my birthday girl

happy birthday my poppy louise.
you've changed me. every morning you make everything seem a little brighter. i could have
never possibly imagined you.. ever.  there is no other person who even comes close. i adore you.
you make me cry, you make me laugh, you make excited, and make me scared. you love soo deeply and can cry (still) so loud. you say funny things, and are way too smart for such a little girl. on any given day i can have this amazing moment with you. life will be crazy, i will be rushing, you will be so naughty. incessantly you will yell, "mom, mom, MOM!!" finally i answer... "yes, poppy?" and all you say is " i love you".  how can i ever end a day unhappy with that? you randomly give anyone you love a kiss, just out of the blue when we might pass your way. sometimes you get a leg, sometimes a hand, sometimes a dog ear. you can't help it. you are just one big, big, BIG ball of everything. it can't be helped. you simply will always be the most contagious part of it all.

my darling baby... you will always be mine. you will always be adored.
we simply cannot imagine a life with out a shred of you.
i love you forever.

happy third birthday.

xo,

mama

northern california, single mom, AUNT paige

i've been working a bit lately.

i know my blog doesn't attest to such fact, but i have.

i should have saved my money for christmas, or perhaps a little something towards a new house.

but i love my sister. i miss seeing her. my girls needed to see her, and for reasons no one understands HAD to go to china town. 

i went ahead and flew us all too windsor, CA so we could do such.

it was maybe a bit crazy. did i mention dustin was away on business so i flew this ship solo?

who me thinks i am flying single parent style with two small children and being 4 months pregnant?? i really had no business doing such. i think people looked at me on the plane and cringed. they probably had full rights to as well. it didn't really go so smoothly. what in the life of toddlers does?

ahh well... it was worth it.

we had a beach day,

morning strolls to the park,

not a lot of napping,

lazy mornings,

and we even got crazy and spent a day in the city.

all in all it felt like a small victory for me and myself. the good news is, just as i almost have this whole two children bit under control i am just going to go ahead and throw one more to the mix.

whoops...

photo taking was spent mostly on our big outings.

so our trip may seem a tad more enchanting than reality.

that's what blogging is all about,

right?

paige, 

thank you for the semi stay-cation.  it was just what we needed.

xo

halloweenie 2011

 

 jigga what?

that's right. i am posting about Halloween ON Halloween.

i give you full permission to be impressed.

it's impressive.

this year's festivites were as usual, as smash hit and we are all happy and satisfied to see this holiday out the back door.

woooheee!
this 31st was a busy one. it started early and ended way too late. littered with zero naps.

offensive.

however.. these toostie pies of mine truly do keep getting cuter.
sure... there is a lot more empty threats, and senseless arguing amongst us. but definitely more fun too.

what can i say? i'll keep em'.

b 

preschool and halloween just mix.
they make sense.
this was my first official year as room mom as well.
t'was perhaps the last?
probably not... :(... 
:)

she be me number one swashbuckler.
crazy bird.

don't you be fretting one bit.

we all played the pirate role at our trunk-or-treat. have you seen Disney Jr. lately?

do you know jake and his crew?

well the Neverland pirates are a big deal at this house.

don't be hatin'.

numero 2.
shame.
she's not very cute. 
what can we say?

it was perfect weather for some trick-or-treat.
one would never guess snow is due tomorrow.

and if you've seen a cuter pirate crew lately.. let me know.
i will beg to differ.


so there it be.
let november come.
we're ready.

a little bit of blog

where to begin?

i am pretty much 10 minutes late in general. in life.

somewhere between August and now things have time warped as well as moved by at a snails pace.

it's really all one big oxymoron. 

*sigh*....

i just feel explaining would be dull.

BUT... good news,

i'm still pregnant :)

things are looking good and if luck finds me right we may just be able to find out what nugbum's gender is a couple of weeks.

woot, woot hoorah!

halloween has been in full action alllll fall long. my girls eat, sleep, pray, love this holiday. 

they actually can't really decide if they love it or hate it... but they still feel they should

participate fully until the final verdict is in.

i had a mother moment of the year last night and let them watch

"Thriller" .  i just have good memories concerning that really.

however... turns out it is indeed truly down right frightening. i mean for real.. it is.

they my be scarred for life.. and slept about 2 hours total last night.

good times.

