Christmas Pics!

Thanks for taking a look at our Christmas pictures! I would love to blog about each interaction, special meal and the special people in the pictures below...however, Tom, Lelia and I are all headed out to Arizona tomorrow for Tom's sister's wedding and I can't take the time today to write. I did want to share the pictures from our first Christmas with Lelia. I have to admit it was the most joyful Christmas I have had in more years than I can remember (Tom and I both agree). It was so fun to have a little one who stole the show. It has been a real learning experience for me to see how much a child can bring people together. We have seen it already in our community, both Tom and I have met more people in our community in the last 4 months than we had the whole time either of us has been here. We love having our little one in our lives to share everything with. Enjoy the pics! Happy New Year to everyone...we will update the blog when we get back at the beginning of January with wedding pics and family pics with the Clarke side of the family. Much love...Brooke, Tom and Lelia

One More Boston Pic

Here is a picture of Tom, Lelia and my Aunt Debbie. I wasn't able to get this picture in on the blog about our trip but there was a blurb about our time with Aunt Deb, my cousin Tyler and his girlfriend.

Our Trip to NY and Boston

We set out for our very first family trip and it began pretty well. Lelia slept for 2 hours to start the trip but after that things began to get sticky. Stopping almost every hour to feed / play / potty...you know the drill. We learned so much about each other on our 2 week trip to NY and Boston. We learned how to travel well together and a little bit more about how to live in close quarters for a stretch of time. We learned better how to prepare as far as packing goes and I learned so much about Lelia's likes and dislikes. Thanks for taking a look at our blog! We have done an overview of the special people we visited and sites we saw. Like I said, we learned a lot but we were very happy to come home!!


The first stop on our 2 week adventure was to my grandmother's house in Rhinebeck NY. She and I began to get to know each other when she wrote me a letter asking me about my faith and the new peace I had after becoming a Christian. We wrote/emailed for 3 months before I went up to visit her and we had such a wonderful time together. She and I don't get to see each other very often but we love getting together and seeing each other when we can. The last time we was the first time she met Tom and I was 7 months pregnant. So she was able to feel Lelia moving around inside my tummy. This time she got to meet Lelia for the first time and it was so fun for me to see them together. I love my time with Doris and always look forward to seeing her again.



After we left Doris' house we went to the big city of New York. We went there to see The Christmas Show at Radio City Music Hall with the Rockets. It is something I have wanted to do since I was a very little girl and never had the opportunity to go. Tom surprised me with the tickets on my birthday this past year...so I had been waiting for December to come and it finally did. Lelia didn't like the noise so Tom took her to the lobby while I watched the show. It was so wonderful...more than I ever expected. My favorite part was the end when they did a live manger scene (with real Camels). I felt like the true meaning of Christmas was brought out and honored and they did it in such a spectacular way. It almost made me cry...I LOVED IT!!


Tom and Lelia heading out for their Saturday morning adventure with out Mom. Saturday mornings in the Clarke household are special for me. Tom either takes Lelia out or gives me the opportunity to go out on my own for the morning. He does this so that I have some time to get refreshed from the long week of being "Mommy" 24 / 7. One of the many things that I love and respect about my husband is his sensitivity to my needs. I love my Saturday mornings! But I love coming home from them too :)


On the first Tuesday night we were in Boston we went to a beautiful town called Littleton to visit my Aunt Deb, cousin Tyler and Tyler's girlfriend. Aunt Deb made a wonderful dinner that I am going to try in the crock pot tonight! We had such a great time connecting with them and sharing the joy of our little girl with them. It was the second time Aunt Deb met Lelia, she came down to MD when Lelia was about 1 1/2 months old. But it was Tyler's first time meeting her. The time we spent with them was a real blessing to me. I love seeing my family!










Our romantic dinners out...the one with the Christmas tree in the background was in the North End of the city (i.e. Little Italy) and the picture of Tom and Lelia is from Legal Seafood. Legal Seafood is supposed to be a great seafood joint...neither of us were horribly impressed. I am a more blue collar "just steam it up for me" kinda' girl though so my opinion doesn't count for much.

Living in the same space for 2 weeks presented quite a few challenges for "team Clarke." The first pictures are of Tom watching a Baby Einstein video with Lelia at night to calm her down. Lelia didn't like sharing the same room with her parents, who can blame her, we didn't like it so much either :) It was a very difficult challenge to tip toe around so we didn't wake the baby up after she went to bed. I think we managed to wake her up every night at least once. Because of all of the changes in environment, Lelia woke up at 2, 3 and 4 in the morning almost every night just to keep Mom and Dad on their toes! It was a huge challenge. Now that we are home she is sleeping right through the night again - whoooo!!


