family photos

This is from the family photo shoot we did in October. We took these up at USU. I will really miss campus when we move next year. Some of the photos are a bit washed out-- but we are playing with the lighting on photoshop before we print them.

Sammi was a big help by being our photographer :)

This is a photo project I am making Brent do-- These are some trees in Providence that I fell in love with when we were dating. I want a picture of them in every season  :)

6 months old

Brooks is 6 months old-- I have not updated our blog in ages, so this will be a lot of pictures and thoughts on all things Brooks. Please excuse some of the instagram/cellphone pics.

Brooks is a smart little boy. He loves seeing new things and then figuring out how to get his hands on whatever it is. Everyday he surprises me with new skills.

Here is Brooks at 6 months. He loves the camera

Sleeping:
Brooks goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 each night. We listen to him jabber, coo and gurgle himself to sleep each night. He usually sleeps through the night without any problems, although recent adventures in teething have upset that pleasant aspect of our lives. Every morning we get Brooks up at 7 so he and Daddy can drive me out to work. Brent and I wake Brooks up by singing to him and he always has a big smile. We bundle Brooks up and put him in his car seat, usually he falls back to sleep. If we let him sleep in he would sleep til 9 (he is totally my son).

Brooks bundled up in his car seat.

Playing:

The best part of my day comes when I get off of work and get to spend time with my boys. Fridays are my favorite. I get off of work at 1:30 and get to spend the whole afternoon with my little guy. His favorite game to play is peek-a-boo. His favorite toys are his stuffed tigger and a $5 mirror from walmart turned on its side. 

Mom and Brooks playing on Friday afternoon. 

Eating:

Brooks has been a trooper when it comes to eating. With my work schedule we have had to split his milk between breast milk and formula. He has never been picky. He will drink warm milk or cold milk. We started feeding him rice cereal at 4 months. He liked it right away. Then we started on the baby food. We started with green beans (not a big hit) he liked squash and sweet potatoes. He loves carrots too. We started giving him fruits this week. So far pears and apples have been big successes. Brooks is a messy eater. He loves to blow raspberries while eating. Dinner is always followed by a bath. (Usually for me too as I often end up with food in my hair.)

Brooks enjoying some pears. We usually give him his own spoon to hold because he gets so excited while eating he grabs at everything in front of him. 

Crawling: Brooks has never been one to sit still. As a newborn he lifted his head up and looked around. 2 weeks after his 4 month appointment Brooks began his army crawling. He shuffled across the floor faster than any of us thought possible. Brooks is an adventurous little guy. He would shuffle right out the room without looking back to see where mom or dad was. At 6 months Brooks began lifting his tummy off the floor in a more traditional crawl. When something catches his eye he hustles over to grab it.

Brooks loves our stereo. He crawls over 40 times a day and pushes the buttons until he hears the sounds of
N*SYNC Christmas.

Daddy's Boy:

Brooks is a definite Daddy's boy. Brent is a stay-at-home dad this year, while I am teaching full time. Brooks wants to be just like his daddy. He mimics all of the noises Brent makes and his funny faces too. Brent is very sweet with Brooks. I can already tell these two are going to be a lot a like.

Brooks and Brent wearing matching ties to church. We bought this tie for our nephew Corgan to wear to our wedding. We borrowed all of Corgan's baby clothes and this was in there. Brent put on his wedding tie to match. 

Cousins:Brooks has 3 cousins. All of his cousins are boys. Brooks loves to play with his cousins.

Granny holding Brooks, Corgan and Greyson at a BYU basketball game. Brooks was in a bad mood-- but he usually loves to be around Corgan and Greyson, (my brother Justin's two little ones.) Corgan is great at getting Brooks to smile. He likes to take turns holding him. Greyson is always very helpful at finding toys for Brooks. He also calls him "Beeks"

Brooks with Tanner. Tanner is Brent's sister, Michon's, little boy. He is 3 months younger than Brooks. Brooks likes to smile at him and loves trying to eat him. I am sure they will be great friends.

Basketball:
While Brent has always been a big basketball fan, so far Brooks is not. His first ever basketball game was a Pleasant Grove High School girl's  game. He cried every time the buzzer went off. He also screamed through the BYU game (see above). Brent is hoping he will overcome this someday.

Brooks at the PGHS girls game. This is the face he made every time the buzzer went off. 

Brent with Brooks before tip off--- He didn't mind being there at first :)

Shoes:

Brent is a bit of a shoe junky, just see his twitter account for exhibit A. 90% of his posts are shoe related. Brooks has definitely inherited his father's love of shoes. I will set him on the ground with all sorts of toys and he will beeline straight for any shoes. When people visit he is mesmerized by their shoes. He loves trying to eat them. For Halloween we decided to play off of our family love of shoes. Brent and I went as Footlocker employees and Brooks was a Jordan XI.

Halloween 2012-- Brent and Katie as Footlocker employees. Brooks as a Jordan XI

Social:
Brooks is very outgoing and friendly. Whenever we are around new groups of people he grins like crazy. He is a big flirt, especially with the little girls at church. People often stop me in public places to comment on how outgoing, sweet, smiley, and happy my little guy is. He loves to meet new people. While many children are afraid of Santa, he lit up when he got to sit on his lap.

