November pictures

So here's pictures from November, including decorating our Christmas tree. Hope you like them!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=129021&id=506485788&l=fa871e1fc2

Ultrasound Pics

Here are some pregnancy pictures for those of you who wanted to see them. The first one is actually from when I was pregnant with Micah at 20 weeks: and this one is from yesterday, 19 weeks along with the second baby....my tummy definitely sticks out farther!

And here's our new baby, courtesy of a 3D ultrasound pic. He wasn't as active as Micah, and we didn't get a whole lot of pictures, but here he is:

I think in the second one he looks surprised--mouth and eyes open. :)

Two Points!

Here's Micah playing "two points," one of his favorite games. It involves any sort of ball and any sort of large container--a box, laundry basket, etc. Basically, he throws the ball in the box, and we yell, "Two points!" and cheer. I'm told that when I was small I played a version of this game with my dad. You also get to see his high-five and clapping skills in this one. Enjoy!

Oh, and by the way, I forgot to post the link to October's pictures on Facebook, so here it is:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=121501&id=506485788&l=fabf7ffbcd

Oh, and another by the way: We had our ultrasound today and found out that Micah is going to have a little brother! I'm working on scanning the ultrasound pics, so I'll post those later on.

No, No, Puppies!

Check out the cutie! Micah just started trying to put hats on, and Josh captured this picture with his phone. He thought he was so cool to wear Daddy's hat!

Josh and I attend a Bible study group every other Thursday, and Micah stays with our friends Jim and Chris at their house. They have two or three little Dauschounds (two are theirs, one is a foster dog) that like to bark and run around your heels when you first get in the door. Mrs. Chris would hold Micah and tell him to say "No, no, puppies!" Now, whenever he sees or hears a dog, whether it's looking out the window, on t.v., or a picture in a book, Micah wags his finger and says, "No, no!"

Halloween 2009

A little late again, but here are some pics from Halloween. Our church does a Fall Festival (carnival), so we spent the evening there. Micah has recently quit looking at me when I try to take his picture, so here's the best shot of his costume. He was a surgeon, thanks to the scrubs Grandma Brown gave him for his birthday. He's being held by his buddy Alex (one of our teenagers from church, who also happened to dress as a doctor) and Lauren (another teen who dressed as Alex's nurse).This is the maze made of cardboard boxes that a few teenagers and I put together. Micah loved it, and other preschoolers found it challenging, but the older kiddos got through it pretty quickly... The church had one room dedicated just to letting preschoolers run around and play. It had a farm theme, so I took a picture of Micah sitting on the "horse" (a saddle on a bale of hay--is that the right "bale"? or is it "bail"?)

Micah's favorite part of the night, however, was the little bounce house just for preschoolers. It was more of a stand-up-try-to-walk-and-then-fall-down house than a bounce house, but the little guys couldn't get enough. He liked the entrance tunnel, too, so he kept going in and out. I should get one of those things--I'd never have to entertain him again!

Recently

Just in case you were wondering how the Broncos have made it to 6-0, there's a really little fan giving his full support--much to Grandma Brown's delight.

I thought I'd do a quick post to let you know what Micah's been up to recently. Yesterday, he stepped on the bathroom scale and stood still long enough for it to get a reading--25.5 lbs! What a chunk. He's so heavy...and I have a feeling that as my belly gets bigger, he'll be even harder to carry. Good thing he's a good walker!

He says a few words: ball, book, up, ouch, no-no-no (while wagging his finger), and a couple others I can't remember. He loves to read books right now. He sits so snuggly while I read, which I enjoy greatly. We're teaching him where his nose is, but so far he only can find mine and his daddy's. I'll try to get a video of that sometime. It's pretty funny how he gets such a kick out of it.

Micah's favorite foods are still grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit. He's actually a really picky eater--he won't try anything new, and he won't eat any vegetables or meat. If anyone has any ideas of how to get a little guy to try new foods, send them my way.

I just invested in a winter hat that velcros under his chin. That kid won't leave a hat on his head for anything, so I knew I'd need some help to keep his head warm this winter. Hopefully it works. It's getting colder and we're starting to get excited for the holidays coming up. I personally am excited for December to come, because I'll hit 20 weeks in the early part of that month and I can have an ultrasound to see if Micah will have a baby brother or a baby sister.

