Christmas

Christmas was great this year. Our last Christmas with just the two of us. Next year will be very different. Both families have long standing traditions so this year would be no different. On Christmas eve the Brooks' family has dinner and a gift exchange. This evening is always filled with laughter and great company. Lane received a tackle box, which will work great on the boat this summer, and I got picture frames and smelly things to plug into the wall.

After the fun at the Brooks' we go to eleven o'clock service at Fredericksburg United Methodist Church with the Damerons. I honestly can't remember a Christmas eve without going to church. And we always sit in the same spot...the last row in the balcony.

This year's Christmas morning was a little different since Granddaddy passed away in September. Normally he and Karen, his wife, came over to mom and dad's for breakfast. We eat the same thing every year: coffee cake, quiche (mushroom and bacon), and sausage wheels. It's always so yummy! So with the absent to Granddaddy, Becky, Justin, Mom, Dad, Lane, and I all had a nice Christmas breakfast together.

We opened up some gifts after breakfast. Mom and Dad helped prepare us for the arrival of Bailey by giving us her travel system. We can now bring her home. She may not have furniture or diapers but she can ride in the car safely.

After that we went over to Shane's house to spend time with the Brooks. Bailey received some toys and a fun little baby monitor. Then it was back over to mom and dad's for dinner. This year, Uncle John (Granddaddy's older brother) and Aunt Dorothy joined us. It was honestly a great addition to the Christmas celebration. They kept things exciting. It's amazing how much in love they are even after 63 years of marriage.

Overall, Christmas was wonderful. It's great to have loving wonderful families. We are truly blessed.

Pictures of the house

WE HAVE GRASS! Here is a picture of the house all finished! We failed to get a picture of the house with all the snow, but it sure was beautiful.

Bailey's closet! The girl isn't born yet and already she has tons of clothes. It was loads of fun to put it all away. We can't wait to get furniture and decorate the room!!! Hopefully that will get done soon...only 13 weeks to go!

Moving in!

So the 6 inches of snow turned into about a foot and a half of snow and ice! Needless to say moving has not been easy. After closing on Friday at 5pm, all we wanted to do was sleep in our new house. Well that didn't happen. The story is long so be prepared... Lane rented a U-Haul before closing, thinking we would be able to use it on Saturday. So we went back to the McKeag's to get stuff for one night (and Louie) then headed out to Midlothian. Normally it would take us 20 minutes to get to our house, however this trip took 45 minutes. We stopped at McAlister's for dinner (and some famous sweet tea). Literally, we were pulling out of the parking lot and the U-Haul guy called us and told us we have to move the truck tonight. So with about 6 inches of snow on the ground we had to turn around and head back to the west end. Now we all know that when it snows in Va life stops! People can't drive in this stuff.

So we get back to get the truck and I had to drive 3 miles back to the McKeags...it took us 25 minutes. Honestly the roads were terrible. So we came to terms with it and stayed at the McKeags that night.

When we wake up the next morning there is almost 2 FEET of snow on the ground! Unbelievable! Needless to say, we did not move anything the next day either (now we have had the U Haul for 2 days without moving anything). With two feet on the ground we could barely get out of the front door. My car was able to drive relatively well in the snow. So we decided to venture out to see how the main roads were. With the McKeags we went to DSW (why they were open, is still undetermined) and the grocery store. After both of us buying boots for the snow, we decided we could possibly get the U-Haul to C&L Storage (aka, Christ and Liza's house). Usually it takes us 20-30 minutes to get there but due to the snow and ice it took an hour. Lane and Matt drove the U-Haul behind Krity and me in my car. Once we got to the neighborhood, my car made it fine however, the U-Haul got stuck (which was stuck for about an hour!) Finally both vehicles made it to C&L's but we decided not to drive down the driveway. Bottom line...moving day number 2 down the drain.

The 3rd day, Sunday, we HAD to do something! So we woke up early and started to pack both cars with stuff from the McKeags' house. It's truly amazing how much stuff we were able to fit into one little room! Finally, Lane and I made our way to our new house. This was the first time I had seen it! I was crazy excited. We unloaded both cars into the garage and jumped back into the car with Louie and went to C&L's. On the way we had to stop to meet Phil and Jill to borrow his shovel since the all of Richmond was sold out of them!!! So finally we get to out to Goochland (where Chris and Liza live) to fill up the U-Haul and the car. Yet we had to shovel the long driveway to get the U-Haul down there. After the boys (Chris and Lane) worked for about an hour on the driveway, finally the U-Haul was put into place to fill it up! Chris and Lane were able to get a majority of the large items in the truck before dark. Since the darkness had fallen upon us moving had to stop. Chris drove out to Midlothian with us and helped Lane move the big stuff into the house. Thank goodness for Chris!!! Finally a night in OUR house!

