Cuter every day...

I just uploaded 100s of pictures of our little guy from the camera. Here are some favorites.

This is mid-May... This is one of my favorite of his little expressions. My translation - That was so fun! I'm so happy! What's next, Mom?!



This is the Friday before Mother's Day... Brooks and SWS were helping me in the kitchen, and I think Brooks was a little surprised that we let him make as much noise as he wanted with the measuring spoon and the small mixing bowl. He had such a serious expression as he was banging them together. "Really, are you sure this is okay?!"



This is late May, just about 6 months old... He's tasting his first bite of homemade baby food (sweet potatoes) and licking up every bit! Later on that evening we had bathtime, played with baby Erin and then gave Mama lots of kisses (and chewed on her chin a bit too!)







He's pretty well out-grown the "I can nap anywhere" stage, but this day he just passed out in the car. He was six months old to the day here and so tuckered out! (My family swears that he looks like a different baby when he's sleeping, but I think it's because his eyes usually take over his face when he's awake!) Note the Auburn burpcloth... He looks so BIG to me in this picture.



"When Daddy feeds me, sometimes I get a little messy..."



Sitting at the big people table... (during our "last supper")



Bath-time, with a strategically placed ducky.



So clean!!



"Thanks for the sweet potatoes, Aunt Sissy"



And these are from about a week and a half ago, when we confirmed that Brooks is now an "independent sitter"... so funny to see his concentration in that second shot. He loves his Daddy.

So Big!

Happy 7 months, Brooks! What a BIG Little you are becoming.

I love you so much and your kisses just make my day!

I can't believe how much fun such a young one can be.

Being your Maa Maa is such a joy!


(Thanks to Mary Holstine for the fantastic photos!)

Lovely Chicago weekend in pictures

We're on the way, decked out in our Cubs apparel... (our adopted NL team)



Brooks loves sleeping and playing in his mom and dad's laps!



Okay, Dad, you gotta explain this whole baseball thing to me...



PLAY BALL!



Wow, this is so much fun!



Hmm, I can't seem to see around my cheeks...



Are you finished taking pictures yet, Mom?



See? We're on the last row! Perfect seats for a cool breeze on a hot day.



Outside after the game. The Cubs didn't win, but two of us are still smiling!



Our tired little Cubbie bear slept long and hard later that afternoon.

A Lovely Chicago weekend

This past weekend was so incredibly satisfying. Not our most social weekend, to be sure, but filled with things we love and loads of downtime in our fair city...

We had a showing on our condo first thing Saturday morning so we took Brooks and strolled down to our neighborhood Starbucks for a shared mocha frappuchino.

That afternoon, Brooks saw his first baseball game at Wrigley Field - Cubs vs the Padres, perfect for Father's Day weekend. We had seats behind home plate on the very tippy-top row under the overhang - shaded from the warm sun (7 innings) and a short sunny downpour (1 inning). The Cubs lost but the game offered some big excitement in the form of a fight that cleared both dugouts. Brooks was a champ from the 2nd inning, when we arrived, to the very end... He charmed the other baseball fans around us in his little Cubs onesie and hat, either playing in our laps or sleeping in a baby bjorn on Eric for almost three hours. What a good little baseball fan! :)

That evening we enjoyed some Art of Pizza and then strolled a few blocks to say goodbye to some friends who are moving. The husband was in our first Park small group and was there the night that I met Eric. We have lots of history with him and are sad to see them leaving Chicago for good, but are excited for this next step for them.

Sunday included Eric's yummy french toast and then late church. Brooks made it in the nursery through most of the sermon, so it was great to sing and worship at our church again - it feels like I've missed church a lot in the past few months.

That afternoon we curled up on the couch for an hour-long nap while Brooks slept in his crib (for 3+ hours!) and then I got some time at my favorite tea house with my journal. Eric mowed the grass and went for a late afternoon run while Brooks and I strolled in the park. On our way back from the lakeshore, we stopped at a playground and Brooks took his first ride on the baby swings. Ohmygoodness... He loved it! His face registered surprise and confusion at first and then just adorable glee! I can't believe my child is big enough to play on a playground. We'll be starting kindergarten next week.

That night after a lovely meal of Eric's perfectly grilled burgers out on our back porch, we watched a movie rental (on my computer, as we no longer have a TV in our place) and then hit the hay to start the new week...

After all the craziness of starting the purging and packing up of our home and of trying to get our condo ready for the market, it was so nice to just enjoy a very low-key couple of days, just the three of us. Photos coming in the next post...

A Family Wedding...

A family wedding is a great thing. It's so fun to know both the bride and groom as well as half the other guests in attendance! Drs Matt & Sarah got married over Memorial Day weekend in Eric's hometown and the wedding was fantastic! An assortment of thoughts...

