Goodbye Day...

I've been dreading this day for some time now...no matter how many times we've gone through this, it never gets any easier. Brian left for Japan this morning, at 5am to be exact, and as always, it was incredibly hard saying goodbye. I try my hardest to be tough, but of course I was full of tears dropping him off at the airport, as it will be 3 months before we see each other again. 3 months of missing my best friend, and 3 months that Austin, Brooke & Hunter will miss their Dadda. I know it will go by fast, and April will be here before we know it (we can't go over to be with him until Brooke turns 1 and gets her immunizations), I just wish it was here tomorrow!!

I can't even imagine how hard it is for Brian, and am just so proud of him and so thankful for what he does for our family. I heard a quote once that said, "We interrupt this family to bring you the baseball season," and it always makes me laugh, for it's so true, it's the story of our lives! We are so very lucky for all that we get to experience and enjoy with this crazy career, but man it sure puts a family through the ringer sometimes!! We've done this before though...we are actually pros at the whole long distance thing...it's just the first day that's the toughest. I know it could be worse, I keep thinking of those with loved ones in the military and can't imagine how hard that would be. So I know, we are truly blessed, it just still has it's moments.

We miss you already Bri, and we wish you all the best as you train hard for the season. We can't wait to get over there and cheer you on!

We love you so much,

S, A, B & H

Sharing a muffin together on Brian's last night in the States...these two love their chocolate muffins!! (Actually, Austin doesn't look like he's really going to share that muffin with Dadda!)

Brookie giving her Dadda one last goodnight hug ;)

Visiting the Washingtonians...

Brian leaves for Japan tomorrow (we are not looking forward to saying goodbye!!), so we traveled up to Washington a few days ago so we could meet our brand new niece and spend some time with all our family here before he leaves! We have had such a great time, we sure missed them and wish we could get up here more often!

Brooke and Austin were so GOOD on the flight up here!

I think this picture is so funny...Brian snuck in a snooze...and Austin and Brooke were just crammed in our seats!

Keeping Brooke entertained was easy...she just needed an airplane cup and a water bottle and she was good!

Austin having fun taking self portraits of himself on the plane!!

Brooke and her cousin Quin!!!

Austin LOVES playing with his big cousins Tyler and Quin!!

We just love our new niece Olivia!! It was so wonderful getting to see her and hold her finally!

Grandma with her two grand girls!!

Brooke and Olivia are only 9 months apart....how much fun are they going to have growing up together!!

Meeting our niece for the first time!

A very proud Uncle!

The "Falky" cousins!!

Brooke (9 months), Austin (2), & Olivia (just a few days old!)

Our Brookie :)

The Falky boys with their kiddos :)

They are very proud Dad's!

All the "Falky" kids, both big and small!

(Brian's brother Wes, Marie, Olivia, Austin, Brian, Me and Brooke!)

The proud new Dad!

Brookie just loves to hug her Pop-Pop!

All the "Patterson" kids, both big and small!

(My brother Gary, Quin, Brooke, Kirsten, Tyler, Me, Austin and Brian!)

Grandma and Pop-Pop with all their kids!!

The "Patterson" cousins!

Austin (2), Tyler (7), Quin (6) and Brooke (9 months)

Brooke with her cousin Tyler!

Me with my Mom, my sister-in-law Kirsten and Brooke!

Brian, Austin, Quin, Tyler, Gary and My Dad!

It has been so great being back in Washington again and seeing all of our family, we can't get enough of them!

Just another week in the Falky House...

We had some major rain in Arizona all last week, which was actually a really nice change!! The kids weren't sure what to make of it though...it rained so hard we were stuck inside at times, all getting a little stir crazy...but boy did it make for some great puddle jumping and army crawling in once it let up!!! Oh, and AZ even got a tornado with this storm...really! I had to call my BFF Mandy who's house it landed near by to make sure she didn't get swept away to OZ...thankfully she didn't!! Crazy weather I tell ya!! Here's just a bunch of pics from being stuck at home during the few days of rain (seriously, I don't know how we ever lived in the NW, we are SO spoiled now with this sunny Arizona weather!).

Brooke just needed some camo...she was all about army crawling through the puddles!

Austin and Brooke's daily entertainment while it was raining was throwing all the balls we own (which is A LOT!) onto the water logged grass and watching them splash in the water, while shrieking with pure excitement every time!

Puddle jumping is SO fun!

Poor Hunter!

A) He hates the rain and didn't want anything to do with going near it (which made going for potty breaks miserable!) and:

B) Austin sat there brushing him with that green duster brush, but he totally let him do it...he's such a trooper!

Just having fun!

Having a blast singing songs together!! (Well, Brooke just sat there laughing at Austin as he tried to sing!)

