Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Will cracks the doctor's office up....


I took the boys to the pediatrician this morning for their 15 month and 3 year well check ups.  I loathe going to the doctor's office for soooooo many reasons, but I do enjoy the 15 scheduled minutes to chat with their doctor about their little hiccups and progresses.  Anyhoo - the boys are the picture of health.  Will maintains his rock-steady 75th percentile status, in both weight and height.  Brooks is kind of off the charts.  What can I say, he's just a tank :)

I knew Brooks was scheduled for his boosters, however they gave me the option of giving Will a vaccine now, rather than getting multiple vaccines at his 4-year appointment, so we went ahead a got one for Will too.

While the pediatrician was examining Will's chest and abdomen, he ask Will what was in his belly.  Never to disappoint, Will replied "Cinnamon pancakes and boo boo berries (blueberries)".  As the doctor peered into Will's ears, he said "Let's see if there are any blueberries in your ears."  Will said "No - they're in my belly.  Now you ought to know that Docta!"  The doctor simply grinned and commented on Will's quick assertion.

Next, the "shot lady" as I like to call her came in with several needles in tow.  We quietly decided to have Will go first and as she readied the needle, Will said "Don't poke me with that lady!"  She did so anyway and Will quickly started rubbing his leg and whining a little.  I told him that Brooks was going to get a few shots and I needed him to be a good big brother and show Brooks how to be brave.

Now Brooks is in my lap and the shot lady gives Brooks his shots.  He immediately begins howling and Will (still rubbing his own leg) comes over and says "I know it.  It hurts just a little bit now son."  The nurse was giggling and started to make a remark about his accent when Will continued to Brooks with "I know son.  She's just hateful."  Oh my.  I turned beet red, but the nurse was laughing so hard she was doubled over as she left the exam room.  I got the boys dressed and we headed out.  When I passed the nurses station, the shot lady was recounting her encounter with Will and the whole place was giggling.

We're finally at the checkout counter and Will is given a sucker for his bravery.  He stood beside me, totally unaware of my watching him, saying to himself "owowow it hurts it hurts (while rubbing his leg).  I'm a big boy.  I'm a big boy. (cringing, but not rubbing now)."  ahhhhhh - if I'd only had his little solitary pep talk on video.....

Thursday, June 23, 2011

30 Before 30

Several weeks ago, I started making this list - 30 things that I want to accomplish before I'm 30.  I'll be 27 next month.  I work best under deadlines - and once you see my list, you'll see that three years is pushing it.  However, if I wait any longer in posting this, I'll have to make it a 40 before 40 (and given my procrastination tendencies, I would wait until 37 to get started anyway).  So here we go (in no particular order) -

1.  Visit Washington D.C. with Brandon.  He's the history buff, so I'll need him to tell the importance of all the old stuff I'm looking at :) 


2.  Take the boys to Disney World.  I hope to do this next fall, when they're both a little older, but before we hit the school age years.
3.  Complete a triathlon.  Like I said - I started this list a while ago.
4.  Complete a 5K (kind of odd after having completed the tri, but whatever...)
5.  Go to a concert with Brandon (we've never been to a concert together).
6.  Learn to sew (this will require a sewing machine and time - neither of which I have right now).
7.  Cook a pie from scratch - crust and everything.
8.  Learn to make good/edible biscuits and gravy from scratch.  I've made them before - they were just not good nor edible.
9.  Finish at least one room (the playroom) in the basement (because I swear to all that's holy, if anyone brings another toy into this house, I will beat them with it)
10.  Pay off my one tiny student loan.
11.  Take the boys camping.
12.  Visit Charleston.
13.  Write an article for publication.  
14.  Get a promotion.  You know - the one where your boss says "You're really great at _____, so we want you to do _________.  For more money of course."  
15.  Ride a real passenger train.  Thomas the Train does not count!
16.  Make it back to my wedding weight.  Sigghhhhhhh.


17.  Make a t-shirt quilt with all my old college/sorority tees.  
18.  Take my family to an all-natural/preservative-free way of eating.  This is incredibly hard with the grandparents as babysitters - ***MOM*** I can totally tell when you let the boys eat Cheetos.  Their little fingernails are orange.  :)
19.  Get involved in church.  This is a tough one for me for so many reasons.  For starters, I grew up with a father who was a full-time pastor.  I know how much commitment it takes to get involved whole-heartedly and I'm a whole-hearted kind of girl.  I'm a little gun-shy with that commitment right now.
20.  Start a modern-style book club.  (Let me know if you think you would be interested in doing this).
21.  Make a new life-long friend.  This is always something I want.
22.  Find my talent.
23.  Learn to offer forgiveness more willingly.

