Love Notes

What wife doesn't love getting them? I love waking up in the morning (or walking randomly into the kitchen) to find a note scrawled on a legal pad that I left on the counter. Usually short and sweet, these notes make my day. It's ridiculous how many times I read some of them. Not only that, I have boxes full of the notes, cards, and other mementos that David has given me over the years. I think the first artifact dates back about 9 years (definitely not romantic but treasured nonetheless). The picture to the left is of the note that greeted me this morning. 

The verse is the same one that has followed David's signature in notes to me for years. 2 Samuel 22:31 says, "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him." Thankfully, David and I have had a relatively "problem"-free life. We've had what we would consider trials, but when we compare those to things that our friends and fellow Christians have gone through, it doesn't seem fair to call them that. Even so, this verse (and Psalm 18:30 which I put after my name in my notes to David) has been a blessing to us. We know that if God has gotten us through the little things in life he will be faithful to get us through the bigger issues that are sure to arise. 

Spaghetti Betty

Our little munchkin didn't earn the nickname Spaghetti Betty for nothing. Ever since her first experience with the Italian cuisine, Riley has been hooked.  Whenever "ghetti," as she lovingly calls it, or pizza is on the menu, we have one very happy little girl. The pleas for "morn" are incessant, and it's difficult to get her to eat anything else on the table, especially one of the other foods is green (apparently eating veggies while pregnant does not make your child enjoy broccoli and green beans like the pregnancy books suggest).

Throughout Riley's short life, pizza and spaghetti have provided more than nutrition a full belly.  They've given us many photo taking opportunities; today's lunch was no different. Here are a few shots of our messy eater. 

Disclaimer: Riley usually doesn't walk around without a shirt on. However, when you're wearing clothes that need to be passed down to younger cousins, one must take various measures to preserve their stain-free state. Regardless of the size of the bib, our messy girl manages to get sauce somewhere.  

Brown Family Update

Hi there. Remember me? I'm the one who's supposed to be keeping people updated with what's going on with our family. The reality? I've become a total slacker when it comes to blogging. What made me want to get the ball rolling again? That would be reading all the posts from when I was pregnant with Riley. There weren't a ton, but it was enough to help jog my memory on some things that I'd forgotten. It's nice to be able to look back and see what was going on at different points in our lives. I will do better.  

For those of you who don't know us "for real," life is wonderful. Riley is 19 months old and keeps us laughing and quite busy. She's talking all the time, running all around, and quite attached to three measuring "pucks" from her play kitchen (weird, right??).  

In July, we found out that baby # 2 is on the way. I'm currently 20 weeks and 3 days pregnant. On Wednesday we found out the gender; Riley helped us make the "big" announcement. About 30 pictures and 20 minutes later, this is the best we came up with (just glad it's a horse and not one of the cups in the picture):

Riley doesn't quite understand the whole baby concept yet (as evidenced by the fact that she thinks there's baby in her belly), but she does love little ones. We're hoping she's very excited when the time comes and one is actually living in our house. David and I absolutely can't wait for little Caroline Elizabeth to join our family. 

I'm feeling great! In the beginning, I wasn't able to sleep very well. Since that passed, I've been feeling normal. If it weren't for my growing stomach and the pokes and jabs I'm getting from the inside, I wouldn't feel pregnant at all. I'm doing a lot more this time around to stay in good shape. I never quite lost all my baby weight from Riley, so I started a little bit behind this time. My goal is to weigh the same when I give birth to Caroline as I did when I give birth to Riley. Now probably wouldn't be a good time to admit that I'm probably going to the fair today, would it? Greasy french fries and powdered sugar covered funnel cakes are totally going to be calling my name. Hopefully the apple I just ate for breakfast will help balance everything out.  

And now, so you can see how we're doing, here are a few recent pictures. Unfortunately, the last good one of all of us is from Riley's birthday.  

Vacation

We're taking our family vacation early this year, and I'm so excited! We're leaving on Monday and won't be back until the following Tuesday! After a brief stop in Alabama to see family, it'll be just David, Riley, and me for almost a week! (Can you say "major overuse of exclamation points??!!??" Every sentence in that paragraph ended with one.)

After our stop at David's parents', we're heading to Danville, Kentucky where we'll be going to a meeting that Sam Gipp is preaching on the King James Bible. I'm hoping Riley does well in an unfamiliar nursery because I'd really like to get to hear the preaching. I know what Bible I believe, and lots of the reasons why I believe it, but I'm excited about the opportunity to learn even more. I told David that if the nursery thing doesn't work, he can take Riley out since he's heard Bro. Gipp before. We'll see how that one goes.  

