Harper Grace

Harper was born 04/28/11. She was 7 lbs 0.4 oz 19 inches long. Her labor was quite a bit harder than I anticipated. My OB (Dr.Bell) who I LOVE told me that it would be super fast. She was really low and Easton came so quick that she would be here by lunch time. I was thrilled.

We arrived at 6am and in my head I knew I would have my baby girl in my arms by lunch. WRONG!!!!! I was induced immediately and he came and broke my water around 9. I was NOT progressing. Finally he told me to eat some lunch and that he would start me on pitocin. Around 2 the pitocin began and I was absolutely miserable. My contractions were so close together and I was having such back labor. I still refused to get the epidural. I didn't get one with Easton and knew I could suffer my way through it. This time I was much closer than I was with Easton to breaking down and Dr. Bell told me to just push through one more hour and I would have that baby in my arms. So I did just that. Only it wasn't an hour, it was almost 4!

For some reason my babies always come out facing the wrong way, which means intense back labor and bruising of the tailbone. This time was no different. I am blessed with having fast labor when it comes to the pushing. Easton was 17 minutes and Harper was only 9. Let me tell you, that was the worst 9 minutes of my life, but by far the best reward.

Here are some pictures of our little peanut

Easton-22 month

Obviously I have been such a slacker on the blogging. Between school, working part time, being a mom to two busy bees, trying to keep up on the finances, housework and laundry, I barely have time to sleep.

Easton is such a sweetheart. He is an amazing big brother and loves giving hugs to his sister. He calls Harper baby, but knows her name and sounds adorable when he says it.

Easton is so into sports. He loves just about every sport, but baseball is his favorite. He recognizes the logos for badgers, brewers and packers.

Our little man is so smart. He knows every shape, most colors, numbers and quite a few letters. He can count down backwards from 10 and count to 20 without our help. He talks non-stop and loves to jump. We even got him a little trampoline we put in his playroom in the basement. He is such a big boy that he goes downstairs by himself and zips himself in and jumps, jumps, jumps.

Every day he makes me smile and laugh. He has such a wonderful little personality. He has really brought my life more joy then I ever knew possible.

10 Months Old

I can hardly believe my little guy is ten months old today. Time flew by way too fast and he grew up so quickly. I feel like these ten months have been just a few days.

He is pulling himself up and walking around furniture, crawling SO fast and getting into every thing and becoming a real mama's boy. He is talking to much too. Aside from the normal baby babel he says ma-ma, da-da, ba-ba, ight (light), atch (watch), out (outside), ok (book) and mmm when he wants more.

He is such a sweet little guy and is so active. He is always on the go. At his dr appt last week he had only gained half a pound in 3 months. He was 22 pounds 1 oz and 30 inches long. I think we are going to have a big boy on our hands.

Poor little guy was diagnosed with pneumonia last Friday. After the RSV I have been really concerned with germs. I know it may be extreme, but I was super protective. I hated seeing him so sick for so long and wanted to do all in my power to keep that from happening and I did until now! I decided to take him into the dr thinking she would tell me I was just being paranoid and it was a cold. NOT! He had been coughing so hard he had popped blood vessels in his face and neck. She thought he was bleeding internally and took every test under the sun. Poor thing had to give 4 viles of blood. To our relief he did not have any bleeding and from those tests she found the pneumonia. Since it was in such early stages we were able to just do breathing treatments at home (which I had already started doing) and give him antibiotics. Maybe my paranoia paid off. The dr also told me since the RSV did so much damage to him lung for the next few years any time he gets just a cold it will probably turn into pneumonia or bronchitis. SO frustrating. But, good news is he is on the up and up.

Nothing else really new and exciting. We moved into our house and are loving it. My mom was just here for a little over a week and helped me to do some decorating. It is starting to feel like a home. Justin's dad customized my laundry room and it just might be one of my favorite rooms in the house.

