PICU

So for those of you who perhaps follow this blog but have not yet jumped into the land of FaceBook (which has taken over most of our posts, sorry), you may not know that we had our first visit to the hospital with a kid. With a 5, 4 and 2 year old, that's 11 years of parenting without an ER visit. But who's counting.

Luke woke early Saturday morning (4:30) after a tough night of labored breathing and coughing. We couldn't get his breathing under control after a couple hours of trying the meds we had so we called the doctor at 9 for a 10am appointment. The doctor gave him 2 nebulizer treatments in his office with minimal improvement and we were in the ED by noon. A few hours later he had been admitted to the Pediatric ICU. There were lots of intense moments on Saturday when his lungs were bad but his temper and fear of the place were worse making his breathing worse not better - despite being on a bunch of meds and 02.

Saturday night we both were able to stay there with him (thanks to amazing friends and family taking the girls all day --Paul & Laura, Amy & Jamie - and overnight - Dad) to take turns resting and helping with a 14 hour continuous nebulizer treatment. He eventually adjusted to the mask, just needed one of us to keep it on his face when he would roll over or shift. Sunday was a huge improvement. It was almost a fun day - as I got to grab the girls from Rich's house, bring them to the hospital to visit. Then our friend Ben and Nichole picked up the girls for a shopping spree and sugar fix before I met them at a birthday party (not far from the hospital) to bounce and slide on blow up houses. What a great outlet for 3 kids, er I mean 2 kids and their supervisor, to let off some steam after having been in an ICU all day. We had some time as a family in the ICU with a happy and improving Luke and I got home that night to sleep with the girls, thinking Luke was doing great and coming home the next day. Turns out his O2 Saturation levels dropped too low while sleeping so they put oxygen up his nose - which he hated and that only lasted 5 min, before Missy took over doing O2 blow by all night.

Ashley, Nicole and I met Alli for doughnuts in honor of Nicole's birthday and then got to the hospital by 7:30 on Monday. Luke was looking pretty weak and sick of being there, but given his performance the night before we were told we would probably stay another night. Exhaustion was beginning to hit all us really hard by then. I had fallen asleep on the floor next to my bed trying to set my alarm the night before, Missy had slept even less than I had and Luke hadn't gotten through a full sleep cycle in 3 days due to not breathing, poking nurses or bubbling O2 hoses. He finally napped for a brief period around noon while I dropped off the girls at Matt & Stacie's house where she entertained the birthday girl with gifts, water games and toys - amazing family. So during Luke's nap, the nurses reported that his 02 had only dropped to 93%, so the doc said we could go home. Surprising to us - and Luke. We packed up quickly. He was confused and tried and when we told him we were going home, he said, in a typical 2 yr old fashion, "no". But by the time we got home he was happy to be here. We all were.

So many of the prayers were answered, but even more than that we had peace. As I caught on the radio this morning: Big God= little problems. Little God = big problems. The covering of prayer and offers for tangible support were seemingly endless. Throughout the ordeal I can only recall feeling scared once (when the nurse started talking about all the reasons you don't want to intubate an asthmatic - RN's not a great discussion to have with the parents when it isn't necessary) but with a brief prayer God again granted me a peace that surpasses understanding and I knew that He was in control. I didn't know the outcome (still don't - not really) but it was very clear that God was in control and going to give us the strength to get through whatever we were going to face.

I'm not saying there were not tears and more emotion and Love for Luke felt this weekend (pretty awesome how trials bring that out) but so many times, the tears were either pure physical exhaustion (which God quickly countered with the strength we needed) or tear of joy as we saw the ways God was providing for us, through family, friends, prayer support, visitors, great kids, I could go on, but you get the point. It's not that God prevents us from going through the storms in life, but having Him present with us through the storms. I don't know if the clinical outcome was impacted by prayer - given his speedy response and great attitude, I have to believe it was- but even if it wasn't, the prayers were answered in the peace that Missy and I had - the growth and maturity that Luke displayed - and the love and support poured upon us by family. It is the power and unity of the Holy Spirit that explains the peace, connection and beautiful orchestration of this weekend. So many people took the lead of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and put their own needs aside and cared for us, cared for Luke, cared for our kids.