Brooks was a much more managable 6-month old (at Molly's wedding in December, Brooks was itty-bitty and I was a nervous, exhausted new mom!). He cooperated very well - we had to slip out during the wedding message and some of the dinner toasts, but he was calm at most of the right moments. Here he's enjoying time with his great-grandparents before the ceremony.


Brooks made it through the whole day with the bubble that his TN Grandma made for him in honor of the occasion. Atta boy!


My in-laws are really good at hosting a beautiful wedding! The bride and groom did a wonderful job planning and researching. Plus Bonnie & Warren did a great job of executing all the details there at home. Even the day before the wedding was pretty low-key. Well done!


I so enjoyed the church ceremony (great trumpet!), the lovely reception location (where Eric told me he loved me for the first time at Steve's wedding 5 years ago), the wonderful band (what a fun mix of music!)... The photographer got some beautiful shots, the food was yummy, the cake was rich and chocolatey, and the happy couple seemed to really enjoy the night.

Molly gave an awesome last-moment toast at the reception. You rock, my dear!


Steve sang "The Lord's Prayer" wonderfully. Best I've ever heard him sing... (loved this shot of them at the rehearsal dinner!)


Yoshimi wore a fabulous dress that I had ALMOST worn to the wedding myself. I think it would have been funny if we'd been matching sisters-in-law for the photos! :)


Howie, once again, was glued to his "bampa"... it's adorable to see how devoted those two are to each other.


And at the end of the night, after dancing with his dear Aunt Janet...


Brooks got in his jammies and fell asleep in his car seat... What a sweetie!


Congrats Matt & Sarah!

Life on Fast-Forward

So much has happened in the last few weeks, I feel like life has been a complete blur! Here's the basic outline...

~ We dedicated Brooks at our church on Mothers' Day with all of his grandparents there as witnesses and we hosted a brunch for a few friends afterwards. Mothers' Day 2007 now ranks in my Top 5 Best Ever Days. It was pretty close to perfect.
~ I was in Nashville with Brooks the week after that for a reunion of sorts with my girlfriends from Auburn. It was great to see Kat and Deb again and to meet baby EEC and to hang out on my parents' back porch. While home, I went to my first kid birthday party (SLC was five and adorable as "Snow White") and spent time with CHA at Starbucks and enjoyed the beautiful new symphony hall with Dad and Sissy. I also got some short but very sweet individual time with Momma, Daddy, and Sissy while was I was home. Those visits are even more precious since they are soon going to be more infrequent.
~ Eric's younger sister SEW got married to her darling fiance over Memorial Day weekend, and it was joy to celebrate with the Wheeler family. I love my in-laws. How lucky am I?! Congrats to the happy couple.
~ We had our official "goodbye dinner" for Newly Marrieds leadership. Amazing to look back over the last three years and see what God has done. Donna prayed that the next few weeks and months would "be filled with more sweet than bitter". What a kind wish, as we're already tasting some of both even as we say goodbye to our ministry obligations and privileges.
~ Eric went to the FAC seminar and got his FSA diploma - WAHOO!!!!! He's done! Forever!
~ My dear friend Dr Kiki came in from Boston to visit in early May, and we had a lovely 24 hour marathon catch-up session...
~ My bookclub started in May and I so enjoyed that first meeting discussing Peace Like a River. I can't wait for the June discussion of my book selection (Year of Wonders).
~ Our NMs small group co-hosted a baby shower for one of our couples - they'll welcome their new little one in June. We also met three (or four?!) new babies born to couples involved in the ministry with us. Happy times.
~ In and among the travel and houseguests and other fun events, we've chosen a realtor and are starting to get some of our pre-London list checked off.
~ Today, my mom arrived to watch Brooks for a few days so we could focus on purging closets and cleaning the nooks and crannies in an effort to get our house on the market by the middle of next month.
~ We're making plans to see the Rice crew in Colorado over July 4th weekend and the Mission Group is heading to Culver, Indiana during the last week of June.
~ I'm also attempting to meet up with my college roommate (RPR) in Memphis next week and am hoping to see my highschool friend (ESS) in Nashville before we go to London.
~ In the next six weeks, we still want to take Brooks to his first game at Wrigley, enjoy one last ride on the peugeot tandem bike before it gets sold, and have at least a few more BBQs on our lovely treed back porch.

I'm thankful for all the things that shout of summer... the beautiful weather, the vacation days, the happier Chicago faces around me, the long evenings of warm sunlight. I just pray for lots of endurance and periodic rest for all three of us - so that we're able to enjoy all the life that we're trying to live these days!

Pictures and details of these happy events to come soon... I'm going to sleep now!

Hilton Head Island

Okay, before posting about our vacation several weeks ago I was trying to figure out how to upload video to this site, but that is proving beyond me this week. So without further ado...