Justin is playing in a softball tourney all weekend. Hoping the weather is nice so we can enjoy some softball and egg rolls at the St. Annes Polka Fest =)

Fingers Crossed

Well, we are crossing our fingers and praying so much that we FINALLY close on our house this Friday. It has been such a terrible process I hope no first time homeowner ever has to go through. There have been so many times we just wanted to give up and keep renting. What should have been the happiest most exciting time for us has been filled with stress, anxiety, worry and anger. When it seemed like things couldn't get worse, it did. But, I think it is going to work out. We finally have a little hope. So fingers crossed we will be signing papers Friday morning and moving all weekend. I cannot wait for Easton to finally have a home to crawl around and explore. He is getting so mobile and active and we really have outgrown this apartment. On the other hand, I am so sad to leave the place we brought him home from the hospital to and the place we raised him. We have so many wonderful memories here. But we will live less than 2 miles from our apartment and we can come show him anytime and tell him stories and show him pictures. I can't wait to finally have a house...YAY!

May Update

This month has been absolutely crazy and stressful. I am surprised I have been able to live through this stress and just keep telling myself it has to get better.

Originally we were worried about the house not being finished in time to close, but we have an AWESOME builder and he finished the house 14 days early. It is the lender that has been nothing but problems. I would never recommend him, but we are really too late into the process to change. As of now, I don't think we will close on time. Not trying to be a negative nelly, but really every thing would have to work out just perfect and it does not appear that will be the case.

To try and deal with all this stress, we bought a jogging stroller and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Every night when Justin gets home we have been going for walks. We started out at about a mile and now we are up to two. It feels great and Easton really enjoys it too. After my walk for march of dimes, where I nearly died at 3 miles, I realized that I am so out of shape. It feels good to be doing this as a family. Just one step to becoming healthier. Hopefully we will see results soon.

Here are a few pics of the inside of the house. It is completely done now, but I have not been able to walk through. This was prior to that.

House Progress

The house is coming right along. We have not been able to go inside lately as it has been locked, but hopefully some time soon we will be able to take pictures of the inside. Aside from the brick going on the front of the house, pretty much every thing else is done. The siding, windows, doors and roof are all complete. I am getting so anxious. I cannot wait to move in. I know we will not be able to afford every thing at one time, but it will be a work in progress and so fun to slowly complete each room. I can't believe it is already May! This year is just flying by.

Talking

Two days ago Easton started saying Ma-ma. I know he is not referring to me directly because he says it all the time at every thing, but it is still such an incredible feeling. I just love him so much. I guess you never really know what love is until you become a parent. It is just such an indescribable feeling. Here is a picture of my big boy a few days after he turned 8 months.

Overwhelmed

With every thing going on, I find myself a bit overwhelmed. I want this move to go as smooth as possible and it in order to do that I tried to get a head start on the packing. I was doing really well and packing 3-5 bins or boxes a day. All the sudden that came to a stand still and in the last week and a half or so I have not done a thing. The house keeps coming along more and more and the packing is not following suite.

My to do list (aside from packing) is just enormous and I am not crossing items off like I would hope to. I just have so much to do and not enough time in a day to do it. I have been heavily relying on caffeine, but that is just not doing the trick anymore. With school, housework, packing and an active 8 month old life is crazy.

I know I will look back on this time one day and miss it, but right now it is just so much!

On a happy note, Easton turned 8 months old on Saturday. I just cannot believe how fast time goes. He is really starting to try and pull himself up on things slightly above his eye level and I think pretty soon he will successful. He has 6 teeth and it looks like 2 more are on the way. He LOVES his bouncer and crawling under the kitchen table and coffee table. He is a great sleeper and eater and overall a really happy baby. I am so blessed to be his mommy. He is so sweet!

I will post pictures of the house and Easton very soon! Haven't had a chance to upload them yet, but of course it is on my to do list =)

Back to the Blog World

I am officially back to blogging after MONTHS and MONTHS!!

I have been reading every one else's and loving keeping up, but have been slacking so much on my own. My life has been so crazy busy I am not sure where to begin.

Here are the big updates...

I started going back to school in January and have officially completed my first quarter and am 2 weeks into my 2nd now. I am going to a college called Rasmussen and have been lucky enough to be able to go from home so I can still raise Easton all day every day. I am going for Healthcare Management and although it is pretty challenging, I love it. I look forward to graduating and getting a great career that will help my family out so much.

Easton will be 8 months old on Saturday. I cannot even believe how fast the time has gone. It makes me so sad and yet at the same time he is so fun. He is crawling all over the place and getting into all the things he shouldn't. He eats just about every thing, sleeps through the night and is working on tooth number 5! He is so sweet and happy almost all the time. He really makes being a mom easy.

Lastly, we will be homeowners next month and could not be more excited for our new house and neighborhood. It has every thing we were looking for and we are lucky enough to be able to pick out every thing for inside. I am going to get all the lights tonight. It is so exciting for our little family. I will post pictures I took from a few nights ago, but so much more has been completed since then!

Hope to keep blogging more often and do a better job keeping in touch!

Thankful Thursday

So, I know it is Saturday, well actually Sunday, since it is past midnight, but I have been meaning to do this for a few weeks now. A few blogs I follow do this every Thursday and I just think it is really a neat time to show all that I am grateful for =)

So here is my first post.

1. Easton- I am sure he will be #1 all the time. He is such a sweet baby. I cannot believe he is already almost a month old. He is sleeping 3-4 hours at a time and is almost always happy (unless he is cold, overly tired or hungry) He just started smiling to your voice this week. His smile totally melts my heart.

2. Justin- He is the BEST dad ever. He is seriously my rock. When I am an emotional, hormonal mess, he jumps in and takes over. He will make dinner, let me nap, do whatever he can after working a ten hour day to keep me sane and not tired or stressed. He is such a good provider and role model for Easton. I can only hope E turns out to be half the man Justin is. He even stayed home from work Thursday to take care of Easton because I felt sick. I am SO blessed.

3. My family- They are so supportive and inspirational even from a distance. I wish so much I lived closer to them. I was SO happy when they were visiting. They are the best grandparents and auntie to E.

4. Justin's family- They are GREAT! They babysit and offer advice and always do their best to make sure we are taken care of. His parents are so great to me and E. They have helped us out a lot and we are so grateful. Today E spent the afternoon with his grammy and gpa and daddy cleaned the garage and mommy went grocery shopping to 3 stores! It was so nice to go there and pick up a fed, happy, content little guy who gave me the biggest smile when I peeled him out of gpa's arms.

5. Thoughtful friends and extended family- We have been BEYOND blessed with so many nice gifts. With me not working, financially things are a little hard, but we have been given so many gift cards and clothes and toys and diapers and formula. I am SO grateful.

6. My health- So many people I know have been sick lately. I am so thankful for my health. I do have a sinus infection, but that is so minor compared to what others are going through.

7. The fall weather- Fall is my FAVORITE time of year and it has been absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I can't wait to start taking E on walks.

8. Coupons- Like I said, our money is really tight with a baby and one income, so I am beyond thankful for coupons. Almost every thing I bought today was on a big sale or I had a coupon for =) Makes our money go much further.

9. Our apartment- It is so homey and comfortable. Yesterday I spent the entire day cleaning it and it feels so much more relaxed and organized. I plan to organize the pantry and E's room tomorrow. BIG TASKS!!!

10. TV- Yay for all the new shows coming out this week. Being a stay at home mom I am finding I am much more glued to TV. I can't wait to pick up on new seasons of shows.

Announcing.... Easton Marshall Brooks

Ok, so it has been forever since I wrote last, but for good reason. Easton is finally here.

I will definitely get into more detail about his birth, but for now here are the facts...

Induced at 6:30 am on August 24th and he was born at 5:28 pm.

He weighed 6lbs 11.2oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.

The best day of my life!!!! (Pics to come soon)

4th of July Weekend

This year I had such a great 4th of July. I just love the fireworks and grilling out and every thing that has to do with the 4th.

