Yesterday, my sister and her husband lost everything.  They were both at work when they got a call that there was an emergency at their apartment.  A fire, started by their hot water heater, had destroyed everything.  They are devastated.  Of course, so thankful that they weren’t there or asleep when it started…but still devastated.  There was no chance to grab the three things that we’ve all told ourselves we would grab if a fire was threatening.  There was no chance to enjoy their couch or their bed or their dishes or their shower for the last time.  There was just no time.

They’re more than 1,500 miles away.  My heart is broken and I feel so helpless.  What do you do when your family is hurting and you can’t give them a hug?  We’ve sent giftcards to help with their basic needs, and we’re working to gather pictures and other special family things they have lost.  But it just feels like it falls short (too short) of the devastation.

It’s been humbling for us over the past 24 hours.  It’s been a good reminder that we are promised nothing.  That we deserve nothing.  All of these things that we have and that we enjoy and that we take for granted everyday are gifts from a good God.  They are grace to us.  And if it were all taken today, it would be devastating.  It would be really, really hard.  But would we be able to sift through the ashes and still declare that God is good?  And that even this is for our good?  Would we see it as an opportunity?  Man, I really hope so.  

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.

Happy Thanksgiving from our goose-egged turkey man.

(result of running into an occupied porch swing)

And…I’m still pregnant.

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.

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.

Last night, we made our first family trip to Blues on the Green.  The Old 97′s headlined the free concert for thousands of very sweaty Austinites (it was 105 degrees when we arrived at 7:15 PM…sick).  If you’re not familiar with the Old 97′s, you should do yourself a favor and visit your nearest Hastings, or iTunes if that’s more your thing.  Either way, check them out.  They’re one of our favorites.  Doug and I have both seen them perform multiple times, but this was Rhett’s first.  The lights and the loud music had nothing on him, he loved it.

The best part of the night, hands down, was what transpired immediately following the concert.  See, the lead singer’s name is Rhett Miller.  While he is easy on the eyes, and while I had never heard the name “Rhett” before knowing about him, we did not in fact name our firstborn after him.  At least we don’t talk about it, if we did.

After the Old 97′s finished the show with one of my top 10 songs of all time, Timebomb, we went up to the stage to see if we could catch the man that (conveniently) shares Rhett’s name.  The moments that followed have gone down as one of my favorite moments of (little) Rhett’s life so far.

Rhett, meet Rhett.

Today makes me 20 weeks pregnant.  Grateful for how blessed we are.

So far this pregnancy has been nearly as easy as my pregnancy with Rhett.  I’ve been more tired and have had more heartburn and other undesirable symptoms than I did last time, but otherwise pretty easy.  Twenty weeks has flown, but December 2nd still feels like an eternity.  Although, in related news, I was at Hobby Lobby yesterday and they already have their Christmas inventory out.  I wondered why they even bother putting it away in January.  But, nevertheless, it made December feel not so far away.
We’re still planning to not find out the gender this time…although I have not had one person tell me they think it’s a boy.  So, we lean towards thinking it’s a Brownette, but try not to put too much thought into it.

And now, a big ol belly picture.

Today, we said goodbye  to Civey Lou.  It hasn’t been as easy as I imagined.  She left with a lot of memories.

• I bought her the same day that Doug told me he loved me for the first time.
• She was our getaway car from our wedding.
• We brought home our firstborn in her.
• We sang the Beverly Hillbilly song as we loaded our son and our 90 lb. beast in the backseat for road trips.

I had promised her I would drive her until her wheels fell off.  I don’t feel great about breaking that promise.  But as our family is growing, we needed to say goodbye.  Civey, it wasn’t you, it was us.  I hope your new owners take good care of you and provide you with plenty of crushed goldfish for your floorboards and the smell of soiled milk to remember Rhett by.   You were my favorite car so far.   I’ll miss you so much.

Listen, I don’t want to talk about how long it’s been since I have posted.  It’s ungodly, I’m aware.  So, in an attempt to gracefully get back into this thing, I shall update you on what it has been like to be Brown for the past two months (ugh).

Doug and I had a super romantic vacation to Napa Valley in March.  We stayed in Yountville (curiously famous for their restaurants), Healdsburg (a town with a square – which all towns need) and Carmel (not in Napa Valley, but for nostalgia’s sake).  It was perfect.  Everything.  The places we stayed, the food we ate, the wine we drank.  It was all a dream.  And for me and Doug, we remembered that we like each other.  Not that we had really forgotten, but there’s something about spending one-on-one time for an entire week and realizing that you would choose that person over anyone else to do it all over again with.

Cakebread Cellars

Super famous bakery that was directly behind our hotel.  If you’re a Today Show watcher, you see the NY version in the Plaza of this quaint cutie.

A surprise “Anniversary Package” from Gigi and Pops in Healdsburg.  Included breakfast in bed, bottle of champagne, flutes to take home, and a stuffed animal – such a funny addition, but Rhett loves his Goober Bear.  A huge thank you to Gigi and Pops for such a sweet surprise.

Doug loves cars.  Not really my thing, but marathoning isn’t really his thing.  So, we learned to make a few compromises on this trip.  On our way to Carmel, we stopped by the Laguna Seca Raceway.  We walked for miles and miles (uphill both ways) to see this beautiful stretch of pavement.  The highlight, for Doug, was this part right here.  In the biz, they call this “The Corkscrew.” 

The view from our room at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley.  This was, by far, the nicest hotel I have ever seen.  It was totally immaculate, which explains why we stayed here just one night.  And yes, we played Bocce Ball.  And yes, I won.

And for old time’s sake, we went to the rocks on Carmel Beach where we got engaged.

Seven days with my hunkity.  Never fought.  Enjoyed every moment.  We were able to video chat with Rhett (who stayed at our house with a healthy rotation of grandparents) a few times.  We missed him, for sure.  But, it was surprisingly easier on us than we had expected.  A huge thank you to The Grands for taking such good care of our peanut while we vacationed.

So, yes, turns out that our vacation was also…uh…productive.

Yes siree.  Baby Brown #2 is due to arrive on December 2, 2011.  This sonogram was done at just 5 weeks.  The baby was only 3mm long and we were still able to see the heartbeat.  Really unbelievable.  We are completely thrilled, and sometimes horrified.  I have to remind myself that people have had two kids for thousands of years and done well.  I just dont know how they do it.  Which kid do you get out of the car first?  When do you ever sleep?

As for me, I am feeling pretty good.  My pregnancy with Rhett was a breeze.  This one, however, has been a little different.  I have only had one day of sickness, but it was the pits.  I have no idea how people handle that for weeks on end.  Other than that, just extreme fatigue.  Definitely more tired than I remember being with Rhett.  Gigi is convinced it’s a girl.  For us, we’ve decided not to find out the gender this time.  Doug didn’t want to find out with Rhett, so he wins this time.

I’m not showing yet, so no belly shots for now…maybe ever.

As for Rhett, he is growing like a weed.  He’s walking like a wild man.  Doing a lot of blabbing, but no real words yet.  He has crazy, unruly hair.  And continues to be the greatest delight in our home.

How’s that for an update?