Monday, October 4, 2010

family of four!





we had family pictures taken this summer...these are just a few of the best ones! :) thanks Savannah Rust for doing such a great job and dealing with my crazy kiddos!! :)

we are alive and life is good!

just a quick note to say that we are all doing well! life is extremely busy these days...noah is about to turn 2 (we'll be having a toy story birthday party on the 30th), jonah is almost 3 months and growing like a weed! a very cute little weed! we just brought our puppy otis home after a year of living with jamie's parents and sister (thanks aunt jj for taking such good care of our baby boy!) jamie has been working hard putting up the rest of the fence and is about to start building our patio furniture! i'm not sure what to think of this, so for now i'm being supportive! i'm praying that it turns out well and doesn't take more than a few weeks to complete! :) we'll see... i'm working 3 full days and seeing patients on my own occasionally 2 days a week now, just became a mary kay beauty consultant (visit www.marykay.com/kacee_brown to order or just browse the awesome products!!) and a few weekends ago i was elected to be "president elect" (basically vice president) of the arkansas state dental hygiene association!! i am so honored that the association thought i was ready for this! i have always wanted to be in leadership but i never dreamed i would be there this soon in my career (i've only been practicing hygiene for about 2 1/2 years!) obviously this is a huge deal to me and i'm so excited!!! i really need to start thinking about themes for my presidency next year! :) that's so cool!!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

jonah's first time at church

this past sunday we took jonah to church for the first time! we got a picture right before we went in, just like we did the first time we took noah to church! gary introduced jonah and the congregation just clapped and clapped :) pretty sure they think he's a keeper!

our church is so special to us - jamie's grandpa, milton (who noah is named after), was the founding pastor and now jamie's dad, gary, is our pastor. my parents and sisters actually attended church there for a little while, back when i was in highschool, but i only visited with them once...isn't it crazy how i could have met jamie way back then, but never did?!...that could be an entirely other post! i started going to Victory Temple when jamie and i were dating and it is the church we were married in nearly 5 years ago - July 23, 2005 (yep, our anniversary is this FRIDAY!!!!!). i love having a close church family - somewhere where everyone truly feels welcome and accepted. the church LOVES noah and jonah so much...they are so blessed to have such a large "extended" family :)

Sunday, July 11, 2010

He's Here!!




Jonah Norman Brown arrived at 8:28 am July 8, 2010

8 pounds 11 ounces and 20 inches of pure sweetness!

we had an interesting (the electricity went out in the entire town for 10 hours! no air conditioning or lights at the hospital except for fans and some backup lights!!), yet short time in the hospital (we got to come home on friday morning! a full day early!!) and have been enjoying our little man, and his big bubba, this weekend!


Tuesday, July 6, 2010

blah blog

i need a blog update...anyone care to make me a custom background?? i'm having fun making headers with picnik, but i can't find any backgrounds that match the "feeling" of my blog...

Sunday, July 4, 2010

comparisons


i'm addicted to the collage feature on www.picnik.com! too much fun!!

sweet friends

although friday started off disappointing, it was quickly remedied by getting to spend time with one of my best friends and her hubby, brooke and craig pachlhofer.

let me just tell you about these guys...

brooke and i became fast friends our junior year of high school during our spanish 2 class...brookie cookie and kacee cassandra! people used to ask us if we were sisters!! we are very much alike in some ways, and very different in others, our birthdays are exactly a week apart, and she will always be one of my dearest friends...

kacee and brooke at the mr./mrs. ghs pageant - April 2004

craig and jamie were friends all through high school as well...then craig went off and joined the air force and became a pilot. jamie didn't get to see him too often, but they always remained friends.craig and jamie (center) at a high school banquet - 1999 or 2000

in 2005 while jamie and i were dating/planning our wedding, we introduced craig to brooke. the first meeting wasn't great because it involved our cat dying that night..long story for another day. but when they met again at our wedding {devious jamie and i had arranged for them to be paired up in the wedding ceremony} it was a different story....