24.  Learn more about photography - cameras, lighting, etc.
25.  Win a contest/drawing.  I've never ever ever won anything.  UGH!  But then again, I've quit entering them.
26.  Gather enough awesome family photos to make a gallery wall in my dining room.
27.  Find a solution to the upper-back pain I've suffered with since I was a teenager.
28.  Help someone else achieve one of their dreams or bucket-list items :)
29.  Continue admiring the beauty in my life, rather than the apparent beauty of everyone else's.
30.  Find something, anything that Brandon and I have in common.  We have NO similarities in television, movies, music or pastimes - which is probably why we've never been to a concert together :)

As you can see, this list is a complete hodgepodge of things that are meaningful to me.  Many of them require a certain amount of funds, so consequently another goal is to save a few bucks in the next 3 years. I'm sure that many of the things on my list, you've already done or know how to do.  So help a girl out - if you're a pro at pie crusts or biscuits, let me know!  If you want to join a book club - give me a shout.  

Monday, June 20, 2011

Callaway Gardens Sprint Triathlon

I've never been good at saying "no".  I'm the neighbor who buys popcorn from your boyscout, the co-worker who will take the early lunch, and the friend who says "sure" to triathlons.  About five months ago, I was riding along with my three boys when my phone gave me the you-have-a-facebook-message ding.  When I checked it, I was taken by surprise to find a message from my friend/neighbor/walking buddy asking me if I wanted to do a triathlon with her in June.  My response was something like "Sure!  Eeeeekkk :/ "  I was grinning like a mad woman and when my husband ask what I was up to, I replied "I have no idea what I've just gotten myself into."

Right away, Kim and I start upping our 3 walks/week routine into 3 walk-run-bikes/week + a larger Sunday morning training session.  It was during this time that Brandon was diagnosed with testicular cancer and I considered dropping out.  Brandon and I talked about it - who would watch the boys while I trained?  Brandon had no strength nor the energy level to keep up with our two boys.  Kim's husband Ben stepped up to the plate and agreed to watch my boys, along with his young daughter during our training sessions.  This was a huge help, and really the only reason I was able to train during that time period.

With about 2 months to go before the big race day, we were usually biking 5-10 miles + running 1-2 miles three times per week.  We set aside one Sunday where the guys dropped us off on the side of the road and we biked over 10 miles in the near 100 degree heat.   We got off the bikes, took a water break and then hit the same pavement for a run.  That was like triathlon boot camp.

With 1 month to go, we upped our workout routine to 6 days/week.  This is where we added in the swim portion of our training.  It was finally warm enough to swim in an outdoor pool (the only pool we had access to).   Let me tell you - never discredit a swimmer.  I grew up in the pool.  I thought I would at least be descent in the pool.  WRONG.  After my first swim training session was the second time I considered dropping out.  Wow.  Talk about getting nervous.  I couldn't swim without needing to breathe on every stroke, and I couldn't breathe without swallowing water.  Yikes.

One week before the race, Kim's husband Ben had a major seizure at work and was diagnosed with Epilepsy.  Like a champ, Kim kept her workout pace and we continued focusing on the swim/run portions of the race.

The day before the race, we dropped the boys off at their grandparent's and made the trip to Pine Mountain, GA.  Kim and I had originally planned on taking our kids, as it was Father's Day weekend, but given all that our men had been through, we decided to make it an adult weekend.  Once we arrived, I was so relieved that the boys were with their grandparents.  Sure I missed them, but we stayed in a fairly nice hotel room at the Marriott Lodge and Spa at Callaway Gardens.  At one point, I ask Brandon what our boys would be doing if they were there and he replied "Getting into those cabinets and breaking those wine glasses."  Yep.  He was right :/

We had a fun dinner with our friends that evening and then came back to the resort to check out the lake where we would be starting the race.  They had the quarter-mile swim marked off with buoys.  It looked a LOT longer than I had planned on.  After a round of putt-putt, we resigned to our rooms to get ready for our early morning on Sunday.

