A Day in Our Life

Half a Year Old

So much has happened in the last month for Colby! He was baptized, participated in his first benefit walk, cut his bottom two teeth, and is now a roller and a creeper! (Wow, infancy is the only time you ever want to refer to your son as that, am I right??)

The walk was to benefit a little girl in Grandma Deb's school district who has Rhett's syndrome. I don't know a lot about this particular syndrome, but you can find out more HERE.

Our team for the benefit walk, Team Brown! We were made up of: Jerod's mom, Deb, his brothers: Beau, Nick, and Tanner, (plus Heath from afar on the East coast), his Grandpa Charles, and Beau's girlfriend, Taylor. And our little family, of course!


Those of you who know Jerod also know that this was definitely not his first choice of Saturday morning activities, but his Grinch heart grew a few sizes that day and we walked a couple miles as a family, and for a wonderful cause.

Colby's first ink, courtesy of Taylor.

Uncle Tanner is already teaching Colby the Brown boy way-to-not-smile for pictures...and also how to protect your eyes from those pesky florescent lights.

Our parents had been hinting that it was probably time to have our bubba boy graced by the Holy Spirit, and they were right. Time just got away from us, but we got 'er done at the end of March. We even borrowed Jerod's christening outfit from when he was a baby, I love using family heirlooms! It just barely fit Colby, but worked perfectly for the 20 minutes he needed to wear it.

Papa Mark was there to do the honors, that's so special to me that he has now performed sacraments for his eldest daughter's family three times.

Godparents: Aunt Amanda and Uncle Nick

The snow is gone, which means it's time for Legion baseball games. Colby took in his first few innings of baseball last weekend and his eyes were on the game at all times. It must be genetic. And it's still pretty early, but I've noticed he usually picks up most things with his left hand first....but, we'll see...

Iowa State made it to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, so the kids and I donned what little Cyclone clothing Jerod allows them to own (it would be none accept for the generosity of grandmas and aunts).

Six months means time for pictures again! He has been incredibly cooperative and smiley for this round of pictures, which makes up for his lack of enthusiasm at 3 months. :)

Has this movie changed your life?

We L-O-V-E, love it! I love the messages of not needing a guy to define you as a person and of unconditional love. Cailyn loves to sing all the songs, and has learned most of the words which is both hilarious and adorable when we hear her belting out tunes while playing, reading, or just sitting on the potty!

This would Cailyn stepping on the ground to "freeze" it. She would then "ice skate" on the Twister mat in her socks. Haha!

Colby is big enough to sit in the stroller without being in the carseat and loved walking to the playground to run some steam off his big sister. (Pay no attention to the dust all over the tray- it's been a long winter.)

She is a regular old spider monkey on this climber now, the only left to master are the monkey bars and hanging rings!

Notice Cailyn sharing her love for her brother by giving him a nice kiss (at my request), and then notice where Colby's eyes are. Love of ice cream before he can even eat it!

As they get older, we appreciate this sight even more:

Such angels when their eyes are closed and they're resting. Except Cailyn, I'm pretty sure I can always see her dreaming up whatever fun she's going to have next when she wakes up... :)

5 Months and Beautiful Weather

Who's about 20 pounds, starting to eat solid foods, and loves to jibber jabber and squeal all night?

THIS GUY!

He's a solid napper, usually logging a 4 (sometimes 5) hour nap every morning into the afternoon.

He has discovered his feet. Well- actually, he first discovered his *ahem*, "boyhood", and was grabbing at it so hard we thought he might rip it off! So, I redirected his hands to his feet, which, incidentally, is also very handy for diaper changes.

He loves watching TV with his daddy, especially basketball. Which will work out perfectly for him since Jerod's spring break is over the first two days of March Madness. Colby can cheer on Iowa State while I'm stuck at work!

His chunky legs are getting stronger everyday. Clearly he's not ready for standing, he just loves to bounce up and down on his legs.

He's SO CLOSE to rolling over! See that fist in his mouth? When he starts rolling over his arm is always down, and he kind of muscles up to try to bring his shoulders around. But, as soon as he does that his fist flings up and he gets completely distracted!

We've also had some beautiful weather here, thank the Lord! Who knew 40 degrees could feel like a heat wave?! The warmer temps have melted most of the snow and we took to the playground and our back patio for some fresh air. Colby loved looking around and watching Cailyn play, Cailyn loved running around, and we loved that she was able to do so. She's testing boundaries. All. The. Time. I know she needs to do it so she can figure out rules and how the world works- but man, oh man! I love her. I just wish she hadn't inherited so much of my stubborn self!

See the expressions in the last two photos? Definitely descriptive of both of their personalities. Colby is very easy going, and Cailyn is ornery. Both loveable, both adorable, but so different. I suppose variety is the spice of life, right? In any case, I can't get enough of them and I'm looking forward for the weather to continue it's warming trend so we can visit the park and go for walks more often. Exhausted kids are so much easier to put down for bed!

120-ish Days Young

No, I'm not one of those moms who refers to her child's age in days and months until they're beginning kindergarten- not that there's anything wrong with that. I just wanted to break up the monthly blog-post-title monotony. Another month gone by and I can hardly stand how quickly my babies are growing. I'm glad for Colby taking time to hit his milestones, or as soon as I blinked I would miss them. Like his latest: discovery of the hands! I'm talking full on fist-in-mouth at almost all points of the day unless he is eating, crying, or gnawing on his monkey jingler thingermajig.

Aaaaannnnd......we pulled out the stationary activity seat, ta-da! Mostly, he just hangs out when he's in it, but I saw him nab that leaf doodad just yesterday and have at it- which is pretty funny since that's the first thing Cailyn was interested in, too. He's still taking bottles only. We tried a little oatmeal mixed with some breast milk the other day, but he had zero interest and made a disgusted face. I'm not going to push it, we'll try again in a week or two and see what he thinks then.

He withstands more and more tummy time and is beginning to roll from tummy to back when we're not looking. Seriously! We'll lay him down for tummy time and look back a minute later and there he is staring up at his toys from his back! We have yet to witness it firsthand though...

At his last doctor's appointment he was weighing in at 15.7 lbs and was 24.5 inches in length. To put it bluntly he is short and stocky. So different from Cailyn who always seemed to be in the 80th percentile and bigger than most kiddos her age. Oh well, I suppose he could just have a growth spurt further ahead of him than she did.

Speaking of Cailyn- she continues to blossom herself, inside and out. She is very much her own person- check out her favorite outfit: the previous night's jammies layered with every princess dress and tutu she owns! The other day I caught her donning a Rapunzel dress and tiara, but racing monster trucks into the wall. That would very much be our baby girl. A girly girl who isn't afraid to get a little down and dirty.

It's so exciting to be able to do more activities with her, especially cooking! Anytime I'm cooking she will run into the kitchen and say, "I wanna help!" Then, pull a chair right up to the counter and dig in, whether she's welcome to or not. I can only hope this helpful attitude continues as she ages. :)

Little woman is also super duper interested in jigsaw puzzles, and, I'd have to say, she's pretty good at them. She received one for Christmas from her Great Aunt, but the pieces were just a bit too fragile and many of them broke. We found a couple 24 piece puzzles with chunkier pieces and she puts them together at least once per day.

Our local preschool is enrolling for 3 year old preschool already, and she would qualify to attend in the Fall. It's only two mornings each week, but I think we're leaning toward keeping her out for another year and starting her when she's 4. The tricky thing with her is she one of those summer birthdays. Do we think she'd be academically ready? Absolutely, but socially and emotionally? We're not sure. We'll see, but I don't want to push her in to something just because she can do it, I want to make sure she's ready, you know?

Our babies are growing up way too fast. I can see Colby's teeth buds under his gums, getting ready to cut in the next couple months. Cailyn has more and more to say and is testing boundaries all the time. And we're just trying to stay on top of it all, trying to soak it all up. I just want to remember moments like this:

Always and forever.

Christmas and Three Months Young

I feel like I'm always ten steps behind these days! Also, I'm pretty sure I've said something to that effect in every post since birthing my dear baby boy- I'm going to milk it as long as I can- which may be until there's a third child in our lives!

Our Christmas holiday was a very busy one with much driving in a few days, but it was all worth it to see our families. My dad drilled into our heads, beginning at a very young age, that family is always there for you and they are what is most important. Friends may come and go, but family is forever. So, I am always excited and grateful for any time we are able to spend with them.

After our annual pre-Christmas outing to Jordan Creek we spent Christmas Eve and the day previous with the Brown side of our family. They live in the country in an old farm house- leave it to the weather to be below zero temps during our stay! It was a cold overnight, but we had much fun and by this point Cailyn had been opening gifts for three straight days- not gonna lie, we were a little worried about her having a "gift-opening" let down after Christmas (she was cool, though).

Uncle Tanner- he's a tough guy, but I'm pretty sure he's the only one of Jerod's brothers that I have pictures of holding his niece and nephew during infancy. What a sweetie :)

Colby has been quite the coo-er and stayed true to this in his conversations with Papa Bret.

Our little ham conquering her irrational fear of rocking horses, yet again!

At one point before Christmas Eve Mass, Cailyn was twirling around the living room softly and then would gently sit down and fold her hands, putting her head down like she was praying. My dad is sure she's going to become a nun.

Colby is the best snuggler- which is perfect for Grandma Deb, because she love to dole snuggles out on her grandbabies.

We forgot to have someone else take our family photo before leaving for Church, so we set the timer and got this baby on the first try! I noticed Colby isn't looking at the camera, but I got 3 smiles and no one was crying- I decided not to push my luck :)

After Mass we stopped at Jerod's Grandma Carole's house for soup and a short visit before hitting the road for Sioux City. Cailyn opened her Christmas Eve gift of jammies and the Monsters University movie, which came in handy on our drive to the western side of Iowa. We got in late and were able to sleep in on Christmas Day, which we agreed we will enjoy while we can- I remember being small and waking my parents up at the arse-crack of dawn to open gifts...ugh. My kids were not ready to get up even at 9:30 in the morning:

P.S. This was on my side of the king-size bed that all 4 of us slept in- Cailyn's feet were jabbing Jerod in the back all night, hee hee.

Santa brought Cailyn a Rapunzel princess dress that she had been asking for since she tried one on in the Disney Store at the Mall of America in JULY people! She would literally find the picture of herself wearing it on my phone, then show me and say, "Mommy I have pincess dess? Peez, peez?!"

Again, Colby soaking up all the cuddles he could, as if he doesn't get plenty at home. There must be something about Grandma snuggles that does a baby good!

Doing what she does best- love up on Papa, and get everything she wants in return!

My brother, Tom, was the only Wyant kid not in Sioux City for Christmas, so we took a sibling picture and penciled him in! We miss you little brother!

Our time in Sioux City ended the day after Christmas, we drove out at around bedtime so the kids could sleep on the trip. We hate to hole them up in their car seats for long periods of time when they're wide awake. It was a late night, but, again, worth the extra time with the family!

As you can tell from the title we also have a little guy who is no longer considered an infant! However, I would not have considered him an infant several weeks ago because he's such a chunker! Colby at 3 months is quite the eater taking in about 5-7 ounces in a feeding, he coos and squeals constantly (but especially after Cailyn has gone to bed- it's hard to get a word in edgewise with her awake), and loves watching college basketball on TV. Seriously, he will crane his neck around when he's eating so he can watch when it's on. And so it begins.

He hates the Bumbo chair. Hates. It. Along with that, he also is not very fond of tummy time or being put down before he has received his hourly quota of snuggles, which is at this time: unlimited, apparently.

He is becoming very fond of his big sister, and she of him. Our babysitter said she is very protective of him and tells the other kids, "No! He my brother!"

I have yet to get a picture of him smiling. He will coo and grin while I talk, but as soon as the camera comes up his face goes blank...like his dad...turd.

I forgive him though, because he's so stinkin' cute. Right?!

This is our little man. Chill. Snuggly. In no hurry to break any records for developmental milestones, no interest in rolling over or grabbing anything except Mom's hair when I put him down. And that's okay with us, all in his own time I guess. We love him no matter what!

2014 Brown Calendar

I make a personalized family calendar for us every year and usually I have one picture per month. However, since having a second child, I find it increasingly difficult to leave a child out of pictures in any given month. So, instead I went with picture collages and tried to have some kind of theme for each month. I did well on most of them- some were kind of random, but here are the results: