Mam-maw and Aunt Linda Visit! September 30, 2009

 We’re a bit behind on our blog posts.  Life tends to get a little busy with a little one around.  This week Kelley started back to work and Brooks subsequently started daycare at FBC.  Elizabeth and Lajuana take great care of him and he seems to enjoy watching the other kids that are a few months older than him and are crawling around. 

It is very odd to think of him having all these experiences during the day without us around.  Although it is a common experience for parents and it shouldn’t surprise us, there is a sadness to it.  More on that in another post.

Last week Aunt Linda brought my Mam-maw fom Longview to meet Brooks.  Neither Mam-maw or Aunt Linda have had a chance to meet Brooks yet, so it was a great time for all of us. 

Brooks did NOT take to Mam-maw at first.  Truthfully, they arrived on an afternoon where he was fussy, but the next day brought lots of quality time with Aunt Linda, Mam-maw and Brooks.  I was able to take the day off and my mom was able to take the day off and come up and join the festivities as well. 

Here are some pictures from the visit.

 

                    

 

 

Above are some good ones of Mam-maw and Brooks.  Now Brooks has met all of his great-grandparents!

 

 

                                                                                                                              

 

Here is Aunt Linda and Brooks.  I should note at this point, that Uncle Ken also made the trip and got to spend a good time with Brooks before Linda and Mam-maw arrived.  He had an administrative retreat at Camp Buckner and wasn’t able to hang out on Wednesday.  We don’t get to see them nearly enough, so it was great to have a full day to hang out. 

 

 

Here is one of Mam-maw with her kiddos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And one of Brooks with the ladies.  We will be gathering back in Marble Falls for Thanksgiving the Mom, Mam-maw, Aunt Linda, Uncle Ken, and the rest of the Hall Clan.  It promises to be a good time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the Single Ladies September 28, 2009

So I have never watched Beyonce’s “All the Single Ladies” video, but it has inspired quite a few interesting and funny moments I have witnessed. 

1)  The first was Paul Rudd, Andy Samberg, and Justin Timberlake’s SNL sketch with Beyonce. 

One of the funnier SNL sketches of the season in my opinion.

 

2)  Kanye at the Grammy’s making a fool of himself and embarrassing Taylor Swift.  Ok, I didn’t see this, but sure heard enough about it. 

3)  A funny Glee episode this week that prominently featured a football team, not to mention a teen gay kicker performing Single Ladies. 

4)  This hilariously cute video Kelley showed me today of a baby dancing to “Single Ladies”   I don’t know if it’s real or not, but it is funny.

 

 

There’s no real point to this post, just random musings late at night.  Enjoy the videos.

Brooks Meets Kenedy, Kenedy Meets Brooks September 27, 2009

 Sorry it has been so long since the last post.  It has been a busy week.  Last weekend we took our first overnight trip with Brooks.  We went to Kenedy (where I grew up) where my cousin Amy, Gina, and other assorted friends from FBC Kenedy threw Brooks a baby shower.  It was a wonderful weekend complete with shower, good dove hunting, and lots of quality time with the family.   Below are a couple pictures from the shower.  Amy knows (how she knows maybe another retrospective post) how much Kelleylikes cake, so they had all sorts of different cake at the shower.  Lots of the ladies I grew up around were there as well as several of my friends.  It was a great time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the left are the Fudge’s, as well as Aunt Robbin and Expectant mother cousin Gina!  Above are the wonderful cakes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Aunt Mal holding Brooks and one with sweet Maw-maw fawning over Brooks at the shower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shower hostess and cousin Kayce Jo is hiding behind the balloons, while Brooks got to meet future Kenedy play pal Broden Fudge with mom Erin. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above is a great picture.  Four generation of Homeyer men.  Very special.  We didn’t get many pictures of GJ, but here is one of her giving a visual tour of the backyard to Brooks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One recent development of the past couple weeks has been a sweet smile by Brooks that is motivated by joy and not simply gas!  GJ and Kelley coaxed a few good ones out of Mr. Brooks on Saturday morning. 

 

It was a great first trip to Kenedy for Brooks.