I have a whole new understanding of what parents go through when a kid is in the hospital. And to anyone facing a health trial of a child, my prayers are with you - and beyond the physical healing we ache for - my prayer is that through the power of the resurrection of Jesus, you could also experience Peace in the midst of trials.

2010 Resolution of a 5 yr old

The following story is immature humor but I just felt the need to share. Only read on if a little bathroom humor isn't offensive.

It was Jan 1 and Missy and I were talking to the kids a lot about it being a new year- as in "lets keep the house more picked up this year" and "be quick to listen- its a new year". Seems to be working too (31 hours in, so a bit early to say). Anyways, while we don't formally make resolutions or call them as such, Ashley picked up on the idea of a fresh start that comes with a new year.

I was doing some reading on the couch when she came down and asked for a cup of juice. I asked she wait till I was done with paragraph and then I'd get it for her. She said okay and pulled herself up onto the couch and in the process she passed gas. Head between her hands she said, genuinely disappointed, "Man, I wasn't going to fart for a month!" Kids are funny on so many levels. Hope you are doing better than Ashley at keeping your resolutions.

2010 Blog Restart

Sorry for the lack of posts to this blog for the last 4 months. We've gotten on Facebook and it seems to keep us from posting to the blog as much. Happy New Year to all and I'll do better this year at keeping this site rolling.

Ashley Soccer

Ashley had her first pre-K soccer game today. The weather was perfect and she was so excited to be there. The first field she was on was a bit crowded, but once she was put on a team of 4 she really shined. Scoring a goal in the first few min, and 3 more after that! She had a great sense of ball control and how to navigate the field.

Luke, did however, make navigating the side lines a little challenging. Here he is wearing the side line marker. We typically got it off his head before it caused any confusion.

Ashley was very happy, and when her tounge wasn't out (she gets that from her Mom's side I guess- taking after MJ) she was all smiles. Here she was grinning ear to ear because the ball that went out of bounds nearly hit me with the camera.

Can't wait for next weeks game. More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/brandonmbrown/AshleyS1stSoccerGame#

Camping with Friends

Here are some pictures from our Labor day weekend camping trip to Kettle Moraine (30 min north of Lake Geneva, WI) with our friend's Mike and Krista and their son Will. Things we learned:
- Our kids LOVE being outside (The kids, especially Luke spent most of the weekend smiling)
- Camping can be comfortable and easy when you go with very well prepared friends
- Weather was amazing. (We had "a cloud" pass in front of the sun at 11:12 on Sunday. Sunny by 11:14)
- Vacations with a 2 hour drive are easier than those with a 18 hour drive
- Luke loves playing in the mud (wait, we already knew that)
- Good friends are a gift from the Lord.

Notable Quote:
On the drive there, looking at a street sign, "Dad, what's the word on the street?" - Ashley

Camping | Thacher Island

On Monday afternoon Bob (my brother in law) and I paddled out to Thacher Island and saw a sign that said "campground". We immediately went into planning mode. Missy was cool enough to offer to stay behind with the kids for a night while Bob, Alli and I scrambled together enough camping gear in the dry bags (and garbage bags) we had and kayak back out to the island.

We left at 7:30 and it was getting dark quick. An intense paddle got us to the island just in time and the couple who are inn keepers were cool enough to not only reopen the boat house for us, but also to pull a trailer around for us and drive our gear to the campsite. We set up camp just before dark, loaded on the bug spray and explored the island.

The first thing we did was to walk around to the inland side of the island, call home and confirmed that we could blink flashlights at each other and it was visable. Our morse code was really rusty so we stuck to talking on the cell phone. We then explored around the island (navigating around the worlds largest Sea Gulls (some looked to have 3 ft wingspans). Walking around they were cat sized. Freeky; Anyway, the Inn keepers had left the lighthouse unlocked for us, so we went up to it and took some pictures of the cool, though creepy entrance. We then marched up the 137 stairs (Alli counted) and got within feet of the red light. The view was amazing. The moon was shining bright and the waves were crashing down below.

The highlight of the trip for all of us came when we went down the top ten stairs and noticed what we had not before: A door. I opened it to find an outer door. Opening that reavealed to us the walkway around the top of the lighthouse. It was adrenalin pumping, wind blowing, exposure that was so cool. The moonlight was fascinating. It made me think of Psalm 19: A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.

We got back down to camp, had a quick snack and settled in for a good nights rest. Worked out great until at 12:15, something triggered the two, very loud fog horn systems on the island. The two horns had different pitches and sequences and seemed to go off ever 15-30 seconds for a good majority of the night. See Gulls also added to the volume factor- so that answered the question we had earlier in the night of "Why would we be the only ones here? this is amazing" But we would do it again in a heartbeat.

The noise had us up at 5 am and up in the top of the lighthouse again for sunrise. The paddle back home was smooth and wonderful and much more restful without a pending darkness.

There are some pictures posted on the Picasa site. Photos

Beach Photo

We have had 3 perfect beach days. Here are some of the photos put together in a collage.

Back to the beach!

Summer Vacation 2009

We have arrived the beach an so the blog will get a bit more active for a while- and I have relinked our blog to our FB site too. Seems like the best way of sharing the joy of this vacation with all of you.

We drove through the night on Friday. Left Chicago a little before 2pm, skirted around city traffic and made our way across the country. The kids were great, required only a handful of potty breaks, and fell asleep in PA, woke up in MA. We made it in just under 17 hours with only 42 min in stopped time. Heavy fog through most of NY and western MA slowed us down a bit. So we were at the beach by 7am.

The weather was perfect on Saturday. The kids had a blast and everyone got a nap at some point in the day so we all slept well last night; thanks to the sound of the waves, a hard day of playing.

So, with all that God has blessed us with, we took some time this morning to make a list of things we are thankful for.
fun beach| house | safe travels | yummy food| God |sleep | family | fun neighbors | answered prayer | happy kids| health | wave sounds | Luke's awesome attitude | 2 great days of beach weather

More posts coming soon with pictures if I get my act together.

Memorial Day Weekend

 

Hi all. Happy Memorial day!
We had a fun and busy weekend. Check out the pictures of some of our adventures at our photo site

Nicole got some flip flops this weekend. Take a listen to this to see how she says it. We think it's funny.


Oh, and for some other fun, check out Reason 738 why Missy doesn't leave Brandon at home with the kids unless she has to.
Zip line video (Photo credits to Ashley)

Swing Set Complete

Time Lapse in motion this time; (sorry about the low quality video.)
Again, huge thanks to Rich, Bob, Alli and Matt. Missy- you are an
amazing mother!

Thanks for a fun and successful project.

Swing-set time-lapse

8 hours of work- amazing family; thanks Rich, Alli, Bob and Matt.  Missy was amazing to let us have such a power tool filled Mother's day- not to mention be such a great mom that this is what she really wanted for her birthday/mothers day.  Always giving the best to her kids.

Very happy with the progress and hoping to finish up tomorrow or Tuesday.

Kids say (and hear) the darndest things

Actual conversations heard in the Brown house:

End of a very busy day I say "lets just go to Taco Bell". (Closest fast food to our house and Missy hates it so it pretty much is just an expression for lets eat out cheap and quick since we never go.) Ashely says, "I want to go to Tinker Bell!" Nicole jumps around chanting, "Dinner with Tinker Bell, Dinner with Tinker Bell!"
Tinker Bell didn't show up, but the kids ate their taco.

Kids sitting on the couch with a backpack. Dad says, "What are you doing?"
Ashley: Going on a trip. Waiting for our airplane.
Dad: Where you going?
Ashley: Hawaii. We are going to see Julia and we are going to ride on an octopus. My baby [doll] has never been.
I should point out that neither have they- not that their mother has not tried, but we went skiing instead.

