Brookslanding

Blue Song

2009-01-06T16:00:00.003-06:00

Over the Christmas break, Davis and I got accustomed to doing his bedtime routine together. This story starts during one of those nights, right after we had read his books. I started to sing to him "Hey Davis", which is adapted from the song "Hey Baby" (popularized by the AU Marching Band).

Me: "Hey...hey...Davis...I want to know...if you'll be my boy..."

Davis: "Daddy, sing 'blue song'."

Me: "Uhhh...Daddy doesn't know the blue song."

Davis: "Sing 'blue song', please."

Me: (a little worried that not singing the right 'blue song' might hinder the bedtime routine) "Can you sing it for me?"

Davis: "Daddy sing it."

Me: (wondering if he heard it on a CD, at the library, in Sunday School, at MOPS, or anywhere in between, and now EVERYONE knows the Blue Song but daddy. So, after a frantic moment, I sang the first 'blue song' that popped into my head...)

"BLUE...MOON...I saw you standing alone..."

Davis: (sticks his thumb in his mouth, leans back, closes his eyes, and has this look on his face that says: "Ah, yes...the Blue Song. Just as I remembered it--very nice. Now I can go night-night in peace.")

So if you are ever at our house at bedtime, and you hear me singing "Blue Moon" to my eldest son, you'll know why.

Our 6th Anniversary!

2008-12-31T20:38:00.005-06:00

As of December 28th Dan and I have been married for 6 years! Where does the time go?? For our anniversary this year we took off on a 3 day get away to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It was incredibly refreshing and fun to just have some time to spend together without kids. My Mom, Dad and sister all worked together to take care of Davis and Isaac. Thanks SO much!!!We rented a cabin less then a mile from downtown Gatlinburg! Here we are celebrating our 6 years!

Our cabin!

Our first night there we went to the Black Bear Jamboree dinner show. I picked the show we went to and my goal was to experience a fun singalong and kinda cheesy show. Well, it was all of that and more! We really enjoyed it!

Both mornings we were there we ate at a place called The Pancake Pantry. We had to wait in line both days but it was totally worth the wait! YUM!!

Though we were excited to see our kiddos when we got home, we can't wait for next years trip!

Merry Christmas 2008

2008-12-31T20:19:00.002-06:00

We were thrilled to have Dan's brother Rob and his wife Melody come visit for Christmas! It was an incredibly special time as we celebrated Jesus being born and all the traditions that come along! Here Davis is with them Christmas morning!

Happy Isaac on his first Christmas!

It was so much fun to watch Davis open up his gifts. He became so excited with each one!

Isaac loved spending time with his Aunt Melody!

" Real men grill on an open fire" could be one of the themes from Christmas weekend. Here are our manly men grilling us some delicious steaks!

Merry Christmas!

Happy 2nd Birthday Davis

2008-12-24T22:52:00.003-06:00

Over the last 2 years Davis has brought so much joy to our family. Dan and I have been reminiscing about some of our many, many favorite memories and events/milestones that have happened in Davis's life over the last 12 months. Here are a few!

1. Davis began to walk! Now he is running, chasing and jumping

2. Davis has become quite the conversationalist. He went from only saying "mama and dada" and from "quack quack" being anything that he saw in the air, to now he is saying 4 word sentences and can count to ten! Two of my favorite phrases include "Mommy hold you" and "Chase you"... In both he means "me" instead of "you." He also loves to wave and say "hi daddy" "hi mommy" "hi grandma" without being prompted. SO cute!

3. He has become such a big boy in how he interacts with people. When you see him he might ask you for a "high five," "big ten," "knuckles," "double knuckles," "fist bump," or "thumbs up." These actions are thanks to some of our neighborhood boys who spend time with him, even though he is many years younger then them.

4. Some of Davis's favorite things to do over the last year have been to swim, read, toss and throw balls, have pictures and movies taken of him, draw, dance to music, go to library story time and see "Miss Maggie," and get cookies at the grocery store.

5. Some of his favorite songs have been Hakuna Matata, War Eagle Fly Field (as he would say!!) Away Manger, Rocketship Run, and the Lady Song (which is the Brady Bunch theme song.)

