Ice Cream with Nana

Nana was eating ice cream one night and Aleck was curious about what was in the container, so he crawled up on the couch to take a look.  Aleck doesn't get ice cream very often, but he certainly knows that he likes it.  When he realized Nana was eating ice cream, he just had to have some.  He would sit beside her with his mouth wide open, like a baby bird, waiting for the next bite. 

Uhmmm Uhmmmmm Good!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to our family and friends from Tom, Brenda, Eryn, Aleck and Ella. We have had such a blessed year with so many wonderful memories.

ALL ABOARDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aleck is absolutely fascinated with trains. His favorite show right now is The Polar Express. A couple of weeks ago, we went to Grapevine to ride the North Pole Express. Before boarding the train, we sang Christmas carols. During the train ride, Santa walked through our car wishing all the kids a Merry Christmas. Aleck wasn't too sure what to think about Santa, but at least he didn't cry. We had a great time and this may become a holiday tradition.

Last week, Tom and Aleck rode a small train that went around Grapevine Mills Mall. Aleck had a blast and kept waving his ticket in the air and yelling "my ticket" to the conductor telling him he needed to punch his ticket, like they do in the movie Polar Express. He yelled "all aboard" when it was time to start the ride. In the middle of the ride, Aleck jumped up and yelled, "I've got to stop the train", just like the little boy on the Polar Express.

Aleck, your zest for life is contagious and I am so blessed to see life through your eyes. I love you, little man.

Cloth Diapers

Do these cloth diapers make my butt look big?

Christmas Pictures with Santa

Christmas 2007

For Aleck's first year pictures with Santa, I dressed him in this adorable little red outfit with smocking. Tom said he looked like a girl, but I disagreed and took him to see Santa. While we were in the mall that day, no less that 3 strangers said, "Oh, what a pretty little girl". Sorry honey, you apparently were right. Aleck did look like a girl in that outfit.

Christmas 2008

Aleck didn't cry, but he wasn't too sure he wanted to be sitting on Santa's lap.

Christmas 2009

Yay! This year I have a little girl that I can dress like a little girl. Santa was wonderful and took time to talk to Aleck about what he wanted and he even gave him a sucker when he finished taking pictures. With coaching from Daddy, Aleck told Santa he wants a bicycle. I think Aleck is beginning to grasp the idea of Christmas a little this year. Notice the train in Aleck's hand. He is obsessed with trains!

Beautiful Baby Girl

Words can not describe the joy that this little girl brings her Daddy and Mommy. We are so blessed.

Pantiliners and a Blood Pressure Cuff

What do pantiliners and a blood pressure cuff have in common? I found Aleck sitting in the floor playing with the BP cuff and he had a box of pantiliners scattered on the floor around him. I made him clean up the mess, but I must have missed a pantiliner. Later in the day, I looked up and saw Aleck leaning over Ella, who was in her bouncy seat. Aleck had taken the backing off the pantyiiner and was about to stick it to Ella's forehead. I laugh every time I think about me yelling, "Aleck, NO! Do not stick that pantiliner on Ella's forehead".

Motherhood rocks!

4 1/2 months

Ella, I can't believe you are already 4 1/2 months old. Time is racing and I just want it to slow down a little so I can soak every single moment of every day in. Slow down little girl. Don't grow up so fast.

You are such a happy baby. When you wake up in the morning, you coo and babble until I go into your room. I love laying in bed listening to you over the baby monitor first thing in the morning. If I take too long to come get you out of bed, you sometimes get a little fussy, but that quickly turns to smiles and babbling when you see me over your crib.

You love your feet and are so happy when I unzip your sleep sack so you can play with your toes. You have recently started sucking your thumb, which is something that Aleck never did. I think it's adorable, although I might change my mind about that if I have to help you break that habit later on.

A few weeks ago you were taking 3 solid naps a day and you were so easy to put down for a nap. I could put you in your crib wide awake and you would go right to sleep. In the last week, you have decided that life is too exciting and you only really need 2 naps. Since you are worried that you might miss something while you sleep, you are requiring a little more help to calm yourself down to get ready for a nap. Sometimes when you feel yourself touching the mattress, your eyes pop back open as if to say, "just joking, I'm not really going to sleep". You had a predictable nap schedule until the last week and I am hoping we can get back to that.

You are adorable in your cloth diapers. I can't believe how easy cloth diapers are, and I wish I had used them when Aleck was a baby. You have more cloths in your closet than should be allowed for one child! I love looking through your closet in the morning deciding what cute outfit to dress you in.

Aleck seems to adore you most of the time, although he still has his moments when he can be a little jealous. When you are a little fussy, Aleck will bring you a toy and put it in your hand. Those special moments make my eyes water with joy.

You look a lot like I did when I was a baby. You have those beautiful blue eyes that I think you get from Mamaw Hartness. Your hair was dark brown when you were born, but it is getting lighter. Your face is round with chubby little cheeks. You weighed 14 lb 2 oz at your 4 month checkup.