I can't wait to share pictures and stories from our trip. Our vacations are known to be fun and eventful. This year, we'll be traveling with a Uhaul trailer on the way up to deliver some books for a missionary... I can see that providing much entertainment and frustration along the way. It also means that David will be doing all the driving on the way up. I don't see myself being comfortable driving the Jeep with a trailer.  

The Results Are In

^click to enlarge

The results are in.  I have to say a huge, "THANK YOU!"  You all did make me feel better about how often I clean my house!  Like most of you, since Riley's been born, the deep cleaning has only been getting done about once a month.  I sweep, vacuum, and scrub toilets between those in-depth cleanings; but things definitely don't look like they did prior to Riley's birth.  

Before Riley was born I had a binder that had lists of things to do for every day.  I'm reworking my routines since my life has changed so much since "bringing home baby."  I think loose guidelines will help me get things done and clean my house more often.  

I will update on the progress!

Value the Eternal Stuff

<<<<<  First of all, please vote in the poll and make me feel better about how often I clean my house.  


Okay.  I'll admit it.  I’m weird.  I absolutely LOVE school supplies.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that I loved school when I was growing up. Or, maybe it has to do with the fact that I’m a teacher, I really don’t know.  I just know this:  buying college-ruled paper, mechanical pencils, and fine point pens (never the gel kind!) makes me smile! 

I “had” to go to Wal*mart on Saturday and guess what was on sale?  Virtually every single school supply known to man.  Crayola crayons, pink erasers, the works.  If I had oodles of money, I would have perused the section for adorable notebooks, patterned pencils, and brightly colored markers.  Needless to say, we don’t have loads of extra cash sitting around, so I settled for scotch tape and notebook paper.  

As I was walking down the aisles, it made me think of how quickly Riley’s going to arrive at the school-age years.  I’ve mentioned it before:  She’s getting too big too fast.  She’s lost that “newborn” look and moved on to “infant.”  Each new stage is fun (oh how we love the smiles, giggles, and babbling!).  One stage that I can’t wait to start is the school stage.  I’m looking forward to sharing my love of school & learning with Riley.  I can’t wait to set up a school area in our house where Riley and I can spend time conducting experiments and sounding out words.  Where we can study history and work out word problems.    I can’t wait, but I can.  I don’t want to rush it.

But all this thinking about school and learning made me think of one more thing.  If Riley learns anything from her mommy, I hope she learns that many things are even more important than knowing all the presidents, multiplication tables, and capitols.  I hope she can recite more Bible verses than she can nursery rhymes.  I hope I teach her that living for Jesus is always worth it.  I hope, by example, I teach her how to be a good wife and mother. 

So many people value their kids’ educations, as they should.  They focus on getting them into a good college and having them find a high-paying career (which is becoming increasingly more difficult in our present economy).  Those things are fine.  But, if Riley gets to be 25 and makes good money and has a string of letters behind her name, what good will that do her in eternity?  I want to teach her value eternal things.  

For what shall it profit a man, 

if he shall gain the whole world, 

and lose his own soul?

Mark 8:36

67 Years

My friend, Carrie, and I went to lunch with our babies today (it's so nice to have a friend who's at the same place in her life! Landon is just 5 and a half weeks older than Riley.). We met the cutest couple sitting next to us... I'd seen them at Dustin's before and thought they were adorable (they used to always match). Today, the wife came over to check out the little cuties (lunchtime conversation is interrupted much more often now that we've got them to draw attention). We started talking and found out they've been married 67 years! When the average marriage ends in divorce by year 8, they've obviously got something going for them... If I see them again, I'm planning on asking them their secret.

I'm thankful that my parents and grandparents made it far past the national average. My parents have been married 31 years and my granddad died a few days before my grandparents' fifty-second wedding anniversary. David and I haven't even made it to four years yet, but Lord willing, we'll make it way past that. I'm so thankful for the wonderful husband God's blessed me with. Our little family has only gotten sweeter since Riley Grace joined us.

I doubt we'll live to see our sixty-seventh wedding anniversary (we'd both be 88), but I'm confident that if we keep our focus on the Lord, our marriage will get "sweeter as the years go by."

Click here to getImages & Holding Hands Pictures

Summer Goals List

Things I want to accomplish this summer:

• Read at least 5 books (non-fiction)
• Get back to my pre-pregnancy weight
• Research baby sign language
• Read through the Old Testament
• Finish Created to Be His Help Meet & the journal that goes along with it

A Year in Review: 2009

I remember when I was a kid, my dad always said time was "flying." As a child under the age of ten, I had a hard time grasping the concept of time flying. A week seemed like it was an eternity. The older I've gotten (I know, I know... 24 isn't old... but it is older than 8) the more I understand what he meant. It honestly feels like 2009 was about a month long (excluding those 12 weeks of nausea at the beginning of this pregnancy).

Anyways, each year, I write down very random stuff on our wall calendar, in my planner, and in the form of lists. Consequently, I can go back and tell you random facts about our year. For instance, we went to Outback on January 16th to celebrate our 25 month "anniversary." I can tell you that my third grade class took the ITBS during the week of March 23rd. I had my final report cards ready to go home on May 20th, even though they weren't due until the 22nd. Does any of that stuff matter? Probably not to anyone else, but it's really neat to go back year after year and see what happened when. Like, I can tell you the date that David and I met. I can tell you the date that he first said "I love you!" Those are things that are worth remembering.

After looking back on our year, here are the dates that stand out the most:

• January 19-22: Annual Bible Conference @ church. David & I met at this meeting 8 years ago!
• May 23: David J. & Kimberly got married. All the Brown kids were married off and my in-laws officially became "empty nesters."
• May 30: Jamie (my maternal grandfather) went to be with his Savior! A sad day for our family but a joyous day for him.
• June 17: Grandma (paternal) went to be with her Savior. We were very unprepared for this.
• July 24: The day we found out that we were going to have a baby & the day we shared the news with our parents/siblings!
• August 24: The day we got to see our baby for the very first time!
• September 21-29: David's mission trip to Guyana. 11 people claimed to trust Christ as their Savior during this week!
• November 16: The day we found out our baby was Riley Grace not Jackson David.
• December 16: The day we celebrated our 3rd anniversary!

While 2009 had some sad times (deaths of my grandparents), it also had many joyous times. We have spent every day since July 24th praying for and anticipating the arrival of our first baby! Since that day, we have beefed up our family devotion time, doing our best to read the entire Bible aloud to Riley before she arrives. Now, we're enjoying making some changes to our house in preparation for Riley Grace, gearing up for the 2010 Bible Conference, and counting down the days until April 3rd (93, I believe). The David Brown family anticipates a wonderful 2010, hoping and praying that we will bring honor and glory to our Savior, Jesus Christ, in more ways this year than we ever have before!

Happy New Year from us to you!

"Our Kids Will Never..."

Fine.  I'll admit it.  David and I have had about two hundred "Our kids will never dothat!" conversations throughout the course of our marriage.  Imagine their increase in frequency since we found out that in just a few short months we're going to bring home a little person of our own.  I'm sure we've never said that about anything your kids do.  It's more the temper tantrum in the middle of the checkout line at Publix, pull your pants down in front of a crowd type of thing.  (Side note:  I wonder how many parents looked at me as a kid and said, "My kids will never do what that girl is doing"? Frightening thought.)

We've also had some of the "We'll never do that to our kids!"  talks, too.  

Are we normal? Does everyone do this? If so, what are the things you said you or your kids would "never do"?  Do you (or your kids) do them?  Did you find that your kids were more prone to do the things you said they'd "never" do (God does have a sense of humor, doesn't He?)?  I would love to hear your answers!  

All that being said, there were a few things my parents did that I said I would not emulate. Call me a liar, but I've changed my mind about many of those things.  The parents God blessed me with actually did have a little bit more wisdom than I gave them credit for... who would have guessed?

And for your daily laugh, here is a look back at David's and my childhood:

Eating for 2?

Even though I'm more accurately eating for one and a thirtieth or something like that, I know my appetite is increasing.  During the first trimester, I didn't really notice a difference.  Honestly, until the past week or so, I hadn't really detected a change.  Last night at dinner, though, I was a pig... not even kidding.  

We rarely have time to grab dinner before church, so last night we came home to have sandwiches after the service.  I decided to have turkey (Boar's Head just in case any of you are shaking your head and saying, "Pregnant women are not supposed to eat deli meat!"  Just for the record, the woman I've been seeing says Boar's Head is perfectly fine for expectant mothers!) on a toasted bagel with baby spinach and onions.  Well, one mini bagel turned into two (I consoled myself with the fact that there are fewer calories in two mini bagels then there are in one regular sized bagel).  I also had some raspberries and a few baked lays (really, I promise I didn't go over the serving size!). Usually, I would have been stuffed at this point, but not yesterday... I went on to eat an apple and several dill pickles (how stereotypical, right?).  As we were cleaning up, I kept telling David, I can't believe I still want to eat (He replied, "I can't either!  You ate so much."  Thanks, babe.  I love you, too.)!!  So, I took a few bread and butter pickles out of the fridge and ate those (maybe I was craving salt??).  Then, I called it quits regardless of whether I wanted to or not.  It was crazy!  At this rate, I'm going to be huge by the end of this journey.  

