Top Ten

I have no camera...again.  Apparently, being a maniac papparazzi mommy leads to many broken cameras.  Well, that and sending your camera crashing to the ground after tripping at the DART station.  I'm having a bit of a lens issue now, so my camera is sitting at Wolf Camera, where it's been for OVER 3 WEEKS, "being repaired".  Right.  Because it takes that long.  Hey Wolf, let's bump up the productivity standards a little, k?  Thanks.

So since I haven't had cute pictures to upload, my motivation for posting has been close to zero...and maybe the fact that I have no time for anything these days has a little something to do with it too.

Here's a top 10 of things I've learned over the past couple of hectic weeks...

1.  Being a mother of two who works full time outside of the home is much, much more difficult than being a mother of one who works part time outside of the home.

2.  If you start to get your priorities out of whack, God will find a way to bring them back into place.  I cherish my time with my family now.  I ache for them at times throughout the day while I'm working, and there is no one I'd rather be with at the end of the day than them.

3.  It takes a really, really long time to adjust to waking up at 5:15.  Hopefully one day I'll actually get out of bed on time and be able dry my hair before I leave the house in the morning.  Let's hope that day is soon so I don't freeze when winter hits.

4.  My husband is an amazing dad.  I already knew he was great with our kids, but I know most men couldn't do what he does all day.  As my sister in law pointed out, they are so lucky to have him.

5.  When you use a camera without a flash your pictures turn out like this...

and when you try to quick fix them on your computer, they turn all grainy like this...

6.  Even though it's been 10 years since I was a part of it, I still get really excited when I meet another Kappa.  Today I found out that one of the OTs I've been working with since I got back from maternity leave is my KKG sista.  Yes, I talked in my shrieky, high pitched voice out of sheer excitement.  And yes, we did the grip right there in the office.  I asked her if she wanted to sing some Kappa songs for everyone, but I think that was little over the top, so she opted against it:)

7.  Getting a good picture of both of my kids together is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be...

...especially with the awesome cameras I have at my disposal.

8.  No matter how much you push the paci, when a girl wants to suck her thumb, she's gonna find a way to do it...

9.  Don't be deceived into thinking you're toddler isn't listening to every single thing that comes out of your mouth.  He is.  And he will soak it up like the sponge he's become and repeat it back to you for weeks on end.  Here's Hunter's list of phrases we'd rather he hadn't picked up...

• 
  
  "dang it!"
  
  
  
• "oh gosh, mommy! oh gosh!"
• "booby!  booby!" (as he points to me while I'm nursing Charlotte.  And no, no one in my house uses that word, so I have no idea how he learned it.)
• "Good Lord."  (I cringe at this.  Luckily he's only said it once.)

And some that he loves to use all day long, but hasn't quite figured out the meaning of...

• "Don't worry, mommy.  Don't worry."
• "Oh!  I forgot!"

And, to our delight, proof that he actually does listen when we want him to...

• "Doggies cannot hurt you."
• "The tractors cannot hurt you."
• "Noooo jumping on the couch." (as he's jumping on it...at least he hears the words...maybe the right actions are soon to follow.)

(In case you didn't know, Hunter is really fearful of a lot of things - dogs being at the top of that list - so we've had to reinforce a million times that the dogs of our families members will not hurt him.  As far as the tractors, there is a lot of construction on 190 by the mall, so when he first saw the tractors and cranes, he freaked and started whining in the car about how scared he was that they were going to hurt him.)

10. Vampires are scary.  And no matter how much all some people disagree, that Twilight movie is frea-ky. 

Precious

Court took these pictures of Charlotte on Halloween (before her costume change!), and I thought they were so sweet, I had to share...

Our Halloween

We went to my sisters' house last night for Halloween. We attempted a family photo before we headed out for our candy filled evening, but either one kid's eyes were closed...

or both were...

And then we lost Hunter's attention...

We finally decided to give it up and let the fun begin!  We figured it was cruel and unusual punishment to make a toddler wait any longer after all of the build up to this night of candy fun.

Our first stop was Nanny's house.  Handy Manny can't wait to start filling his bag...

After Nanny gave us a ton of chocolate we hung out for a while and tried to explain to Hunter that you don't get to eat the candy right when it's given.  He didn't get it...or more likely, he didn't like it.  So Zack decided to distract him with legos...

After Nanny's, we drove back to Kate's house and started trick or treating. 

Our little lamb grew weary of it on the first street so James took her back to Kate's house while the rest of us braved the spooky night!

