Spring 2010

After several requests from non-Facebookers, I have decided to update the blog. I apologize, but it's just so much easier to Facebook. The blogs are good for more in depth updates though.

This is the best our Japanese Maple has looked to date. The rest of the landscape around it looks bad because I don't work in it until after all the little helicopter seed thingys have fallen. I made the mistake one year of doing it before they fell. Then you have to deal with them after you've landscaped.

Let's see what has been going on since Valentine's Day. Caleb has really grown. He's wearing up to 6 month clothes now. He's really starting to develop his own little personality too. I took my first trip away from Kelli and Caleb when I went skiing out West at Sun Valley Idaho. Very fun but I missed my little family a lot. I had a lump in my throat as I drove to Nashville to catch the plane. The Easter Bunny came. Caleb attended his first art event when he went to see Gracie's recital last weekend. We planted Caleb's very own tree in our yard for Earth Day.

On a more serious note, I want to urge readers to stop and think about what I am about to tell you. I'll start out by saying that I don't fully subscribe to an external locus of control, but I do believe that some things happen in our lives for a reason. I believe God is ultimately in control of our lives, but making the right choice is important. That's why I put a lot of thought into things. How many times have you heard someone who continuously makes bad decisions beg God to fix something that they've screwed up? I don't think it works that way. I try to be as little maintenance as possible to the Lord. I don't want to spend much time on that topic, although, I have put a lot of thought into it. I actually wrote a paper on the topic in graduate school, and I still refer to it from time to time. One of the more memorable learnings I retained.

A few weeks ago, Kelli and I had a free Saturday. It was the first weekend we had planned to take Caleb to church after being away for nearly 2 months. We needed to run to Louisville to get her engagement ring inspected according to the warranty schedule and I needed to pick up a patio set for my parents. We thought about it and it would make for a long weekend for the little guy. We didn't want him to be fussy at church the next day.

I made the call: Let's go. We have to get used to doing multiple things with him at some point. I'll admit, I felt more than a slight hesitation in my soul about making the trip. We made the trip, and accomplished all we wanted. Ring inspected, dinner, picked up the patio set - and one very important thing happened while we were loading the patio set: Caleb took a nasty dump and Kelli had to clean him up in the truck as I loaded the patio set. Yes, it was frustrating because we were tired, and then, we had to deal with the crap. Before we left, Kelli asked me to throw the poopy diaper away for her so I took an extra 10 seconds to dispose of the diaper. An extra 10 seconds!

We started home. All was well and we were making good time. We'd be home by 10 or so which was about the time we usually start getting Caleb down for the night. Then, all the sudden, I saw glaring brake lights that immediately forced us to stop quickly on the interstate. We couldn't tell what was really going on because there were big trucks right in front of us. We were stopped in traffic for one hour and Caleb was very upset about the ordeal. He was fine as long as we were moving. Emergency crews showed up every few minutes.

Once traffic started to move, I realized there was probably less than 10 car lengths distance between us and the crash site. It was a very sobering moment as we drove by the crash and realized how bad it was. When we finally made it home safely, I looked on the Internet and found the local Louisville news coverage. Evidently, an SUV crossed the median into the southbound lane and hit a big truck (semi) head-on. There was a least one fatality.

The knot hit my stomach again as I realized that if Caleb had not pooped all over the place, and I had not taken the extra 10 seconds to dispose of it, the SUV could very well have hit us. We were in the left lane next to the median. I thought about that a lot over the next days.

Please try to be more aware of your surroundings, especially when driving. Try not to use your cell phones and especially don't text. I put my phone in the console and I use my Jabra Stone or the phone built into my truck (all handsfree). Even that is a little risky I think.

I could not imagine if we had been in the accident and Caleb was injured or killed. So when you are driving just try to take an extra second or two to think about the intersection or the lane you're in and look ahead a little. It might just save your life and make you a happier person because the people you love are also alive and well.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of late. These are sort of random, enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day, Caleb!

I hope everyone has had as nice of a Valentine's Day as I have had. I can attest to the fact that I have never had one better than this one in 2010. As you know, Caleb is here, he's healthy and his Mother is healthy. He's exactly what I had hoped for, and once again, God has blessed me beyond measure. I try very hard to never ask God for something that I can do for myself or to ask Him for something in a vain or selfish manner. This included asking Him for a child. I had always prayed, "Lord you know my heart, and until I feel for certain that we are having difficulty conceiving, I won't ask You for a child". I meant that from my heart, God knew it, and I hope this will help someone with whatever they might be facing in life.

