KETCHUP day!

Just a little teacher-trick to give this post a theme!

When teachers declare "KETCHUP Day," all students cheer because they get a large block of time to 'catch up' and get 'caught up' on any missing work, assignments, or projects! (Confession: I think some teachers use this day for a little quiet time too... Hey! We're human!)

Since my last post, there has been so many fun and exciting happenings in our world! And it's time we got all 'caught up!'

As you can tell from the video in my previous post AND this lovely picture, our Brookie is as feisty and mischievous as ever! She spends most of her time giggling, exploring, and learning to talk - she's doing a SUPER job with the walking! She steps and steps all over the house! She loves to hold on to just one finger of mine and 'take a walk' around the house or outside in the yard! She points her little finger and announces "Da!" or "Ba!" or "Der!" I tell her everything she points to, in hopes that she'll learn the real words soon!

She loves to stand at the front door and wave to all of the cars and people that pass by! Our neighbors must think we're nuts! I'm positive that they can hear her jibber jabbering from the front door...a lot!

Her newest trick is something that I think she learned from Caleb - she'll hold her hand to her ear and say "A-O?" She must see us on the phone all the time... Watching her do this over and over was truly enough to make me pee my pants in laughter! She's so funny!

Friday night, Uncle Scub, Aunt Stephanie and cousins Zoe and Marlee appeared at our front door asking if they could 'take Brookie to the fair!?" It's not that I didn't want them to take her along, I just wanted to be part of the fun! So Zig and I packed up after he left work and joined their family at the fair! It was a small town event, but there was great food, great live music, and lots of places to play!

I spent some time with Zoe on the swings, while Aunt Stephanie fed Brooke and Marlee a supper of french fries and funnel cake! Yum!

She's perfectly chubby, right!? We were in the middle of a fashion show when this was taken! We are scheduled for our 1-year pictures on August 11, so I've been working on different outfits, matching shoes, and lots of BOWS! I can't wait to see how these pictures turn out! It will be Brooke's first photo session since she was 8 weeks old! Wish us luck!

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As you may have read on Meg's blog, our family welcomed yet another baby into the world on Sunday evening! My closest cousin, Stacie and her husband Noah (that I introduced her to, thank you very much!) finally got to meet their precious baby girl, Anna Kay, on Sunday, July 26 at 5:21pm!

Stacie has now been dubbed "Superwoman," and my friends, there is no one who fits that name better than Stacie!

It all started with a phone call from Stacie, who I lovingly refer to as Dee Dee, around lunch time on Saturday morning, the 25th. She said that she'd been contracting since about 9am and was super exciting, just hoping that this was it! She promised to keep the updates coming and that she would call if they decided to go into the hospital.

We texted periodically throughout the afternoon as her contractions got worse, and around 6:00pm, they decided to head to the hospital. She had dilated to 4cm already and was tolerating the pain very well! She was having steady contractions and the nurses predicted that baby Anna would arrive shortly after midnight!

The entire family prepared for Stacie's delivery! Noah's Mom traveled quickly from Maryland, Stacie's sister Stephanie had to back track all the way from Delaware as she was on her way to the beach! Everyone was ready...and waiting...and anxious!
I hardly slept all night - every hour I was checking my phone for news or the announcement or pictures of the precious baby! Nothing...

So I called Stephy, and she told me that NOTHING was happening! Stacie was still in labor! Over 24 hours later, she had stopped progressing... I decided to leave Brooke at home for the day and sit with my Uncle and cousin in the waiting room! Stacie was surrounded by love and prayers as she continued to labor well into the afternoon! Around 2:00pm (nearly 29 hours into her labor) we were given the announcement that Stacie was starting to push!! We thought we would hear Anna crying ANYTIME!

2 LONG hours passed - and still nothing! Finally, the midwife and doctor decided that the baby's head was angled in such a way that Stacie would never be able to push her out! Within 30 minutes, Stacie was in the operating room, awaiting a C-section and the first look at her baby girl!

I'll never forget seeing Brooke for the first time after she was born. Although I was a little groggy from the medication, I remember seeing her chubby little body squirming - her Daddy smiling at her - and then resting, before starting my life as a Mom! I'm so incredibly happy for Stacie and Noah! They worked so hard for this little angel, and now they're starting their lives as parents too!

