Angels...

Angels have been watching over us today...and I wish I knew why WE were lucky enough to have them with us TODAY...

Here's how it all started...

Zig and a few buddies got up bright and early this morning to go golfing. Since the weather was supposed to be perfect, they decided to go early, so that Zig could still get home in time to trim our trees - a job we've been putting off for weeks! Luckily, his golfing buddies volunteered to come help with the trees after they golfed, since these trees aren't little saplings, but HUGE old trees!

While he was away, Grammy Kathy arrived and we had BLAST together! We headed into town to do some shopping at the Bon-Ton and JCPenney's, then met up with Aunt Stephanie and cousins Zoe and Marlee for lunch!

While sitting down for lunch, the nice lady in the booth next to us started to "ooh" and "awww" at Brooke - and then said "How old is HE?" Um, what? He? Granted, she was in a turquoise blue shirt, but CLEARLY a girl! Not to mention that the shirt said, IN PINK "one cute girl!"

Moments later, the nice lady left and a new family with two young kids sat down beside us... He also noticed the two cutie pie little girls in high chairs and said, "Look Mommy! A sister and a BROTHER!" Um, what? EXCUSE ME PEOPLE! She is a GIRL!!!

Aunt Stephanie decided that these two reasons were the PERFECT sign that it was time to pierce Brookie's ears! As shocking as this sounds (especially for me) we've been talking about this for quite some time... It's something I wanted to do, but couldn't bring myself to do it. Stephanie has had both of the girls' ears pierced from a very early age - but I took a little more convincing! I was worried about the usual things - the pain for Brooke, her reaction, infection, Brooke pulling them out of her ears, etc.

Long story short, I stood in the OIP parking lot as Aunt Stephanie scooped Brooke out of my arms, passed Marlee to me and drove away with my daughter to Wal-Mart! I literally cried. Real tears.

Meanwhile, Grammy Kathy and I took Marlee to the Emergency Room - since Great-Grammy Joyce had just been taken there in the ambulance! She had suddenly gotten really sick at home and was rushed off to the ER, so we all went into make sure she was OK. Marlee wasn't too happy about being there, so we decided to pack up and bring her back to my house.
She was much happier here. Grammy rocked her to sleep and she took a wonderful nap in Brookie's crib.

While we waited for Aunt Stephanie to arrive with a PIERCED Brookie, Grammy tried on all of her new clothes in the living room...
Zig and his friends were in the yard working with the trees.
Travis walks in the house.
I heard him rooting around in the kitchen, so I asked him what he needed.
He (without any panic in his voice) says, "Zig just fell out of the tree. I need a wet paper towel."

Imagine my terror! I looked out the kitchen window - and even though I thought Travis was joking - there sat my husband, white as a ghost and bleeding!
Not only had he fallen close to 20 feet from the tree, but he was holding a running CHAIN SAW.
Both of his arms are scraped raw and he has a huge, deep blade slice in his thigh.
Apparently, one of the branches he was trying to cut split from the tree and knocked the ladder out from under Zig and down he went.

This could have been really bad. I could have lost my husband today.
My mind has been racing all afternoon and I can't even really focus on the reality of all of this.
What if he had landed differently - not on his side, but on his neck or head...?
What if the saw had come down on him?
What if he would have lost a limb?

I can't face what could have happened today - I love him too much to even process those thoughts.
I do know this - there were angels with him on that ladder today.
A beautiful angel slowed his fall and gave that saw a push in the other direction.
God and His angels know that I can't live this life without Zig...and they spared us today.

Zig really had the wind knocked out of him when he fell -
His nerves got to him and he started throwing up. That scared us and made us worry that maybe something else was wrong - but with a few cold towels and a few sips of water (and emptying that belly) his color started coming back and he was joking with me... My Ziggy was OK!

After I could finally breathe again - I FLEW to CVS for some supplies... Gauze, tape, wrap, neosporin, peroxide, the works! The kid at the register said "Did you, like, beat someone up or something?" Nope - my husband - just fell out of a tree! Have a great day!