I did walk on the treadmill for forty minutes yesterday.  That must have upped my appetite some, right?  I was doing so well with exercise before I got my Big Fat Positive (BFP)!  When I found out I was pregnant, I wanted to wait to check with the doctor before I kept up with my routine.  Then, during the first trimester I was so nauseous and worn out I didn't feel like exercising whatsoever.  Now that I've been cleared and I'm feeling better, I've gotta get back into a routine.  I found a prenatal walking schedule online that gives guidelines for each trimester, so I'm going to do my best to stick with that.  

And now, without further ado, I must go fold the mounds and mounds of laundry sitting in our living room!

Photo from Designed to a T

Pregnancy Milestone

I've hit a milestone on this pregnancy journey:  I'm outgrowing my clothes!  It's still too early to fully sport maternity garb, but I'm getting there.  A woman at the bank actually asked me when I was due!!  I thought about saying, "I'm not," just to make her sweat it a little bit; but I took pity on her and gave her the real date.  

Hopefully we'll be scheduling the gender scan next week!  We have some people saying "definitely a girl!" and others saying "oh you're so having a boy."  I hate to break it to you people, but someone's got to be wrong here because we've seen we're only having one baby.  So stay tuned for the gender declaration and announcement of the name (we're 100% on our girl name and about 97% sure on a boy name). 

Countdown to Our Fall Vacation

In a little over two weeks, David and I will be traveling to North Carolina to meet up with my mom and dad.  We're very excited to get away (though we've traveled a lot this summer, all but two days worth has been fun, but not "rest."), and enjoy a place that actually has "fall weather."

Also, it looks like we've sold my car!  We're looking at a "new to us" Grand Cherokee (it's really nice and fully loaded).  People have tried to talk us into a "babymobile" (aka, minivan), but we're really not ready for that just yet.  It will be nice to have a little extra room for the baby, though.  So, please pray that the sale goes through and that we'll be able to get the vehicle we're looking at.  

Exciting News!

I AM GOING TO HAVE A BABY!  

(Lord willing!)

Please, please pray for a safe pregnancy, delivery, and baby!

Needless to say, we are extremely excited.

I don't have an exact due date yet;  

I'm going back in a couple weeks for my first ultrasound.  

Will update then!

Also, I am tempted to worry about all that could go wrong.  Please pray that God will 

give me peace and the ability to place my trust in Him!  He is in control, I'm not!

His way is perfect (Psalm 18:30), mine isn't.

I'm praying for peace & would appreciate it if you would join me!

My Does and Don'ts of Packing

• Do overpack:  you'll definitely want options!
  
• Don't forget your hair dryer...  been there, done that.  Not fun.  
  
• Do take your own pillow... they're never the same in the hotel regardless of how nice the place is.  
• Don't forget to change your pillowcase if they're usually white:  You don't want the cleaning ladies to think it's one of the hotel's cases!  
• Do make a list of things you want to see/do while you're gone.  
• Don't forget to take pictures of each thing so you'll remember it forever. 

I'm Thankful For...

When I was at Barnes & Noble the other day, I saw a journal that really caught my eye.  It contained writing prompts for lists!  When I saw it, I immediately thought, "I am so buying this!" but as I flipped through the pages I saw that I would have to leave many of them blank (list of movies you've been to this year, list of bars you frequented in college, etc.).  So, I bought a blank journal and decided to make up my own list book.  I've made lists of list ideas (I'm a dork, I know!), things I'm thankful for, etc.  

Thought I would share what I'm thankful for today:  

• Jamie & Grandma were both saved, and are now in heaven with our Savior!
• My own salvation
• Not having to get up and go to work today after having 25+ people at my house last night and having to clean up from it
• Most of my house is clean
• David and I are going on a date tonight (Thanks to all who gave us the gift card!!!!)
• Got to spend some time with Nana yesterday... talking about Jamie and how good it is that he was saved!
• My dad.  I've been blessed with an amazing dad!  

When you list the things for which you're thankful, it's hard not to be a little bit happier!  

Update

clipart from Arthur's Clipart.com

Well, here it is again… been too long since I’ve posted on my blog.  Hopefully, I’ll be keeping up better now that it’s summer (not that I love summer or anything)!  For those of you who don’t know, David and I decided that I won’t be going back to teaching in the fall.  We’re hoping (praying) to start a family in the very near future, and both of us want me to be at home when that happens. 

