Week One

Our little family is doing well. I am awaiting our first letter from Patrick. I can't wait to hear from him. Plus I just plain can't wait to send him a letter. I already feel like my first letter is too long to hand write at this point. I am keeping a journal so that I don't forgot anything that I want to tell him. Last night I purchased a NIV Trimline Bible to send him. I know he wanted to purchase one before leaving but just ran out of time. So his first letter he will get a present too. The only thing I can send him is a Bible, but I plan on double checking before I send it just to make sure.
While we wait and look forward to seeing Patrick we are enjoying spending time with family and friends. If any of you would like to spend time or hang out with us to help make this time go by a little faster just let me know. One week down and twelve to go.

In the Jungle

Our sweet friends Mike and Kim recently had a baby boy. We were able to attend a lovely shower for them and sweet baby Jace. Kim has been a huge Lion King fan for a very long time and the baby's nursery is Lion King, so her shower was very fitting. Each food item related to the movie. It was a very cute and thought out shower. Plus he is just a cute little bundle of joy.

This was a very fun get together because we used to all hang out a good bit, but jobs have moved Kim and Jill to different counties and we don't see each other as much as we would like. Thank goodness for phones and Internet!

On My Heart

1. My cousin Brooke Thomas was diagnosed with breast cancer and would appreciate any and all prayers. She is a wonderful woman of God, a wife, mother, daughter, and friend. We are praying that she kicks cancer's butt. She is writing a beautiful blog about her journey. Her posts are very inspiring and show her heart. It would be so very nice if you would stop by and let her know you are praying for her here.

2. Some very dear friends of ours that we have been praying for are getting a precious baby. They have been through the fire of infertility and would love your continued prayer and encouragement. I have been on cloud 9 since hearing their wonderful news. They are going to be fantastic parents. I personally can't wait to see this sweet baby we have been praying for in their loving arms. I have already cried tears of joy for them, and I know when I see them I will have tears streaming down my face. To see their journey and to show them some love visit their blog here.

4th of July

So yesterday was not my typical 4th of July. My tradition growing up was going to the small parade our community had. I always enjoy standing with family and running in to friends from childhood on to present day. Then we would always go home and eat a small lunch and take a nap. When I was younger I did not want to take a nap! I wanted to head straight to my Aunt Inez and Uncle Jack's swimming pool. After our nap we would head to the pool. Then for supper we would grill hamburgers and hot dogs. There was always a ton of food. Later we would have about 5 different types of homemade ice-cream to choose from. Followed by fireworks. Over the years this become one of my favorite traditions.
Yesterday we spent the day at home about 18 hours away from my traditions. I enjoyed spending time with our family of 3. We all decided to take a nap when Charles went down. Then yesterday afternoon we headed over to a friend's house for 4th festivities. We had a lot of fun and ate way too much. Followed by firework fun. We are very blessed to have such a great group of friends to hang out with.

I took my camera with great intentions to take lots of pictures but this is the only one I took.


Be sure to check out the photo book I created of our cruise to the Bahamas. Tomorrow I plan on posting about the 2nd leg of our trip home.

Friends

A wonderful thing happened yesterday afternoon. Charles and I got to visit and hang out with some great friends. Thanks Rob and Jill for inviting us to hang out with you. We all had an excellent time and enjoyed a yummy meal.

Mike, Charles, Rob,Jill, and Kim.

Jill, Kim, and I.

I've Been Everywhere

We have been traveling the past couple of weeks visiting family and friends. We also had an early celebration for Charles' first birthday. Be prepared for a lot of pictures and a long post!

 Charles meeting two of his cousins for the first time. They had so much fun playing and feeding him.

 At the park in Blairsville, GA with Grandpa and Grandma.

 A beautiful bridge in the park.

 A photo opt: Mommy and Son at the park.

 Patrick playing golf. This course is beautiful.

 Charles with his Grandma Nita.

Charles' smash cake.

The front of Charles' birthday cake.

The top of the cake. Thanks Diane Klein the cake was wonderful. If you live in Danielsville, GA or close by and would love a great cake let me know and I will get you her contact information.

 My best friend Heather made this sign for Charles party. Thanks so much!!!

 For other decoration: Photo books I made on Shutterfly and Curious George books. The food in the background also had photo decoration stating what each item was with a Curious George character.

