It's Christmas Morning!

Christmas morning arrived and us adults were obviously more excited FOR our kids than they were as it was just another day for them. However when they came down the hall something was different... new toys!! Jonathan and Lori gave Hannah a cool climbing fort with slide. We gave Philip a play wall with lights and sounds. They both were overwhelmed at first, but over the next few days, Hannah became a sliding master!




Hannah and Philip in the fort.




The kids at the play wall.
After a good bit of playing and a short nap for Mr. Philip, we attended a wonderful Christmas service at church. The babies wore precious red velvet matching outfits and stole the show! It is wonderful to worship all together as a family.

Backtracking... Dec. 24

This day might as well have been Christmas as I woke up so excited that today we would see Hannah, Lori and Jonathan. They arrived late Friday night after driving from Jacksonville, FL (and from way down south FL the day before!). I was excited to see how Philip and Hannah would react to each other. Hannah being three months older is fully-mobile and would walk up to Philip who was standing beside Grandma's couch and give him a hug. Philip wasn't sure what to think that first day.



After a day of playing and napping, Hannah and Philip are dressed and ready to attend the Christmas Eve Service.

After the service, Matthew, Philip and I went to my parents' house to exchange Christmas presents. Philip was so excited to see his horse from Nana and Papa. I later found out Papa had secretly let Philip have a test-ride the week before! Maybe his little memory had forgotten about it.

My brother Mike and sister-in-law Andrea spent the weekend with my parents. Philip loves his aunt and uncle and especially their dog, Sam! Since Mike had been a retail manager for the last several years, he always was working Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. Changing to insurance sales made his and Andrea's holidays MUCH more enjoyable this year. We were glad to spend the time together.

Backtracking... Dec. 23

I said in a previous post that the holidays had crept up on me as I hadn't gotten the Christmas spirit until just recently. Well, starting last Friday, the holidays had definitely arrived. Philip and I had lunch with Melanie, a great friend of mine, whom we hadn't seen in months. Kind of sad that sometimes friends even in the same town can lose touch just because circumstances change. It was a great time to catch-up and make plans to get together with our families in the future (i.e. 24!!). She was so sweet to bring us presents! Philip loves his new boombox from his buddy Mr. Ron.

Philip tells Melanie how much fun it was to have lunch together.

Philip's Cousin is Here!

I've taken 92 photos since Saturday! Thank the Lord for digital cameras. Anyway, here is a short recap of our weekend with Uncle Jonathan, Aunt Lori and Cousin Hannah. I'll add additional posts but only had a few minutes right now.

"My cousin Hannah is here!" said Philip. They have had a ball playing together. Hannah is a beautiful little girl. Uncle Matthew and Aunt Kim love you soooo much, Hannah.

The Brooks men! Philip received this cool police car as an early birthday present from Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Lori. Thanks! Looks like he loves it already.

We spent the night at Grandma's house on Christmas Eve. It was so much fun to wake up Christmas morning and be with Grandma and Cousin Hannah.

We also spent some time with Nana, Papa, Uncle Mike and Aunt Andrea. Philip was so excited to receive his new rocking horse from Nana and Papa. Giddy Up!

Christmas, Christmastime is Here!

Even though Philip will not remember his first Christmas, I wanted it to be extra special just for him! Christmas is only four days away. It seemed to come extra fast this year. I suppose going with Mom to treatments through mid-November and the day-to-day routines of a stay-at-home mom kept me from getting an early dose of Christmas spirit. No worry! I have plenty of Christmas spirit now as I'm always checking the holiday TV schedule for any specials and listen to the "All Christmas music through Christmas day" radio station! Matthew even said ok to us watching "It's A Wonderful Life" while we wrapped our presents last Saturday night. Not to overlook Jesus during this busy time, Mom, Dad, Matthew, Philip and I visited Bethlehem last Friday night. A local church puts together a drive-though nativity village. Philip got a wave from one of Herod's guards, saw a camel, and saw baby Jesus and his parents in the stable. It was really nicely done.

We finally have our house decorations complete as of Saturday afternoon. I don't mind doing them late as they will stay up through mid-January when my grandparents will be in town for Mom's operation. Hopefully our live tree won't be shedding all its needles by then.

