2011- part one.

I love to write. But, even more than writing, I love going back years later and reading what I wrote. Ten years ago tonight I conceived my firstborn, Harley. (TMI?? Perhaps... but now ya know...) And throughout that pregnancy I kept a journal chronicling every little hiccup and kick and measurement and mood swing... I even made a point to write, at the end of every entry, something that I thought I would "always" or "never" do as a parent. I knew that I would someday laugh at what my 18/19 year old self thought parenting would be like, and how I thought I would be different. I still have this journal & I keep it in Harley's "time capsule" that I created for her 1st birthday (to be opened on her 18th) and I keep that in a closet so I can add to it through the years. That makes the journal easily accessible. When I was pregnant with Braydon I found it so funny to go to the same week in my pregnancy with Harley to compare (Carter also has a journal, but I had a 2 year old when I was expecting him, so I didn't make as much of an effort to keep up with it. I had not yet learned ANY time management.). Regardless, reading & comparing was so fun for me that I decided that I should "journal" (blog) more... There's so much that I don't want to forget, but I know I will unless I write it down.

So, I thought maybe it would be fun ((thanks to Crissy's blog post reminiscing on the past year)) to re-visit MY 2011, as experienced by Me- Kayla Shealey Brooks. It's not gonna ALL be about the kids.. .but of course, my babies are in there. :) So, buckle up... here we go....

JANUARY

 I don't think I took a whole lot of pictures in January, unfortunately. I was kind of in depresso-mode because my oldest 2, Harley and Carter, had just left for their Daddy's & I was NOT a happy Mama. People would try to make me feel better by saying "But, at least this way you can spend more time with JUST Braydon... It will be easier on you." That didn't help. I didn't want it to be JUST Braydon, but I know that if I had not had Braydon here, I would have gone into an even DEEPER depression with his brother and sister leaving. He was, literally, my reason for getting up & pressing on every morning. This was also the month that I was diagnosed with post-partum depression. I've always been the happy, funny girl, but this was not a happy, fun time in my life. I would sit in the glider rocker in Braydon's room and rock him and cry. I felt sad all the time. I knew that only part of it was from my kids being gone. I felt like their absence made the condition worse, but was not the cause of it. Thankfully, I never had any thoughts of hurting my baby or myself, and still felt a very strong connection to my new son, but the darkness in my mind just could not be escaped. People that make light of depression have never been truly depressed. I went to my obstetrician and started to tell him about what I was feeling and before I could even get the first sentence out I began to sob. "See??? This is what happens. All the time. I'm always sad. Always crying." He smiled at me and said "It's post-partum depression. It happens. I'll write you a prescription, send you home with some samples and you'll be as good as new." And he was right. After just a few weeks on the medication, I was back to being Kayla again. I weaned myself off of the drugs and haven't looked back since. We moved into a new house mid-month, so I also think that the distraction of packing & unpacking may have helped a little, as well as the excitement of the newness!!! :)

 
ALSO in January, I made a new friend, Corinne. We met on Facebook. Seriously. We have a mutual friend, Jerry "Supa" Donaldson, and we bonded over our relentless bashing of his seemingly never-ending photos of himself... taken BY himself... in random bathroom mirrors, oftentimes shirtless. ((Don't get me wrong- Jerry is one of those guys who should probably not even be allowed to wear a shirt EVER... but still. Pretty lame to always be taking these pictures of yourself. It's like he has no friends...)) Anyway, Corinne was awesome & I knew that immediately. She made plans to come to Valdosta from Savannah & spend the weekend with me. Was it crazy?? Absolutely. But, that's one of the things that I adore about her. This chick is fearless. ((and how much do you love my double chin in this photo, huh??))

FEBRUARY

 The new house started coming together!!! This is Braydon's room. Of course, it's rearranged a little differently now, but now that I look at it like this again, I may change it back... hmmmmm.....