craig and brooke rehearsing for our wedding (see me watching from the doorway?)

brooke at our wedding - july 23, 2005

craig called jamie on our honeymoon to ask for brooke's phone number...and 5 years later the rest is history! they got married in october 2006 - jamie and i were both in their wedding.

brooke and her bridesmaids-october 18, 2006 (i am on the far left)

craig and his groomsmen

we have remained close friends, even though craig's job forces them to travel to far off military bases, they are the kind of friends that we can see once or twice a year and pick up exactly where we left off...we dream of living side by side with a white picket fence between our yards and our kids growing up together...

the guys and the gals at the Lodes' wedding - May 2007

July 2007 - visiting the pachlhofer home in mississippi

December 2009 - girls night out!

April 2010 - shower hosted by brooke for baby jonah!

so anyways we went out to Cheddar's for dinner {i had something so yummy - baked spaghetti! "spasagna" YUMMO!!} and then to the movies for The Last Airbender (we had no idea that it was a children's movie! haha! of course jamie loved it! craig, brooke, and i nearly fell asleep several times!)

craig and brooke will be back in town next weekend visiting family and i'm so excited because they will get to meet jonah!!! when i had noah back in 2008, brooke came home to visit, and got to spend some time with noah...she even came over early one morning to cook me breakfast and clean my house! you don't find friends like her everyday! makes me tear up just thinking about it...

craig will be deploying overseas later this month and will be gone for 6 months! we are gonna miss him so much!! hopefully brooke will get to come home a lot and spend lots of time with me and the boys! :) please remember these dear friends in your prayers!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

38 weeks 5 days

**my creative mama took some preggo pics for us yesterday afternoon**

jamie and i went for my last official appointment yesterday before our scheduled c-section next week...it went something like this:

{in the car}
jamie: kacee, i don't want to make you mad, but i really don't think we are gonna have the baby today
kacee: i don't want to talk to you

{in the ultrasound room}
kacee: ms. rachel, please find a reason to keep me today! please, please, please!!! i'm begging you!!
ms. rachel: don't freak out kacee, the baby looks awesome and is weighing in at almost exactly 8 pounds **and shows to be 39 weeks 6 days**...fluids look great....do you want another picture?
kacee: no, all you can see is a squished cheek

{in the dr's office}
dr. cayer: well, we're not having this kid today. i've got 3 in delivery and i'm in a bad mood...chair almost falls out from underneath him...
jamie: and someone is trying to sabotage you!
kacee: please, i'm nearly 39 weeks!! i'm MISERABLE! we drive an hour and a half..what if my water breaks on 4th of july??!! will you be here this weekend? i'm soooo ready!!!! will you at least check me to see if i'm dilated?
dr. cayer: no! then i might accidentally put you into labor!

{in the parking lot and in the car}
i burst into tears as soon as my feet hit the parking lot...i was just really hoping to meet jonah today - poor jamie couldn't do a thing to console me, but i finally calmed down around the time we reached poteau and realized that i should be extremely thankful that this pregnancy has been so healthy that they can't find a single reason to take the baby 2 days early! i haven't had a single issue with my blood pressure (last time i was on bed rest for 3 weeks because they thought i had preeclampsia...i didn't, i just had pregnancy induced high blood pressure)...at 39 weeks noah's fluids were low (this baby, no matter how squished is still swimming around in plenty of amniotic fluid)...i was able to work all the way through this pregnancy which was such a blessing and a distraction from the total misery at some points...jonah is going to be a beautiful, big boy! i can't wait to meet him and see our family of 3 become a family of 4!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

sleep deprieved

**can't remember if i posted a picture of jonah's diaper bag yet or not! so here it is! Thanks Keep it Gypsy!!**

it's 4:40 am... not a time i like to see...i can hear jamie snoring..yes, jamie, you do snore! i'm wide awake (sorta) playing on the computer because this crazy, active baby in my belly will not let me sleep!!! i swear heartburn will be the death of me yet! and i just ran out of Titralac! what's a girl to do??

