We welcomed our newest love on November 29, 2011. Abel Bradley Brown was born at 11:58 AM weighing in at 7 lbs, 9 oz and measuring 21.25 inches long. Our hearts are so full.

Because I can barely remember if I ate breakfast, much less what happened last year, I need to record the birth story.  This is mostly for me, but since this is the world wide web, you’re welcome to read on.

I woke up at 6:02 AM.  I immediately told Doug that I was having contractions (plural), which makes me think that maybe I had been having them for a while, but had been sleeping through them and somehow subconsciously knew I was having them.  Right away, we started to time them.  They were about 7-8 minutes apart to start.  We laid in bed for about 1.5 hours timing pretty regular contractions.  I took a bath, thinking that if this wasn’t labor that maybe the hot water would help with the back pain.  The contractions continued.  I already had my weekly doctor’s appointment scheduled for 10 AM, so we just decided we’d wait till then to see if it was go-time.  Doug took Rhett to preschool (thank you God, for your perfect timing!) and we headed to the doctor.  Naturally, we stopped at Chick-fil-a on the way for breakfast.  I ate a chicken biscuit while trying to breath through contractions, and somehow enjoyed every bite of it.  We got to the doctor’s office around 9:45 AM.  I checked in and told them I thought I might be in labor. They very quickly got me in a room and my doctor came in and said “So, you’re having contractions?  What do you think?  Maybe 4 cm?”  I had had a false alarm two weeks prior, so I was a little gun-shy.  He checked and said, “The reason you’re feeling so crummy is because you’re at 8 cm.  We need to get you to the hospital.”  My doctor’s office is right across the street from the hospital, so they wheeled me across the street in a wheelchair (very dramatic).  Before I left, he told me that if I wanted the epidural that I would need to tell them right away because I didn’t have much time.  So, in the wheelchair on the way across the street, I decided that I wanted to go without the epidural (we’ve made a note to ourselves for next time – decide ahead of time, and take a class on how in the world to give birth).  We checked into the hospital at 10:30 AM.  For about an hour I had really intense contractions 2-5 minutes apart and then all the sudden my doctor’s crew arrived and it was time to start pushing.  I pushed 5 times and the newest Brown arrived at 11:58 AM.  Abel Bradley was here…and a BOY!  We were so surprised, but so thrilled.

Here are a few pictures from the big day.

Daddy and Rhett on Abel’s birthday

This picture was immediately after checking in at the hospital.  The last picture of my second pregnancy.

And here is what we came for…

Our first picture as a family of four (excuse Daddy’s sleepy eyes)

And finally, we were amazed at how much Rhett and Abel looked alike as newborns.  Brothers!  Rhett is on the left, Abel on the right.

Welcome, Baby Abel.  We are so glad you came.

Dear Rhett,

Today you are turning two years old.  I can’t believe it.  I’ve had no shortage of people tell me that having kids would make time speed up.  They weren’t kidding.  Having you in our lives and watching you grow and your personality develop has made time go too quickly.

This past week I have spent a lot of time thinking about you and the blessing that you have been in my and Daddy’s life over the past two years.  I can hardly think about it without tears coming to my eyes.  I am overwhelmed by how blessed we are to be your parents.

This year has been a year of many firsts for you –

• We saw you take your first steps in February. I had been working with you on walking while Daddy was at work, but you waited until Daddy got home to take those few steps. You wouldn’t believe how excited we were. You took three steps from Daddy to me and we acted like you had won a national championship.
• You said your first real word in June.  “Cook” – short for cookie. Your first sentence shortly followed – “cook please.” You, son, are a little man after your mom’s own heart.
• The highlight of the year for me was our first family vacation.  The three of us took a 14-hour drive to Colorado.  You slept nearly the whole way there.  For me and Daddy, it was a time for us to get out of the summer heat and out of our normal routine and just enjoy you and enjoy time together in a new place where there was nothing to required of us except to spend dedicated time as a family.  I will never forget that trip.
• And we welcomed your first sibling just a few weeks ago.  Abel was born just three weeks before your second birthday.  Right now, you’re not really sure why in the world we would mess with a good thing and bring home another baby.  Every now and then though, we’ll catch you giving a blanket, a toy, or a pacifier to your new baby brother.  It’s these moments that I get excited about the big brother that you are becoming.  Abel has so much to learn from you.  Daddy and I are praying that you would soon become best friends and that you learn to love Abel well.