While Tom was at work, Lelia and I would go out exploring in the city. Boston was a great city to explore because it is such a walking friendly place. We stayed very close to everything. We walked the Freedom Trail on one of our last days in town. It is a trail that goes along all of the city's sites where history took place in the freedom of our country. It was a truly awesome experience for me...Lelia slept through all of it though, so we'll have to go back when she is older :) One of the great things about being in the city was being able to meet Tom for lunches every day. This picture is from our favorite lunch spot - Quincy Market. It had a great food court and was also one of the stops on the Freedom Trail.

Lelia and I had an adventure one day to go out and find my great great grandfather who was a Governor of Boston. We went to the State House to find his picture among the many other Governors of the past. A very nice gentleman helped me to find William Eustis' portrait and also directed me to find his biography in the State House's library. As I read the bio I realized that William never had any children. It made me laugh because obviously if he didn't have children he wasn't my great great grandfather, or anyone else's for that matter. I asked my mom about this again and we realized that he actually was my great great uncle. I got a chuckle out of it but also found out that this relative of mine was in a presidential cabinet as well. It was a very informative adventure and learned more about where our family has come from.

While in Boston I had the pleasure of reconnecting with a childhood friend. Jessie Popham (now McDermott) has been living in Boston for 1 1/2 years now. Before our trip I contacted her to see if I could visit with her while I was in her town. She graciously invited me to spend multiple days and times with her and her 1 year old daughter, Lane who loved Lelia. I was so grateful because without my time with her every day in Boston would have been just Lelia and myself. It was such a nice time getting to know Jessie again. We hadn't been in contact for 10 years with the exception of a wedding of a mutual friend 1 year ago. We found that we have so much more in common than we thought. One of the wonderful things about this connection was that Jessie still spends lots of time in Annapolis because her parents are still living here. She and I will continue to stay in touch when she comes home to get the kids together and have time to spend together. I never would have guessed that we would be able to pick up where we left off 10 years ago and have such a great connection. This was just one of the many blessings God had for us on our trip.

Our trip ended with a stop at my Aunt Dee's house with my 2 cousins Jack and Kela. We had such a wonderful time with them and they loved holding Lelia. It was such a joy for me because I haven't had the opportunity to spend much time with my cousins. They are both such wonderful kids and I hope that we will keep in contact more closely after our visit.

We left their home at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning for the drive home. It was a bittersweet journey back to MD. I loved arriving home but the adventure was over. I think both Tom and I can say it was an incredibly challenging 2 weeks, but overall we learned more about each other and our little girl. There were so many things that I will look back on fondly. My time with my friend from high school was a highlight as well as my time with my Aunts and cousins. Our trip was a blessing and we hope that our time with those we visited blessed them as well.

Solid Food!

Lelia had her first try with solid food last night. She seemed to enjoy it, kicking her legs and eating as much as I would give her. I think it was more fun for me than it was for her :)

Jak n Lelia

Jak and Lelia just officially met yesterday. Jak just turned 1 and is walking around like a champ. It was so strange to see him toddling around and thinking that Lelia is only months away from doing the same. With all of the changes we are watching in Lelia it seems like her life is just going to fly by. I am doing my best to enjoy what each stage has to bring and really take it all in, as I know it will be gone before I know it. It can be hard not to wish for the next stages...the grass is always greener!
Kelly is Jak's mom, pictured, and is pregnant with #2...she is due in 6 months so the kids will be 18 months apart. She'll do great with the 2 little ones but I imagine an adjustment period is on the way.

Father's Love

Tom and I have been through a tough time recently. With the new lives as parents, Tom's new job, striving to get a budget together, going to Boston for two weeks for Tom's training, the holidays and heading out to Arizona after Christmas for Beth's (Tom's sister) wedding things have been a little out of control. All of the things that are going on are great but when they begin to pile up stress is a given. Tom and I have been through some tough things in the past as well and so far we come through more in love than we were before. Now that I feel we have come through the hardest part of this season and are in a place of togetherness again, I look at those flowers and they remind me of his love and forgiveness of my part of our struggles. I look at them and feel blessed to have a man with such a beautiful heart; one that is soft, compassionate, loving, full of grace and mercy. As I think about that I realize that what Tom is demonstrating to me is how God feels about us all. God knows we are imperfect yet he loves us and accepts us just the same. I hope all of you women who are reading this feel the same love and admiration for your husbands that I do for mine. Sure, he is just as imperfect as I am but the way that he deals with his imperfections and failures is so respectable in my eyes. I feel so grateful that my daughter is going to have the opportunity to grow up with a father like Tom. Lord, may we always come through our struggles in the ways that we do today and I ask you to give Tom the strength to love me in the midst and in spite of my difficulties and weaknesses. I love you, Tom.