So that's the skinny around the Brown house. Not much to report, but since my sister checks this every morning, I'm trying to do a better job of posting. :)

Balloons and Pictures

Here's a funny video of Micah playing with a balloon at his birthday party. And in case you missed it in the last post, September pics are now posted at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=113306&id=506485788&l=c25fc5af8d

I'm One!

Happy Birthday to Micah! Okay, I realize I'm almost a month late in writing this post, but let me tell you, once they start walking they're hard to keep up with!

We had Micah's birthday party on the Saturday before his birthday. It was the day the Huskers played Virginia Tech, so we wore our Husker red...but it didn't help. We opened presents at halftime and had cake after the game. Next time, I'll plan the party for a day they play someone terrible, because after that heartbreaking loss, the whole mood of the party changed!

We were lucky to have so many family members able to make it. Grandma and Grandpa Brown, along with Kayla and her boyfriend Grant, drove down for the weekend from Rapid City. Uncle Matt and his girlfriend Courtney came, as well as my cousin Lauren and her parents, Aunt Renita and Uncle Tim. And of course, Grandma and Grandpa Headlee drove down for the party.

Micah sort of understood how to tear the wrapping paper...
One of his gifts was a toy laptop. Maybe now he'll leave Daddy's alone!

He just looks so happy to have some new balls to throw. "Ball" was one of his first words.

Another new ball!

By cake time, I think he was a little sleepy. He wasn't sure what to think about the candle.

Don't worry, he livened up once he got to tasting the cake.

There are more pictures posted on Facebook. If you'd like to see them all, just click on this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=113306&id=506485788&l=c25fc5af8d

And somehow, this is the only picture I have of Micah on his actual birthday. He and I ate at Subway for lunch (I had a Sweet Onion Chicken Teryaki, he had crackers--Josh was in a meeting). Since his birthday was a Wednesday, the nursery workers who watch him while Josh and I teach Bible Study threw him a little party. He even got a gift from them--how sweet!

Wow, I can't believe it's been a whole year. And I can't believe that Micah will have a brother or sister in 6 months! I always believed people when they said, "They grow up so fast," but now I've really experienced it. :)

It's about time...

Now that September is almost over, I've finally posted pictures from August. Here's the link if you want to check them out:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109395&id=506485788&l=3ff0c68942

Micah's next job

I don't have time for a long post here, but it's time to let all of you know that Micah's going to be a big brother sometime around April 23rd.

:)

Playing Games

Micah's been learning to play some games that he actually participates in, rather than just ones where we move his arms and legs around or whatever. He's pretty good at playing "catch." He has a little rubber ball that he throws in my general direction, and then I toss it back to him so it lands between his legs. Then he picks it up and throws again. The really cute part is that while I was teaching him to throw, I clapped every time he did it. So now, he claps every time he throws. So cute!

He also figured out how to play "Where's the Baby" all by himself as we were on a long drive one day. I happened to have my camera handy, so here's a super cute video of him in action.

It is so much fun to see our son grow and change with each passing day. He's got seven teeth now, he babbles all the time, he's walking, and he just figured out how to point. Now when we read books, he can point to the pictures. He's definitely a little boy now...no longer a baby. That's kind of bittersweet. But mostly sweet. :)

Check out his skills!

That's right, Micah decided yesterday that he was going to start walking. He took a few steps without any prompting from Josh while I was at work, and by the end of the evening he could go all the way across the room. He's still a little wobbly, of course, but this guy's on the move!

Vacation in Rapid City

Well, this is a little late, but here's my post about the week we spent in Rapid City, SD with Josh's family. They have a couple of cats, and Micah made buddies with the little one named Sampson. They played together a lot.



And since climbing stairs is one of his favorite things, he was Super Excited to have a full flight to play on (supervised, of course)

One of the days we were there, we made the 2 1/2 hour drive to visit the ranch where Josh grew up. They lived there until he got to high school. It looked a lot the same, including the same carpeting and wallpaper in the house, and remnants of old forts and treehouses that Josh and his siblings built. It was so neat for me to finally see the place I've heard about in so many stories. The land out there was really beautiful ranch land.
This is a re-creation of a picture the Browns took when the kids were little. I think in the original, Matt and Josh were standing up. :)
Another day we went to Sheridan Lake. Josh and his dad did some fishing, and then we let Micah play in the water. Man, that kid has no fear! He crawled all along the shoreline, and even out into the deeper water. Had we not stopped him, he would have crawled all the way out until his head was covered. Look, he's having so much fun, he's delirious!And I'll leave you with a picture of a beautiful South Dakota sunset that we were fortunate to experience in the Brown's backyard. The Black Hills are so nice in the summertime. I can't wait to go back!