 Braydon began using the Bumbo that Aunt Ally gave us. What a big boy!!! Here he is trying to help with the laundry. Oh, and he picked out his first toy... the Alvin behind him. We found it at Hobby Lobby & he grabbed it & (of course) put the foot in his mouth, so I had to buy it. He hasn't played with it since. I carried that thing everywhere trying to get him to like it. No such luck.

 I was STILL in school. Looking at this picture, I do NOT miss it. Sheesh. I'm getting a headache just thinking about it. This syllabus was for my Advanced Medical Document Processing class. Easy, but a LOT of work.

 In February, we got Kong!!! He's a Black Lab & was so sweet and fluffy. Technically, he was Brandon's Valentine's gift, but I thought it would be sweet for Braydon to have a puppy to grow up with. Plus, with the other kids gone, Belle (our Chocolate Lab) was getting depressed, so I thought it would be nice for her to have a friend. And it worked. Belle has taught Kong so much, and now he's bigger than she is!!!

 Braydon started eating baby food!! He LOVED Sweet Potatoes (as most all babies do, I believe) and was really good at making a mess.

 He also got his first sippy cup this month. Yes, it's pink & purple, but he liked it & that was the only color Target had at the moment, so we went with it. A few weeks later, they had a blue one with sailboats, so we bought it & gave this one to his cousin, Isla. This was also the month that Braydon spent a LOT of time in this carseat. He slept in it most every night because he was so congested and it was the only way he could breathe.

 Silly Mommy & Baby. Gah, I love that little man.

 My Granny Peggie's birthday is in February, so we had a big family Surprise Party for her at my house. I was so happy to have everyone here!!! This is my Aunt Joy loving on her Great Nephew. :)

 And, here we have pretty much the greatest uncle EVER, my Uncle Tommy. Words can not express how much I love this man. I'm sure he'd like for me to try, though. :) Oh, and he's got chicken. The Folsom bunch LOVES our chicken!! :)

 Two of my cousins & some of the babies gettin' their grub on. Looks like Jen is fussing at Karlen about something. Probably not, because Jen isn't a big fusser, but I'm gonna go with that.

 Me & my handsome baby brudder, Eric.

 All of the Folsom grands & great-grands that were able to make it!!!

 Happy Birfday, Granny Peggie!!!

 me with my beautiful Aunts, Lee & Joy. These women are pretty much awesome.

 
My Mommy & her sisters. Can you see where I get my wacky personality from??

 The only picture I have of Isla and Braydon together... but, they both look really sleepy... which would explain why they both screamed the entire time they were together. Hmmmmm... We thought they hated eachother.

MARCH

This was such a blessed month!!! It doesn't take much to see why!!!!

 This is Braydon's Aunt Bel. (Kelly= KelBel = Bels = Aunt Bel) We went to the Azalea Festival in HOPES of coaxing out my niece, Summer. Okay, so technically she's not my niece, but Kelly's family is like family to me, so her daughter holds such a special place in my heart. And Kelly and I could be sisters. Seriously. Anyway. It didn't work THAT day, but we still had a good time walking (waddling) around the park.

 Braydon also had his Half Birthday this month!!! Yay, Monkey!!!! Please, pay no attention to the rough lookin' Mama. I don't even care. I was one happy Mama. :)

 Braydon could FINALLY use the car that his Godparents sent to him!! It had belonged to their little girl, Gracie & they passed it down to our little man. Such a blessing!

THIS was the beginning of something BIG. Bigger than any of us could have imagined. Nana loved her some Braydon, but this was about the time Braydon really started to KNOW who people were... and he fell in love with his Nana. I think he's trying to take my place... Kid better think again. ;)

 AND SHE'S HERE!!! Summer Laurel Goodin arrived just a few days after our "walk in the park". I am one proud Aunt!!!

 Bels is such a good Mommy.

 Monkey started really laughing in response to things we do.

