Fall Photos

Even though we had family pictures taken back in March, they still look outdated since Riley had grown so much since then. It's amazing how quickly little ones changes. She's gone up about three shoe sizes, grown out of all her clothes, and probably doubled the amount of hair she has in the past 8 months. Glad David and I can't say the same things about ourselves (except maybe my sweet husband sprouting some extra hair).  

Since we like to send out Thanksgiving cards, we decided to ask our friend who's starting a photography business to take a few shots of us. We met on Wednesday afternoon and here are some she took. Here's a link to her Facebook page.  

Thanks to our friend Danielle, we're going to have a very cute Thanksgiving card this year!  Can't wait to see them.  

Photo Ramblings and Vacation Notes

We had a wonderful time on our trip to KY and AL.  We were able to visit with nieces and nephews (and other family members, but we all know the kiddos are the important ones), hear some fantastic teaching on the KJV, make new friends, and enjoy some quality family time.  Enjoy these photos from our trip and be on the look-out for the over due 11 month update.  My baby is going to be 1 in 10 days.  I'm not ready for that.  

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.  

Riley Grace: Ten Month Update & Photos

In a nutshell, ten months equals into everything. Into everything but unbelievably fun. The interaction is fantastic. She's gone from a little bundle that doesn't move to a baby who crawls all over you, does things to make you laugh, and talks to you (doesn't matter that you have absolutely no idea what she's saying).  

We are blessed with such a good baby!  Unless she's trying to be forced to go with someone else (namely, my brother or the nursery workers at church), she's a happy camper.  She loves to play, eat, and sleep.  

Here's what's been going on with Riley:

... a second tooth

... her first cold and first sick visit to the doctor :(

... trying to stand up on her own

... saying mama (to me, to her baby, to David... everyone is Mama)

... loving her baby doll.  She thinks that thing is the best thing ever

... sticking random things in any open drawer or basket (I find puzzle pieces in my dresser drawers, Little 

    people in my dirty clothes baskets, etc.)

... growling

... cackling when she thinks something is funny

... modeling the hats mommy makes to sell on Etsy

... sleeping 12-13 hours at night.  She goes to bed around 7:30 or 8 and wakes up around 8:30

I can't believe that in a few short weeks my baby is going to be one.  I'm definitely not ready for it.

Oh, and for the record, she does not always have something on her head...  just take a look at the last picture!! 

modeling :)

two teeth... a little crooked but very adorable

coughing :(

playing on her "gym" from the Harvills

playing with Mommy

with Angelo and Gavin, friends from Australia 

working with Daddy

How to Entertain a Baby...

...so you can fold clothes.

Items necessary:

magnetic animals from your fridge farm

colander, rubbermaid container, spoon, and spatula

baby doll

one clean pair of socks

The result? 30-40 minutes of play and neatly folded laundry.  Usually, she unfolds the clothes as I'm getting them folded.  

Bible Conference Pictures

Bible Conference Time

2010 Bible Conference
BBC Men's Group Singing
"Shout to the Lord

I can't believe it's Bible Conference time again.  It really doesn't seem possible that a year has passed since our great week-long meeting.  This year is a special one.  On January 20th, the last day of the Conference, David and I will have met 10 years ago.  It doesn't seem possible.  I can still remember walking up to his family to introduce myself to the three young people (Sarah, David, and Kimberly).  Little did I know how much that introduction would change my life.  

Since that conference, several couples have met due to it.  Consequently, Bro. James jokingly came up with a slogan:  "Revival and Romance."  I don't know about that.  If you come looking for romance, you're likely to be disappointed.  But, if you come looking for revival, you never know what the Lord will bring about.  I certainly didn't think that I would meet my future husband ten years ago.  I went with an excitement for the preaching and fellowship.  Both were wonderful, as always.  

Now, I look forward to the week with just as much excitement as ever.  Riley won't really understand what's going on this year, but I can't wait until she does.  I hope she loves it just as much as David and I always have.  I hope the preachers, missionaries, and their wives are her heroes.  And,  in about 35 years, I hope she meets a godly husband at church.  

Last year I didn't take many photos (thus the one of the men singing), but this year I need to.  I have so many great pictures from the years...  I need to make sure I keep up with that.  

December 2010 Pictures and Review

December was a month full of activities including birthdays, our fourth anniversary, and two trips.  Our first trip was to Lebanon, VA with some of the teenagers from church.  We visited Spring City Baptist Church and worked in their publishing room putting together John/Romans booklets in Burmese and English.  I think we were able to complete about 10,000 portions of scripture.  The people there are so sweet; it was such a blessing to spend time with them.  

After that, we had two whirlwind days doing laundry and headed for AL to visit David's family.  Riley absolutely loved playing with her cousins.  The other kiddos seemed to love that she was able to interact with them this time.  It snowed while we were there.  In the years that I've been visiting AL, I've never seen it snow, let alone leave inches on the ground for several days.  David and I were able to build a snowman and have a snowball fight, and Riley enjoyed feeling the snow and watching us have fun.

Riley has learned many new tricks recently.  She's crawling all over the place, plays very well independently, and LOVES to eat table food.  This child would eat all day if we'd let her.  She finally cut her first tooth (thankfully that wasn't as terrible as I've heard it can be).  Riley's new favorite toy is a baby doll that Auntie Sarah and Uncle Jared gave her.  She giggles and laughs at it when she sees it.   

I can't believe 2010 has already come to a close.  This past year was definitely the quickest of my life.  Bible Conference is right around the corner.  This year's marks ten years since David and I met.  

We hope your 2011 is the best year ever and that you and your family are able to bring more glory to God than you did in 2010.

Thanksgiving, 8 Month Update, etc.

I hope each and every one of you had a very happy Thanksgiving (to God) Day!  We definitely did.  Everything is so special this year since it's Riley's first.  We started the day with breakfast at IHOP (that, we've decided, is going to be a Brown family tradition), headed home to cook and play with Riley, and then went to my aunt and uncle's for our Thanksgiving dinner.  There were about 30 of us including grandparents, cousins, and spouses/dates.  It's really nice (i.e., not stressful) because not everyone has to cook the whole meal; we split things up.  My mom makes sweet potato casseroles and green beans, I make mashed potatoes and a dessert, and each family brings a couple things so no one has to cook for days before hand (I'm sure Martha and Kirk do the most).  I'm always interested to see what edible "craft" my cousin has made with her kids.  This year it was a turkey similar to this one.  It was very cute.  I can't wait until Riley's old enough to enjoy activities like that.

Sometime between my last post and Thanksgiving, Riley turned 8 months old.  It makes me feel sad and excited all at the same time.  She's doing so many fun things.  Waving, saying bye-bye, crawling, etc.  She laughs and waves at random strangers, kisses herself in mirrors, and loves playing with her toys (especially this little stuffed banana that came in a "grocery" set).  She screeches when she sees David across a room and starts laughing and reaching for him, she has learned the "I drop it, the adult picks it up" game, and she eats like whatever she's getting might be her very last meal.  She's getting very good about responding to no.  If she really wants to do what you've asked her not to, she starts crying because she knows we're not going to let her do it.  All in all, just like every other stage, this is our favorite.  

We've also been updating our house.  We've been up late many nights during the past two weeks painting, tiling, etc.  I'm excited to show pictures of our kitchen, but I'm going to wait until it's finished.  The picture to the left shows the paint choices.  I will tell you that we ended up going with "Inch Worm" (top) and it looks great!  We've painted our bathroom a chocolate brown (I know, I know... drastic) which looks really nice against the white counters, white shower curtain, etc.  It was definitely a big change from our pale green, but David and I both love the way it turned out and how it coordinates with our bedroom (which is blue and brown).  We wondered if Riley would notice the differences, but so far, she seems totally unfazed by the new paint colors and other changes.  