This year has also challenged me to live out what I said last year – that I was a child of God and not bound by fear, and therefore I was able to steward you well as my son.  The older you have become, and the more “boy” you become, this has become increasingly more difficult.  You are all boy, that’s for sure.  You love to climb and have no fear and no concept of danger.  The trouble is that there is nothing worse for me than when you are hurt.  The times that you have fallen on the sidewalk, been hit in the head with a swinging wooden porch swing, climbed out of your highchair, climbed on your dresser and tipped it over, and all the other could-have-happened scenarios have broken my heart. I think that most of the time, I have been more upset when you get hurt than you are.  I have such great fear that something will happen to you that I can’t do anything about, or maybe worse, something will happen to you that I could have prevented.  It makes my heart ache, Rhett.  I am praying and asking people to hold me accountable to this fear.  I want so badly to be a mother that loves you really well, with an open hand and an outstretched arm – knowing that you are a gift to Daddy and me.  Being parents is by far the best gift we’ve ever been given.

Rhett, I cannot tell you how much I love you.  I can’t believe how full my heart is.  I am so proud of you.  I am anxious for your third year – I can’t wait to get to know you better.

I love you,
Momma

Happy Thanksgiving from our goose-egged turkey man.

(result of running into an occupied porch swing)

And…I’m still pregnant.

Baby Brown #2 is officially baked.  We have a pretty wide range of emotions around here – some panic, some fear, but mostly really ready to meet this little one.  His/her room is just about prepared for the arrival and diapers have already been unpacked and put in their appropriate place – a rookie parent mistake we made with Rhett (picture good intentions of giving a newborn his first clean diaper at home, not realizing we hadn’t unpacked any diapers until he was fully unclothed, leading to his first of many room christenings).

I am going to the doctor weekly now, and at my last appointment my doctor said that the little turkey will likely be here before Thanksgiving (that’s two weeks from today, if dates aren’t your thing).  That’s a story we’ll continue to track.

And now, for another belly photo.

Last week, we transitioned Rhett out of the crib and into a big boy bed.  Not just any big boy bed though.  A big boy bed made by hand by handy-dandy Doug.  Doug has been wanting to build a piece of furniture for a long time, and when we started our hunt for a new bed for Rhett, we found that they were way too expensive for the kind of quality that we felt like we needed to last for a long time.  The Browns are long-term planners – we wanted a bed that Rhett could tell his fraternity brothers that he’d been sleeping on since before he was 2 years old.  So, Ikea was out of the question and Restoration Hardware was out of the budget.  Instead, we perused this website: Ana White Homemaker.  She has a lot of DIY plans for furniture of varying difficulty.  We finally chose this bed.  And Doug got to work while Rhett and I stayed comfortable inside.

The finished product with the builder and the sleeper

We set up the bed in his room and let him get used to it for about a week before we let him try sleeping in it.  The first naptime was a disaster.  He immediately fell out of the bed, crawling over the rails.  Two days later, we successfully tried again.  He slept for about 2 hours (about an hour shorter than his usual naps) and I heard him awake before he had a chance to get out.

The napper

Good nappers deserve ice cream

That night did not go so well.  We put him in his bed (after clearly communicating expectations of him not getting out), but he quickly realized the freedom he’d been given.  He used the opportunity to unload a toy box, go through his dirty laundry and unplug and hide his nightlight.  After about 30 minutes of correcting him, and then hearing more banging around, it was quiet.  After 15 minutes of silence, Doug snuck in to find him back in his bed, fast asleep.  I was shocked, as I had been prepared to let him sleep on the floor if he fought the bed too much.

Things changed at about 4 AM.  After hearing what he thought was someone breaking into the house, Doug jumped up out of bed (for some reason, in my middle-of-the-night delusion, I thought he was starting laundry – so I wasn’t worried).  He stood at the top of the stairs and then heard something that made him realize that Rhett was awake too, in addition to the robbers (Browns don’t think clearly at ungodly hours).  After a couple seconds of panic, Doug found Rhett in his bathroom…in the sink.  In the middle of the night, Rhett had taught himself how to reach and turn a doorknob, and then walked down the hall into the new baby’s room and into their shared bathroom, climbed onto the toilet, and onto the countertop, and in the sink.  The noise Doug heard that he thought were the bad guys was just a candle that Rhett had knocked off the countertop.  I was unable to pull myself together after the fear of what could have happened set in.  So, we let Rhett sleep the rest of the night in his crib.  The next day, we made Rhett’s room into a small prison for children – childproofing everything.

The next night’s sleep was successful.  Slept all night until woken up around 8 AM.  Here he is waking up from his first night’s sleep in his big bed.