RACE DAY
My alarm went off at 5:40 Sunday morning, but I was awake long before that.  I was too nervous.  I got up and got dressed.  I went over my gear checklist 100 times - bike, helmet, goggles, socks, shoes, swim cap, ipod, headphones....  I was terrified that I would forget something.  I met Kim in the lobby at 6:15 and we made our way to the transition area to rack our bikes.  We found a spot - not knowing if it was a good one or not - and got ourselves ready.  We got "marked", stretched and made our way to the race start.  Our husbands met us there with their bellies full and their cameras ready.  This was the first triathlon for both of us, and we had no idea what to expect.  We were both nervous at this point - and Kim actually confessed to two dry heaves while getting dressed.  My camera died the night before, during our grueling putt-putt match, so Ben was very sweet and agreed to document my race as well.  He got lots of pictures, but let me warn you - unless you are built like my friend Kim, tri clothes are not very flattering.  I would normally avoid posting pictures this bad of myself, but you kind of get over yourself after swimming/biking/running in wet clothes in front of 3,000 people.  So here we are before the start of the race -



Here we are goofing off - Has anyone seen Bridesmaids?  


There were 10 heats in the race - separated by male/female and then age groups.  I was in heat 6 - the first heat of women.  We watched the men start and before I knew it, my heat was next and I got in the water.  I was sooooo nervous at this point, but I was grateful to be going before Kim.  I didn't need to build up any more anticipation - so I was glad to go first and "get it over with".  The swim was the part I was most concerned about.  My training sessions had improved greatly, but I was still worried.  The announcer gave the 1 minute warning, and then 30 seconds, and then 5 seconds and then everyone was cheering for us as we started the swim.  Here we are as we started off - 


We were about 100 yards into the swim at this point.  One of my more experienced tri-buddies warned me that triathlon swims are like "trying to swim during the spin cycle in the washing machine."  He was right.  For one-quarter mile, I got kicked, splashed and slapped in the water.  Before I knew it though, I could see people getting out of the water and I knew I was almost done.



Getting out of that water felt awesome.  As I expected this to be the toughest part of the race for me, I was so happy to have it behind me and to have made it to the other side.  I actually did better than I expected to.  Poor Brandon watched some other girl behind me swim across the lake - he said he was surprised when I jumped out of the water in front of him.  

We had to run barefoot to our bikes.  I have always been tender-footed, much to my chagrin, so I ran across the gravel path like "oof.  ouch.  urgh.  gah.  owwiiieeee."  I quickly wiped my face and feet off, blew my nose (a good tip from a friend) and threw my socks and shoes on.  I snapped my helmet on and ran my bike out of the transition area (no biking in the transitions!)  

Once I was on the bike, I realized how out of breath I was.  Wow.  I was really sucking wind, but thankfully the first mile or so of the bike route was down hill.  I finally got my breath and realized that the men (who started about 15 mins ahead of my heat) were now coming in the opposite direction - straight for us.  That was when I realized that I would soon be biking back UP this hill.  Great.  I lost a lot of time in the bike portion.  When buying a bike, I chose a hybrid-style bike because I wasn't sure how many tri's I would do, and I didn't want to invest a LOT of money in a fancy road bike.  At this point, I was wishing I had a road bike.  My bike was a lot slower and heavier than the fancy bikes that passed me.  I was working 10 times harder than my friends on road bikes.  Oh well.  I kept trekking along.  I was completely lost and unfamiliar with this course, but thankfully there were so many bikers that I just followed the masses.  Eventually I could see a crowd of people and I knew the end was near.  Here I am nearing the end of the 10 mile bike course - a very unflattering photo - but I'm just proud of myself enough to post it anyway :)


I dismounted and walked/jogged my bike back to its rack.  Talk about jello-legs!  I also realized on my first step off the bike, just how much water was soaked into my socks and shoes.  Yuck!  Anyhoo - I threw my bike over the rail, took of my helmet, got a slurp of water, and grabbed my ipod.  It took a few minutes for me to pin my number on my shirt (a necessity for the run portion).  That was frustrating and took away a couple of precious minutes.  When I hit the 2 mile run course, I was pumped with adrenaline and ready to finish.  I passed a few people that had passed me on the bike trail - I was thankful for that :)  I actually passed an old man (maybe 75?) who was jogging with a jogging stroller with a BRICK strapped inside.  The lady beside me was just intrigued enough to stop and ask him what he was doing, but I was anxious to finish.



