A day in the life...

I wanna live where the green grass grows...

2011-04-14T09:51:00.000-07:00

Spring Garden

OK so we didn't plant any rows of corn, but Paul and I made our first attempt at a vegetable garden this past fall. We (by we I mean Paul) dug up about and 8x10 section with 3 rows. I ordered heirloom seeds and we did lettuce, cabbage, carrots, spinach, tomatoes, squash and beans. I think we got a few snacks out of it and also had fun. And learned a lot. When it came time to think about a Spring garden, we decided to go big, and enlarge the garden about 10 fold. We even borrowed a rototiller and added amendments, etc.

I have to say now that things are growing, this garden has become like another baby. I have to go check on it several times a day, and I'm starting to worry about what's going to happen to it when I leave for the weekend, etc. It's situated in our back yard where the kids play, so it works out perfectly. The kids play and I garden. I highly recommend this as a project for a stay at home parent! So far everything is going quite well. We bought a few seedlings from the big box store, and I also ordered lots more heirloom varieties and germinated them myself.

We are already seeing tiny green tomatoes and little baby yellow squash. I am so excited! We gave the kids their own row, although I really don't trust them in the garden too much yet. We've lost more than one pepper plant due to a little shoe snapping it in half. They love it though, and they even help me rake leaves to mulch with and take the compost out.

If you'll notice, our garden quite resembles the state of Nevada. In the top right is the original section where our fall garden was.

Making rows in early February.

Spinach. Who knew it was so easy to grow?! Next time we'll be planting LOTS more of this. The kids pick it right out of the garden and eat it.

Lettuce. Again, SO easy to grow. We did learn that you have to thin it to get it to grow better. That seems obvious now, doesn't it.

We went ahead and harvested our carrots a few weeks ago. Daddy was at work so I let the kids get in their and go digging for them.

Doing the carrot dance.

Here's "Nevada" looking a little more like a garden, and a little less like the actual state.

Cabbage from the fall garden. Unfortunately a small creature (probably a stinking mole!) enjoyed it before we did. Grrr.

New For Spring

Onions. I can't remember if they're white or yellow. We'll know soon enough.

Beans.

Little green tomatoes. We have 3 different varieties going. 9 or 10 plants total. I'm hoping we have enough to "put some away." And I'm hoping someone will show me how to do this.

Watermelon! Fingers crossed.
Our kinds neighbors treated us to a whole watermelon this weekend. The twins were adamant it came from the garden. Because we planted a seed last week.

Just in case you are curious, or if you want to trade notes, this is what we have going now:

Cucumbers - seedlings from the store and also an heirloom variety which I'm having trouble germinating.

Peppers - Jalepenos and red sweet. Also attempting orange bells from seed.

Canteloupe - heirloom from seed

Potatoes - from the farm store.

Radish: not looking hot I think I will try again in the fall
Broccoli: ditto on radish

Squash: yellow crookneck and 2 heirloom varieties

Eggplant : Black Beauty from the store. And who knew the seeds were so hard to germinate..I'm on my 3rd attempt with 2 different varieties.

Strawberries...from seed, and heirloom again. I think it will be a few years until I see and fruit but it's fun anyways.

Carrots: They are supposed to be red, fun!

And then we have all sorts of squashes growing out of the compost pile. I'm excited to see what becomes of it. I've read that you can't grow new plants from seeds from grocery store produce. This is because the big seed companies (Like Monsanto I guess) create seed that can't be reused, if you will, so that farmers have to buy new seed every year. My "freebies" are flowering profusely, but I've yet to see any "fruit", so this may be the case. We'll see.

I think that is. We are having a lot of fun and are excited to see what become of it. I'm hoping to have lots to share.

Thanks for reading :)

The Blog Lives!

2011-03-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

We're Ba-ack! I'm not even going to pretend I'm going to get caught up on what's happened between Halloween, the date of my last post, and today.

So here's some photos of our day today. And it was a beautiful day for sure! We headed down to The Woodlands to pick up Owen's quilt for his new room. Then we went to Sweet & Sassy for a haircut for Lilly. Had a picnic in the park, then rode the trolley.

And the icing on the cake, was sprinkles, on ice cream! It was a happy day!

October

2010-10-31T19:47:00.000-07:00

October

October went by oh so fast
The weather got a little less hot
The twins took swim class
And we played in the parks a lot

Daddy was gone for work the first week
We managed to get by better than we thought
First time to use a babysitter, she was very sweet
Kind of nice to know that sanity can be bought

The big day for mommy was finally here
After practice swims, time on bikes, and running lots of miles
Grinning from ear to ear
She finished her triathalon with a smile

Baby Ginger is officially weaned
She is getting so big it was a bittersweet day
But she was ready so it seemed
And now she is sick, is this the price we pay?

This Halloween was the best one yet
The whole family dressed up, so much fun!
Little Ariel, George, and my gnome made quite the set
They're all in bed now and the candy thrown out, save for one
...or two.

Paul is at the World Series as I write this
Wish for him they'd leave with a win
But he is crossing a bucket item off his list
One inning left now, it's looking grim

Hello November I've been waiting for you
Thanksgiving, Hot tea, Leaf Piles
Trip to the zoo planned, a festival too
Life is good, I'll remember to smile

September

2010-09-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

Well September started off hot and as I sit here writing, we have the windows open for the first time in months. It feels great. I'm looking forward to that first cup of hot tea this fall. Maybe tomorrow.

This kids have gone back to their preschool for one day a week. The twins love it and Ginger is coming around to the idea. It's only 5.5 hours a week, but it truly makes all the difference. Today we also started swimming lessons. Plenty to keep us busy and growing.

Lilly got a Barbie DVD at the library a few weeks ago. The twins call it Barbie's Diamond Castle. I don't think that's actually the name of it, but it has stuck none the less. They were playing so well today while I got a few things done. Then they came to me so excited because they wanted me to see the diamond castle they built themselves. So of course I had to get the camera out. All those canisters, etc to the left are steps, there's even a teacup or two behind there...they had they steps increasing in size as they led up to the castle. They pulled all those fabric bins and the picnic basket together as part of the castle construction...I love their imagination.

I took this picture of Ginger yesterday. She just looked like such a big girl in her jeans and bow. But I still call her Baby Ginger. Baby for short.

This is the first day of school. They are posing with their preschool director, whom we adore! Can you see the uncertainty in Ginger's eyes?

Last year when I picked the twins up from school they were always SO excited to see me. They would literally run to me shreiking "mommy!" and give me big hugs, etc. So this year as I was walking into the school to pick them up, I decided I would go get the twins first so I could give them all of my attention since I knew they would be really excited to see me. Or so I thought. I found them playing a heated game of Memory (remember that game?) in the school's new gym with their friends. I made a big deal of my entrance and how excited I was to see them. They barely looked up from their game. I think they said "hi mom." So now I go get Baby Ginger first when I pick them up. She's very happy to see me and I get hugs. When I went to pick her up after the first day of school, the first thing she did was say "snack." School makes all my kids hungry.

We've decided to try a Fall garden this year. This is Paul constructing it, along with Owen's help. We've never had success with our past attempts at gardening, but we're convinced we're doing it right this time. So far our tomato plants look great, our beans are growing like weeds, and the squash and cabbage are growing. Spinach and lettuce will be planted in another month or so. The kids each planted their own carrot patch this weekend.

Goofing off

A lot of times when we come home, Owen likes to pretend he's Daddy and sit in the driver's seat of my car and push buttons and stuff. When he finally comes inside, I play along and ask him how work was that day, etc. One day last week, Lilly decided to join Owen. She got in the passenger seat and she was the mommy. So when they both came into the house a few minutes later, I asked them both how work was. Lilly quickly corrected me and said "mommies don't go to work." Oh. So then I asked her what mommies did. She said "mommies go the Y and to the grocery store." Can't argue with that.

Blue Skies Smilin' At Me...

2010-08-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

The Brown family is back from vacation, and ready to take on the world. Or something. The great thing about taking a three week long vacation is that you are pretty much ready to come home and sleep in your own bed again. It's always hard to leave the great weather, beautiful river, fun activities, and free childcare, but hey, it's good, to be back home again.

Every summer we pay the surcharges to check our luggage, to take two planes, to drag 3 kids through 3 airports, to drive 1.5 hours, to get to "the cottage." The Cottage has been in Paul's family since before he was born, and he has visited there most summers of his life. We plan to follow suit. Originally purchased by his grandparents, the cottage is now owned by Paul's parents. It is directly on the magnificent St. Lawrence River, of the Thousand Islands region. Yep, like the salad dressing, that's where it was "invented." Maybe I'm partial, but it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. That river gets in your blood and draws you in. We always spend the month following our visit lamenting we aren't still there, and scheming how to stay even longer the next summer.

We had lots of visitors this summer, and were lucky to be able to rent the neighbor's cottage for overflow. In case you didn't know the definition of cottage, it means many, many people sleeping in a very, very small house. With one bathroom.

The highlight of this visit for me was learning to sail! OK I know this sounds cheesy but honestly, that's checking one off my bucket list. Paul's mom found me a (tiny) sailboat at a yard sale (yes she bought a sailboat at a garage sale). We affectionately referred to my sailboat as the bathtub, as that's about the size of it, and you are sure to be taking a bath in the river while sailing it. But all was well, and after capsizing it twice and getting "towed" in twice (or was it 3 times?) I pretty much got the hang of it. Going out for a sail and returning to the dock from which you departed, on your own, gives one a sense of pride almost indescribable. I had the biggest, dorkiest, pat-myself-on-the-back grin you could imagine. I can't wait to do it again!

And well, Paul's favorite pastime at The Cottage is fishing. Every year, he gets excited, scours all the fishing reports numerous times before we even get to the airport, get his fishing license, determines the best bait, gets up early to get out on the boat, and finds the perfect fishing spot to catch the most fish. And catches two fish. The whole time. We are now sure that it HAS to be too hot part of summer/water level too low/wrong bait/boat too loud/climate issue, and will make amends so he can catch all the fish next year.

We had a great time this summer, and thanks to all the friends and family that helped make it so. Most of all to Paul's parents for picking us up at the airport, providing us with a car, feeding us, watching our kids, and putting up with us for three weeks. We were also fortunate enough to have my aunt come for a visit, and our good friend "Uncle Mikey" was able to finally make it up as well. Lastly, most of Paul's extended family came for a huge reunion as well, and our kids got to play with/ meet their only cousins (once removed/first?) for the first time. Life is good! Enjoy the pictures.

Hard at work, but a bit of a scowl?

Lilly double-fisting it.

Lilly enjoying a peach from the farmer's market on our visit to Canada. Best. Peaches. Ever.

Big catch!

I love my family!

Best Part. It's a sailboat for ONE.

Bocce on the Green. A Brown tradition.

Caught being sweet...

Mikey and Owen. That's pure joy on both their faces.

Pirates at the Castle. It's a cottage thing.

Me in my official cottage vacation hat.

I love my goofballs.

Not so Blue.

2010-07-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, this summer is flying by! Never thought I'd say that. I pretty much hate the heat and dread the long hot days of summer being pent up in the house. But that's just not the case so far, and for that, I am happy. We've managed to stay busy and sane, what more could a girl want? Now that swim lessons are over, we've been doing our regular library time, making trips to the Y, play dates, and movies. My parents came to visit for a few days this week and that was "super fun" as Lilly says.

With all the rain, the temperatures were actually decent last week and we were able to go pick blueberries. As you might already know, every kids loves to pick berries. For three reasons, they taste yummy, you get to get dirty, and you get to stuff your face when nobody's looking. Baby Ginger turned out to be a natural-born blueberry picker and I think ate just as many as the kids. I bit my tongue and just let all the kiddos gorge themselves on unwashed fruit while they picked - aren't you proud? We've already indulged in some awesome blueberry pancakes made by Paul this morning, and I've got a blueberry pound cake in the oven as I write. And we still have tons left in the fridge. But around here, that's not a problem.

And we still have so much to look forward too! A girls day next weekend for me, then my 10 year college friends weekend after that, then comes vacation! Paul and I have both commented that we feel exhausted all the time, never well rested. So we are now starting to make a joint effort to get to bed at a reasonable time. So far I still find myself awake well after midnight and up with the kids around 7:30. (Paul does let me sleep in on weekends, but we have a smaller house and 3 LOUD kids, so.....). Hopefully we'll both be feeling better rested very soon. I saw a shirt recently that said "These ARE the good old days." I think that's true. We may be tired and sometimes feel like we don't get a break, but I do know that life is good right now and I do not take these times for granted or wish them away. For someday I'm certain I will refer to this time as the good old days.

Granddad and Owen

Gran and Lilly

She tried to eat them all...

Some things just come naturally.

wordless wednesday

2010-06-23T19:29:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Baby

2010-06-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

She is the best surprise we've ever had. She kindly decided to make her entrance into the world a week late but before my scheduled c-section. Giving me a chance to try out labor - ha. She got kicked out of the hospital nursery for being too loud. Her nickname was "nut" the first 6 weeks of her life. Because she was a nut. She assumed her role of happy, complacent, third child shortly after those first 6 weeks. Now we call her "monkey."

She is tall like her Daddy. And looks like him too.

She walks pretty well holding onto a finger. She says mama, dada, nana, bye bye, and hi. She repeats other words you say, and loves to wave. She gives big, slobbery kisses on demand. She loves to move to music just like her siblings. She likes to feed other people cheerios. If they let her. She likes strawberries, her daddy's skillet potatoes, avocados, and any kind of cheese. Cheese in every form. She loves cheese.

She loves to push her ride-on toy and also grab the phone to "talk" on it. She likes to swing. She likes playing with her brother and sister. She loves giggling with her big brother - they seem to have a special bond.

She does not always like nap time. She does not like when her mommy is farther than 6 inches away. She does not like the photographer at J C Penny.

She is a little spoiled. Because she is the baby.

She is fun.

She is ONE.

