A Day in Our Life

Our first First Birthday!

This weekend we celebrated Cailyn's first birthday with our families! It was fantastic, even though it was sweltering! We decided since she's so little it was probably okay to just have close family members for this birthday, we didn't want to scare her by having too many people around that she didn't really know. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even some great aunts and a second cousin, were in attendance to help us wish our baby girl a wonderful birthday and a happy second year of life. I became semi-obsessed with making photo pages because I didn't want to have to upload a bajillion photos to the blog for this post, plus I have been creating a mixbook for her first year and love all the photo layouts they have :)

We had a relaxed BBQ before opening gifts, singing "Happy Birthday", and eating cake and ice cream. We also took our fourth family photo- which reminded me we've never had a nice one taken, you know, the kind you put in a frame over your couch or something, I think this is necessary now.

I was up until 1:00am making that cake- it was an adventure for sure- I'm glad "pastry chef" isn't my title. We decorated with penant swag cut from scrapbooking paper, and I saw online an idea for hanging photos from each month of her first year- loved it! I also added a canvas she painted for Daddy to hang in his office at school up on the shelf in the background.

Family photo number 4

She received so many cute dresses and outfits, I think about 5 or 6 books, this fun Dora lawn chair, and that great singing coupe car (thanks Grandma Jacque and Grandpa Mark- just kidding, she loves it and that's all that matters I guess)

She also was given her own baby doll with a car seat from Grandma and Papa Brown, and Aunt Mandy gave her a personalized photo story and a crib/high chair set to go along with her new baby. She is so cute with it, giving the baby kisses and pretending to feed her. Good practice for if there's every a new Baby Brown in the future! (By the way, the baby doll package was the first time we've had to untwist ties or cut straps that hold dolls in- a milestone for us as parents of a girl)


First bite of birthday cake....and last shot before getting cleaned up, I'd say she finished almost half of her jumbo cupcake, the floor got the rest.

Down for the count- partying is hard work!

Playing catch up

Wow, the summer is just getting away from me! I meant to be so much better at blogging, but it seems when I'm out of routine I don't remember to do all my usual stuff. So I guess I"ll just share a couple photos from what we've been up to, which is baseball and nothin', and leave it at that.

When she's not trying to escape onto the field during the game, she loves to shake the fence and "cheer" for the boys. Go Trojans!

Cailyn with Twin 1: Blake (she hasn't gotten her hands on him yet, she's usually a little too generous with her affections- she comes on a little strong)

And Twin 2: Bowen, she loves to be around these guys, I'm sure they'll have more fun playing together as they get older

While my parents and siblings were on vacation to D.C. we dog-sat for them. This is Lola, and Cailyn was always afraid of her, but after having her around for over a week, she became quite comfortable with her and this past week, since Lola and the kids are with us, she was even giving her hugs :)

This is a sneak peek of her one year photos, I took them a couple weeks early so that I would have time to get prints made for family members coming for her birthday party this weekend. She make it so easy because she's incredibly photogenic, thank goodness she got her Daddy's dimples, too. They make you melt every time!

Rose Festival 2012

This past weekend was the 54th (I think) annual Rose Festival in State Center, our 3rd since moving here, and Cailyn's first! It was also the first time, and likely the only time for a long while, that we were able to enjoy some of the events that took place uptown because of the baseball tournament being cancelled. So after running the 5K Fun Run with my mother-in-law, Deb, we showered up and watched our first Rose Festival Parade. I had Jerod take some pictures of me and Deb after our run, but I thought I would save you all the horror of seeing me so disgusting and sweaty. We were really proud of ourselves, we ran almost the entire thing, Deb was such a great motivator- I was happy to have run it with her!

We have learned that in order to find a good place to watch the parade, you need to get there early. Lucky for us some veteran parents and all-around-good-people, let us squeeze in next to them.

This was a favorite spot, especially when the trains went by, she's like mommy in that she doesn't like loud noises.

While the other kids were running out to pick up candy, our baby was content playing with brochures from the local state representative candidates. I hope this doesn't mean a career in politics.....

After the parade we went home to grill some pork burgers because we were starved! We set out for Main Street again though, when we were done eating, and hit up the petting zoo. It was a free thing, and I realized the reason they can afford to offer it for free is because they charge you an entire dollar for a Dixie cup of feed!

They had several goats there, from kids to adults, and they sniffed out that feed in a snap. One little guy even tried to shove his whole snout in the cup, greedy bugger! Cailyn was not so fond of the goats because they kind of got right up in your face- no personal boundaries or respect for your bubble.