this past week has been pretty interesting...we went to the dr's last friday for my 37 week check up and my belly measured 41...i knew i felt huge this time but i wasn't prepared for that!! so the midwife ordered an ultrasound to get a glimpse of how big this kid may be...sweet nurse Ruby did my ultrasound...she was the nurse in the room when i was born! how cool is that?! we chatted about my pregnancies and caught up on old times! haha! she is in home videos from my birth and my sister's birth! (the same dr delivered all three of us, but Ruby was only there for the first 2) anyways, when she started trying to measure jonah, she couldn't see all of his head...he is LOW! she got good measurements of his tummy and femur and it was estimated that he was about 8 1/2 pounds and his "gestastional age" was 38 weeks 6 days! woah!!! it should have been 37 weeks 4 days! so needless to say, i'm cooked! this baby is ready! "any day now" the midwife said.

well that was almost a week ago, and i'm still pregnant! i've been so paranoid that my water would break at some inopportune moment..like while i'm putting sealants on some kids teeth, or at the grocery store waddling along the aisles...but alas, it has not happened. i'm having some contractions, but nothing regular...mostly i'm just feeling a lot of cramping and pressure very low. and jonah never stops moving! i'm sure he is very uncomfortable and would just like to come out and see his mommy, daddy, and brother!!

we went walking around our neighborhood tonight after dinner...still no major contractions! just terrible heartburn that won't let up and so much pressure there is no way i can lay down without being uncomfortable.

we go back to the dr on friday morning...scheduled for another ultrasound at 9 am and then a meeting with dr. cayer at 9:30. i'm praying they keep me! it makes me so nervous to be this far along, knowing that i am planning to have a cesarian, and at any moment i could go into labor and be an hour and a half away from the hospital.

sorry for all the venting! i'm just so ready to meet jonah!!

in other news:

tomorrow is my last day of work!!! our office is closed next week for 4th of July vacation, so officially i only have one more day! that is if i'm able to stay awake after this crazy, no sleep night!

noah is on a Cars marathon/kick thing right now. he loves all things Lightning McQueen - and jamie and i have subsequently memorized the entire movie. noah has a stuffed lightning and we say "what does lightning say?" and noah will say "achowww" (kachow is the sound he makes in the movie) so cute!

noah is really starting to talk a LOT lately! he says some form of "bubble" when he is in the bath playing with the bubbles, "more" almost in question form, like can i have more...especially if we're eating ice cream!, "hop up" because we are always telling him to hop up in the car, hop up on the couch, etc...he still talks in "Noahese" and motions with his hands quite a bit. we all get a kick out of his ramblings. and the kid loves to sing! he knows all the motions to this song called "Rock A Bye Your Teddy Bear" and he "sings" it to his build a bear and does the motions! he also breaks out into song and dance at random times...my sil jenny got a great video of him singing and dancing while they were at the Oklahoma Aquarium this past weekend.

okay i think that about does it for the update..it's now 5:05 am! ahh! i really need some sleep!! good night i hope!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Father's Day!

jamie -
you were so nervous in this first picture! we had been through so much and we were so excited, scared, and anxious to meet our little boy! can you believe we are about to do that all over again in just a couple of weeks??!!

you are such an amazing daddy to noah! i love seeing you with him...ever since the first moment you saw him in the delivery room. he brings so much softness and emotion to such a big, strong man...it makes me so proud to be your wife.

noah loves you so much! he can't wait for you to get home at night and gets so mad if you leave the house without him! he is your little buddy!! he wants to do everything like daddy!!

Happy Father's Day honey! we love you much!!!