To make a long story short...we are in the house and yet will probably be unloading boxes until next Christmas!

Tomorrow

Yay! We are closing tomorrow! Wahoo! After being pushed back twice now we are finally going to be in our new house! On top of moving in this weekend, Lane has a basketball tournament, a Christmas party Sunday afternoon and about 6 inches of snow. Needless to say it's going to be a busy weekend with a lot of unknowns. We will post pictures of the move and the house soon!

109 Days!

We only have 109 (or maybe less, but hopefully not more) days left until we get to meet little Miss Bailey! I can't believe how fast it has gone. And those 109 days will fly by as well I'm sure. I get weekly emails from "the bump" and she is the size of an eggplant this week! I like it when she is compared to a food that I like to eat. Unfortunately Lane doesn't like eggplant so I'm sure she won't be exposed to it unless she orders it at a restaurant. Yay for eggplant! :)

By the way, we are closing on Friday! We are super excited to finally get into our new house!

Cross your fingers

December 17th is our closing date for the new house. We went by the house this weekend and most everything seems to be finished. However, the gas company has yet to come and hook up the gas lines. Are you kidding me?! Is that what is pushing our closing back 9 days?! We don't need gas we need our house! Here are some pictures of what it looked like on Saturday.

Ok, so obviously we need grass too! But hopefully they will complete both the irrigation system and the sod this week!

The garage and the driveway!

The living room with carpet! Yay! And two columns that Bailey will be swinging around before too long.

Our kitchen minus the fridge...hopefully we will get that soon. Minor detail!

The morning room where we will put the kitchen table.

Master bedroom closet...my side!

Master bedroom closet...Lane's side!

Master Bathroom. Finally two sinks and space to move! Now we can get ready for the day without fighting for room in the bathroom...yippee! (Lane)-I'm pretty sure Amy will take over both sinks before too long!

And finally, a tub that Lane can fit into!

Being Thankful

Today is Turkey day (aka Thanksgiving)! Today is the day that we give thanks for all the things we have been blessed with in our lives. We have been blessed with great friends, family, food on our table and a roof over our heads. We are also blessed with the opportunity to bring someone into this world and try to make her (Bailey) the best person she can be.

Also, thank you to all the people in our lives that have helped us along the way and have helped us become the responsible adults we are today.

THANK YOU!!

Meet Louie

Bailey, I cannot believe that we have not posted any pictures of your brother, LOUIE! He will be 35 years old in 4 days (or 5 yrs old in Human Years). Your mom and I are very interested to see how he reacts when you finally come home. He has been spoiled rotten since you have not been around. He is going to have a hard transition from number 1 to second/third fiddle (along with me).

Picture courtesy of your crazy picture taking Aunt Krity.

My "Situation"

Today I went to the seamstress with Krity to get three pair of maternity pants hemmed. Yes, maternity pants, I am finally starting to noticably show. I was told that my pants would be ready on Tuesday of the following week. My response was "Wow, that's quick". The seamstress said, "With your "situation" you will need these pants soon". With a confused look on my face, I asked "my situation"? It took me a couple of seconds and then I realized she was talking about my ever growing belly. OOOOHHHHH, that situation... Haha...love it!

Basketball Season

So the best season has just started...basketball season! Since your father is coaching at a local high school, I spend lots of time at home watching it on TV. (Which by the way, I completely fine with!) Well this past Friday night was one of those nights. The Coaches for Cancer tournament was on ESPN. UNC and Syracuse were playing in the championship game, both programs are ranked top 25. Since I am and so will you be a Duke fan I obviously wanted the Orange to win...which they did! But I'm writing this because during the second half the Orange went on a 20 point run and you were moving around like crazy. I concluded you were cheering them on and enjoyed listening to the Tar Heels get their booties kicked! Remember the ladies of the Brooks' household hate Carolina Blue! :)

Your mom asked for helping uploading the Duke logo to this post, I caught her trying to steer you down the wrong path already. Your mom has already made the mistake of cheering for this basketball team but two wrongs do not make a right. During your life we will allow you to make your own decisions and allow you to learn from your mistakes. With that said, being a Duke fan is mistake number one. We all make mistakes but take those mistakes and become a bigger and better person from them. Also remember, Daddy's little girl is a UNC Tar Heel Fan (Guilt trip!)

Bailey's room!!

BAILEY, THIS IS YOUR ROOM!!!! Right next to Mommy and Daddy's bedroom! Just a reminder, there will be NO boys allowed! Since we have found out that you were going to be a girl, your mom has been going crazy trying to find just the right furniture and designs for your nursery. I am ok with most of it, except for her trying to overload me with to much PINK.