When I returned home after spending 7 hours at the hospital, my Brookie seemed so big! I was sure to tell her, "Your best friend was born today!" She smiled, but I'm sure she doesn't realize how huge that day really was! Brooke is so lucky to be surrounded by so many other little people who love her! She'll be so close with Zoe, Marlee, Malaina, her boyfriend Caleb, and now Anna... I can only imagine how close she will be with my niece who will arrive September 30! I can only hope that Brooke will have relationships with these precious kids - in the same way that I love all of their Mommies!

I'm headed out to see Stacie this afternoon - take them some homemade goodies and more gifts! But for now, enjoy a few pictures of my new little lovey!

Anna Kay Miller

7lbs. 9 1/4oz. 21 in.

Your daily Brooke-fix...

So - I have a TON to catch my blogger friends up on from the past few days, but truly - my daughter doesn't sleep long enough for me to download pictures from my camera, upload them to blogger, then type the words of our lives -

You'll have to settle for an adorable video for now... Just a tiny bit of personality she has... Isn't she the best??

My last few posts needed pictures - here they are!

Enjoying a few rays of sun!

If looks could kill!

Bed-Head!

Marlee, sharing her toys with Brooke at camp!

Brooke's first bite of hot dog!

...the perfect picture to go with our "Dirt." post!

My baby girl in the hospital bed...

Bless her little heart!

Now that she's walking, she moves at the speed of light!

Checking out the back yard...

Swinging with Daddy!

Only a slight bit of yellow-ish bruising left on her head - not nearly as bad as we thought it would be!

And finally...

These are the first steps that I was able to catch on video -

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a walker!!

Fearless.

My sister's text message to me last night said it best. Brooke is positively fearless, and that's exactly why we ended up in the Lewistown Hospital Emergency Room for a few hours yesterday afternoon.

Honestly, I don't want to relive the story or even admit that it happened, but for the sake of remembering and hoping that we'll be able to laugh about this when we look back on it in 20 years, it went a little like this.

We were super excited for Monster Caleb's first birthday party yesterday! Brooke was 'dressed to kill,' because clearly, she had to look beautiful for her boyfriend - after all, the party guests will be her in-laws someday!
Zig and I were getting everything together to leave for the party - diaper bag, purse, Caleb's present - and honestly, we were rushing around a bit.
Zig was busy on the phone, so I loaded my arms as full as they could go with everything we needed, including Brooke.
We made our way to the garage. I sat her in the back seat of the car. I leaned away to put down the bags so I could strap her in the carseat. And she dove out of the car after me. Onto the concrete garage floor. On her head.

I don't need to go into detail about the 10 minutes that followed. Absolute hysterics, trying to get ice onto her head, trying to make our first emergency decision about whether or not to take her to the ER.
Within 10 minutes, the screaming had stopped, Brooke had sucked down a bottle and was ready for a nap. She was acting like herself, but she had the ugliest, biggest, and purplest goose egg on her forehead that I've ever seen. And since it was her head that she landed on, we decided not to take any chances. We called the pediatrician on-call and she directed us to head into the ER and have her checked out. And so we did.

Things went pretty smoothly for our hospital. We were immediately taken into triage, where they checked all of her vitals and asked a lot of questions - did she pass out? vomit? - Nope. Nope.
We were then taken back to an exam room to wait for the doctor to see her. While we waited, Brooke was walking around the ER, making friends, talking to passers-by, but was getting sleepy as it had been time to nap when this all happened.
When the doctor came to take a look at her, he suggested that, given the size of the goose egg, she should have a catscan to be sure that there were no problems with her scull or her brain.

The thought of something being wrong with her brain was enough to make me sick. And watching my 10 month old daughter being completely restrained in the catscan machine as she screamed for me, was enough to have me looking for a garbage can - I thought I was going to throw up. I'm trying so hard to forget the image of Brooke laying in the catscan machine, unable to move, and terrified. Zig couldn't even stay in the room with us, so I had to bear it all myself.

Luckily, the catscan came back fine and the doctor sent us home. We were smart to have taken her the ER. Head injuries are nothing to take lightly. She isn't old enough to tell us if she's feeling light-headed, or extra sleepy, or has blurry vision.

