Updates!

Life around here is so crazy busy at times!  Here's what the Brooks are up to:

Renae:

• Is talking up a storm these days!  Her favorite words/phrases are Hi, Daddy WaYou (Where are you?), Day Do (Thank You), down, do dee (two, three...whenever we count she does this), and she likes to bark like a dog and sing along/do the motions for "Popcorn Popping".
• Is becoming a total Daddy's Girl.  She follows him around everywhere and will sit at our bedroom door, the bathroom door, and the front door and just knock on it and say "Daddy WaYou" until he acknowledges her.
• Is quite the problem solver.  She loves to climb on everything, but when she discovered that climbing on our couch wasn't within her reach, she started bringing toy bins out of her bedroom to use as step stools in order to climb onto the couch and our recliner.  And then she likes to jump off the couch onto the pillows she puts on the floor to land on!

Nicholas:

• Is turning into a fantastic artist!  He loves coloring and I'm starting to be able to tell what he draws.  The other day he drew a ghost for me, complete with hands, two eyes, a nose, a funny mouth, shoes, and a squiggly shirt!  He was so proud of himself!
• Has started potty training!  Well, he's actually been doing this on and off for about a year, but I finally felt like he was ready to ditch the diapers.  He has spent the last two days out of diapers (except at nap time and bed time) and has done remarkably well.  I'm optimistic!
• Is starting to develop quite the attitude!  The other day Brandon did something Nicholas didn't like, and Nicholas decided to hold it against Brandon for a while, even going as far as to refuse to ride in the car with Brandon!  I'm not sure a day has gone by in the last few weeks where Nicholas hasn't come to find me and tell on Brandon for some perceived injustice!

Rebecca

• Is learning to tackle all sorts of home improvement projects!  I painted our dining room in two tone greens, with a dark brown horizontal stripe painted in place of a chair rail.  I think it looks pretty great!  I also learned how to use a drill and installed child-proof locks on all of the kitchen cabinets, an apron hook in the kitchen, and two smoke detectors for the kids' room and the living room.  I might actually be getting addicted to home improvement projects!
• Has rediscovered a love of reading!  I've always loved reading, but haven't been as diligent about it in recent months.  Lately, I've been reading anywhere from 1-3 books a week, and I love it!  I've been trying to find authors who tend to keep things clean.  One author I've enjoyed recently is Jean Ferris.  She writes juvenile/young adult literature that are really sweet.  I've read Once Upon a Marigold, Twice Upon a Marigold, and Love Among the Walnuts.  All of them were pretty cute, so I look forward to reading some of her other books.

Brandon:

• Is amazing!  We decided that since he's so close to being done with his bachelors, that he'd take a break from full time work to concentrate on school.  We'd been going back and forth on this decision for a while, but once we really prayed about this decision and felt that pursuing the educational path was the best decision, everything has really fallen into place for us.  My amazing husband has just been excelling at school this quarter and has been blessed with so many opportunities as a result.
• Has been asked to help with a research study with one of his professors.  Brandon made a comment in one of his classes that this professor wanted to follow up on.  She determined that there would be an opportunity for a study to further research the point Brandon brought up (it's about optimism in leadership).  After helping create and conduct the study, Brandon should have the opportunity to help write and publish their findings.  Pretty impressive for an undergrad!
• Has been approached personally by two different departments to seriously consider their program for grad school.
• Attended a career fair and has been contacted by one company to come in for an interview next week for a potential internship working with the communications director of the company.  Yeah!
• Has been asked by the organizational leadership department to help in the creation of an organizational leadership club on campus.  He is going to be the recruiting guy for the group and is excited to be a part of this opportunity!

That's it for the Brooks Family for now!  I'll try to be better at keeping this updated, but I don't get as much computer time while Brandon's in school, so please be forgiving!