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.