Happy (belated) Birthday Baby Ginger :)

Once Upon A Time

2010-05-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a very tall boy and a really petite girl. They went to the same big university and ended up at the same party. The girl, who really liked to drink wine, realized she had no corkscrew and must make a trip to the store and get one at once. She asked if anyone wanted to go to the store with her, and the boy said yes. Although she really didn't know the boy, she agreed. So they made the trip to the store, drank (all) the wine and decided they liked each other.

The boy and the girl proceeded to spend all their time together. Now the girl realized how silly they must have looked walking around beside each other, for the boy was much, much taller than her, and she was quite sure people were saying how funny they looked together. This bothered the girl quite a bit for awhile, and she decided she should probably not walk around with the boy any longer. But before she got a chance to say anything, she forgot about it.

The boy and the girl spent the next three years at the university together, and they decided to get married after they graduated. They had a nice wedding, went on a great honeymoon, and became husband and wife. They went on to have real jobs, and buy cars and houses, and travel too. After a few years of being married, the husband and wife decided they would like to have a baby. They waited and waited and waited, but could not have a baby. They cried big tears, and went to doctors, and years later, were blessed with twins, a boy and a girl. The husband and wife were so happy to have a family that they always wanted! And then, before they ever caught up on their sleep, they were blessed with another surprise baby girl. Now the house was running over with little people, and they liked it.

The last baby will celebrate her first birthday in a few days, and tomorrow the husband and wife will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. They've learned a few new things about each other in the past 10 years. For instance, no matter how hard the husband tries to change her, the wife is still messy and always leaves papers laying on the counter. And as much as the wife wishes otherwise, the husband doesn't have a spontaneous bone in his body. He has never planned a surprise, booked a trip, or brought home flowers just because. The husband refuses to make phone calls or pay bills. The wife will never take out the garbage (it's not her job).

But whatever shortcomings the husband and wife may have, they do seem to make up for in other ways. The husband's extreme patience and calm nature certainly compliment the wife's short fuse and excitability. The wife is enthusiastic and a dreamer, and helps to inspire the husband to do big things he might not otherwise. He's a good cook. She bakes great cakes. He digs gardens and fixes things. She does the photo albums and sews nice things. He lets her sleep in on the weekends. He makes coffee every morning. She lets him mow the lawn for hours on end. She lets him buy expensive man toys.

He knows how to piss her off at the touch of a button, and sometimes seems to find pleasure in it. But he can make her laugh like no one else. So hard that she is crying and gasping for air. She knows she sometimes annoys the hell out of him, yet she doesn't stop. But she has brought tears of sheer happiness to his eyes on more than one occasion. He knows that she loves him more than anything, because she tells him. She knows he loves her too, he shows her.

They agree on most things and don't sweat the small stuff. Fortunately they have the same taste in furniture and cars. And they both like to look at antiques, and garden, and visit the river. They are lucky to not have to fight about kids or finances. They like to bicker of course, but don't let things get out of hand. They are really good at talking things over.

Ten years has gone by so fast, and no doubt the next ten will go by even faster. The boy and the girl look forward to watching their children grow, turning their dreams into realities, and of course, bickering with each other. The wife will still leave papers all over the counter, and the man will still refuse to make phone calls or plan vacations. But somehow. It works.

Happy Tenth!

Parks and such

2010-05-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

So today I decided to get the kids to a park since we're having lower-than-avg temps and a bit of a breeze to boot. We won't be having many more days like this for months to come so I had to take advantage of it.

We ended up finding a nice small park in a new neighborhood near us and spent a nice hour there. On the way home, I decided to drive through another neighborhood to see if they had any nice parks, for future reference. So we did come across a park in this neighborhood as well, but it was gated. It was a large area that required one of those HOA cards to get through the gate. So I told the kids sorry but we can't get in, the gate is locked.

And Lilly says "wait a minute mommy, we could use a pogo stick to jump over the gate if we want." I love it when my kids can truly make me laugh out loud for real. And I did. This isn't the first pogo-stick reference to come out of her mouth, and it just always makes me laugh. We don't have a pogo-stick, and she's never really seen one or read about one that I know of. My guess is it came from some show we watched. But my girl is clever isn't she!

In other news Baby Ginger has been taking many first steps. She can walk across a (small) room holding my hand, and she has also taken a few solo steps to count. I'm pretty sure she'll be a "walker" by her first birthday. She is SO proud of herself :) One of her current favorite pastimes is hanging out on the bottom stair, where she likes to sit, then stand, then sit... and perhaps lay on it as well. She thinks it's pretty fun. Like all soon-to-be toddlers she's fearless and has a few bruises to show for it.

And last but not least, my lil guy Owie. Owen hasn't been as fast with his speaking and enunciation as his sister, so he has referred to himself as Owie for quite some time. We have followed suit. Cause it's cute. Well last week every time I called him, he said "no mom, OWEN." Ah, break my heart! My little man is getting so big, and would now like to be called Owen :( Owen has developed quite a fear of carwashes. The drive through kind. I've only taken the kids through one a few times. Lilly thinks it's quite fun. Owen, on the other hand, I thought was choking on his chicken nugget last time we got near one. But no, he was just convulsing. The boy is terrified of car washes. No matter how hard I try to talk it up and explain it to him. If we approach the intersection where the car wash is, you will quite likely see him tearing up. He even gets quite upset in parking garages and don't get him near an elevator. So for now, my car is dirty (er). I hope this is a phase.

These are a few pictures from our day trip to Brenham, TX. It's only about an hour from us and a great little town. The drive getting there is really scenic too. We visited a really nice park (lots of shade!) and then did a tour of the Blue Bell Ice Creamery, a Texas institution. It was organized by the twins' club I'm in. It was a fun day.

Hanging around home. Tea party.

Another park. Sisters :)

Ginger's current fave hangout.

It was 95degrees today. Boo. The kids have one more day of school left until summer. Boo. I see lots of Candyland in my future. But that's OK.

And this is why I worry. One minute she's wearing a pretty pink toddler dress. The next...

And she shrieks with delight when Tik Tok comes on the radio. The party don't start til she walks in.

I'll be there when the Bluebonnets Bloom

2010-04-21T18:32:00.000-07:00

We finally made it out to the Bluebonnets this year.

Just in case you don't know, the Bluebonnet is the Texas State Flower. They start blooming in late March, on the highways, in fields, everywhere. To drive by a field of them can be almost breathtaking. Drive past any large field of them on a Saturday in April, and you will see oodles of cars pulled over with families and such taking pictures. It's a Texas Tradition. Seeing Texas in bloom this time of year almost makes up for the misery we all know we are soon about to bear. Unforgiving heat. And mosquitoes. I guess the flowers are nature's precursory peace offering.

Want to know how many takes it took to get those 5 pictures? 48. Yeah, that's right. So I hope you enjoyed them. And I learned something today. Apparently it's not illegal to pick Bluebonnets. All my life I've been told "Don't pick the Bluebonnets!" "It's against the law!" Now I hear that's just an old wives tale. That there was an article in the paper today. I had already told the kids the police man would put them in jail if they picked them. And now I hear it IS OK to pick them. From Grandma. Who's picking them right and left while the kids watch with their jaws open.

From the Mouths of Babes

2010-04-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

If you ever want to see yourself how others see you, listening to what comes out of your kids' mouths is one way, I think. Lately I've noticed that the twins, Lilly especially, have gotten in the habit of repeating things that I say. I figure the things they say are probably the phrases that I use most often. This is what I've been hearing a lot of lately:

We DON'T scream at the dinner table!

It's OK if I need to go peepee in my pull-up. It's not like an accident.

You'll always be my baby, now matter how big!

YOU don't say that word!

I'm so proud of you!

It's such a beautiful day!

O Dammit.

Ah well, you have to admit that hearing your little angel say their first swear word is hilarious, I don't care how much you try to pretend it's not. It is. Even the 2nd and 3rd time are pretty funny as you try to muffle your smirking laugh behind your hand. But then reality sets in and you remember that you are now an adult, and not 19, and that now it's sort of not funny anymore. Because they go to "school" now, and repeat things you say, obviously. And as much as you're pretty sure most other mommies must also drop the F bomb or various other words at least every once in awhile on accident, that doesn't mean you want your kid to be the one all the teachers are talking about while the wee ones are napping.

So that being said, we are making a strong effort to cease all swearing. I've never considered myself a huge swear-er, but it's amazing how much you catch yourself saying bad words when you are making an effort not to. Or when your 3 year old points it out to you and suggests a time out.

Moving on.

We went to King's Orchard last Sunday morning to pick strawberries. We went last year when the twins were barely two and I was grossly pregnant. This year was much better. We had a lot of fun and the kids really did pick their own with a little guidance from us. I don't think I must have eaten any of the strawberries we picked last year probably because of the gestational diabetes I had. Because I'm sure I would have remembered how yummy they were otherwise. I guess this is the first time I've ever had fresh-from-the-vine ripe strawberries. They were SO yummy. And juicy. Perfect.

Like most 3 year olds, my kids love strawberries. And as good as the strawberries are, the orchard does use various nasty chemicals to support their crops. So I didn't want the kids to pop too many in their mouths before we could wash them. I told them they had germs on them and we needed to wash them before we ate them. They kind of understand the concept of germs so that worked pretty well. Lilly kept asking "does this ONE have germs mommy? I don't think this one has any germs. It's OK if I eat this one." I decided to live a little and be carefree, and just let them enjoy the moment and eat some fresh-picked berries. And just enjoy seeing the true pleasure in their eyes. In spite of the fertilizer, fungicide, and pesticides I'm sure they just consumed. So was it worth it to drive 25 minutes, and pay double what you would at the store to pick you own strawberries? Without sounding too much like a Mastercard commercial, I'd have to say it really was. I love making memories.

If you liked my last post about eating meatless and stuff, good! I'll be back with more. I have a lot of things on my mind I really want to write about and can't decide if I should create a new blog or just write on here. I'm thinking I want to keep this more about my kids and family, and start up a new one. But then again that's kind of ridiculous given that I post about twice a month huh? We'll see. Maybe I'll turn a new page. I really do like writing...

Meatless Monday!

2010-04-12T17:48:00.001-07:00

OK. So I finally watched that movie Food Inc. And I also recently read Food Matters by Mark Bittman. The movie actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting, maybe because I was expecting the worst possible. Still it doesn't make you feel good to know how the animals are treated, and of course what they are fed. And to know that this is what most of us are eating. Yuck on many accounts.

I really recommend reading the book Food Matters. The guy that wrote it apparently has written quite a few books and is pretty popular, but this was the first I had heard of him. I liked that he isn't trying to convince us all to be vegetarians, but more to eat quality foods and to eat responsibly. One example he gave that sticks out in my mind is about how energy-consuming the production of (gross) meat is. He said that for all the energy required to provide a family of 4 a steak dinner, you could instead use that much energy in the form of gas, driving around in your big SUV for about 3 hours. As a big SUV driver myself, I have to admit it made me feel a little better about driving it, ha. He's talking about the energy necessary to create and feed the livestock you will eventually eat. And to transport and "process" said livestock to the slaughterhouses, and eventually to your grocery store. That was the gist of it anyways.

So, because I think too much and like to make my life voluntarily more complicated and make up little games in my head, I'm really trying to watch the amount of meat our household consumes, and try and see that most of it is better meat. From what I've read, the meat you want to eat is from grassfed animals. Animals are meant to eat grass, but of course we know that's not what they're eating on these grow farms. They're eating cheap, cheap corn and stuff.

That brings me to the title of today's post. I didn't make it up but Meatless Monday sure has a catchy tune to it doesn't it? I'm trying to go veggie at least a few days a week and mostly meatless a few more days. It's actually been kind of fun as I like to cook anyways and like trying new recipes. Also, I've reached the point in my life where I'm willing and even wanting to try new things and flavors.

I know some of my friends are reading the same things and thinking the same things so I thought it'd be fun to share our meal ideas. I've found the hardest part is to create meatless meals that aren't super high carb. Both Paul and I come from a long line of diabetics, plus I had gestational diabetes with both pregnancies. So we are really trying to be proactive with our lifestyle in order to delay, offset, or minimize what is almost inevitable. The fact that we both have a very high chance of being diabetic at some point in our lives. A large part of that is purely genetics but I'm trying to at least do what I can about the non-genetic part. So, any meal that I share here will also be relatively low-carb as an added bonus.

I so love Suddenly Salad! I'm sure it wouldn't be so hard to buy my own noodles but until I figure out what it is they put in that little seasoning packet, here we are. As an added bonus, I found a great recipe on the back of the box. Basically I added two large broccoli crowns, 3 medium shredded carrots, tbsp of lemon juice, 1 diced cucumber and 1/2 cup of ranch dressing. One of those recipes you can kind of add and subtract whatever's in your fridge. And it's yummy!

OK so the hubby and friend just read the blog and made fun of my big box of pasta after talking about low-carb. I'd just like to point out that we need some carbs! There's more veggies than noodles in that salad and I'm standing my ground! Moderation, right?

Strawberry Spinach Salad

One of our favorites, especially with fresh-picked strawberries from King's Orchard. My kids love this salad because the dressing is sweet. The dressing is super easy. I got it from allrecipes.com but basically 1/2 c olive oil, 1/2 c sugar (you can go a little less), 1/4 c apple cider vinegar and 1 tbsp of poppy seeds. Mix it until it's uniform, and dress. I added sliced almonds tonight but I've done pecans too. Or maybe you can add some type of cheese too.

Add some cottage cheese if you're craving more protein, and dinner is served!

One last thought. One of the things that did disturb me about Food Inc was a section where they had an overweight family going through a drive thru, ordering from the $1 menu. They said something about how until the movie people talked to them, they thought any food at a restaurant would automatically be healthy for you or how could they serve it? Well I won't waste text breaking that thought apart but anyways they also said it was cheaper to eat junk food and that healthy food was too expensive. They later showed that same family at the grocery store, where one of their children wanted some pears. They were $0.99 a lb. The mom made the girl put some on a scale to see how many pears were in a pound. There was roughly 2 pears to a pound, meaning they'd cost about $0.50 each. The mom said that was too much and they could buy a lot more of the other foods for $0.99. She didn't get the pears!