Somewhere in the middle of this excitement, Brooke returned, fast asleep on her Aunt Stephanie's shoulder, with beautiful diamond earrings sparkling from each ear! I cried! Partly from how adorable she looked, and partly because it struck me that we were lucky today - lucky that Daddy was alright and that we were all 3 still together...

The day ended with supper at Nana and Pap's. Grammy joined us and we enjoyed the warm weather in Rolling Hills...
It was a long day, so we came home early for tub and bed time... She's fast asleep as I type...

I'm one lucky lady.
As unfortunate as its been for us to have lost a few very important people in our lives over the last few years, I guess we should be glad that they're 'up there' and watching over us.

I love my husband more than words could ever do justice on this blog.
I've loved him from the first second I laid eyes on him at the Burnham Pool in 1998.
Whether our love is supposed to last forever on this earth or transcend through our eternal life in Heaven, he's the best part of me and the reason that I'm me...

There really are angels watching over us...
I believe that today, more than ever...

Back to Brookie...

So...
The Brookie that we all know and love is back!
Yep - the Brookie that doesn't sleep - EVER - is back...
I knew it wouldn't last long...

Truly folks, it's all gonna be ok! I'm starting to get used to running on low fumes and I'm learning to be in a better mood, even on zero sleep!
I'll spare you all the details of our sleepless nights around here - and instead - tell you how much I love my little girl!

Funny story - you gotta love my little slacker!
So, you know how babies are supposed to start rolling anytime from 2-4 months??
Well, not Brooke!
She just rolled over for the first time last night! WOO HOO! Way to go lazy girl!
My theory is that she has just been perfectly content to sit around and watch the world go by!

She sat up on her own really early (before 5 months) so I was thinking that she was just going to skip the whole rolling thing, sit up, and shortly there after learn to crawl.
Lately, she has been leaning over her legs to either side as she sits up playing, reaching for toys, and leaning so far that she ends up on her belly! Step 1 in the 'learning to crawl' process! You can actually see her little gears turning in her head that she can no longer sit still and still play with those cool toys waaaay over there!! Good girl, Brookie!

I have a feeling that she'll catch on to the crawling business very soon - and that then, I'll be wishing for my very still little girl to come back!
What a 'ham' she is! For those of you who know my husband - MAN, am I ever in for it! She already acts just like him - has to have all of the attention on her!
She fakes a cough so that we will look her way...
She fakes a huge belly laugh just to get your attention...
She growls like a grizzly bear to make you laugh...
She squeals like a bancheee to make you come running - followed by that big belly laugh...
What a character!!

She's just awesome - and I wanted you all to know!

We're headed into my school today to visit with some teacher friends!
I have some things to drop off for my Builders Club and some packages for a friend who is getting married this summer (her Mom works at my building). So I'm just going to make a visit out of it!
I miss my teacher friends so badly, and there has been some pretty major changes since I've left...so I'm really itching to get back to it and be with them all again! (Did I really just say that!)

We are SO looking forward to the beautiful weather to come this weekend...
It means yard work, lots of walking, and hopefully some time playing outside! (If we could just convince her that the grass won't hurt her!!)
Grammy Kathy is also coming to visit on Saturday and we can't wait to see her!

Wishing you all the very best weekend!

P.S.
This time, I promise...
Pictures soon...

LONG nights...

...OF SLEEP!
WOOOOOO-HOOOOOOO!

For whatever strange and unknown reason, Brooke has mysteriously taken a turn into the world of babies who SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

I feel strangely rested as I sit here and type (before 8 am) and I'm anxiously waiting for her to wake up so I can celebrate her successful night of sleep with her! She always gets excited when we open her door in the morning with a rousing "Good Morning, Gorgeous!" I think this morning, I'll say, "Good Morning, BIG SLEEPER GIRL!" I don't get to say that very often...

I thought we were on to something with her sleep patterns after the weekend we had...let me explain...

