December

I've been so excited for December since October. This would be the first Christmas that Brooks would be participating in and enjoying gifts! We tried to do a lot of Christmas-y things all month long!

First we went to our HOA tree lighting. This was his first and only picture with Santa and as you can see, he was not a fan! It was a fun night with music, lights, hot cocoa and cookies. After the Santa incident, Brooks seems to really enjoy it! Having Brooks makes my Christmas so much better! 

That weekend was also the city of Haslet's Christmas festival. They had preformances, food, boutiques, a jump house, games and a sledding hill! That's what you do in Texas, pay someone to make a sledding hill. Brooks was super confused by the 'snow' and tried to eat it.

 Now that Brooks can opens doors, he's been extra sneaky lately. Add that to his love for peanut butter and this is what you get. He left his cup as a fair trade and brought the PB to me while signing please and thank you.

These are some photos I took around 14 months for Brooks. Just love this kid! It takes a lot of work to get him to sit still for two seconds.

I've been trying to find the perfect roll recipe and this batch were the closest I got. Look at these beauties!

While I was working out I suddenly hear a WOOSH of water. I knew Brooks had my water bottle but I didn't know that he could open it. He dumped it out and started splashing in it. Then when I came over he tried to run away, like he didn't do it, and he slipped and fell hard on the tile. Of course I had just gotten him dressed for the day and he was now soaking wet. I couldn't help but laugh after I calmed him down and got him redressed.

In preparation for our Christmas trip to Colorado I went to a kid's resale store and bought Brooks some snow gear. Boots, snow pants and winter coat all for about $25! At home I put them on him and he was not amused. He wouldn't even move or walk! It's like he forgot.

 

I also found this cute Christmas onesie for Brooks for $0.99. I took these pictures and  noticed afterward he was holding Bronco's hand. Oh my heart!

The city of Haslet does lights in the park. We went last year and baby Brooks was so mesmerized by the lights. This year he ran around saying, "Wow, wow!" They had scenes from the Grinch, Rudolph, Frosty and a giant Christmas tree. 

Brooks' favorite thing to play with is my orange make up sponge. I couldn't find it for a day because it hid it somewhere. I looked everywhere but gave up and hoped it would turn up eventually. The next day when we were in my room and he just ran out of the bathroom with it! Either he knows where he hid it or I'm blind.

One of my favorite days this month was a Saturday when we were all home, we blasted Christmas music and made sugar cookies. It was cute to see Brooks waiting for the cookies in the oven.

One day Brooks and I went grocery shopping and we got caught in a monsoon. We were soaked and the groceries were all soaked. Since we were already wet, we decided to go to Chick fil a and get free ice cream.

Another Christmas tradition that we started  is going to see the lights at Texas Motor Speedway. We to Buc-ee's and grab snacks then go to TMS. They have so many lights set up and you drive through underneath the stands. Brooks loved the lights! After they had a Santa's Village set up. He was afraid of Santa and the fake Polar Bear but said hi to Olaf and the Grinch.

I have been so excited to go to Colorado for Christmas! To spend time with family and play in the snow with Brooks. We split the drive up into two days. The first leg to Amarillo started a little later than we planned. Dan had a work meeting that ran pretty late but it actually worked in our favor because Brooks fell asleep and slept the whole way! We made it to Amarillo at midnight and it was cold and windy. Brooks woke up when we took him in and was so scared to sleep in the crib that the hotel provided. We usually let him fuss but it's so hard when you're in a hotel and you don't know if there's people around you. Poor thing was so scared so I made up the pull out bed and barricaded one side with the crib, chairs, the couch and pillows. Brooks rolled right to his face and slept all night. He didn't even move! I was kind of paranoid and would wake up frequently to check on him but I would take that over have a crying boy.

We got up, ate breakfast and were on the road again. We stopped for lunch at Chick Fil A and let Brooks run around then we were on the road again. Brooks was doing so well until the last hour but really I couldn't blame him. We were all ready to get out of the car. When we got there Brooks was pretty crazy until we put him to bed.

We spent the next day hanging out, catching up and Brooks meeting and remembering everyone. Brooks spent the day playing and exploring Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a full house over Christmas with us and Brooks, Joe, Jenny and Phill and their 3 kiddos and it was awesome! Christmas eve we went to church, played games, watched movies and got ready for Christmas. Christmas was great and it's so fun to have kids and see their excitement about the gifts. 

Brooks got all food and snacks in his stocking, two new cars, a car dashboard, a ride on train, a basketball hoop balls and new books. Dan received a new wallet, a leatherman, things for his dutch oven and a backpacking pillow. I received many kitchen items I needed, a bluetooth speaker, skin care items and some clothing. We had a great Christmas and loved spending it with family.

We were hoping to get snow and oh boy we did! We had a white Christmas and were excited to take Brooks out in it. At first he hated it and was really scared. He'd just lay on the sled and not move. Oh but he looked so dang cute!

He warmed up to it after 10 minutes however we didn't last in the cold very long!

We spent the afternoon being creative. What started out as Gingerbread houses and candy trains turned in to this..

You'll have to vote which one you think is best.

There was lots of singing and piano playing!

We also went swimming at the rec center and it was so fun! Brooks was once again super unsure at first but 10 minutes later he was our happy water baby! We played a lot of games and Dan and I even got to go see a movie. I loved the Greatest Showman and Brooks had the best time playing with his Grandpa, or as he says, "PA....pa". One night we went and saw some lights and it's crazy how much work some people do but wow is it pretty!

We made the long drive back and most of us survived ;) For the last 3 hours Brooks went from sleeping to screaming every 30 minutes. We were all ready to get out of the car! We had such a great time in Colorado being with family. I love being out there and seeing the mountains, playing in the snow and playing games with family. We're ready to bring in the new year with friends and yummy food!

Best nine from 2017