Brooks Babies

brooks babies in their pjs

2009-12-18T18:12:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving

2009-12-16T07:39:00.001-08:00

here are a few pictures from our thanksgiving with the brooks. thanks for the pictures, corby!!

Sweet...

2009-12-09T08:32:00.001-08:00

Family Pictures

2009-11-22T08:58:00.000-08:00

I think I forgot to post this before, but Hailey took family pictures of us back in August and did a fabulous job as always! You can see a slideshow of the pictures on her blog, and I believe it is about the 4th entry down..."The Brooks Fam"

haileyericksonphotography.blogspot.com

Halloween/Arboretum

2009-11-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

Halloween Preview

2009-11-03T19:12:00.001-08:00

Ok, below are some photos from our fun Halloween weekend! There are some much better pictures coming of the kids in their costumes that Hailey took at Adalyn's birthday party but I wanted to put some of ours up in the meantime!

Justin and Taylor drawing the face for the jack-o-lantern...Taylor was determined to draw it all by herself!

And here it is!

2009-10-13T07:02:00.001-07:00

Tiffany: "Taylor, what does love mean?"
Taylor: "Love means Jesus"

Grayson's First Day of "School"

2009-10-05T11:22:00.001-07:00

I can't believe he's already 6 months and going to Mother's Day Out now!

HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY GRAYSON!

2009-10-02T05:59:00.000-07:00

Rainbow ice cream is fun...and messy!

2009-09-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

TayTay's Tutu

2009-09-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to buy Taylor a tutu since she was born, and I finally got her one this weekend. When I gave it to her, she immediately began twirling around and showing off like she knew exactly what she was supposed to do in it! She even said "Time for my dance!" It has been very hard to get her to take it off to eat, take a bath, etc.! So glad she loves it!!

Taylor giving Grayson his bottle...

2009-09-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

she did a good job!

we've got grayson started early!

2009-09-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

thanks mimi!

Ft. Worth Zoo Take 2!

2009-08-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

the happy faces show it was a much better experience than our first! doesn't grayson look old?!

Time for Dinner...or not!

2009-08-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I send Justin and Taylor outside to play while I cook dinner...

Then I come out to tell them it's ready and this is what I find...guess dinner will have to wait! haha

Taylor's 1st Real Spaghetti Experience

2009-08-13T11:58:00.001-07:00

Oompa, Loompa, Doompa-dee-doo...

Seeing herself in the mirror...

Straight to bathtime! I literally rolled her in the highchair to the bathroom...

A Funny Story

2009-08-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, let me start by saying Justin must be the sweetest Daddy in the whole world. Taylor has gotten pretty good at simple commands like "Taylor, will you please get Mommy one of Grayson's diapers," or "Taylor, can you go turn off the light?", etc. The other night as we were preparing to go out to eat, Justin said "Taylor, can you go get Daddy's black shoes out of the closet?" What he was referring to were his new black tennis shoes that Taylor has been fascinated with, so he was pretty sure she would get the right ones. It took her a few minutes, but Justin stated to me that WHATEVER she brought out, he would be wearing to dinner. The result of this sweet but not so smart situation can be seen below...

Not only were they dress shoes, but they were 2 LEFT foot dress shoes from different pairs! She was SO proud of herself! Now you know what happens when you put your fate in the hands of a 2 year old!

P.S. - I did not let Justin follow through with this, as much as he was determined to.

Grayson's First Trip to the Park

2009-08-07T08:19:00.001-07:00

Grayson Meets Darth Vader!

2009-08-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

Grayson rolled over...and I missed it!!!

2009-07-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you Mimi for documenting the occasion!!!

Grayson "talking"...

2009-07-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

Cake Pictures From 1st and 2nd Birthday...

2009-07-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

My baby on her 1st Birthday!

My big girl on her 2nd Birthday!

Children's Museum in Houston

2009-07-13T09:29:00.000-07:00

Bubble Time!

2009-07-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

Recent Pictures

2009-07-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

Taylor's 2nd Birthday!

2009-07-07T07:44:00.000-07:00

I can't BELIEVE my baby is 2!!!

Still think they look similar?

2009-06-22T08:51:00.001-07:00

These are from Taylor at 3 months and Grayson now at almost 3 months...

Video of Taylor's reaction to feeling the sand for the first time...

2009-06-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

Vacation Part 2 - Beaumont

2009-06-15T09:39:00.001-07:00

my babies in their matching plaid shorts and shirts

taylor and brooks swimming in grammy and pappy's pool

gator country...

Vacation Part 1 - Galveston

2009-06-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

our hotel (hotel galvez)

at the beach...

taylor did NOT like the feeling of the sand on her feet!

but grayson did!

taylor's entertainment in the hotel room

riding the ferry boat from galveston to go to beaumont

As promised...

2009-06-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

Did you know I have started smiling???

2009-05-26T08:28:00.000-07:00

Grayson has been smiling for a few weeks now, and I have some even better pictures that I will try to post soon...

Grayson

2009-05-14T09:11:00.001-07:00

Taylor (not really) counting to 10 in Spanish...

2009-05-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

So, I was teaching Taylor to count to 10 in Spanish the other day, which she did totally unassisted after awhile (I promise!). Justin captured it on his iphone, but I didn't know a way to upload that, so I tried to get it on my camera, and as you will see, I was unsuccessful! It still made for a cute video, however, and you can hear her say "uno, dos", then you'll hear an "ocho, nueve" (several times!) among several other sounds...haha. I'll try to get the whole thing again soon!

(See video below)

2009-05-14T08:14:00.001-07:00

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

My Babies

2009-05-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

Bathing Beauty

2009-05-13T08:07:00.001-07:00

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-05-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

Well, since Grayson was only a week old, our Easter this year was a little untraditional. I stayed at home with the kids but Mimi did come over to set up an Easter egg hunt for Taylor. She had a blast as you can tell!

Taylor's Big Girl Bed!!!

2009-05-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

BIG girl?! Not yet! She's still my baby!

Thanks for the bed Pappy and Grammy!

Mother's Day Out Carnival Last Month

2009-05-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

Taylor LOVED the horses!!!

Beautiful Boy

2009-05-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

What a week...

2009-05-07T21:20:00.001-07:00

Well, where do I begin? Justin and I have just had what I would say was the most difficult week of our married life. As most of you probably know, Grayson was admitted to Children's Medical Center last Wednesday for what started out as a fairly low fever, and more a precaution because of his age to make sure nothing major was going on. Though initial tests, followed by many, many more tests came back negative for any bacterial or viral infection, he continued to worsen. Late Thursday evening we were moved to ICU where Grayson was placed on oxygen along with the fluids and antibiotics he was already being given. They are officially calling his diagnosis "culture-negative sepsis" which, in short, means that he had some unidentified infection that was affecting pretty much every thing in his body. After 3 days in the ICU they got him stable again, but sent us down to the regular floor again with him on oxygen. We came home Wednesday afternoon, and he seems to be doing ok. I was really nervous about bringing him home, but it was so hard being away from Taylor for most of the past week. We are so thankful to my mom, Justin's mom, and Aunt Kim for making sure Taylor was taken care of. I don't even think she realized how much we had been away because she was having so much fun! Thank you so much to all who were praying for Grayson. We could definitely feel your prayers, and it definitely helped us through that very difficult time. I am usually always the photographer in the family, but this time was a little different, and I have spent every minute since we left the hospital trying to forget seeing my sweet baby look like he did in the hospital. Justin did capture a few pictures, however, so we can some day show Grayson what he went through, and tell him all the stories of so many people praying for him and how God brought him through this.

Mommy and Grayson

2009-04-25T21:18:00.000-07:00

New Pictures

2009-04-23T16:40:00.001-07:00

Funny...

2009-04-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

A sentence I never imagined I'd say: "Taylor, I'll give you more beans if you don't put anything else up your nose!"

Today the only way I could get Taylor to let me clip her nails was to let her hold a bottle of eye drops and sing "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from Mary Poppins at the same time! Go figure!

Grayson's First Bath

2009-04-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

Taylor and Grayson

2009-04-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Do you know who is who?

Cool Grayson

2009-04-03T10:55:00.001-07:00

Grayson Is Here!!

2009-04-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, Justin here again, the proud pappa!! Grayson Philip Brooks came to us today, April 2nd, at 4:33pm, weighing 7lbs. 8oz., 19 3/4 inches long. Tiffany is doing amazing and is our hero! We told Taylor that her brother was born and she said, "Cheerios" as she held up her baggie of Cheerios. She'll get it soon enough :-) We want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for your constant prayer and support and walking with us through your thoughts and prayers.

Checked In!

2009-04-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. This is Justin, which is weird because this is the first time I, personally, have updated the blog and not Tiffany :-) I wanted to let you know that Tiffany is doing great! She is checked in and hooked up to all the machines that beep and blip, and everything else. We are doing some blood work because her blood pressure is slightly elevated, but nothing to really worry about just yet. Now we are just waiting for Grayson to get here!

Grayson Philip

2009-03-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am going to be induced this Thursday at 8am at Baylor Dallas. So, the next post will probably be pictures of Grayson! We would appreciate your prayers...

Accountability from a 1 year old...

2009-03-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Well, God can use anyone, can't He? You are never too young, too old, too weak, etc. to be used by God! One of Taylor's favorite things to do lately is pray. We always usually pray together when we eat and when we go to sleep. Of course, at first, Justin and I were the ones to prompt this every time, but lately Taylor will often beat us to it, and start grabbing our hands and saying "pray!" And if we somehow forget, Taylor will look at us and start demanding to pray before she starts eating or goes to sleep! And usually we don't pray long enough to her satisfaction, so she will just keep saying "pray, pray!" over and over! It's so sweet, and we are thankful to have this new little accountability partner in our lives.

Taylor's 1st Haircut!

2009-03-24T08:09:00.001-07:00

Well, who knew a haircut could be so fun?! Toys, personal TVs (Taylor actually had 2!), bubbles, animal crackers... Taylor did really well, surprisingly, and doesn't she look cute and grown up?

Ft. Worth Zoo was definitely a ZOO!!!

2009-03-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

I will never go to the Ft. Worth Zoo again during spring break and on 1/2 price day!!! The first picture is what Taylor did most of the time we were there! haha.

Taylor's First Concert :-)

2009-03-05T07:24:00.001-08:00

Hopefully you can tell this is "Row Row Row Your Boat" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"...

Taylor Counting!!!

2009-03-03T08:02:00.001-08:00

At one point she counts up to 13!!! I think that is pretty good for a 19 month old!

Happy Late Valentine's Day!

2009-02-22T08:10:00.001-08:00

While we're making comparisons...

2009-02-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

I never got to post this before, but Taylor definitely enjoyed Santa a lot more last year, wouldn't you say?!

What a difference a boy makes...

2009-02-17T08:12:00.001-08:00

Well, I knew my stomach was bigger this pregnancy than the last, but I didn't quite realize how much bigger! The first picture below was taken when I was pregnant with Taylor at 34 weeks. The second picture is today, at almost 33 weeks with Grayson. Wow! Maybe I am just carrying differently with him?!

Family Pictures Continued...

2009-02-05T11:59:00.001-08:00

Family Pictures

2009-02-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some family pictures that Hailey Erickson took of us last week. She did an awesome job, and was great with getting Taylor to cooperate! I definitely recommend her to any of you needing pictures taken for anything. I was going to wait until I had all the pictures, and arranged them in some sort of slide show, but I couldn't resist posting a sneak peek!

Our Little Bath Bunny

2009-01-26T08:27:00.000-08:00

Taylor and Brooks

2009-01-26T08:11:00.000-08:00

Well, Taylor had alot of fun with Brooks the other night! First she was just dying to help feed him (Aunt Katy was so kind to indulge her), and she actually did a pretty good job! Thanks for playing along, Aunt Katy! Then, for some reason, she was determined to sit in Brooks' lap. haha! Again, thanks Aunt Katy (and Uncle Stu) for humoring her!

Taylor Praying

2009-01-20T10:55:00.000-08:00

Dallas World Aquarium

2009-01-18T20:55:00.000-08:00

Christmas and New Year's Eve - Long Overdue!

2009-01-15T08:14:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas and New Year's flew by, and I can't believe January is now half over! We will have a new baby boy in our family before we know it! Below are pictures from our wonderful time over the holidays. Christmas Eve was spent at the Taylors' house, and it was great! Christmas morning was spent in our new house, and I am just sick because I didn't get one single picture! We videoed the whole thing, but our video camera is older, and the recordings are not easily put on to the computer, so I can't show any of that as of now. After our Christmas that morning we headed down to Beaumont and had a wonderful weekend there. New Year's Eve was also spent at our house which we are so happy to be moved in to!!! Happy New Year, everyone!

2009-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Cooking burgers on the new grill!

Our (non-alcoholic) champagne...

Toasting at midnight! Happy New Year!

Day After Christmas at the Brooks' House

2009-01-15T07:49:00.001-08:00

Taylor discovering her new tent!!

Taylor loving her new chair...

Taylor holding up her new shirt for us to see. How cute is that?

Brooks in his new hat...

Taylor pouring Daddy some tea from her new tea set!

Worn out after all the fun!

Christmas Eve at the Taylors' House

2009-01-15T07:42:00.000-08:00

Taylor and her cousin, Sadie

Great-Granddaddy, Taylor and Mimi

The Taylors

Recent Pictures

2008-12-24T15:45:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-16T16:05:00.000-08:00

Well, Taylor finally let me put a bow in her hair and kept it in for more than 2 minutes, so I had to document the occasion!

Grayson Philip

2008-12-08T11:24:00.000-08:00

IT'S A BOY!!!

2008-11-21T07:22:00.000-08:00

I will post a sonogram picture as soon as I can, but I wanted to let everyone know we are having a baby boy! Justin was shocked, and I have to say I was a little surprised too, but we are very excited! He is very healthy, and everything is in line with my original due date, April 8. We cannot wait to meet Grayson Philip!

2008-11-10T08:22:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post a couple of pictures of Baby Adalyn...

Arboretum Take 2...

2008-11-09T13:41:00.001-08:00

The infamous halloween pictures...

2008-11-09T13:28:00.001-08:00

Quick Update...

2008-11-06T07:25:00.000-08:00

OK, for those who think I am just being a slacker and haven't put up all of the tons of pictures I got of Taylor in her Halloween costume this year, you are at least partially wrong. haha. The part that is incorrect is that I only got a total of 2 pictures of Taylor in her adorable Tinkerbell costume that you would have thought was on fire by the way she was screaming and trying to rip it off, so am finding it hard to feel motivated to spend the time loading and posting them! We quickly decided it wasn't worth it, and put her regular clothes back on her. The rest of the evening was very pleasant after that!

In other news..."Aunt" Candace had her baby, Adalyn, last week! She is just beautiful and Candace is doing great. She and Josiah are wonderful parents!

Lastly...we have our sonogram scheduled for November 18 to find out the sex of the baby. We'll let you know!

Candace's Baby Shower

2008-10-27T09:16:00.001-07:00

Doesn't Candace look adorable? She is due any day now, and we can't wait for Taylor to meet her new friend, Adalyn!

Fall Festival at the Arboretum

2008-10-26T15:42:00.001-07:00

3rd Anniversary!

2008-10-23T16:13:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Justin and I celebrated three wonderful years of marriage. We can't believe so much has happened in three years! I am so thankful for such a wonderful husband, and look forward to the many more years we will have together. My parents got us a square 3-tier cake in remembrance of our wedding cake that was supposed to be square, but ended up being round instead for some reason (and not to mention, drooping on all sides). I didn't care though, I was about to marry Justin! Here is a picture of the cake and us being silly...

Taylor and her new bench!

2008-10-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

Grampy and Mimi got us two benches for the side of our house, and one is a small one for Taylor. I think she likes it!

