He Did It!!!!!

I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to blog about my baby brother graduating high school! He's the last one of us to graduate and it feels down right weird. Just thinking about it right now....it's VERY hard to imagine that none of us are currently in grade school. From this point on, school is optional for all of us. How crazy is that?! When did that happen?! I remember waking up mornings, running to get baby Isaiah from Mom. She would nurse him then hand him to me. I would prepare him some cereal mixed with banana! He loved it! He loved me! He pretty much had a permanent place riding on my hip. Then I was so skinny and tiny and I also had him on my hip. I loved him. He was my bud. I remember when Mom told us she was pregnant with him. I remember thinking "He will like everything I like. He will do everything I do. We'll be best friends! We'll even like the same flavor of ice cream!" Well folks, those days are long gone. Isaiah Jotham has become his own person. He and I don't share the same tastes in ice cream flavors. We most certainly do NOT do everything together. LOL Mostly due to a minor location issue (Michigan is kinda far from Virginia). But I am very proud of Isaiah despite our minor location or ice cream issues. ;) Isaiah was the first sibling to attend public school for high school. So this graduation was a bit of a different experience for us. Thankfully it was VERY pleasant outside. The sun shown bright but there was a cool breeze and it was around 75 degrees out. Just beautiful weather! There were a lot of graduates but for me it was very easy to spot Isaiah. He's quite tall and he was walking very goofy. My guess is that it felt weird to walk with a gown. LOL Anyways.....so I thought I'd let the world know that the Brooks kids are all done with high school. We all officially have high school diploma's. Isaiah is going off to college. To the University of Mary Washington. He's REALLY excited! We gave him some things to make his life easier in college. A couple of gift cards, laundry bag and quite a few other things. It was nice to be able to spend time with him and witness him graduating. Here are a couple of pictures from the event! Congratulations Isaiah! We're so proud of you and love you!

I miss my hair.....

So, I we just got our laptop fixed. Yay!!!!! It's been broken for like 3 months now. Anyways, hopefully now, I'll be able to blog more. Anywho....all my pictures got re-organized and so I came across these pictures from October 2011. I was growing my hair out when I was pregnant with Collin and then after I had him I had to cut it off because it was falling out. :( I was finally making progress with it in length and then *chop*! It had to come off. :( So it's slightly below shoulder length now. But I just wanted to post how I miss it being longer. I'm going to continue trying to grow it back out. Only to have to chop it back off when I have another baby. (Sometime in the future lol) Anyways, hopefully I'll be more successful! :)

The Big 'Ol 2!!!!!!!!

I can't believe I'm old enough (and far enough advanced in life) to say I have a two year old. In what world did that happen?! Anyways, it's true! As of March 27th baby boy Isaiah is two years old! :) What did we do? Well I considered throwing him a party, but being that we needed to save money for a trip to VA in June, I decided since he was only 2, he won't miss it. So we took his best friend Kennedy and her family to Chuck-E-Cheese. Yessir! It was a first for Isaiah AND Theo! Ooooooohhhh buddy! Isaiah had a BLAST!!!!! Theo and I even managed to have some friendly rivalry in a race car game! May I record here on this Blog....I won 4 out of 5 times. Yes people, it's true. This girl beat her husband at a car chasing driving game! :)Anyways, this is not about me....this is about big boy Isaiah. So let's get on with the list! Nicknames-Dubs, Dubber Schoon, Isaiah Brent, Isay-sah (what he calls himself) Favorite Food-Pizza Favorite Drink-Milk Favorite Comfort- Nuggers (his little Giraffe blanket) and binky (yes....Momma's decided to keep it off another year. lol He can only have it when he sleeps!) Favorite Person- None other than his Dadda!!!! He adores him! Best Friend- Kennedy Greene (Key-Key) Favorite Toys- Anything police. (Wonder where he get's that from??!! Hmmmm?!} Also he calls it "Polee-cey" His talking skills have advanced immensely!!!!! He talks all of the time! He is quite the funny little dude! For example! When playing outside, anytime he leaves he says "Bye!" And if you ask him where he's going, his reply? "Church!" And if he's not going to church....it's "Wal-Mart!" He has his ears trained for any siren or ice cream truck! :) The other day he spent his first $1 at the ice cream truck! He was SO beyond proud! Dadda gave him the dollar....of course. He makes sure to keep his little brother out of trouble with a "No CeeBees! No!" :) The person who can make him laugh the hardest?! Collin Henry!!!!! The two of them are SO cute together and when put to bed, spend about 30min making it sound like a circus in their room! Laughing hysterically! Best sound a Mother can hear, despite the non-sleeping. lol Recently when he's ready to get up in the mornings he stands there hollering "Miss Hannah! Good Morning! Miss Hannah! Miss Hannah!" Occasionally he will be caught calling Dadda "See-O!" He's learned this from Sophia who's a 3yo girl who's been living with us for the past month. He's learned quite a bit from her! :) Well I guess that's it for now. I love this kid and he bring such joy to my heart. He's learning to come and hug and kiss and say "I love you Momma!" without prompting. Maybe he'll be a Momma's boy after all. *rolls eyes* Yeaaaaah right! Not as long as Dad is around! ;-P