Here's the outside of our house. We have "gutter guards" so I improvise every year as how to hang the icicle lights!

Philip is held by so many people that he didn't mind Santa at all! He didn't have a clue, but I was so excited.

Here is Philip sitting under my parents' tree. More pictures to come of this little outfit as I bought a matching one for his cousin Hannah. They will be so precious together. She and her parents will be here in two days!! Yippee!

Winter Wonderland

Our first winter storm of the season arrived today -- ICE!! It's really pretty but makes the roads so dangerous. At least with snow it's still pretty but people can still get around a little. The worst thing is that the ice makes the trees so heavy they snap, pull down power lines and leave people without electricity. Somehow God planted us in a neighborhood that rarely loses its power - Thank You Lord! My parents and my mother-in-law both have been without power today and are now sleeping in the cold. Both were offered warm beds here (I even made a sign, "Welcome Ice Storm Refugees!"), but both turned us down for the comfort of their own homes. Not sure if the offer stands tomorrow as I'm scheduled to have another sleepover for my 9th Grade Sunday School girls! No room at the inn!

Little Piano Man

I took piano lessons in middle school and my parents were great enough to buy a piano for me. Neither of them play, but the piano is currently in their home as we don't have room in our house. Mom says when Matthew and I move to another house, we can have it if there's room, but "I'll be sad to see it go because it's a nice decorative piece of furniture," she says. If we do have it in our home one day maybe Philip can take lessons and follow in his Grandpa Bill's footsteps (he was a Minister of Music and accomplished pianist). Matthew and I each play a little but are about as rusty as the Tin Man at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz!



Looks like Philip has what it takes!




Mommy said I could sit up here!

Big boy carseat has arrived!

Philip's new Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3-in-1 carseat arrived last Monday. I was making myself crazy checking and cross-checking different reviews about carseats on several different websites and finally decided on this one. Regardless of being a brand name, it was actually the cheapest one I found which had all the features I was looking for. It will fit him until he's 100 pounds -- about 8 years old! The box says it can seat a newborn coming home from the hospital but Philip looks small enough in it! Gone are the days of caring him into the house asleep in his infant carrier.




All straped in and ready to roll.




Wait! It's cold here. Got to bundle up first.




I don't care about the carseat. Just let me keep the box!

Prayer for Mom

Please keep my mom in your prayers. Her upcoming surgery is overtaking her thoughts especially at night. She is a very spiritually-strong woman and knows that God is in control of all things (as hard as it is to give up control herself). Her emotional side is not so strong and all the worries and what if's keep creeping up on her again and again. Please pray for her to have "peace that surpasses all understanding" especially during these next few holiday weeks. Thank you.

Funny Philip

Philip is doing somewhat better than he was last week. I think the amoxicillin has taken care of his ear infection and the stomach bug is gone. However, now he has a cough. It's horrible. Last night I got up twice to hold him while he coughed. He coughs so hard I'm afraid he might throw up on me. His little face gets red and he can hardly catch his breath. When he finally does get through it, he cries a little as I'm sure for a 10-month-old it's pretty scary.

Anyway, during the day he feels much better and finds all sorts of fun things to do around the house. I look forward to Christmas when he will have actual toys to play with, but until then he's pretty creative on his own.


He loves to walk over and hit the pink musical note. It says "Nighty night" but it says it over and over when Philip is standing there.


Looking pretty cute after a nap. He hasn't figured out how to pull up in the crib yet so I have to take credit for standing him up and putting the blanket on his head.


This was a sweet Daddy and Baby moment. Looking back at the photo, it looks like Matthew is a ventriloquist and Philip is his puppet!!


One of Philip's favorite places is under the kitchen table. Just don't fall and bump your head, sweetums!

Mom's Surgery

Mom called her surgeon's office yesterday and due to schedule issues with her surgeon and assistant surgeon, her surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, January 10. (That's a crazy sentence!) She has been anxious to have it and begin to recover but I believe it works out for the best this way. She's starting to feel like herself again, but just low on energy. In a few weeks, she may be able to eat anything she wants and have lots more energy! She can play with Philip and his new Christmas toys!

