4 Years

 

Our 4th anniversary was last Thursday. It amazes that four years has gone by so fast! I love this guy! He surprised me with an afternoon movie date. I came home to roses and no kids, that is always nice : )

 

I love being married. I love being married to Aaron. I like our life and I love that we have created to wonderful children.



Moments

This blog is really the only baby book for my kids. I am so glad to have a record of my daily life with them. Maybe it seems dull to others and to be honest some days really are quite dull, but I am glad to have record of my days.

I always ask my Mom "do you remember that happening to you or did your kids to that?" and she says "no... but I am sure they did!". ( Not that you can't remember Mom, but you know what I mean). Anyway I know that I will forget the little things and this is a great place to write them down. I may not be super humorous or deep to read but I hope my kids appreciate me keeping up with their milestones.

 

 She caged him.

 

Ignore me... he just looked so cute in his towel with his eyes peeking through.

 

Hopefully this kiddie pool with help us get through the dang summer heat.

 

He found his toes.

 

Isn't she so pretty? Long eyelashes and beach curly hair.

 

My handsome men.

 

We fed the ducks the other day. They weren't too interested. We went to the Surprise park and I think they have been fed to their fill. I just love her skinny little legs.

 

She loves to mail letters. This particular time was to Grandmas for Mother's Day.

 

He has a very impressive bald spot.

 

 

 

We went the car wash with my niece Piper. She wasn't a fan at first. It was hillarious to watch her freak out. Daisy thought it was pretty cool. She kept saying its was raining.

 

Daisy has been hard lately. Terrible twos isn't a joke. But I love that she is getting older. She is even starting to sit still more during books. She listened to all of Pinkalicous today and it was wonderful!

 

 

I love this baby boy!

 

And then there is Finch. He always finds me during nap time for a love. Its kind of annoying, this particular day I was folding laundry and he was being a bother so I stuck a sock on his head. It was fun.

'

Five Months Old

 

I just can't help but smiling and feeling all happy when I look at his face. He is the cutest little boy! He is five months old and getting bigger everyday. He weighs almost 15 pounds and can stand very strong and for a long while. He can pucker up his lips and blows raspberries, its so cute. Daisy never blew raspberries. He loves to talk and wiggle his tongue. He has found his toes and can almost roll over. That pesky arm is still holding him back. He is fun to hold because he just melts into me. Daisy was always wiry not that that was bad, but its nice to have a relaxed baby to hold.. He is still nursing and I love it. He will soon get solid food though, which makes me sad because that only means my baby is getting bigger. He is very mellow and I am so thankful. He seems to just be at peace with his little world. He also smiles whenever he sees Daisy. I hope they will be good friends.

Work

Work:

*What jobs have you had? 
I haven't had a lot of jobs. Aaron will be the first to tell you that. I played sports in high school and my parents deal was that if we kept our grades up and played sports we didn't have to get jobs. So that is what I did. Then I got married and got a job then had a baby and now I am a full time mom. But I have had a few jobs and here they are.
Ice cream Scooper in the summer of 2004.
File Clerk at a doctors office my sophomore year from November till February. (track started so I did that instead of work)
Family Center Employee at Torreon Country Club the summer before I left home in 2008.
Homemaker, file clerk, and in charge of insurance authorization at Quality Home Care from April 2009 till July 2010.
And although it technically doesn't count my Dad had me work for him on and off through out high school.

*What did you like/dislike about each job?
I loved my first job. It was more like a vacation though. I got to spend a few weeks up in Colorado with my sister and her friend working at a restaurant and ice cream parlor. I loved that I got to live in Silverton for a while in such a beautiful place.

I did not like my first file clerk job. It was so boring. I worked for two hours every week day after school. I was in the small room full of files and quickly learned that since it was closed off from the rest of the office that that was where all the ladies came to gossip about each other. I learned way too much about those people's lives. I did like the money and that I got to wear scrubs.

My job at the country club was great. It was a rec center so I pretty much managed kids and tweens all day while they played video games. I opened and closed and did a kiddy program on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I liked that job. I got to play all day. However even though it has been five years since I worked there I can still hear DDR's music over and over in my head. They had so many video games that had the loudest music. It was an easy job I thoroughly enjoyed.