This year we had our friends over Friday night with their adorable little girl Ellisen. She is 4 months and I know her and our little guy will always be great friends. Justin has spent the last 8 years camping with them on the 4th and obviously we could not do that this year, so they stopped here and we had a BBQ before they went camping. Saturday we ran errands, watched a movie and napped. It was a great day. Then we packed a picnic dinner and snacks and headed to the Mosinee fireworks. Mosinee is a little town about ten minutes away. They had the most amazing fireworks show I have EVER seen. It was gorgeous and we had perfect seats. It was so great! Sunday we headed over to Justin's parents and had a family BBQ. The weather was beautiful and Justin did a great job grilling boneless ribs. They were so delicious. Overall it was just a great weekend. I can't wait til next year to get to see our little boys reaction to the fireworks =) This is the only picture I have right now. The other ones (that are much better) are on Justin's moms camera.

Counting Down!!!

So I am now letting the countdown begin. It is crazy when you get to that point in your pregnancy where you have way less time til you have the baby then you do to not. So as of today I am 30 weeks =) I have 10 to go, or 70 days. Obviously, I really take this counting down seriously.

I am feeling pretty good. I have not thrown up in probably a month and a half, which is wonderful! I finally have a little energy! We moved into a really nice condo style apartment. It is 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and has an attached garage which will be so wonderful in the winter.

I feel pretty prepared for him to come. We have our crib and changing table all set up. Our swing, stroller, carrier and bassinet is as well. All we need is for him to be here =) Not sure that I am ready mentally, but we are prepared.

I had a really nice baby shower here a few weeks ago. We are so blessed to have so many great friends and family who came to support us. Here are a few pics...

More to come soon =)

Terrible Blogger

So, I am really do not mean to be such a horrible blogger. I have every intention about blogging often and then time just flies and before you know it it is 2 1/2 months since the last time that I blogged.

So many wonderful things have happened in those months. We found out that we are having a little boy. I am not for sure on the name yet, but soon we will make a decision and name him. Calling him "he" all the time just does not seem right.

I am in California right now and was so fortunate to have two baby showers while I was here. I got so many wonderful gifts and got to see so many people. (I promise I will post pictures once I get them from my sister).

I really do not have too many pictures. Here is one of Justin's family at Easter. They are SO wonderful and I feel so blessed to have them iin my life. So, I am really going to try to be a better blogger and post many more pictures.

I am SO excited for summer and ready to meet this little guy that made me so terribly ill =) June 1st we are moving to our own place and I am really looking forward to that. I cannot wait to get unpacked, settled and the babies room ready!

Update

Well... it has been a few months since I last blogged and boy have things changed in my world. I have been dealing with a lot and thinking a lot and stressing a lot and now I am starting to be more positive and realize every thing does happen for a reason.

I had a great Christmas with my Wisconsin side of the family. My mom has 9 brothers and sisters and I have tons of cousins so needless to say holidays can be chaotic, but fun. I had not been here for Christmas in quite a while so it was nice to be gathered around family. I did miss my immediate family a lot, but it was nice to still be around family.

Christmas day Justin and I just relaxed. He spoiled me rotten and pampered me all day. It was great. He made me food all day and we napped and watched movies. It was the most relaxing Christmas I have ever had.

So, for the biggest update....I am pregnant!!!! I am 11 weeks this week. I have had a really tough pregnancy so far and have had so many mixed emotions about it. I never imagined being pregnant and not being married and stable in life. I have been really stressed and overwhelmed and worst of all SICK! I throw up anywhere between 5 to 15 times a day and it has been absolutely awful. I know on the one hand it is good because the baby is healthy, but it has been so debilitating. I am so tired and really crummy all the time. I am happy to report that it has been two days since I've been sick and I am finally getting a little bit of energy back. I am hoping the worst is over and things will be getting better. I am trying to focus on the positives more than negatives and seeing that baby at my ultrasound last week totally changed my perspective on things. I cannot believe what a miracle this baby is. Seeing it moving and its heart beating was remarkable. I am lucky that Justin has handled this so well and been there for me. I think there are several times I would have lost it without him. He takes such wonderful care of me and I know that he will be such an amazing father to our baby. So I am due August 28th and dreading being huge all summer...but in the end it will all be worth it. Here is a pic of my 10 week ultrasound. It is kind of hard to see because I had to take a picture of a picture.

