Danger

Unleashing me in the upcoming season to dress my baby girl is a dangerous dangerous thing. What was that I said about buying less stuff this year? Uh huh, well, allow me to submit a small addendum for that resolution: this, of course, is not to include any buying that must take place in the little girl's clothing department.

Oh. My.

Way. Too. Many. Adorable. Things.

Oh. My.

I hit my local consignment shop today, The Secret Garden. I love shopping consignment and finding killer deals on killingly cute clothes for Noah...and now Anna. I walked out of that store with over a $100 worth of my store credit spent. And oh the rush. Even better, let me brag, is that I have no doubt that all the great clothes I got for Anna (Noah, too, I haven't forgotten my first baby love, Noah) would have cost several hundred dollars in stores...easily. And I had to make myself put away a number of precious things that I knew just weren't going to be practical for a baby that will be crawling and climbing all over by the time she wears them. I spent a LONG time on the girlie side of that shop. And I commented to the owner how funny it was how much bigger the girls' side was than the boys' side.

Anyway, this small step into the world of baby girl's clothes leaves me wondering two things:

1. How is it that little girl's clothes have just never caught my eye before? I guess it is just different when you are shopping for your own little girl.

2. And why didn't anyone warn me how irresistible little girl's clothes are?

Oh. My. Danger indeed!

WPTM #9: Words

What Parenting Teaches Me #9: Words

Lately, Noah is getting adventurous and trying to say so many more words. I mean, he is very aware of words he doesn't know or hasn't said before and he is now trying them on his own initiative. He repeats words at the end of sentences I say. And he is as earnest as a little boy can be. At bedtime he says "Dot. Dot." It took me a couple days and a chance conversation with Josh to discover that he is trying to tell me "Dark." It is just so pleasing to hear him experiment with words, even though he is still not quite as articulate as he would like to be. His "excuse me" comes out "chew me." His "tree fell down" is still just "twee dow." His favorite line from a bedtime book refers to "exercise" and he says it right on cue with an emphatic "eshoosigh." Y'all, it is just music to my ears. Such an adorable process to behold.

I bet you anything the Lord is just as pleased and moved by our own efforts along those lines. Except in our case with Him it would be more like when we pray, or worship, or memorize scripture. Even more so, when we pray scripture back to Him, or use it to encourage, teach, or edify another. Oooh weee, I bet he loves that sound. His very words being echoed back to Him or for Him or about Him. I can just picture his holding back a giant grin over us like I do over Noah. (except in Noah's case I have to hold it back because lately he is NEVER in the mood for me to grin or giggle at him unless that was his express purpose.)

Yay! Proofs!

If you want to sneak a peek at some adorable kiddo pics... visit here. Click on Proofs, Click on Browns, and the password is noah (all in lowercase).

Snow Day Waiting

Well, it is snowing like crazy outside and this just after it rained all night long. Noah's MDO is closed along with all the schools in the area. With the expected icy conditions, I am NOT chancing it by going to the gym or to run the errands I had for today. And that kinda stinks, because we are out of milk (among other things) and Josh is gone until tomorrow sometime. Josh posted on his blog, by the way, if you are into following his sparse but amusing commentary. I keep telling him he needs to post more often.

We had a photographer come over on Saturday to take pictures of Noah and Anna together. She also took a bunch of baby parts shots and I am just dying to see the proofs. They should be up any minute now. I keep checking my email like a stalker.

We bought a new couch on Saturday that should be here in a couple weeks. What fun! I can't wait.

I let Anna cry it out for the first time last night. Some info. I got from the pediatrician said she should not need food to get through the night by this age. So after her 12:30 feeding, I had to grit my teeth and let her scream it out when she was already up again at 3:30. So painful for us both, but she was back asleep within about 20 minutes and slept until 8:00 this morning. I like that!

The ground outside is covered already. This is some snow. Sure brightens up the view from our living room though as opposed to the dreary rainy scape I had just an hour ago.