 The Curious George Happy Birthday book. We took a regular Curious George book and asked everyone to sign a message to Charles. I have already enjoyed reading what everyone wrote to him. I know when he gets older he will cherish this book.

 Charles with baby Norah. Sorry the photo is a little blurry it is hard to get a picture where one or the other of them was not moving. I thought this picture was so sweet because they are holding hands. We have been joking since we found out our friends were having a baby girl that we would arrange a marriage.

 Charles having fun playing with cousin Sarah Spratlin.

 All ready for church.

 Another photo with his cousin.

 Charles' first time going for a swim. Pop moving him around the pool. He loved the water.

 He loved this toy car and this is one funny face he is making.

 Auntie M loving on Charles before bed.

 Time with cousins: Abigail, Charles, Addison, Sarah Spratlin, and Truman.

 The 4th of July Parade in Colbert, GA. I love this picture of Patrick and Charles.

 Charles and I waiting on the parade to start. The 4th is one of my favorite holidays since I was a kid. I have great memories of going to the parade in Colbert, eating a quick lunch at home and taking a nap, and then going to Uncle Jack's and Aunt Inez's to going swimming and for supper. Also, another reason I enjoy it so much is the multitude of different homemade ice creams. Thanks Uncle Jack and Aunt Inez for allowing us to invade your home year after year. I have so many great memories of the 4th at your home. I am so happy that I get to now give some of these great times to Charles. 

 Believe it or not I used to keep this young lady when she was a baby.  Seeing her this age makes me feel really old.

Charles with another Nora. She is the daughter of his college roommate.

 All the little kids gathering around Charles to play. A few kids moved away before I could snap their picture. It was so sweet watching them play together.

The lovely ladies. I miss these girls so much. It was so much fun visiting with them even though we didn't get to see them very long. (L-R): Me, Lottie, Amanda, Jessica, Jamie, and Nora. Thanks so much for having us Chris and Lottie we had a great time.

The guys! I just took a random photo instead of having them pose for the camera. (L-R): Colt, Patrick, Brandon, Chris, and Michael.


On a side note: The trip home was a hot one. Around Asheville, NC our air stopped working(this was on Saturday around 3pm). We were able to find a company to work on our car on Sunday morning. We found out on Sunday at a Tires Plus that it was the compressor and that they couldn't get the part until Tuesday. They checked us out and let us know what was wrong within 45 minutes. Tires Plus is a stand up operation and if you ever need work on your vehicle give them a call. They are great! I am not getting anything for promoting them either, but if they would like to give us a compressor I wouldn't complain! It looks like we maybe in the market for a new vehicle sooner than we planned. Since it would cost two thousand to fix our Civic. I guess that is everything for now.

For my Friend

This is a very true statement of my friend and I. We get into books so much that we feel that the characters are real people. Thanks Heather for allowing me to chat about fictional characters as if they were/are real!


Love,

Brooke

A New Website

Everyone please check out my friend Tabatha's new site. If you need any type of cards, invites, or printables. She also sews really cute items. Check out her site and enter for a really cool prize! Here is the link: www.cohenlane.com .

Loving

With Aunt Allie
With Uncle Stephen

With Aunt Debbie and Finley

Eating yummy cereal.

Heather and I

Katy, Jessica, Erika, Me, Charles, Chris, Patrick, and Matt. We missed Dustin and Elizabeth. Hopefully they will be able to join us next time.

Chris getting in some practice before his little one arrives in March.

S.S.B feeding Charles. She loved to feed him and even volunteered to change a diaper:)!

Charles decided he would like to feed himself.

A Special Visitor

Charles and Heather. He loved being cuddled and was fascinated by her red hair. Maybe red heads are in his future?

My oldest best friend and college roommate. We have known each other since elementary school and became close friends in middle school. It was very special to me that she flew out this past weekend to visit and see our newest addition. The next visit must be during the summer so she can stay longer.

I promise I didn't spike his hair for this picture. Although it fits with his outfit Born to Rock and Roll. His hair after being washed is out of control.

Sporting his Frog Onesie.

Belly time so that he develops strong neck muscles. This also helps in head control, turning over, pushing up their upper body, and eventually helps with turning over and crawling. He is not always a fan of this time.

Charles with his Giraffe Geoffey and Baloo Bear. He will follow them if you move them around.