Tristan learned to kiss!!

Help Us Decide!

Justin and I got quite the surprise a couple weeks ago. I was feeling sick and a few days late, so I decided to be on the safe side and buy a pregnancy test. Justin and I laughed on the way home from the store "There's no way you're pregnant! Can you imagine how crazy that would be?" (We both laugh) "Yeah, I know I'm not but better be sure!"

Imagine our shock, before I even put the test down it said positive. We both blinked probably about a billion times, waiting for the test to change to negative. I've never been in such shock. We were set on thinking we were done, two boys was it for us. God had other plans.

I am so glad He did. After the first few days, I've definitely gotten used to the idea. I've hardly been sick at all, I don't even feel pregnant most of the time. That's something new, I was deathly ill with both of my other pregnancies. That's why I'm convinced we're having a girl. :)

Those of you who know me really well would agree it would be a tragedy if I didn't have a daughter eventually. I'm as girly as they come. My dream is to dress my baby girl up in tutus and bows. I buy baby girl stuff for all my friends. Which bring me to the point of this post.

BABY NAMES!! I need help!

What do you like best?

1. Sienna Rose

2. Cora

3. Jemma

4. Anabelle

5. Rosie

6. Ella

7. Jasmyn

Justin and I both agree on all these names. I know it's a bit early to be thinking about names (and we could be having a boy and this could be a waste of time. lol) But I just can't help myself. What is your favorite? You can also add to the list. We're looking for something very feminine and not overused.

By the way I'm almost 7 weeks and I'm due September 26th. :)

Stir Craaaazy!

Things I need right now:

1. To be over this awful cold

2. For the snow to STOP!!

3. Justin to get off work early

4. Gym time with my best friend!

5. To see the sun

6. A big fat tax return

7. A giant brownie, with ice cream... and a cherry on top.

8. A babysitter.

A girl can dream, right? :)

Learn About Us: Tommy Edition!

Tommy's Favorite Things:

#1: Books. He adores gathering all of his books and dumping them on my lap, then happily exclaims "Let's read Mommy!"

He is so cute.

So, we read. To go through each of his books, it takes us close to an hour. Each day we read a new chapter of one of the longer reads, like Mary Poppins or The Wind in the Willows. He can't get enough of it. We also go through an English to German translation book, so he has learned a lot of German words.

#2: Pirate stuff. He got this pirate ship for Christmas, and now I often find him in his room looking for treasure with his ship. We're actually going to start watching Pirates of the Caribbean, because I know he will love it.

#3: Cats! As most of you know, Tommy fancies himself a cat. I've started calling him TomKat.

#4: Playing with Tristan. He loves pushing him around in his trucks. And as you can see, Tristan loves it too. They are so cute together!

#5: Watching movies. Tommy owns more movies than Justin and I. He knows how to work the TV and DVD player by himself, so sometimes he'll go in his room and watch a movie, and I won't realize until I wonder why it's so quiet.

He has two chairs in his room so his friends can come over and watch with him. That's definitely one of Tommy's favorite things to do.

#6: Get his picture taken. He is the best model, he lets me tell him what to do for pictures and then he can't wait to see how they turn out. He's a pro. Haha :) I followed him around today with the camera trying to capture his favorite things, he didn't mind!

I love everything about you, Tommy! ♥

The Bright Side

Justin got a message back from the head of orders personnel. We're staying in Germany. Justin is deploying in December. We won't get to the states until August 2012.

WAH!! :(

Tommy will now demonstrate my reaction to this news:

First, shock.

Because, honestly, I wasn't expecting this.

Then, disbelief.

Third, sadness.

Then I pouted a little bit.

After all of those emotions, we chose to look on the bright side.

First, Justin will be sent to Iraq. This is infinitely better than Afghanistan. Iraq is mostly peaceful right now, so Justin will be safe. Also, they have excellent internet there, so I'll be able to skype with Justin often. Thirdly, Justin is being sent to a resort type of base, so he'll have swimming pools, good food, etc. He probably won't really feel like he's deployed, except for the fact I won't be there. :( Another perk, Justin will make a lot more money while deployed and we'll be buying a house as soon as we get back to the states.

The best news of all? He'll only be deployed for 9 months instead of 12 or 18!

We also need to appreciate that instead of leaving Germany in August, and suffering another move (SO not fun moving from one country to another!) and then only staying for one year at another duty station before his enlistment is up (and then suffering ANOTHER move), we'll get to leave Germany AND THE ARMY at the same time. That is pretty convenient I must admit.

So what are my plans this go around? Last deployment I went back to AZ for most of it, and spent the last 3 months in Germany. I'm staying here this time. I just can't make the trip with two kids. So I've actually applied for a job as a field representative for a higher education learning program. Something to keep me busy while Justin is gone, get me out of the house everyday. I'm going to learn German if it kills me. I'll be really sad to say I've spent 4 years in Germany and don't even know the language. And thirdly, I'm going to practice my cooking skillz (especially German recipes) and impress Justin with them when he gets back. :)

If anyone wants to come and visit, please please please PLEASE DO! I have very good friends here to keep me company but I miss all of you in AZ and UT!

Love,

A Despaired Army Wife.

I've earned that title for at least two days! Haha :)

Fixing Photos

Thought I'd share this, I was so excited. I was going through old pictures and found this one of Tommy. The sun was shining brightly and the picture was taken with a bad camera, so they came out too bright. My photo editor fixed it!

Before:

After:

You really don't need the best camera for good looking pictures.

Haircuts, Shopping & Photography!

Justin and I are redecorating our house! Yesterday we went out and looked at tons of furniture, trying to get an idea of what we want. We spent about 3 hours browsing around, what do you think?

This is the first entertainment center. This is the style in Europe. Justin really likes it, I'm not sure about it. It's just so low to the floor, I think the kids will try to touch the tv. Plus we have our tv mounted on the wall, and we would have to take it down.

This one is my favorite. We could keep our tv mounted, and the tv pictured here looks a lot like ours, so I think it would go well. I love the lights, it looks cool!

This is the bed we decided on. I love it!!! We're going to put the shelf and lights above the bed, just like it is here. Perfect for reading at night. We've never really given much thought to the furniture we buy, so I'm excited to finally start buying furniture that we love. We want to get all of it before we go back to the states, because they don't sell this style in the US. The bed is low to the ground, which is the style here. I think it's really cute.

Also, Tristan got his first haircut today! His hair got really really long, I can't believe our 7 month old needed a haircut! I think Tommy was at least 9 months before he needed one. Tristan did pretty well. He wanted to inspect the stranger touching him, but he didn't wiggle too much. While we were waiting to get his haircut, he loved staring at all the other people there. He got quite a lot of attention, even from "tough" army guys who don't like babies. :) He is just irresistible.

All finished! Isn't it cute!

I'm still having a blast playing with my camera. It's the best gift Justin has ever given me. I'm learning how to edit and all the different settings my camera has. It was really tedious at first but now that I have the hang of it, it's fun.

Silly Tommy.

♥ Love, The Brookes