Giving Thanks

With Thanksgiving being this week I decided I need to post about all the amazing things I have to be thankful for. Sometimes it is easy to forget the little things in life we are so blessed to have. I am thankful for...

1.) My sister- Even though she is younger than me I look up to her so much. She is so beautiful both on the inside and outside. She is caring and sweet. She handles so much and never breaks under the pressure. She ALWAYS speaks her mind and never changes who she is to please other people. She is so strong and her life is on this constant path. I wish I was more like her in so many ways. She is the best younger sister I could ever ask for and living far away makes me miss her so much. I guess I took for granted the fact that she only lived 3 hours away before.

2.) My parents- I know they are not always happy about choices I make in life, but eventually they accept them and support me. They are always there for me and give advice (whether I want it or not). They have provided me with such a good life and so many wonderful things. I am very grateful for them.

3.) My Grandma- As most of you know, losing my Grandparents this past year four months apart was one of the hardest things I had to endure. I am SO grateful for my Grandma Jenny and the fact that I only live a few minutes away. I do not see her as much as I should and I really need to find more time to spend with her. She has so many amazing stories and such a warm heart. I love her to pieces.

4.) My Cell Phone- I know this sounds so silly, but I do not know what I would do without text messaging on a daily basis. I look forward to reading every text I get. It is seriously my life line. What did we do without them?

5.) My Computer and the Internet- I find myself excited to come home and log on to all my e-mails, facebook, myspace, blogging. It is my connection to those I do not get to talk to on a regular basis and I absolutely love it.

6.) My Friends- Especially lately I realize just how lucky I am to have so many different groups of friends in different states. I am SO fortunate to know the people I know and each of them keep me grounded in different ways. I look up to so many of my friends and value their opinions so much. I am so lucky.

7.) Baking & Cooking- this is my new found thing. I have been cooking and baking every single night and I LOVE it. I have allrecipes.com as my homepage and every day look on there for new ideas. I have found that baking makes me calm and relaxed. Not to mention it makes home so much homier.

8.) Wisconsin- I am so happy my mom is from here and I was introduced to life here. It is just amazing. People are sweet and compassionate and live every day being grateful. Life is slow and in a weird way graceful. For those of you who have never been here, the 4 seasons are spectacular. Each is defined and beautiful.

9.) Pjs- With working all the time I really value the time I can sit and wear pjs. I absolutely love comfortable clothes. It makes me so warm and relaxed.

10.) Books- Reading is something I forgot I loved. I just started to pick it up again due to my bargain shopping at goodwill (7 books for $3.62) and have found I actually prefer a book over television. Maybe because it is nice to get lost in someone elses life and not worry about my own.

These are just a few of the things that came to mind. Lately I have been so stressed about money and relationships and friendships that it is very nice to be able to reflect on the good in my life.

P.S. I Love You

I just finished watching P.S. I Love You for the second time and I am thinking I maybe cried more this time than last. I actually still have tears in my eyes. If you have not seen this movie you should most definitely rent it. It is amazing.

Lately I have been feeling kind of down because I feel like for my age I am no where near where I thought I would be. I am not graduated from college and I am not married. I am not even in a serious relationship at this time. I know it seems kind of ridiculous, but I just envisioned things so different. Anyways, this movie made me realize that settling for anything less than the unconditional love these two share is pointless. Unfortunately, we all deal with loss at some point and it is something we all hope to avoid, but being afraid of loss is not a reason to turn away from love. They say it is better to have love and lost than never loved at all and I could not agree more. I yearn for a love that moves me in ways I never imagine.

For now, I am focusing on me and achieving my fitness, educational and career goals. I think in achieving these, every thing else will fall into place. At least I hope!

Working Out

So, lets just say it has been quite a while since I worked out.... basically I have not worked out 1 time since I moved here and it shows. I feel so blah and seriously disgusting. Thank goodness for tanning or I would be feeling even worse about myself. So, one of my friends has been working out and making good life choices and inspired me to join the gym as well.

