WOO HOO!

ieEEEEEEE! Some very exciting news has occurred in our little family! The most exciting news is that Mason now has a cousin!! Connor Joseph Brown joined us on Sunday, May 4th. He was 8 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20 1/2 long. He is as bald as a cue ball (in perfect Brown-man style) and has the cutest little chicken legs ever! Tim and I are so incredibly happy for Scott and Liz (his brother and his wife) ... we will have enough boys in the family now to field a soccer team!! Liz and Scott are both doing great and are adjusting to their new schedule :) WOO HOO!

The other exciting news is that I found a great job! It is in Folsom (so I don't have to commute far) doing estate planning paralegal work. I am jubilant as I am scheduled for three days a week with 8 hour work days.

 The job arrangement is my ideal :) I'm wasting no time and will begin work on Monday! WOO HOO x 2!!

Mason is doing great. He is as big as ever and is nearly out of his infant car seat. His little toes dangle over the edge and his shoulders are almost too big for the seat! Seeing little Connor makes it seem like yesterday that Mason was that small. He can stand on his own legs now, but still doesn't like to roll over ... o-well, he'll probably go strait to crawling. He

 doesn't show any signs of being motivated to crawl around yet ... so I am off the hook with child-proofing for a little longer!

Anyhow, I have included some pictures of Mason as well as his little cousin, Connor. The pictures can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.1hrwkjx4&x=0&y=hftzmd&localeid=en_US

We hope you all are doing great!

Love,

Jenn and Tim

aahhhhh, serenity .....

This afternoon I was laying on our bed with my (not so little) peanut cuddled beside me. It was time for a lazy afternoon nap after a busy day. As I closed my eyes and began to drift off, my body became more aware of my peaceful surroundings. As the scented air of jasmine floated in with the breeze, the slight melody of tropical, wooden wind chimes sang me to sleep. Just before I passed to unconsciousness, a hummingbird approached the feeder outside my window. I could hear the vibration of its wings as it hovered and swilled the sweet nectar. Just before it departed, it chirped as if telling me goodbye ..... I opened my eyes and drank in one last look of my little man before I drifted off. The sunlight caught strands of his strawberry -blond hair and his skin appeared to be comprised of buttermilk. I smiled as I watched his chest rise and fall with breath. At that moment, I knew what Heaven was like and I wanted to pause time. Instead, I drifted off with the calming essence of jasmine still in my breath and the slight sound of a pacifier being rhythmically enjoyed.

Anyhow, it has been awhile since my last post! The other weekend, Tim and I had Mason dedicated by our family Pastor, Rick Stowell. It was a nice ceremony that was held on my parent's back patio. The sun was shining and a slight breeze kept the afternoon cool. It was very relaxed and the ceremony had the exact feel we had hoped.

Mason is doing great. He has expanded his food repertoire and is now eating fruits as well as veggies. I never anticipated that I would grow so attached to nursing and I have mixed feelings of the weaning process.  Mason is sitting up well, but is not regularly rolling over. Tim and I believe it is because he doesn't want to roll over, not because he can't ... He rolled over today from his belly to his back like he had done it a thousand times. 

Anyhow, I have included some video and a link to some recent pictures:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.ahk9qps8&x=0&y=-gi0coh&localeid=en_US

I hope this finds you all doing great!

Love,

Jenn, Tim, Mason, and the animals .... 

 

Wow, a lot has occurred since my last post! Life seems pretty busy for us even though we don't have a lot going on!

This past weekend, Tim, Mason and I went camping for my birthday and were joined by some family and friends. We went to the Samuel P. Taylor campground by Point Reyes and enjoyed four days of eating, drinking, hiking, and relaxing. It was Mason's first camping trip and he managed it like a champ! He was quite the seasoned little camper (more so than his momma). It was a little colder than we anticipated, but we all bundled up and crept a little closer to our campfire. We were quite cozy in our little Motel 6 tent trailer. We were able to use David and Marge's Hilton on wheels for our running water and flush toilet needs (Tim's folks have a 5th-wheel).