So I know they put that segment in the movie to make a point, and they did. The point being (store brand) sodas, and basic crap food were cheaper than fresh produce. The father also said why would I pay $1.00 for a head of broccoli when I can get a double cheeseburger for a dollar that will fill me up? Wow. So I wonder how many people out there actually feel this way. My family and pretty much everyone I know is fortunate that we have enough money to make some decisions about what we eat. I certainly can't afford to buy as much organic food and grassfed meats as I'd like, but we're lucky enough that we can afford healthy food.

That being said, I thought it'd be fun to come up with a Dollar Dinner. Meaning that you could feed each person in your family a wholesome meal for about a dollar. Kind of competing with the fast food dollar menu if you will. So I'm going to kind of cheat and give myself the challenge of feeding my family of 5 (2 adults, 3 yr old twins, and a baby that eats table food) for $6.00. I figure that's fair because who really only orders one item off the dollar menu plus there's sales tax involved. I have no idea what I'm going to make but I'm pretty sure it won't be horribly hard, and I'm pretty sure they'll be beans involved, hehehe. Check back.

This & That

2010-04-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

I know they say the older you get, the faster the months go by, but it never feels more true than March. I can't believe it's already April, and a third through at that. The good news is we can't complain of boredom any time recently. There's always something to do and the weather has been ideal. We've had spring break, Paul's birthday, and Easter all in the past few weeks.

My parents came for a few days during Spring Break. I like to take advantage of extra hands so we took a trek down to the Houston Museum of Natural Science where I've had free tickets burning a hole in my pocket for months. Our main goal was to visit the Butterfly Room, and the kids loved it. If you haven't been, it's basically a big glassed-in terrarium full of butterflies and other amphibians. The twins loved it. What's not to love about butterflies and lizards? They also liked seeing the big dinosaurs in the entrance and had a pretty great time. Going on a rainy day during spring break probably wasn't my greatest idea ever but we had a good time and I'm looking forward to a few return visits.

Paul's birthday is always during spring break. He didn't take a day off or anything but I made him a nice cake and we had a steak dinner. He always likes to go to an Aggie Baseball game for his birthday so we hit Olson field that Sunday. Unfortunately, it was crazy windy that day. CRAZY WINDY. I tried to pretend like I was enjoying myself for several innings. But really. We tried to carry hot chocolate into the stands, and the hot chocolate was blowing out of the cup. Now that's crazy. So around the 6th inning, the twins and I left. Actually I think they were still having an OK time but it looked better if I was leaving for their sake and not my own selfish reasons. We enjoyed french fries and coffee in the comfort of the McDonalds across the parking lot until the game was over. Unfortunately the Ags lost to Tech.

Next we went to Wings n More, an Aggie standard, where we watched the Ags lose yet again in basketball, to Purdue. Paul has a theory, or maybe more like an observation, that whenever he goes to College Station to watch the Aggies play a sport, whether live or on TV, they lose. Seriously, I think he's like 1 for 9 or something. Being the superstitious person that he is, we may not be making any more trips to Aggieland in the foreseeable future. A big thanks to my friend Michelle for watching Baby Ginger on our day of fun. I wish I had taken a picture of those two girls but I forgot. She was a good sport and watched her for the better part of the day, and said she had a good time. And she was still smiling when I picked Ginger up. She mentioned she didn't get much "Ginger time" at the twins birthday party, so I figure that made up for it. hehehe

We had a nice Easter and the twins loved the multiple egg hunts they went on over the course of several days. Of course, they don't really understand the concept of finding eggs. This year I decided that perhaps the Easter Bunny could be a little more sneaky with egg placement. I suggested s/he not just throw them out onto the grass in plain view, but be a little creative. I'm not talking hide them under huge bushes or up in trees, I just mean like on the other side of a tree trunk or on the swing. Perhaps we overestimated the ability of 3 year olds. Most of our egg hunt was spent having us point at an egg, the kids walking right past it numerous times, and us pointing again and giving exact directions. Oh well.

I've been in a major sewing phase lately. I made this little bunny rabbit for my littlest Bunny's first Easter. I hope she likes it because I'm pretty proud of it.

Kids at the museum next to a dinosaur. ROAR!

Ginger and Gran

Lilly loves to touch bugs and stuff.

Owen doesn't.

We're not really dressy people but I saw this idea on Etsy and had to make Owen this tie shirt. Doesn't he look super sharp?

I loved letting the kids paint outside. Something out of the normal and definitely a special treat!

First time to dye Easter eggs.

I made this tote bag and thought it came out pretty cute. Don't worry Michelle it's just practice for the super-awesome one you're gonna get ;)

The picture doesn't do it justice but this rose bush is just brimming with beautiful pale orange roses. It's an antique rose we picked up at the Rose Emporium in Brenham a few years ago. It's really taken off. I love this time of year!

Pizza In My Mouth

2010-03-09T19:10:00.001-08:00

Disclaimer: If you fail to find the humor in the subject of vomit, you need not read any further.

Ah, the weekend. What a beautiful perfect Saturday we had! Went to the Y first thing in the morning and kids played on playground after. Then we headed home for Ginger's nap. Lilly and I got to have some special mommy-daughter time and it was so fun! I could tell she really needed it and as many of you know, it's just hard to get away for quality time with one kiddo. So we headed into "town" and toured the First Saturday festivities (check it out sometime). We did the Farmer's market, and listened to the live music, and then went to the little tea room and had lunch outside. I asked the waitress (who turned out to be the owner) to serve Lilly's tea in a little teacup, and she even brought her some little tea biscuits. That little girl drank two full cups and didn't spill a single drop. Stopped at the grocery store then headed home. Later that day we visited with our neighbors and just had an all in all great day.

I went to put Ginger down to bed that night, and as I was nursing her, she got a little fidgety. Next thing I know she's puking all over me. Multiple times. Got her all cleaned up, put her to bed, and she was totally fine after that. Now I'm thinking that the seasoned pork she had a nibble of at dinner time didn't agree with her. No big deal.

Fast forward 2am. I wake up, don't feel so well, and well you can guess the rest. I didn't really sleep well and I still felt lousy so spent time on the couch just kind of vegging in front of the TV. Next thing I know it's 4:30 am and wouldn't you guess, Paul (who ran back to bed as I was getting sick, thanks) was having his turn.

It's now morning and kids are awake bright and happy, not sick. Thank God, because we felt so lousy we couldn't have handled it. We continue to have "episodes" and feel A-W-F-U-L. Except that Paul is in bed feeling awful, and I'm watching over 3 kids. Hmph. He's "too weak to get out of bed, almost passed out when he got out."

About noon, after having cycled Max & Ruby and Eloise DVD's non-stop for 5 hours, I call on my wonderful neighbors who come take the twins until it's their naptime.

Twins come home from neighbors, take nap, and wake up covered in....can you guess? I'm SO sorry neighbors...I really didn't think they were going to get it since they usually get it first.

I can honestly say Sunday was the worst sick day we have ever, ever had. Ever. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy and I kind of a feel like I deserve a medal or something. A mommy medal.

So anyways, we are all perfectly healthy now, and very fortunate that it was truly a 12 hour bug, which took about 24 hours after that to recover from. But it did leave me with a few thoughts which I just have to share:

SIGNS THAT YOU ARE BEYOND SICK

There is vomit residue in the toilet, and you really don't care.
You have to take a break between nursing your baby to go puke.
You and your hubby are mentally tallying who's puked more to determine who gets to stay in bed and who gets to be the parent.
A days worth of dirty dishes piled in the sink, overnight. Not even rinsed. Don't care.
You really can't remember what or if you fed your 3 kids and aren't really concerned.
You text your other neighbors (the ones you didn't infest with your nasty virus) demanding bananas, 7up, and applesauce. And forget to even say please. And they drop it off on our doorstop in about 45 minutes. Did I mention we have awesome neighbors.

SIGNS THAT YOU'RE FEELING BETTER

You care that your house is currently so disgusting.
Food and showering seem important.
You have the energy to argue with your hubby about his wussi-ness. (He didn't get out of bed for the better part of 36 hours). My husband has MANY amazing qualities. Handling illness is not one of them.
Ummm....coffee!

Everything is back to normal now. We all feel great. We still have about 29 loads of laundry piled up, but I'm working through it. Oh, and I have some baking to do to thank my wonderful neighbors. I'm not really sure a loaf of banana bread is going to cut it, but it's a start.

And if you're wondering about the title of my blog. That's what Owen said after he got sick. "I've got pizza in my mouth." We hadn't had pizza recently. And I won't be eating it any time soon.

ALL BETTER!

I started this little skirt for Lilly Saturday night. Needless to say didn't finish it til yesterday. She loves it :)

Hey! Why didn't anyone tell my about the super-fun cabinet before?

Things That Aren't Normal.

2010-02-25T13:12:00.000-08:00

We've had a busy week with some excitement, and things out of the ordinary.

1. Twins loving on each other.

This is definitely something not normal. I came from putting Ginger down for a nap, to see Lilly & Owen so sweet! Like any siblings, they spend most of their time NOT being sweet to each other.

2. We went to church.
OK so I admit it, this is NOT normal for us. The twins go once a week to the Presbyterian Day School, and last Sunday was PDS Sunday, basically a way to get people like us to go to church. So we did. The service was their "contemporary" (I think) service, so even though Paul and I grew up going to Presbyterian churches, we were way out of our element. No Morning Has Broken Hyms here... it was all drums, guitars, and projector screens. The kids had a blast and Lilly was literally dancing in the aisles to the music. Good thing she's cute. Owen loved watching the band play, which seemed like about half the service. They did surprisingly well sitting through the service and got to go sing a song with their peers during it too. Sorry, no picture proof that we actually went to church but I promise we did! And the walls did not fall down on us.

3. Lilly ate caviar.
So after church we went to brunch with Paul's family. It was a typical nice buffet with the omelet station etc. I took Lilly to see what else she wanted, and I held her up because I thought it would be fun to let her pick what she wanted on her plate. Well we walk by various salads, meats, and veggies, and so far, she doesn't want any of it. Then we come upon that platter that is a requirement at a Sunday Brunch, even though nobody really eats it. The one with a smoked salmon, and various capers, stinky cheese, etc. On it is also nicely layed out little rows of black and red caviar that unsurprisingly has not been touched . Lilly sees that, and says "I want that!" OK. So I take the itty bitty fancy spoon and put a little of each on her plate, snickering to myself. So we make it back to the table, and she immediately eats it. She looks confused. I'm pretty sure she thought it was little blackberries and raspberries if I had to guess. None the less, she eats it all. Grandma takes her back again to get more food, and low and behold the girl comes back with more of the caviar, and eats it again. And looks confused again. We didn't go back for thirds, we'd had enough amusement. And of course, a picture:

4. SNOW!
As I write this it is 67 and sunny, a perfectly gorgeous day. 48 hours ago, it was snowing...and not just a little! This is probably the most snow I have seen in Texas, in at least 10 years. Dallas tends to get some snow every now and then, but outside Houston? Not so much. It totally caught me by surprise. I had heard the forecast, but didn't really buy into it. Huge, beautiful snowflakes fell for several hours. Owen absolutely loved the snow and stayed out in it for quite awhile. I was really hoping we'd actually have enough for a snowman, but not quite. We did have enough to make a few snowballs when Daddy got home though. And like any good Texan, I have dozens and dozens of pictures to document this rare event!

Our house is 40 years old, and I'd be willing to bet it's never had this much snow!

5. Babies being born too soon.
Unfortunately, premature birth isn't normal, but it still happens way too much. Please help my friends and I join together to raise money for March Of Dimes. The Woodlands Moms of Multiples (of which I am an active member) raises money each year for the March Of Dimes and also participates in the March for Babies Walk held in April. My goal is to raise $500 for this great cause. Our team's goal is to raise $15,000.

As many of you know, Lilly and Owen were born at 35 weeks (average for twins, 40 weeks is full term) and spent just under a week in the NICU. We are very blessed that they had no real issues and are healthy crazy 3 year olds today! Several friends in my group have given birth to their precious babies at 32, 28, even 25.5 weeks. It's not an easy or fun journey for them to watch their tiny little miracles stay weeks or months in the NICU, praying each day that the next will be better. That's why the March of Dimes is close to our heart. MOD's mission is to have all babies born healthy one day.

So, please give what you can. No amount is too small (even $5 is greatly appreciated!). As an incentive, I'm going to match whatever you donate, up to $250, to help reach my goal.

If you are related to me by blood or marriage, I will be deeply hurt, and just might have to de-friend you on FB, if you don't make a donation (kidding. mostly.) So give how ever much feels right. Come on, it'll make you feel better. Just do it. Now. Before you forget.

Thanks!

Big Kid Beds and Stuff

2010-02-18T13:12:00.000-08:00

Well some day I will be able to figure this out so that all my pictures aren't in the reverse order of what I want them to be. Usually I am so proud that I'm actually working on the blog, I don't want to spend that time rearranging stuff, I want to spend it writing, so here goes...

Today and yesterday have been, in my mind, perfect days! About 60 and sunny, I personally couldn't ask for more. I love being outside in a long sleeve shirt, and a nice breeze, sun shining down, and no mosquitoes! We've been taking advantage of it and today had a picnic lunch in the back yard. Of course, a prerequisite of a picnic is to have bare toes!

I love this picture! It was a total fluke and already holds a special place in my heart. OK that was cheesy, but it's true!

Ginger loves being outside. She loves being unrestrained even more...that day will come.

The twins love to play hide and seek. It usually goes something like this:
Lilly: "Hey Owie you want to play hide and seek?"
Owen: "ya!"
Lilly: "OK, Owie, you hide under Ginger's bed and I'll go count"
(Owen hides under Ginger's bed)
(Lilly runs into the other room and counts to 10, etc)
Lilly runs to Ginger's bed, finds Owen (who may or may not have already come out of hiding) and they both laugh hysterically.
Repeat.