Fall Vacation

We had a good time on our vacation earlier this month; we saw many beautiful leaves and spent quality time with family (Riley was surrounded by grandparent love).  The weather wasn't the best for the first couple of days, but it was absolutely beautiful for the last few.  Riley is a wonderful traveler; she adapted well to missing naps and changes in her routine and kept up with her habit of sleeping 12 hours at night.  She was happy to be on the go, especially when it involved being outside. Below are a few of my favorite pictures.  I'll have to include a slideshow in a later post.  

@ 12 Bones in Asheville.  If you're ever in the area, you must stop!

on the grounds at the Biltmore

cutest face ever... Riley's that is

free from the car seat
yeah, yeah, yeah... and the headband 

@ 12 Bones once again; David's family met us there

And just for fun... a comparison:

Brown Family
Fall 2009

Brown Family
Fall 2010

Fall Look

Fall is my favorite season by far so I thought I would update my blog with a fallish look. We're leaving next Sunday night for a vacation in the mountains of North Carolina.  Last year the leaves were beautiful and the weather was cool.  Hoping that it's the same this year.  

I was 16 weeks pregnant last time.  It will be much better having Riley with us.  

Thought I was really "showing" last year.  I think I was
actually thinner than than I am now!

I'm Watching You...

 

         This weekend, I found myself thinking about just how much being a parent has changed my life.  Of course there are the obvious ways:  less sleep (in the beginning, not now), more joy, less time to think about myself (definitely a good thing).  But there are less conspicuous ways, too.  For instance, I can no longer passively watch people deal with their kids.  When I see a “situation” arise, I’m immediately attentive (hopefully not in a rude way).  I want to see how the parents react, how the child responds to their actions, etc.  I want to see what works and what doesn’t so (even though I know it’s different for each child sometimes), hopefully, I can avoid some mistakes and go right to the correct response when we get to that stage in Riley’s life.  I can’t just think about the rapture anymore.  I have to wonder what would happen to Riley if the rapture took place before she gets saved.  It goes on and on. 

Since I was a kid, I’ve enjoyed reading the Elsie Dinsmore series by Martha Finley.  They were written in the 1800s and one thing that has always intrigued me is seeing how things were back then.  The lingo, the wealthy men spending much of their time at home with their families, and other differences between then and now definitely piqued my interest.  Now, I read to see how the parents dealt with children.  The author portrays several different types of parents throughout the series:  indulgent, strict, compassionate, etc.  The differences among the children are pronounced. 

Of course we know that our actions are constantly molding the future of our children.  I always knew that in my head, but I thought that the chronic thinking about my actions forming Riley’s life and heart wouldn’t start until we were down the road of parenting a bit.  Wrong.  We’re constantly discussing what we should do, how we should respond to certain situations.  I know it’s only going to get “worse” as Riley gets older. 

          So yes, moms, I’m watching you.  I’m doing my best to do it with the right heart and not a critical one.  When I see a response that doesn’t seem quite biblical or “right” to me, I’m doing my best to avoid the “I would never do that!” train of thought and stick to praying that I, as well as the mother that I’m observing, would make the right decisions in the future.  Being a mother is the biggest, most important thing I’ve ever done and I’m nervous.  I need God’s help and I need the examples of good mothers:  mothers like mine. 

Quick Update & Photos

I told a friend not too long ago that when Riley takes good naps, I have lots of blog posts.  Thinking about it, that's really not entirely true.  I used to sit by her crib to help her stay asleep through the transitions between sleep cycles... if I didn't, she wouldn't have taken a good nap.  Now that she, thankfully, has been getting through those cycles herself, I haven't had to be in her room and I've been able to get lots of other things done during her naps!  What a blessing that has been.  It has, though, meant many fewer blog posts. 

Since I last posted, we've been quite busy.  We went to Alabama for the holiday weekend and we've had things going on at church with the young people.  

Here are some pictures of what's been going on in our lives lately.

Riley & Chloe

playing on the slide @ Grandmommy's house

meeting Bro. Joel Logan

with Grandmommy & Chloe

playing with her toys on the way home

the Junior Girls with their artwork