Upon our return from our little hiatus, Tim discovered that he had poison oak .... bad. He is still COVERED with it and has banished himself to the guest bedroom. His temporary exodus serves me well as Mason has decided to stop sleeping through the night.

We believe Mason's teeth are bothering him pretty bad as he has been a little crab-apple the past few days (well, crab-apple for him, anyways). In fact, he just woke up about 30 minutes ago screaming bloody murder (at 12:30am)! He is now cozied up next to me in bed, snoring away ....

Other family news ... my brother was deployed again yesterday. Fortunately, he isn't in Iraq. His deployment is for approximately two months and we are looking forward to seeing him, Emily and the kids in June. Liz had her baby shower and is encroaching upon her due date. Tim and I are ecstatic that little Connor will be joining us soon! Mason will have to wait a little while before he and Connor can play.

Anyhow, unconsciousness calls .... I have attached a link for recent pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.7epru1mw&x=0&y=-bzdue3&localeid=en_US

I hope this finds you all doing well!
Love,
Jenn

Happy Easter!!

I hope everyone had a nice Easter! Mason had his 6 month appointment last Thursday. He weighed a wopping 19 pounds, 2 ounces! He is our little BEEF CAKE!! He still has a large head that falls somewhere in the 90th percentile range. He is in the 60 percentile range for both weight and height. Mason received another round of shots and although he was pissed when the shots were received, he was back to normal the next day. Both Tim and I were able to attend the appointment together ... I am glad Tim was there to hold Mason down while he received his shots ... I had the "cushie" job of scooping him up and comforting him afterwards! We are going to work with him a little more in helping him sit up and roll over. He is not doing those activities on his own just yet. All-in-all, our boy is doing great and is within normal ranges of where he should be!!

Our Easter was nice. We went up to Chico and had brunch with the family at the Country Club. Once again, Mason was the hit of the party ... that is, after he woke up. He fell asleep on our way up to Chico and stayed asleep through most of our brunch!! I eventually had to wake him up! It was a really nice visit and the day couldn't have been more perfect!

I finished off the day by introducing something other than rice cereal into Mason's diet. I cooked up some potato, mashed it through a strainer and mixed it with some water and formula ... soungs appealing, right ?! Yeah, Mason didn't think so ... he looked like he was going to gag it back up! I wish I had the camera ready for that one. I think I will keep it close as I begin to introduce new foods. I think I am going to abandon the potato for tomorro night and switch to something more palatable like banannas .... lets hope for the best!

Anyhow, I have included a link below for a few pictures taken recently:
http://adobe.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.ax4oss0g&x=0&y=-nctcri&localeid=en_US

I hope you are all doing well!
Love,
Jenn

Solid!

Hello from the Brown household!! Things have been going well in our little realm. Tim is done with wrestling season (yeah!) and life is pretty much getting back to normal for us. I have another five weeks at the bank and am now dedicated to finding a new job. The reality of unemployment has hit home!!

Mason is doing great! He has started eating solid foods (and by solid, I mean soupy rice-cereal) and is doing very well. I knew it was time to begin solids when he downed a 10 oz bottle and was still hungry! ... that, and the fact that he would lick his high chair tray and stare at us while we ate dinner!

At first, Mason didn't really know what to make of the texture of the "solid food" cereal. He would work his little tongue and spit out the cereal all over his chin ... eventually he got the hang of it and now opens his mouth like a little bird when he sees the spoon approaching. ... he still makes a huge mess even though most of the food ends up in his belly.

Mason has still been sleeping through the night. He is usually exhausted by the end of the day as he spends a lot of his time bouncing in his excersaucer, playing on the floor gym, and people watching. My daycare provider (on Wednesdays) says that he will only nap when the "big kids" nap ... otherwise, there is simply too much for him to see!