The date works well also as Matthew and I have been invited to a wedding in Tennessee on January 7. I was worried about whether to leave town if Mom was to have surgery that Thursday or Friday, but now it doesn't matter. Also, as my brother-in-law Jonathan, sister-in-law Lori, and niece Hannah will be visiting the two weeks after Christmas, we can spend lots of time together without feeling like I need to be at the hospital. My mom's parents will be driving up Sunday, January 8 and staying for two weeks giving us lots of time to be together also. They haven't seen Philip since July!

Mom told me to remember "10,10". Her surgery is January 10 at 10:00am.

Philip's "Playdate" with Emma

Last Friday (prior to the crazy weekend), Philip and I visited our friends, Jo Ellen and her daughter Emma. Emma is Philip's girlfriend, or so I like to pretend! Now that they are both somewhat mobile, it was cute watching them play together. Emma is a super-speedy crawler which I hoped would rub off on Philip. He on the other hand was cruising all around their coffee table and Emma tried to follow suit with a few steps. Sitting on the kitchen floor while Jo Ellen and I ate lunch and enjoyed some adult conversation, the babies drank from their sippy cups and then drank from each other's sippy cups. Luckily (or maybe un-luckily (is that a word?)), they both already had a bit of a cold. It was a great visit and we hope Jo Ellen and Emma can come play at Philip's house real soon.

Philip is feeling a little bashful.

Emma is all smiles about having her friend Philip over to play.

Philip warms up to the idea and the two share a toy.

Philip's Yucky Weekend

Matthew and I had high hopes of getting some Christmas shopping done Saturday, but our little munchkin changed plans on us. I had plans to meet two of the girls I taught in Sunday School last year and the woman I co-taught with at the mall for lunch. Matthew and I decided to pack up Philip, meet them for lunch and then shop as we would be at the mall anyway. Well, we met our friends and proceeded to eat our lunches and feed Philip his. About 15 minutes into this, he no longer wanted food (not even cheerios!). He started fussing and then screaming crying. He was passed from person to person, each trying to console him in whatever way they thought best. I gave him some Tylenol as he is teething. Usually it kicks in within 15 minutes but he didn't seem to be calming down. Matthew gave me that "we need to go home" look. Time to pack Philip back up and head out of the mall, crying all the way. We didn't get the cute smiles we normally do when pushing him in the stroller.

Little man cried all the way home. I sat down with him in our glider, stroked his nose and he was asleep within 5 minutes. We laid him down in his crib around 2:00pm. At 4:45pm, we heard him babbling. A great nap was had by each of us that afternoon. Well, now he seemed ok so we headed out again, but this time in hopes of pricing some carseats as he's grown out of his infant carrier (see photos from earlier post!). We hit Target, Toys R Us and Walmart. He was an angel. Got him home, bathed, fed and back to sleep around 8:30pm.

Sunday morning, I heard Philip waking up around 7:30am. When I headed into his room, I smelled something out of the ordinary. Throw up!! It was on his crib sheet and his pajamas, but dried so I don't know when during the night he had thrown up. Poor munchkin. Well, I nursed him, changed his pajamas and changed his crib sheet. As I was needing to get ready for church now, I asked Matthew to feed him his breakfast. Matthew said he ate half of it, but as soon as they got back to Philip's room for his pre-church nap, out all of it came onto Matthew's bare chest and the floor! Yuck!! No church for Philip today. Matthew stayed home with him as they don't get much time together during the week.

When I returned from church (to a yummy chicken lunch made by my loving hubby), Matthew said Philip had slept from 8:45-11:45. Great nap, easy morning for Daddy! The rest of the day was pleasant as again we all took an afternoon nap. Around dinnertime, Philip was rubbing his eyes so we thought a short nap sometimes perks him up for the rest of the evening. We laid him down at 6:15pm. Matthew and I played a boardgame, read a little and then noticed the clock said 8:30pm! What to do about the boy? We decided to let him sleep as long as he needed. If he were to wake up at 4:00am or so, I'd just read him a few books and try to get him back to sleep after a while.

This morning came with the alarm at 6:30am. I started my Bible study, but soon after (about 6:45am) came Philip's morning babbles! He slept 12 1/2 hours!! The boy must surely be feeling great today! Well, upon entering his room... oh no, throw up smell! Yup, he had again thrown up sometime during the night. This alarmed Matthew and I a little. Philip actually had an appointment to see his doctor tomorrow, but I called and said we'd rather come today as he's been sick.