With one-quarter mile to go, a man in the woods shouted "quarter mile to go!  It's all down hill from here!"  I was pumped!!  I picked up the pace - determined to cross the finish line with a good final push.  When I crossed the finish line, everyone was cheering and I found Brandon easily.  I immediately said "What time is it??"  He said 9:30 and I thought he was crazy.  I actually checked his watch myself and was surprised to find that he was right - I finished in 1:16 minutes - 15 minutes faster than my goal and a LOT faster than my training times.    I realize that my time means nothing to the experienced triathlete - I think the guy who won ran it in 43 minutes.  But I was happy with that, and that's what counts :)



I felt so accomplished after the race.  Never in a million years would I have thought I could do something like that.  But we set out to do it, and we did - even when life tried to get in the way.  I had so much fun and I'm actually considering doing another one.  We'll see.....

Friday, June 17, 2011

No Hair, No Problem

What was remaining of Brandon's hair is now gone, thanks to a short round of golf he played Thursday afternoon.  This was the first time he'd really worn a hat since his hair began falling out a few weeks ago.  He knew the hat would pull more hair out, so he had avoided it until this past Thursday.  His hair was so thin though, he had to wear a hat to play golf without getting burned.  When he came home and took off his hat, a lot of it was gone.  After a quick shower, all of it was gone.

He's not too fond of his new do, but I think it's awesome.  Why do I think it's awesome?  Because in a way it symbolizes so much.  He has been through hell and back since his cancer diagnosis in March - the diagnosis, a surgery, recovery, scans and chemo.  And he's still standing.  He's still a husband to me, a father to his two boys, a friend, a boss, a brother, and a son to his parents.  He is such a strong man and I know that he his on his way to a full recovery.  In just a few short weeks, his hair will start to grow back in, his strength will be back and the bruises on his iv arms will be gone.  I will be happy to see the new hair, and of course happy to see him completely well.  But when I think back to his hairless days, I will always be reminded of where we've been and how blessed we are.  I will always know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we can handle anything.


Monday, June 13, 2011

A Day in the Life



I've seen this done on a lot of blogs I follow and I thought you guys might get a kick out of reading about mine.  (I may be totally wrong and you may bored out of your mind - forgive me if that's the case).

Saturday, June 11th - (My first Saturday off in 6 weeks)

2:15 AM:  For some unknown reason (mother's telepathy I'm guessing) I crack my eyes open.  Will is standing on my side of the bed and says "Mom, I need to tell you something.  But first I need to get in your bed."  March said child back to his bed.

6:30 AM:  Will wakes up, comes into our room and demands milk.  When I say no, he walks out of the room and I doze back off.

6:31 AM:  I hear the sound of the refrigerator open.  Ugh.  I make my way down the hallway to find Will with a gallon of milk and a cup in the floor.  I catch him before he makes a mess.  Score one for mom.

7:15 AM:  Will is watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and I start the laundry.  I make a mental note to wake this child up every morning at 6:30 when he's a teenager.

7:45 AM:  Brooks wakes up.  I go into his room and he meets me with a cheesy grin.  I change his 10lb diaper and set him down.   He immediately walks to the fridge, points and says "Dis."  (Which is 15 month-old for "This" - meaning Milk!)

7:46 AM:  I try to find a clean sippy cup.  It seems we loaded the dishwasher last night, but did not start it.  Brooks is becoming impatient.

7:47 AM:  Brooks is now squatting in the floor screaming.  Will says "Mom - he just wants Milk.  Get him some milk."  Thanks Bud - I got it.

8:15 AM:  Cinnamon French Toast sticks are in the microwave for the kiddos.  My whole wheat bagel is toasting.  Will says "What cha eating Mom?  I want a bagel too!"  I tell him I've already made his "cinnamon pancakes" (as he calls them).  Will's begging gets louder while I try to explain how yummy cinnamon pancakes are.

8:20 AM:  Brooks and I are eating cinnamon pancakes while Will has taken one bite of my peanut butter bagel and discarded it for his yogurt.

9:45 AM:  The boys are playing nicely fighting over the same toy.  Timeout #1 for the day.

10:00 AM:  Brooks goes down for his first nap and Will and I watch Tangled.  I love this movie.

11:30 AM:  I thank the Lord for the last hour and a half of near relaxation and wake Brooks up.  The child is a little too much like his momma and would sleep his life away if I let him.

11:35 AM:  Wrangle two toddlers into shoes, let the 3-year old use the potty, pull a ball cap on and head to the door.  I put Brooks in the car no sweat.  Now to find Will - oh yes - he's playing with a gas can in the garage.  Nice.