I signed up for Beth Moore's Esther bible study at the church we think we will be attending for good. Long Hollow Baptist Church. The only downside to it so far is that it is a mega-church. 3 different campuses. Multiple services per campus. BIG congregation. But everything else is real fit for us and the nursery/preschool set up and programs are just awesome. We were surprised how much of a total deal-killer it was for us if the nursery/preschool stuff left us even a bit unnerved. Anyway, looking forward to meeting some friends our age and in our life stage. I may even give the MOPS group a try.

I finished my first book of the year last night. Sacred Parenting. Good book.

Noah is crawling on top of Anna and tossing her toys all over her, so I think I better run and spot him on those stunts.

Family Night

Last night we loaded up and headed out to partake of one of our first "Family Night" activities that restaurants sometimes offer to drum up business on a slow night. Last night, it was Chick-Fil-A for a chance to see Elmo live. (note - technically, it was an Elmo look alike - thankfully, the little kiddos can't tell the difference)

Noah must have hugged and high-fived Elmo 4-5 times during the meal. Of course, I am using the term "meal" loosely. Because seriously, how can a boy focus on food when Elmo is in the house? He ate maybe 3 fries and a few sips of his juice box. Here was how Noah spent his dinner time - scoping out what Elmo was doing across the room.

My 3 great loves showing a little Chick-fil-a love...kind of.

Anna was unmoved by all of such Elmo nonsense. Her look seems to suggest a sort of, "Are you kidding me?" sort of sentiment.

She did however enjoy Noah's kid's meal toy.

Afterwards, we headed out to get Noah a quick haircut. Check out his curly mop.

Then, it happened. As Noah danced around waiting for his turn, he tripped and busted his lip on a chair right there in the waiting area. Blood everywhere. Screaming and crying abounded. Josh got a good bit antsy and wanted to bolt from the place. I, surprisingly, stayed cool and calm and had the girls grab us a wet towel. I took the bloody boy outside to chill out for a second and talk him down from his hysteria. I believe I am even guilty of asking him not to put his bloody lip on my shirt...shame on my vanity. :) We cleaned up the lip, did a quick tooth check, and went back in to tackle that haircut. Here's a shot of Noah's red badge of courage after the mess was over.

(I know I like blogging too much when as he was crying and bloody, I had to fight the urge to snap a quick pic of that very moment to share here...bad mommy, no!)

A lollipop, a balloon, and 3 doting hair salon girls later, Noah was well on his way to a much shorter do.


He did of course still freak out when the spray bottle was used to wet his hair. Such an odd hang-up, if you ask me. Likes to play in the rain, likes to take a shower, likes to splash in baths and pools, still likes to drool all over his chin and shirt, but does NOT like a light spray of water drops in a hair salon. Go figure.

Everything to Me

Y'all, this song makes me emotional every time I hear it because adoption has brought such blessing, such joy into our lives. I just had to document it here and share it. It is by Mark Schultz who was adopted himself and it is written for his birthmother. I first heard this song when my sister-in-law emailed it to me about a year ago I guess and I have loved it ever since. I have a copy on CD that I imagine giving to Noah's birthmother one day when the time seems right for this specific encouragement.

Today it was especially moving for me to hear as I listened to it in the car, because a certain little 2 1/2 year old kept calling out over the music about cows, or train tracks, or Anna, or telling me about the "Totchy" he made at school today. He is my living, breathing, beautiful evidence of the good that choosing life and adoption brings about.

Read

Everything To Me Lyrics

here.

Everything to Me by Mark Schultz
I must have felt your tears
When they took me from your arms
I’m sure I must have heard you say goodbye
Young and so afraid had you made a big mistake
Could an ocean even hold the tears you cried
But you had dreams for me
You wanted the best for me
And you made the only choice you could that night

You gave life to me
A brand new world to see
Like playing baseball in the yard with dad at night
Mom reading Goodnight Moon
And praying in my room
So if you worry if your choice was right
When you gave me up, oh, you gave everything to me

And if I saw you on the street
Would you know that it was me
And would your eyes be blue or green like mine
Would we share a warm embrace
Would you know me in your heart
Or would you smile and let me walk on by
Knowing you had dreams for me
You wanted the best for me
Oh, I hope that you’d be proud of who I am