To wrap up this saga, the doctor found Philip to have double ear infections due to the head congestion he's had recently. The vomitting could be due to that or a bug which is likely on its way out. Aside from that, he's great. Still on the small side for weight (only 17 lbs. 8 oz. but he didn't eat much yesterday). Tonight, he gets his favorite treat... amoxicillin!!
Any mother hates to see her baby sick, however as I daily check my little friend James' website to read how he and his parents are doing, I'd welcome an ear infection any day over what he's fighting!! Please continue to remember them in your prayers!!

Update on James

My little friend James is doing great. It sounds like he's a trooper and really making the most of things. His parents, Lisa and Denny, have set up a website for everyone to be able to keep up with how things are going day to day. If you are interested, the website is www.caringbridge.com/visit/james goff. They are such an amazing family that on their behalf I thank you in advance for your prayers.

Sweet Baby James

I'm writing this post and pleading with you for your prayers. One of my closest friends, Lisa, today found out that her sweet James, 2 1/2 yrs old, has leukemia. The doctors have told Lisa and her husband Denny that it is a treatable kind and should not return however there is a 2-2 1/2 year process to recovery. To make the situation even harder on them, they have two older children, Thomas (about 7) and Avery (about 5) and Lisa is pregnant with their fourth child and due on Christmas day. She was thinking this baby might come early as James was two weeks early. The stress can't help. She is such a thoughtful friend and wonderful mother. It breaks my heart for her to have to watch her son go through all the treatments and appointments I've just been through with my mom and little James won't even know why. He begins chemo tomorrow and will have a spinal tap at 10:00am. Please pray!!

Overgrown Carseat

These pictures just amaze me. The way God created humans to grow from a newborn infant into a full-grown adult should be enough to convince anyone of His presence. We've only had Philip in our lives for 10 months and his changes are astounding. Once a little, warm, helpless lump and now a babbling, toddling little guy with a funny, adventurous personality. Thank you Jesus again for this miracle!! Guess we should put "carseat" on Philip's Christmas list.

Thanksgiving Day

Well it's about time I posted some Thanksgiving photos. We had a really great day. As is our tradition, we enjoyed the holiday at my mother-in-law Ruth Ann's house. Matthew's aunt Elise and uncle Arden brought the turkey which Matthew deep-fried in the driveway. Yummy! Matthew's Grandma, cousins Mollie and Paul and Mollie's fiance Michael were also there. Two years ago, my parents moved to town and actually live on Ruth Ann's street -- just at opposite ends. It's made holidays pretty easy and so they've joined the Brooks' clan the last few years. This year was especially nice for them to come because Mom hasn't been out of the house other than to the doctor's office for the last several weeks. She ate a small plate of room-temperature turkey, dressing and green beans. Dad enjoyed it all! My plan was for Philip to enjoy food cubes of the same thing we were eating, but his turkey cubes ran out a few days before. He feasted on ham, pineapple and turnip greens. He did love eating a piece of sweet potato pie (minus the crust) later that afternoon.


The family enjoying our Thanksgiving meal


Great-grandma feeds Philip in his classy high-chair


This is a four generation picture with Elise sitting in her brother Bill's place. Matthew's dad Bill is greatly missed and it is with sadness that I say I never met him. It's an incredible thought to think that his blood runs through my little Philip. A few people at church have said they see Bill in Philip! I am already praying for Philip to one day receive Jesus as his savior. One of the extra benefits will be meeting Grandpa Bill in heaven!!

Philip's Favorite Things

Philip is growing and changing almost daily! He is a quite active boy, but just not as mobile as some babies his age. He always hated being laid on his stomach so we unfortunately delayed his crawling abilities. They are coming along slowly but surely. His attempts at crawling resemble a crippled inch-worm. However, the boy LOVES to be on his feet. He has mastered cruising (walking along while holding the edge of the couch or coffee table) and is getting quite brave which scares his mommy. He's bound to get bumps and bruises during this learning process, but that comes with the territory especially being a BOY!
One of his favorite things is to open and close kitchen cabinets (the top ones while I hold him standing on the counter) or his changing table drawers. He would open and close a drawer 100 times if I let him!
Also he's quite good at getting us to mimic him. While sitting in his feeding chair mainly, he'll throw both arms up in the air and wait until Matthew or I copy him and say "Yeah!" He then gives us a big smile. So cute!!