Ginger thinks it's pretty funny too - that's what the picture above is. She's laughing because she found someone under the bed. Sometimes she'll even go under they bed and they are all laughing. Pretty freaking adorable.

Paul and I actually got to go out with friends on a Saturday night! This is sadly a rare event so it was definitely photo worthy. We had a great time with our friends Tim & V.

I caught Regis and Kelly doing some Valentines treats while at the Y the other day. This is our version. Kids love anything involving cooking. Of course, I didn't let them eat any of them except for what they scarfed in their mouths during the process.

Gran and Granddad (my folks) send some Valentines cookies and handmade cards! I gave them some of the cookies and then they demanded milk to dip them in. I have no idea how they know about dunking cookies, possibly innate I guess.

All dressed up and ready to go!

Big kid beds have gone better than I though, but not without a few setbacks. It's been almost 3 weeks now, and the first week was a breeze. They never got out once. Then at about a week, I'm standing at my computer in the kitchen, and Owen appears at the bottom of the stairs during naptime. With a big smile on his face. This happens almost every other day. He's been growing out of his naps for the past few months, so it wasn't a huge surprise. Fast forward to this week at 5:23 am on Monday morning. "Hi Dad, Hi Dad" Yep, it's Owie again. I played dead but Paul relayed to me that they snuggled for awhile, and when he got fidgety, Paul told him he either needed to be still or go get into his own bed....and he did! He went back upstairs and got in his own bed and went back to sleep.

Now we have told him that he cannot get out of bed until Mr. Sunshine is awake too. So 2 days later, he's up again at about 6:30 (still dark). He doesn't come in our room, but we hear him doing this and that, even singing quietly (quiet for a 3 year old boy?). We let is slide and when we're finally up around 7:15 (now light) we have a conversation like this:

Paul: "Owie, you were up before Mr. Sunshine this morning, you're not supposed to get up until Mr. Sunshine us up"

Owen: "Look Dad, Mr. Sunshine IS up (points outside)

Paul: "Mr. Sunshine's up now, but he wasn't up when you got out of bed"

Owen: "He's right there dad! (points again)

Repeat.

Now we've switched it to "you don't get out of bed until Daddy comes get you". Worked this morning. We'll see.

Happy Birthday Lilly & Owen!

2010-02-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

o

g
My babies are THREE! I can't believe it! And Owen keeps telling my that he's not a baby, he's a big boy :) I have to keep telling him that he'll always be my baby, even when he's bigger than me.

It feels like more of a birthday week, than just one day. We had a great birthday party Saturday with great friends and family. The weather didn't cooperate, it was freezing, so we had to keep everyone inside, but we still had a great time. There was a dozen kids 4 and under in our little house, loaded up on sugar, hehe. It was a dress-up pirate and princess party. We had stuff for the kids to wear, and I was surprised that most of them really didn't want to wear the hats, eyepatches, tiaras, and jewelry that we supplied...those stubborn toddlers.

Monday morning, their actual birthday, after an exhausting birthday weekend.

Our neighbor "aunt" Lisa, and Aunt LaLa came in full dress - so great!

The littlest princess and our friend Veronica.

Lilly helping Owen blow out his candles. That's what big sisters are for.

Pirates and Princesses

Lilly loves Lisa & LaLa

I had planned on just buying a bunch of cupcakes like last year, but a few weeks before the twins birthday, I was inspired by a friend to make the cakes. I have fond memories of my mom making really neat cakes for my brother and I, so I decided to continue the tradition. Normally this is something I would jump at anyways, but I think the idea of doing two cakes at once was what was stopping me. I found some great cakes on line and was able to pretty much just copy them. I think they turned out pretty great - I was quite proud :) The kids loved them too, and that's the most important part. I had so much fun...I'm already getting excited about making Paul a fun cake for his birthday.

Paul and I both agree that the past three years has seemed like a blink, and also a lifetime. I would never want to go back to newborn twins again, but it is sad to think they will just keep getting bigger and bigger. Luckily I have a backup baby :) I'm proud of what we've done as parents, and I believe we have grown right along with Lilly and Owen. Now if we could just get a little more sleep!

The kids have had a lot of fun looking a photos of when they were born the last few days. The only thing Paul and I both noticed was that we both looked a lot younger 3 years ago! That's OK, I wouldn't have it any other way. I do believe that you shouldn't let your kids be your identity, or live through them (that can be hard when you're a stay at home mom). But I can say that my life would not feel complete without them..all 3 of them. These little people truly do complete me.

Now that the twins are 3, we are moving to "big kid" beds this weekend. Their cribs convert to toddler beds, so it will be easy to transform their beds. We've been dreading this move for months, but they officially look silly in cribs, so I think the time has come. I'm really hoping it's one of those things that turns out to be no big deal.

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate, we are so blessed to have you all!

Ginger and her Crib.

2010-01-14T09:11:00.001-08:00

My baby girl is getting close to 8 months old now. In the past two weeks, she has gotten her first two teeth, sat up, pulled up, and I swear she's think about taking a step! I can't leave this squirmy wormy ANYWHERE for more than a second. We have all tile and wood on our bottom floor, which means we spend a lot of time upstairs, and she spends time downstairs divided between her high chair, exersaucer, and playpen. Nonetheless she still has a few bruises from those instances where she might not have been completely supervised...good thing babies are made of mostly cartilage, right?

Ginger is a happy baby and loves to watch Lilly & Owen at work. They like her too most of the time. They get a little frustrated when she tries to grab at books or toys they are playing with - 2 year olds aren't known for their sharing nature...

I put Baby Ginger in a swing outside for the first time last week. She absolutely loved it. That's great because it means we can be outside more.

So I'm almost done with Ginger's room now. What can I say, I'm not one of those mommies who had the nursery completed months before birth.

We have a 3 bedroom house, which means that Ginger's room was our guest room, and is still our guest room on occasion. Please don't tell her when she's older, that we're sleeping her in our bedroom closet when we have company at the moment.

I was glad to get to do a girly room since we had to go neutral with Lilly & Owen. The paint had to stay tan colored, since this will probably be Owen's room once the twins split. I think I managed to get enough pink in there to offset the tan walls though.

This dresser was Paul's as a boy..except it wasn't pink then. Paul re-did it and did an excellent job! We hadn't planned on using the original brass hardware that was on it, but with a coat of white paint, they turned out perfect.

Satisfied client.

Pop-up trundle aka guest bed.

Bad picture but got an adorable table and chairs set. Lots of tea parties going on here!

Santa Came! Santa Came!

2010-01-03T18:11:00.000-08:00

OK, so this is really late, but had to get the Christmas Pictures in here. We had a great Christmas holiday and this year was truly special. It's the first year the twins really understood much of anything. We went to get Lilly & Owen on Christmas morning and watching them walk down the stairs and see the scene downstairs was priceless...Owen started saying "santa came! santa came!" Of course I'm pretty sure they would have been happy with just one little present and a candy cane, so needless to say they were overwhelmed.

Because I always manage to post pictures in the exact opposite order that I want them, here is Christmas morning in reverse...

Who cares about awesome new tricycles that Santa brought us...there's a LEAF PILE!

Lilly in her princesessness

Candyland!

Santa brought Owen underwear because he really wants him to be a big boy.
Can you tell he's excited?

Buzz and Woody!

I totally got gypped...

Making cookies for Santa

Carpe Rain

2009-12-22T13:04:00.000-08:00

otherwise entitled "Things That Wouldn't Happen if ~~The Clean One~~ Daddy Was Home."

It's the Tuesday before Christmas. I promised Owen we would play outside when we got home from errands, but then it started raining, and when it stopped, it was nap time. I LOVE nap time.

Maybe it's because I finally got to the bottom of my laundry hamper and I can handle a few more dirty clothes. Maybe it's just the magic of the season. But whatever it is, sometimes it's just nice to take a break from being a mom, and take time to be a kid. And to see sheer joy in my childrens' eyes.

"Look Lilly, another puddle!"

And now it's practice time for my Idol audition.

And bow.

And now the twins are down for a late nap, Baby Ginger is awake from her nap, and I've got a disaster of a house to clean, and naughty dogs to beat.

Christmastime

2009-12-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

If you come to our house in the near future, you will likely be asked by self-named "santa Owie" to sit in his lap. He is always wearing his santa hat, and often has ornaments swiped from our Christmas tree, hidden in it. After he asks you what you want for Christmas, he will remove his hat and give you a gift, usually a candy-cane ornament, or for Lilly, her purse-ornament, since that's what she usually asks for. After you have sat in his lap, he will often invite you to ride in his sleigh (aka Pauls arm chair) and let you ride into the sky with his reindeer. I asked his teacher at school, Ms Debbie, if he asked her to sit in his lap, and she said "oh yes!". I know in a few years this will probably be inappropriate, but right now it is really stinking cute! If Owen doesn't grow up to be a rock star, he will surely find employment at the neighborhood mall come winter.

e

The twins day school had a Christmas program last Thursday morning. You would have thought Celine Dion was in town the way that Sanctuary was packed in the middle of the day to see all those kids. It was so sweet, and I have to say, my kids totally rocked it. I know the picture is blurry, but those are MY kids dancing and singing like they're supposed to. Oh yes, my kids know how to sing and dance, and I was a proud momma that day! I was in tears by the time the kindergartners did their part...many of them had solos and there is nothing more adorable than a 5 yr old singing a solo in a Christmas program.

Wow! One week until Christmas! It has been an incredible month! I think this has been my favorite Christmas in a long, long time. I love how the twins are SO excited about everything. They love the music, the tree, the lights, the ornaments, the cookies, everything! They really don't go into stores that often, I usually try to go alone. Anyways, last Saturday, I decided to take Owen with me to Target and Kroger ( a 4 hour trip when you're with me). We had some great mommy-son time, and he was in awe of everything he saw. I love seeing everything from his eyes, it's all so new and fun!

Before we left, I wondered out loud to Paul how Owen would be with just me. Paul remarked that he'd probably surprise me by being really quiet and calm - he's really LOUD most of the time. Well, from the moment we left the driveway, that kid never stopped talking. It's hard to have a voice in this loud house sometimes, so I think he decided to take advantage of it. He was a good, sweet boy and I really enjoyed all of our "conversations", and he was definitely ready for a nap by the time we got home. He mentioned Daddy, Lilly, and Baby Ginger several times while we were gone, and even said he missed them. I don't know why it's so hard to get away with just one child, but it rarely happens around here. I hope it happens more often.

Surfacing.

2009-12-09T19:34:00.000-08:00

Wow! Where did November go...did you see it? Life is great in the Brown Household. Christmas is in the air and I am loving every bit of it. This is the first year that the twins kind of understand what is going on, and seeing the fun and magic of the season through a child's eyes just makes me so happy, and reminds me what it is all about.

We have seen the man with the red hat - couldn't get Owen off his lap. We have the tree up, we've seen the pretty lights, we've had our candy canes, I've started on my baking, we had a snowy day, life is good! Tomorrow the kids have their Christmas program at school. I'm hoping to be able to post a video of their "performance" later in the week.

We got all dressed up and the whole family went in to get a family shot since Ginger was having her 6 month pictures done. Paul took some shots of the kids in front of the tree, they turned out great!

My happy girl!

Handsome Buddy!

Big Sister Big Brother

My Big Girl loves her new dress!

Oh, and what did they ask Santa for? Well I don't think they actually spoke to him (Owen was just starstruck). But, Lilly tells me Santa is bringing her princess gloves, and magic wand (old one broke), and just recently added a crown to the list. Owen is still hoping for a candy cane and "toys." I love my kids :)

Halloween!

2009-11-05T19:44:00.000-08:00

My little "Ginger"bread girl

The kids had a fun Halloween! We went to the inlaws since they live in a neighborhood conducive to trick-or-treating, and we don't. The old people spoiled them rotten so by the time we hit about 5 houses, we called it a night. Luckily our tots don't know any better. I think the trio looked pretty darn cute. Lilly refused to wear her tutu, I'm not sure why. She has a ballet book she loves, and all the girls in it don't wear tutus, just leotard and tights, so I think that's where it's coming from. I thought she would go nuts when I bought her a big frilly bright pink tutu, but I think she's worn it a total of about 2 minutes, oh well.

We had our first mommy and me ballet class on Halloween as well. It was fun and cute to see all the little ones. I had to snicker at the one mommy who actually showed up in her own ballet gear, but she was actually pretty good at all the moves, so maybe I shouldn't laugh. Lilly has been working on first position, where you put your heels together...this is pretty tricky for a 2 yr old, so it's pretty cute to watch her try and get those heels together.

The twins have started conversing with each other just recently, and I love hearing their "conversations." They go mostly like this:

Lilly: "Nice shirt Owen"
Owen: "Thank you"
Lilly: "You're welcome"

Lilly: "Ummmm...strawberries, I love strawberries! Do you like strawberries Owen?"
Owen: "uh huh"

We are headed to Dallas this weekend to see friends and my parents. Planning a big trip to the zoo, should be great weather and lots of fun!

Thanks for the comments, ladies....I was feeling a little needy I guess :)

Loving Fall!

2009-10-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

We have been having a great couple of weeks around here! Enjoying the weather and lots of things to do! This picture above is of us before we took Lilly & Owen to their open house at the "school" they go to on Tuesdays. Paul got to meet their teachers and see where they go to school. I think the kids had fun showing daddy around. We got dressed up and went to dinner first while Baby Ginger stayed home. It was a fun evening!

These pictures are totally out of order, sorry. Today Paul and the twins carved their jack-o-lantern. This is the first time we've done this with the kids, they had fun. Actually I don't remember the last time we ever had a jack-o-lantern...we don't get trick-or-treaters where we live but it's fun for the kids. Owen wanted a scary face on the jack-o-lanter, and Lilly wanted a happy face....so Paul came up with this.

I got the kids some popcorn balls from the store, that was definitely a hit. We sat outside and enjoyed the morning while Daddy mowed.

I impromptu-ly (not a word, huh) gave Baby Ginger her first food yesterday! I saw these things at the store that I used to give Lilly & Owen. They are called Baby Mum Mums - they are rice rusks that dissolve very easily in your mouth. Ginger gummed on it and had a FIT when I tried to take it from her to adjust it in her hand. She loved it I think and in fact I gave her another one today which she polished off as well. Traditionally most pediatricians want you to wait until babies are 6 months old to start solids. Ginger is almost 5 months but I think she's ready for a little something more. I bought the rice cereal and baby oatmeal at the store today, so I think we'll start having a little fun with that. I'm pretty sure Ginger's gonna wonder why we've been holding out on her once she start's solids!

This is Owen and Miss Debbie, his teacher. Such a sweet picture! We love Miss Debbie!

These adorable pumpkins were a gift from Paul's parents' neighbors at their summer cottage in New York. Janet and John love the kids and have got to see the twins each summer for a few weeks for the past 3 summers. They have a huge garden which I love to wander in when I'm there. They carved these names into the pumpkins when they were still green, and this is how they turned out. Unfortunately, Baby Ginger's pumpkin didn't make it... The kids had lots of fun picking (not ripe) apples from Janet and John's apple trees this summer. Janet kept telling them they were going to get a stomach ache from eating unripe apples, but it didn't phase them.

Paul's company had their annual BBQ cook off last weekend. We got to go on Saturday and enjoy the fruits of their labor. My kids love BBQ, especially ribs. I'm pretty sure that Owen thinks this is what Daddy is doing when he goes to work now..making BBQ. He mentioned it more than once this week when we mentioned Daddy being at work...

Fingers or toes, fingers or toes. My big girl is loving putting everything in her mouth now!

In other news, I survived (with much help) 3 days and nights without Paul last week. This was the first time he's had to be gone since Ginger was born. I have to say it went much better than expected. Thankfully Aunt LaLa, and Gma and Gpa Brown each took a night to help get everyone fed and to bed, so I was really only alone on my own one night. Even so, it really makes you appreciate what single moms or moms who's hubbys are deployed or gone a lot, must go through. I am very thankful Paul is rarely gone for work!

We have lots of fun planned this week, and of course, are looking forward to Halloween! The kids get to wear their costumes to school and to story time this week, so it should be lots of fun. Oh, and I can't wait to post pics of Baby Ginger's costume next week....SO ADORABLE! Can you guess what she's going to be???? We did a trial run yesterday and there were many tears so hopefully she will be happier next time around!

That's whats going on with the Browns. So I hate to beg, but I will...haha. If you are reading my blog, leave me a comment! I'm not too good about leaving comments on other people's blog either, but it sure makes you feel good to know someone besides the grandparents (no offense) are reading it :)

Say it with pictures...

2009-10-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

Typical weekday morning...my kids LOVE dressing up, and I think it's great too!

I've been catching Owen being sweet on Baby Ginger quite a bit lately, it's so sweet. He wanted to hold her the other night...

We have MUCH sibling rivalry over these heels.

Made Lilly and her friend matching "pillowcase" dresses. They turned out really cute...after ripping out many, many seams. Next ones will be a cinch. Lilly put it on, said it was pretty, then said she wanted a purple one instead.

Ms mellow Baby Ginger, always happy as long as the scenery is changing..wonder where she gets that from?

Owen created his cowboy outfit all by himself. Took me a few days to realize Lilly's easter hat was his cowboy hat..until he asked me to take the ribbons off his cowboy hat...oh. And those would be his cowboy pants...aka mouse costume pants. Don't worry, I made him a REAL cowboy outfit since, that he loves! Still wearing that easter hat though...

Heard Owen yelling from the dining room "I'm a cheerleader!" No idea where he picked that up from but I love his creativitiy!

Funny girl with her funnies

A great big bro.

Grape stomping at the Montgomery food and wine festival...no food or wine for us, just hot, and the grapes felt great on my feet. If it was 20 degrees cooler and we didn't have 3 kids with us..oh what a day!

Train ride at the wine festival.

BABY GINGER!

Activity has picked up in our household. We just re-joined the YMCA and are having fun going there during the week. I like the exercise and the kids are doing pretty well in the child watch - I think they like getting out of the house too. I signed Lilly and I up for a mommy & me ballet class so we're looking forward to that! She literally screamed out of joy when I told her about it!

The twins are doing good at school and Owen is taking it much better and I think he really likes it because he really doesn't put up much of a fight anymore and it is short-lived.

We are still doing good on our no TV thing and getting stuff done. We do watch some TV, but don't have cable and it is probably only on a few nights a week, usually the weekend. I've been sewing, cleaning out closets and cabinets, and working on a long-overdue photo album. I haven't done a photo album since the twins were born...or really ever :( I decided doing it on Shutterfly was the way to go and am making progress. Hopefully I'll get caught up until now, and then I can be better about putting new pictures in regularly, rather than scrounging for three years worth of digital photos.

We've moved Ginger from our room into her crib finally, and she seems to be sleeping a little better, although definitely not great. She is still up SEVERAL times a night but this too shall pass. I end up sleeping in the bed in her room, but Paul at least is getting great sleep now! That's OK because he lets me sleep in every weekend :)

Ginger had her 4 month appointment last week and she is 26 inches long...that's the 95% for height! Guess she is going to take after her Daddy. She is doing great and big and healthy. She really is a mellow baby and pretty happy most of the time. I've figured out that she likes to see what's going on...one of those girls who doesn't want to miss anything. As long as she has something to watch, she's pretty happy. I plop her down on the floor for the twin's story time at the library and she is happy as can be watching everything going on.

We are doing great, and still waiting on that fall weather...grrr...It was 97 with a heat index of 104 today...so much for my plans to make banana bread....just doesn't feel right!

School!

2009-09-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

This was the week I have been waiting for, for a long time! SCHOOL! It's only one day a week, for 5.5 hours, but I'm not complaining. We got to go to a meet the teacher last week, so that really helped Lilly & Owen adjust to the new place and their teacher. Owen didn't cry AT ALL and was excited to go see Miss Debbie and the playground, and even wants to go back next week! If anyone remembers, he cried EVERY Tuesday all last spring, from the moment we left the driveway, so this is a big improvement! I tried to get a cute picture of them together with their backpacks etc, but you can probably guess how that went...

While the twins were napping yesterday, I had a fun little photo session with Ginger since she was looking especially cute :)

Last but not least, my little musicians had an impromptu jam session the other day, and then turned into a marching band...can you tell they take after mommy? I love that they love music, and are so creative! Hmmm, if the professional golf thing doesn't work out, maybe we have the next Jonas Brothers (have to change the name) on our hands, hehehe.

A Chill in the air???

2009-08-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, well there's definitely not a chill in this Houston air, but by this time in the summer, I like to convince myself that it's just around the corner, even though realistically we'll still be running the AC at Thanksgiving... The temperatures have dipped just enough to make playing outside a little more feasible, so we've enjoyed doing that this week, and are officially settled in from our 3 week vacation to upstate New York. Whenever we get back from the cottage, we always spend the next few weeks scheming about how we would be able to spend even more time up there in the cool air and in the river, the next year....

Paul and I are on quite the kick around the house at the moment. We are tearing all our drawers, cabinets, closets apart, and getting rid of STUFF. How on earth we collect so much of it always amazes me, but it feels so good to be getting rid of it. We will be having a HUGE garage sale just as soon as that chill really is in the air!

After we tackle that project, it's on to painting the outside trim and working on our landscaping. Eventually this house will look the way we have always intended it to!

In other news, I've had lots of fun putting together a nursery for Ginger. She is still sleeping in our room at the moment, but I'm hoping to try putting her upstairs in her own room very soon. I'll be posting pics of the finished project just as soon as it's finished. It's fun to get to be girly since I couldn't do that with the twins...although I suspect one little two year old girl I know might get a little jealous when she sees it...

Oh, and besides football season for Paul, the other best thing about this time of year.........SCHOOL! Or preschool, mother's day out, whatever you want to call it, it's happening in one week! The twins will only go one day a week, but boy is it a great day! I'm really hoping Owen does better this year than last spring. They are going to a new school so that's not going to help, but hopefully him being a little older will help. He always says "no school mommy" everytime he hears me mention something about it in passing :(

That's it for now, I'm off to clean out something! But here's some pictures:

Two little monkeys...

Budding artist.

Anytime is the right time to be a princess with a magic wand!

We went to a "touch a truck" event last weekend. Kids are allowed to get on all sorts of big trucks...this was an ambulance. Lots of fun but WAY TOO HOT!

Owen LOVES school buses!

Miss Ginger in her bumbo. She rolled over this week!

Cottage Days...

2009-08-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

It's Monday afternoon and Paul and I are sitting in Clayton's only coffee shop, "downtown." This is the first time I've had real internet access in the 12 days we've been up here so far! His parents have dial-up at the cottage...it's not even worth the effort getting on, I can't believe people still have that.

Anyways we are having a good time and enjoy the weather...highs in the high 70's most days...don't hate me. Enjoy our picture show. I have to go now..I actually had to pay for this real internet access, and my time is up...plus there are more ice cream cones to be eaten and boats to be driven :)

Lilly

2009-07-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

All about Lilly

I thought it would be fun to spotlight each of my tots, so of course, I must start with the oldest, even if it is only by a minute!

Full Name
Lilly Sue

Height
35 inches?

Weight
about 28 lbs

Favorite Foods
Strawberries, grapes, watermelon, milk, yogurt, french fries & ketchup, noodles, raisins, & ice cream to name a few

Favorite Show
Dora the Explorer

Favorite Activities
Reading Books, Playing dress up - especially wearing heels, Playing in the water, Singing, Dancing, Acting like she's a baby, baking pretend cakes and making you blow out the candles

Current Favorite Accessory
Magic Cape (aka red bandana) and her wand. She wore her cape to CVS the other day, announcing so that all could hear "look mommy, I'm flying!"

Current Favorite Book
Princess Baby!

Favorite Word
Mine!

Signature Move
the throw down
(hands in her face, head in her lap, immediate tears, or pretend crying, anytime something doesn't go her way)

Potty Training Status
has pooped and peed many times in the potty, but not that interested
loves the Dora underwear we got her, but it's purpose doesn't seem to be clicking quite yet

Lilly, our first born. I'd have to say she is definitely the epitome of a drama queen and girly girl, which can be both good and bad. But she's also the first one to grab at a frog or worm long before brother would. She is simply fearless. And stubborn. And definitely knows what she wants! She is so very sweet and thoughtful too. She is constantly telling everyone and everything "I love you" and always makes sure that Owen has his book for bedtime.

I love walking into the room and being greeting with a "good morning mommy" :) Lilly loves to wear pretty clothes and loves to accessorize, she gets much more wear out of my heels than I do. Jewelry, hats, headbands - she loves it all! I had an impromptu moment last week when I decided to paint her toe nails for the first time....after I started and she realized what I was doing, she kept saying "thank you mommy, thank you mommy, thanks"....and then, of course..."do hands, do hands!"

Lilly definitely got Daddy's clean gene. She gets very concerned if she or Owen accidentally makes a mess, and has been known to go and get a towel, etc and clean something up without even being asked. Pretty good for not even 2.5! She'll also put her clothes in the laundry room without being asked.

I can't imagine life without this little girl, and I know she will keep us on our toes for a long time!

getting a pedi...

In other news, our great friend "uncle" Mikey came to visit us this weekend. Unfortunately I'm on a roll and again too no pictures of his visit. But we had a great time! We went and let the twins play in the fountains, ate lots of good food, played some pool, and had a great time! Owen has been asking to go to Mikey's house all day....Mikey lives in Dallas. Thanks for the visit Mike!

Our cooking class for the week. We tried out the bread machine we borrowed from LaLa and made some zucchini bread. These kids, especially Owen love to help cook. Anytime he thinks I might be making something, he tries to drag the chair over the counter and has a fit until he gets to do something...I've always said this kid is going to be a chef!...or a rockstar.

I've been trying to make an effort with the potty training. They have both used the potty on numerous occasions, but aren't particualary interested in it. I'm not sure if they're really ready or not, but I am! Three in diapers is a little much.

We are eagerly counting down the days until vacation to upstate New York. We can't wait to escape the heat and be outside and on the river! 10 more days!

Ginger and my other babies.

2009-07-03T19:21:00.001-07:00

It's the end of another week. Paul had the day off so we made an exursion to the Children's Musuem at the mall...and all that fun stuff. Now Paul has a better idea of what the kids and I are up to on some days. I think he had a good time but not sure he's ready to be Mr. Mom any time soon.

Baby Ginger is 5 weeks old today and still all over the place with her sleep She's not getting enough of it, I'm sure. I keep reading about other babies the same age that sleep 5,6,7,8 hours in a row at night...and take a few 3-4 hour naps during the day. Do these babies really exist? If I have had 3 babies now, shouldn't I have at least gotten one baby like that??? I still haven't figured out how you're supposed to get a newborn to sleep with two constantly-shreiking 2 year olds. I'm open to suggestions :)

The twins are doing OK with Ginger. Most of the time they are indifferent to her, although I'm starting to see a little reaction from Lilly. For instance, Lilly now calls herself a baby, asks to be fed and rocked quite frequently, and is constantly wanting her binky - something she hasn't used in two years. I'm trying to indulge her a little bit, but I have to say it's getting old. One funny thing is that Ginger is exclusively breastfed, yet both kids now drink from baby bottles on a regular basis. Note bottles and binky in picture below. Ginger has 4 binkies and I'm lucky to find one most days - not because I am losing them, but because I have two pint-sized binky theives, ugh!

I don't beleive it has rained since before Ginger was born..so for over a month now. So Mommy made rain!

I can already tell Ginger is going to be another Daddy's girl. She smiles and "giggles" for him already! She just started smiling this week, and it's adorable!

So I got brave and let the kids do some "cooking" last week. I got that Monkey Munch recipe from the Jon & Kate show to make (which incidentally, the recipe is also on the side of the Chex box -who knew?). I waited until Daddy got home for backup. We let the kids stir the melted peanut butter and chocolate into the chex, and even shake the powdered sugar bag. They were quite proud of themselves. They were not so happy when I did not let them eat ALL of it in one sitting.

This is what we wish Ginger did more of. But this week was definitely better than last!

My happy girl!

I hope everyone has a happy 4th! We don't have any grand plans but hope to take a trip to our neighbors pool again. And sleep.

Future Firefighters

2009-06-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

We had a fun day today! Our "twins club" hosted a playgroup at the firestation today, and it was quite the hit - who needs Disneyworld!? The firemen were great guys and good sports, being swarmed with about 2 dozen or more toddlers.

Anyone who knows Owen knows he is a quite the fan of any big truck, he calls out "big trucks", cement trucks, fire trucks, dump trucks, tractors, and I'm sure a few others, every time we hit the road. Out WONDERFUL Aunt Lala was gracious enough to accompany us - thanks Lala!

The firemen loved Ginger! I can't see policemen cooing over a baby but these guys did.

Lilly's favorite part....sitting in the AC, on the fireman's recliner, eating "wackers", and they turned on Nickelodean for her. She's still feeling a little under the weather...

Two days left in the week. I'm attempting a solo (well except for two year old twins and a newborn) trip to the library tomorrow, and we have a playdate set for Friday. It's good to have something planned and get back in the swing of things!

Why we love Daddy!

2009-06-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Who'd of thought three years ago on this day, Paul would now be the proud Daddy of three kids?!?! In three years we went from wondering if we'd ever have kids, to having a houseful! Luckily, Paul is a natural when it comes to being a great daddy, and we are all so lucky that he is ours! So without further ado....

REASONS WE LOVE DADDY!

He's the best tickle monster there is!

He gets up EVERY morning with Lilly and Owen and get's them O's and milk, and lets mommy sleep a little longer...

He doesn't mind it when we call him at work 20 times a day :)

He's a great chef - especially when he makes us a big breakfast on the weekends.

He makes the best bubbles at bath time!

He's a great provider.

He is so very patient!

He checks on all his babies every night before he goes to bed, just to make sure they're OK.

He'll read the same book over, and over, and over, and over, because we ask him to.

He throws us up in the air and pushes us really high on the swings!

He loves us so very much, and shows us and tells us this.

We love you Daddy!

Here are a few other pics from the last week or two...

Sprinklers!

Baby Ginger is now 3 weeks old! We've been dealing with some reflux lately so she's not been a happy camper. We're doing some things to help and hopefully we'll see a change soon. She slept 4 hours straight last night....longest stretch yet.

"Baby Lilly"

What else can you do when the heat index is 108F? Eat ice!

Grandma Webb came down to help this week. She was a good sport and threw a pool party while mommy & Ginger stayed in the AC. Thanks Grandma!

"Aunty" Michelle came to meet Ginger, and came bearing gifts....strawberry tarts from Cafe Eccell in College Station - can you say yum!?

First week home.

2009-06-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

It has been exactly one week since Ginger has been home, and I have to say, Paul and I are enjoying our babymoon (is that what you call it?). One newborn is SO different than TWO, and we are really enjoying just getting to snuggle with her as much as we want. As I sit here writing, Ginger is taking a snooze on the swing (it's not moving but she really likes it), and the twinks are taking a nap. Aunt Laura has been helping the past few days but is gone now, and Paul will be home to get the twins up from their naps since I can't lift them out of their cribs. So, the house is nice and QUIET!

Ginger and I met Daddy for her first checkup appointment this morning. This girl has gained almost a pound since birth, which is pretty impressive I think. She was 7lb 2 oz at birth and is now exactly 8 lb. Hmmm...maybe I should be bottling and marketing my high calorie breast milk?? Needless to say she is a good nurser. She is not sleeping more than three hours at a time, especially at night, but we are doing OK with our sleep and not too tuckered out.

Ginger snoozing with Aunt LaLa

Our new family!

Paul and I both truly love our new family of five, and really feel completed. In fact, I love having this baby so much I almost wish I hadn't got my tubes tied...but I'm sure that's just the hormones talking :) We did lots of errands together on Saturday and it was fun to be out and about together. Needless to say it will be awhile before I attempt to take the trio out by myself, but I'm up for the challenge just as soon as I feel comfortable lifting Lilly & Owen again. I know the twins are getting a little cabin fever right now, but we do have a big Target/Lunch outing planned for Thursday when Laura is helping us again - it's the little things right???

Everyone asks how Lilly and Owen are adjusting, and I have to say pretty good. I know they are a little bored being at home so much, and Owen especially misses momma putting him to bed, but we are really trying to give lots of hugs and snuggles, and they really love baby Ginger. They get very concerned every time she cries, and are always asking where she is. Lilly is going through quite a princess phase right now, but that started before Ginger is here. Every little time she doesn't get her way, she is on the floor faster than you can count to three, face down on her tummy, pouting. She doesn't cry or scream, and she doesn't get any attention from us when she does this, so hopefully it will be shortlived. A highschool friend on Facebook, posted an identical picture of her daughter doing the exact same thing, and I have to say it made me feel really good, is that bad?

Baby Brown is here!

2009-05-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

And it's a.....................

GIRL!!!!!!!!

Ginger Aileen Brown made her way into the world:

Friday, May 29th at 1:08 am
7 lb, 2 oz
41 weeks
perfect!

Ginger decided to take matters into her own hands and not wait around for a scheduled c-section- that's my girl! I started having contractions around 2 am Thursday morning. I was cautiously getting excited about really being labor, since it's what I wanted after all (going for a VBAC) and I was down to the wire with my section scheduled the next day (41 weeks) .The contractions increased throughout the day so we finally went to the OB around 4:30, to confirm that, yes, I was in labor! I was still not dilated and doing fine, so she suggested we walk the mall and eat dinner for a few hours, then proceed to the hospital around 7:00. We did just that and arrived at the hospital to find I was ONE cm dilated woohoo! Not much but more progress than I'd ever made before! Again, it was suggested to keep walking, this time around the hospital. I'm in pain at this point but not awful. Well we walked the halls about 20 minutes and everything became suddenly unbearable. We went back to triage and told the nurse I needed to be admitted and get an epidural. At this point, she checks and I'm 2cm..and in pain! Suddenly Paul sees his wife turn into a crazy, animalistic, screaming person as the contractions start piling on top of each and I am in pain like have never experienced. Seriosuly, it's kind of funny now, but I was SCREAMING and holding on to dear life to the side of the bed, uncontrollable. Finally, about 20 minutes later, a nurse comes gets me, takes me to my room, checks me, and I'm at 7cm in that short of time, contracting every minute. She was a godsend, and got me a little under control with managing the pain and helping me focus. At the same time, she is barking out orders to get everything ready, calling my OB to get here ASAP, setting up a warmer, etc ,etc. Oh, and the best part is she got the anesthisiologist there ASAP and lied to him about how far along I was so he would still give me the epidural! I love nurses :) My OB comes, breaks my water...tons and tons and we wait. Now all of a sudden the contractions are not on top of each other, but still coming, but everything calms down a little. Next, she adds a very small amount of pitocin, but it doesn't change what my body is doing already.

By now it's about 9:00 I think, and we are all just chilling out a little, realizing baby isn't coming quite as fast as we thought. Although it seems like it was only 20 minutes, it was more like three hours that we wait. I can't get dilated past 8, and every contraction I have, baby's heart rate starts to dip, but always comes back up. My OB offers a c-section at this point, but I'm still hopefull for my VBAC so refuse unless she thinks baby or me is in danger. She is very cautious with her VBAC deliveries. She gives me another half hour or so, and then it's not my choice any more. Baby's heartrate is not good and it's on to emergency c-section. Ginger came into the world at 1:08 kicking and screaming, and is perfect, that's the only thing that matters at this point. Come to find out, she was "brow-faced" in the birth canal. Meaning that instead of the top of her head facing the top of the birth canal, it was more like her eyebrow and nose area. If you look at the pictures of her forhead, you can see a bruise where the internal fetal monitoring was done. That monitor is supposed to hit the top of their scalp, so it kind of tells you how she was positioned. I didn't get my VBAC, but my little girl still got to choose her own birthday, I definitely got a taste of what labor was like, and we are here and healthy! Or at least for awhile...

We are back in my room and I get to nurse Ginger for the first time, she takes to it perfectly and everything is great. We are snoozing a little and around 4:00 my nurse notices my blood pressure dipping I guess. She starts to check it every 5-10 minutes and it continues to dip. Apparently I have lost all color at this point, and am spacy. Next thing she is ordering labs to check my blood oxygen (I think) and calling my OB, and waiting for the results. I guess the first results weren't too bad but she is still monitoring my BP like crazy, and by this time Dr. Johnson is here...not a good sign at 5:00 in the morning. All I know is that my BP is dipping down to 60/30 and they are talking about internal bleeding. I'm really scared at this point because I don't really understand just how big of a deal this is, or how concerned I should be. Next thing I know I'm being rushed down the hall yet again to the OR. This time I'm put under general anesthesia, leaving Paul our new baby alone and scared as well.

I awake to that awful coughing of getting the tube pulled out of your throat. I'm just happy to be awake, I was really scared. Dr. Johnson opened me up again where the section was, and found lots of internal bleeding. It was all removed, but they still couldn't find where it came from. She double stitched all the work from the section/tubal just to be safe, and watched for a good 20 minutes to make sure there was no more bleeding - there wasn't. I received two blood transfusions. She said my uterous looked good and that me previous section scar was fine, so in the end we have no idea why I bled. I ask and she says this has NEVER happened to a patient before.

Friday was a big fog for me, but I was feeling much better Saturday afternoon and today is even better. We should be home on Tuesday. Ginger got all bottles on Friday, so we've been struggling getting her to nurse since yesterday, but I'm grateful she seems to have turned the corner and is doing great!

So, we are all here and happy and healthy, and grateful we can say that! Lilly and Owen have visited baby Ginger twice and seem to like her so far. I'm sure Tuesday will be interesting to say the least. They have been having tons of fun with both sets of grandparents but we miss them and I know they miss us too. I can't wait for our new family to all be together on Tuesday!

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I love reading everyone's birth stories so was compelled to post mine as well.

Check back often for photos!

Jennifer :)

Yes!

2009-05-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

I am still pregnant, but hopefully not for long. I have an appointment in the morning, and I'm thinking it will be decision time! My due date is actually Friday.

39 weeks...hoping this baby isn't as big as it looks in my tummy!

I love this picture of Lilly, it says a lot about her attitude and personality. This girl is definitely into style, which if it wasn't so cute, would also be a little scary. She is constantly wearing my shoes around the house and will be quite verbal on wearing a pretty dress versus a not so pretty one - seriously you can't fool her. I tried to put on a little knit polo dress on her yesterday, and apparently it wasn't cute enough. She saw another dress I hadn't put away yet ( that really was much cuter), and insisted on wearing it instead, because it was a "pincess dess." What can I say, I choose my battles.

This morning we went to a fun playgroup at an indoor gym type place for todders. They had a lot of fun with all the differnt activities, toys, and BUBBLES! And I have to say, they played some good music for the moms, not toddler stuff, so it was enjoyable. Lilly was dancing to the music and it was so funny....anytime music comes on, she is getting her groove on.

We are having a lot of fun with our swimming pool. I don't get it out unless I have help, but it's amazing how long two tots can be entertained in about 3 inches of water. Now if only there was a bubble machine attached to the pool...

These are all the pictures I've taken in the past 10 days or so, pretty bad I know. Here's hoping I have a reason to take a ton of pictures in a few days or so. Until then, we're going to make sure and enjoy the pleasant weather we've been granted this week. Highs in the low 80's and low humidity - it feels great!

Fun week!

2009-05-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

We've been having lots of fun lately! Trying to sneak it all in before we are at home with a new baby for awhile. I will be 38 weeks pregnant tomorrow, and again, this kiddo is in no hurry to come out. We might proceed with a c-section at 39 weeks, but are still on the fence. This hot weather is making me very thankful that this pregnancy is almost over. I don't know how all the August mommies do it!

The twinks are napping now. I usually let them unwind to their favorite, Max & Ruby, for a few minutes before naptime. This is them in "the zone."

We went to the mall yesterday with Grandma Brown and Aunt Lala and had a great time with the playground, musuem, lunch, and of course the carousel. I definitely could not have done it without them, thanks guys! We were lucky to keep them awake on the way home, they were pooped! One perk of the swine flu scare is that we were the ONLY people at the playground when we got there - that never happens! The musuem also had a nice clorox smell and no field trip kids either, so it was nice.

Lilly and Aund LaLa

We went to the antique show in Montgomery Saturday. Owen found his buddies once again and they were gracious enough to let him practice the fiddle again. He looks scared and shy in the picture, but he loves it and could seriously listen to the music all day. He stands there and taps his foot to the music, it's adorable!

The outing was not complete without some kettlecorn!

AND peach cobbler!

So if anyone has tips for inducing labor that don't involve sex, castor oil, or pineapple, send 'em my way! Hope everyone has is well and has a great weekend. Jennifer :)

A great visit and more.

2009-04-30T12:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am still VERY pregnant. I promised myself I wouldn't be so impatient, but if you know me, that's a hard thing to do! I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow, and if tator tot, has any say in it, I will probably still be pregnant in June..he/she is VERY happy in my tummy! My OB has offered to proceed with a c-section as early as next Friday, the 8th - yikes! But I think I am going to hold off for at least a little longer.

This weekend my oldest friend came to visit, and it was SO great to see her! Angie and I met in 4th grade, and went through the rest of our "schooling" together until college. That makes 22 years of friendship, if I did the math right :) She brought her youngest son Ethan down too, and I think we did a decent job of entertaining him. She lives in Dallas but is soon moving back to Oklahoma, so I'm glad we got to have a little time together just on our own. I'm so glad you came, girl!

I just got Lilly out of her crib from naptime...I could hear her saying "Hey! How you doin?" to noone in particular. Luckily Owen sleeps through her waking-up talking as long as I don't wait too long to get her. Her other newest phrase is answering "I not know Mommy" when I ask her a question...too cute!

Owen is into their new refrigerator magnet letters. He suprised us by being able to identify most of them by pointing. Lilly has known all of hers for awhile, but Owen also knows quite a few it seems. You can tell he's really enjoying learning them so we're working on that.

The twinks have both picked up on kissing boo-boos to make them "aw betta", which is adorable, and also really comes in handy. I don't mind demands for kisses if thats all it takes to stop the crying!

Paul and I are going on a real live date tonight, so I have to go take a shower or something! Here are some pics from the week.

Feeding the HUGE catfish behind Sam's Boat at Lake Conroe.

Angie and Ethan

22 years of friendship :)

The BEST daddy!

"Painting" the driveway with water (aka paint).

Playgroup and Preggo Poll!

2009-04-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

We had a fun morning at a twin's playgroup today. We got to play outside with tons of other kiddos and had lots and lots of new toys to play with!

What? No one told mom their was going to be a swimming pool!

This water table was pretty fun!

Lilly wasted no time in findng the perfect accessories for her outfit. She arrived wearing a pink bow, and within minutes was sport of flapper head band and pearls.

We've been in an inground pool before, but we think this is MUCH more fun!

How come we don't have a pool Mom!?!?

Fearless Lilly as always!

Hmm...I think I'll know what we'll be doing this weekend! After we got home and woke from naps, all I heard from Lilly & Owen was "pay water" and "ammy's House" which I think meant Emma's house? So thanks Danielle for a great time!

I had my weekly OB appointment yesterday and all is well! We also had an US afterwards to check the estimated weight. During these appointments they also check on things (mommies you know what I mean) to see if our little "tator tot" has plans to make an appearance any time soon. Well, it appears this little one is REALLY happy in my tummy, so I'm not holding my breath for an early arrival, but a girl can always hope right? I right at 36 weeks, and the baby measured right at 6 lbs. That means around an 8 lb baby at 40ish weeks, which is what I kind of figured from the beginning. The women in my family do not make small babies...except for the twin thing.

It's NOT a basketball! 36 weeks...

OK, so let's have a little fun and take a guess on the sex of the baby. My gut feeling from the beginning has been that it's a girl, but I'm the only one who seems to think so. You can vote on the front page of the blog (if I did it right!).

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T19:01:00.000-07:00

I am just sitting here relaxing after a great, long weekend. Seriously, it felt more like a whole week than just three days, and I mean that in a good way. I think it felt longer because Paul and I got so much accomplished around the house, and we also had time to enjoy ourselves and visit with friends too. I'm pretty sure I've got the "nesting thing" going because it's not like me to want to tear the house apart and organize and clean, but that's exactly what we did. I feel so much better to get it all done, and the house looks good too. AND, we are pretty much ready for tator tot's arrival, just in case he/she decides to make an early appearance. And, according to every stranger we met in public this weekend, there is no way I'm going to stay pregnant for six more weeks, and the general consensus is that it's a boy... I forget the reasoning. Should we have a poll? I'm still sticking with girl!

We took part in some Easter festivities last weekend with our multiples club. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a great time. We even stopped for donuts on the way, and that was quite a hit. They had never been in a donut shop before, and I'm pretty sure they were wondering why we'd be holding out on them!

The Easter egg hunt was at a park with a great playground, and there were also bunnies!

I was kind of wondering if the tots would pick up on the whole finding eggs and putting them in your basket, but I guess that is innate -they had no problem at all, especially Lilly! She was so mesmerized with the eggs she even put all of Owen's in her basket as well when he wasn't looking. And this was before she knew the eggs were filled with stuff.

I think these are our first ever pics with the Easter bunny. Lilly thought he was great, which was quite suprising after the whole Santa pic fiasco at Christmas. I think Owen prefers Santa...

Bunnies!

The Easter Bunny was sitting near the bunnies. When Lilly saw him, she just took off and got in his lap. Luckily the people actually waiting in line were not too perturbed..

We had fun today as well and let the kids hunt eggs in the yard this afternoon, once the bad weather was gone. I'm pretty sure they would hunt eggs everyday if they could. Paul made a great dinner for the fam tonight, and we are enjoying what's left of our weekend.

Momma hit's the big 3-1 tomorrow so I guess I need to savor my last few hours of being 30...but really, once you're out of your 20's, does it really matter. 31 is pretty anticlimatic. I have shed no tears about it, unlike last year! I can't even have any birthday cake thanks to my gestational diabetes- boohoo! We're meeting Daddy for lunch tomorrow, but I get a facial and pedicure on Tuesday, so I am definitely looking forward to that!

Hope you are all well! Goodnight.

Wild Weekend

2009-03-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

We headed off to Dallas to visit some good friends this weekend. We hadn't seen Uncle Mikey since last May, so it was great to visit him and see his new house too! We got to see our friends Heidi and Joe also, as well as their kiddos. We finished up on Sunday with Jenni and Tyler, who we hadn't seen in about 3 years. We had a great weekend, and Lilly & Owen did really well.

For anyone who knows me, I'm pretty strict with naptimes and bedtimes, to say the least. I can honestly say that in the over 1.5 years they've had a 7:15 ish bedtime, they have NEVER stayed up past 8:00, and that's only been a few times. Well.....I decided to let loose, although not totally by choice, and just enjoy the weekend, and go with the flow. That resulted in my tots going to bed at around 10 PM TWO nights in a row - does it get any crazier than that?!?! I know, I'm a wild woman :) They did great, and I'm pretty sure they have recovered at this point, it's nice to know they can be flexible too.

We got to go see Mike and Joe play hockey on Saturday night. I was too busy making sure the tots didn't fall down the stairs, but it was pretty exciting anyhow and I was very impressed that they could ice skate, much less play hockey while doing it.

The highlight of any sporting event, particularly when eaten off the floor.

Abby & Owen kissing on demand...but still so cute!

Heidi, holding down the fort...

Chillin.

Fashions by Lilly. Not from Dallas but had to fit it in!

OK, so one of the highlights of staying at Mikey's house was when Lilly prompted Mikey to turn his alarm clock on...and the music blasted. We couldn't get the video camera fast enough - this girl just started rocking, and it was hilarious! I have a feeling we're gonna have to watch this girl when she gets a little older...I see a wild woman in my future!

Birthdays & Gardening...

2009-03-22T19:00:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Paul's 31st birthday this week. It was pretty low key but we had a good time with a dinner on Tuesday night, and then I made Paul's favorite dinner of pizza rolls on Wednesday. I decided to make a silly little banner for Paul and let the kids color it. It was only hours after hanging it on the wall, and after taking pictures of it, that Paul came home and I then noticed my error.....more proof that toddlers and pregnancy are sucking away ALL of my brain cells!

Read carefully...YES, I graduated Cum Laude!

Lilly hanging Elmo streamers.

We were supposed to leave for Dallas Friday afternoon, but unfortunately Owen woke up with some sort of stomach bug that lasted the whole day. Puking in the car never sounds appealing so we have postponed until next week. Luckily, Owen has been just fine the rest of the weekend (of course!).

Sunday we all went down to the garden center to get a start on some projects for the yard. Who would have thought a garden center could bring on so many tears? It was quite a traumatic experience for all of us, I assure you. Not sure why Lilly & Owen were not fans, but needless to say we were ready to get out of there! However, we did have fun in the afternoon working in the yard. It was a gorgous day and we're definitely trying to make the most of days like this before it gets too hot and the mosquitos make their appearance.

Mommy - Official Supervisor

Sporting Mommy's Garden Wear

Oh, and the best part of my day was walking out into the family room this morning, after getting to sleep in, and being greeted by Lilly telling me "good morning!" Love it! You just never know what's going to come out of their mouths at this age.

Take me out to the ballgame...

2009-03-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

Today was a great, but exhausting day. We did one of those things you always "dream" about doing someday, when you have kids - taking them to a ball game! This was their first Aggie game. We went to see the Aggies take on the Baylor Bears at Olson Field, and although I didn't actually watch much of the game, I hear we won, so that made it even better.

Lilly and Owen usually nap like clockwork at 12:30 each day...and the game started at 1:05, so we we kind of knew what we were getting into, but you gotta live a little right? All in all, everything went as well as could be expected. We sat on the very top row, and took many trips up and down the stairs - not too much fun when you're 7 months pregnant, but we survived. I think once they passed the trauma of not napping, they got their second winds and had a pretty good time. Luckily Grandpa Brown came with us, so we did have backup.

Oh, and the highlight of the game was definitely popcorn. We even had two kinds, the regular and the kettle corn. That alone got us through at least 3 innings.

I think he missed a piece...

So I'm not sure we'll be taking in another game as a family this spring, but I'm glad we got to do it, and can't wait to do it again next year!

Strawberries!

2009-03-09T19:03:00.001-07:00

Something I've always looked forward to is taking the twins to go pick strawberries! We decided Saturday was the day, and got up bright and early to beat the crowds. Lilly and Owen LOVE strawberries, so I figured this would be fun for them. We didn't stay out there too long, as it was a gusty day, and Lilly is not a fan of the wind, it scares her. But I'm glad we got to go, and the kids have been enjoying reaping the fruits of their harvest.

Try taking that box of strawberries from him, I dare you!

Yummy!

After the strawberry picking, we headed into Montgomery for their first Saturday festivities. Owen once again made friends with the musicians. He was so fascinated but being shy, then when the fiddle player asked him if he wanted to help "play", he ran up there! This little guy will be a musician some day, watch out!

Pretending to be shy...

Pitiful, Peeing, and Playing

2009-03-01T19:21:00.000-08:00

The last week has brought on some sort of weird fever virus in this house. Not only did Lilly and Owen get it, Daddy even got a taste of it and had to stay home from work because he was sick - something he rarely does. Luckily, the only effect for the kids is a fever and a little tiredness. It's really weird, they'll be totally fine one minute, and then as pitiful as can be and running a 102 degree fever five minutes later. It's been going on for a week now and we are really ready to say bye bye to this bug!

Talk about pitiful...neither of them budged for over 2 hours.

In between fevers, we did have time to play...

One minute we are having a great time...

The next minute, not so much!

Oh, and onto our potty progress. Believe me, I'm definitely not pushing it, but why not give them the opportunity and a little candy if it moves things along. Lilly has peepee'd in the potty a good half dozen times and Owen really enjoys sitting on his. I still haven't figure out why they insist on being as naked as possible to sit on their potties, but whatever makes them happy...

The best way to spend half an hour on a slow day...

And in other news, I am happy to announce I am officially in my third trimester now. Things are finally starting to seem real now :) I have recieved no less than three "anytime now, eh?" comments from strangers this week. I have mixed feelings on this - first of all at least it confirms my own feelings that my belly is freaking huge, but second of all it is just depressing. I guess it's a good thing I never left the house when I was pregnant with the twins. Of course, it didn't give any urges to the sackers at the grocery today to sack my groceries, much less help me to the car - what's a girl have to do to get some help?! Oh, and in case you were wondering, the crazy home-schooling stranger (no offense to home-schoolers) on the bread aisle has informed me that I'm having a girl. I also got introduced to her three children and told while the school system is bad. That's about it. Hope you all enjoyed the weekend!

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-14T19:05:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a nice Valentines Day. No celebrating here, as Lilly has had a fever that started yesterday, but seemed much better today. We mostly stayed around the house, but did get to play outside in the afternoon.

We let the kiddos open their little Valentines bags after naps today. Presents are still a little confusing to them...I really should know by now not to give them more than one gift at a time. They are so enthralled with each item, they don't want to move on... Their favorite present by far was a new toothbrushes. My kiddos have been facinated with personal hygiene for the past few weeks so we are constanty washing hands and brushing teeth. I'm sure I'll be wishing for these days in a few years. They also each got their first underwear....hey I can try right?!?!?!

Once the rain came, we let them make some cookies. That means letting them put precut cookie dough on a sheet and shaking some sprinkles on them. I had already made a batch while they were napping - we made the mistake of doing this once before and they went into complete meltdown mode when the cookies had to go in the oven and they didn't get instant gratification.

Last weekend we had the best Saturday morning. We went to the 1st weekend in historic Montgomery (which is about 5 minutes from us, lol). They have a farmer's market and some live music. We also walked to the park for some fun. It was a gorgous day and it was nice to be out as a family!

Always time for kisses for Daddy!

25 weeks.

Future musician making himself at home.

It was not fun trying to get Owen to leave the music, but he was trying to climb up on stage and play all the old mens' guitars. Tears all the way home...

Lilly & Owen are 2!

2009-02-03T17:53:00.000-08:00

I can't beleive my babies turned two on Sunday! Actually I have so much fun watching them grow and learn at such a fast pace, it doesn't really make me too sad to see them getting older. They are still in need of lots and lots and lots of mommy time and mommy hugs, so I'm trying to enjoy that, knowing some day that won't be the case. We had some friends over for a birthday party, and it was a great time. Luckily it was a beautiful day so we got to spend most of the time outside playing on the new swingset Paul and Grandpa Brown worked so hard to build. The better pictures are on Paul's camera so I'll post more soon.

Lilly woke up on the day of her party and started shrieking when she saw some of her wrapped presents sitting out. She even knew the word and was screaming "pesen!!!!" She totally gets the unwrapping of gifts, which is good, because brother isn't quite as excited about that.

We let Lilly pick her own cupcake on her actual birthday, Sunday. I think she wanted them ALL.

Owen also got a late birthday "gift" on Monday....a 102 fever that doesn't want to go away. Little man had to miss "cool" today because of it, which didn't upset him too much (he's not a fan), but he's been quite pitiful the past few days and I'm hoping he turns the corner tomorrow.

Oh, and last but not least, Mommy gave them new haircuts yesterday to get ready for their birthday photos. Hey, I was feeling frugal, and that way we didn't have to leave the house. I'd give myself a C. Paul was pleasantly suprised when he got home, I think he was assuming the worst! He's yet to let me get my scissors on him, I can't say I blame him :)

Lilly before.