Friday, June 11, 2010

pajama day should be every day!

so today i decided we would do very little, stay in our pajamas, play, make cookies, eat cookies...just be generally lazy! this same day, jamie decided to completely uproot (literally) our entire front landscaping and start from scratch!! well, now it's 6 o'clock...noah is still napping, i'm still in my pj's, and jamie is still working in the front yard!

in other news today...i'm 35 1/2 weeks prego! this little guy is not slowing down at all, i swear he never stops rolling! i've been having major braxton hicks contractions since tuesday...i'm so ready for july 8th to be here!! i'm very very very uncomfortable, sweating when others are freezing, peeing all the time, and can't sleep unless i have at least 2o pillows strategically placed all around me! last night jamie made me a cozy little spot on the couch and he slept on the other couch so i wouldn't be scared all alone in the living room (i know i'm such a baby, but the house is still weird and new to me)...well at about 2:30 am i woke up and went to my bed where i could sprawl out...poor jamie stayed on the couch all night!

noah is being such a cutie these days! he is really into trucks and cars and played with his Chuck the Truck toys for about 30 minutes on the windowsill this morning! so cute! he had them all lined up :) he also loves to read! my mom came over this morning to play with noah - they made a tent in his closet and read a ton of books in it! we put the tent up again this afternoon when my sister brooke came over and noah just screamed when he saw it! he got so excited and kept running in and out!! when i came in to check on them, they had both closet doors shut and were both under the tent playing!

brooke is going to camp war eagle to be a camp counselor all summer! she won't get to see us again until jonah is born. we will miss her and i know she will miss home, but she's gonna have a great time!!

happy friday night!!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

jonah norman...

...will be arriving July 8th, 2010 {via c-section}. only 1 month and 2 days! wow!! we can't wait!!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

"uh oh"


this morning noah and i went to the donut shop...

me: noah, try a donut hole

noah: {pulls the biggest donut hole out of the bag and drops it on the floor} uh oh, uh oh, uh oh!

he just learned how to say that last night at dinner..compliments of aunt cc and uncle craig! :) it doesn't come out quite right yet, but you get the idea...especially when he continues saying it like someone pushed the repeat button..what a cutie pie!

Monday, May 24, 2010

32 and 33 weeks



jonah - 33 weeks/ noah - 19 months

noah loves jonah...at least i think he does...

when we ask him where his bubba is, sometimes he points to his belly, sometimes he points to his arm, and occasionally he gets it right and goes straight for my belly! he loves to give jonah sugars and it's just too sweet!!

33 weeks - the lighting wasn't great, but i kinda like the way this picture turned out!

33 weeks - noah was ready to leave for church!




i'm just in love with this picture of noah - it really captures his attitude at the moment...jamie and i have been really frustrated with him lately, because it seems like he is doing everything he can to get in trouble, but at the same moment, he is just so cute we let him get away with way too much! that sweet little smirk just melts your heart and even though he shouldn't be touching the blinds (they are off limits!) i can't help but smile and run to grab my camera...i have been praying for patience a LOT lately. i get so overwhelmed when he is acting up, especially when we are out in public (such as at Target this past weekend...oh my...glad that day is over!) i know most of it is my hormones right now and just the fact that i pregnant and uncomfortable, but i also know that God is good and He is helping me to be the best mom i can be by working on not getting angry at Noah for being a little boy!

Monday, May 17, 2010

why did i leave my camera at home???

we had a great time last night at our church fellowship...every now and then, our church hosts a whole church fellowship - just a casual night with music, videos, yummy food and deserts, and games for the kiddos.

we ate some yummy hamburgers and hotdogs...noah mostly ate the cheetos!
we listened to both the youth praise team and the main worship team.
we watched hilarious old commercials...have you ever heard of the "frito bandito"?? soo funny!!

but the best part of the night was when we went outside...

jamie just had to put noah in the bounce-around...and of course he wanted to get in as well...there were two little girls in there also, and they couldn't resist climbing all over jamie! i think both the boys had a blast!!! noah got in and played at least 5 different times!!

my silly boy!