A Good Day

Monday was my 30th birthday! Last week I wasn't looking forward to it and was fine with just letting it pass on by. However when Monday came, I actually felt really good. Empowered to put it one way. Being in your 20's some people still see you as still growing up. Being 30 sounds like a bonafide ADULT!! No one can question my reasonings but yet I'm held more responsible too. Saturday, my brother, sister-in-law, aunt and uncle came to town to visit with Mom and Dad. Matthew and I stopped by for a while and then left Philip with them. We had dinner at Red Lobster for my birthday. Being 30 and feeling "in charge", I took it upon myself to make my own birthday cake. I'll leave the professionalism to my other sister-in-law Lori, but this cake held special meaning for Mom and me nonetheless!
Anyway, back to Monday... That afternoon, Mom and Dad picked up me and Philip for Mom's LAST radiation treatment. It was a mixture of emotions as going to the Cancer Center had become part of our daily routine and we've met so many nice people there. However, Mom's body definitely needs the rest that not having radiation will bring.



Plaque beside the bell


There is a bell which hangs in the hallway just outside the radiation area. Each patient rings the bell after her last treatment. The nurses celebrate in the moment with the patient. It's hard knowing our friends, Cecil and Sam, who were watching still have several treatments to go themselves.



Philip says goodbye to his buddy, Michael


Mom's surgery will hopefully be December 28. That gives her 6 weeks to avoid doctors, needles, hospital gowns, etc. and enjoy Thanksgiving, Christmas, and cuddling with her favorite boy, Philip. Thank you Lord!

No more Chemo!! No more Chemo!!

My mom just called me ecstatically saying she and Dad had met with her chemo doctor and he decided to cancel her 5 doses of chemo which she was scheduled for next week! He said that the minimal amount of good that it would do was not worth the risk of causing her the tremendous diarrhea problems she's had over the last several weeks. She is beyond thrilled and is giving God all the glory. She told her doctor that many friends and family were praying so she accounts his decision directly to the wisdom which God has given him. The countdown now... radiation treatments tomorrow and Monday and she's done!! Her surgery date is still unknown as her surgeon wants her body almost completely healed from the trauma it's been through. Thank you again as I know most of you reading this have been praying!! Thank you Jesus!!

Latest Update on Mom

Here we go again... more changes to her treatment schedule. Unfortunately Mom is not coming to the end of her chemo week. She met with her chemo doctor last week and he decided to push her 5 chemo treatments back until after she's done with the radiation. This is how things will play out if God-willing she doesn't have any more breaks in radiation. Radiation today and all next week (Nov. 7-11) and a final dose the following Monday (Nov. 14). Chemo will also start that Monday and be each day that week (Nov. 14-18). Surgery is still scheduled for Dec. 20, but it will likely be pushed back to the week after Christmas as her surgeon likes to wait a full 6-7 weeks after treatment to let all the swelling go down. Mom is feeling great today -- the best she has felt in weeks she says!! Please just pray that fear would not steal her present happiness. As she has felt so bad recently, she worries she'll feel like that again. I try to encourage her to only think of the current day or hour if need be. I thank you Jesus for being with Mom daily through this trial!!!

Philip's First Halloween

Well, from reading some other blogs and talking to friends, our Halloween wasn't the only one to go not as planned. Our church has a Harvest Fest on Halloween at which our ferrets have made an appearance for the last 4 years. Not thinking it through, I signed us up to have a Ferret Trunk (church members decorate their car trunks as the event is in our parking lot and the kids get to "trunk-or-treat" from car to car!). I also had high hopes as this was Philip's first Halloween and was excited for him to see all the festivities. In all the excitement, I forgot to take photos of our actual trunk, but I had this sign taped to Christmas lights which adorned our trunk.