As the afternoon passed, the swelling in her head and eye went down and this morning when she woke up, all that was left was a purple circle - a little bigger than a golf ball - there to remind us of yesterday's events.

Needless to say, yesterday was probably the worst day of our lives.
Brooke is fine. Thank God. But, my mind can't help but relive the whole thing, wondering how different our day could have been if only... If only... But I guess that will only make me crazy.

Like Meg said, accidents happen, and Brooke is a fearless little girl. Although that can't change the bruises on her head, or the fact that she'll probably have the worst 'shiner' I've ever seen, we can chalk this up as a huge experience that we'll never forget - and that hopefully, will turn into something we can laugh about in years to come.

After all, doesn't every parent have one of those stories that goes a little something like...
"When you were a baby, your Mother dropped you from the ... and you landed on your head... and that's why you are the way you are..." Hardy har har.

Sometimes being fearless is a good thing. But yesterday, it was a little more than I could handle.
Lesson learned.

Dirt.

It's no secret that I'm a bit, shall we say, high maintenance. (No jokes, please!) My husband assures me that I'm not the kind of high maintenance that really bothers him or that gets in the way of every day tasks. He says, "Hunny, you're not exactly the type to be spontaneous and you certainly wouldn't leave the house without checking your make up." He's right, but at least I'm not that kind of girl that requires diamonds and tons of money to keep her happy! Welllll...no, nevermind!

I remember as a kid, standing back and watching as Stephy and Stacie got nice and dirty in their own back yard, only to wash it all off later in the pool. They weren't afraid to dig in the mud, or walk in stones in their bare feet, or get dirt under their fingernails. I was never wild about getting dirty. Call me a brat, a city girl, or just a girly-girl, I just wasn't big on having to wash the back yard off of myself at the end of the day. And I still can't walk in the stones in my bare feet.

It's been 3 summers since Zig and I traveled across this great country in a motorhome. We spent 16 days and nights living in the motorhome, traveling from state to state, visiting the most beautiful places on this earth. I learned a lot about myself on that trip. I learned that I like to be clean. I like to have my hair done and my make up on. I learned that I need to shower every day. I especially like modern conveniences like running water, flushing toilets, and a comfy king-sized bed. Is that a sin? Maybe to some, but it's the truth about Libby. And I guess that's alright.


This all leads me to the title of this post - and a very funny story from yesterday.
Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Scub are camping with the girls in Greenwood - a local state park, much like Poe Valley where I spent most of my 'camping' years. They bought Gram and Pap Wray's camper and are already making good use out of it as they are camping this entire week! They have everything you could think of, from great food to toys for the girls. Zoe is making friends and spending her days at the playground - only to return for meals and bedtime!

So when Stephanie invited us to come out for a night or two this week, she made sure to tell me to "wear old clothes on Brooke." Hmmm. Old clothes. Clothes that can get dirty. Hmmm. I had to laugh- really laugh, because Brooke honestly does not have any clothes in her current 12 month size that are old, or hand-me-downs, or already stained and dirty! And just imagine - my baby doll of a daughter, who normally sports big pink bows and shoes to match each outfit, in old dirty clothes!
When it was time to get changed to head to the campground, I pulled out some capris so that her knees would be covered for crawling, and kept her in the pink Gap onesie she had been wearing, and found a pair of shoes to cover her toes form the dirt. I giggled the whole time I dressed her, thinking of how everyone was going to tease us for not having her in 'old clothes.'

We arrived at camp, loving the environment of campers, playing children, a lake to swim, and the smell of camp fires...
I really had to contain my laughter when cousin Zoe came to greet Brooke - she smothered her with love, hugs, and kisses. Then she looked at me. And looked back and Brooke. She said "Aunt Libby, is Brooke wearing old clothes?" I said, "That's about as old as they get, hunny!" She said, "Well, they look clean." I said, "Yep, they're clean, but they CAN get dirty."

And dirty they did get.
And I loved it!

It took Brooke a little while to get 'down and dirty.' She watched Marlee play in the stones and crawl around the camp site with zero fear. They make such good playmates! They share toys and their binks - and they teach each other their skills!