11:36 AM:  Warn Will of all the dangers in the shiny bright red plastic container and give him the stern eye.

11:36:30 AM:  Chase Will around the car until I finally catch his arm on a run-by.  HA!  Score another one for Mom!

11:45 AM:  Arrive at EmiLu's Cakes and Treats - a new bakery in downtown Adairsville.  I'm all about supporting local businesses, and this one just happens to be a bakery :)  The bakery is so nice looking - leather sofas, nice display cases, a sign that says "No public bathroom".  I think to myself how annoying it must be when people come in and want to use the bathroom.

11:46 AM:  Will announces that he has to pee.  Great.  I look at the sweet lady who owns this nice new bakery and she so sweetly shows me the way to the not-so-public restroom.

11:47 AM:  Attempt to help Will potty in a not-so-public restroom while fishing Brooks out of the trash can, toilet paper container, and sink plumbing.  Gross.

11:50 AM:  I'm attempting to pay for my goodies when I hear Will say, "Mom!  Get Brooks!  He's in the kitchen!" Retrieve said toddler.

11:52 AM:  Hand sweet lady my debit card.  Oops.  Of course they don't accept cards, this is their first day open.  Great.  Write a check for $9.00.

11:55 AM:  The boys and I sit on a bench in the square and eat our treats.  Chocolate cupcake for Will, sugar cookie for Brooks, and a red velvet cupcake for me.  YUMMMMMMM.

12:20 PM:  We're at home now and I check the clock - one more hour until Daddy gets home!!

1:20 PM:  Daddy's not home, so I call to check in.  Working late.  Nice.  I make the boys' lunch and myself a turkey sandwich.

2:00 PM:  Brandon calls.  He wants pizza for lunch.  I turn on the oven and attempt to clean two little grimy faces and four little grimy hands.

2:07 PM:  Change Brooks' diaper and attempt to lay him down for nap #2.  Will is standing at Brooks' crib shoving toys through the rails.  I fish them out and whisper a warning to Will.

2:08 PM:  I turn to close the curtains in Brooks' room and Will begins singing "Ol' Dan Tucker was a mightyyyyy man!  Washed his face in a fryin' pannnn!"  I drag a screaming Will out for timeout #2 and shut Brooks' door.

2:10 PM:  Will announces from timeout that Brooks is still crying and not sleeping - "Mom!  He wants you!  Mom!  He's not sleeping!"  Of course the kid isn't sleeping - his big brother was acting like a clown from the circus while he was getting put down for a nap.

2:11 PM:  The pre-heat bell goes off on the oven and Will thinks it's the timer on the microwave, telling him timeout is over.  How can I explain that to a 3 year-old??  Will gets out of timeout early.

2:13 PM:  Brandon comes in and asks where his lunch is.  I want to slap him.

2:15 PM:  I drag a whiney Will to his room for his nap.  He's "not sleepy!" and he's definitely "not taking a nap!"

2:20 PM:  Will is asleep and I hit the sack too :)

5:58 PM:  I'm awaken to the sound of a door slamming.  It's just Will.  It seems three of the four Rutledges slept more than 3 hours.  Great.  This kills bedtime.

6:15 PM:  It's pouring rain (which kills my evening training session) and Brandon wants Wes-Mans for supper.  This is another local restaurant we love to support.  I call my mom and dad (whom I NEVER see even though they live 15 minutes away) and they agree to meet us for dinner.

7:15 PM:  Arrive at Wes-Man's.  It's still pouring rain.  Brandon retrieves Brooks while I run to get Will.

7:16 PM:  Attempt to find the two shoes that the child has taken off along the drive.

7:18 PM:  Find his shoes in the very back of the SUV and put Will's shoes on.  I'm laughing hysterically because my head and back are getting soaked.  Will tells me "just calm down, Mom.  You'll dry."

7:20 PM:  Freeze my tail off in Wes-Mans because I'm soaking wet.

8:30 PM:  Since the kids took a long nap, we head to Mom and Dad's for some catching up.  It's always nice to go home and sit on their sofa :)

9:30 PM:  We make our way home with two sleepy toddlers in back seat.

9:40 PM:  Arrive at home and wipe the kids off with a wet wipe.  Hey - they had a bath yesterday!

10:00 PM:  Move the laundry I started at 7:15 from the washer to the dryer.

10:30 PM:  I get in the bed - ahhhhhh.