The last job I had was my job at quality home care. I got it through a home evening activity at the singles ward and it was a blessing. My title as homemaker meant I cleaned veterans homes, ran their errands and talked with them. Mr. Beverly was my main guy. He was a sweet old black guy who had served in WW2. He really didn't need me to clean, his daughter made plenty of money to provide for a home cleaning service. I came mostly to fill a few hours of his day one or twice a week. Eventually they asked me to come in to the office and file since they knew I had previous experience with clerical work. I did that and cleaned for a while. After a while a lady who worked at the office got fired for losing around 40,000 grand in the authorization department and they asked me if I wanted her job. I said yes. I worked with nurses and insurance companies to make sure patients visits were covered. I really liked that job but I was going to school full time and it was a full time job, so my boss who I really liked let me go back to filing because school came first. I liked my coworkers but I hated the hour commute into Phoenix and then back to Surprise. Two to three hours a day in the car plus gas money made that job not quite worth it. So as soon as I got pregnant I told my boss that I wouldn't be returning after I left for maternity leave. I worked for a few more months and then their work load drastically dropped and I was laid off because I was going to leave in a few month anyway. That was my only real grown up job.


*What did you learn at each job?
From my job in Silverton I learned that German male tourists are mean when they don't get their ice cream as promptly as they think they should. I also learned how to use a cash register, but I couldn't tell you now how to work one.

My first filing job I didn't learn much, other than working in an office full of women can get ugly.

Working at Torroeon I learned that I want my children to know what gratitude is. So many of those kids were spoiled. I also learned how to play guitar hero pretty well.

I learned the most from my last job. I learned a lot of about people and their more worse tendencies. That job made me want to do my best at whatever I am doing. So many employees came and went because they would do half a job or lie about even doing a job. I couldn't believe the dishonestly and entitlement of so many people. I also learned that a lot of things are hard at first but keep at it and eventually it won't be hard anymore. I also got a good look at culture outside of my little Mormon world. Sometimes I forget not everyone lives like me. I know it but I forget.

*Have you used any of that knowledge in later years?
I sure can scoop ice cream but that may just be my own natural ability.
As for skills applicable to my life now, not really anything that I can think of.

*Who were your bosses? Did you like them/get along?
My first boss was the owner of High Noon, the restaurant and she was fine. I don't remember too much of her other than she was very nice. I worked at Dr. Tindle's office and I don't remember who managed my daily tasks.
Mr. Bang was my senior English teacher and he hired me to work at the Family Center. He was its director. I liked him. He was fun and did a good job.
Amy was my boss at Quality and she was my favorite. I may have wasted a few afternoons chatting with her in her office.

*Which was your favorite job?
My favorite job was the Family Center.



 

Lee! Lee!

Daisy playing with cornstarch and shaving cream. It is a really fun concoction, but not fun to clean.

 

So for the past while I have been working on teaching Daisy her whole name and my name. One day we went on a walk and I, over and over said, "your name is Daisy Anne Brooks and I am your mommy and my name is Lee Brooks". She didn't seem to respond or really care that I was trying to teach her something so important. Anyway a few days ago I gave Daisy her breakfast then went to my bathroom to brush my teeth. Soon I heard her yelling MOMMY! I knew she was fine so I continued to get dressed. After a few more mommys it was silent for a few seconds then I heard LEE! LEE! I started laughing so hard. I guess she did learn my name, but only when she really wants something.



Grandma Brooks's funeral

To me most of the funerals I have been to in my life have always been bitter sweet. Bitter for the loss and sweet to remember our loved one. I have also never been to a non LDS funeral and am thankful for our focus on the life lived, family, and the plan of happiness.

 

Barbara's funeral was just that bitter sweet. The services were very thoughtful and full of love. My favorite part was a wall of pictures from her life. I loved to see pictures of her through out time. Daisy most definitely has her genes! I also loved the life sketch. Stories are a wonderful way to remember and capture a person.



 

Aaron's whole family at the graveside service.

Great people here.

 

Daisy and her Great Grandpa.

 

She sure has a thing for Brooks men :) 

 

Once she gets a hold of that finger...

your hers...