Last week, we had a great “youth” trip (even though the average age was 27) to West Virginia and Virginia.  On Sunday, June 7, we left with 15 people from church.  We set off for Gilbert, WV, to help Bro. Mike Gibson (a missionary in St. Lucia) hold a tent revival in his home town.

We were supposed to have a group of rooms at the Mountain Breeze Motel, but Bro. Mike found us two mobile homes to rent.  That ended up being so much nicer!  We ladies loved being able to keep our distance from the “guy shack,” and I’m pretty sure the guys enjoyed it to.  Whenever we would make our appearance, Matthew S. (14) would say, “Why are you here?  We don’t have any fun when the girls are around?” 

During the day, we went from door to door (and sometimes it was a hike to get to the next door) passing out fliers and tracts and inviting people to the meeting.  At night, we helped in the services whatever way we could.  Two people claimed to trust Jesus as Savior while we were there.  Makes every effort worth it! 

On Friday, we left Gilbert and headed to Lebanon, Virginia, where Spring City Baptist Church has a Seed Line publishing room.  We were able to collate, staple, and cut around 9,000 John/Romans booklets for a family in our church going to Sierra Leone as missionaries.  What a fun, enjoyable way to serve the Lord and help out a brother and sister in Christ!

Unfortunately, at this time I don’t have any pictures to provide.  One chaperone on the trip has a very nice camera, so once I get her disk, I’ll post some.  

Sweet Husband

In order to help me keep up with my more "healthy lifestyle," David bought me a treadmill and new running shoes.  So far, I have greatly enjoyed both of them.  Having a treadmill in the house is so nice...  I get up in the mornings and I'm able to get my cardio and Bible reading done simultaneously.  Prior to this, I would have to fit exercise in on top of my other obligations and routines. Now, I'm able to do it while reading my Bible, which I do every day. Among the perks of reading while walking on the treadmill, I don't think there's any way I could accidentally fall asleep while I'm reading my Bible this way.  

Accomplishing My Goal

Lest I disappoint someone who shall remain unnamed (you know who you are), I have to tell a little bit about how I've lost weight...  I've needed and wanted to lose a few pounds for about a year now...  each time I would start trying and show some success, something would always happen to sabotage my efforts... a fellowship at church with only chips and desserts, a birthday party, etc.  Then, when I was a little way into my weight loss, I would quit.  Usually, it wasn't intentional, it just happened due to the circumstances at the time.  

When I got on the scale and saw a number that was ridiculously high (for me), I decided it was time to stop "trying" and do something about it.  At first, I just changed the way I ate.  In stead of eating a turkey sandwich, chips, and a couple cookies for lunch, I switched to salad with lite dressing, yogurt, and graham crackers.  When my students give me a cupcake or a cookie, I wait until they are out of the room and throw it away.  These changes were difficult in the beginning, but now I'm used to not eating these things at all.  

When I started seeing some pounds come off, I was even more motivated, so I started adding cardio workouts (I use Leslie Sansone and Chris Freytag DVDs).  I've recently added light hand weights, too.  I've also started keeping track of everything I eat on everydayhealth.com.  I measure out portions (what I thought was 1 serving was really about three), record them online, and then I'm able to see what I've really consumed in calories that day.  

With all of these "efforts" combined, I've lost in the neighborhood of 20 lbs in about 2 months. At first, the pounds came off really quickly because I went from eating very poorly to eating healthfully and from not exercising at all to exercising quite a bit.  It's moving a little more slowly now...  I've been losing 1-2 lbs. a week (which is what people suggest).  I would love to lose about five more pounds.  

Now, I exercise every day and eat more healthfully than I ever have.  I have much more energy and it's so nice to be able to need a size 6!  

Observation

Hello and thanks so much to those of you who prayed for me today!  I was observed by my principal during a science lesson...  it went well, and she left a really nice note saying that she enjoyed my "enthusiasm" and that my students are obviously "active learners."  Needless to say, I was very nervous and I am now very, very, very relieved!  My students behaved well (though some called out), and I didn't make any huge blunders.  

My lesson was on photosynthesis, so I created a "recipe" for photosynthesis.  Each student received a recipe card, and they wrote a recipe for photosynthesis on it.  It'll be really nice when it comes time to study for the test!  Students will already have a flash card!  

My family is downstairs watching the election results come in, so I guess I'm going to go join them...  it's going to be a long night.  All I have to say is NOBAMA!