July 2011

Our friend Lily Darling holding her friend the frog.

Izzy enjoying yogurt during the 4th of July weekend.

We might be getting older, but we can still rock the bikini. Well...Mandi and Kris can.

Our friend Nate kissing the toad hoping he finds a prince for his daughters.

My hillbilly husband.

Izzy loving the lake.

The girls just chillin.'

Izzy's new set of wheels.

Interest was short lived...we found a bug!

Mark and Izzy at the pool. Izzy loved it.

Our friend Bradley Shafer, Jr. Isn't he just a doll?

Izzy learning to drive a remote control truck with PopPop. She only knew how to move forward. There was no such thing as reverse.

Mark and his classmates at his class reunion.

 Mom just doing a photoshoot with Izzy. She can be such a great image to capture.

Bathtime!

 New baby Brown at 12 weeks.

 A close up at 20 weeks.

This was a great Fourth of July. For not really having anything planned, we ended up doing something every night. On the 2nd the Hoys had us out to Lake Shores for a fun day at the lake. I wish we had a house on a lake. I would never go on vacation. I would dig my toes in the sand and watch my little girl and husband fish to their hearts content. On the 3rd we went to our old neighborhood block party. It was fun to see everyone we hadn't seen in a while. It was a great time. On the 4th we had a bbq with friends and watched fireworks. Izzy loved fireworks if they were far away but otherwise they were not a favorite. Mark even tried with smoke bombs and that was still a no go. At the bbq on the 4th she finally warmed up to the snaps. FINALLY!

Our friend Gary Hart had a birthday party at their house. They have a pool in the back yard and Izzy loved it. We couldn't keep her away from it. I'm glad we don't have a pool anymore, I would be constantly watching her. The following week our friends, the Shafers, came to town. They were actually coming to celebrate their marriage with a reception in Lincoln (They live in NC). We were unable to go to the reception because it was Mark's 20th (yes I said 20th), class reunion. So Brad, Brenda, and Bradley came to stay with us and go to dinner. Izzy loved every bit of Bradley being there. I think she's going to make a good big sister.

This month Izzy also moved up in rooms at daycare. She is now a birdie and they have bike day on Tuesdays. Izzy did not have a bike so off to the store we went. Helmet and all. She looked pretty darn cute on the bike but there is a lot for her to learn. Mommy's back can't take the bending over. I knew I should have gotten one with the extended handle. Oh, well, it will all come with time.

I can't believe summer is almost over. How time flew by. Oh, by the way, IT'S A GIRL! Izzy is going to have a new best friend. I can't wait to give this gift to her. I always wished I had a brother or a sister. The pregnancy is going well and my belly is growing slowly but surely. Talk soon.   Ariann

June 2011

Grandma D. came to stay with us for a few days while Mark was out of town. She helped Mommy so she could run errands and get things done. We had a good girls' weekend.

This is me and my friend Ella Mulligan splashing in my new princess pool. Mommy gave me the choice of many different pools and this is the one I wanted.

Cheese!

More Cheese!

This is a picture of Mommy 3 months pregnant with "Baby Berta" as Daddy and I so lovingly call her.

Daddy is teaching me early to keep my things nice and clean.

Mommy and Daddy celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary. They went out to dinner at Bone Fish.

This is a picture of me in my birthday outfit. I turned two this month. I had a Mickey Mouse themed birthday part with my friends and family. After the sun went down, we watched fireworks. I don' t mind fireworks as long as they are far away.

Smile!

My Mickey birthday cake.

My friend Ella and her mommy, Heather, came to my birthday party early to help mommy set up. It's great to have good friends like that.

Me blowing out my #2 birthday candle. I loved my cake. Gamma even let me put my finger in it early before anyone else got a piece.

Instead of slipping and sliding down the SlipNSlide. I used it as a drinking fountain instead.

At the beginning of June, Heather and Ella Mulligan came over and we enjoyed a day in Izzy's Princess pool. I wasn't sure how she would like it.....she loved it. They jumped in over and over, dunked their faces, and laughed the whole time.

The pregnancy has been going well. At about 14 weeks the nausea passed but headaches set in. I told one of my nurses at work that I had been getting a lot of headaches and I wasn't a headache person. The end of that week I went in for my check up and the first thing the nurse practitioner asked was if I was having headaches. She said that this was the time in your pregnancy that you would have headaches. I never had them with Izzy. She also asked if I had started to feel the baby. I didn't think I really had (thought it was gas :)) because I thought it was too early. She said that around 16 weeks with the second child you will start to feel movement. Shortly after that I was unmistakingly feeling the baby move. I love that feeling.

At the end of this month our little girl turned TWO! I can't believe how fast two years has gone. We had family and friends over for a barbeque and fireworks. The kids swam in the pools and ran through the sprinklers. It was a lot of fun.

The rest of our summer is pretty uneventful. It's been too stinking hot to really do too much outside unless you are around a pool. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and I'll write about July soon.