Nicole likes to do as much parenting as she is able so it is good for her that she has a little brother. The other day they are sitting at the table, I was working from home in the other room and I hear their mom telling Luke to sit down in his highchair. (He loves to try to stand up if we have not yet buckled him.) I tuned it out and continue working. Nicole, who makes all of her "S" noises "SH" starts telling Luke: "No Sh_it! No Sh_it!" In context and used to Nicole's "accent" Missy didn't even notice it, but from the other room, pretty funny lunch "transcript".

Photo Catchup

  March was a busy month and I have promised many of you some updated pictures of the kids. Luke has not been growing as fast as he did at first but he is looking and acting older each day. His smile is his default facial expression and now that we have his diet more figured out he is a much happier kid. There is a photo here of his first haircut.
 
 
 

We all battled a 2 week period where one or more of us were sick with something but with the help of some antibiotics we are coming out of the woods and we are really looking forward to enjoying the nice spring weather in store.
More, shorter, posts coming soon.

Ski Trip Highlights

We had a great time in Steamboat, CO. After finding the deal on Wed and buying on Friday, we were there Sunday through Thursday. Missy deserves a wife/mother of the year award for dealing with my spontaneity and packing perfectly for a great trip. The weather was warm and sunny- so while that meant no powder days, it was great for teaching and enjoying skiing.
So we asked everyone what their highlights were:
Ashley's highlights

1. "Going fast on my skis"
   
2. "Hanging out with Popi"
   

Nicole's highlights

1. "going potty" (with a big smile- have we mentioned she is potty trained now? and yes, that was her first response)
   
2. "going on airplane"
   
3. "skiing" - or rather getting pulled around on skis
   
4. Riding the Gondola
   
5. Chilling on the sun deck with Popi
   

Luke's highlights

1. Sleeping in the stroller
   
2. Taking a plane ride
   
3. Watching Dad and Ashley ski
   
4. Bouncing on Popi's knee
   

Missy's highlights

1. Seeing Ashley's new (and Brandon's old) excitement for skiing
   
2. Getting on skis for the first time in 5 years
   
3. Family time
   
4. Being promised a warm weather vacation as a prize as recipient of the "wife of the year" award
   

Popi's highlights

1. Time with the grand kids
   
2. Time in the mountains
   
3. Cross country skiing so fast his pole broke
   
4. Having the Gondola stop for 5 min on our way down the mountain from our farewell lunch at the top
   

Brandon's highlights

1. Teaching Ashley to Ski
   
2. Skiing with Missy
   
3. Skiing with Tom & Sandy (friends who live there and showed me over 18 miles of Steamboats best skiing in a little over an hour and a half. Then helped me coach Ashley)
   
4. Skiing in the trees
   
5. Skiing tele (free the heel- free the mind)
   
6. Seeing Nicole happy on skis
   
7. Great time with family (kids were fantastic)
   
8. Traveling with Rich
   
9. Being in the mountains
   
10. Oh and skiing (steep, bumped, glades, wide open, groomed, pretty much anything)
    
11. The whole trip was such a blessing
    

See more pictures AND VIDEO's at our photo site here

Steamboat Springs

We've had 2 amazing days of skiing. This morning Ashley and I rode the Gondola up and took 1 hour, 3.5 mile ski down to base where we met up with Mom, Popi, Nicole and Luke. We put Nicole on skis for the first time (pictures of that coming soon... maybe even video) Then Ashley Mom and Dad rode up a chair lift, got some video of her coming down the hill and now we are back for lunch. This afternoon, with naptime, Missy and I are getting some skiing in. Off to the slopes!

Snow Penguin

 

We've posted more photo's of our snowy fun on our photo site: http://picasaweb.google.com/brandonmbrown/wintertimefun

In this picture from yesterday, Ashley is just getting up from making a snow angel. Today she wanted to make a snow penguin. I wasn't familiar, so she showed me. She basically did a belly flop in the snow and flapped her arms like a penguin. Quite amuzing. And when she got up, it did kinda look like a penguin had just taken a slide in the snow. You should try it sometime.