6. He loves to eat macky (any kind of pasta), grapes, oranges (sometimes with sometimes without seeds.) and doesn't seem to be able to wake up in the morning until he has had his morning juice.

7. He loves being a big brother and is now quite wonderful at sharing with Isaac, though sometimes that means that Isaac gets things piled all over him... :)

8. Davis sometimes seems like the spiritual leader of the family as he often will want to pray several times at a meal, and will list off his aunts and uncles and other folks to pray for... what a precious little guy.

One thing that has remained the same is that "pup pup" is still his favorite stuffed animal and that he sucks his thumb to go to sleep...

We love our little Davis so much. Sometimes I look at him and just think that I don't want him to grow up anymore. Can't he just stay little forever?? Then I remember all of the special things that he can do now that he used to not be able to do and it seems alright for him to keep learning, exploring and growing more and more into the person God would have him become.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Davis!

We love you!

I'm linking his previous birthdays below for anyone who would like a stroll down memory lane about our cutie!!

Davis's Birth

Davis's First Birthday

P.S. Davis climbed his first tree today. :)

Grinnell Family Christmas 2008

2008-12-21T20:10:00.003-06:00

This weekend we celebrated Christmas with the Grinnell side of the family. What a special time it was! I'm really tired, so my comments under these pictures might seem really random, but here they are anyway!!

Merry Christmas from Isaac and Davis! This picture was taken "Christmas morning"

Check out me in my high chair! I loved sitting at the table with everybody!

I LOVE playing guitar with my Uncle David... don't we both look so relaxed?!

Davis was extremely tired Christmas day after being up for much of the night. He slept hard for his nap and didn't even wake up when I went in to take this picture. :)

Cheese! Davis loves his new vest from Grandma and Gramps. He says it is Molly on the front!

Dan and Davis exploring something while Uncle David and Aunt Laura take their engagement pictures!

Davis and Isaac have the most fun grandparents! Here they are swinging together!

Birthday party number 2! Davis celebrated with Grandma who turned 54 on the 19th! (am I allowed to tell your age, Mom??)

Uncle David and Aunt Annie helping us celebrate!

Scruffy LOVES sleeping under the tree...

Tummy Time

2008-12-19T12:44:00.002-06:00

One area that I have felt "less then wonderful" in parenting has been tummy time. Isaac is 5 months and is not pushing up on his stomach to lift his head very much or turning over because I don't give him much practice! He screams during tummy time if he is directly on the floor but does much better on one of these pillows. For the last couple of weeks we've been more consistent at it. Here he is with his big brother helping him! With Davis smiling at him he doesn't mind as much! I love our boys!

The Elmo Santa

2008-12-16T12:17:00.002-06:00

Being part of our life group at church is a lot of fun and has been one of the main ways that we have connected here in Madison!

At our Christmas party last week we all brought things from our homes that we didn't need/want anymore to exchange instead of buying something, and this "beautiful" Christmas decoration was the favorite. Now he is traveling from home to home. :)

He landed on our front doorstep for a visit to our house after visiting several other friends... Davis thought the Santa should have an Elmo head so we changed it out. He used to be called Edward but now he is Elmo! He was only able to stay for a short time before we needed to pass him onto a more worthy family. :)

If you want more history on this tradition check out Alison's blog!

Happy 5 Month Birthday Isaac!

2008-12-14T20:43:00.002-06:00

Our little boy is 5 months old today! What is happening to the time?? He is one of the most happy, smiley guys you'll ever meet!

Swinging is fun as long as big brother isn't pushing me too hard!

Oh Christmas Tree!

2008-12-13T14:50:00.002-06:00

We recieved a package from some dear friends of ours yesterday. Davis was anxious to open the package and put our first presents under the tree. As I handed him each package ( I was in the kitchen and couldn't see what he was doing!) I asked him to put them under the tree. After they were all there, I went in to the living room to admire his work. The presents were all nestled on the lower branches of the tree! How was Davis supposed to know what "under the tree meant?" I thought it was just about one of the cutest things ever and the presents are still there, right where he left them yesterday.

Davis's First Bike

2008-12-11T13:34:00.004-06:00

For Davis's second birthday he received his first bike. He was incredibly excited, but I think it was mostly about the Sesame Street helmet. He watches the big boys in our neighborhood ride their bikes and has been talking about "bikes" and "helmets." I'm so glad that the older kids in our neighborhood set really great examples by making it very cool to wear helmets!