Lilly after...she seems happy with it :) Don't worry I went back and did a littel tweaking after this picture.

Owen after. I didn't get a before, and by this time he was feeling lousy.

New Years Resolutions. Is it too late?

2009-01-24T18:14:00.000-08:00

Hmmm.....well I think my 2009 Resolution is to blog more than, oh, once a month. I love reading everyone else's blog, and I don't know why it's so hard for me to update mine. So, since I'm just now setting resolutions, I guess I might as well go ahead and post a few Christmas pics.

One of the highlights of the season this year was the introduction of candy canes. Lilly constantly asks for a "can cane" even a month later. They make quite a mess when eating them, but oh well, they are cute!

One of their shared gifts was this art easel. It's chalkboard on one side, and paper table on the other. They play with it every day.

Santa does not wrap gifts, so they were both excited to see this toy under the tree first thing! So excited they had no interest in unwrapping anything else.

OK, well that's it for now. If anyone out there is actually reading this, give a girl some positive reinforcement and leave a comment!

Our Christmas Card to You

2008-12-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

Paul, Jenny, Lilly, Owen & "tator tot" want to wish you a very Merry Christmas! This month has flown by in a way, due to a bout with a horrible stomach flu, and then two weeks later a cold I can't get rid of. I am finally starting to get into the Christmas spririt, and am really looking forward to seeing my babies's faces on Christmas morning. They are amazing kids, and I am so thankful to have them in my life, even on those sub-par days :) They never cease to amaze me by using a word I didn't know they new, or deciding to jump for the first time ever. They are going to start Mother's Day Out the first week of January, and I suspect they are going to have a blast. I think I will too :)

We are looking forward to 2009, and to having a new addition to the family. We have so much to be thankful for, and hope that 2009 brings you and your family health and happiness.

Much love,

The Browns

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

Well we survived Ike. We did lose power for 5 days and needless to say we were outta there within 24 hours of the no power thing. My friend Michelle was nice enough to put it up for THREE days. We didn't want to wear out our welcome, so then we headed to Dallas for the duration. I wish I had taken a single picture during this, but I didn't.

We're excited to go trick or treating tonight! I'll follow up with some pictures of that by Christmas, I'm sure :)

Until then, enjoy the cute photos below.

Jenny :0

Have you seen my children???

First popsicles!

Um, how come nobody ever told me about ketchup before???

Owen at the zoo. He LOVES fish!

Blackmail photo (note Owen in princess nighty)

Lunch at the Children's Musuem

Where did the time go???

2008-09-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

Oops!

Wow, I can't beleive it's been so long. How do these other people post every day???

We had a great time on our vacation. We went to Vermont and upstate New York for a few weeks and got to enjoy the beautiful weather. We got to visit Aunt Patty and cousins Dave and Jeff, and then drove over to the cottage and spent two full weeks there. As always, we were not looking forward to returning to the Texas heat, and I won't even discuss how flying with two 1.5 year olds went, except to say we were "those" people.

The highlight of the trip was when Paul bid, and won, a boat at the Clayton Antique Boat Auction. Our whole trip was actually scheduled to attend this, so it was a good possibility that we were going to be boat owners before leaving. We are now the proud owners of 1961 Lyman, 24.5 feet long, named the "Honeyduck" by it's previous owner. We have to keep the name, otherwise it's bad luck, not to mention a lot of money to have it repainted on the back of the boat. It's a great family boat because it has very high sides so no chance of anyone falling over. We got to spend a lot of time on the boat while we were there, but of course it made leaving even that much harder. In case you were wondering, yes, the boat is staying in New York. So now you're probably thinking "you bought a boat, and you're leaving it in New York, where you only spend two weeks a year?" The answer is yes! We are hoping that Paul's parents will use it as much as they want, and we're also hoping that we eventually figure out a way to spend much more than two weeks up there per year. If we could just figure out a way for Paul not to have to go to work...

Since we've been back, we've been to our 18 month appointment, where the pediatrician said Lilly and Owen are definitely long and lean. They are doing great. Lilly weighs around 23.7 lbs and Owen 24.4 lbs, or something like that.

Lilly is turning into a big girlie-girl. Her favorite activity, besides watchign Elmo, is to play in my closet, trying my shoes on and draping my clothing all over her. She loves to carry a purse around as well. Oh, and one of her newest words is "shoes!"- go figure.

Owen has some words as well, but has quite the animal noise vocabulary and is a pro at pointing to body parts. He is still a total momma's boy and Daddy is being a good sport, but would like some attention too!

We joined the YMCA last week, after I found out they provided free child care while you work out! What rock have I been living under???? The is a great way for us to get out of the house, and Lilly really enjoys her playtime at the wall, and Owen has had a few fits where they had to come get me, but I'm sure this will pass......I hope it will pass. The Y has a great kids pool and playground, so I'm looking forward to getting to do those things as a family on the weekend.

The weather is finally a little more tolerable, so we've been able to start going outside to play some. Lilly is a master at the slide, she just loves it! Mostly, they just love playing in all the dirt, but it's good to be in the fresh air.

I hope everyone is doing great, and I promise to post more often, so please check back.

Jennifer :)

Lots of new things

2008-07-17T18:06:00.000-07:00

We have been up to lots lately! For starters, Lilly is (finally) walking at 17 months! She finally got the confidence to let go last week and has been walking like a champ since - yay Lilly! This means she will be sporting many adorable dresses from now... I always felt a little guilty making her crawl in a dress.

Well Paul left the house for a few hours last Sunday. When he came home, he discovered a very definite set of teeth marks on Lilly's arm...now I'm not a forensic scientist, and you'll have to forgive the fuzzy picture where we tried to get a close-up up the bite marks, but we're pretty sure we'ved found the culprit. Not to mention Paul and I don't bite.

4 on top, 3 on bottom

4 on top 3 on bottom

And this is poor Lilly' arm....

The bad thing is when Paul asked when and how it happened...I couldn't really give a definite answer. They scream and meltdown several times a day, so I honestly didn't even notice. Plus, Lilly is a tough gal..not a cryer so I guess she didn't make much ado over it.

This picture of Owen was taken a few days ago...too cute! Daddy says we have to train them young. I got them each their own broom so they could help, but he grabbed the rag all by himself :)

Cinderfella

Owen woke in the night early last week with an awful stomach virus. So bad that the pediatrician sent us to the hospital. Luckily they gave him some medicine to stop the vomiting, and we were in and out in a few hours. I actually took him back again two days later, because he still looked horrible, etc. We're happy to report he's back to his normal self, but last week certainly was a rough one on all of us.

Pitiful little dude just laid on his bed the whole time we were there, too weak to do anything else!

Recovering at home.

Luckily, Lilly did not get sick!

Haircuts and more

2008-06-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

OOPS.
I thought I would post these pics the day they got their haircut, but I didn't. This is probably why I finally gave up on scrapbooking.

Anyways, Lilly and Owen had their first official haircut, with a real hairdresser. They behaved as you would probably expect 1 years getting a hair cut to behave. Needless to say sitting in a big chair with combs and shiny scissors being taunted in front of you is fairly exciting, until they arebeing withheld from you. But we survived.

Before...

Me helping.

I may be cute, but I'm not gonna like it. (Yay! I can see Lilly's eyes again!)

OWEN

Couldn't leave Owen out.

I can't beleive I paid $12 for his hair to be cut.

She even used clippers on him....don't ask. Probably so the haircut would last longer than 30 seconds and I'd feel like I wasn't getting ripped off.

A special thanks to Aunt Laura for going with and being official photographer. I brought my camera too....um, when did I think I was going to take pictures...when I was holding them forcefully again their will, or fighting them for scissors? Thanks Laura!

I hope to be back soon with our photos from our big week in Dallas last week. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Mission Failed

2008-06-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

It's Monday...somehow I always seem to post on Mondays. I'm not sure why that is.

I had a nice weekend out of town with one of my best friends, we've know each other since 4th grade, pretty cool! Anyways, that meant Paul was alone with Lilly and Owen for 32 hours, but who's counting right? He did a great job and they cooperated pretty well for him. Of course he had to show me up by doing all the laundry, making them a huge hot breakfast, etc, etc. I think they all had a good time.

My post title is my story from last week. As any mom who is a nap freak knows, any outings must be carefully choreographed so as not to miss that golden nap window. So last Wednesday I decided to be productive and we left that house at 8 am to go grocery shopping - plenty of time to be back by 10:30, which is our usual nap time , kinda. So....we're in the car and heading home by 9:30. Have I ever mentioned that I live extremely far from any store you actually want to go to...like Target and Kroger? So that means a 20 minute drive each way. You can probably see where this is going...they freaking fell asleep at 9:45 in the car..could not keep them awake for anything! Grrr!!!! The trouble we moms go to, to only have it slap us in the face. But I guess the silver lining is that they actually did take a small nap in the car even once we got home.

Owen is walking everywhere now, and doesn't have to use his arms to steady himself anymore. He will stand while holding a cup and a snack, and you can tell he is so proud. Lilly...my sweet little stubborn girl, still has no interest in walking. We have tried everything including bribery. She stands all day, uses her walker toys all the time, but she still needs that little bit of confidence to let go. I have a feeling when she does, she will never stop, and will be running!

It's 12:15 and they are still sleeping - yay! When they wake, we are off to Chic-Fil-A and Target. Really, what did stay at home moms do before Chic-Fil-A and Target? I feel sorry for them, that's for sure.

Check back next time for first haircut pictures....first hair cuts by professionals that know what they are doing that is. Not haircuts from moms that think "really, they're one, how hard could it be?" We plan on going some day this week.

A week in pictures...

2008-05-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

It's Monday again....sigh. We had a nice, relaxing weekend, though, and the weather was really nice. Owen has been getting more and more brave with his walking. Lilly is taking a step here and there but is still out of her comfort zone - she has to be touching something in order to walk. We spent lots of time on walks and playing outside this weekend, and other than that, just kind of relaxed....as much as you can with two one year olds. They have both learned to climb EVERYTHING. Lilly is a good listener and understands NO, Owen does not. We're off to run some errands and get out of the house this afternoon. Hope everyone is well!

Helping with the laundry.

Cooperating.....rare event.

Monday

2008-05-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Its Monday...again... anyways we have a great couple of weekends. Last weekend we drove to Dallas to see my long lost brother, it'd been 4 years. He flew in from Portland. It was fun to see him interact with the babies, as he's probably never been around one, much less two, but he was a good sport. I think he liked seeing them for the first time.

The weather was unseasonable cool in Dallas, but still nice enough to go to the park. It was so nice being outside and just relaxing. After the park, we stopped by Angie's house (high school friend) and visited them awhile. We don't see each other near enough. We also got to see some old friends, Mike, Joe & Heidi while we were there as well. We hadn't see Joe & Heidi in over two years, and we've all been very busy reproducing during those two years, so it was fun to meet each other's kids for the first time!

In other news, Lilly chipped her cute lil tooth last Monday. It's fine, only upset her for about 10 minutes, but we are going to the dentist on Thursday just to make sure. I don't think anyone but me would even notice it.

Oh, and the biggie, Owen is WALKING! And he's SO dang proud of himself! All day yesterday, (Mother's Day), he was going 6-7 steps at a time, and just loving it. No doubt Lilly will follow soon, they always tend to do things close together.

Not much going on this week, but we are definitely going to make some plans, as otherwise these days get to be really long.

Hope you all are well, I'll post photos soon.

15 months!

2008-05-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

Lilly and Owen were officially 15 months yesterday! We celebrated by going to the doctor for their check-up. Lilly weighed in at 20 lb 4.5oz, and Owen was 20 lb 8.5oz, but was 2 inches taller than Lilly. So..according to the charts Owen is long and lean, and Lilly is a short with a little meat on her bones, go figure.

For further proof that these are indeed our children, we have discovered moles on each of them recently. Owen's is on his rear...after many attemps at trying to wipe a tiny piece of poop off his cheek...I realized that nope, that's staying there, my baby's first mole, hehe. And Lilly's first mole made it's appearance on her index finger. Again, I wiped and wiped, then thought maybe it was a small scab, but it too is here to stay. For anyone who has taken a good look at Paul or mine's skin, it is obvious that these kids don't stand a chance when it comes to moles, poor babies. Who knows, maybe by the time they're our age, there will be a new device that just zaps those suckers right off with no scarring. If there is, they'll have to wait in line behind me.

Honarary Uncle Mikey was kind enough to pay a short visit to us last Thursday. He happened to be in town for work, so stopped by for dinner. It was nice to see him, it'd been way too long! Of course we couldn't let him leave without forcing him to read books to our babies, but he's always a good sport!

Well we're off to the big D this weekend to see my brother, it's been FOUR years. We're looking forward to it! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

What we've been up to

2008-04-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

Lilly and Owen are almost 15 months, and learning lots of fascinating things each day. Paul and I have become amazed out the little sponges they have become, and are always amused and amazed when we see them doing new things all the time. The latest feats have been actually stacking the rings on cones, putting the shapes in the shape sorter, playing kitchen, and trying to put clothes on themselves. Probably all things only a parent could actually find astounding, but we absolutly do! They are not walking yet, but we figure it will be soon. Owen actually did take his first steps a few weeks ago, but has not shown any more interest. I keep hearing it will get harder once they are walking, but dang it they crawl pretty fast so I'm not concerned about that, and I'm ready for it!

I actually let them play on the germ-infested mall playground yesterday. We met up with some of their "friends" and all had a nice time. They have runny noses today....ask me if I'm surprised :) I swore I'd never let a kid of mine play on one of those things, but how easy it is to say all those things when you don't actually have any kids. Here's a few recent picture of the babies in the sandbox....good thing Daddy wasn't there to see what a mess they were!

We're heading to a crawfish boil tomorrow night. Other than that, we plan to lounge around the house most of the weekend. Hope anyone reading has a great weekend!

We are on the net!

2008-04-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Hi friends and family,

I've FINALLY gotten around to setting up something to share more of Lilly and Owen. Please check back often if you want to know what's going on with us.

Love,
Jenny