Christmas 2012-- Brooks siting on Santa's lap. We had to take him back when he started pulling on Santa's beard. 

Family:
6 months ago Brooks became a part of our family, but I really cannot remember life without him. He has fit so perfectly into our lives. This may just be me being a proud momma, but he really is the perfect baby. Sure he fusses sometimes and the new teeth he got this week have been a bit challenging, but overall he is a very sweet and happy baby. He is energetic and fun. He sleeps and eats great. He keeps us on our toes and makes us laugh all day long. Happy 6 months Brooks!

Learning Curve

I am sure that everyone who has a new baby has dealt with the crazy schedules, the lack of sleep and the steep learning curve. Being a mom is definitely a new challenge for me. I have been in school since I was 5 and working jobs since I was 17. Suddenly I am home with an infant all day. It is the most rewarding thing I have ever done and also the most difficult.

Last week I was feeling frustrated at my messy house, disheveled hair and late utilities bill. I am usually much more organized than this. This weekend put things into perspective.

On Sunday morning I took Brent to the ER, he was having a lot of pain. Turns out it was a complication from a surgery he had as an infant. He was in the hospital for 2 days/1night. I ran back and forth between home and the hospital so I could feed Brooks and get updates on Brent. We were worried he would need surgery, but thankfully he was able to come home Monday night.

Brent tweeting from his hospital bed. I made sure not to give him his phone until after he was done taking morphine. 

I am grateful for all of the friends and family who helped us out for those two days. I do not know how single moms do it. It was a crazy couple of days. Brent seems to have made a full recovery. He feels great. 

Today we spent a perfect afternoon laying on the lawn. Brent studied for his MCAT, I did some work on my computer and Brooks napped. My house was still a mess, my hair was still disheveled, and the utilities bill was overdue... but we are loving life.

Thanks to my boss for this awesome umbrella, perfect for outside time.

Brent making faces at me

T-minus 1 week to the actual MCAT

 This whole parenting thing is really great. We are loving it. And when I get frustrated I have found a new treat to help out :) love love love the chocolate.

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3.5 weeks

Brooks is almost one month old. I cannot believe how fast time has gone. I am planning on printing our blog off as a baby book for Brooks eventually, so I am going to be including lots of pictures and details about our little boy. 

Brooks is a chill little guy. He really only fusses when he is hungry or gassy. 

He loves to have his hands under his chin. Whenever he falls asleep he puts his arms up there (unless he is being swaddled). I think it is pretty adorable. 

When Brooks cries he squeaks a lot. This is one of our middle of the night cry sessions. Once he eats he goes right back to sleep. Such a good baby.

Brooks hates when we start to swaddle him, but as soon as we pull it tight, he relaxes. He loves it. He usually dozes off right after we swaddle him. When he is swaddled we call him our little burrito.

As new parents one thing we are learning is that going places takes a whole lot longer. We have to feed him, change him and get him dressed. Usually part way through he gets his outfit messy and we start over. He does not like being put in the car seat, but once we give him the binky and monkey he doesn't mind.

Brooks is very strong. He holds his head up and looks around. He kicks incredibly hard (I think he cracked one of my ribs before he was born). He can already roll himself on to his side when we lay him down. 

Brooks' favorite thing to do is snuggle with daddy. This is my favorite picture of him so far because it is easy to see how much he and Brent look alike. 

Brooks takes a lot of naps everyday. We are using Babywise to get him on a good sleep/eating schedule. So far it is working well. 

I can already tell Brooks has a fun personality. I cannot wait for him to learn to smile and talk and walk so we can see more of it. 

Brooks' First Week

We are a bit camera happy right now. We took hundreds of pictures of Brooks this week. Here are a few dozen of my favorites.

**Remember we are first time parents and we have a really cute baby, so don't judge. 

Our first family portrait. 

Daddy giving Brooks his first bath. 

Admiring his squishy face.

Watching the Thunder-Lakers game with daddy. 

I cannot get over how cute he is.

He did not like the car seat at first.

Once we got the blanket on him he didn't mind it anymore.

Brooks with his Granny Reeves

Brooks with Grandma and Grandpa Pickett

Brent showing Brooks off to our nephews, Corgan and Greyson. They were not allowed to come back, which made me very sad.  Corgan said he thinks Brooks looks like a kitty.

Home Sweet Home. Brent gave Brooks the grand tour of the house.

His first bath at home. Brooks does not like baths, but he loves having his hair washed.

Brent's favorite part of being a dad is snuggling in the love sac. 

Thank goodness for Skype! Corgan and Greyson skyped with us a couple of times this week. One day Corgan told his mom, Ashley, that Brooks wanted to see all of his animals. So he showed Brooks all of his animal toys over Skype. I am so glad Brooks has such great older cousins. I am excited for them to be good friends. 

Granny Reeves got Brooks a little monkey rattle and he LOVES it!

and now for some close ups: