This is such a sweet time of life. So many things are happening that won't happen for long and I love every second!

Brooks is belly-crawling and rolling around. He has 1 1/2 teeth. He squints up his face sometimes when he smiles. He laughs a lot, especially at dogs and Brother. When he is tired he buries his face in my shoulder. He clicks his tongue and says "dadada". He loves to be outside. He takes 2 good naps a day. He rolls his tongue to the right. He likes to play with big boy toys. He protests when I walk past him and don't pick him up to go with me. He laughs at Baby Einstein. He loves fans, lights and running water. He pumps his fists when he gets excited. He shakes his head side to side and laughs. He is so happy when Gus comes through the door. He is ticklish almost everywhere.

Thomson went from saying a few words to saying paragraphs in a few short months. He now likes to talk about concepts like "da water go down da drain" and "da wecycle go in da green trash can. da trash go in da blue trash can". Georgia is his favorite friend in his class. He loves school, runs in screaming in every day. He can go "pee pee da potty" but is not ready to potty train quite yet, and we are not in a hurry. He plays with my hair. He snuggles me on the sofa to watch a movie when he is tired. He loves to read books before bed. Did I say he loves the trash? His new thing is to point to things that are not toys and say in a very loud voice "THIS IS NOT A TOY!" He loves kitty cats, puppies and dogs. He likes to help water my plants. He loves to sing songs. He runs in circles to get dizzy and laughs. He will focus on one task and complete it (who could he get that from?). He is obedient. He is sweet and caring yet wild and fun. He is cautious. He likes things a particular way. He piles like-objects together. He "wuves" his brother.

Brooks grew his first tooth! For about 2 weeks Brooks sported one precious tooth. The second one came in a few days ago. Here are some pictures of my favorite one-toothed man:

Picture Post

Busy busy over here. 7 months: Brooks is rolling all over the place, looking for small objects (or dirty boots) to put in his mouth. He always wants to be in the mix, watching his brother or his dog. He is close to crawling, loves to do planks and pushups. His dark hair and dark skin highlight his beautiful blue eyes, he is georgous. Brooks only sits up at a 45 degree angle, and then he quickly rolls back down to a crawl position. Dr. G said this is typical for babies who are "very eager to crawl", uh-oh

Yes he is wearing tights! Uncle Whit-Whit might get upset but Brooks doesn't care, he wants to set trends not follow them!

Brooks likes to eat but mostly loves to grip tightly on the spoon and gnaw it on his gums. It is quite messy

We nipped this one right in the bud. Thomson learned to climb out of bed when he was visiting DeeDee's house . . .

Triple Paste stains, people! I was able to get it off of my grandmothers' antique bed. After his spanking, Thomson is no longer climbing out of bed at night or during his naps, whew!

my Keri . . .

These past days we have been on the receiving-end of lots of love and lots of southern hospitality. There are so many ways to minister to a grieving family - we have food for weeks over here and have been able to feed all of our family for days on end. The flowers were beautiful. There have been cards, emails, texts, messages, prayers and lots and lots of love. My grandmother was that kind of person and so it has been reciprocated to all of us. We feel loved.

So many of my friends have called, texted, emailed - just a short something but it all meant a lot.

And then there was Keri.

Those of you with young children know the stress of keeping these babies on schedule - or at least you know that they can stay on your mind when they are not with you. I worried about my boys because yesterday was a LONG day with a graveside service, a family lunch, a funeral followed by a visitation. That translates to a hard day for a baby. And I really wanted to find a way for me to be able to keep them off of my mind and for me to be able to focus on my grandmother.

Keri offered to take Thomson and I reluctantly took her up on it. She picked him up at 11 and kept him all day until 8 at night. That is 9 hours! Before the funeral I had a break and I sat in a quiet room at the church and read a text from Keri - that Thomson was sound asleep and that she was praying for me. (I was nervous to give the benediction at the service) And relief flooded over me and I cried a little. What a beautiful friend.

I love you Keri - what a sweet gesture of friendship and what a sweet way to minister to me during a time of loss.

And Thomson misses "Mary Cake"!!!

a special lady

My grandmother passed away Saturday after a long life and a long battle with Alzheimer's for the last bit. What a special lady and so many life lessons we all learned and continue to learn from her. 4 children, 13 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and counting. I am still processing all of this and have more to write about her, but for now, here is the benediction I gave at her beautiful funeral yesterday:

On special occasions the Smith family gathers. We are a large crowd for my grandmothers house. On these nights, Mimi would always take time to appreciate her role as matriarch. She would squeeze one of our hands and exclaim "Can you believe that all of this is because of me?!?" It humbled her - for truly in her mind she was just a farm girl from Oregon.

And today we gather - family, friends, loved ones. We come because we know that she was, in fact, much more than just a farm girl from Oregon.

She set her foundation as a strong faith in Christ. She added a loving marriage to Papa Brooks who adored her. And this faith and marriage set the stage for her life. Her works and her words overflowed from this wellspring.

I wish she were here today. Surely she would stand in the corner and, once again, admire the beautiful family she created. She would be humbled by all of these lives she touched. Truly she left a legacy.

Saturday morning when she met Jesus, I know she heard these sweet words, "Well done, good and faithful servant". Let us pray . . .

School Pictures

Cute or tacky?

December happenings

I am going to have to work my way up to a Christmas post - Christmas was sweet and fun! For now - here are some December pictures.

If you have a dramatic child, difficult and temperamental - I am sorry but I can't relate to you. Thomson and Brooks are both so happy, all smiles and giggles. Is this normal? Things are so fun around here and we are soaking up this precious time. Brooks wants to compete for a Gerber Baby ad. And we all know I am a perfect stage mom, right?

Brooks is 5 months old, he is almost sitting up on his own, rolling over both ways, sleeps like a champ, and not to sound like a broken record - he smiles and giggles all the time. He is so ticklish and he loves peek-a-boo. I thought Thomson was the smiliest baby ever but Brooks easily matches him. I started solids after New Years and he loves the new spooned adventure.This picture is my new favorite: Thomson helping Dad get the Christmas tree out the truck. Something was SO funny!

How adorable is my nephew Parker? He loved hunting with Uncle Gus this year and he saw lots of bucks too!!!Thomson LOVES Parker!I love this Picture of Thomson and Lee for so many reasons. To say Thomson loves Lee is a major understatement. Thomson WORSHIPS Lee - everything is Lee Lee Lee all day long. I can just point to a picture of "Bee" and he starts belly laughing. It makes me so happy...And don't underestimate the up-and-comings: Brooks and Brant, they will surely not disappoint!

Back soon with Christmas pics and post.

Quiet mommy, Santa pics

I have lost my voice again - this is the 3rd time in 4 months. Crazy thoughts are going through my head about why this keeps happening. I have come to really appreciate my voice through all of the ways I have had to adjust during these quiet days. I respond to voicemails with text. When I need Bates to come inside, I stand on the back stoop and clap my hands until he comes running. Thomson especially likes the game of quiet mommy. I whisper his books and his bedtime songs, and he whispers with me.

Here are finally some more pictures, seeing santa: