We met years ago in Philadelphia and became close friends and an amazing support system for one another. serendipity brought them back together as Merrian returned for orientation as she prepared to move abroad. Whatsapp audio and video, many many conversations, visits home and quality time with family and we knew that we loved each other enough to face the mountains of time and space between us. In our time together but living a part we were blessed with time to work on ourselves, to get to know each other in ways hours of conversation allow.
We have had several opportunities to meet near and far to solidify our relationship. We took a trip to France and had an amazing time eating butter, going to museums and learning to love one another more deeply.
Corey sold all his stuff except a few black t-shirts and his cowbell, kalimba and some drum sticks (who knew there were so many varieties!) and trucked over to Southern Africa! Merrian picked him up in Johannesburg where most of the photos you see here on this site were taken (photo cred: Dumani Khuzwayo http://dumanikhuzwayo-blog.tumblr.com/). We had a wonderful weekend there and started our journey as a no-distance couple.
Over breakfast with friends Corey decided it was time to pop the question. We had already been discussing our future together (one does not move to another continent for play-play!) but he solidified it with a handmade custom silver bracelet made by his friend Joan Strott-Alvini (https://www.glassongold.com/). We decided on engagement (by we we mean Merrian) bracelets for both of us instead of rings because of their versatility and the fact that they mean something to us specifically. Merrian had Corey's bracelet in her bag for weeks so she was able to give him his on the spot!
The link to our wedding video is here at 3 min highlight video.
The wedding was beautiful and full of amazing tender moments that we will value forever. Even leading up to it and afterwards with those who watched the facebook live and those who were able to join us at the after party. We are so grateful for your time and interest and for sending good vibes our way.
Before the stork delivers our baby around March 10th 2020 I thought we would share how we immaculately conceived our child. :) In all seriousness, some answers to common questions. We don't have a name (and no clue right now) but we've been calling our little person Bean and Quantum Awesome. We were on the move during conception time so we were likely in one of 3 countries. We plan to deliver in South Africa and have a great mid-wife OB team there. We, of course, have someone following us in Botswana and the USA too since babies are sooo unpredictable. We decided we didn't want to know the sex so we will be surprised in March. We are going to try elimination communication with cloth diapers etc (pray for us please and thanks) but will have some regular nappies on reserve. Our families are so wonderful and excited and we are too. We can't express our appreciation enough for your love and support in our lives and in our little beans life too!
Imani was born March 11th, 2020 on the day the WHO declared COVID 19 a global pandemic in Johannesburg South Africa at Genesis Maternity clinic. She was born shortly after we had dinner with friends who were visiting South Africa. We went to go for a routine check and it turns out she needed to come sooner rather than later!
Momma and Daddy Brooks were in the hospital and the first people aside from the medical team and Corey to see her. We had no idea how life would quickly change! We needed to get back to Botswana but we needed Imani’s passport. Turns out that was very stressful since the Consulate closed to routine services and it was going to take time to get the birth certificate (Mom cried in the South African passport office when they told us they needed to vet us to make sure we weren’t trafficking her!). Eventually lots of tears and assertion resulted in an expedited emergency passport and we made it back to Botswana on the day the borders between Botswana and South Africa closed. It was one of the most stressful times ever. Merrian cried a lot. Corey was a pillar of strength. When we entered our home on Gaborone for home quarantine (we were suppposed to quarantine in hotel be we were only allowed home because Imani was so small) it was such a relief! After that we, alone with the rest of the world, nested for a few months while we watched different parts of the world and for us especially NYC get hit by COVID.
Like most corona babies Imani spent her first 6 months in our home being cared for by her parents pretty much exclusively. It was a huge learning curve but we got some great advice from other parents that helped us though some tough times. One thing that came up over and over was something Corey’s brother Todd said about how we should expect her sleep patterns to “not be figured out” for a while. This helped a lot as she would seem to want to sleep all night some times and then other nights be up multiple nights. The first 6 months she learned sooo much despite spending her time with just us. She started vocalizing a lot at about 3 months and starting rolling at 5 months. She was lifting her head pretty early at just few months old. I remember her laughing and smiling pretty early and those laughs being such a relief on difficult days. She joined a lot of confernce calls and video calls. She started foods at 4 months and enjoyed them pretty much immediately. She had a singing giraff that was her favorite toy that we played so often it ran out of batteries. We really grew a lot as parents and were blessed to spend a good amount of time with her despite chaotic work.
After 6 months things started moving really quickly for Imani! She got a nanny Ruby who she really likes and has fun with! She starting moving beyond puréed foods to loving eating chunks of food with her bare hands. She loves fruit especially watermelon and mango. She started crawling and pulling up to stand right around the same time and suddenly we had a mover on our hands. She was really a star baby. She sleeps though the night most nights. She tries most foods (except milk protein unfortunately) at eats them without any problem. She smiles and laughs with ease. She especially loves when he dad throw her up in the air or holds her upside down. She loves eating and reading books and “helping” with laundry and other tasks. She pushes items like boxes and laundry baskets around the house using them as a way to “walk” with support. She loves to watch the rain fall outside the window and squeals when she hears mom come home from work. We have been soooo blessed to have such an amazing little girl in our lives