You gave life to me
A chance to find my dreams
And a chance to fall in love
You should have seen her shining face
On our wedding day
Oh is this the dream you had in mind
When you gave me up
You gave everything to me

And when I see you there
Watching from heaven’s gates
Into your arms
I’m gonna run
And when you look in my eyes
You can see my whole life
See who I was
And who I’ve become

Cuz you gave life to me
A brand new world to see
Like playing baseball with my son late at night
And reading Goodnight Moon
And praying in his room
I'm so grateful that I had this life
When you gave me up
You gave everything to me
Everything to me

Four-Month Notes

Anna turned 4 months old over the weekend. Yay for baby Anna!
To mark the occasion, I have listed a few more comparisons with Noah from when he was 4 months old...

Anna is a little coo bird. She coos and coos - a real chatterbox. Even in the middle of the night. Noah was not at all and what sounds he did make were more gutteral type grunts. Both sounds were precious to us...so, so precious.

Anna rolled over (back to front and front to back) just after 3 1/2 months old...Noah didn't bother with either until 10 months!

Both have special formulas: Anna takes Enfamil Gentlease, whereas Noah was prescribed Enfamil Nutramigen which about broke the bank that first year. Thankfully, Gentlease is the same price as regular Enfamil...and I just discovered a generic Target brand of it that is $10 cheaper per can. That makes for a happy Kimmie!

Anna's already fighting off a double ear infection. Noah's never had one...knock on wood. He's had every other medical issue under the sun though. At least it's felt like that along the way.

Anna gets real impatient and fussy over her toys not doing what she wants them to do or not going in her mouth they way she wants them to. Noah was too relaxed for any of that drama.

We always get comments about Anna's bright eyes and how alert she is. When Noah was her age, the comments were always about all the hair he already had and his intense stares.

Anna uses Lubriderm Intensive Skin Repair lotion. Noah is a Eucerin Sensitive Skin boy.

Noah tried his first baby foods at 4 months old...we are going to wait a little longer for Anna. She is just not ready yet.

A parting shot of our Noah at 4 months...

WPTM #8: Let It Go

What Parenting Teaches Me #8: Let It Go

Noah loves to kick a ball around with me or just by himself in the living room. He loves to bat at a balloon just as much. And in all the rambunctious activity, he inevitably trips over his own feet, or steps on the ball, or leans too far back and hits the floor. You know what his reaction is almost always?

He giggles.
He laughs.
He jumps right back up to resume his play.
Doesn't even skip a beat.

And I thought about how when we, as adults, make a mistake and fall, when we trip up and blunder in any given situation, we tend to get angry, disappointed, insecure, frustrated, discouraged, etc. I know I do, depending on the situation and how many times I have met that blunder.

So I tell myself to learn from Noah's example. Let it go. Laugh. Keep it in context. Move on. Enjoy the moment and the opportunity to try again. Life is too good to dwell on a little set back or slip up. And this is even more true when you know the Lord. I just look at his joyous carefree little face and know that I can have that too. I have to not let age and experience cloud my joy. I may have to work harder to keep that childlike simplicity than Noah does, but I think it might be worth a try. Knowing the Lord affords me that peaceful, joyful existence. I don't wanna waste it.

Couldn't Resist

Recipe: BBQ Chip Chicken

I am NO cook, which is why I loved this simple and quite tasty dish. And to cite my sources....this is one of the meals we got from The Dinner A'Fare I mentioned a couple posts ago. Since it was already prepared I don't have exact measurements of butter, egg, and milk, but if you look at the recipe, you can see that even I could figure out those reasonable amounts. Like I said, super simple.

Crispy Barbecue Chip Chicken
Needed: Uncooked Chicken breasts (marinating in a baggie with liquid egg and milk for a bit - if you can call that marinating), crushed barbecue chips (Lay's style worked well), liquid margarine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Pour crushed barbecue chips onto a plate and roll each chicken breast in chips, pressing them in, to completely cover the chicken.
Place the chip-covered chicken on a foil-lined cookie sheet and pour desired amount of liquid butter over chicken.
Bake, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes or until chicken is done.

