Easter, Mommy, and Ketchup

Our 3 favorite things at the moment....Easter, Mommy, and ketchup. Seriously, if you put ketchup on it, he will eat it. This was our first Easter back in the states, so it was fun coloring eggs, going on Easter egg hunts with friends but not so thrilled with the Easter Bunny (can't hardly blame the guy....a big white bunny is a little freaky) but changed his mind when he got more presents. We also tried some candy for the first time and was ok with the chocolate but not a fan of anything gummy like jellybeans. Just give him cookies and/or chips and he's happy.

We had a nice Easter dinner with Grammy and Grandad Brown and Uncle Tim, Aunt Gretchen and cousin Lauren but we were so busy chasing him down or having a meltdown from not napping that we don't have any pictures. Grandad and the Little Red Wagon surprised us all by not falling apart as they wheeled down the small slope in the backyard, over and over again. Too funny.

We also had a big change by moving classrooms at daycare. He is now in the 2s class and is talking up a storm. He normally calls me Momma and Patrick dadda, but one day when I picked him up he came running at me screaming Mommy! Mommy! It was really sweet at the moment but not so sweet at 2am.

And you can see in the pictures his new medical bracelet. He officially has asthma and because of a few scary instances at daycare, we decided to keep a reminder on for everyone. This spring has seen record pollen counts and we are feeling it! The entire house is on antibiotics and cough medicine along with a 2nd dose of asthma and allergy medicine for Benjamin. An extra bonus of strep throat, ear infections, and an outbreak of hives to his ear drops, kept us nice an exhausted for a few months but I think we are on the mend. Looking forward to summer!

Snowmaggedon

Snowmaggedon, Snowpacalpyse...whatever you choose to call it, it was a doozy of a storm! All total, we got 28 inches and we, and by "we" I mean Patrick, have been shoveling for days and still not done. The nice thing about the snow is that we have met more of our neighbors, who are fantastic. Benjamin loved sliding down the huge snow drifts in our front yard and once he figured out that leaving your gloves on is much more fun than having freezing cold hands, he enjoyed the snow much more.

In other news, Benjamin turned 2 and we enjoyed a nice party at our house last weekend. The party was a bit delayed as last weekend we had another big snow storm and didn't want our family on the roads in such questionable conditions. So, Nana and Papa Yost flew in from Arizona and Grammy and Grandad Brown along with Aunt Gretchen, Uncle Tim and cousin Tyler, all dared the roads from Maryland. We ate cake, opened presents and dished up some raclette. A french dish that is somewhat like fondue. Yum. Benjamin had his 2 year check up with the doc and besides continuing medication for asthma, is doing well. We had a bit of a scare in early January with pneumonia and a febrile seizure, which freaked us out and ended in us calling 9-1-1 around 3am. Good news, the EMT from Fairfax County (not our county, about 40 min away) made it to our house in 15 min, along with some very nice firemen. Apparently, vomiting and uncontrollable shaking is normal with high temperatures??? Who knew. Grammy Brown came to stay with us for a week and watched Benjamin for us while he was sick. So thankful family is close by to help out in a pinch. Benjamin's latest stats: 27 lbs (50th percentile); 35 inches tall (75th percentile) and a 18 inch cranium (40th percentile). He got his second H1N1 vaccine and Hep A. He really didn't cry much for the shots and was excited to get a "stick" (sticker). Doc also said his drooling is still pretty normal although I could do with out it. I don't think I've left for work yet without drool or nose wipe yet so I've learned black is not a good color for snot or drool. It really shows up when it drys.

We're excited Benjamin's godmom Meg is coming to visit next weekend!!! Not sure what we plan to do yet but I'm sure it will lots of fun. Let's hope we can get rid of some of this snow!!!!

This is the 3rd shoveling attempt after a previous 12inches!

So much for the nice wooded area behind our house. Wimpy Virginia trees.

You can also see they have cleared the next area to build. :(

Sleeping in our new toddler bed. Still haven't figured out that he can stretch out in the entire bed.