She was still doing terribly at night as of last Thursday. Even taking walks in the beautiful weather wasn't tiring her out like I thought it would. So when Friday rolled around, we enjoyed an evening at Brandon and Amanda's house with the kids for supper! We skipped our normal 8 pm tub time and stretched her until after 9:30pm when we got home. She took a little nap with Amanda before we came home - so once we finally got back, she had a tub, a bottle, and rocked away with Daddy...normal routine, just 2 hours later. This was the first night she slept all night! I woke up in a panic at 2am because I hadn't heard from her! I raced to her room to find her fast asleep with her arms above her head - totally relaxed. Cool!

Then, Saturday night, after one of the most beautiful days we've had in a long time, Zig and I decided to call some friends over for our first patio party of the season! Big John, Sara, Stephen "Big Worm", Brandon, Amanda, Halle and Max all joined our family of 3 outside for most of the evening! We loved the company and the conversation! Most of our entertainment came from Halle - she ran around the patio telling stories and making everyone giggle - especially Brooke! Again on this night, we skipped the 8pm tub time and it was close to 9:30 until we started the night time routine. Although it was past 10:30 until we laid her down, she again, slept all night.
We were starting to think we had it all figured out.
Hmmm...

Yesterday, since Brooke had been up at 7am for the day, she was a little ahead of schedule, and we worried that we wouldn't be able to stretch bed time so late, so we went ahead with the normal 8pm routine, had her asleep in her crib by 9pm and she is still sleeping right now (8:05am)! Hooray! Success! Fabulous! Awesome! YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!

I remember my sister posting every now and again about how Josh would miraculously sleep through the night and how she didn't want to 'claim victory' quite yet - and nor do I.
Brooke's problems almost definitely came from those 2 adorable teeth she has, and I know that she still has a million more to come! (And please note: Even with our latest success, Brooke has still only slept through the night a grand total of 6 times since she was 3 months old.)

My friend Leah said it best yesterday (about her 9 month old that is going through the same thing)... "It's a shame that all of this hard work and sleep deprivation FALLS OUT in a few years!" Ha... Not funny!

So...I sit...drink my coffee (Yep - I've taken up coffee!!) and wait for my gorgeous to awake!
I can't wait to see what kind of trouble we get into together today!
I love her!

Pictures to comes soon!
Happy rainy day, everyone!

Our Bunny Trail!

Palm Sunday outfit...

Learning to stand...not crawl, but stand!

These little Carter's outfits bring back memories of when Brookie first came home!

I have dreams of headbands, barretts, and ribbons in her hair - for now, we'll settle for combed-over 'peach fuzz!'

Mommy and baby - helping Josh find eggs in Nana and Pap's yard!

Pap on the deck watching us 'hunt!'

Still not a big fan of the grass...we're working on that!

"Pap! I found a green egg!"

That big old basket got too full for Josh to carry!

Success!

"Uh oh! It's more candy!"

Playing with Nana...

...and Pap!

With Aunt Meg at church! Don't we look so pretty?

Geesh... All the Mommies wanted was an Easter picture of the kids!

Happy Easter, everyone!

(Please note : YES, Brooke has a "Baby's First Easter" bib - would she be BROOKE without one??)

Oprah...

Thank Heaven for Oprah...
Weird - but I have TWO things to say regarding Oprah... Ready?

Eh hem.