I forgot what a good feeling working out provides. I have been so stressed lately with working so many jobs and trying to find just one full time job. But when I get to the gym it is like I am in this whole new world pushing myself and my limits.

Unfortunately, I seem to forget that it has been so many months since I've worked out and I am not quite ready to do my work outs I used to do. I am so sore today I can barely walk. I thought about taking the day off, but actually as I wrote this blog it reminded me how good I felt the last two days. So now, I will be going to the gym later today!

I've also been really trying to improve my eating habits so if anyone has any good recipes I would LOVE to try them out. Especially for sweets. I have had such a sweet tooth lately.

I miss every one and hope all is well with you guys!

Turning Point

Wow, I just realized what an absolutely horrible blogger I have been. In my defense, I just got a lap top and access to internet about 2 weeks ago, so now I can become better at this.

I had such a great summer. I will post just some of the many pictures to sum it up, but it was awesome. I made so many new friends and reconnected with old friends here. It was wonderful. I could not have asked for better weather as it was in the low 80s just about every day and cooled off beautifully at night. I went to a brewers game, took a few trips to minnesota and just enjoyed wausau.

On that note, I also really feel like I lost track of my goals and ambitions. It is so easy to sleep in every day and work just at night waitressing. I stopped working out and local restaurants became a major staple in my life. I turned into some one I am not happy or comfortable with and really need to change that.

I met a guy that literally makes my heart skip a beat. He is so wonderful and perfect, but was hurt in the past and pretty much decided for us that it was better to stop things before he got hurt again. That was well over a month ago, and I am still not over it. We only dated a couple weeks and I got that he is the one feeling and now I am so sad. It really sucks that he can decide what is best for "us," but I am doing my best to try and get over it and not hold so much bitterness inside. I guess I just have to believe that every thing happens for a reason and maybe there is some one more compatible for me out there or maybe I will find my way back to Mike.

The newest thing in my life is that I got my own apartment. It has been so wonderful. It is amazing to have privacy and freedom and overall be able to keep it clean. Every thing has a place and it feels so homey. My landlord said I can paint, so I am really looking forward to doing that.

I have an appointment with a school counselor tomorrow and could not be more excited for that. I am so ready to get my life back on track and finish school. I also have been looking and applying for full time jobs and can't wait to get something more stable. I love waitressing, but it is so inconsistent money wise.

So, that kind of sums up what is new with me. Just want every one to know that reads this that I have been keeping up on all your blogs and I miss all of you so much. It is so great to have blogging to keep in touch! I will for sure be writing more soon!!!

Welcome to Wisconsin

Sorry it has been just about forever since I last blogged. It seems like I have been so busy ever since the day I got here, although I really have not been doing much.

The road trip was fun, but LONG. We drove to Wyoming the first day... 18 hours and then all the way to Wisconsin the second, which was about 21 more hours.

We stopped in Minnesota and visited with a friend of mine from high school and her husband for dinner. (Amanda Knife, well now she is married, but that was her name then) That was a lot of fun, but those last three hours of driving were torture!

Ironically, I have not hung out with too many of my "old" friends. Not old like old age, but friends I made when I lived here previously. I have been making so many new friends that I have been hanging out with. It is just crazy.

I love being back here, minus the weather. I have been here two weeks and it has rained every single day, but 2! YUCK!

Living with Brenda is awesome. We added a room in the basement for me although it is not done yet. We just need to paint and put carpet in and it will be all ready to go...YEAH!

Brenda is such a strong person. She is a single parent working full time and raising two amazing little boys. Alexander is 4 and Nathaniel is 3. Living with her has definitely reinstilled how important having two parents to help out is. She is just super mom, and dad...

I am watiressing at a steak house in the pub area which is really fun too. I honestly forgot how much I LOVE to waitress, especially the cash!

So, that is it for now. I have been taking pictures but cannot get them to upload on this computer for some reason. I will try and write more soon. I hope all of you are doing well =)