Moose vs. Chicken

The only animal she pet on her own was this huge rabbit. She watched him for a long time until she realized he would not move at all, and then went ahead and pet him, so cute!

Of course, we couldn't leave without seeing the calf and getting a picture for Grandpa Bret, since he works with cattle.

We went for a walk down to the Midway, where they were having an auto show and there were rides, by the time we got home Cailyn was zonked out in the stroller. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the company of friends we've known or made since moving here, grilling, fowling, talking, and watching fireworks to end our evening. She watched in quiet wonder and clapped occasionally for the fireworks, a girl after my own heart....and she gets it every time. Another Rose Festival in the books.

Summer Break Week 1

Summer vacation has officially begun (actually if we want to get technical the first day was last Saturday, although you could also make the argument that since we always have weekends off the first day was really Monday.....) but anyhow, I was hoping to have a little extra blogging time on my hands.

Turns out I was wrong. Between baseball, trips into Marshalltown or Ames for supplies, working on projects (and I use the term working loosely), and the computer not being able to charge from the AC adapter it just hasn't worked out like I planned. But here's what we've got so far:

Chickie at the first home game of the season, which we didn't actually get to watch thanks to the much needed rain that teased a cancellation a couple of times and then finally threw in some lightning to make things official. Grandma and Grandpa Brown came out for that game and brought her a little gift- the pink bat and ball. I swear this kid's going to know how to swing by the time she's 2, she's already nudging the ball with the bat.

One of our summer projects is refinishing our kitchen cabinets. I. HATE. THEM. They are old and dated, but sturdy, and we just don't have the money for a whole kitchen renovation, so new paint and new cupboard doors and drawer fronts are the best we can do. The whole deal wouldn't be so bad except that when you have a big kitchen that also means you have lots of cupboards. Lots of cupboards = lots of cha-ching needed to do anything with the cupboards.

We were removing the hinges and doors manually when Jerod realized, "We have at least 3 power drills in this house." Smart boy.

Playing by herself while mom and dad work- such a good girl.....most of the time ;)

Thank goodness I organized my kitchen cupboards when I nested during my pregnancy with Cailyn, otherwise the door-less frames would be even sorrier to look at.

Somebody we know is SO MOBILE and learning to climb up onto the furniture. The glider is the first thing she figured out and she is now able to climb up onto the upstairs sofa with some persistence. Augh!

Cailyn loves to play in water, whether it be watering the garden, in the tub, or just holding the hose while it drips so we got her a sprinkler beach ball and though she doesn't fully know how to enjoy it yet, she liked being sprayed by the water. I predict there will be many more good times had with the beach ball sprinkler!

Is this heaven? No, it's CHOCOLATE.

We were able to attend our first West Marshall home game of the season last night where Cailyn had her first taste of chocolate frosting. I think maybe she like it ;)

4 Generations

Over Mother's Day weekend we were super busy and one of our stops was for Uncle Tanner's high school graduation. He is the last of the Brown boys to leave the nest- what will Bret and Deb do?? I think they will enjoy some quiet and being able to visit Sioux City for Briar Cliff baseball games, State Center for a dose of the grandbaby, and maybe some other travels along the way. Anyway, I forgot my camera for Tanner's grad ceremony- I was a little distracted and disheveled as we realized we had picked up a nail in the tire of our brand-new-to-us car (ugh), otherwise I would have some shots of him, he was Salutatorian. I did remember it for his open house later, and was able to get this picture of Cailyn, Jerod, Grandma Deb, and Great Grandpa Charlie. It's my goal to get photos of all generations for each kid, I love looking back on these photo from when I was a kid with my greats and grands.

Track and Field Day

It has been a tradition since before we got married, that on West Marshall elementary's track and field day, I use my personal day and help my love set up all the events, we get lunch at Steak Center/Woodrow's/Scoreboard, and then I hang out with him in the afternoon and see all the wild kiddos to whom this day means SO MUCH.

Well this year was Cailyn's first and so we have a few pictures to show for it!

Playing around in Daddy's baseball bag, I couldn't believe she kept the hat on long enough to snap a photo!

After an afternoon nap, we packed up the stroller and went to the high school track, the stroller didn't last too long, with so many kids running around she was itching to escape

"Get. Off. Of. Me!"

For the past 4 years Jerod and one of the 3rd grade teachers have a little high jumping competition- Jerod has won all 4 years and I'm not sure how with his, self-proclaimed, incredibly atrocious form. He looks like he's going up for a layup or something.

All in all it was a steamy day, so we left before they started the running events and baby girl tasted her first popsicle. She refused to take tastes of mine and insisted on holding it herself- Miss Independent. She's been teething so I think it felt good on her gums.