#1.
Life is rough these days. Teething sucks. Hardly any sleeping has occurred in the last few weeks. Teething sucks. Brooke is miserable and while Zig and I try to do everything we can for her, she continues to be miserable all through the night. Teething sucks. She puts on a good show - I have to say! She is fantastic through tub time, bottle time, and goes right to sleep for Zig... It all starts about 3-4 hours after that. She's awake. And M-A-D. As for me, the second I'm awake during the night time hours, I'm mad too. Zig is very calm and patient during the night. Thank God for that. Because I'm not. So, since teething sucks, motherhood sucks. This is truly the hardest job in the entire world. Fortunately, it's a job with tremendous reward...a beautiful child...but no one said it's an easy one!
So - to get to the point of this post -
While attempting to rock Brooke to sleep one of the dozens of times during the night last night, I decided to watch a recorded Oprah from yesterday. (The reason that Oprah is being recorded this week is coming up! Keep reading...) When I saw that the show was all about "the good, bad, and the ugly in motherhood," I almost cried. Not only was it a show devoted to Moms, it featured the authors of my latest favorite book - "I Was A Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids!" There they were! The wonderful women who helped to bring me out of my funk, just by reading their book! The words from this book that my sister shared with me truly helped me to overcome what truly may have been a bit of post-partum, just by making me realize that I wasn't alone in this big world as the only one having trouble with this whole Mom-thing. Being a Mom is hard, and I loved hearing the stories of other Moms who are going through the same thing I am.
I'm now on the hunt for the other 2 books from these Mommy authors - one titled "I'd Trade My Husband For A Housekeeper." Yep - ME TOO!! (Just kidding! Love you Hunny!) But some days, I'd trade just about anything for a little bit of help! My husband is fantastic and GOD BLESS HIM for putting up with me... Because, let's face it, I'm not nice. Especially on zero sleep.
So, THANKS OPRAH for yesterday's show! THANKS to the Mommy authors who wrote the awesome books, and THANKS GOD for guiding me to record Oprah this week - since I would have missed this otherwise.

And now...for #2.
Oprah is on record this week for one of the coolest reasons ever!
Quick family background on the way...
My dad's sister's oldest son, Scott... Got that?
My cousin Scott and his wife Amy and their two kids, Jordan and Olivia... Got it?
They live in Tennessee. Scott is now retired from the Army, but they remain far away where Scott was stationed for so long in the service.
Unfortunately, we don't get to see Scott and his family very much - but oddly, Brooke has been compared to Jordan a lot lately! Much of our family think Brooke looks a lot like her! She's awfully cute!

Anywho -
To make a long story short, Amy must be an avid Oprah fan...
Amy responded to a topic on Oprah's website regarding young children and the topic of 'sex.' Yikes.
Jordan is approaching the wonderful adolescent years, and I'm sure that Amy is up to her ears in questions from Jordan - or just absorbed in how fast the girls are growing -
So, Oprah must have liked Amy's response since she and Jordan were almost immediately flown to Chicago to be on a live recording of the show.
Well - the show airs THURSDAY!

I've set the DVR to record Oprah all week, just in case there were some commercials with Amy or Jordan, but none so far!

So, for anyone interested, tune in to Oprah on Thursday, (or set your DVR's or TIVO's to record too!) it ought to be great!

YAY for Oprah!
YAY for Amy and Jordan!
YAY for sleep deprivation!!! Wait...what??? (yawn...)

Firsts...

A few new firsts for our gorgeous girl...

First time in Grammy Joyce's old-fashioned high chair...


First attempt at crawling...though unsuccessful...we're still working!

First rock in Pap's huge chair...

First touch of grass...short-lived happiness!

Ah, yes... It was nap time!

Happy Friday everyone!

One new 'first' that I can't depict is our very first FEVER caused by... TOOTH NUMBER 2!!

Yesterday was a rough day for us around here!

Brooke was a trooper as my Mom and I carted her off to Walmart, JoAnn Fabrics, and IVMS to take care of a few things... She took 2 fantastic naps... Enjoyed a relaxing walk with Mommy after supper... And that's when it all went down hill!

My beautiful, playful Brookie turned into the 'teething monster' (Right, Lindsay??) and she seemed to think the world was coming to an end!

She spiked a fever - highest was around 100.2 - and fussed through her tub. She fought me on her bottled before bed, but eventually went right to sleep for her Daddy.

She slept fine from 9pm-3am... Not so fine after that...

I was up with her from 3am-6am. She was asleep a few times, but would wake up as soon as I laid her down. Her fever had broken by 6, but since this was the 2nd night in a row of this madness, and we can feel that second little jaggy tooth coming up beside the first, its quite obvious that the tooth is to blame!

Have I mentioned that I hate the teething stage??
But I love my little girl - more every single day! (Even though she's not a very nice teething monster!)