 He got a "new" Grandaddy!!!

 Made a girlfriend...

And experienced jealousy for the first time. That look says "Why my mama got dat baby??"

Ooh- and he met Uga's granddaughter. :) Not sure he's a GA fan just yet.... ;)

 We went to Register for an unfortunate family emergency in Braydon's "God-family", and I was very thankful to be able to spend time with his God-sister, Gracie Bug. She fell in love with Braydon instantly.

 And, here we have Bo & Jenni's engagement party... and it was a PARTY. Of Epic proportions, I might add. Many, many jello shots, I discovered my long lost family (I'm a Sears, for sure) and made new friendships. This was the first time I actually met Jenni & understood immediately how she was able to lock our BoBo down. This is (L-R) Jenni, Me, Carrie (Bo's sister), and Mama Lisa (Bo's Mama)

 Me & BoBo... it would be impossible to NOT love this man.

 oh boy.... and here comes the fun stuff. Jenni's bachelorette party!! I was so happy to be invited!!! I had only met Jenni, like, the week before, but it meant the world to me that she liked me enough to include me!

 And I made ANOTHER friend, Crystal. How much do I love this girl??? From here to Cooter Jack's & back. Yup.

 The Happy Couple. <3

APRIL

This was such a busy month. Stinka's bachelorette weekend (which I could only be there for half of... I had a sick widdle baby at home) in Jacksonville, as well as Bo & Jenni's wedding AND Stinka & Cody's wedding!!! Oh, yeah. And my 1 year wedding anniversary. Almost forgot about that.

 Stinka, me, & Ashley riding on the front of the boat on the St John's River.

 The Bridal Party (most of us) with Steve!!

 me & my Stinka Winka the first morning. Yes, that is actually what we looked like when we woke up. (Probably forgot to take our makeup off the night before, but I don't care. We look good.)

 Sweet widdle girls. :)

 I don't know who Jenni is on the phone with, but I love Bobbie poking her head in... And Bo is oblivious.

 The crew. :)

with JJ at Bo & Jenni's rehearsal dinner.

with my new "sister" Carrie. :) Have I mentioned yet how much I love the Sears family??? Cause I really do!!

The Wedding Party. I love how Carrie, Bo, & Roy are the only people who look "camera ready"... everyone else is doing their own thing. Love it!!

Christina and her Bridal Party at the Bridal Luncheon.

The lovely couple before they became Mr & Mrs!!! I love these two so much!!

I am so blessed to have TWO best friends. This is one of them on her wedding day.... 4/16

 And here is the other one celebrating the Anniversary of MY wedding day.... 4/29

MAY

And I made even MORE new friends this month. Apparently, we were all really anxious for summertime, and luckily, in South GA it's warm enough in May that it pretty much IS Summer already.

 I've known Jim, Charles & Paul for a while now (I met Jim in 5th grade), but I met Amber, Heather & Lauren this night hanging out with the boys. Amber learned how to play quarters, Jim learned he's not ALWAYS the best at everything, and I just had a good time. :)

 Posing next to Amber in a bikini will make anyone feel like a fat slob! lol. Fortunately for me, I don't care so much. I had a 6 month old at the time. I don't think I looked too bad. ;)

 The boys- trying to look "hard". :) I also met Heath this day at the lakes & he is BY FAR one of the most awesome people I have ever met!!!

 BrayFish & Aunt Dana celebrating my cousin Jennifer's graduation with an afternoon with the family.

 Gilbert family volleyball game... :) I suck at volleyball, so I stuck to the sidelines with my camera, but it was so much fun watching these crazy people!!

 With my Aunt Lee. Look at how awesome we are. :)

 Dinner with girlfriends!!! ((Remember Crystal from Jenni's bachelorette party in March?? See... told you I liked her!!!))