You aren't crazy about tummy time. You roll from your back to your side frequently, but haven't rolled from your back to your stomach yet. Last weekend, you rolled from your stomach to your back, but haven't rolled since. You love bath time and kick your feet and smile. You are fascinated with my watch and grab it every time you are on the diaper changing table. You like the Bumbo and your bouncy seat better than your swing.

For the most part, you are sleeping through the night. You go to bed between 7:00 and 8:00. Sometimes you wake around 4:30 a.m. to nurse but you quickly go back to sleep. Some nights you sleep for 11 hours straight. I stopped swaddling you at 3 1/2 months and you slept just fine. Aleck had to be swaddled until he was 5 months.

You love your Daddy and your eyes light up when you see him and a grin spreads from ear to ear.

You are nursing every 3 to 4 hours during the day. You will take a bottle with ease, thank goodness! Around this age, Aleck refused to take a bottle.

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful little boy and beautiful baby girl. At this point in my life, I look back and realize that I was made for this. I thank God for all these wonderful memories and blessings.

Feeding the Ducks

My definition of feeding the ducks.

Aleck's definition of feeding the ducks.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling.

Ella rolled from stomach to her back for the first time today. I was at a continuing education course and Tom was at home with the kids. Tom misses so many "firsts" because he is at work. I am so glad he was able to be there for such a big milestone.

Tummy Time

"What about I don't like tummy time don't you understand?"

Jesus Loves Me

I am so behind on my blog posts. We had a crazy busy October and I am working on a post summarizing the entire month. Hopefully, that will come this weekend.

Can it get any better than your 2 1/2 year-old helping rock your 4 month-old to sleep while singing Jesus Loves Me? Nope, I didn't think so either.

Ella meets her family

We made our first road trip since Ella was born. We spent 11 days in the middle of October traveling to Mississippi and Alabama to introduce Ella to all our family. It took 12 hours to drive from Fort Worth to Starkville, but the kids did great. Aleck had a DVD player, and Ella slept most of the drive. While we were in Starkville, Ella and Aleck attended their first SEC game. Unfortunatedly, MSU lost, but we still had a great time at the game. Ella and Aleck did amazingly well during the entire trip.

Mommy, Ella and Tyler

Tyler chasing Aleck at MSU homecoming game

Tyler and Aleck meeting Bully, MSU's mascot

Daddy and Ella at MSU game (GO STATE!!!) Ella was not fond of the cowbells!

Glenda and Ella at MSU game

Heather, Brian and Ella

Glenda, Jessica, Tyler and Ella

Papaw Hartness holding Ella for the first time

Papaw Hartness and Aleck

Mamaw Hartness holding Ella for the first time

Mamaw Hartness and Aleck

Tom, Darla, Cathy, Nana and Poppo Brooks

Cathy and Ella

Paul and Ella

Mike and Ella

Ruby and Ella

Poppo Brooks making Ella laugh

Ella, Poppo and Nana Brooks

Tom, Aleck, Nana and Poppo Brooks and Ella

Poppo Brooks playing with Ella

Ella tuckered out!

Bedtime Kisses

Special moments like these are what being a mom is all about. Aleck was sitting on the side of his toddler bed tonight getting ready to go to sleep. I was sitting on the floor in front of him. Aleck said, "Mommy, tiss",translation: "Mommy, kiss". He leaned over me, brushed the hair from my forehead, and planted the most tender kiss on my head. It was so beautiful that it made my eyes water. Life is so good!

Not Me! Monday

It's Monday, and that means another installment of Not Me! Monday, a brutally honest confession of things that I most definitely did not do over the last week. To find out where Not Me! Monday originated, click on the link above to check out MckMama's blog

As some of you know, last month Aleck was so sick with a respiratory infection that his doctor almost hospitalized him. When Aleck woke up from a nap last week crying and gasping for breath, I was terrified that he may be suffering from another episode of reactive airway exacerbation. Luckily, I didn't panic and I did not call 911. When the paramedics arrived, Aleck did not abruptly stop crying and run around the living room showing off his Thomas the Train collection. Being a medical professional, I certainly can tell the difference between a temper tantrum and respiratory distress. I wonder what the insurance billing code is for "temper tantrum".

Sometimes Aleck likes to sit beside me in the rocking chair while Ella nurses. While we were rocking the other day, I certainly did not pick Ella's nose and wipe the boogers on Aleck's sleeve while thinking to myself, "It's OK. I'm going to change his shirt as soon as I am finished feeding Ella." That would just be too gross.

While taking pictures of Ella in a pink tutu, I did not nurse her until she fell asleep just so I could lay her down and snap some adorable pictures of her sleeping in a diaper and pink tutu. When she woke in the middle of me taking pictures, I certainly did not pick her up and nurse her to sleep, just to put her back down and snap more pictures.

A pink tutu and a silly question

I have got to tell you that dressing girls is so much more fun than dressing boys. Ella already has more clothes and shoes than Aleck does, and she can't even walk. For pete's sake, the girl has more clothes than I do, and she is less than three months old.

When Tom was looking for something in my car last night, he found a pink tutu that I bought for Ella. He asked, "What is this?" What a silly question, honey. We have a little girl. Enough said.