Since then (one week ago), Rhett has transitioned well…with one exception.  A few nights ago, we heard him banging around before falling asleep (a routine that we haven’t figured out how to manage yet, but usually lasts only about 15 minutes).  This time though, I sensed that something was different and asked Doug to go check on him.  Moments later, I hear Doug running around upstairs yelling for Rhett.  Turned out, he had somehow gotten into his bathroom again, (maybe I didn’t close it all the way), and had gotten into the toilet.  Soaking wet.  Even his hair was wet.

My dad responds to this behavior with a laugh and a “he’s just a boy, he’s got to explore.”  To this, I must ask what in the world I would do if we had another boy?  I mean, I know I wouldn’t be the first mom to have two boys.  There are a few others out there.  But how?  How do you manage brothers?  With one boy, I am ready for us to move into a bounce house with no sharp corners, no concrete, no toilets or bathtubs for inquiring minds.

Our little man delivered last night as a UPS man.  He sold the part.  He ran from house to house.  Only not delivering anything, but picking up a lot of loot along the way.

Wouldn’t you love to have this little hunk delivering your packages?

He was on the move.  UPS men do not waste time.

After a hard night’s work, a family picture.

Rhett’s loot.  I’d be lying if preggo wouldn’t have liked to see more M&Ms here.

And if that’s not enough to get your goat, our good friends John and Sarah brought their little crawfish for all the fun. It’s too much.

Happy Halloween to you and yours.

I don’t want to talk about how late this post is. Or how 2011 has been an embarrassing year for onbeingbrowns.  Don’t mention it.

In another last-ditch effort to get caught up and breath some life into this site, here is another month in review.

For my 30th birthday, I had pressured Doug (for the last five or so years) to throw an epic party for me.  But, as it turns out, the closer the day got and as I entered the third trimester, a party was feeling a little less exciting.  There’s something about celebrating while wearing panel pants, wondering if my protruding belly button is showing, and imagining looking at pictures a year down the road and wondering why I never realized how much weight I had gained in my face.  Something about all those things made my birthday bonanza less appealing.  Maybe it was an overreaction.

Instead, to celebrate, we took our first ever family vacation to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Colorado in the summer/fall is maybe my favorite place in the world, and it did not disappoint this year.  We drove overnight from Austin to Pagosa Springs and Rhett was a champ.  He fell asleep around 10:30 PM in the car and slept until we arrived around 7:15 AM.   We stayed for four days, three nights and mostly just enjoyed being a family.  We cooked most of our meals, we went hiking, we sat outside and talked.  We did normal family things without having the pressures of cleaning the house, work, doing laundry, and (my final mention of it) the heatwave of 2011.  It was perfect and definitely a highlight of the whole year.

On our way back home, we stopped in Amarillo to see Doug’s grandparents.  Rhett had never met Grandmother and Pa Brawley, so it was a big treat for everyone.

The day after we got home from Colorado, Rhett had his first day at preschool.  He is going just one day a week from 9-2.  The drop-off was difficult for both of us.  I was pretty sure I would be able to hold it together, but I underestimated the power of my hormones.  He cried when I dropped him off, and I cried when I got in the car.  Turns out that we both made it through the day, and neither of us show the signs of separation anxiety anymore.  A few pictures from his first day.

And finally, I’m still pregnant.  At the time of this picture, I was 28 weeks pregnant.  The closer we get to adding a new member to our family, the more emotional I get about this little man.  I am anxious about the transition for him.  How will he do with a little brother or sister?  I wonder if I am going to miss just having him.  It hurts my heart how much I love him.  I am so thankful for the nearly two years that we’ve had with just him and thankful that God isn’t done growing our little family.

Today is the last day of my twenties. As I reluctantly notice the time creeping dangerously close to tomorrow, I have been reflecting on this past decade.

In 2001, I turned 20.  I was a junior at Baylor University, living with my best friend, Ashley.  I have zero recollection (a curse of the 29th year) of what I did for that 20th birthday.  Regardless of the events, that day kicked off my third decade. Here are a few decade highlights that I do remember…

I have traveled to Australia, Brazil, Uganda and Switzerland.
I celebrated my 21st birthday in the Australian Outback.
I went alligator hunting in the Amazon River.
I drove a van within 30 feet of a lion in the Uganda bush.
I bungee jumped into the Nile River.
I graduated from Baylor University with my Bachelor’s degree and University of Texas with my Master’s degree.
I moved to Austin and never left.
I became a partner of Austin Stone Community Church.
I have had two real (paying) jobs.
I have run 13 marathons in 12 states and DC.
I have had 10 addresses.
I lived through my darkest season so far.
I experienced forgiveness and restoration like I wouldn’t have dared to dream.

