Many memories with the Great Grandparents!

We were very fortunate this holiday to have the opportunity to visit Adam's family in California, MO to celebrate Christmas and his birthday. And, then Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Blankenship drove all the way to Detroit for the New Year. When we arrived in Missouri, Great Grandma had this sign posted on her front door.

We enjoyed seeing many of their friends at church. It is such a sweet congregation and we love visiting whenever we are in town.

Great Grandma had dinner for everyone to celebrate Adam's birthday. I am so blessed to have married into such a wonderful family. Below is Great Aunt Sue carrying on a very meaningful conversation with Brooks. And, yes, our dogs cozied right up to her instantly. It was so great to see you Aunt Sue!

Since this was Brooks' first trip to California, he had many people to meet. Aunt Bobbie, below, made sure to get in her quality time. Good to see you too Aunt Bobbie...and you look fantastic!!

Brooks had so many gifts that they were literally oozing out from under the tree. Thank you so much for all of these great gifts. We are so grateful to have spent this first Christmas making memories with all of you!

Adam even enjoyed modeling some of Brooks' gifts... there's nothing like a man in a towel!

Brooks sure loves playing with his Great Grandma and Great Grandpa as you will see in many of the pictures below! I think it's possible that they might kinda like him a lot:)

They didn't have enough candles to buy at Pamida so we had to just cram as many as we could on Adam's requested Rubarb pie. Grandma...you did good!

Adam and I came home to Detroit from the holiday with the stomach flu. Well, Grandma and Grandpa had it too and had to drive all the way to Detroit with "uneasy" tummys. We were so excited to spend New Year's with you and we are forever in debt to you for driving our puppies home.

Although I say we spent New Year's together, that isn't really the case. We were all feeling so puny that we were all in bed way before midnight. So, in the morning, I made everyone put on the New Year's hats that I had bought so we could celebrate the coming year. You all are a pretty goodlooking crew, even on New Year's morning!!

As you can see, Brooks and Great Grandpa had a lot of fun playing "Giddie up horsie". Brooks was laughing out loud:) Grandpa would also take Brooks up to the mirror and Brooks loved to see his reflection. Grandpa, ever since you've been here, Brooks can't get enough of the mirror!

Below is Adam and Grandpa's attempt at making a bonfire with wet wood in the snow...Let's just say that the fire didn't last very long.

It's pretty special when your Great Grandma can crawl down on the floor with you and play with your Activity Gym:)

One on the nights they were here, we played cards and Great Grandma won for the first time!! She was so proud...two thumbs up Grandma:)

We are so happy to have all of these special memories throughout the holidays. As I've said before, we truly are blessed beyond measure to have such an amazing family and we thank God for you daily. Grandma and Grandpa, thank you so much for taking care of our puppies, even though they did leave a few "presents" behind at your house. But, we are so grateful for you...more than you will ever know. Brooks loves you so much and we can't wait to watch your relationships with him evolve over the years. We love you and miss you terribly!

Ooops...I forgot to put these last few pics in so I'm going to insert them here at the bottom. Below you will see that Adam talked Great Grandpa in to getting in the hot tub in the freezing cold weather. When they finally came inside, it took Grandpa a little while to recover. There's nothing like a hot tub on a cold day in Michigan...right Grandpa? :)

Many Milestones...Messy Meals!

The start of 2009 has been full of more "firsts". Brooks is now 4 1/2 months old...I can't believe. He has become such a little man. This month marks a huge milestone....rice cereal, oatmeal, and the highchair. As you can see, Brooks is still trying to figure out what this funny tasting stuff is. He still pushes most of it out with his tongue. And, then of course he wipes his face and then touches everything he possibly can...meaning we've been cleaning cereal out of his hair, ears, eyebrows, nose, etc. But, it sure makes for some cute adorable photos!

This month, we've also hit the milestone of our first babysitter. Below is Gina Bratta. She is our neighbor down the street. She is so sweet and so helpful. I left Brooks with her for the first time and he did really well. Since then, we have also found a babysitter at our church. She is a senior in high school and wonderful with kids. Mommy and Daddy got to go on our first date since...July! We came home to a screaming baby and I'm a little worried that we might have run her off. The real test will come when I call her to sit for us again...hopefully she'll give us another chance!!:)

I finally got Brooks' exersaucer together and he seems to like it. He is still a little too short to touch the base, but he still enjoys pushing all of the buttons...and of course bending down and trying to put everything in his mouth.

For Christmas, Grammy and Shrampa got Brooks his first Mustang GT. It's a dual walker/bouncer that makes engine sounds, plays music, and honks the horn. Yes, Shrampa, I knew you would be proud of the pictures below! We are starting him early:)

To say that we've had some snow in Michigan doesn't even come close to describing the white blanket that has covered the ground since...November, I think. We've had to have one of our neighbors snow plow our driveway about twice a week. Adam had to shovel out a little pathway for the dogs because the snow was so deep that when they ran through it, you could only see the tops of their ears. There are 3 foot walls of snow on either side of the driveway. And, it's SOOOOOOOOOOOO cold. Now, more than ever, it's very apparent "we are not in Kansas anymore."

As you can see, our little guy is changing so much and it is so hard to not be with our family and friends through all of these milestones. It's amazing to me how big he has gotten just since Christmas! His little personality is so sweet and he loves to smile and flirt with the girls:)

All in all, it has definitely been an exciting few weeks full of many changes. We wish more than anything that you were here to walk through these milestones with us. But, just know that you are always on our hearts and in our prayers!!