October 2011

This is new baby Brown. I think she looks a little more like me. I think it's a good combo of Izzy and me (so I guess that means Mark too). Darn, he's got some dominant genes.

                                     

 Mark holding a baby chick at Pooley's Pumpkin Patch. Izzy wouldn't get near it .

 Izzy and Ella as pumpkin heads at Pooley's.

 On the hayrack ride to the patch to pick out our pumpkins.

 Finding the perfect pumpkin.

 Izzy and Mommy on their way back. Time to go home and get ready for the Huskers to play. They played Wisconsin and lost. Everyone was bummed. The Huskers just couldn't pull it together.

 Daddy and Izzy going along with Mommy for a photo shoot. I was trying out a new lens on my camera.

 Daddy and Izzy . I love this pic.

 Our addition to the Halloween decoratios this year.

 Izzy in her Halloween dress. Mommy had to get a few pictures. She wore a Halloween dress or outfit this whole week and this is the only one she would let me get any pictures in.

 Love this Cheeser. I wish I could get rid of those sun spots.

 Mark and I at my second game of the season. We played Michigan State and won. The final score was 24-3. We were only favored by one touchdown so everyone was excited about the great game. We looked really good as a team which hasn't always been the case this season.

 Mads, Mark, and Vontz at the tailgate before the game .

 Mark's ghetto boots enjoying the game. Our seats for this game were great because they were hight up and in the front row of the balcony. You could see everything. I hated them because I thought Mark was going to fly over the railing every time he stood to cheer. The lady next to us said, "You know if you are holding on to him when he goes over, you are going to." She has a good point.

The crowd waving their hands in the air to the beat of the band.

Lil Red did a little crowd surfing.

Pumpkin carving. Mark is just getting started.

This is the only time Izzy would sit with us. I thought for sure she would want to get her hands in the goo and she wanted nothing to do with it. She would rather be down in the sandbox.

Our end results. Mark bought six pumpkins and it was more work than we thought it would be so only three got carved.

Our little Zebra. She wasn't a big fan of this costume. I think it was a little top heavy and it kept hanging in her eyes.

Izzy and Ella before trick or treating.

Izzy trick or treating. She wanted to touch these lit up ghosts. I'm sure our neighbors loved her walking through their landscaping.

Mark and Izzy at the end of the night.

October brings the Halloween spirit. We wasted no time in getting to the pumpkin patch. We went to Pooley's with our friends, the Mulligans, the first day of Octorber. It was great getting there early in the season. It wasn't too busy and we didn't have to wait in line to get our pumpkins. Pooley's is great for Izzy's age, maybe we will try Vala's again next year.

For Halloween, Izzy had a party at school and then we went around the neighborhood to trick or treat. Izzy loved it. She kept saying, "I want to go to another house." She was scared at one house with a big spider. At the end of the night she zonked out fast. She was tired. The night before Halloween we carved our pumpkins. We thought Izzy would really enjoy getting her hands in the goo. We were wrong. She wanted to just play in the sandbox instead. She helped us for a little while and then the interest was gone.

This month Mark and I made it to  the Michigan State vs. Nebraska game. It was really nice weather and a great game too. We had a good time and it was fun to see some old friends. I probably won't make it to any more games as we will have a baby soon. Only four more weeks. I can't wait to give Izzy a little sister to watch over.

The pregnacy has gone pretty well. They have been watching her this month every two weeks because they thought she was a little small. But today we had another ultrasound and it isn't going to be a problem. When it's all said and done, they think she will be around seven pounds. She started hiccuping this month and moves like crazy. I am excited to meet this little unnamed girl. That's right, we don't have a name for this little one yet. Hopefully when we see her it will just come.

Izzy is getting bigger and smarter by the minute. The things she says is just amazing to me. Between counting in Spanish and knowing which "buttons" to push and when lets me know we have a smart one on our hands. Because she picks things up so quickly we really have to watch what we say. We have had a little issue with the word 'Jesus. ' We thought she had forgotten about it because she hadn't said it in a while. Well....we were in the Jimmy Johns drive thru and Mark cut it a little short and hit the curb. Out of the back seat we heard, "Jesus daddy." It took all Mark and I had to hold it together and let her know that was a bad word. Love her more and more everyday.

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween and we'll talk next month. I will be a new mommy with my next entry! Yay!

September 2011

 At the very beginning of the month Reese came over for a bit while his mom was at work. We went to the park and him and Izzy had a great time.

 The two cuties walking down to the lake at the park.

 Izzy, Gamma and I at the tailgate. Gamma babysat for us while we enjoyed the game.

 The fam on game day.

 Me, Ashley, Adam, and Sarah at the tailgate.

 Sarah and Luke Petersen at the game.

 Adam getting interviewed from the news station.

 Team captains.

 Touchdown!

 Lets get ready to play some football.

 Izzy practicing for dance class.

 Me at 7 1/2 months pregnant.

 Cleatus and Izzy just hanging out on a Friday.

 Playing on Mommy and Daddy's bed.

Izzy and Daddy on Daddy's Harley.



Ahhh...Fall is approaching and the roar of fans in the Husker stadium is upon us. This is the time of year I love and hate. I love football and the fall weather, but I hate being what I cal,l "a single mom."
I made it to the first game this year with a bunch of my old friends. My great friend, Ashley Huggenberger, was back from Austrailia. We all got to meet her beau, Adam. He was a very nice guy and, although sometimes hard to understand, he is a great match for our Ashley. While we were at the game, one of the news stations came to our tailgate and interviewed Adam. He thought that was pretty neat. Hopefully one day we can get them both to come back for good.

Izzy started dance class this month. We are in a Mommy and Me class together. The class is something great for her to get out and do. Especially when it starts to snow and we are cooped up inside. We do lots of skipping, jumping, and marching. The first class we went to she ask about 30 minutes into the 45 minute class if we could leave through the door. I think she might be our  little tomboy and athlete. If that's that case, hopefully the new baby will be my frilly girl. Izzy is still talking a mile a minute. I can't believe how much she knows. I can have a normal conversation with her. We are finally in the stage of watch what you say. At dinner one night Mark did something and said, "Jesus." Next thing we know, Izzy is going, "Jesus, daddy." Oops!

The pregnancy is moving right along. After all the pin pokes to see if I was diabetic, the outcome was no. Yay for me....ICE CREAM! The baby is moving a lot and kicking me in places she shouldn't . We are still trying to find a name for her. I never knew it could be so hard to come up with a little girl's name. There are a few in the works, but nothing set in stone. I suppose we will know once we see her. I am slowly but surly getting the baby's room ready. Hers will be easy because we are using Izzy's old stuff and adding to it. I am trying to redo Izzy's room in a "Poodles in Paris theme". We have moved her into a "big girl bed" this month and it has been a very smooth transition. She just yells for us from the bed and doesn't get out. I'm sure we will have our day when she gets brave enough to get up and come to our room. But, until then she is doing great.

Hope all is well and we will talk next month.

Ariann 

August 2011

 This is just a photo shoot in the front yard. I got a new lens for my camera and I was playing around with it. I wish I could capture the photos that the photographers do with Izzy. I just am not as good. I think some photography classes are in my future.

 More photo shoot pics.

 Izzy and her Lamby. I was trying to see how the natural light would work through the window in Izzy's room and this is what we came up with.

 Izzy outside in her play house. She is becoming such a big girl. Love her to pieces, she just makes my heart smile.

 Finally done with pictures. Her face says it all, "Enough already, mom!"

Her afternoon nap. She still takes one nap a day. I hope that lasts for awhile. That is mommy's break time.


Things have been pretty uneventful in our daily lives. The pregnancy continues to go well and the baby is kicking like crazy. I did have to go through a few blood tests for gestational diabetes. I failed the glucola test at the OB and had to go do the 3 hour test. I thought I had it in the bag because that is exactly what happened when I was pregnant with Izzy. But, to my surprise my fasting glucose came back high and they wanted me to take diabetes educational classes. I thought something was weird because,  when I 75was at the clinic having my blood drawn, they stated my fasting was 75. The labs came back at 115. Soo, I had it double checked and it was normal, 73. I am eating ice cream again and loving it.

Izzy is busy as ever. We are still trying to potty train with no success. My goal was to not have two in diapers, but I don't think I'm going to meet this goal. Oh well, everyone says it will happen when she's ready.

She is talking  a mile a minute. Her vocabulary is unbelieveable. It just seems unreal she has learned all the things that she has in two short years. Just the other day she was eating an ice cream sandwich and she said, "Mommy this is delicious." Where does she learn this stuff?

As for Mark and I, we are just workig away. Mark is excited to get the football season going. We are also trying to finish our basement, but it's been slow going. Our goal was to have a guest room by the time the baby was born, but I don't think it will happen. We'll just keep pluggin' away.

Hope this finds everyone well, and I'll try not to take so long to update next month.