Grandparents’ Day September 14, 2009

Brooks was lucky enough to get to spend a few hours of grandparents’ day with Sassy and Pop.  He enjoyed seeing them and having their undivided attention.  He was full of smiles as soon as they arrived.

He got to show off his kicking skills to Sassy on his little gym (you can’t actually see his feet or the ball in this picture, but trust me, he can really kick!) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a good day for showing off kicking skills since it was his first time ever to wear shoes.  They were so cute on him and even matched his outfit!

 

After all the fun, he was pretty pooped.  He found a good spot to settle down for a nap.

Thanks Sassy and Pop for coming to see him!  Hope you had a great first Grandparents’ Day!

Memory Lane September 10, 2009

Among my random thoughts today you will find some pictures to take you down memory lane.  I was looking back at all of our pictures and it’s so crazy to see how much our little one has changed.  I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

It’s Raining!!!!!!!!!!!  That’s right, as I sit here writing this, I’m looking out my window watching rain fall from the sky and listening to the thunder rumbling!  It’s a beautiful thing that hasn’t been seen or heard around here for a long time.  AND, baby Brooks has been sleeping soundly for almost an hour now!  We’ve been working on our napping so this is

quite a success!                                        

                              

Day 1- TINY!

It’s been a while since I’ve found the time to sit and write, leaving much of the blogging duties to Matt, but, this seemed like as good a time as ever.  Brooks and I have started to figure each other out and settle into a little rhythm here at home.  I’m slowly starting to be able to interpret some of his cries and he’s slowly starting to give me some new grunts and coos to try and express himself in new ways!  He even gave me some really good smiles this morning, something we’ve been waiting for and getting fleeting glimpses of here and there.  But this morning this little series of smiles was definitely meant for me and it was a beautiful thing!  We went and visited the daycare where he’ll be spending his time when I go back to work in a few weeks.  He handled it like a champ.  The other baby napped the whole time we were there, so he was happy to watch the big kids in their class and take in all the new surroundings.  Mommy feels a little better after having visited, but I’m sure will still have lots of tears the day I actually have to leave him there for a WHOLE day.  I’m so thankful that I get the opportunity to work part-time this year so I’ll still have a few days a week to spend at home.                                                                    

2 weeks-Skinny Legs!

We’re starting to figure out how to maneuver around town…in my new ‘mom car’ as I like to call it.  No, it’s not a minivan…I hope to never eat these words, but I don’t plan on ever owning one of those!  We’ve been all over the big city of Marble Falls, you know, Wal-Mart, HEB, the gym.  We even went and visited a new tiny baby yesterday, Brooks’ new friend Deegan.  It’s the first time Brooks has met a younger friend.  It’s crazy how small Deegan seemed (he’s now 8lbs, 2oz and he wasn’t even due until September 16th!) and sad to realize how big Brooks has gotten already (though I am SO happy that he’s healthy and growing!)  Brooks’ most frequent outing spot has been to church.  The Dellinger girls have taken spectacular care of him in the nursery there. 

4 weeks-Sweet Baby

It’s been quite the seven weeks.  There are some days it seems we’ve got this new life all figured out and then in an instant our world seems to be turned upside down again!  I keep waiting for his instruction manual to arrive in the mail, but so far it seems to be lost out there somewhere.  I know it’s cliche, but it truly is hard to imagine life without Brooks.  He’s such a blessing and we’re constantly reminding ourselves to enjoy each moment because he’s growing SOOO fast!  We won’t go for his 2 month checkup for another few weeks, but I’m very eager to see how much he’s grown.  One of our church members suggested taking him to the meat market to weigh him…I’m not sure if he was serious or not, but I have refrained from doing this so far!

7 weeks-Chunky Monkey!

Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious Weekend September 8, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Kirby’s expression pretty much encapsulates our weekend.  It was one of the all time great weekends filled with football, family, friends, and quite a bit of “down” time. 

 

 

 

 

 

It began Friday when I (Matt) got to keep Brooks for over eight hours by myself!  We both survived although not without our adventures. Kelley had a Dr.’s appointment in Round Rock and got to do some shopping and have lunch with her mom while she was in the area.  I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with Brooks.  We went to the gym, went to Church, and I introduced him to the joy of spending a morning watching Sports Center.  He showed me the importance of Tummy time and that baby spit up actually breaks the sound barrier.  It is possible for it to hit your bare foot and splatter BEFORE you hear it come out of their mouth.