For 3 days straight Davis wanted to eat in his helmet, play in his helmet, do everything in his helmet. The only time we made him take it off was to sleep.

He still can't pedal the trike, but he is trying and doesn't like for us to help him. He wants to "do it self" as he would say! I think in the next few weeks we'll have a toddler taking off in the driveway and doing circles in the culdesac!

Congratulations David and Laura!

2008-12-08T21:00:00.002-06:00

I just have to share our very exciting family news that my little brother is getting married!! He and Laura (my wonderful future sister-in-law!) became engaged Sunday night and will be getting married on July 18th! We are thrilled and can't wait for her to be officially "Aunt Laura." She has felt like part of our family for a long time and we love her very much!

The future Mr. and Mrs. Grinnell!! (and precious Sadie!)

Davis celebrates his 2nd Birthday!

2008-12-06T20:50:00.004-06:00

This past Saturday we had Birthday Party #1 for Davis. :) He'll also be celebrating his birthday with the Grinnell side of the family in a couple of weeks and we'll have a cake with a few of our neighbors on the actual day. While most folks with December b-days often may feel that their day wasn't special, we hope Davis feels celebrated!

On Saturday we invited over several of our friends with little munchkins for a birthday breakfast! It was a ton of fun, I didn't take a lot of pictures, but here are a couple! I'll post him riding his first bike (trike) soon!

Davis and his "birthday pancake." We had his favorite fruits for this 9am celebration-- grapes and oranges!

Thanksgiving Card Extras

2008-12-05T07:40:00.000-06:00

We recently sent out our annual Thanksgiving card*. Although the card had our favorite family picture, we thought you might like to see some of the other pictures that were taken at the same photo shoot.

*If you didn't get your Thanksgiving card, please let us know. We lost many of the addresses during our move from the Philippines, so if you haven't gotten yours by now, give us your address, and we'll send it out to you as soon as we can!

"Jingle Bells"

2008-12-04T13:19:00.003-06:00

I've been attending a wonderful program for Moms of Preschoolers called MOPS. It has been a great way to meet other Moms with little ones and also gives me a break since they have a kids program for little ones and nursery for Isaac! (9:30 till 12pm 2 times a month!) Yippee!!

This morning the kids sang for us. Davis was extremely enthusiastic about singing. Before we left he was all about saying "jingle bells" and "away manger" as we had been practicing those songs. OK, well, practicing equals me singing the songs and Davis dancing.

As you can see in the video, he has got some moves!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-02T07:19:00.005-06:00

For Thanksgiving we went to Callaway Gardens, where my parents had rented a cabin for all of us to stay in! The entire Grinnell side of our family was there and we enjoyed catching up, eating way to much yummy food, and being outside a lot!

This is inside the butterfly garden. The last time I had been here I was 14 (16 years ago) When we put it like that it made me feel pretty old! As you can see in the picture we always have fun when Grandma is around. :)

They also had a "Birds of Prey" show. The owl, vulture, and hawk flew right over our heads! Davis enjoyed this one from the lap of his Uncle David.

Part of being in my family is living in a divided house. This means trouble, especially on Iron Bowl days. :)

WAR EAGLE!!

Though we lost it is still great to be an Auburn Tiger.

Isaac's first ride down a slide! Thank you Gramps!

Chubbs.

We love being a family of 4!

Botanical Gardens Lights!

2008-11-23T21:49:00.003-06:00

This past Friday night, we ventured out to the Huntsville Botanical Gardens Christmas light show. Starting Monday you can only drive through, but over this past weekend they let you walk through (and stroller!) to see the beautiful lights. It was really well done and our entire family enjoyed it. We also went with some wonderful new friends of our, but we didn't get any pictures together before we left, so we'll have to share our next adventure with them another time!

Halfway through, you could stop for some hot chocolate. YUM!

Davis rode on Dan's back for the walk. He absolutely loved it and I think they talked the whole time. Notice Davis's hat?! Several times I looked at him and it would be covering his eye. He didn't even complain about it! Lately Davis has been really interested in rockets. He makes them with his blocks, his sippy cup becomes one, so of course these were some of his favorite lights.