Guess Who's 9mo?!

My little baby boy Collin has made it to almost 9mo!!! I really wanted to post for his 6month, but life got in the way and I never got a chance. I'm on another computer so I can't post a picture, but I'll come back later and add one....hopefully! :) So what is baby boy up to?! Why everything, of course! Let's go ahead and do the highlights. Favorite Food-Formula. He's eating baby food but this boy will take a bot

tle of milk over food ANY day! Favorite Comfort- His blue blankey that he stole from his brother Isaiah. It actually has Isaiah's name printed on it. OH well! :) Favorite Person-Momma! His brother is VERY close running but he still looks to his Momma for approval and he gather's most of his happiness from me! Favorite Word-Dadda (of course) Milestone 1-He can crawl! Baby boy is into EVERYTHING!!!!! He's been crawling since 6mo! Milestone 2-He has 2 teeth on bottom. He's a GREAT teether! They just kinda popped out of no where. He slept a bit more than normal, but that's it! Milestone 3-He can say Isaiah. He says "Ah-Yaaaaa" SO adorable!!!! Milestone 4-He's starting to risk standing on his own. He can walk, holding his hands. So....as you can see Collin is progressing quite nicely. He's a VERY sweet boy. He loves his Momma to death and loves to snuggle. He loves his big brother Isaiah and looks to him with such adoration. It warms my heart. Love love love my baby boy! <3

The Mind is an Active Thing

So it is 3a.m. and I can't sleep. Why you might ask? Well it started with a crying baby of course! A certain little boy was crying for his bottle. I had a hard time getting to sleep tonight, so of course as soon as I had to get up with Collin, my brain starts going! When I say going, I mean....BOOKING it!!!! I can't even explain how many things are on my mind. I figured I'd go ahead and blog because most of the time that helps me relax enough to get back to sleep.

For starters, Valentine's Day didn't go quite as I'd hoped. Theo was pretty grumpy all day for some unknown reason. I mean, not the whole day, but off and on. He also was really tried, which probably played a lot into his grumpiness. He's have a lot of frustrations at work. So much so that he doesn't even wanna talk about it. Which worries me! So with all of that, I think he had every right to not be so tuned in. He did a WONDERFUL surprise for me and had the hallway filled with balloons when I woke up at 6a.m. to give Collin a bottle. Of course there were a ton of cards around the house for me to find. I was BEYOND excited! I just love balloons. haha! I'm such a child. So I was VERY much pleased to say the least. We are supposed to go out this weekend for an overnight stay. Which brings me to my next worry.

Leaving my Collin over night for the first time. Anyone who's a mother knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about and this doesn't need further explanation. But for the sake of those who don't know, I'll try and explain it a bit. Collin is MY baby. Yes, I know I grew and birthed him. But seriously. He is so clingy to me and he ADORES me! Flat out adores me. I find him several times a day stopping his play and just staring at me. And soon as I stop what I'm doing to look and smile at him, he gives THE biggest smile anyone can possibly see. He seeks so much approval from me already and it's wonderful. I just love the fact that he loves me so unconditionally. I'm the one that soothes his cries. I'm the one that he cuddles with. I never had this much problem leaving Isaiah because Isaiah is NOT clingy to me. If I left, he simply hollers "Bye Momma!" and goes on about his business. haha! I am probably going to bawl my eyes out leaving him. Not to mention....I'm the best caretaker for my boys. And honestly it bothers me that whoever is going to be with them, won't be able to give them the best. Obviously they won't have the best because their not with their mother who knows them best. So it's just really bothering me. I know it's just one night. And probably once I'm out I'll be okay. But the lead up is getting to be a little too intense. I honestly just wanna take Collin with us. *sigh* That's not going to happen.