We spent the entire evening, right up until bedtime, walking Brooke around the site, showing her everything there was to see! We greatly enjoyed visiting with Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Scub, Zoe and Marlee, and Jenn and Mike too! Aunt Stephanie even made Brooke her first camp fire hot dog! She loved it! I had been holding off on the hot dogs - just because they're hot dogs. But we gave it a try last night and she was a big fan! She ate almost half of it and washed it down with some iced tea and cantaloupe! Goodness! What a night!

I loved watching Brooke play, and visit with her special family members!
And even though most people will read this post and laugh at me - I have enjoyed laughing at myself lately, and watching my daughter experience the world and so many 'firsts.'

Her first hot dog, her first cantaloupe, her first camper experience, her first dirt. The bath tub was filthy after her tub last night, and I had to peel a layer of Greenwood dirt out of her digging fingers, but truly, how much better does it get?

Birthday Madness!

This time last year, it seemed like the craziest baby-boom of the century!

Between me and my sister, we had 3 friends expecting baby's all at the same time - and so, we've been celebrating many 1st birthdays around here!

A very HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY baby Delaney on July 9th!

A very HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY to our favorite Monster, Caleb, today, July 15th!

Brooke's future husband!

A very HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY baby Lila on July 17!

We can't forget a few other very special people!
Amanda celebrated a birthday on the 12th and Brooke's favorite Aunt Meg is celebrating today!
Pappy Fred's birthday is today too!

I'm telling you - it's birthday craziness around here!

Happy Birthday, everyone! We are so blessed to have you in our lives!

Like Mommy - like daughter! I think she likes shopping for Vera's just as much as I do!

10 month birthday - we had to look pretty!

...and being happy always helps!

Standing all by herself - she does a lot of this lately!

What a beauty!

We had a great family weekend!

Friday night - Brooke stayed with Nana and Pap while Zig and I enjoyed going out for a birthday supper with Brandon and Amanda. We always love spending time with them and we aren't able to do it as often as we used to...so we really enjoyed spending a few adult hours together!

On Saturday, we all woke up super early (Brooke's fault!) and began our day full of yard work! Even though we've owned our house for 3 years now, we're still doing lots of work and changing things to make it exactly how we want it! Zig wanted to fix up some landscaping work, trim some shrubs, cut down about 9 trees (!!!), and pull/kill all the weeds that love to grow on our property!

Zig worked hard for most of the day, but the yard looks great, and we're happy with the changes we've made! Now all that's left (in our 5 year plan) is closing in the patio to make it our family room and creating a new patio space off of the garage. Yikes...

Saturday afternoon, when the work was all done, we made a flying trip to the mall to get Daddy a new pair of sneakers. He needed them badly, and Brooke was such a good girl the whole time! Overall, a good trip to State! (We also saw a whole group of Penn State football players...so cool!)

Saturday evening, we spent some time at our friend's house just up the road. Matt and Jenn have been friends of Zig's most of his life, and they've graciously accepted me and Brooke as part of the clan. We got to play with Halle and Max for a little while before heading home for tub and bed!

Sunday = church, lunch, naps, supper on the patio as a family of 3, and a drive in the country with some Dairy Queen! Yum!

Brooke has been sleeping so much better these days! She still awakes a few times just to make sure we're still around, but she is definitely improving!

She is sporting 6 total teeth now, which are certainly to blame for the 3 weeks of hardly any sleep - so we're happy to see some improvement in that area!

In the 'MOVIN' department, she's quite the stepper lately! We practice every day! I love to walk with her, hold her little hand, and take a stroll around the house or the yard together! She's just so sweet! She loves to walk from Mommy to Daddy, and we always try to put more and more distance between us so she really has to work hard - and she does! She giggles and squeals and is so proud of herself!

I keep trying to catch these moments on the video camera, but those of you who are Moms know exactly why I'm having trouble with that...so I'll keep trying!

Big week for us this week! This summer is flying by!

~Today, we are baking a batch of Daddy's favorite cookies and going to Nana and Pap's after supper to visit one of our favorite family friends, Lana! We can't wait!

~Tomorrow, we are going to State College with Leah and Caleb to help with Caleb's 1-year photographs!

~Wednesday is Aunt Meg's AND Caleb's birthday! I'd really like to get into school to work for a few hours, and in the evening, we're taking Brooke to Greenwood to visit Uncle Scub, Aunt Stephanie, and cousins Zoe and Marlee! They're camping there all week and we're going for a yummy camp meal with them!

