week so keep an eye out for those pictures.

Much love to all! Many thanks for your patience! We have had a blast just "being" and doing a whole lot of nothing. We've watched TV, played, napped, done laundry and grocery shopped.....all sorts of domestic fun :) and we have loved EVERY minute of it! Enjoy the pics and check back in a day or two for a much longer montage of our mini vacation.

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Busy Friday

Well today I was SUPER EXCITED to be able to go out front and mow the yard....and NOT have to worry about Stephanie because she was inside playing with Josh. Let me explain, I LOVE mowing my yard and haven't been able to go outside and just "play" in forever...first I was prego (and way sick) then I had Stephanie and when I did go mow I had to get it done fast because there was no telling when she would wake up. So today was an awesome experience to mow and "play" in my yard getting it all nice. But there was a problem, a rather BIG problem.....it was 100 degrees and I had only had coffee to drink today. So I finished mowing the yard, but no weeding the flowerbeds or planting my rooted plants......I barely made it inside for a COLD shower and trying to drink enough water. Pretty sure I had heat exhaustion along with dehydration. I am just NOW (7 hours later) starting to feel okay. Not the smartest thing I've ever done...but man was I excited when it started. (I should have thought a little more about the time of day, temp and ozone alert).

Sad note, Stephanie is sleeping in her own bed. I have a cold/allergies and at night I am sneezing and blowing my nose all night. Josh just sleeps through it, but I woke Stephanie up all night (which made for an interesting day following). So last night I put her to bed in her bed and left her....she slept great and had a WONDERFUL day today. I however was still up all night sneezing and blowing my nose....and sad because my little girl was sleeping all by herself and I missed her. When I got up this morning to feed her I just held her and kissed her....until she SCREAMED at me because she wanted to play on her mat. Our little girl is growing up so fast and it makes me sad.....I want another baby (okay, maybe not yet but I SO have to do this again ;) She also tried sweet potatoes today and they were a hit. She is still having problems keeping it all in her mouth because she still tongue thrusts, but she liked them. I may end up using them for a base to her other veggies......we'll see how creative I get tomorrow at Sprouts (our local store to get good organic produce).

Much love, have a great weekend! I'm heading to bed now that my little princess is fast asleep in her own bed :(

Family Update

Well we have had a WONDERFUL week as a family and appreciate everyone giving us the space needed so we could just focus on our little family of three. We have made many memories and look forward to what's next!! Here are some things that have happened:

• Josh changed his first poopie diaper
• Josh gave his first bath
• Josh has been an all around STELLAR Daddy!!!
• I actually let Josh watch Stephanie so I could take a nap ;)
• We have gone shopping as a family
• We picked out Stephanie's new CLOTH diapers (I actually went WAY old school and am using pre~folds like my mom used)
• We started "big girl food" and Stephanie hated it....but it's super cute to try :)
• Stephanie has started having a HORRIBLE time going to bed at night (sorry Daddy! I promise this is new)
• I am cooking dinner every night.....and then we share dish duty
• Stephanie has gone up in how much formula she's eating
• Stephanie is scooting ALL OVER the place! She'll be crawling before you know it!!

Here is a super cute montage. I am ALMOST DONE with the montage of pictures from Josh's homecoming. I still need to get Grandpa Steve's pictures and then I'm set. Thanks for your patience! We have a VERY quiet weekend planned so I should be able to work on it. Much love, have a great week and feel free to give us a call or text.....I'm horrible at checking email right now and we don't mind contact from the outside world ;)

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Josh's return through Kinome's eyes

Here are Kinome's pictures (well some of them). A VERY LARGE montage is still in the making. I want to get things just right and get the best shots so it's taking some time to choose pics, edit and such. it's on it's way....promise :)

Josh's Homecoming

Our Daddy is back from Iraq!

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Thank God, A family at last.....all together SAFE and sound.

We've had a wonderful first day as a family! Josh has taken SO EASILY to being a Daddy, Stephanie loves him to pieces and I love having the extra set of hands! Last night I slept better than I have in probably 6 months. More pictures to come when I get them from Mom and Grandpa Steve tonight....for now here's the video and a few of my favorites. Much love!

Stephanie snuggled right in and fell asleep! She only does this to me or mom.....she knew it was her daddy and despite a nap an hour before she decided she wanted to take one while her Daddy was holding her.....

After breakfast with everybody at Gamma and Gampa's house we went home. We played out back and then it was time for a nap. We all three took a nap.....but these two slept a bit longer than Mommy. So of course she got the camera and captured some precious pictures of her little family.

Our fist meal at home together.....Taco Bueno. This was actually pretty special because Taco Bueno was our "Date Night" meal before Josh left. We would get it and watch House. It was probably the best dinner I've had in my life :) Look at how Stephanie looks at him.....she loves him so much!

Daddy and Stephanie enjoying some snuggle time before bed.....they were both SO TIRED and Baby Einstein was putting them both to sleep ;)

FINALLY......

The house is clean, yard mowed, laundry done and Stephanie and I are ready for a good nights rest.....good thing because our Daddy is FINALLY IN THE STATES!!!! He is in Baltimore and will catch a flight to DFW early tomorrow morning!! I should have him in my arms 11 hours from now :) Thanks again for all your love, support and prayers!! I'll post pictures as soon as I get them.