Hilton Head was wonderful! Everything that we needed and wanted in a vacation... some thoughts:

- We took the El to Midway again. I thought Eric was nuts as it was difficult at the holidays, but once we got moving, I realized that it really did work very well. And we confirmed that our Maclaren stroller was a great one for public transport. I could pick up the stroller with Brooks in it and confidently climb a flight or two of stairs when needed. Wahoo!


- This was an easy trip for a first vacation with baby... familiar and comfortable housing, friendly neighbors (thanks to Jerry and Joann for the pack n play) and all the beach gear we'd need in the storage room right outside. With a separate living area, we were able to put Brooks down at night and catch up on some movies we'd been meaning to watch. Plus the use of a washer and dryer really helped - we did lots of laundry!!

- The weather was perfect. In the 80s, sunny with puffy white clouds, and a nice breeze, particularly when we were on the beach. We both came back with a bit of color, but Brooks didn't even have a freckle - we were vigilant about the spf 45+ sunscreen and shade for him.


- Brooks loved the ocean, the sand in his toes and the extra play time with Mom and Dad. I'm not so sure that he loved the pool. When we dipped our toes in, it was really cold, so I can only imagine he didn't just love that, but he was interested in looking at it. Maybe next time.



- Renting a car from Jacksonville and driving up worked well for us for lots of reasons. We used SWA Rapid Reward coupons to fly down, the trip was all easy highway miles, and it gave us time to decompress going up to the island and ramp up for an airport adventure as we were leaving. We enjoy road trips a lot and with Brooks at this age we can discuss whatever we like while he sleeps in the back!


- We didn't realize that the car rental company was only going to have convertable car seats, not the convenient "infant bucket with base" kind. Brooks still naps beautifully in his car seat at restaurants here, and we both were counting on this for our evening meals out. When we didn't have that option, we went with a highchair and some extra padding and one of us just kept a hand on him the whole meal. It actually worked out pretty well and of course Brooks charmed all our servers and the other patrons each place we went. I was so proud of our little traveler.


- Unfortunately, Brooks didn't sleep as well as normal which was difficult at times. We've now realized it was probably his teeth bothering him. Poor Little. We did lots of "wee hours" rocking with him in the second bedroom ... and lots of napping at the beach.



- We had a great time with Aunt Hope & Uncle Don our last night there. They took the three of us to a lovely dinner at Alexanders and we enjoyed hearing all their news and sharing about London and our lives as new parents. I feel very fortunate to have married into such a warm, wonderful extended family. I didn't have the chance to meet Eric's Grandma Joy, so I was thrilled to get to know her sister Hope a bit better. And Don is just too fun - watching him entertain Brooks across the table was a highlight.

- We paid lots of new attention to nap times and meal times and sunscreen and shade and blustery beach breezes. We didn't take the usual long stroll along the shore together or finish any of the books we brought or didn't sleep in any morning that we were there. We didn't linger over a glass of wine at the end of a meal and we came home early every night. It certainly didn't look too much like our vacations together in the past, but we enjoyed almost every minute. And most importantly, we realized that, yes, vacationing with a baby can be a lot of fun.

Ouch!

On Tuesday, my moms group (a wonderful group of new friends from my church) gathered for a mothers day brunch. Since we have recently finished the book Captivating and haven't started our new study yet, we used our discussion time to ask and answer each others questions, to learn from the collective wisdom of all those moms. Great idea! I'd been planning to seek advice, among other things, on how we could help Brooks sleep better. Since April 21st when we left for Hilton Head, Brooks had not once slept through the night, and often woke multiple times. I thought that perhaps we had ruined his good sleeping habits during one extended vacation.

So, we're sitting around chatting and I'm mentally forming my question, when all of a sudden Brooks' usual gnawing on my thumb turned really painful. Ouch! What in the world?! Um, hello momma! Duh! I'm cutting my first tooth. That's why I've been screaming a lot, especially at night. I'm not just grumpy, I'm in pain!

It was the smack in the head realization, the cartoon light bulb over the slower mind blinking on! I mean we knew he was teething as there has been drool everywhere for weeks, but I didn't think he was actually cutting one yet. And I felt so BAD for the little guy. In my exuberance to "sleep train" him this week, I had been patting him, speaking to him, comforting him from afar when he woke up in the middle of the night. But I had not been giving him children's tylenol or gotten him out of his crib for a little extra cuddling! No wonder we'd all three been getting so little sleep.

So, it's hard to take a picture of the top of a tiny new tooth in a mouth full of drooling gums. But thought I'd attempt it... Any luck seeing it?

If you have a chance to hold Brooks in the next week or two, I'm sure that he'll show you his new tooth by chewing on your fingers.

Wahoo! Another big milestone.