Tim and I are VERY excited as we are approaching new Auntie and Uncle status with the pending birth of Connor Joseph, Scott and Liz's baby (Scott is Tim's twin). I have been helping Scott and Liz paint a mural in their nursery of an underwater sea-scape and a beach scene with palm trees and a sand castle. The room is really turning out well and I wish it was Mason's room! I am having so much fun doing the painting that I wish I could some how capitalize and make my painting efforts into a side business! I will definitely post pictures of the end result as I am rather proud of how it is coming along!

My good friend Kelly is also nearing her due date for the arrival of her son, Luke Thomas! I have been playing soccer with Kelly since we were 5 years old and it is a blessing to have a longtime friendship where we can see our lives come full circle ... in a couple of years our little ones will hopefully be playing soccer together!

Well, Mason is napping and I am still in my PJ's at 11am ... I guess it would be an opportune time for me to quit typing and get myself ready for the day (even though it is half over)!

Mason has his 6 MONTH appointment next week so I am sure I will post after I receive his new stats!

I hope this finds you all doing GREAT! Enjoy the Spring!
Love,
Jenn

yawn!

Everyone who is a parent is faced with reality that children and sleep deprivation go hand in hand! Tim and I have been blessed in that Mason has been sleeping through the night (consistently) for a little while. When I mention "sleeping through the night," I of course mean somewhere in the ballpark of 10:30pm to 5:30am. The childless would not consider that amount of time a "full night's sleep" - Lord knows I didn't consider anything less than 8 hours a full night's sleep before Mason!! However, when an infant/youngin' is involved, most parents would cut off their right arm for those precious hours!

Just as Tim and I were settling into Mason's new sleep schedule, he hauls off and refuses to sleep well for the past two nights! I felt like the walking dead yesterday as Mason was up and cried until 1:30am on Tuesday night! Oy-vey! It was the hardest thing I ever had to do - for the first time, we let him "cry it out." I thought I was going to start crying with him! It was the hardest thing to look at him in his crib and to tell him "you're OK" while he was looking at me and the tears were rolling off his cheeks! It was so unlike him to cry like that, that I couldn't help but wonder if he was in pain or was scared! I hate not being able to communicate with him! I feel a renewed inspiration to begin signing with Mason.

The weekend before last, Mason, Grandma Kalbach and myself went up to Chico to visit with Mason's great grandparents (my Grandpa Jim and Grandma Rita). It was the first occasion on which my Grandpa Jim held Mason. It was truly fantastic to see the generations represented at our gathering. I feel very grateful to have such a wonderful family and I am happy that my Grandpa was able to hold our little pork chop!

This past weekend we went to Lake Tahoe. Yes, we braved the winter storm and enjoyed a cabin weekend consisting of fuzzy socks, sweat pants, a warm fire, games, wine and good company. The weekend presented Mason's first exposure to the snow and featured a couple of crude (anatomically correct) snow people in the front yard. We had a blast!

Tim is nearing the end of wrestling season. He has State finals this weekend in Bakersfield (one of the State's most beautiful cities - yeah right!!). After this weekend, I will have my husband back! I am pretty excited for Tim to be able to spend more time with Mason.

I have attached pictures of our most recent intrigues .... you can view them at the following link: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=60cie9o.3wdewgeo&x=0&y=-hpzvad

I hope this finds you all doing well!!

Love,

Jenn

blessed with my baby

I often recognize and give thanks for how blessed I am. Tonight, I happened to watch Mason sleep for a prolonged period of time. There is a miracle in each breath he takes and I feel overwhelmed with love just watching him. I can't begin to express the feelings I embody now that I am a parent! 

I went back and read through some of my older posts tonight. It is truly amazing how fast Mason has grown. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was posting my pregnancy experiences - now I use this little page to showcase my little pork chop!  

Thank you all for being a part of this experience with me!

(I was just feeling quite sentimental and too tired to be logical and refrain from posting my sentiments! )

Time to go to bed now ......