On to the next thing plaguing me. Friends. It seems friends are always part of my troubles. The other day I found out two people deleted me on Facebook. TWO! One of them I was VERY happy about. I mean, it kinda still pricks me the wrong way because she's ALWAYS mouthing off very rudely and always has and she has the nerve to get upset because I fight back. So after I got over the initial bit of anger because she had nerve to delete me when SHE was the one being the jerk, I was very very happy with it. Now I won't have to worry about blocking her from commenting on status'. The other I'm was totally surprised about. Surprised and confused. We'd recently worked out an issue and I thought we were on good terms. So obviously imagine my surprise when I find out she deleted me. I do NOT understand. I messaged her and basically said that I was confused by her deleting me and that I kinda wanted some closer. I was confused as to what happened and I was just wondering where we stood. It really does deeply bother me. I really don't have that much of a friendship with this person anymore. But I used to. So it hurts. Pretty badly. I've worked so hard to get things back on to normal/speaking terms with her and then this happens. I think what bothers me most is that I'm just SO confused as to what happened. I thought things were okay. I plan to let that message sit for about two weeks. And if I still don't hear back I plan on just messaging her that I take her silence as "we're not on speaking terms" and that I respect her decision and that I wish her the best in life. I know that not everyone is supposed to last as your friend or a part of your life forever. And I know that I'm grateful for the times I DID have with her. But it stings.

Next topic at hand is kinda swinging back to Valentine's Day. I worked so hard to make Theo something I thought he'd REALLY love. I didn't have any money to spend and he doesn't really like me spending his money (which is ours...but you know what I mean). So imagine my surprise when he really didn't react too much to my gifts. He said he loved them. But he pretty much said that with as much enthusiasm as an insomniac feels when told he/she can't sleep. LOL! So basically none. I was highly disappointed because I worked SO hard. It's just highly upsetting when things don't play out the way you want them to. I always fail when it comes to giving Theo gifts. Well, this past Christmas I did okay because I surprised him by earning extra income and buying him something. But I can't do that every time. I tried and it didn't work out. I don't need him to jump up and down with excitement I just need him to show a little bit more emotion for something I took time to make. Not just run out to the store and buy. I dunno. I'm probably expecting too much and just being silly.


Another issue I'm having. We're supposed to go out Friday night and I basically have nothing to wear. The nice black pants I have came un-hemmed and they look bad. I mean...they're decent....but I really want to look good. Well...on top of that the dark circles under my eyes are just gosh awful. I wanted to go to Ulta and have them help me figure out what's the best way to cover it up (cause I have NO experience with make-up....ever-besides eye make-up). Well the Ulta's a bit too far away to afford the gas. Of course. Also....there are NO cheap plus size clothing. Which makes it frustrating when shopping on a freaking tight budget. I would like to buy an outfit that I can wear a ton more. Like something nice but not too nice. But that's an easy $80 just for a top and pants. Of course I could spend HOURS at the Salvation Army or Value World, but I guarantee you I won't turn up with anything. It's hard to find pants that will fit over my butt and thighs comfortably. Also, I have long legs. So most pants have to be talls in order for them to fit well. I mean, honestly, I should be mad at myself cause I've allowed myself to get this overweight thus making buying/finding clothes harder and more expensive. I mean, I'm working on it, but it takes time. I really need to get to the gym to burn some intense calories, but we don't have gas for that AND I don't have an iPod. It's SO hard working out without one. Especially when you're overweight and 5min on an elliptical will get you SO out of breath. So I'm just irritated because yet again, Friday is just going to be a "piece together what you have the best you can." My make-up won't look like I want it to and my hair (because I haven't had it properly cut) is going to probably look a hot mess. At least my eyebrows are done so that I can wear eye-make up and not look too bad. But the circles are really bad.

