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.

Morning Paddle

Here are a few pictures I took this morning just before I left for a
sunrise paddle on a ocean of glass. It was pretty amazing. I kept
the flag in view for most of the shots because, well, "I'm proud to be
an american!" Sorry, I'm back from bursting into song- enjoy the
pictures. I owe a thanks to Matt and Stacy who came over at 5:30 to
sleep in my house with the girls so I could get the paddle in. Thanks
guys!

Yesterday and today are going pretty well though we really miss Mom.
She comes back tonight and we are looking forward to having her back.
Nicole is running a fever, which we think is teething related, so when
that is running high she really needs a lot of attention- but all is
well and we are making do.

These pictures were sent with Picasa, from Google. Try it out here:
http://picasa.google.com/

Update

Well, I've posted a few more pictures in our MA album and am adding the below video of Luke laughing. Very cute kid.

He is on his first airplane ride right now; headed back to IL with his mom for his great grandfather's funeral. They will be back tomorrow. In the mean time, Ashley, Nicole and Dad are on the beach with some of the cousins. So far, so good but we miss having the full "team" around.

Vacation and nice wearther arrive together

I wrapped up my time in the Wakefield office friday and came back to
the beach and perfect beach weather.
We had a fun weekend on the beach and had our good friends, the
Bradley's and jeff visit this weekend. The bummer of the trip however
is the passing of Missy's grandpa Sunday morning. It really is a
blessing and it was his time but now Missy, Luke and some of the rest
of her family is flying back to Il for tuesday and wed. Just thought
I'd check in with the b log and let you all know what is going on and
we will posr some new pictures soon. Please pray for safe travels and
that God will comfort our family in this time.

The weather man was wrong

Well I posted a few more pictures last night of our gorgeous day, see the album to the left.  There are more pictures from the morning when it was still cloudy and once it got perfect out we were too busy playing in the waves, kayaking and enjoying the day to remember to take pictures.  The weather called for last night and today to be rainy- it was supposed to be easy for me to leave for work in 20 min and be in an office all day.  Well, the weather man was wrong.  I'm squinting in the sunlight as I write this, watching a beautiful morning.  I'll manage to get to work I suppose.

It has been a great morning so far and thought I'd share a link to today's Truth for Life devotional.  Check it out if you get a chance as it talks, in words far more eloquent than what I can come up with of God's amazing grace and greatness.  But as i sit here looking at the ocean and read the hymn at the bottom, to look at the sea and think not of God's greatness as I tend to, but to use it as an analogy of the greatness of my sin, it makes God's greatness that much greater because He has concurred death and my sin which means He is far greater still. Romans 8:2  "For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death."  Freedom is amazing!

Photos posted

We have not had the best weather, but that is all a part of the fun. Great thunderstorms have rolled through almost every day. Anyone can have a great vacation at one of those spots where the weather is good, but it takes character to enjoy Rockport weather.
Check out the photos we have posted.

Beach Front Naps

We had so much fun on the beach that we are WIPED OUT. Great beach day and more pics coming soon.

22 hours

Well, we have arrived safely in ma.
It took 22 hours in total but 3 of that was stopping at our good
friends house a little over an hour from here and a few hours in
stops. 16 hrs driving time.

We left home at 9pm thursday night after a beautiful (though week long
packing) job. Missy did an amazing job of preparing and it was great
to put the full utility of the minivan to use. We brought everything.
The kids fell asleep around the IN state line and slept till just east
of Buffalo. It was great driving through and making good time. Hard
but great and reminded me of college drives btwn chicago and out east.

The we stopped for a stretch and Missy took over driving while I
napped. 45 min later I woke up to help the girls pick up some stuff
they dropped and a min later Ashley was getting car sick. Sparing you
the details it was bad but not too hard to clean up and we took a few
more breaks medicated and moved the girls to the middle row (sorry
luke). The rest of the drive was a little more stressful but event
free- the best kind of driving.

Well, off to play on the beach but thank you all for your prayers.
Will send pics soon.

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Happy Mat Genius

So I think my son may in fact be smarter than me. They say true
genius is being able to focus on the task at hand. Luke can focus on
the star [see photo] on his "happy mat" activity map for 45 minutes.
That is 44 minutes longer than I've ever been able to focus on
anything.

Additionally, Luke here is wanting to give out a fist bump [see photo]
to the blog readers, show how big he is getting and let the world know
that while Dad and formula will make do, Mom's amazing in that she
takes care of him and his sisters solo most every day. Dad's just
proud of himself for having the time to get a photo and post a blog
all while Mom is out- for a mere 3 well deserved hours. (I wonder,
will I always refer to myself in the third person as Dad? Any parents
of older kids care to let me know when/if that goes away?)

Swim lessons and Thunder

With our trip to beach less than 2 weeks away we thought it would be a great idea to get the girls more used to the water. So we had our first swim class at the park district on Tuesday. Ashley is old enough to go to class by herself, but Nicole needs a parent with her. Ashley's class had 5 kids in it, Nicole (and Brandon) was the only one in her class- which would be great 1:1 instruction, had the instructor ever worked with "little kids" before. Nicole was having a blast till the instructor told me to put her face in the water and thinking she knew what she was doing I, mistakenly, obliged. She cried the rest of the time; which had the added benefit of convincing Ashley that she should be scared too (we were after all in the same pool). So day 1 didn't go great, but we talked up day two like crazy, but I guess God heard the prayers of our Girls and brought a huge thunderstorm through right at the beginning of class- so class was canceled and the girls bought themselves another 24 hours to prepare. Wish us luck!
Here is a picture of Nicole pre-dunk:

Smiling Video

We took Luke for a walk and he was all smiles. Here is a video of his smiles.

(Facebook readers, I think to see the video you will have to visit our blog http://5brown.blogspot.com to view)

Smiles and Tummy Time

As you can see, Luke is geting bigger and more interactive by the day.
The second picture here is of "tummy time" which he takes as an
opportunity to nap on his stomach, not sit up and get the excercise it
is supposed to be.

Related to Tummy time yesterday, we heard Ashley walking through the
house singing "Duh nu nu nu.. nu nu Tummy time. Du nu....." I looked
at Missy and she explained that one time, in trying to get Luke
excited/awake about it she sang about tummy time to Luke to the theme
of Hammer time.

Oops... Spoke too soon.

Luke read the posting from yesterday and decided that he'd make me insert my foot squarely in my mouth. He was up yesterday afternoon and cat napped some, but was mostly up till 1am. But he was for the most part happy and while his parents were not all that happy to be awake much later than we would have liked, he did sleep from 1 till 8 this morning.

Not really a blog worthy piece of news but thought I'd mention it out of fair "reporting".

Those of you reading this on facebook: Missy and I are both now importing this blog to our facebook notes application, so you may see this duplicated if we are both on your friend list.