GREAT MOM.

dustin and i have been feeling quite festive ourselves and even threw an adult halloween murder mystery.

who do i think i am??

it really was quite fun... 

we have some pretty coolio neighbors and friends so duh... how could it go any other way?

i promise it felt much cooler being there. i need to remind myself to have someone else be

in charge of photo documenting when i am hosting as well.

these photos are so lame.

you'll get the gist of it.

"The Psycho Circus"

our very own Big Top.
this was Dustin's brain child.
who knew?

Your hosts
Bob the Barker and Serpentine snake charmer.
mmm hhmmm..

Leo the Lion tamer and Barbara the bearded lady
i told you. our friends are hilarious.

Tommy and Tuppence Twist

Claire Voyante and Samson Strong man.
trevan.... tears.

Mack M. Laffe the clown and Harriette the horsewoman

and on a closing note...
trevan, one more time.
yes.. those are kennan's gladiator sandals.
he is naturally a sensible size 8.
precious.


i plan to keep this whole blogging bit up.
so listen up you 3 readers...
STAY TUNED!

mcNugget

can you handle it?

this little poop is growing in my already seemingly large belly.

come again? 

that's right. come April 2012 we will be jackson party of 5.

i will have three children. slap me.. that feels like a lot.

is it craazy that i already looove, love this baby?

boy, girl, hermaphrodite, it is meant to be mine. some how each pregnancy is sweeter and sweeter.

i know what it's like on the other end...

it's pretty awe some.

literllay.

we are approaching the second trimester very quickly..

so here is our big little secret! 

stick baby.

11 weeks in and we already know we need you.

oh.. in case you didn't catch that.

i'm pregnant.

:) :) :)

good times

 

 now you may think of September and think school,

fall leaves, 

crisp apples, 

and cooler weather.

all good things.

but here at the Jackson joint our close of summer is never complete until the fair.

oh the state fair...

everything that is wrong and severely frowned upon within society presents itself in one gloriously disgusting stretch of land in the wrong part of town.

 how could we not attend?

last week we grabbed our favorite groupies (da Gregs) and made our way to the Fair.

   

after this greeted us upon entrance we thought not much else could top.

deep fried butter? hmm...

   

 we were proven wrong.

so, so wrong.

about 12 steps up we came across this.

take a better look. yes. right there at the 3 by 2ft plywood box.

there awaited you"little linda".

she was for real. while our celebrities were writing gut wrenching hits about the disaster in Haiti,

our fellow Fair friends were snatching up refugee little people and forcing them to a life human exploitation. it's wrong.
despicable maybe..

we were the first in line to see her.

uh oh...

it was every bit as disturbing as it looks, sounds, and feels.

i'm so ashamed.
but maybe the best dollar spent in while??

 

 

luckily a trip on the ponies and a fair themed photo-op brought us to a safer more comfortable state of mind.
phew.

 

and then the night ended just right,

kennan and dusin took the ride of their lives on the mechanical bull.

oh yes.

fall can now come.

first day

well finally...
school days have come!

minie's preschool doesn't start till about 1-2 weeks after
school begins for the rest of the functioning world and those couple of weeks are always
the final nail in the coffin.
do you appreciate how i have only experienced one semi-school year to date
yet i talk like a seasoned vet?
me too.

my name is brooke,
and i am more than happy to see my daughter leave for school.
some parents cry..
i silently cheer.
what does this depict of myself? probably if i wanted to do a little soul searching,
the results may not be in my favor.
but let's be honest.
school is a happy place in the jackson family.

and really, i can't be the only one to blame. minie lives for her school days.
i feel like it should be a good thing. i know one day the tables will turn,
so until then let's enjoy it... right?
maybe kindergarten will tug a little more..
it doesn't seem likely.

but always and forever i love this mello- dramatic tootse
after all, she is quite cute.

here is to day 1...
RAH, RAH!!
and the beautiful 170 to come.

babies mine

sometimes i take pictures of my babies and then forget all about them
i never feel satisfied with my shoots when i'm finished with them. being mom and the one behind the camera can sometimes be tricky.
i'm so glad i gave this shoot one more look through...

never have i loved these girls more.

they are my everything.