 

Friday was Marble Fall’s Homecoming.  Kelley kept Brooks and I took Logan as my homecoming date.  The game was cancelled due to lightning, but we replayed it Saturday (sans Logan) and I got to see much of it.  Go Stangs!

 

 

Saturday brought visitors from the North!  Kelley’s cousin Christie, her 4 month old son Kirby, Great-Aunt Nancy, Aunty Amy, and Sassy all came over for the day.  Kirby is a ridiculously cute kiddo with an intoxicating smile!  We got a great glimpse at what we are in for in a couple months. 

 Here are a couple great pics of the moms and their boys as well as the boys themselves.  We are looking forward to Christmas with them together!

 

 

 

 

 

Since the ladies were gathered at the house, I gained permission to go dove hunting with Chris Wilson and friends.  Chris has an amazing ranch outside of town and it was an ideal evening.   I got to listen to and follow the Baylor game on my phone, I got my limit dove hunting, AND Chris and friend bbq’d the dove along with ribs, shrimp, and other goodies.  It was a goooooooood night.

 

Oh, and did I mention, Baylor won! (they also received votes in each top 25 poll this week!  Can you say, “holy crap!”) 

 In honor of the vistory Kelley dressed him in his Baylor gear.  BU is 1-0 in Brooks’ life.  Let’s keep it up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inexplicably, there is shockingly little BU apparel for babies.  My sister Mallory, in her quirky resourcefulness, got a friend of hers who works at Hole in the Roof Marketing in Waco to design this shirt and several like it for Brooks. They are awesome!  They have “Homeyer” on the back and are green and gold, and even have Brooks’ dads old football number on them.   They are right at the top of Brooks’ favorite gifts!

 

In the pic below, if he was upright, he would be in a pretty good linebacker stance…I’m just saying.

 

 

 

 

 

But even after all that sweet goodness, the weekend wasn’t over!

 

 

Garrett, Camille, and Caris called Saturday and were in Horseshoe Bay for the weekend with Camille’s family.  Garret and his fatherinlaw and brotherinlaw came to Fellowship on Sunday morning and we were able to get breakfast with them before they left Monday.  So far in Brooks’ short 6 1/2 weeks, he hasn’t reacted to people or babies too much.  But boy did HE EVER REACT TO CARIS!  Below I tried to capture his smile when he saw her.  He smiled at her sooo much while they were there.  Caris is right at 4 months old and one of the possibilities to win the Brooks lottery in about 20 years. 

 

 

 

 

 

 We think he officially has his first crush on this beautiful young lady.  He has never smiled so much at one time as he did when Caris was around.  It was great to watch.  It was Kelley’s first opportunity to meet Caris as well.  I had the privelege back in July. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Even here Brooks has the hint of a smile.  Too cute. 

Here are Garrett and I with our kiddos.  Garrett and I might the first or second weekend at Baylor our freshman year.  We each went to “Focus” conference that that BGCT hosts for college students.  We hung out there, roomed together, and have been great friends ever since.  Garrett finished Dental school a couple years ago and now is in the middle of an Oral surgery program in Houston.   He is just about the most overall talented individual I know.   I am ardently seeking practices for him to join in Marble Falls in a few years! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the weekend STILL wasn’t over.  We left breakfast with the Blundell’s and headed to Round Rock to meet GJ and Bobby for lunch and shopping.  We didn’t take any pictures, but spent a nice few hours shopping at the Outlet Mall and eating at The Monument Cafe in Georgetown. 

It was a weekend of weekends.  We were a bit tired last night, but would do it all over again if we could!

Will your passions be their passions? September 5, 2009

I wrote this a couple weeks ago.  Finally got it where it’s ready

 

A few weeks before Brooks was born, Kelley and I went to my favorite place in the world and saw a great movie,  “Away We Go” , starring Maya Rudolph and John Krasinksi. 

I highly recommend the movie, but that is beside the point.  It is the story of a couple in their 30’s trying to establish an identity in the world.  A story about finding and making a home in the vastness of America for their forthcoming child to be grounded in. 