It began to look as though we might have difficulty, and, being a weak and ordinary man, I faltered. No matter how much Faith I had had at times before when I had prayed about this, I began to doubt that we would be able to have children. One day as I tried to pray, it came to me as though One in the room spoke right to me and said, "Just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean there is a problem".

A euphoric feeling came over me for just a moment, and then, I immediately felt condemnation as I remembered what I had told the Lord once before about not asking him until I knew for certain we had a problem. I repented right then for the doubt and impatience I had begun to feel. I had created a problem that didn't really even exist, and I had allowed it to trouble my mind and spirit.

I hope this will help someone who may be worrying about something. Why worry? It's not productive, and until you know for sure that something is wrong, just be patient and try your best to serve God anyway. I know it's easier said than done, but I know it works because I've tried it out several times.

Kelli, Caleb and I had a most enjoyable day today. We just stayed home. Daniel and Allie dropped by for a little while, and then we had lasagna, cake and opened our gifts to one another. I gave Kelli a card and told her no matter what gift she gave me, it could not be better than the perfect son she gave me 3 weeks ago!

Have a great week ahead and hope to see you soon!

Caleb Scott is finally here: 8 lbs - 1.25 oz, 21" long

I apologize for this posting. These are the very initial pictures and a few more I've taken that are my favs. I promise to take more and post them later when we get past the adjustment period. Thanks to everyone who has called, come by, commented on Blogspot, FB or in any way had a kind, concerning thought toward us.

First snow of 2010!

Happy New Year!, everyone. I wanted to get my last post in before Caleb arrives, and I wanted to move beyond Christmas! I really, really enjoyed the holidays this year for some reason though.

The next post will most likely be baby pictures and maybe videos (thanks to my thoughtful wife who bought me an HD UltraFlip video camera for Christmas). It's so easy, and so cool!

Signs are continuing to point toward a little bundle arriving at the Brooks home soon.

Here are some pictures I took this morning - I wanted to get some pristine "snow" pictures. I had really hoped for some snow before Christmas to see how it would have looked at night with the exterior Christmas lights aglow. Maybe next year! Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! All is well with the Brookses. Caleb is due on 1/26 so we're hunkering down for the next month or so - give or take. Enjoy the holidays and God bless!

We named our son...

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. All in all, I can't recall a better one, but it started out not looking too good. Most people should know by now that I am a "DIYer". We decided to take down the fountain in front of our house for the winter. We usually leave it up all winter, then clean it up in the spring. Fountains are nice, they look good, and all that. We enjoy ours, however, it is constant maintenance to keep it looking good. In the summertime, I look at it and wonder - is it worth the hassle it takes to keep that thing looking nice. If it just sat there with no water running in it, most people probably would not even notice it. Being the purist that I am (such a burden), why install a fountain, and then not use it? So, I do my best to keep it running. Fact: Algae, scale, frogs, lizards, birds and leaves get way more use out of it than we do - I promise.

It went like this: I had just returned from Home Depot and was unloading the material to build a base cover for the main large lower bowl of the fountain that will remain outside in the ground. I saw my neighbor, Alan Talley, taking his dog for a potty trot. I had this thought to ask Alan to help me unload two sheets of treated plywood - I decided to pull a Kelli and did not bother him - all the while feeling like this was not a good idea. I hoisted the first 8' x 4' piece out of the truck. Just as I was about to set it down, the wind caught it, and it slammed down diagonally across my right foot. Ouch! It hurt, I limped, but I eventually finished my base which turned out much nicer than I thought. As suspected, I found out 5 hours later that I had broken the distal bones of the two piggies involved in that roast beef scandal.

So Thanksgiving Day ended up being pretty laid back with me being chauffeured by my wife, and not doing much. My tootsies look pretty bad though. We had planned to haul the Christmas decorations out of the basement, and get everything decorated. Obviously, that's not how it worked out, but we had a really nice relaxing day doing nothing.

We did manage to add another touch to the nursery, and name our son. We've decided on "Caleb Scott Brooks". After a recent Sunday school lesson, we both realized "Caleb" was on both our lists, but we had not talked about it. So, last night, we hung the glass floats you see in the window above, and then compared our baby names lists - striking out the final names and ultimately deciding on "Caleb".

Have a great holiday weekend! More nursery pic below...