Brooke.....

turned 18 this past week. It's hard to believe that she is so old. I remember when she was born and I felt like such a failure for having to have a c-section (after trying again with Sadie, I'm over it). I decided we were going to be the perfect mom/daughter!!!! Just so you know we are still working on it. When two people are involved, there are definitely two different views of what perfection are. I remember coming home from the hospital and the first night home Gary and Jordan both got the barfs. I felt sorry for myself for having to take care of me and the baby. I look back now and think how immature I was.

Brooke was a fairly easy baby. She was pretty serious and it was hard to make her smile especially for pictures and strangers. As she got older I was sure she was going to break something because if she saw Jordan do something, she was going to try it as well. Brooke has always been our nature girl. Always wanting to be outdoors and around animals. If we went to the mall we always stopped by a pet store. She couldn't understand why we couldn't get a horse and just put it in the backyard.

Brooke always had friends. We went to the library when she was about 7 and some girl started talking to her. She had never met her before. So she must be approachable, because that happened often. She continues to be that type of individual. Brooke is also very smart, which is why we have such high expectations of her. When she was in first grade a friend asked why she was so smart (she must have realized the parents weren't or something) and I said that it was because she was competing with a 4th grader. Brooke has always been just a step behind Jordan in everything, except piano where Brooke is extremely talented. I'm sure this frustrated Jordan but we have tried to remind them of their differences and not compare. Even Kenzie and Kodee realize that Brooke is a great piano player as just the other day, Kenzie said, "I wish we could listen to her piano lessons." Kodee is constantly asking Brooke to play 'Follow the Prophet'. We just love to listen to her sit at the piano and mess around.

As I looked back on Brooke's 18 years, I got really emotional at seeing some of these pictures.

Brooke's Birth Announcement Picture (the hospital picture just didn't do my beautiful baby justice)

My Dad with Brooke. He just loved to hold the babies. Hard to believe he was only around 1 more year after this picture. My kids would have loved his silliness.

Mother's Day 1993/4 Generations (w/Grandma Barnes & Grandma Hollidge)

Brooke 1 year

Almost 4

8th Grade

Now