Push pops with Daddy.

31 days of photos. Whew!  My life is not nearly exciting enough for that challenge!

Laundry room.

What? It's not totally normal to watch the laundry drying from your carseat?!

Grandma

Grandma came to hold down the fort for a few days while I'm in NY and Maggie is on vacation. I charged Daddy with getting a picture of them - this is the best he could do!

New York city.

I'm in NYC for work for a few days. No I did not take this night time skyline photo because I am curled up in pjs watching TV in the hotel with room service and full control of the remote. Perfection.

Hurricane Isaac.

We have now watched countless hours of footage on Hurricane Isaac.  My little dude can't get enough of it.  It's the one word he can read so he's ecstatic to see it on TV and to hear the news people saying it!  Ha!

Labrador

Molly doing what Molly does best.

Sleepover

Last night Isaac's bestie Meg slept over. His first sleepover. Her big sister broke her arm and was in the ER all night so we kept Meggie to help out. They loved it!

Glendale Ice Cream Social.

Claire, Nicholas, Jacob, Audrey, Meg and Isaac.

Emily.

When Jeff and I moved to St. Louis 7 years ago, we had no friends and no family here.  Tim and Julie were some of the first people we met (through our dogs).  Over the years we have been through A LOT together.  They became our family here.  And last night, they became parents!  Happy Birthday Emily Reese.  Isn't she beautiful?!  All 7lbs. 1oz of her.

Wedding bells.

One month from today these pretty ladies get all dolled up:

to stand next to this beautiful lady:

so she can finally become an official Brown lady!

I guess this guy will be there too....details, details! ;)

Smile for the camera.

I think Isaac is getting sick of my picture a day attempt....

Batman and Bumblebee.

Family room.

I'm on a roll - found that great sofa table last week (see behind couch) and found a rug this weekend.  The family room is finally starting to look like an actual, put together room, rather than just a couch staring at a TV.  Now as for the rest of the house......oh my.  I suppose I'll finally have it all put together just about the time we're ready to move again!

Dr. Brown

Yesterday after work the kids and I went to finally check out Jeff's new office.  He refused to stand next to his office suite name plaque.  And was embarrassed beyond belief that I was taking pictures at all ;)

Audrey Jane - 18 months.

Happy half birthday, Lady Jane.  18 months already.  Life is surely sweeter with you and your darling disposition in it!

Idyllic.

As I was going to post this pic of me and the kids today I came across this article from the parenting section of the Huffington Post. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/claire-bidwell-smith/post-partum-_b_1777167.html?utm_hp_ref=parents&ir=Parents

I thought - wow, we do look idyllic here.  Happy mommy, happy toddler, happy preschooler all smooshed as tight as we can be together in 1 car of the train at the park ecstatic to be spending a gloriously sunny summer day together in peaceful bliss capturing a perfect memory of this time in our life that people say we'll always look back on with fondness.  Uh ha.  Right.  That's exactly how it played out - not!  But that's how it looks.  In fact, if I look back in my blog over the years we do look rather idyllic!  No real signs of the absolute chaos which is our life with 2 small children.  No signs of the constantly messy house, severely unattended laundry situation,  to do list 6 miles long, overgrown yard and weeds.  No signs of the constant referee I have become between siblings or the sadly neglected dog.  No signs of the struggle to find time or energy for each other when I'm at work 45 hours a week and Jeff's at work so many hours I'm afraid to actually count them and when we are both home at the same time we're dividing and conquering our chores there.  No signs of the intense pressure we feel to get this right - to get the parenting through the formative years right.  I'm glad this woman wrote this article so I don't wonder why I'm the only one who can't keep it all together perfectly.  I love when people are honest about their broken-ness.  Jeff and I call this period in our lives "survival mode".  If at the end of the day we are all still breathing we count that a success.  Truth.  I'm glad that when I put this blog into a journal to share with my grown children some day that they'll see what looked like an idyllic childhood.  They'll probably only have the really good memories stored in their pretty little minds anyway.  It will be our little secret that their early years were basically a circus. 

Junior Kindergarten.

Today is Isaac's first day of school!  JK, get ready for Isaac Brown.  He's ready for you.  I am happy to report there were no tears this year - not by me or him.  It's his 2nd year at this school so I think we both felt comfortable and familiar enough to just be happy and excited for the new school year. 

My big boy - dinosaur backpack, Batman lunch box and all!



Happy 7th Moll Doll!!

I didn't post a pic yesterday because I have 2 very special posts of pictures for today.  Today is Molly's 7th birthday!  100 pounds of chocolate love.  Lordy we love this dog. 

Our oldest baby through the years:



Oopsie Doodle.

Ever wonder what it looks like when an 18month old breaks their nose?  Now you know.  And this is before the black eyes settled in.  But because its Audrey, the happiest child on the planet, she just smiles through it.  My brave girl. 

Note: this pic is actually from last week so have no fear - the swelling is down considerably and the bruising is fading.  I didn't have the heart to post it until I knew she was ok.  She'll be fine - no plastic surgery to repair a crooked nose in her future ;)

Splash pad.

Diving board.

summer fun at the farm.

Found it!

I've been searching for just the right sofa table for 4 months now. Today I found it. On sale. Praise Jesus.

Farm vehicles.

A few weekends ago we went down to Grandma and Grandpa's farm and I just haven't had a chance to  post the pictures yet.  So here's one of the kiddies in their pint size vehicles.  Driving vehicles is their favorite part of the farm - Gator, 4 wheeler, pick up trucks, tractors.  Oh the fun of it all.

What can Brown do for you?

When we were in WI over the weekend Isaac got to "drive" Papa's UPS truck.  Three things Isaac is obssessed with rolled into one - Papa, giant trucks, and packages.

Piano man.

"Is this right, Uncle Tom?"  Audrey wants to play as well as her godfather.

Water park fun.

Isaac and Annie taking a break from the water slides to refuel.  Their moms have been friends for over 20 years.  That water park wasn't quite as awesome as it is now when we were kids there!

Bonfire.

Oshkosh, WI 8am

Woke up this morning and it was 69 degrees.  Gloriously 40 degrees cooler than we're used to in STL right now.  Why not celebrate with a bonfire, coffee and breakfast outside :)

SNC Besties

Today my college friends Stephanie and Jon hosted a pool party at their new house and me and the kids just happened to be in WI!  Yey!!  Here's 5 of us girls and 6 kiddies!

Zoo

Oshkosh zoo today!

Lunch date.

Lunch in Milwaukee with her godparents and grandparents today. Yummo.

Scrub a dub dub.

In honor of Lauren's 6th birthday today I am posting this picture of the three amigos, the three muskateers, the three peas in a pod, the three little pigs....you get the idea.

Lauren (6), Megan (3), Isaac (4)

I am taking a page out of my friend Nikki's family blog  - I challenge myself to post a picture a day in August!