So Much to Share. . . Part III

I'm always Bursting at the Seams, Laughing Out Loud, Rolling on the Floor, etc when I see a video of a toddler falling asleep at the table while eating. Now I have a video of my own. :P

All you have to do is turn your screen counterclockwise 90 degrees to get the full effect.
Prepare for a laugh attack!



For archival reasons this happened May 15th.

So Much to Share. . . Part II

Two weeks after Leah was born, we were at Sunday family dinner. The topic of Family Home Evening activities came up and Uncle Jay (Tom's uncle) suggested that we go bowling. Benjamin, being a 4 year old with ears, overheard this part of the conversation. The next day all I heard was "Mama, lets go vowling for 'amily home ebening." Ben was so excited, we couldn't disappoint him.

I thought I'd change it up a bit.
Here's a crude and horrible put together clip of our Family Home Evening.

So Much to Share. . . Part I

There's so much to tell. The past 2 months have been a blur.

*swish, zoom, vroom!*

Where did April and May go? I vaguely remember living those days, but like I said, it's been a blur.


Lets rewind to a few weeks--ahem, that's 3 or more weeks--before Leah truly became a part of our family unit.



*whirl of a VCR*



One of the great things about having your own yard is the potential of having your very own, one of a kind, garden! Not only does a garden save you money when it comes to fresh fruits & vegetables, but it teaches our kids (and reminds us parents) how to work. It also, hopefully, teaches them that with work there comes rewards. The old but true scripture comes to mind: Enjoy the fruits of your labors.

Last year we planted some tomatoes, ONE zucchini plant (one is enough; any more would definitely be zucchini overload!), a cucumber, and some bell peppers. We didn't really enjoy much of our garden. Benjamin would eat the 'fruits of our labors' before we could harvest them properly. Side note: I am so thankful and proud of my veggie-lovin' Benjamin.

This year we added to our small garden. Tom and Benjamin took on the somewhat large yet fun project of putting in another garden box in our yard.

Unfortunately, the garden still looks the same now as it did when these pictures where taken.

We also put in our very first tree. It's a plum tree with 4 varieties grafted on. Don't ask me what the varieties are because I don't know.

But the greatest thing of all is this: Despite my very brown thumb, the plum tree is thriving. Our tiny tree is still alive!

Introducing. . .

On the 29th of April, we welcomed into this world a beautiful baby girl:

LEAH KAY BROWN

7 lbs 13 oz

18.5 in




Mom & baby are doing wonderful.
The boys are ecstatic about their baby sister.

Daddy is surviving.



I'm sorry about the woefully lack of posts. I'll do better promise. But you're not here to read about my lame apologies. You want to read about Leah. . . okay you asked for it. :P

It was a fairly easy delivery thanks to Mr. Epidural. The doctor wanted to induce me Monday due to my elevated blood pressure and protein in my urine. I had two doses of Prostin the night before. It really didn't do anything. Doc said I was suppose to be in hard labor after the second dosage. Yeah, right. I woke up rested and feeling great. I thought to myself, "So if this is what hard labor feels like, then the delivery will be a walk in the park" :P We arrived at the hospital around eight in the morning. They started me on Pitocin around 8:45. Mr. Epidural and I became great friends around 10:30. (After going through induced labor for 7 hours with Benjamin, I vowed never to go through that kind of pain again. If I was in natural labor, I probably wouldn't use the epidural.) At 11:30, I was at 5 cm. 5-8 minutes later, I was at full dilation ready to push. After 4-or-so pushes, Leah came into this world.

Besides being a bit jaundiced, Leah is doing great. She sleeps well. Eats well. Poops well. Cries very well. Benjamin and Isaac are adjusting well. . . as well. Benjamin loves giving her kisses and calling her "so cthute". Isaac is obsessed with her feet and hands. Any chance he gets, he takes off her socks to play with her feet.

