Who knew

so, since entering the mommy world, i have discovered my inner crafty side.  i think i have always been creative, but i wouldn't say crafty.   but you should see me now!

with thanks to debby chapin for the inspiration, i recently embarked on a big craft undertaking - a felt playhouse that i thought would be fun for little brooks as he gets older.  with some adaptation to our own interests and love of sailing and the ocean, i decided to make him a playhouse "boat."  at first, i thought i would make it for brooks for his 1st birthday coming up next month.  then it seemed more daunting and i figured it would be done sometime next year. 

but then i got started and had so much fun that i couldn't stop cutting, sewing, and gluing it together!  less than a week later...done!  take a look...

i can't wait for brooks to really play with it and in it.  some of the fish have velcro, can be moved around and are plush like little toys. 

I had so much fun with this project i can't wait to figure out what's next.  i think all my yaers planning and working have found a mesh with being a stay at home mom.  i love feeling productive and having something to show for the cumulative hours that are "nap time."

Merry Christmas to all

Christmas morning opening presents - his first puzzle from Great Aunt Terena nad Uncle Julian in Canada

New Golf clubs!  He just wields them around like weapons right now but just wait!

Brooks's new rocking "horse" from Ray & Anne in Atlanta.  He loves it!

Our Christmas folly (really just mine)...We ran out of room in the fridge for veggies on Christmas Eve, so i put the pots out in the snow to stay cold.  At <10 degrees, this is what we opened up on Christmas morning.  As Richard said, "What exactly did you expect?!?"

Yum Yum - We enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner with Dave, Sarah & Elliott McDaniel too!

11 months on Christmas Eve

Ringing in 11 months on Christmas Eve was really fun.  Brooks put on his vintage "Peanuts Christmas" shirt and had a blast opening his first present and celebrating with Nana and Grandpa Phil. 

This month may have been the most eventful yet with lots of new endeavors for our little guy.  To top the list is certainly the crawling!  He is unstoppable and i'm not sure why we were in such a hurry to get here!  Brooks certainly is cute though when he plays peek a boo around a corner or door and follows you quickly from room to room. 

Brooks also started pulling up on tables, chairs and toys and seems to like playing more independently with his toys.  He loves any toy with doors or flaps and gets excited when he figures out how to open and close them.  Unfortunately for us, this also translates into enjoying opening and closing every other cabinet and drawer in our house!

the "photo shoot" had one funny low moment when i wouldn't let Brooks out of his chair!  we quickly recovered.

Brooks's favorite game of Christmas - pulling the dishtowels off the stove

Checking out his presents and ornaments - Brooks especially liked the picture ornaments of Richard as a little boy.

Merry Christmas Nana

Dallas christmas

Choo Choo! All Aboard! 

Last weekend we boarded the Dallas Christmas Train for a great few days in Texas with family and friends.  Since Richard has to work on Christmas, we celebrated with the Fuquays a week early.  Brooks had a wonderful visit with Mimi, Grandad and Uncle Neill.  We went to Burger House, saw the Trains at Northpark, and visited with many friends and extended family. 

Mount Rushmore at the Northpark Trains

Brooks also got his first two Thomas trains for Christmas from Santas in Dallas.

Merry Christmas Grandad!

Great Grandmama visited twice while we were in town and loved seeing little Brooks

The "Santa Parade" with all of Mimi's santas

more firsts for little brooks

Every first time mother wants to experience all the "firsts" that come with a little one. Well, after spending part of every day of Brooks's little life with him, he decided that a good time to start crawling would be the first night I wasn't in the house!  yeah for daddy and what a fun surprise to come home to last Sunday after a great weekend at Wyldlife Snow Camp!
This is our first attempt at video, so I hope it worked!

This last week has also been fun getting ready for Christmas, taking Brooks to pick out his first tree (it was about 8 degrees outside!), and decorating the house bit by bit.



Merry Christmas!

10 months

We never can seem to get the new pictures up on the 24th, but hey, we're close.  Another month has flown by and as you can tell from these pictures, we have quite a little ham on our hands!  Brooks is getting more personality every day, and we think he's pretty funny!

He is "talking" all the time - da da da da and ba ba ba ba are his favorite phrases, and he especially loves when we say it back to him.  This month he has been working on holding his bottle by himself, eating more finger foods like cheerios and soft fruit and veggies, and the ever-elusive crawling!  That big belly just sticks to the ground as Brooks rolls and spins around all over the house.  He has no trouble getting where he wants to go, but hasn't quite figured out how to get up on his knees.

This month Brooks and I also took a trip to Dallas to visit Mimi and Grandad Fuquay.  We had so much fun!  Brooks has also moved to his big boy car seat and seems to enjoy not being so squished! 

a lover and a fighter

as most of you who follow our silly little family blog know, we usually keep it light and funny and try to focus on brooks and our adventures in colorado.  but today our hearts are heavy and our house is sad. 

five and a half years ago, on a whim, i decided to get a dog - a cute, fluffy, white little dog - arnold palmer, or arnie as everyone knows him.  my roommates were gracious and richard (my boyfriend at the time) helped me pick him up, put together his first crate and take care of him from day one.

over the years, we loved arnie for the crazy, energetic dog that he was and also had many moments of frustration with him as he did silly things that we couldn't understand.  while he loved us so well, licking us every chance he had, he always had a part of him that we couldn't get under control, a scared and aggressive little dog, that would come up unexpectantly once in a while.  even after working with trainers and dog whisperers for the last few years, arnie bit one of our neighbors on friday afternoon coming home from a walk.  we had seen such improvemnt in his behavior, but as our trainer told us on saturday, his problem isn't going to be something we can fix. she commended us on our work with arnie and the loving home we gave him.  after much thought, converstaion, and tears we decided that the best and safest thing for our family was to put arnie to sleep. 

thank you to all of you out there who loved arnie over the years.  we spent the weekend remembering old stories of him, fun trips he had taken and the countless things he had eaten that he shouldn't have.  we want to remember the loving and licking dog that brought so much joy and laughter to our house and we pray that wherever arnie is now, he is not anxious or scared or sad. 

Arnie's 1st christmas in Denver - he loved the 3 feet of snow we had for much of the winter!

Arnie loved having more dogs at our house, but always wanted to take their beds instead of his own. 

Arnie on a hike at Cherry Creek Resevoir

Arnie hiking and playing in the water at Booth Falls in Vail, CO.

Arnie on his first and only 14er.

Arnie and Xander

Arnie and Brooks - lots of kisses all the time!

we miss him already.