A Weekend to Breathe

As usual, it has been a crazy summer for our family.  The weekdays have been filled with soccer and swimming (and the occasional round of golf for Tod and I), and the weekends full of travel, visitors, and all kinds of other fun.  For the first time pretty much all summer I woke up today with nothing on the agenda.  It felt great!  And as much as I would have loved a nice sunny day to go for a walk and take the boys to the park or the zoo, I'm thinking that today's rain is a sign telling us to use the time to RELAX!

Brooks will be a year old in less than a month, and he is definitely finding his independence.  Once he started crawling, he realized how much there was out there to see...and there was no stopping him! He is very curious and - as evidenced by the pictures - into EVERYTHING!

Milo loved playing soccer this summer, and was pretty bummed when the season ended a couple weeks ago - but THRILLED that he got a medal!  He is still taking swimming lessons, but it is nice for all of us to have 2 additional nights a week of downtime for the time being, especially with the Olympics on right now.  Milo has really enjoyed watching gymnastics and swimming, and likes to pretend he is competing in the Olympics.  For whatever reason, he is always competing against China!

 Fun with the dog dish!

 A new hideout!

Tod left the fridge door open for a minute one night, and turned around and found this.  Brooks had "walked" over to the fridge in his walker and taken the Hershey's syrup from the fridge door!  If that isn't a guilty look, I don't know what is!

 Our little race car driver!

 Me after shooting my first ever hole in one!  I had never even witnessed one before, so it was pretty exciting.  I think I had a permanent smile for the next two days!

 Our soccer star!

 #7

 Tod and Tim walking to Lambeau Field with Brooks, Milo and Grant (we were in town for a birthday celebration for one of Tod and Tim's family members)

 Grant, Quin, Milo and Skyler posing at Lambeau

Milo's first time bowling - he had a blast!  This shot is looking pretty good!

God's Newest Angel

We are heartbroken to report that our dear Murphy died unexpectedly Monday of cardiac arrest due to complications from an enlarged heart.  Those of you who knew Murphy know that he loved with every bit of that big heart of his.  Losing him leaves a huge void in our family and our home.  While he was taken from us way too soon, we are thankful that his death was sudden and he was able to spend his last day doing his favorite thing: hanging out on the beach and swimming for toys.  

Murphy and Guinness were our first babies, but Murphy in particular handled the addition of Milo and then Brooks to our family with nothing but love.  He was a protector for both boys (whether Milo liked it or not!) and had a special bond with Brooks that made them both very happy.

Murphy-boy

Loving up baby Milo

Watching over baby Brooks

Brothers

Our little swimmer

Cousin Benji

We are excited to report that Meg and Alex welcomed Benjamin Cooper Law on April 28!  Milo is excited to have another cousin that is younger than him (out of 9 cousins on Tod's side, there is only one that is younger than Milo), and it is so great that Brooks and Benji are so close in age and will be able to grow up together!  Congratulations Meg and Al, and welcome to the family Benji!

Simply Irresistible

Just realized I haven't sent an update for a while - busy, busy, busy! Here are a few recent pictures. I just can't resist these two sweet faces!

Spring decided to come a little early this year (although I'm still not convinced we've seen the end of winter), so we've been enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. Tod and I have both already played golf! And Milo has been out riding bikes, playing soccer, and digging for "treasure" in the sandbox.

Brooks will be 7 months a week from today. He has been teething pretty much since mid-February, but just this past week finally cut his first tooth! He also had a bout of bronchiolitis last week and he ended up needing nebulizer treatments for a couple days, but he is doing much better now. He isn't crawling yet, but moves around like a little inchworm. It is pretty funny to watch - especially when he decides to "inch" while on his back. He basically does a back bend, with his head and feet on the ground and his tummy in the air, until he topples over to the side!

I Saw It With My Own Eyes!

When we got home yesterday, Cheryl informed us that Brooks had rolled over for the first time! We tried to get him to do it for us last night, but he was more interested in playing with the ribbons from the Valentine's presents (see picture below). Then this morning as I was getting my coat on for work, Cheryl yelled to me to come quickly. Sure enough, I caught the tail end of the little guy rolling over from his back to his tummy. A few minutes later...back to his back again! Way to go Brooks!

Brooks is also very clearly teething right now. Nothing has broken the surface yet, but he is just clearly uncomfortable. Lots of drooling, sucking on his hands, fever (check out those rosy cheeks in the picture below!), and just plain fussiness. Poor thing!

Happy Valentine's Day

From our little Heartbreaker

Brothers!

Auntie Meghan took this picture last weekend when she was watching the boys - so precious!

Milo has really impressed us with how well he has handled the transition to being a big brother. There is rarely ever any jealousy, and he has really stepped it up in terms of becoming more self-sufficient, especially when he knows Tod and I are busy with Brooks. He is such a great kid!

Brooks is doing wonderfully! He loves to smile, giggle, and "talk," and his latest trick is talking while stuffing an entire fist in his mouth! He also enjoys grabbing at the toys hanging above him while laying on his play mat. He rocks from side to side when laying down, but hasn't quite rolled all the way over yet - he's so close! He is also finally sleeping through the night. Tod and I couldn't be more thrilled about that!

Because Brooks was a preemie, he is more susceptible to getting RSV, so the doctors advised us that it would be best for him to stay away from the germs of the daycare setting at least through cold and flu season. He stays home during the day with our nanny, Cheryl, while Milo goes to preschool full-time. Brooks and Cheryl get along wonderfully!