Amused by Simple Things

So we were at Josh's parents' house, and we went outside and left our socks on the back deck...then Micah found them and entertained himself (and us) for a good ten minutes. What a silly kid!

July Pictures Posted

Hello All,

Just got back from vacation with the Browns in Rapid City, SD. I'll post on that later, but I wanted to let you know that I posted July pictures on Facebook, so check them out via the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96561&id=506485788&l=74f7412414

Updates

Hello again, friends. Just thought I'd give you an update on some things in the Brown house. I love this picture, don't you? Josh had just caught Micah after throwing him up in the air. They're both having so much fun!

Well, summer is drawing to a close. This week is Josh's last week at camp (and my last week home alone), and the week after that we'll take a trip to visit the Browns in Rapid City. Then it's back to life as usual around here. Josh will turn 26 on August 7. Micah will turn 1 on September 23....sheesh.

Some new things for this fall are that 1)Josh will celebrate one year of full-time employment with LifeSpring Church on September 1. It's been a busy year, for sure, but a good one.
2)The youth pastor that he's worked with for 5+ years will be moving on to plant his own church, leaving Josh solo until the church can hire someone else. We'll miss Pastor Jim, but we're excited for his next endeavor.
3)I will be doing a long-term sub job for a K-8 Christian school near our house. It's two days a week, and I'll be subbing until they find and hire their own music teacher....or possibly until God tells me I should be their permanent music teacher...at this point I'm just not sure that's what I should be doing. Micah will stay home with Daddy on Mondays (Josh's day off), and some friends will watch him on Fridays. If only a Grandma lived close. :)

Micah is now ten months old, and at last check he weighed over 20 pounds. 12-month size clothes are fitting him comfortably. He babbles all the time, with a huge array of different sounds. His favorite things to do are look out the window, climb up the stairs, play in the laundry basket, and grab anything he's not supposed to have (Josh's computer, cell phones, etc.) He's eating all kinds of grown-up foods now, but he really likes crackers. Although he's not walking yet, Josh and I both think he could do it if he wanted to. If we stand him up, he'll stay standing for a few seconds and then lower himself to the ground. One of these days he'll figure out he can move his feet while he's upright, and he's just going to take off. Part of me can't wait for that accomplishment, and part of me dreads his mobility!

There you go. That's what's happening. Leave a comment or something so I know who actually reads this!

A Few Firsts

We've had quite a few new adentures in July. I thought I'd post about some of Micah's (and my) new "firsts."

On July 2, we went to the Omaha zoo. Micah did pretty well, although he didn't take a nap the entire time we were there (8:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.). There was so much to see, and we didn't get through it all. His favorite part was watching the penguins. He sat on that rail and giggled and wiggled with glee for several minutes.

Last week we went on a road trip with my sister-in-law and niece to their house in Mississippi. On the way, Micah experienced his first fast-food playplace. He spent forever trying to climb up the slide! What a great way to get the wiggles out on a 2-day, 20 hour trip.

While in Mississippi, we went to CiCi's Pizza and Chuck E Cheese. Neither Micah or I had ever been to either one of those. He tried pizza for the first time (and LOVED it!), and he liked riding on the little cars they have for toddlers. We took a really cute sketch-photo booth picture while we were there....I'll have to scan it and post it later. Here's a picture next to a game made just for us. :)
Micah also tried muffins, grilled cheese, diced peaches and cooked carrots (instead of mushed) on this trip, and he loved all of them. In fact, one morning he was holding onto my hands to practice walking, and he walked right over to where the muffins were on the counter, stopped, and screamed to let me know he wanted one.

On this trip, we also tried an outdoor pool for the first time, played at a splash pad, and did a ton of other fun things. But the last "first" of the trip was the ride home--on an airplane. I was a little nervous about travelling by myself with an infant, but of course he did great. He even cut a tooth sometime on one of the flights, but he wasn't fussy. I wouldn't have even known, had it not been for all the drool!

We've got a week and a half at home, and then we'll head to Grandpa and Grandma Brown's house for our last adventure of the summer. Can't wait!

June Pictures Posted

Hello All,

To see pictures from June, click on the link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88624&id=506485788&l=ec563202fb

One of Micah's Favorite Things to Do

This is one of Micah's favorite things to do lately. He thinks he's helping me...

Catching Up

Well, it's been a long time since I last posted, but that's because I've been BUSY!!! The second week of June Josh and I took 16 teenagers to Mitchell, SD on a mission trip. We helped a little church do outreach in their area by putting on block parties and some other things. Micah came along, and Grandma Brown and Uncle Matt came for a couple of days to watch him for us. It was fun.

Then 1 1/2 days after we got back, we left again, this time for Southeast Kansas to a little town called Weir. Josh was the camp speaker for a little Jr. High camp. He did a great job, and Micah and I were able to hang out and enjoy the camp while Josh prepped and delivered sermons.

Immediately after getting home from that, we hosted my 2 1/2 year-old niece, Cady, for a couple of days. She's so cute! My parents came to help, because we were also getting ready for VBS that weekend. So, it was mission trip, then camp, then VBS with really no break. There's too much to tell about each of these great weeks, so I'll just post some pictures and add some stories in a later post.

Micah hanging out as we cleaned up from a block party in Mitchell.

Getting loved on by Grandma Brown.

Josh preaching at Weir Baptist Camp.

Hanging out with Cady and Micah. Two babies! That's a lot of work!

Twizzler Determination

This is Micah struggling his way across the couch toward his Aunt Kenna, hoping for a lick of a Twizzler. He has such determination in his eyes!

May Pictures Posted

Here's a link to a whole lotta pictures from May. There are some pretty funny ones, so enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=80249&id=506485788&l=afdf5ceea0

Crazy May

A lot has happened since my last post, both in activities our family has attended, and in milestones Micah has reached. I'll try to fill you in as concisely as possible. :)

Micah and I traveled to Grand Island to help out with my cousin Lauren's graduation party. While we were out there, Micah surprised us by pulling up on some chairs and a coffee table. Unfortunately, he has yet to figure out how to lower himself back to the floor, so if he stands up, it always ends with either a fall or a need to be rescued.

A week later, while Josh was supposed to be in Mexico, I had planned to ride with my parents out to Colorado to see my brother and his wife and their new baby. Josh's Mexico trip ended up being cancelled (Swine flu!), so he was able to go along. We had a good time. On that trip Micah attended his first professional baseball game, visited Garden of the Gods, and checked out the Focus on the Family Visitors Center. (If you've never been there, check it out. There's a ton of fun stuff for kiddos, and it's all free!)

We also discovered on this trip that Micah can be a bit of a bully. He outweighs his 16-month-old cousin, Natalie, and when we put him in a walker he used it to ram into her and steal her toys...we'll have to work on that. You can just see his eyes fixate on something and he makes a beeline for it!

Micah now has three cousins--two girls and one boy. Here's a picture of the newest one: Three-week-old Kenny (and they're wearing the same outfit, how cute!) I look a little scary in this one, but oh well.

Here's a family shot with Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods in the background. Beautiful.

Some other new things in Micah's life are eating finger foods (those Gerber puffs--he loves them!), crawling on hands and knees, and as I discovered today, he can now climb stairs. Which means we need to buy more gates...

We have more adventures in our immediate future. Next week the three of us will be taking a group of teens on a mission trip to South Dakota (Grandma Brown will meet us there--Yea!). Two days after we get back, we're heading to a small camp in Kansas where Josh will be the pastor for the week, and then when we get back from that it's time for VBS. More updates to come!

Roaring

I forgot that in a previous post I told you to stay tuned for a video of Micah roaring, so here it is (finally!).

Mothers' Day

Today was my first official Mothers' Day, and it was very special. Micah gave me the gift of not throwing up on me all day, and Josh gave me a card and a very pretty flower arrangement. I also got many, many Mothers' Day wishes from the kids in our youth group. They can be so sweet! Sometimes I feel like I'm a mom to all of them.

My parents came down for the day and we just relaxed, watched golf on t.v., and went out for supper. What a super day.

And for your enjoyment, here's a funny video.

He Crawls!

Micah's been army crawling for a couple of weeks now, so I thought I'd let you see him in action.

April Pictures Posted

If you wanna see some more pictures from April (and I think you do), check out this link!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=75124&id=506485788&l=2db423b90a

Happy Birthday, Kayla!