All Manner of Snowy Fun

Over this past holiday weekend, we Browns packed up for our first road trip as a family of 4. We headed to Otto, NC just outside of Franklin to visit with my sister and her wonderful family on her husband's side. I'm not gonna say the driving part wasn't painful - it was. But the cabin, the company, the memories, and the fellowship were all so worth it! Emily, Lee, Josh and I got to do a little shopping in Highlands and then have a kid-free dinner at the Dillard House - thanks to Mas, Pas, GGma, and GGpa. What a gift! We forgot to get a picture of that venture, but you wouldn't have wanted to see me all carsick as we drove through the mountains anyway. :) We were lucky enough to enjoy a hearty snow while we were there. Here are some of my favorite shots from the winter-weather festivities:

My sweet little snowbunny:


I still don't think Noah realized how numb his little hands were:


Photo Op with Emily and Natalie:


Awwwww - so picturesque:



Josh prepping another bullet for the snowball fight:


The makings of a snowman that later donned a strawhat - Noah called it Totchy, which is Frosty:


No snowy day is complete without a little sledding!



GGma's and GGpa's fantastic cabin and the fantastic view we enjoyed:



Noah pooped out on the drive back to TN where more snow awaited us.


You probably can't tell from all the smiles and fun that we were having a rough go of it with Anna all weekend...especially at night. She caught a ruthless cold and earned herself a double ear infection to boot. She is pumped full of antibiotics, antihistamines, and tylenol right now though and we are crossing our fingers that we might get to sleep some tonight.

Tidbits, too

Two of my favorite blogging people titled a post this week with Tidbits, so I thought, hey - me, too! I can't seem to pull together any cohesive thoughts anyway. I think I am in a lull since the new year started.

1. Why do things go wrong and break when your husband is out of town? I could make a whole post about the mishaps I endure when Josh happens to be out of town. But today, it was the garage. It won't close. Good grief.

2. NO JOKE - I was behind a mail car today that had this on the back window to identify itself: U.S. MALE. NO JOKE. I thought perhaps it might be a joke, but on closer inspection it was not - it had the "makes frequent stops" sign, the U.S. Mail emblem sticker, a light on top, and it was complete with the steering wheel on the right side. U.S. MALE. Oh, please tell me I was not the only person on the road that noticed it.

3. Noah scratched a kid across the face today at school. I hate that I can't be there to correct it when it happens.

4. I think Anna's eyes are gonna stay blue...and I love that.

5. We joined a gym. For the first time in my life...I have a gym membership. That is so not me...the gym scene...but then again, neither is all the weight I have put on since college, so I guess this should even things out, no? Wish me, wish us, luck. If nothing else, Noah will have a ball on Family Nights getting to play in the warm pool and toss balls around in the gym. Josh is pretty excited about that too. :)

6. I am turning 30 in a month and a half...which is so not me either. :)

7. I read the entire Bible last year...I only skipped Ezekiel.

8. We did the Dinner A'Fare thing again (we used to do it when we lived in GA) and we are loving it. Totally recommend it if you have one of these near your home. That and having the cleaners come has really been a huge help in these early days with Anna.

9. We had two trees cut down in our yard this week and had three stumps ground out. It looks so much better now! You can actually see our house from the front instead of the tree blocking the view.

10. Noah has been talking and crying out and whining in his sleep. It is a little concerning, except for the fact that he doesn't seem to be bothered by it or woken up by it. Other weird fact...you can go in to check on him, his eyes will be open in the bed, but he will not respond...it's like he doesn't even know you are there. Could he be asleep but still have his eyes open? Isn't that a sort of sleepwalking-type behavior? Curious. Memo to me...mention this to his pediatrician at our next visit.

All for now...