~Thursday, I have a dentist appointment, and I might head back into school to work some more!

~Friday, Aunt Meg and Josh are coming to visit! We're planning on loading her up with all of Brooke's baby stuff - for my little niece who will be here before we know it! We also have a birthday party to attend Friday evening, so we'll have to juggle some things around to make the whole day work!

~Saturday is Caleb's 1st birthday party! I am so excited to spend the day with his family and little friends! (and take notes about how to get through a big 1st birthday party!!)

~Sunday, Grammy Kathy is coming for a patio supper with us! We haven't seen her for a while, so it will be nice to visit!

Like I said, we have a big week coming up!

Fill in some of those blanks with learning to walk, talk, getting more teeth, and playing 'til we can't even stay awake a minute longer, and you've got yourself a great week!

Double Digits!

It's exactly 9:02 am as I create this post - exactly 10 months to the minute since my precious girl came into our world! (Looking like this...)

My wildest dreams wouldn't have ever been able to prepare me for the path of motherhood! Being Brooke's Mommy for the last 10 months has been the greatest challenge of my life! Unfortunately, I'm not one of those Mommies who can HONESTLY (because I don't think all Mom's are being honest when they say it) say that I've enjoyed every single second of having a baby...it's been tough. Really tough. But I'm extremely grateful for these 'birthdays' that come each month, to be reminded of the day that we met Brooke.

I'll never forget begging for a C-section after struggling with back labor for hours and hours.

I'll never forget the fact that I didn't sleep for a single second the night I spent in the hospital, still pregnant. I passed the hours getting to know my nurse, Jenn, who was the mother of one of my students waiting for me at IVMS.

I'll never forget sending Zig home for breakfast at 7:00am - minutes before Jenn came running down the hall screaming for me to 'get him back'-we were headed to the OR in minutes!

I'll never forget my fear of the spinal - which turned out to be like Heaven - truly.

I'll never forget looking up at Zig as he waited to hear our daughter's first cry - and seeing his face when he saw her for the first time! He looked at her. Then looked at me. "Hunny, she's big!" he said. Wow...

With God's help, and the support of our family and friends, we've survived the first 10 months as parents. Lord willing, we'll survive forever - being Brooke's parents.

We're doing the best we know how to do... We love her with our whole hearts... She's the most important part of our lives - and the best thing to come from my love for Zig.

Happy 10 month Birthday, Brookie Cookie! Mommy and Daddy love you SOOOO much!

And now, my friends, I'll start planning her 1st Birthday PARTY! WOOO-HOOOO!!!!

Home Sweet Home! (Full of pictures!)

Home Sweet Home!
Since our trip to Benezette was literally my first time away from home (overnight, at least!) since we brought Brooke home from the hospital, I'd say it was definitely time for a vacation! And what a time we had!

It wasn't the classic 'beach with warm weather, sunshine, bathing suits, boardwalk, eating-out' kind of vacation... but honestly, it couldn't have been better for our family!

Head over to my sister's site for a beautifully written log of our time spent together - and enjoy our collage of pictures!

Winslow Meadow Lodge! Where the elk roam through the front yard!

Doesn't look quite like we were "roughin' it," does it?

The boys spent every evening in the hot tub!

Brooke with Pap - watching for elk...

The first 2 days were spent mostly indoors - it was a little chilly and damp for the kids!

Brooke loves her big cousin!

One of my most favorite places to be - near a camp fire!

Aunt Meg was so happy to get some cuddle time with her 'pretty girl!'

Josh's first S'more!

My campin' man!

Zig took such good care of us all weekend!

He kept the fire going, cooked breakfast two mornings, and even helped make our family's famous filling balls for our Saturday evening feast!

I love him...

Yankee Doodle Sweetheart!

My 'skinny-minny's' first time in a pool!

I'm sorry to say that Zig and I gave in...

Brooke slept two of the three nights in our bed while in Benezette!

She hardly slept at all while we were there - and it seemed the only way to keep her asleep was to lay her with us in bed... Oh dear!

I still find it hard to believe that we are a family of 3!

...just after walking backwards, directly into the pool! Feet in the air!

He's the best!

He took everything in!

What an amazing weekend we had!

I'm so thankful to my parents for putting this whole trip together!

My dad is already talking about doing it again next summer! How cool!