Hello family and friends! I can't believe it's May already. That means summer "break" is nearly upon us (although when you're the family of a youth pastor, summer is NOT a break.) Here's an update on Micah. He's now 7 months old with plenty of blonde hair and two teeth (pictured above). He's crawling all over the place, and is especially drawn to shoestrings, cords or electronics of any kind, and the little springy doorstops that I've had to replace with rubber ones.

In the last couple of weeks we've enjoyed a visit from Josh's sister, Kayla, to celebrate her 21st birthday. Below is a picture of the Brown siblings in all their glory. We had a lazy weekend of bumming around and playing Mario Kart on the Wii.

While Kayla was here, we took a little time to go to the park. Micah liked having his aunt push him on the swings.

We tried to get a good picture of the five of us. This is the best we could do, with only Micah not looking...his dad and his uncle (purposely) ruined the other attempts. :)

Some of Micah's other tricks lately are "roaring" (stay tuned for a video), playing in his Jumperoo, and twirling his hair as he sucks his thumb (so cute!). By the way, wanna know what happens when you put a laundry basket over a 7-month-old? He tries to lick his way out.

Have a good week!

No Peas, Please!

E.R. and Easter

Long time no post...

A little over a week ago we had what I guess you could call our first scare as parents. Micah went to bed and at 12:30 or so, he woke up wheezing and kind of panicked. We got him calmed down, but his breathing was still kind of labored, so we called the pediatrician's nurse line and they told us to take him to the emergency room. We weren't too scared, because he wasn't turning blue or anything, and we could tell he was getting enough air, but we put him in the car and drove to Children's. It takes like 30 minutes to get there, although there's not much traffic at 1:00 on a Tuesday night!

Anyway, he weighed in (at 19 lbs!) and they took us back. The nurse immediately told us he wasn't wheezing, he had a "stridor" (like the airway is a little constricted) and that it was caused by croup. They gave him a steroid shot and a breathing treatment (see pic below). He liked the shot better than the breathing treatment--screamed the whole time. Then they gave us some info and let us go.

If Josh looks tired in this picture, it's because it's about 2:30 in the morning...

I think the steroids they gave him really nipped the croup in the bud, because he got over it very quickly and hasn't had any more trouble breathing. Not too terrible for an E.R. visit.

In other news, we had a nice Easter here at home. Matt came over and he and Josh went golfing on Saturday. They both had green polos on, so I had to dress Micah the same and take a pic. It's just too cute to not share.

And here's an Easter pic for your enjoyment. This ended up being a long post...thanks for sticking it out!

March pictures

Hello All! Click on the link to see pictures from March!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=68511&id=506485788&l=826656dd40

Grandma and Grandpa Visit!

We just spent a wonderful (although far too short) weekend with Josh's parents. They made the 7.5 hour drive from Rapid City on Friday to spend a couple of days with their grandson. Unfortunately, they had to leave late Sunday morning so that they could get home before a blizzard hit. It was a quick trip, but we had lots of fun.

Uncle Matt came over, too, and the boys spent most of their time playing Tiger Woods Golf on the Wii. Loretta and I did a little shopping and a lot of playing with Micah (actually, she played, I took a break!). I really wish we lived closer together, but I know that 500 miles can't keep the Browns from being awesome grandparents. Here are a couple of pics:

Just chillin' with Grandma.

It was too cold for the real thing, but Wii golf is almost as fun.

Hanging out during church, listening to Josh preach.

And this is a video of Grandpa playing with Micah. He had a blast! Come again soon!

The other park video

Here's the other park video. This is supposed to be a teeter-totter thing on springs that you kind of bounce on, but Micah decided it was a stage for his groovin' moves. For some reason, he loves to do this little dance all the time. Enjoy!

A Day in the Park

For those of you who don't live in Nebraska, we have had a few really nice days lately. Monday was Josh's day off, and spring break so he didn't have to go to seminary. It also happened to be 73 degrees out. So we went to the park. Micah was pretty much out of it the whole time. There was a fairly strong breeze, and I don't think he knew what to do with the wind on his face.
And here are some other pics from the day:

I thought he'd really like the swing, but he was just kind of out of it. Isn't his hat cute?

Don't know what he was doing here, but it's a funny face!

Finally having some fun!

I had another video to share, but it doesn't want to load, so that's all for now. Stay tuned for more of Micah's exciting adventures in the future.