Go Ahead - Try Not to Laugh

And if you really listen closely, you will hear Anna giggle twice. :)



Don't ask me why the kid has one slipper on and one off. He does that pretty regularly actually. One sock, one slipper, one shoe. One funny boy. Speaking of my Noah, he had his first dental cleaning today and it was a breeze! Granted, he has been twice before, but he's never actually had a cleaning until now. He was so excited to go after watching a Berenstain Bears and an Elmo episode about the dentist. I chickened out of taking my camera to capture the memory, but wouldn't you know that they took a picture of the visit themselves and gave me a copy. Pediatric dentists are the best. :)

Tidy to a Fault

It is no secret that I like things in their place. I like order, organization, and tidiness. Noah is quickly picking up these habits with a little practice. My heart melts when I see him putting away every last one of his Legos without being told. It skips a beat when we are playing together and Noah wants to switch from a puzzle to a train and he announces to me, "ba", which is - let's put it back. When we were house hunting here in TN, the very room that would be Noah's had a sign hung on the wall. It said, "Don't put it down. Put it away." I think I knew just then that this house had the organizational heritage I was looking for. But there are limits to even that.

Noah has a cold and has become quite proficient at wiping his own nose. But when he's done wiping that drippy, snotty, runny, button-of-a-nose, he then shoves the contaminated tissue RIGHT BACK INTO THE TISSUE BOX. Repeatedly. Even though we keep reminding him that, in this case, we don't put things back where we got them, we put them in the trash instead, his well-trained little mind will not relent. Those nasty tissues keep going back in the tissue box.

Tidy to a fault, indeed.

Currently...

Another twitter-style post for today:

Josh just left with Noah to go ride the carousel at the mall
Noah's next gym class is tomorrow - can't wait!
Josh is home - PRAISE THE LORD!!
Anna has been getting up 4-6 times a night: WHY, LORD, WHY?!
Gonna go see another movie this weekend: Bride Wars
Adding a New Year's Resolution: Buy less stuff and get rid of more
We made some progress with that fallout with my mom/dad
Just got a pot rack and can't wait to get it up
We set up 2 more college saving accts. for Noah and Anna
Go Gators! I just think the world of Tim Tebow
When Noah calls Anna "baby doll" I just melt
Noah has a cold, so combine his cold medicines with his breathing treatments and his allergy medications and his daily vitamin and that makes 15 doses of one thing or another in just yesterday...we have to keep a chart so we don't get lost in them!

Baby Steps in Manners

Now that I sit here to type out this little sound byte from Noah tonight, I am starting to see a theme in my days lately... a poopy potty shot, Anna's worrisome constipation and it's recent, though disturbing, remedy, and now this. So sorry. Such is life with babies and boys when you are a stay-at-home mom.

So, lately I have been trying to teach Noah to say "Excuse me" whenever he passes gas, be it expelled from the northern or southern region of his little body. The way he follows that direction and articulates the "Excuse me" is downright precious although I still can't tell what letters would best represent how he mutters it. The point is, he has been making steady gains in the "Excuse me" department, whereas before he would just giggle (thereby causing me to giggle - thereby encouraging the behavior...thereby I am a bad mommy). We can't have that! And so we have "Excuse Me" training camp in progress these days. And Noah has been acing it!

So tonight Kimberly came over to visit for a bit and see Noah's Christmas goodies. While they played puzzles and towers, Noah (being every bit a boy) shamelessly passed the bad gas. No shock there. I say, "Noah, what do you say?" I fully expected him to recite our well-rehearsed "excuse me." No, no. The little stinker just grinned for our company and proudly said, "Poo Poo!"

Good grief. One step forward, two steps back.