Santa was even there!!

Me and my little bear. Isaac stayed awake the entire time and was quite content. We think he loves the cold weather!

Davis's message: if you live in the Huntsville area go check out the lights and especially the frog as you drive in. SPLOOSH!! (another one of Davis's favorites!)

Brooks Family Disco

2008-11-19T20:51:00.004-06:00

I just spent way to much time making this dance to not post it!! I copied my friend, Val on this one. I did try our family out in the other dances so that I wouldn't fully be copying her, but the disco just seemed to fit the best! (especially for Scruffy!) Thanks for the great idea!

Brrr... it's Cold out Here!!

2008-11-18T13:14:00.003-06:00

My big brother suggested I get in this swing and I really was quite happy, though my face doesn't show it in this picture!!

Strollers are much more fun in the cold!

I love to smile and giggle SO much!

Davis Counts to Ten

2008-11-17T21:06:00.003-06:00

Isaac is 4 months today!

2008-11-14T13:32:00.004-06:00

Isaac is already 4 months! We take him in for his check up next week, but we are guessing he is about 18 pounds! We love our chubby little boy! He is now smiling a lot and being so active. He isn't rolling over yet, but he sometimes tries! Below is a video of Davis and Isaac from this morning. I think they are so cute, so I just had to share!

Alumni Band

2008-11-13T14:45:00.002-06:00

6:30am. Saturday, November 8th. This was me, feeling incredibly hyper and excited as I traveled down to Auburn ALONE in the car. (I really wish I'd had Dan with me, but the kiddos were left with Grandma and Gramps!) I blasted country music, and enjoyed singing along to something other then Bert and Ernies bath time fun (Davis's current favorite CD.)

Once a year, the alumni from the AU marching band are invited to march in the halftime show with the band. I haven't been able to participate in several years, even though this would have been an event I wished I could have gone to.... Manila was just a little to far to travel!!

One of my favorite memories was marching into the stadium as we entered the HUGE place. The echo of the crowds inside, the drums beating and the music playing... Aaaah, there is just nothing like it! this picture above just doesn't do it justice. BUT it proves I was there!!

Here is the Auburn Marching Band during pregame. I thought the show was absolutely wonderful! Also, they even had a pregame video on the big screen for the BAND before they came in!!! I must say, that I thought the one for the band was even better then the one for the football team.

I loved being reunited with my friend, Becky, whom I hadn't seen since before we left for Manila. SO much fun to catch up!!

And as for our munchkins... they enjoyed time with Grandma and Gramps, while I was off on my adventure. (thanks Mom and Dad!!)

Where were you a year ago today?

2008-11-05T20:08:00.002-06:00

Dan and I were talking about it this morning... today is the year anniversary of us coming back to the USA. It has brought back a lot of memories of being in the Philippines, and I am teary as I look at our "Goodbye Manila" pictures. (we miss all of you!!)

A lot has happened in the last year... we moved back, lived with my parents for awhile, took a job in Huntsville, bought our first house and became a family of four. Not to mention easing back into life in America.

We love living back here, but are extremely thankful for our friends in the Philippines and loved our time there. We can't wait to bring our boys back to visit when they are a bit older... :)

Auburn Friends :)

2008-11-03T12:02:00.002-06:00

I just have to link to my friend, Joy's blog... This past Saturday we had a mini reunion of some Auburn friends with Joy and her precious son, Charlie coming to visit! Here is the link! Some really precious pictures of all of our kids are here!

Another reason to smile

2008-11-02T16:00:00.004-06:00

Our little Monkey and Puppy

2008-10-31T21:12:00.003-05:00

We enjoyed dressing up today. Davis was a monkey during the day and a tiger at night. Isaac was a little puppy. We participated this evening in Trunk or Treat at our church. Basically, folks line up their cars and the kids can trick or treat from the decorated trunks rather then going door to door. We participated by bringing Dan's Volkswagon to be a trunk. I didn't take hardly any pictures from the evening, but her are a few from earlier!Curious George is Davis's latest favorite book to read, and Davis LOVES to climb, so the monkey outfit I found was very appropriate!

I imagine him saying "Mom, this is so uncomfortable!!"

(one of my only shots from the evening. Isn't he adorable...)