 On the way home from dinner. :) Christina and I have this thing with straws... "best friends poke eachother with straws"... :)

 Out with Dana celebrating her friend's birthday. Really, I think she just wanted to hang out with me... hehehee, so she invited me to tag along. Oh well. I had an awesome time. :)

 With Dana's husband, my baby cousin Nick. Man... my hair looks really good like that... Hmmmm... guess I'm DEFINITELY letting it grow out... and I'm rockin' that tan... Not so much anymore. ;)

 This was the day the world was supposed to end. Amber & I took a picture to prove that we were, in fact, still alive. I actually made her hold my hand at the moment the world was supposed to end. I think that helped. And you know you're jealous of my awesome purple razor... Jim says it belongs in a museum somewhere....

 Braydon started crawling this month!! Speed crawling!! Look at that sweet little round head. :)

 Braydon and Puddy Kitty. She decided to be a whore and kept getting pregnant so we had to find her a new home. (Brandon didn't want to get her fixed, for whatever reason) I do miss her, though, because she really was the perfect kitty.

 Skype with my Bugga. Yeah, she gets it from her Mama. :) Words can not express how much I love and miss these munchkins...

 Braydon and Hayden... I think they were BOTH hungry. :)

 Drooly man. Teething at it's finest.

 We took a trip to Wild Adventures (Braydon's first) and he loved watching the bear!!!

 He did NOT, however, love the water. He might not be my kid after all.....

 Later that afternoon, I went BACK to Wild Adventures with Stinka & got to ride REAL rides!!

 AND THE KIDDOS WERE HOME!!!!! YAYYYYY!!! Carter being silly.

 My entire world. These babies mean everything to me. <3

 How could you NOT love that face???

 The most beautiful girl in the world. And no one will ever convince me otherwise.

 And she has got my personality 100%. Lord help her.

 Doing one of her favorite things- coloring.

Champ fixing my hair before we leave the E's for karaoke. Apparently my hair was not acceptable, but this high ponytail was... lol

JUNE

 Bray and I spent a lot of time in the sunshine this month. It was too pretty not to. I found these adorable little sunglasses at Target and was super impressed that he would actually keep them on. Of course, this didn't last past the summer, but at least it worked for a little while.

 One of my favorite pictures of Braydon, ever. I love that peculiar little look on his face. He's so sweet.

 Mmmmm... Nom nommies... Braydon's first snack. Gerber Graduates are the bomb!

 See??? Makes the little Monkey salivate. Heehee

 

See?? Just took the bag right outta my hand. He also had a stye this month. It didn't seem to want to go away, so Brandon POPPED it, leaving a scar for a while. I, of course, was furious. Come to find out, it was probably MRSA (Braydon ended up being hospitalized for it a few months later), so we were really lucky that it didn't get worse than what it was- especially since Brandon popped it.

 Carter trying his hand at cooking spaghetti with very minimal help (and maximal supervision). He did so good!!!

Bobbie had a birrfffday!!! This was seriously one of the most fun nights EVER!!! But, of course, the best part (Sorry, Bobs, you KNOW I have to bring this up) was Bobbie yelling "Conga line!!" when Luke Bryan's song "Country Girl (Shake it for me)" came on, then immediately falling on the floor. LOVE IT!! :)

 We had ANOTHER birthday in June. My friend, Courtnay's sweet baby girl Ayvah Grace!! So, the night before we got together to help set up with our friend Kacee!! Here I am holding random baby and drinking wine out of a measuring cup. Eh, it happens... :)

JULY

 GIRL'S NIGHT!!!! Bobbie, Me & Jenni. This pic is on my fridge to remind me that if I wanna look as good as these two, I'm gonna hafta work on my eating habits!! :)

My BEAUTIFUL friends!! Rosanne, Jenni, Bobbie, Crystal, JJ, Me, & Brandy!!

This took a while, so I'm not gonna make any promises about how long it will take me to get Part 2 up... it will probably be Monday. :) :) But, I promise, it will get done... Some day. Hehe.