These are things that are making my mind RACE and I can't sleep. I'm so tired though. After blogging here, I really don't feel like I've relaxed at all. I guess it's time for plan B. Cozying up on the living room couch, turning on some tv and falling asleep that way. Ugh!

It's 5 O'Clock in the Morning

So I figure since I'm up and unable to sleep I should blog. Maybe it'll relax my mind enough to sleep. I was watching this movie with Sarah Jessica Parker in it. It's called "I Don't Know How She Does It". It was SO very good and true. Basically the story line is she's a working mother of 2. She has a very high demand job and it's about juggling the job along with her husband and 2 children. It was really cute, funny and honest. LOL!!! I laughed quite a bit. Even though I'm not a mom who works out of the home, every interactive mother can relate. For example, I just researched what percentage of woman sleep through the night. Listen to this.

-60 percent of women aged 18 to 64 only get a good night's sleep a few nights per week or less

-67 percent experience sleep problems at least a few nights each week

-46 percent experience sleep problems every night

Isn't that INSANE?!?!?! At least I know I'm not alone! I'd say maybe out of the 7 days of the week, I MIGHT get one good night of sleep. But right now Collin's only 5mo so most nights he cries at some point. So even if Theo gets up to feed him, I still get woken up by his crying. I honestly can't remember the last time I had a good nights rest. Part of the problem is that I can't wind myself down enough to actually get to sleep. I really need to buy some Melatonin. I hear it works wonders. So, being that I can't wind myself down early enough, I end up falling asleep late. Then Collin normally wakes up between 12a.m.-1a.m. so then I have to get up for that. Then once I'm up, I'm up for a good hour...sometimes two. Which puts me going back to bed around 2a.m. RIDICULOUS!!!!! Theo just doesn't get it. For him, he can get up, give the baby a bottle and go right back to sleep and still have an amazing nights rest. Uhm....it doesn't work that way for me. I have to get up, most of the time I'm up. They say sleeping with the TV doesn't help. Negative. It helps me tremendously. I don't know how I'd EVER get to sleep without it. Theo doesn't like it on, so the nights he's home I turn it off....those are my worst nights of sleep most of the time. So, anyways, maybe some day I'll be able to sleep. Maybe some day my active brain won't keep running until all hours of the night. It's like my own body works against me. The dark circles under my eyes just keep getting darker and darker. *sigh* I really REALLY need to get some under eye cream. I'm really beginning to look very scary. So, now that I'm done blogging, I think I've just about tired myself out enough. It's now past 5a.m. and I've been up since 3:30a.m. Just unable to sleep. It really is agonizing when you want so badly to sleep.

It's the small things.....

So, as I was showering tonight, I had a realization. Showering is honestly a luxury. lol So is eating. It sounds silly, but anyone who's a parent will agree. When I got into the shower tonight I realized it'd been 2 days since I had actually showered. Which sounds gross....but honestly, me showering is just not a top priority. Earlier today it occurred to me that it's also a luxury to eat. I had gotten up after a rough night with the boys, pretty early in the morning. I got the boys changed, dressed, 2 different breakfasts. Then I unloaded the dishwasher and cleaned the kitchen. After that I realized I really needed to workout before I got too tired to do so. Well....I worked out pretty hard core today and I felt really light headed. That's when it occurred to me that I hadn't eaten ANYTHING nor had I had more than 2 sips of something to drink. I nearly passed out. It's insane how hard it is for a mother to eat. I just never thought I'd have a problem eating. I'm not sure how I'm going to tackle working out and eating. I mean...reminding myself to eat 5x's a day is HARD work! Seriously! I don't have "me" time. And when I finally do, food is not on the top of my list. I guess I'm going to have to work harder at that if I'm going to loose any weight. As for showers, it's very rare when I get to shower every day. Also, it's even MORE rare when I get to have a quiet in peace shower. Either the boys are running around the house making noise, or Isaiah's breaking into the bathroom hollering "Momma! Momma!" There's normally some kind of interruption. So....the moral of this blog? If you're single and don't have children now....enjoy eating and showering to it's fullest extent! :)