Dewberry Farm

2008-10-17T14:05:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we went to Dewberry Farm just outside Houston with Justin's family. It was a blast!

Pictures from Surf n' Swim this summer

2008-10-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

Our Kitchen - Before and After!

2008-10-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

Well, the pictures don't really do it justice, and there are still a few things left to be done, but as you can tell it is quite a transformation! (By the way, the dishwasher isn't green! It's just the protective film that's still on it)

This is another picture of what you see when you walk in the house. It used to be a solid wall, and we had the cut out and walk-through put in to open up the house more.

Could Taylor look a little like Mommy?

2008-10-06T19:26:00.001-07:00

Well, maybe it's wishful thinking, but I think Taylor resembles me in this picture. It would not be a bad thing at all if she looks like beautiful Daddy, though!

First Baby Bump Picture

2008-09-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well, whoever said you show faster the second time around was right! I think this picture looks like me in my 6th month from last time! Yikes!

Coming Right Along...

2008-09-16T07:43:00.000-07:00

We had a dr. appointment yesterday and everything is going well. The baby had a strong heart rate in the 160s, which is what Taylor's always was. Our due date is April 8, and we should know what we're having around mid November. It's crazy to us that we're doing this all over again so soon, but we are really excited about Taylor having a play mate! Taylor has brought us so much joy over the last year, and we are thankful that next spring that joy will be doubled!

Taylor's 1st Pig-tails

2008-09-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

Well, she barely has enough hair to go into the rubberbands, but we did it! Doesn't she look cute? :-)

WELL...............

2008-09-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

We have a very unexpected surprise announcement to make. No, we are not reminiscing Taylor's early days here. This is our first sonogram of the second addition to our family, due around the beginning of April!!! Justin and I definitely had plans for other children, but we had not necessarily planned on another coming so soon. God had other plans apparently, and we know this child is a blessing, so we are thankful for that. As before, we will keep you updated as we go along!

P.S. - If you can't tell, tilt your head to the right and you can see the head as well as the arms and legs beginning to form.

2008-08-14T10:27:00.000-07:00

Birthday continued...

2008-07-08T21:16:00.001-07:00

Taylor showing us how old she is!!! I have a video I'll post too!

Our Baby is One!!!

2008-07-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Taylor's birthday party - thanks Aunt Corby and Uncle Kody!

Before it all Began...

2008-07-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

That's right...these pictures were taken right before we had Taylor on July 5 of last year. We cannot believe she is already one!!! We are so blessed to have had her in our lives the past year, and can hardly remember life without her! Birthday pictures to follow!

Mommy and Me

2008-07-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

When the Cord is Missing...

2008-06-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

Since the cord to upload pictures from my camera is packed away, I have to print the pictures and then scan them to post on the blog. This results in very poor quality, but at least you can see what we've been up to lately! There are 4 new posts!

Another Photo Shoot Mommy?!

2008-06-29T13:23:00.001-07:00

Peek-a-boo

2008-06-29T13:21:00.001-07:00

Can you see me now???

Daddy and Taylor

2008-06-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

Funny Face!

2008-06-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

Well, Taylor has discovered frowning...haha. I think because it's new to her, she does it all the time, but she is sometimes even laughing when she does it! Check it out...

5 Teeth, 9 Words, and Counting...

2008-06-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

If you haven't guessed from the lack of "after pictures" on the blog, our house still is not finished being remodeled. We are living with my parents until it is finished, and all of our things are in boxes, so I can't find the cord for the camera to upload pictures! I usually just let the pictures speak for themselves, but a written update will have to do for now. As the title says, Taylor now has 5 teeth (2 bottom, 3 top) and is saying 9 words including clap (clah), duck (guck), hi, bye bye, mama, dada, cracker, baby, and paddy cake (pa-cay)! Her first word was at 9 months which I have video proof of! She was clapping her hands and saying it repeatedly, so it wasn't a fluke! She gives hugs and kisses, plays peek-a-boo, waves, loves walking (with our help), and loves watching Daddy play the guitar. This is really a fun stage! I can't believe she is going to be one year old in a week! I promise to try and get some pictures posted soon!