Luke's Mobile

No, Luke didn't get a cell phone- Luke is now mobile- as in, he is crawling. He came to my office today and when I put him on the floor in my boss's office, he crawled. Repeat performance about 20 min later when mom was around.
The girls took the motivation of food, Cheetos if I recall correctly, but look only took a shiny pen.

So those of you who voted in the poll to the left, well, too late now and we were all wrong. No one had voted for Wed.

Pictures, perhaps video of the crawler coming soon.

Regional Santa's & Luke's Forward Motion

Ashley and I were having breakfast the other morning (Nicole was still sleeping and Mom was taking care of Luke). I asked her what she was thinking about and her answer was, "Well, when I grow up, I don't know what I want to be, but Nicole is going to be Santa Claus. .... I know there is already a Santa Clause, but he can take care of all the far away people and Nicole can do all the close by people."

I think she is on to something there. Perhaps we can even extend the idea such that each town, or street- maybe even each house has their own Santa.

Oh, and feel free to place your bet on which day Luke will be crawling in the poll to the left. He has made forward progress but mostly by doing a push up and collapsing forward again and again. For the sake of the poll an official "crawl" consists of forward motion using his arms - while not crying. Scouts honor on which you vote for as it is all anonymous.

Perspective

 

 

We are enjoying some peaceful snowfalls recently. This morning we were outside finishing up the driveway and Nicole looked down the street to see someone using a snowblower (takes all the fun out if it if you ask me). She said "LOOK! Sprinkler!" Don't think it would be as much fun to run through as the neighbors sprinkler in August, but fun to see how a kids mind works.
Then Ashley looked down the street the other way, laughed and said "She's using a spatula to clean the snow off her car."

So hope your spatulas and sprinklers are doing a good job of clearing your snow and you are able to enjoy it this weekend.

Nicole (2), Ashley (4)

Being the older sisters, we share a room and we also are going to
share this post. We have had a great fall. We had a great time in
the leaves and a few times dad set up a zip line across the length of
the backyard (from maple tree to swing set) and it has been lots of
fun. We just "turn scared into fun" as dad keeps reminding us.
We love drawing and paiting and maybe dad will scan and post some of
artwork. Ashley loves to draw the family- It looks like 5 smiley
faces of appropriate sizes for each family members with legs and arms
coming out of the circle that is the head. On special days, we get
bodies, but mostly we look like M&M's.
Nicole loves to laugh and keeps the rest of us laughing. I can't
think of a story that would tell well on here, but she has a way of
saying things in the few words she knows that makes it very clear what
she is trying to express.
Oh, and as long as we are writing, Dad is all about Christmas music
this year and is very excited to have found the mp3 stream of Moody
Christmas at http://www.moodyradio.org/brd_AudioMin.aspx?id=13144 If
time allows this afternoon we may start decorating the house! 1st
week of Advent this weekend- we are getting excited.

Luke- 7 months

The much awaited post on Luke. He has been one of the main reasons we
have not been posting as much on here. He had a tough time from 2-6
months old. Turns out he doesn't like his monther eating dairy- his
skin would break out and without the coordination to scratch was
pretty much miserable. Now that Missy has been (or at least given her
best effort at) not eating dairy he is a new kid. Very cute, happy,
smily and loves to play with his sisters(and be played with). He
isn't quite crawling yet, though it feels like that could happen soon.
He is still eating well and not at all small. Mom is getting a nice
upper body workout hauling him around.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm sitting, with laptop, by a fire in my backyard and thankful for a beautiful star lit sky, a warm fire, plenty of wood and even a leaf free back yard thanks to sunny, warm weather this morning. I'm also thankful for the new Fernando Ortega album, Christmas Songs It is great, but that brings up my question that I'd like to pose: When is it too early for Christmas music? I suppose i could make a poll on the blog, but I doubt canned answers will do. So give me your comments, but also, let me tell you why I'm all for it now that Thanksgiving is over, well, nearly.