12:31 AM:  I move from the bed to the couch because I can't sleep (certainly because of the 3 hour nap I took).

1:31 AM:  I look at the clock for the last time and think about what 10 miles on the bike + a 2 mile run is going to feel like with so little sleep.


My two boys are wild, but I wouldn't trade my Saturdays with them for anything :)











Wednesday, June 8, 2011

What We've Been Up To


That's right friends - that's hair you see there.  We did this a couple of weeks ago actually, but I'm just getting around to telling you about it.  Brandon's hair was falling out so badly that it was ending up in his mouth when he tried to talk, his food when he tried to eat, and his eyes when he tried to blink.  So one night about 10:00, I made the trip to Wally-world for a buzzer.  We went out on the front porch and buzzed it off in about 3 minutes.  It wasn't a clean shave - I was a little afraid to take it that low since I've never buzzed anyone's hair AND he was prone to infection at the time.  So he has a little buzz now.  There are several places that are completely bald (in the back where he sleeps on it), but mostly it's just extremely thin all over.  It's still falling out, but the cut helped manage the mess.

What else??  Oh yea - we took Will to see Kung Fu Panda 2 over the weekend.  The original Kung Fu Panda came on television a few weeks ago, so I DVRed it and he's been watching it ever since.  He really loved it, so we figured he would love the second one.  Plus, he loves the popcorn at the movies.



But the movie was kind of boring and didn't hold his interest at all.  We ended up leaving with only 30 minutes left, because Will was running up and down the aisle, talking too loud and kept faking that he had to poop just so he could go walk around in the hallway/bathroom.

And there's been a LOT of this -

This -

And this -


The Callaway Sprint Triathlon is one week from Sunday and I'm finally getting nervous.  I should mention that my goal is to finish the triathlon - NOT place/win/or even compete well.   I feel pretty confident in the bike and run legs.  My neighbor/training partner and I have been training for several months.  We've logged miles and miles on our bikes and followed them up with miles and miles of running.  But the swim.  The swim my friends is brutal.  If I don't drown in the first leg of this race, I'll be okay :)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Brooks @ 15 Months

(Yeah Yeah - I realize I missed posting for 14 months.)  Anyhoo - here is the little man at 15 months old-


Let me see if I can narrow it down to 15 fun snippets about this guy.... hhmmmm....

1.  He gives open-mouthed kisses now :)
2.  When Will gets put in time out, Brooks goes and sits with him.  While Will is screaming and whining,  Brooks just sits patiently until Will gets up.
3.  He loooovvvvves Micky Mouse.
4.  New words include "papa" and "duck".
5.  He's a bit of a screamer - I kind of blame this one on Will.  He has to get loud in order to get attention around here.
6.  He waves to EVERYONE.  If we're outside, he waves at every car that passes and every child that rides by on their bike.  He just loves to wave.
7.  He wears size 5 shoes, but he could probably wear a 6 too.  The fives are getting snug (which is unfortunate, because Will's old size 6 shoes are all fall shoes.  Booooo...)
8.  He wears size 18 or 24 months clothes.
9.  He goes to bed happy and wakes up happy.  This is one of the many differences in Will and Brooks.
10.  He loves to slide.
11.  Whatever Will does, Brooks tries.
12.  He loves bathtime and if he's giving me a hard time about getting his clothes off, I'll say "You want a bath?" and he immediately stops fussing, and raises his arms to get his shirt off.
13.  He's cutting 4 teeth, two of which are his eye teeth.  This has caused him a little trouble in the diaper department lately.
14.  He is the best eater - not picky at all.  The only thing I've discovered that he really doesn't care for are berries - blackberries, blueberries, strawberries or raspberries.  I think it's the tartness of the berries that he isn't too fond of.  Other than that, he will eat anything.  This is such a relief from his older brother's food demands.
15.  He got his first real hair cut this past week.  Just a trim around the ears - I couldn't let go of his curls just yet :)


As you can tell, Brooks is such a pleasant, laid-back little boy.  He brings such joy and light to our lives every single day.  He and his brother grow closer every day.  Most of the time, they wake up within a few minutes of each other; however IF Brooks sleeps in (he likes his sleep like his Momma) Will begs to wake him up.  If we take Will on a special date with Mommy and Daddy, Will wants to know where Brooks is going to be and why he can't go.  I love this about my boys.  I can only hope they grow up to be best buds :)

Here are a few more pics of Brooks at 15 months -