Ariann

May 2011

Yaaay! It's Spring, lets get outside.

Izzy and her little friend Maddie. They would rather play witht the dog toys than their toys.

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Izzy over seeing Mommy's planting abilities.

My petunias to plant for the year.

Izzy enjoying her fudgecicle.

Izzy tailgaiting before the Nebraska vs. Creighton game. Love the chilled look on  her face.

Daddy and Izzy eating at the game. You can't go to a baseball game without getting a hotdog.

Prayer before the game.

She is getting to be such a big girl.

The deer at the safari.

The black bear.

The Elk were amazing.

Izzy enjoying the ride throught the safari.

Daddy and Izzy on the trail to the wolf and bear.

Well this month will go in the history of one of the worst months ever. I am feeling really sick from being pregnant. I just can't seem to kick it. Also, the Lord decided to take my Grandma to reunite with my Grandpa. I can't believe I lost both of them in such a short amount of time. It definitely leaves a void in your heart. My grandmother's passing was unexpected and has been very hard to wrap my brain around. It's definitely going to take a lot of time to get over. I miss you Grandma. Give Grandpa a hug for me.

Since the weather has been slightly nicer we have gotten out in the yard a little more. Izzy had her friend Maddie Rosipol over to play for a bit. Izzy is such a tomboy. She loves the dirt and being outdoors looking at all the bugs. We also enjoyed hte weather of the Nebraska vs. Creighton game. Mark Izzy and I went downtown to the new TD Ameritrade stadium to watch the close game between the two teams. Unfortunately Nebraska lost by 2 points, coming up from behind. Izzy did so well just hanging out with us.

A couple of weeks later we decided to experience the safari of Nebraska out on I-80. It was actually a neat experience and Izzy enjoyed the ride. The pelicans really tried to back up traffic.

This year was an awesome Mother's Day. We went and picked out all our flowers for the summer and got them planted to give our house a splash of color. So far so good......they are still alive. I enjoy planting the pretty flowers, but I get so frustrated when you do all you can and they just don't make it. We have little catepillers that eat the flowers in mid July. My goal this year is to treat the flowers so they last a little longer. I had a fun end to the day enjoying a fudgecicle with my daughter. What a GREAT day!

Talk soon, hope everyone is doing well.

April 2011

Dying Easter Eggs at Great Grandma and Grandpa Brown's.

After finding all the gifts the Easter Bunny left at Gamma and PopPop's.

Easter Egg hunt at Great Grandma and Grandpa Brown's.

Izzy and PopPop on Easter.

My cousin Heather, myself and all the great grand children.

Cletus hanging out at Gamma and PopPop's.

Izzy and PopPop after we surprised them that Izzy was going to be a big sister.

Izzy's special shirt. She will live up to the name in December.

Izzy and I after a day of paintingt toe nails.

Izzy's favorite back yard past time. She could spend hours in the sand box.

My cousin Kash getting ready to take the field at a Husker game. He is one of this year's big hitters.

Izzy cheering on Kash at his game. Go Hugers!

Kashy upn to bat.

Izzy and Gamma enjoying a hot dog at the game.

I have been neglecting the blog for a while. So bare with me as I don't remember what happened yesterday, let alone two months ago. At the end of March, Mark and I found out we are having baby number two. Boy did I have "mommy guilt" when I first found out. How am I going to divide my time between the two children. I talked to my good friend Sarah and she said the best thing I could ever give Izzy is a sibling. You know she is absolutely correct. I am really excited now and can't wait to meet the new little one.

At the beginning of April we went to watch my cousin Kash play baseball in Lincoln. He plays for the Huskers and is one of their big hitters this year. We are sure proud of him. Lots of friends and family came because they were celebrating Grand Island and featured Kash. It was great to get my Grandma K. there since my Grandpa has passed away.

A week later we all went back to GI because Mark and I were the sponsors for his niece and nephew's confirmation. We put Izzy in a shirt that said "Big Sister" and waited to see how long it took for my parents to notice her shirt. Of course when we got home no one was there. When my mom got home she noticed right away. My dad was down at the shop cleaning things up so we all went there to show him. I had told him that we had a surprise for him. When we got there we talked and talked and he didn't even notice. We finally had to tell him to look at Izzy's shirt. He was really excited. He thought that we had bought a new car and that was our surprise. He wasn't expecting the baby news at all. Then my dad took Izzy to my Grandma K's apartment. She didn't notice either and when we told her to read Izzy's shirt, her response was "Really?". She had the biggest smile on her face.

Izzy and I came back to GI the following week for Easter. My cousins and uncle came to visit from Wichita. We had Easter dinner and died eggs on Saturday and then had the hunt on Sunday. Then Izzy and I headed out to Mark's aunt's house for Easter lunch. It was nice to finally get home and see Mark.

Well, until next month. I am behind on May too. I'll try to get to it soon.