The Brown Kiddos: April 2007

Monday, April 30, 2007

Two Fish!

This past weekend, we went to the family house outside Timpson, TX to spend the weekend with Lane's parents to celebrate Skeetz's (Lane's dad) birthday. The weather was beautiful and we all had a great time. We picked blackberries, relaxed, and Dane had a big, big first...he got to go fishing at the pond with his Dad and Pa Pa in the boat! Needless to say, Dane gave himself credit (and we did, too) for all of the fish caught. They caught at least two fish on Friday, and Dane just kept saying, "Two fish! Two fish!" It was so cute. He got to go fishing again Saturday morning, and I think he definitely shares his Pa Pa's love of fishing, which I know they will both enjoy for years and years and will get to spend many special moments together.

Our little fisherman

Practicing his casting technique

"No time for pictures, Mom, this is serious business!"

Here Dane is helping his dad get into the boat.

The Big Catch!

Talking things over with Dad in the blackberry patch.

Each year for Skeetz's birthday, Wren (Lane's mom) always makes him strawberry shortcake. Let me tell you, to my knowledge, she is the only person who really knows how to make strawberry shortcake right! It's so wonderful! So, we all enjoyed that, especially Dane.

Happy Birthday, Pa Pa!

We had a great weekend and we had such a wonderful visit with Wren and Skeetz! We are so blessed to have such wonderful parents, and it's always so good to be able to get away and spend time together.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Dane and his big boy bed!

This was a very big day and night for us all. This afternoon, I put Dane's toddler bed together and disassembled his crib. Recently, I witnessed him hooking his foot over the top rail of his crib, so I knew that something had to be done soon. I had picked up a safety rail from Wal-Mart today, so once I figured out how it worked, we were in business. At first, I thought that there were two rails in the kit, but I was mistaken. So, rather than spend another $30 on another rail, I figured I would just position his bed in a corner up next to the wall, so he can't fall off that side. It was so much fun rearranging his room and letting him help me all along the way. Once we got everything put together, I showed Dane his new bed, and he practiced getting in and out of it and playing pee-pie through the mesh rail. After his bath tonight, all three of us played some more in there so that Dad could join in the fun, too. Dane was really good at climbing up on the side and hoisting himself over the rail onto the bed, but he was having some trouble getting back over and down. So, Lane and I moved the rail as far up the side toward the headboard as possible, so that he could have a little exit down by the foot of the bed. Well, that worked great for him getting down, but for some reason, he then thought he needed to climb up that way, too, which was difficult because there wasn't enough room for him to swing his leg up all the way. Eventually, he figured out that he can still go up the other way with ease. But in the meantime, as he tried to get up one time, he slipped and fell on his bottom and exclaimed, "Ah, man!!!" and then stormed out the door fussing! Lane made the comment that he looked just like his mother doing that. I didn't really know what he meant by that. He was just probably confused for a second or something!

So, I was worried that putting him to bed would be difficult, but I just kept our same routine and laid him down and walked out at around 8:45, and it's now 11:20, and we haven't heard a peep yet! So far, so good! He's always been such a good sleeper, for the most part, so hopefully this will be a smooth transition, too. That's all for now. Thank you, God, for my precious family, and the joy and love we share every day!

I love how proud he looks in this picture.

Playing Pee-Pie with me

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Ice Cream before Supper anyone?

Well, today was a great day here at the Brown household. For starters, I only work until noon on Fridays, so I always look forward to having a longer afternoon off. However, earlier this week, our computer crashed, and we found out that the hard drive is dead, which means that we lost everything, including our pictures and videos. Luckily, I had been good and had most of the pictures uploaded to Snapfish.com, so I think that we are only missing the ones from this past November through March. And I just uploaded the pictures I took today and was surprised to see that I had forgotten to clear off my memory card, and we still had all of the pictures from this month back until Easter!!! Yea!! Also, it works out that I happened to start blogging last November, so most of my very favorite pictures I have here. All in all, the largest loss is my Christmas card address list. I don't think I had ever printed out a hard copy. Oh, well. So, if you get a chance, please email me your mailing address to cjohnsgirl@gmail.com, and I will start building it back again. Yea, a new project!

So, anyway, Lane finally decided what computer he wanted to get and we got it this afternoon. Not much has been going on with us this week other than that. My biggest news is that I spent a couple of hours each night this week working on getting my garage cleaned out and organized. I had never gotten this done since we have been here in Kilgore, and there were those boxes left in there that really just needed to be either thrown out or put in the attic. So, I got this finished last night around 1:00, and I immediately pulled both of our cars in it to celebrate that accomplishment. It's probably weird, but having a garage and not using it to park in is a big pet peeve of mine, and I'm been driving myself crazy for almost nine months now with my mess.

Other than that, we've just been having fun playing outside and listening to Dane develop new catch phrases. He's starting saying, "Are you ready?" when we start to put his shoes on before we leave the house. And, the other day, he started saying, "Come on!", like it's such a chore for him when we're trying to get him to do something, like eat when he's not in the mood. I think Lane and I say that a lot or something, who knows. He's really turned into quite the hugger the past couple of weeks, too, and he now shares his hugs with me and not just with Mr. Monkey and C. John, our cat. That's the best of all!

Tonight before dinner (I know - I'm totally setting a bad precedent), Dane and I decided to eat an ice cream cone and go outside for a few more minutes while Lane got the grill heated up for burgers. We've just started letting him handle his own ice cream cones and popcicles, so my rule is that we have to eat them outside (less mess to clean up). I love how deliberate and neat he is with his cone, except for on his mouth, of course. Anyway, these pictures are from tonight.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Just catching up!

We have been so busy this month, so it's been a while since my last blog. Dane has kept busy lately, and he just keeps on growing so fast. My little boy isn't a baby anymore. It's exciting to see him grow and develop his own interests and personality. I thought I would just post pictures today from all of the stages in his life. I hope that he is able to read this someday and be able to tell how very special he is to us and what a joy he brings to us everyday. Lane and I have always called Dane our "buddy", and our life has been brightened so much by God giving us our little buddy!