These people really went all out.  Their front door was open and their entire front room was decorated.  After you walked through, you could get some candy...if you had been brave enough to make it through. 

I'll let y'all take a guess on whether Handy Manny was brave enough...

He gets it from his mom.  There might be a story of a young girl who peed her pants outside of a haunted house once...and she was definitely way past the peeing in your pants age.  And that young girl just might be me.  Maybe. 

James and Cousin Zack got some inside pics for those of us that were too spooked to go in...

H was successful trick or treating at this much less scary house...

and many more after that where they were very generous givers resulting in lots of sugar consumed by our toddler last night. 

We're paying for it today.

Off to hide the candy.

Brother and Sister

So far Hunter's been great with Charlotte.  He's gentle with her.  He loves to "cuddle her".  He gives her great big brother hugs.  He smells her hand sweetly.  He shakes her rattles for her during tummy time or when she's sitting in her Bumbo seat.  He tells her all about exciting things that happen to him.  He prays for her at night.  He happily sits beside her on the couch.  I could go on and on. 

Watching them together is one of my favorite things.  I've been praying that they will have a special bond, rooted in our Savior.  I always wanted a brother, and I can't wait to see the relationship that develops between my two children. 

But with as sweet as he is to her, I knew this day was inevitable...

At least she can't argue with him yet.  She sure does know how to tell us how she feels about it though!

"Punkins, Mommy, Punkins!"

About a week ago we went to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins for the front porch, and Hunter LOVED it, so we headed out to the Arboretum this weekend to see some more.  And he was not disappointed.

His favorite was probably the pumpkin house.  He thought it was "so cool!"

So was running off energy in the hay maze...

And posing with all of the pumpkins.  Hunter's doing much better at smiling for the camera these days.  He even says "cheeeeese".  It's my dream come true:)

Hunter was not a fan of these big pumpkin piles.  Actually, he loved picking up the pumpkins and running around with them.  He was just a little scared to climb up the pile and pose like cousin Zack...

Charlotte liked the pumpkins too.  It's just not as obvious due to all of the fist sucking...

I know it looks like Hunter's flashing back in time with some early 90's dance moves, but he's really just excited about moving on to see the frogs.  Hopefully, he'll keep up his dance skills, because we all know his mommy doesn't have any.

On the way to the frogs, we had to stop and check out the baby pumpkins...

And pose in the walkway lined with pumpkins...

                            

When we finally made it to the frogs, Hunter was too scared to get close to them.  In case you forgot, my child will excitedly point out the water every time we see a fountain, but does not want that water coming anywhere near him.  Vanesa embraced it though...

After the pumpkins, we went to all of the children's storybook houses.  Hunter was also a huge fan of these.  This one is for the book, Eragon...

Hansel and Gretel...

The Little Prince...

I'm not gonna lie.  I have no idea what this one is, but it's a super cute picture, huh?!

Charlotte was such a trooper.  She slept in the wrap for a while, but was happy, awake baby for the majority of the time.

The last place we went was this western/Texas section.

Charlotte's super excited to be free from the wrap...

But not for long...

Does she look irritated or what?  She really loves her wrap - I think she just wanted to look sassy for the picture;)

Free Photo Shoot!

My sweet friend Taylor's having a giveaway at Taylor Made Messages.  Go check it out!

Naked Boy

In case you haven't noticed, my son is not a fan of clothing.  When we're at home, he often chooses to wear only bottoms..

only tops...

or most often, only his diaper...

(and apparently on this day, sister had that preference too...or maybe she didn't, hence the tears?)

Hunter did go through a 4 or 5 day phase where he didn't put up a fight about having to wear clothes, and that was only because he developed a newfound desire to pick out his outfit for the day.  As you can see, he isn't caught up on the latest fashions...

Swim shoes and socks are not a huge hit these days...or ever really!  But Hunter's friend, Ben, didn't mind and still played with him.  That's one of Hunter's favorite qualities in a friend...one who doesn't judge based on appearances;)...or embarass too easily!

It didn't take long for Hunter to once again realize that clothes really aren't that interesting to him, and quickly reverted back to using the diaper as his everyday around-the-house attire.

Until a few days ago.

Often if Hunter has allowed clothes that morning, when he goes down for his nap, he requests that we take them off so he can just sleep in his diaper.  Well we had done that earlier this week and when James went in to get him, H was standing on his bed, holding on to the top rail, and was completely naked.

Looks like we'll have to start watching out for a little mini-streaker here at the Brooks house.  Visit at your own risk!