august with the littles

Some of the moments I don't want to forget...

This was such a fun evening at the lake!  It's rare for Kevin and I to have pictures together these days, so I'm happy to have this one.

Our hangout during the second hour of church, haha.  I was normally able to nurse Colby and let him nap until I went to young women's.

One afternoon I braided Brooke's hair, and when I stepped back, I could not believe how long she looked.  My little girl is growing up so so quickly!

Speaking of growing up, she loved our outing to Ulta.  She was so patient as I was being color-matched for new powder, but as soon as I was finished, she asked if she could try on a lipstick she had been eyeing.

She set up an adorable little picnic for her babies and Colby.  It's so fun that her and Colby are actually able to play more now.  He is still rather destructive, but Brooke is (mostly) patient with him.

A Saturday lunch date to Torchy's tacos...

Building homes for princesses with legos, bristle blocks, and books!

An outing to Home Depot...

Sundays with my girl.  I love matching with Brooke, but of course she would only agree to take a picture if we could make silly faces.  I'll take it as a "candid" shot, haha.

These kids love their Daddy so much.  When he works in the office, the kids have such a hard time leaving him alone.  I know he loves it though!

I introduced the concept of science experiments, which Brooke loved.  She has such an inquisitive little mind, and I love seeing her excited to try new things.

An evening family swim.  This is something I LOVED doing as a kid, and since Kevin misses most of our pool outings during the week, this was a special treat.

And last, but not least, we signed Brookie up for a dance class called Ballet/Tap/Tumble at a dance studio in Mansfield called Family Dream Center. I had been toying with the idea for a while, and decided that it was time to take the plunge.  I toured the studio, and although I never danced as a kid, it seemed like a good fit and a good program.  She goes every Friday from 10:30-11:30am, and is in a class with 7-8 other little girls who are 3 and 4.

August was great, now on to documenting September!!

golfing with daddy

Ever since I bought Brooke her own fat golf club (from Aldi, haha), she has been wanting to try golfing with Daddy. One (very hot) Saturday, we met Jerry and Bev at the driving range in Grapevine.  They brought Kevin's first set of golf clubs, and we were all excited to see Brooke hitting the ball.  Except that she didn't want to!!  What?? She was super shy about it, and didn't want to go anywhere near the clubs or balls. I was really surprised by her reaction because she had literally been talking about it all week.  I was getting frustrated because we were all out there sweating to death, and she wasn't even trying it!  We watching Kevin hit some balls, I swung at a few, and we finally convinced Brooke to hit 3 or 4 with the promise of a dollar if she tried it.  I hate that we had to bribe her, but I also was sure that she would like it if she would just try.

So, although then outing did NOT go as planned, it was still cute to see her watch Kevin and allow hi to explain a sport that he loves.

Then we headed to the lake!  I love this picture of Colby boy. I have a smilier picture of Brooke at this age, which I am not about to dig out. Maybe one day, haha.

Brooke loves her Papa, and Papa loves moments like this.

The Peacocks joined us, and these little girls had so much fun together!  It's so fun to see them making memories together :)

urologist with brooke

Having a child with a history of urinary track infections has not been fun! Besides the fact that she has been miserable during the actual infections, the process of getting the urine samples (via catheter) has been so invasive and traumatic for her.  I think she had 5-6 infections before our pediatrician recommended going to a pediatric urologist. The last two infections were far apart, so I wondered if it was necessary (especially after ruling out an anatomical issue months ago with the VCUG test), but I went for peace of mind.  I made sure the urologist (Dr. Kay) had all of Brooke's previous medical records, and had to make a special trip to Cook Children's to pick up a CD of images from her VCUG and renal sonogram.  When the doctor walked it, I felt like he hadn't even looked at her records.  I was super upset.  He simply said, "What's going on?".  When I explained the issue, he said that her bladder was probably colonized with the bacteria, and that the infections were probably never fully clearing, which is why they kept coming back.  It kind of made sense, but some of the infections were really far apart.  Anyway, his solution was to give her a low dose of antibiotics for a month to make sure we cleared out her bladder, and then if she got another UTI, we would do further testing.

Although I was super hesitant to put her on antibiotics for a month, he also explained (just as Dr. Joki did) that kids with a history of withholding and constipation seem to struggle with UTIs. And since we were still struggling with getting her to poop, I figured this would buy us some time to make sure her withholding wasn't a contributing factor to any other infections.

So, although I was not a huge fan of the doctor, I decided to follow his advice and fill the prescription.  He also advised me that I needed to have her empty her bladder every 3-4 hours.  Brooke can hold it forever, so I have to keep track of the time and make sure she is going to the bathroom on schedule.  Hopefully this doesn't mess with her, but I am trying to do my best given the situation!

During the month of medicine, we also made huge progress in the pooping department!  We had tried all sorts of treats and prizes, but these Care Bears finally did the trick.  Once she earned the first one or two, everything clicked. She literally earned the other 10 bears in a matter of 2 days.  My friend Daleth had given me advice about "risk vs reward".  She told me that once Brooke realized that the reward was better than the risk (of going potty), she would get it, and that's totally what happened.  By the end of the round of antibiotics, I felt like we had the potty issues under control, which was a huge relief to me!

miss danielle's baby shower

 Back in August, we celebrated the beautiful Danielle and her baby boy. I am a firm believer in a celebration for every baby, and we had a blast planning this event for our sweet friend. (I also stole this picture from your blog, Danielle!) She is a beauty, inside and out.

 The decor...

 The spread...

The friends... (Joanna must have left early?)

I sure love these girls, and I love the time I get to spend with them!

colby-9 months

 Things to note this month: On July 17th, his top left tooth popped through (after weeks of constant drool), he started clapping and saying /muh/ for "more", says /muh, muh, muh/ when he sees me, tooth to the left of top middle popped through on August 2nd, likes to pull himself to standing (holding our hands) on the bed, then jump, and laughs A LOT!  He is a happy boy, unless you take away his ice cream, as pictured below.

One Sunday, he was being wild during the second hour and was refusing to nurse.  I snapped this picture during one of his silly shenanigans. 

Have I mentioned that this kid likes to eat?  He is pretty much over baby food and prefers whatever we are all eating. 

Nine months have flown by, but we love our Colby boy!