Being silly at lunch...and sporting a new haircut!

(Austin story: Austin is actually quite possessive of his high chair...since it was his first, he thinks it's still his. We have a booster for him which he sits on only when Brooke is not eating at the same time he is. It's actually quite funny, he yells, "No Booke, My Chair!" when we try to put her in it, and insists on eating in it instead of her! So we have to put Brooke in the booster ((which has a lap belt and tray, so don't worry!)) but whatever, there are more major things to conquer, so as long as he eats, we are happy!)

Austin loves playing on Brooke's rug, and of course Brooke loves doing whatever her brother does!

I just love this...EVERY time Brooke wakes up, Austin hears her on the monitor and runs to her room, yelling "Booke Awake, Booke Awake!" the whole way there, and climbs on her crib saying hi to her!! It is just the cutest thing and Brooke loves it!! :)

These two are so funny together!! They are always cracking each other up!

(This may have been the ONLY time Austin let her eat in "his" chair, but of course it was only because he had just eaten!)

These two have so much fun making each other laugh!

Austin loves to color, and since it had been raining all week, we did A LOT of coloring!! This is actually his first "real" picture, not just a bunch of scribbles! He was so proud of it, he actually told me it's his Dadda, and the lines are his arms and legs!

Good thing we had all this rain...it got us all prepared for our trip up to Seattle which is where we are now!!!

Brooke at 9 months...

Dear Brooke,

Today you are 9 months old! It's amazing how fast these 9 months have gone, I swear it didn't go by that fast when I was pregnant!! I wish time could slow down, it literally feels like just yesterday you were born, and now in the blink of an eye, you are this little girl!!

It's sure been a fun month for you! The very day after you turned 8 months old, you started pulling yourself up on things and standing up! Now you love to pull yourself up on everything (including the toilet which grosses us out, why do you love to go near that thing?!!!), and get so happy seeing the world from new heights!! These past few days you even started "cruising" between things while standing, taking little baby steps while holding on and going from one end of your activity table or the sofa ottoman to the other!!

You continue to love food, and are the best eater!! You are eating more and more table foods and love feeding yourself! Your favorites right now are sliced up turkey, shredded cheese, little chicken cubes, little steamed carrots, and any sort of puffs/cheerios! You still love your homemade purees, but I am finding it harder and harder to feed them to you now that you know how to feed yourself. I have to distract you by giving you a spoon to hold so you don't give me the heisman and block me!! You are still nursing too, so there's no shortage of food, which is showing on the scale, as the last time you were weighed, which was 3 weeks ago, you measured in at 24 lbs 1 oz...no wonder you have so many rolls!

You also got 2 new teeth this month, as your top two teeth have finally poked through, making 4 total!! We are so glad they are finally in, as they sure gave you a hard time, there were a few sleepless nights because of those boogers! But they sure look cute when you show them off with your big grins! And yes, that tongue of yours is still always sticking out, but not nearly as much as it used to!! (which really relieves your Dad, for he was getting worried it was either too big for your mouth or it would still be sticking out in your school pictures!!)

You continue to love being in the water...and love your baths! You love to pull yourself up on the side of the tub then fall in the water on your bottom and laugh!! You also love splashing and then sliding on your belly and crawling through the tub like you are swimming, it is so fun watching you! And of course you love taking baths with your brother, the two of you have so much fun splashing, I usually end up soaking wet too, but it's so worth it seeing the two of you have so much fun!

We love watching you explore the world. You get so serious lately when you check things out, like you are in deep thought pondering!! Like when you feel sand or grass or watch water come out of the faucet or see someone new, it's so fun watching you figure it all out!!

We love you so much Brookie, you are just the happiest little girl, thank you for bringing so much joy to our lives!

Here's you over the last month...

Our big 9 month old!

You love standing up!

Shaking that booty!

You love being out and about!

Always happy when eating!

Our favorite thing is going in to your room after you wake up and seeing you staring at us this happy!

You love feeding your doggy Hunter and laugh so hard when he licks the food off your hand!

You have so much fun cruising around your activity table!

We make sure you still get plenty of practice working on your vertical in your jumper!

We are lucky we have such good weather here in Arizona as you love being outside!

You get so serious checking things out!

Your Bully Face.

No one is going to mess with you when you give them that look!

Much more friendly!

What is it about rocks?!!! I turn my back for a second and you have one in your mouth!! You can't eat everything Brookie!

Actually sharing your food for once!

(Well, you actually don't have much of a choice, Hunter sort of sneaks in there and steals from you...it always make you laugh though!)

Way back when at 8 months old...making your Daddy proud and supporting your team even though they sucked this year!