And if that’s not enough for 10 years…

I met the man of my dreams.
I got engaged and married.
I gave birth to the best kid in the world.

The 20s weren’t so bad.  Here’s to you, 30s.  I hope you are better than I can imagine.

Because most of my time in August (and the two months prior) was spent complaining about the heat, I neglected to chronicle the life of our firstborn and the events of August 2011.  Therefore, a photographic account of the month follows.

We took Rhett to The Big Bounce – an indoor inflatable playground.  I had taken him months ago, and he hated it.  This time, all it took was Doug and me getting into the bouncy inflatables with him (mildly humiliating).  Once he saw that we were okay with plastic inflated dogs, mountains and hammers, he seemed cool with it.  Because he can go for free until he’s two, we went there several times to get some energy out before naptime.

June 8 was not a good day for us.  Turns out that we weren’t in the clear yet.  Rhett has become pretty clever in taking his clothes off at night…even the pajamas that zip up and snap.  I asked for some advice from friends, and we have started to dress Rhett like this for bed. So far, baby Houdini hasn’t cracked our code.

The Barnum & Bailey and Ringling Brothers Circus was in town this month.  So, for some family fun before Doug left town for a week for work, we treated ourselves to a night of wildly entertaining acts – the highlights were the 7 motorcycles riding in the globe and the man with stilts  being bounced off a seesaw and doing a flip in mid-air.  A lowlight was the incredibly tense tiger act – picture a man in a cage with 10 very uncooperative and seemingly angry (or hungry) tigers.  We were sure we were about to witness murder.  A picture from the pre-show.

Doug was in San Francisco for a week, so Rhett, Bagby and I went to Waco.  Take that, San Fran.  Rhett, Memaw Hudson and I went to Pittsburg, Texas for a day to visit another set of Rhett’s great-grandparents.  Memaw and Pepaw Finnell hadn’t seen Rhett since his first birthday, so it was quite a treat.

If I haven’t made my position clear on the heat this summer, I haven’t done my job.  I am miserable.  I am at least 15 lbs heavier and I am burning from the insides.  Which means bad news for Rhett.  I am certain he must think we are the most boring family ever, as most of our time is spent at home with the windows closed.  So, finding indoor activities has been crucial this summer.  While we were in Waco, we hit the jackpot.  Memaw and Pepaw Hudson have an annual membership to the Mayborn Children’s Museum.  If you’re ever in or near the City of Dreams and you have littles, you must stop.  It was gold.

Our friends, Ryan and Allison, have a little miss named Blythe.   She turned one in August and we celebrated big at her fiesta.  Looks like Rhett is all kinds of ready for college date parties.  He had no problem trying all kinds of costumes.

And finally, I got a little help around the house.

I’ve mentioned the handywork of the Lazies (you can catch up here and here).  I hate to say it, but they had their way with the powder room too.  Up until my nesting instincts took over, this room had been a low priority project for us.  But, when you’re 6 months pregnant and you’re cooped up in the house with the windows closed because it’s hotter than the breath of Satan outside, then you turn to things like buying and organizing school supplies and dreaming of remodeling the powder room.  And Doug, patient and kind, humored me.

Here is the before shot:

You may be thinking that this isn’t so bad, and maybe I need more than air-conditioning.  But, listen, see the molding at the top?  That’s a mark of the Lazies.  First, it’s not wood.  Don’t be surprised.  We never are anymore.  It’s more like military-grade styrofoam.  Very classy.  And true to Lazy form, the styrofoam was not nailed, but glued.  So, drywall came down and retexturing was required.  And as a double bonus, which you can’t see here, rather than planning for the light fixture, they just cut a square out of that molding to put around the rounded-cornered light fixture.  And and and, rather than molding on all four walls, how about just three?  Yep, it seems as though the Lazies didn’t do the math quite right.  So, why bother going back to the styrofoam molding vendor and get more?  It’s like Picasso of home decorating, molding on 75% of the room.  Perfect.  Secondly, the paint color(s) made me depressed and the paint job was even worse.  Something had to be done.

And a gallon of plum-colored paint was just the ticket.  The results have left this room to be my favorite in the house so far.  Here are a few shots:

The goods:
Pewter Frames: Hobby Lobby (on clearance) $4.20/each
Wall Vase: CB2 (bought with giftcard) $4.95
Tealight Holders: CB2 (bought with giftcard) $1.95/each
Silhouette: homemade…easy!
Silhouette frame, ‘Renew’ and Wall Cross: already owned
Basket: Hobby Lobby (bought with coupon) $8ish
Vase: Ross (already owned)
Mirror: Hobby Lobby (already owned)
Hand Towel: World Market $9.99