after the bounce-around, the just had to try the slip - n - slide! jamie literally ran through it with noah in his arms! noah LOVED it! they must have gone at least 3 or 4 times!! they were soaking wet and we hadn't even thought to bring towels or changes of clothes! and i forgot my camera! so these pictures are just from my phone!! (which i just learned how to email to myself today! why didn't i learn this sooner??!!) i think if you click on the picture it will make it bigger...not positive on that...

overall it was a great night! i'm officially 32 weeks now - i have pictures on my good camera that i will load later... my tummy and back are really starting to hurt. lots and lots of braxton hicks lately. much more than with noah..and jonah is definitely moving more than noah did at this point. i have been really productive today though, and got the rest of the bedding material ordered for jonah's bedding, and even picked out and ordered his diaper bag from Keep it Gypsy! i'm so excited about this! it's gonna be very different from noah's diaper bag, but i think i will love it!!! it's a mix of blue and brown, with some great textured material..even a little giraffe print thrown in!
7 weeks left! it seems like just yesterday we were coming home with noah! haha!! time really does fly by!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

i heart mother's day

hubby woke me up for pancakes! he even set the table!

took some 31 week prego pics!

hubby surprised me with a hydrangea plant AND a japanese maple!

the first bloom! so pretty!!!

noah 18 months and jonah 31 weeks!!

THANK YOU JAMIE AND NOAH FOR A WONDERFUL MOTHER'S DAY!!!
I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

home

we are finally moved in and feeling like a normal family again! our home is even better than i ever imagined! i love how roomy it is, and all the little touches we added (ie the cubby wall) are really paying off! no pictures of the house today because i am writing this at work (on my lunch break!)...i'll *try* to post some later tonight.

i cannot wait to get started on jonah's nursery! we have been procrastinating this so much, but now it just has to get done! i am 31 weeks and 3 days prego, so we only have less than 8 full weeks before he arrives!

jonah is a fiesty little fella! he moves ALL THE TIME! i've been having a little back pain lately from the way he is positioned but my "human pillow" makes everything better when i go to sleep at night! his heartbeat is strong and fast and i'm measuring right on track at every appointment. we go back on may 21st for the 32 week apt!! i'm getting so anxious to meet him!! i'm hoping that he has green eyes and curly hair! :)

noah is feeling much better...he's had a rough month with sinus problems and is currently on his 3rd antibiotic :( this does not make mommy happy at all! but we are praying for healing and expecting him to be completely healed of this sinus infection!! {jamie has also been battling sinus problems this month - his dr. thinks he developed allergies!}

noah is doing great at school - he had school pictures made last week and we get to see them on thursday! :) how cute is that! he brought home his first "artwork" yesterday! 2 coloring pages and a coloring book all about "community helpers" - 1 was a picture of a trashman and the other a postman :) so cute!! he has definitely entered the terrible twos! he has started screaming when he doesn't get his way..this high pitched, short shriek! makes me want to pull my hair out!! he has to have his "momo" - his blankie - with him at all times...this includes bathtime! we literally have to bring it into the bathroom where he can see it or he cries all through the bath! ahhh! this kid is strange, but then again, so is his daddy ;)

oooohh i almost forgot mother's day!! the weekend was great! friday night i went to an auction with teresa! so much fun!! we found some really cool "junk"! LOL!! noah made me a plaster handprint (with aunt ninny's help)...so adorable!! on saturday, jamie surprised me with a hydrangea plant and a japanese maple for the yard! {they are both still sitting on the patio because we don't know where to plant them yet!} and we spent saturday night with teresa for mother's day. then on sunday, jamie got up early, made pancakes and cut up fresh fruit and had the table all set! he even cleaned up his mess!! :) you know that made my day! i LOVE pancakes!!! we had a great day at church and then spent the evening with my family {we celebrated my sister's graduation, mother's day, and my cousin's 13th birthday all in one!}

i'm sure i could think of more to update ya'll on but i've gotta head back to work! happy wednesday!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

7 days

only 7 days left



until i go from this...

to this....



we are moving in next saturday!!!!! WOOO HOOOO!!!!