I thought adding another addition to our little family would be a piece of cake. I was so WRONG! It was so much easier having Isaac (family wise) than it is with Leah. Keeping 4 busy hands away from her at times requires 6 hands on my part. :P I'm sure I'll get over this learning curve. It's well worth the work and effort. I'm very grateful to be a mom and be able to stay at home with the kids. Not many families have that luxury.

How blessed we are.

Names

After catching up on Jenna's blog and talking with my aunt & uncle last night, I'm suddenly stressing about names. Girl names to be more precise. Around this time of the pregnancy *points to the baby timer*, we had 2 possible names picked out for each boy. With Benjamin, he was either going to be named Samuel or Benjamin. With Isaac, we had Isaac or Samuel picked out. (As you can see, we like the name Samuel.) With this girl, we have yet to truly decide on a name or even two.

A couple of weeks ago we asked Benjamin what we should name the baby. His reply, "Spider PIG!" Where he got that, whether it was off a commercial or he overheard Tom singing the song, we don't know. But since then, he is always commenting on how his baby sister should be named "Spiderpig". Tom insists that we should nickname her that regardless of what we pick. My reply, "No!" *rolls eyes*

When Jim was about Benjamin's age, he insisted that his new cousin should be named "basketball". I'm sure Sean is grateful that his parents didn't use Jim's suggestion. 4-year olds have such a rich imagination.

Back to names. I find that boy names are so much easier to pick than girl names. A boy can pull off any name. A girl isn't as lucky. For instance, if someone said "Bertha" or "Gertrude", what's the first thing that comes to you mind? The first thing/image that comes to my mind is an elderly lady swaying back in forth knitting in a rocking chair--You COULD argue that my baby girl will eventually be that lady in the rocking chair. If I said, "Paris" or "Lindsay", what's your first mental picture? . . . I find it strange that we associate character flaws with names.

Anyhow. . . Here's a short list of possible names:

Esther
Lucy
Chloe
Evelyn
Charlotte
Ruth
Sadie
Elizabeth

I'm sure by the time she comes, we'll have a name picked out for her. I just hope she likes it.

I hate to say this. . .

we are now a . . . *choke*. . . a . . . *sigh*. . . a minivan family. . . DUM DUM DUM!


How did this happen?!? Why did we let ourselves get sucked into the minivan vortex of no return?!? Who brainwashed us?!? Such a tragedy, you say!?!

I don't know why it happened, but it did. Tom really likes it. I enjoy it. I have to add that the sliding doors are very nice. I don't have to worry about dinging other vehicles when trying to install the soon-to-be 3 kids. Ben and Ike can get in and out easily. We get decent gas mileage. It's a 2005 Toyota Sienna LE. We got it for a decent deal--as decent as you can get when going to a car dealership. I'm not a huge fan of the color, but one can't be picky when buying used. :) Overall, I'm happy with it. There's tons of trunk space. It's an 8 seater. We're quite thrilled with that. Honestly, I can't find much fault in it other than the color is sooo common and it's a minivan. (That isn't our minivan to the right. It's just one that looks just like it.)

We've been thinking about getting another vehicle. We tried fitting all 3 car seats in the Trail Blazer. It fits, but would be a huge pain carting 3 kids around in it. I guess that was our main motivation.

So that's that. We are now more than ready for the baby. We won't have to worry about curious fingers poking eyeballs while driving. That's another plus (add it to the list!). We can carpool now. Heck, we can even drive a basketball team around.

Tom the Sexy Man!

The title says it all. :P I know some of you are blushing: "Aimee used the word sexy!"


That's right. Tom is one sexy man. He's even doubly sexy (yes, I said it again) when he uses heavy machinery.




"What kind of machinery?" you ask. Lora Beth is installing a new fence and needed a concrete pad cut. She asked Tom for help. They rented a Gas Powered Wacker Cut Off Saw to do that manly work. To the left you see a similar model of the one Tom used.

2 Handsome fellas and a beautiful lady!