Lelia's Talking!

It is such a joy to have the privilege to watch our little girl grow. As you can see she is very chatty...we aren't sure what she is saying yet but before long she will be able to communicate with us more clearly. Lelia is also becoming more coordinated with her arms and legs. She still isn't able to make them do exactly what she wants them to but she is getting much better! She is pretty consistently able to get her fist in her mouth and most of the time able to reach out to hit a hanging toy. We fell like God has really given us the ability to seem more of Him through the joy we experience in Lelia. We feel so blessed!

Lelia's First Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving yesterday was wonderful. Lelia had her "meal" before we left as you can see from the above picture. We went to Grandpa Toomey's house for brunch and then went to Paul and Lonnie Hinchey's for a turkey dinner. The meals at both places were fabulous...the best part was spending time with friends and family on our first Thanksgiving with Lelia. She is the main attraction it seems no matter where we go! All day we thought about our thankfulness for our beautiful daughter!

DC with the Theils

We met the Theils in a small group at our church and became friends instantly. The pictures above are from a trip to DC with them (Theil, Rose and Thomas-Dhel Theil). Thomas-Dhel (aka Dreams) was born 2 weeks before Lelia...we are already calling the Theils Lelia's in-laws :) Rose and Theil are from Sudan and have lived through some amazing circumstances in their lives. We love learning about each other's cultures and encourage each other to honor God and our spouses in our marriages. I know one of the most important things that we have learned from our friendship with them has been how much God loves us all. It doesn't matter if we look the same or come from the same background, God's standards, truths and love are the same no matter who you are. Thankfully, we have become life-long friends with Rose, Theil and Dreams.

2 1/2 Months!

Lelia just had her 2 month appointment with the pediatrician. She is in the 99th percentile for height (who would have guessed??) and the 95th for weight. They said her head control was spectacular...maybe because of her time on the tummy time mat (shown above) from her uncle Bob Wee.

Grandpa Toomey

Meet Mr. President

We had the honor of meeting President Bush about a month ago for Tom's service as a Mission Director for Air Force One. He extended his gratitude to Tom for his service which was great timing being that Tom was leaving the Air Force entirely, not just Presidential duty. It was a pretty incredible experience...intimidating for sure! We also got to tour Air Force One itself. Both were one in a lifetime opportunties that neither of us are expecting to have again!

Uma Camp

Uma Camp is when mommy and daddy go away and leave me with my Uma (mommy's mom).

Some of our Friends

Aunt E - One of Brooke's best friends. E is in the process of becoming a full-time missionary. I can't think of a better person to serve God in another culture because of her love and respect for people who are different from her.

Miss Marie - Miss Rosie's sister and roomate. Marie made Lelia a beautiful blanket before she was born. We are so grateful to Marie

Miss Rosie - Used to babysit for the Toomey kids when the parents were away on vacation. Miss Rosie also made Lelia a number of blankets before she was born...all are just beautiful. She grew up in Annapolis and has blessed our family beyond belief. When we were kids one of our favorite parts of Rosie's visits were that she would bring each of us a bag of candy when she would babysit for us...maybe has something to do with my love of candy :)

Missy and Jimmy - Friends from church. Missy was in our small group. She met Jimmy on a mission trip to Uganda, his native country. This picture was taken at the beginning of Jimmy's trip to visit Missy in the US for the first time. At the end of his trip, a few weeks ago, Jimmy got down on his knee in front of Radio City Music Hall in NYC and proposed to Missy. Thier joy and love for each other is evident to all who meet them.

Bob Weigert - The Toomey family sponsored Bob when he was a Midshipman at the Naval Academy. He and 2 other Mids (Kent and Greg) became a part of the family very quickly. Bob, Kent and Greg were in the saber arch at our wedding. It was so special to have the 3 of them involved in our wedding.

Trick-or-Treat

Cousin Will in Colorado at a Halloween party. We hesitated to add this picture because we were concerned about the, obviously, stiff competition :)

Here is the little punkin' going to her first trick-or-treating at our church, Bay Area Community Church. We didn't accept any candy (it would have been obvious who it was for, ME) but we had a blast dressing her up and taking her out to see other kids' costumes. As you can see, she didn't see much :)