Just a side note, I love you!

The house is coming along!!! We went in today and we have counter tops!! The pictures above where last weekend, they are pictures of the downstairs. It is definitely coming along.

New House

So this blog is supposed to be about our lives over the past couple of month and the HUGE changes that have occurred. Up until now we have focused mostly our biggest addition Miss Bailey Elizabeth, but we are also in the process of building a new home. We started this process about 2 months ago and I feel like the have literally thrown up the house. We are supposed to be closing on the 8th of Dec (2009), so we will in just in time for Christmas! Bailey and Louie should have more then enough space to run and play.

So your Memaw and I did something yesterday that I hope the two of us can share when you are older...a day of shopping! After an interesting lunch, Memaw and I went to Babies R Us and had a fabulous time. After about 2 and a half hours we walked out of there with about 15 outfits and a better idea of what your dad and I will need for your arrival. I sure hope you like the color pink! I honestly can't wait for you to wear the cute clothes. Also, I told Granddaddy I bought you a swimsuit so you can help him drive the boat next summer!!

Busy Lady

Yesterday I was laying in bed watching Private Practice (a great TV show...yes before your time!) and you decided to say hey to me. You were doing one of several things: working on your tumbling passes, practicing your jump shot, or punching away corner kicks. But whatever you were doing in there, you were extremely active. This is the first time I was able to feel you move for about a 10 minute span. It was kinda awesome! :) Thanks for saying hey to me!

Though Amy has been feeling it for a couple days, I (Lane) finally felt Bailey kick, punch, move, something. Pretty cool! It really only felt like a faint bubble but still pretty cool. Actually feeling Bailey move takes it to the next step of reality that she really in there..

A couple Sonogram Pictures

Sonogram picture, it kind of looks like a fish in water. Nevertheless it looks like you have a strong spine.

Our little girls profile picture, already cute as a button. She must take after her mother.

Ever sense we found out that you are going to be a girl, your mom has been on the internet non-stop looking at little girl's clothes, cribs, bedding, etc. And I can literally not stopping thing about you, what you are going to look at, what sports or sport you are going to play, if you are going to be daddy's little girl (hopefully), etc. No matter what, we are very very excited and cannot wait until March.

Bailey, YOU ARE IN THERE!!! I know pretty hard to believe. We got the pleasure of seeing you yesterday, right now you in the 50th percentile with your length, you are only 12oz (not even a pound). During your sonogram yesterday you had your legs crossed for the first 20-30 mins and we could not tell whether you were a little boy or girl. After a long period of time you FINALLY uncrossed your legs and immediately put your arm between your legs so we could not see again (Crazy little lady). Though a little frustrating because we really wanted to find out what you were, you BETTER stay that modest for a really long time (I am your dad!)! And oh yeah, no dating until your at least 30.

Bailey Elizabeth Brooks; you were named Bailey after your mom's great, great grandfather (Rufus Bailey Dameron). Aren't you glad you aren't a boy and we are naming you Rufus?! At this point you probably already know where you got Elizabeth (your mom's mom). One of the most influential people in both of our lives. But remember one thing, your last name is Brooks and you will always be a Brooks, no matter what. "Remember who your parents are!"

If you cannot tell we are very excited! Miss Bailey Elizabeth, we already love you unconditionally!

Yep, We are having a beautiful baby GIRL!!! I don't think it has truely set in yet. I still cannot believe that not only will we be PARENTS but we will parents to a little baby GIRL!

Our world doing a headstand

After living with mega bloggers/our best friends Matt (a.k.a. Keg) and Kristi (Kris, Krit, etc.) I thought it would it would be a great idea if Amy and I started a blog of our own. We have a ton going on in our lives right now, therefore we have more than enough to write about. For example, over the last couple of months Amy and I have sold our house, started to build a new house and are expecting to have a little baby GIRL, Bailey Elizabeth Brooks (We just found out yesterday!). In the mean time, Matt and Kristi have been thoughtful enough to allow us to come live with them and their two dogs Tipper and Tierney (yes, I struggled with the spelling for that one). This stage of our life has been absolutely amazing and crazy at the same time. I also thought it would an awesome idea to start a blog so when our little girl grows up she will have something to look back on.
You may also asked yourself, "I wonder why he title the blog, Brooks' World doing a headstand". Well beside the obvious reason that our lives have been turn upside down over the last couple weeks/months, during the sonogram yesterday Bailey was actually doing a headstand while we were trying to figure our her gender. THAT's MY LITTLE GIRL!!

*I have to put a couple of disclaimers out there. I am by no means a writer or an editor and most of the time I do not proof reading, therefore this blog will have a ton of grammatical errors and misspellings.... get over it.