As I have spent many quality hours holding Brooks over the past few weeks I have thought quite a bit about one particular scene from that movie.  Towards the end of the movie the expecting parents have encountered all sorts of friends with varying styles of parenting.  Some good, some bad.  They encounter some joy and lots of pain in the lives of the families they encounter.  Some healthy and lots of disfunction.  They wonder together what sort of life they will be able to provide for their little girl. 

In this conversaton Maya Rudolph’s character says to her husband (and I paraphrase), “Do you promise that when she (their daughter) speaks you will listen, and REALLY listen, and that her passions will become your passions.” 

I’ve spent a lot of time praying through and imagining what sort of person Brooks will be and what sort of life he will live.  Obviously Kelley and I have hopes and dreams for him. 

All parents have these and it seems that what your dreams, hopes, and prayers are for your child determine in large part the way you parent your child.  What sort of environment do you provide?  How much of the world do you expose them to and with what freedom to you expose them?  What do you protect them from and what are the implications of that protection?  How do you positively form their character and person while providing them freedom and ample room to be the person God created them to be and to develop their own passions, talents, gifts, and interests? 

I guess all parents have to walk this balance in their own way and while there certainly are some “wrongs” in finding this balance, there isn’t one “right” and one “wrong.” 

I think about the scene in Away We Go, and I have held Brooks while listening to songs like “A New Redemption Song” by Bob Marley or “Up to the Mountain” by Patty Griffin or “Remedy” by David Crowder, or as I simply spend more and more time with him, my prayers, my hopes, and my dreams for Brooks have morphed and deepened. 

I still want health, and contentment, and fulfillment and all that jazz.  I would love for him to share my love of baseball and reading and the outdoors and look forward to sharing that with him.  I would absolutely love to watch him play football on Friday nights.  I can’t wait to watch the unique ways I will see Kelley in him and of the special connections he and Kelley will have than will be different than the ones we share. 

For me, I want for him to be as at home on our farm in Kenedy or on mission in Eagle Pass or Kenya as he is in Marble Falls.  I want him to be educated in public schools where he is exposed to many challenging but rewarding friendships.  I want to let him inside the world of my calling and teach him the richness and beauty of true friendships and relationships in Christ and about the nature and strength of the body of Christ.  I want to teach him, but also to lead him to know experientially in Christ great truths such as redemption, grace, mercy, compassion, and love.

I find myself fearfully (and yet boldly) praying, hoping, and dreaming about what passions and call God will develop and grow in Brooks’ (I still haven’t figured out the possessive!) life. 

Will a great and sincere faith sprout and grow in his heart that will lead him to be a world shaker?  Will he advocate for the voiceless and marginalized in the world?  Will he have a heart to serve others?   What will his passions be?  Where will his heart lie?  How will he spend his life? 

I have great hopes.  Maybe as great as any, is the hope I have 20, 30, 40 years from now that he will teach his dad of the passions of a new generation and that I may share them with him. That his passions will become my passions.  I can’t wait for the opportunity to listen to him, and I hope I can really listen.

But for now, I hold him.  And I dream.  And I pray.  And I hope.

Our Second Month with Brooks September 3, 2009

 

I’m sorry there haven’t been too many posts over the past couple of weeks.  It’s been hectic.  Here are several pictures from the past couple weeks of Mr. Brooks life. 

 

 

The first documented thumb suck.  He hasn’t mastered it, but he’s working very hard on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brooks watching Meet the Press before Church on Sunday morning.   If you can’t tell, he’s eating very well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first documented smile.  He hasn’t really smiled in response to us (although GJ would argue otherwise), but whether gas related or otherwise they are devastatingly cute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Blue Eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Baby Bjorn.  I can’t decide whether I like it or hate it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our friend from Fellowship, Dan Copeland, gave us the shirt.  We resisted the urge to experiment with it as a cloth diaper and let him wear it.  Fortunately it provided a wonderful pictorial opportunity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sleeping on mom’s shoulder. 

 

 

 

 

It’s been a busy, but wonderful couple of weeks.  Brooks is really growing it is fun to watch him take things in.  It seems he can see so many more things than even a couple of weeks ago.  We think that smiles, coos, and all sorts of fun things are just around the corner!