Comic Relief

Just needed something to make me grin this morning. Forgive me. Forgive her. :)

Potpourri

Josh was recognized in a big way at his conference in D.C.
Josh shaved the goatee
I am home alone with the bambinos for the WEEK!
I let Noah have his paci back when sleeping while Josh is gone
Potty Training took several steps back...so I put the potty away
Finished with that whole breastfeeding/pumping routine finally
I bought something on Ebay for the first time this week
First family road trip in two weekends to Otto, NC
Anna is fixated on blowing bubbles all the time
Took Anna to the dr. last week about constipation still
Violated is the only way to describe how they fixed it! Violated!
But it made a world of difference - so THANK YOU DR. MILLER
My life's curse: If it can be dropped, I will drop it
I am loving the rainy weather we are having this week
Anna's been getting up 3-4 times a night lately...why, why, why?!
Noah is not colorblind after all - I was worried that he was
I think I bruised a rib or something - it hurts to breathe and move
I need a nap and it's only 7:45 in the morning

WPTM #7: In His Eyes

What Parenting Teaches Me #7: In His Eyes

Well actually, this installment in my WPTM series is more like "What a Parenting Book Teaches Me". I am reading Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas right now and LOVING it...totally recommend it. Although it is not so much about parenting as it is about what we learn from parenting and how we can grow spiritually from parenting. Right up my alley, no?

I had to share this excerpt. Wish it was my observation - I loved the parallel so much!

Gary describes a young father watching his 3 year old son in the kitchen getting into all manner of things that are really not allowed for him to do (climbing onto counters, getting out glasses, pouring from a heavy milk carton, getting into the cookie jar, etc.). The child makes a number of messes and breaks things in the process - you can imagine all those details. The child begins to leave the kitchen with the cookies and milk. Begin quote:

The father stepped out to intercept his son, only to be greeted by a huge smile. "Here are your cookies, Dad. I love you."
In this story, I want you to place yourself in the son's position, not the dad's. We're the little child, trying to serve our heavenly Father and yet making a lot of messes in the process. We can't reach as high as we'd like, so we make do with makeshift steps to reach the counter. We knock over a few glasses, and we spill the milk while we're trying to prepare a drink. Lacking all wisdom, we come up with the great idea of cleaning up the mess with our shirt instead of with a washcloth. But what dad wouldn't feel touched by such a display of service, however messy it might be?
We're not the best parents, not by far. We don't have all the wisdom we'd like. We don't understand how everything fits together. We make mistakes, we make messes, we can do everything wrong - but God looks at us with a Father's delighted eyes. Where we see weakness, God sees humility. Where we see messes, God sees intent. Where we see failings, God sees motives.
And he smiles. He takes us into his arms. And he laughs a delighted Father's laugh.

End quote.

Giggles

Her giggles just sound so delicious to me.
Today was the first time we really got her on a roll.

Some Resolutions for 2009

I always like a clean break and/or a fresh start, so a new year is a wonderful excuse to start fresh with some things I could stand to improve on.

Let Stuff Go - particularly housekeeping-type stuff that drives me batty when I can't get to it as often or as quickly as I would prefer

See More Movies - particularly at the theater...it allows me to step away from the house and kids and come back feeling refreshed - I just love movies! I have seen 4 over the past two weeks (Four Christmases, Get Smart, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Marley and Me)

Practice Waiting Better - particularly when it means having to wait to do what I want to get done around the house because I have to hold/feed/change/soothe/dress/discipline/potty train/bathe/clean up after/play with a couple of little people first

Exercise - particularly walking 3-5 times a week in the neighborhood

Cook More - Josh has been my hero with this over the past 3 months (fixing about 80% of our dinners). I figure I can probably take on this challenge again now...and Lord knows cooking is just that for me - a challenge. I ruined a pizza yesterday! What is there to do but put sauce and cheese on the bread?! There is a world of truth to the magnet on the side of my fridge that says "Domestically Challenged". That is also why the cleaners are coming back again on Monday. I may never let them go.

My Goat Man

Well, actually, it's my Goatee Man. I am not a big fan of it, and Anna REALLY is not a big fan of it, but Josh seems to like having it around. And Noah likes to play with it.


Anyway, over these two holiday weeks when Josh has been home, he has been hard at work creating and finishing this for Noah. And when he hasn't been working on it, he has been wishing he was working on it. I think it looks great so far! Only needs a top and a pole for sliding down when Noah is a little more coordinated. :)


Notice Josh's other "Pride and Joy" in the background...his shed. Noah calls it "Daddy's house."