The bottom line is, that Christmas Music stirs up all sorts of emotions in most everybody- the good songs at least, and it stirs my heart to Worship. The words of some of these songs are so filled with scripture, Joy, excitement, beauty. Take for example, "What Child is this?" This, This is Christ the King! Whom Shepards guard and angels sing. Haste haste to bring Him Love, the Babe, the Son of Mary.

To some, just lyrics I suppose, but to me, a call to remember the price that God was willing to pay to reach out to us to show us love so we can know and worship Him. I guess I say all this on Thanksgiving to say, I'm thankful for a God who knows us, desires us to know Him and give us a purpose. So you, my facebook and blog readers, join me around the fire on this perfect night as best you can; cold enough to need a fire, not so cold it hurts, stars that shine from mind-blowingly far away-
to reflect on what you are thankful for- something my mom always tries to get us to do around a table of food that I always had a hard time getting into but now wish I did more often- God has blessed us in so many ways. And since I'm going first this year I'll take the best answer- I'm thankful for what this music is so reminding me of- The ultimate Gift of God sending his only son to walk this earth, die on the cross and rise again so that we may have Life and have it abundantly.

Oh, and thought I'd apologize for the lack of postings to this blog in a long time at the bottom of this post, not the top. Luke has kept us busy and I'll tell the full story on that shortly. He is doing well now and i'll leave it at that as my hands are cold and the fire could use some attention. Happy Thanksgiving and God bless.

You Bet

Ashley has started her second year of pre-school.  This year she is going to Harvest Christian Academy (Church School as she calls it) on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  She loves it and arrives to school eager to see her friends and has big smiles when we pick her up.  We are thrilled with her excitement to learn, make friends and worship the Lord.  She comes home singing songs from the Thursday morning chapel and last night even used it as her excuse for why she couldn't go to bed, "Dad, I've got to worship God"  We still made her go to bed- I didn't take the time to explain that we can worship God in all that we do, even sleep- now there is a nice thought.

Yesterday, I asked her if she is well behaved for her teacher, Mrs. Zievel.  "You bet" was her response- wow that story doesn't tell as funny as it reads- so to fully appreciate the wit of a near 4 year old, stop by sometime- hope to see you soon.

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted to this blog. The camera doesn't come out quite as much when we are not on vacation.  I'm posting a recent picture of the girls and a posting about Luke will be coming along shortly.

More Fun on the Beach

I am not typically the "author" of our blog, but I feel it is
necessary to step up to the plate and make an entry. From viewing the
blog, it appears that the only highlights on our vacation to the beach
occured on the kayak which is definitely not the case. Nicole and
Ashley were incredibly brave in the water. It took some time learning
how to brave the waves, but Nicole by the end was saying "another one,
another one" after each wave she jumped. It was great! Luke and my
dad became great buddies. My dad had the magic touch with Luke
whenever he would begin yet another screaming fit--oh the fun of
newborns. It was a great time with the family...such a unique
experience that so many do not get to experience with their families
and we thank God for that daily. Now, enjoy some pictures that are
not kayak related :)

I was there

I have now received a few concerned (one proud) inquiry into the
validity of the previous picture. Was that really Ashley out there
alone in the boat?

Of course not- do you really think i'd allow a 3 year old to take my
kayak out into the open waters of the Atlantic ocean? Not a chance
I'd risk my boat like that. I was holding on to her the whole time.
Oh, and Ashley was safely secured, having a blast and felt like
royalty as I maneuvered her through, over and with the waves. Here are
a few more pictures of when I was not hiding behind the backside of the boat.

Home safe

We arrived safely at home yesterday afternoon after a great drive
through the night.

Before we left, Ashley got some kayking in. We are so proud of her
for getting so much braver during the time we were there. She had a
blast.

Ashley, the kayaker

Mom and Luke are back and it's great to be all together again. Nicole seems to still be battling a teething fever, so pray for her, and us. The waves were just the right size for Ashley and me to get out and play in the kayak. She got over her fear and had a blast. I even convinced her to jump off the boat into the water at about 4 ft depth. Good times.