Well (can you hear the sigh in my voice?), Matthew and I got tied down at our trunk introducing Griffin and Samson to many kids and adults who thought it was just great to pet a ferret, many for the first time. Luckily, Philip was rescued by his loving Grandma Ruth Ann, who took him around the rest of the festival. She came back after an hour or so saying Philip had a wonderful time singing and dancing (bouncing) with "The Skittles" (i.e. our pastors dress-up like the Wiggles and lip-sync their songs!), watching the kiddie rides, and showing everyone his costume. I was so upset I had missed my son's first concert due to my "not-my-babies-anymore" ferrets. Needless to say, Matthew decided the ferrets are retired from the Harvest Fest gig so we can enjoy Halloween with Philip next year.

Since my mom didn't come out for Halloween, I dressed Philip in his giraffe suit on Tuesday for her radiation treatment. The nurses and other patients all gave a big smile when they saw the baby giraffe strolling through the cancer center.

Women of Faith conference ~ WOW!!

Jam-packed arena full of Christian women!


Women of Faith speakers on stage

Tonight I got home from attending the Women of Faith conference in Charlotte, NC with about 45 women from my church. This is such an amazing ministry! It was held at the Charlotte Coliseum and over 23,000 women were there worshiping Jesus together! It is a little bit of heaven on earth. The program consisted of 6 main speakers (Patsy Clairmont, Sheila Walsh, Thelma Wells, Nicole Johnson, Luci Swindoll, and Marilyn Meberg), guest speaker Beth Moore, and guest artist Sandi Patty. Each has been blessed with such awesome gifts, but I was a little partial to hearing Beth Moore in person. Through her Bible study "Believing God", I learned something very important about God which I believe is the reason Philip is here today. We need to come to that point in which we believe wholeheartedly that NOTHING is too big for God. Whether He does it or not is another issue. I started that study after Matthew and I had prayed for a baby for a year and three months. That truth made clear in my mind was that God was more than able to give us a child if He so chose. I gave the whole thing to Him and low and behold, I was pregnant two months later. Beth is the most godly woman I know of, and to hear her say today how insecure and fearful a person she is, gives me such wonder at what God can do with me if He has gifted her as He has. The key difference between her and me is that Beth said yes to God even when she was scared. We hold ourselves back from a multitude of blessings because we don't think we can do what He has in mind for us to do. She said something that really struck me: the calling God has for us will be beyond us. If we're going along in our Christian walks, working for God and not really seeing any need for supernatural help, we're not doing all God's called us to do. If you are reading this and ever have a chance to see Beth in person or to just attend one of her studies (usually on video), don't miss out!! Well, I didn't get to meet her as I had hoped (you can wait in line at the speaker's book tables for autographs) because she had to fly out immediately after speaking, but I did give a photo of Philip to one of the ladies working at her booth. Maybe the photo will make it back to Beth so she can see the miracle I received from believing God! I'm already looking forward to next year's WOF conference, but will be glad that my breastpump won't be tagging along. Who knows, maybe by next October Baby Brooks 2 will be along for the ride.

Minister of Happiness

I may have mentioned in a previous post that Philip has assumed a new role entitled by my mom and I as "Minister of Happiness". He just makes everyone smile from us ourselves to strangers we pass in the store. Now that Mom is having treatments each day, Philip is doing an especially good job in ministering to the other patients and nurses at radiation. Mom says Michael and Kara actually pout if they don't see their favorite "little man" each day. Michael and Kara (and several others) are so caring to Mom and are giving her the best care they can. I definitely don't mind sharing Philip with them a little each day especially if he brings a little happiness to them.


Philip's other weekly ministry is visiting Mrs. Cordie, a 91-year-old shut-in from our church and my dear friend. I began visiting her once a week to deliver a CD of our Sunday worship service over 2 years ago. We got to know each other and she has always been such a calming comfort in the midst of this rush, rush, rush world. She lives with her grown son, but has 2 other sons and 3 daughters nearby. She already has 3 sons in heaven along with her husband. She is such a godly woman, full of knowlegde and still smart as a tack. She listened as I shared with her during 2003 how Matthew and I were trying to have a baby. She was excited for me when I found out I was pregnant. We discussed our aches and pains as I was getting more and more pregnant and she was feeling the effects of aging. She has a hard time seeing, hearing and walking, but her spirit is STRONG! Being 90 at the time, I prayed she would "hang around" to meet Philip. God has kept her strong and these days she so enjoys seeing how much he's grown from week to week.