Christmas and New Years 2009

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We enjoyed a wonderful christmas in our new house. Patrick's parents, Marvin and Carol, came over and stayed a few days, bringing food and an extra pair of hands to help around the house. We installed a new baby gate for the stairs and finally put together the toddler bed for Benjamin. Big guy has been cramped in a pack-n-play since April! The crib we had purchased in France was too small for him and we never had enough time to actually put the toddler bed together. We were sort of afraid to actually use a real bed since we weren't sure how the transition would go. It has been a week now and he refuses to get out of it until we come to the room to get him (this is a good thing)! He still has issues tossing around and laying in a length-wise position. We usually get up once a night to get him unstuck from lying perpendicular to the bed with his head stuck in the headboard corner and his feet lying over the guard rail. Hopefully one of these days he'll figure out it is more comfortable to actually lay on the mattress. As you can see from the pictures, there were lots of presents to go around. Benjamin took awhile to figure out that if you opened a package there was usually a toy involved. He was so preoccupied with Santa's gifts that he really wasn't interested in opening other gifts. So, it took us a couple of days to actually get through all of them for him. The video is from New Years and explains why we don't stay up late to celebrate. :) He is full of energy! We opened a nice bottle of wine and went to bed around 10pm. Just the way I like it. We are off to see Marvin and Carol at their place for dinner tonight and then it is time to take the christmas decorations down. Not fun. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and I can't believe it is 2010!

Snow storm of 2009

Snow, snow and more snow!!!! We had a nice blizzard for a couple of days and we enjoyed watching all the craziness and panic that it brought. I guess being from Alaska I wasn't too concerned but apparently since the DC area doesn't get a lot of snow it really threw the city for a loop. There wasn't enough equipment to completely clear the roads and parking lots so I got a day off from work. woo hoo! I love snow days! I couldn't find good snow boots and snow suits here, so poor Benjamin had to go out in the snow again in a too small snow suit and the last boots I could find at the mall. What happened to moon boots? Do they not exist anymore? Anyway, here's some photos of Benjamin enjoying the snow!

When snowed in, create obstacle course in basement.

Check out the boots.

a twee

Ahhh the annual dilemma...to buy a real tree or use our fake one. There really isn't much of a dilemma to be honest. Patrick is adamant about having a real tree. So, off we went one afternoon to purchase our tree. We picked out a beauty at the local tree lot close to our house and as we were checking out the young gentleman asks us if we want it trimmed with a fresh cut at the bottom. I respond with a resounding yes while at the same time Patrick says no. The young gentleman, now confused, explains to us what it all entails. I look at Patrick and say why not just have it done where there is equipment for them to do it. Patrick, now completing appalled, explains to me that he feels it is Christmas duty to trim the tree himself. Yes dear, I say, but every year you just end up cursing at the tree. Patrick, now practically in tears, says to please let him do this one manly thing this year. I cave and off we go with the untrimmed tree atop the car. We get home and Lumberjack Pat goes to work on the tree. I watch, entertained as usual, as the saw gets stuck. Its claimed that it needs sharpened. uh huh. Amazingly, with no injuries and only a few curse words, the tree is cut and in the house!

And here it is, in all its glory.

And finally, the little guy gets to see it. As he exclaims, "a twee, a twee" and immediately reaches for the ornaments. We'll be keeping him away from it until christmas!

Thanksgiving 2009: We celebrated this year surrounded by family! It was amazing to have all of Patrick's family together and share a wonderful meal by Grammy Brown. We have a lot to be thankful for this year. After Patrick decided to leave the Air Force and search for a job in the worst economic conditions ever, we were relieved to for him to find a great job with Booz Allen Hamilton, move to Virginia and get settled. After moving into a new home, I found a fantastic job and life just seemed to fall into place. We are still slowly unpacking. There is a lot to do and it is hard with Benjamin running around and getting into everything!!! Can't wait to spend our first christmas here in the new house and see what lies ahead for 2010!

We've switched!

We changed our minds and decided to stop our babyhomepages website and do the blog thing. Its free and Benjamin isn't a baby anymore. :( So, we'll keep you posted on team Brown and what new and crazy things Benjamin does to keep us on our toes!