Life Lately

The past few weeks have been a blur. Work has been busy, Titus has started going to a babysitter during the day, and we found out we'll be moving to Texas. That's right. The Brooks fam is relocating from So Cal to The Lone Star State (more on that later). 

If you just asked me what we've been up to in the past 2-3 weeks, I don't think I could tell you. I feel like I've been in survival mode with a constant to-do list longer than I can accomplish each day. But... when I look through my iPhone photos (what in the world did I do before I had one of these?!) I remember we actually have had some moments of normalcy. 

Just some pics of San Diego traffic. I like living in cities. I despise traffic. I hate that it can take me 45 min or more to go 10 miles. Where I grew up, 10 miles = 10 minutes. I wonder how many years of city life it would take me to just accept that this is how it is??? I'm not there yet. 



Titus spends a lot of time with me in the kitchen... I think we need to upgrade his seat soon. He's used this since he was born (best $25 I've spent in a long time!) and he's starting to outgrow it.  

More kitchen sitting ;)

I've started making Titus baby food. So far we've done apples, carrots, peaches, sweet potatoes, and avocados. If you're interested in any of my baby food recipes click here

This is T "enjoying" his carrots. 

In just the past few weeks, Titus has decided he's a stomach sleeper. I lay him on his back every night and normally this is how I find him in the morning:

As I mentioned before, work has been pretty busy... I teach at a year-round school. We get one week off around July 4th, that's it. I love my profession, my students, and my co-workers. But I do miss my Summers off! Here's a chemistry project one of my kiddos did:

Being back at work after maternity leave has made me cherish my weekends. I love spending time with Chris, Titus, and our four legged family member, Lexi.

This is what our weekends look like nowadays (do people still say nowadays? I'm pretty sure in San Diego they don't... oh well...) 

Weekend Naps are the best!! 

Thanks for stopping by! I'll update you all (or should I start saying ya'll?) on the Texas move soon! 

-Alison

Saturday

This is a great Saturday in the Brooks' home!

Lexi & Titus

Chris and I are dog people. We both grew up with dogs, and always big dogs. We love them. Soon after we bought our first house, we started talking about getting our first dog together...

For Valentine's day 2010, Chris drove us to a tiny town in central IL to pick out a puppy...(I had always wanted a boxer!!). When we got her she was about 9 weeks old... she looked like this:

So sweet!

Getting a puppy during wintertime in IL isn't the best idea...partly because they have to go "out" in the cold/snow/wind/freezing rain/etc. every 2 seconds (which means you have to go out in the cold/snow/wind/freezing rain/etc. every 2 seconds!). Lexi was about 12 lbs and has super short hair so we tried to make it better for her by doing this:

Hehe! 

Moving on...When we moved from IL to CA in 2011, Lexi made the 32 hour drive with us. We stopped in somewhere in Nebraska for our first night and in Las Vegas on the second night. 

Chris & Lex @ the hotel in NE

Lexi's spot in the backseat for the trip

We arrived in San Diego on August 27, 2011. Lexi hasn't had to wear a silly jacket since (hehe). 

55 lbs of lap dog

At home in San Diego

So some time passed, we got settled into our new home and our new jobs, and then found out that Titus was on the way!

Side note: I'm sorry about the "selfie"... it was 6 am on my due date and I was heading to work. Chris wasn't up yet to take a picture for me. I just think this picture is so crazy! No wonder my students about fell out of their chairs when I came into the classroom that day. One girl kept asking me "Mrs. Brooks, Are you sure it's a good idea that you're here?"

In the months leading up to Titus' arrival, I wondered how Lexi would adjust to a baby. 

Thanks for the new quilt, guys! :) 

I found this cute onesie here.

While she has never been an aggressive dog, Lexi is protective of our home and had never really been exposed to babies. She is a couch potato when Chris and I are the only ones home, but when company comes she completely loses her mind. I mean it. She freaks out. She gets so excited and has absolutely no idea that some people don't overly like dogs... especially +50 lb dogs that lick faces and want to lay in a persons lap.

Anyway, I worried that Lexi would be jealous of the new baby or would accidentally hurt him during one of her episodes of craziness. 

But as with most things in life, I wasted too much time and energy worrying about it. At first, she was so happy that Chris and I were home from the hospital, she didn't even notice the new human in the house. While we carefully monitored their interactions, we didn't keep Lexi away from Titus, even in the beginning. We let her sniff him and even sneak a couple of "kisses" in here and there.

Notice the top right of this pic :)

Lexi "meeting" her new friend

Settling in! 

Disclaimer... if an excessive amount of pictures of a dog and and her boy  isn't quite your thing, feel free to quit scrolling now. I can't help myself.  I love love love a good dog/baby combo. 

When I picture heaven, I see it filled with dogs and babies. 

Titus was about 8 or 9 days old here

Ahhhh, Titus' bald head... it still gets me every time. If you don't know the haircut story, click here!

Getting some fresh air

As Titus got a little bigger older sturdier, we started letting Lexi around him more. Now, we can't keep the two of them apart. She wants to be by him all. the. time. And he loves looking at her, petting her, grabbing her nose, eyes, paws, ears, etc. 

This is my very favorite picture.... ever! :) 

I feel like this picture foreshadows the trouble these 2 will cause some day

I think this picture is from when I ran to the grocery store and let Lexi babysit.... 
...I'm kidding, of course. 

Lexi helping with tummy time

My loves

This video represents about 90% of our time spent at home. My 2 babies!

A boy, his football, and his pup.

I took this picture one morning as I was getting ready for work. I think I was running on about 2 hours of sleep... Titus is normally a good sleeper- he started sleeping through the night at around 5 weeks (praise God!) but was running a fever here and had refused to sleep unless I was holding him. When I saw this, I forgot how tired I was and remembered to count my many blessings!

And last but most definitely not least... the picture below was taken while we were in IL in May... Titus was about 7 weeks old, napping with Chris' family dog, Ebony. Sadly, Ebony passed away shortly after this picture was taken. But, I'm sure she's waiting for her family to join her someday.. remember what I said about heaven?? :) 

One final thought... I love this!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please feel free to comment or e-mail me anytime! I'd love to hear from you! 


Alison