What Is In A Year?

A year (from Old English ȝēr; symbol y or sometimes a) is the amount of time it takes the Earth to make one revolution around the Sun. By extension, this can be applied to any planet: for example, a "Martian year" is the time in which Mars completes its own orbit.
For me it has been 365 days of absolute newness. I have spent almost every moment of the last year with my sweet Colton! I have been blessed beyond words to be his mother. God is using this little man in a giant way to etch away the ugly in my heart and life.

I cannot believe my first born is a year old… I can still remember how excited in shock I was when I found out I was pregnant (in the bathroom at work!... who seriously takes a pregnancy test at work!?); I remember being in total disarray trying to figure out how I was going to tell Chris when he got home from his business trip and I remember the absolute calm look on his face when I told him I was pregnant! I remember the morning all day sickness, the labor pains, the hour long ride to the hospital, and the 4 hours in a delivery bed. I can still remember how HOT it was in the delivery room (Chris says he had the air on 60!), the hateful nurse, the annoying post delivery bed, but oh yeah, how sweet my husband was that entire day, well several days (why am I tearing up???). I certainly remember the epidural free childbirth (Thank you Lord that you allowed me to have that experience!) and holding my little man for the first time. Needless to say, it has been a memorable year!

52 weeks, 365 days, 8760 hours, 525600 minutes, 31536000 seconds; ONE YEAR!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLTON!

Full Circle

In my last 2 years of college I had the awesome experience of being a nanny to a wonderful family of 6. When I first started the job there was Phillip 4, Claire 3, and Anna and Andrew barely 1! Those 2 years were the fondest 2 years ever… yes, at times it was exhausting, but in the end it was so rewarding and helped prepare me for the arrival of my own son! During that time it was the twins that changed the most – when I first started Anna was barely walking and Andrew was crawling, when my time with the Nichols had ended I had made it through both twins learning to walk, going from the bottle to the sippy cup, giving up the passy, starting pre-school, and learning to potty train. Needless to say it was a hard break to make when I had to leave! The Nichols recently traveled to New Zealand for a yearlong medial/mission trip! Once they were all settled back home we paid them a visit…








Andrew (the youngest and Colton playing together!) ... he was definatley the most interested in my little man... Colton was mostly interested in chewing on the furniture!

So... as you can see this was a "full circle" moment for me!

Lots of Love,

Summer Jo Brooks

Mother's Day

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh






"A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path."-- Agatha Christie





"Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother's secret hope outlives them all."-- Oliver Wendell Holmes






"A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take."-- Cardinal Mermillod





A mother's happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories. ~Honoré de Balzac

I love being a mom, but I could not do what I do without the wonderful husband that I have! I am so in love with the "boys" in my life! I am blessed far more than I deserve!

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mom's out there!