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There hasn't been a whole lot to blog about lately, so I'll just post a bunch of pictures of what we've been doing.  (That's all anyone really wants to see anyway, right?!). 

We have really been enjoying the beautiful weather recently.  It's been great for business too as ACE has been really busy with early spring shoppers.  Brooks has been helping Daddy clean up the yard and plant a few seeds (hoping to add some color to our pretty boring backyard!)

 Brooks uses a stick to dig and rake leaves and whatever else he needs to do.  I think we should maybe buy him some actual tools! :)

 He's just pretty goofy sometimes!

Sidewalk chalk has also been a recent favorite alternative to inside coloring.  And it's nice that he sits pretty good so I can sit and color with him and not have to run after him all the time! (It's getting harder to run around after an almost 2 year old now that I'm 34 weeks pregnant!)

 I think we could be in a commercial for Minute Maid juice with these pics! ha! Brooks just thought it was pretty special that he got to take his juice outside with him!

Brooks really LOVES talking to Papa and Grandma Burgess on Skype on the iPad.  He likes it when Papa makes faces and brings the cat to say hi.

 Brooks' Scout dog has also become a favorite again.  Just thought these pictures were too cute :)

 Hugs! :)

 This is still how Brooks smiles when asked...goofball

A Boy and His Dog

Brooks absolutely adores Cheyenne, and I'm pretty sure Cheyenne likes Brooks more than she likes Blake or I! The two of them love to play together.  Cheyenne has recently been pushed to a mostly outside dog due to some indoor 'accidents', but when she has clean paws and we can watch her pretty close, we still let her in some.  Brooks loves to play 'tunnel' with blankets over the couch and ottoman, and he's roped Cheyenne into playing with him.  The two of them have a blast!

 I'm pretty sure Cheyenne nudges Brooks as they are crawling through, and I know she sometimes steps on his feet cause sometimes he'll come out without his socks!

 It was really hard to get pictures, so sorry you can't see Brooks' face much, but he was laughing the whole time!

Best Buds

The way life has taken us, it seems that Brooks will be able to grow up with cousins very close around him.  This is something Blake was very familiar with growing up, but I was not fortunate enough to have cousins living close by.  My sister and I try and regularly get together for play dates with the kids.  Until recently, all 3 kids would pretty much just play on their own.  Now Brooks and Lane have really started actually playing together.  Brooks gets pretty excited when Lane and Katy are coming over or we are going to their house.  Lane even told Cody that Brooks was his best friend.  I'm pretty sure Lane is Brooks' right now too! Here are just a few fun pictures of the two of them playing!

There were so many cute photo opportunities, but it was so hard to get them both to sit still!

Here they are reading books together in Katy's tent.  I think Lane was trying to read to Brooks!

I'm so thankful Brooks will have cousins close to him and can enjoy those special relationships! Since baby #2 is a girl and Lane just has a sister right now too, they might be the closest thing each other ever has to a brother! :) Luckily Katy will have a girl cousin coming soon and hopefully they can have just as much fun together as the 2 boys! 

Randomness

We haven't been up to anything special the past week or so, but here are some pictures of our normal everyday life!  Brooks loves to count and say his letters all the time, so I'll add a few videos of that at the end. 

Playing with Duplos is an everyday occurrence.

 Brooks has also recently discovered that he likes to wear hats.  Finally!! We've been trying to get him to wear a hat forever cause it's so darn cute!

One evening when I was done doing the dishes, I came into the living room to find Brooks reading to Cheyenne.  It was pretty cute!

Last week I made my first ever apple pie.  I've made peach, pumpkin and maybe some other ones, but never an apple.  Brooks has been playing a pie making game on the iPod recently, so he kept talking about an apple pie.  I figured, why not?! Silly boy wouldn't try any of the actual pie, but he ate plenty of fresh apples while I was making it.  He also got to roll out some of his own dough....it didn't work real well for him, but he had fun! 

I was pretty happy with the way it turned out! It was all eaten, that's for sure!

Here is the video of Brooks counting and several of the other things he says.  He has been talking so much and starting to say real sentences!

Here is the one of him saying the letters in random order when I point to them.  He loves to point out letters anywhere he sees them!  Ok, so it won't let me upload it now, but I'll try again tomorrow or later in the week!