couch potato sickies/updates/and a funny story

Just wanted to update everyone to tell you we are still alive! I guess I "knocked on wood" and talked about getting it one too many times because I got the dreaded cold and viral bronchitis that has been going around. I have been sick since Tuesday. It's not just the "I don't feel good" sick. It's the laying on the couch everyday, fever one of the days, on medicine that makes you loopy, achy all over, just plain miserable, SICK. So the past week I haven't felt like doing anything. My house looks like a 2 year old came in and dumped all the toys in every room, laundry piled up that will take at least a week to do, dishes everywhere, and at least an inch of dust covering the furniture. Ok, so maybe it's not that bad, but when you've had the couch potato sickies for a week, it kind of feels that way. So that to say, I just haven't had a chance to spend my time updating my blog...sorry! I've been trying to think of something blog worthy to write about but there just hasn't been anything really exciting worth writing.

I will take a minute though to catch you up to speed with what is going on in the Brown house. First off, remember the blog about Heath getting a new job?? Well, he started on Wednesday and so far is loving every minute of it. I was supposed to host one of my best friends, Celina, a baby shower in Searcy yesterday but due to me being sick I wasn't able to go. VERY BIG disappointment. We have been friends since the 8th grade and when we are together it's like no time has past. She's such a wonderful Christian example and friend that anyone could ask for. So, Celina, once again...I am sooo sorry that I couldn't make it and can't wait to see little miss Eden!

Something else that has been keeping me busy for the past 2 1/2 weeks has been getting door prizes together. Our church is having it's 3rd Annual Winter Gala (just like a big function) with entertainment, a catered meal, and door prizes. Every year I have been put in charge of getting the door prizes for this event. Well, this year I wanted the prizes to be something special and exciting. I have been busting my booty getting a bunch of them. I will just say that I am quite proud of them this year. What I have been doing is going around to different businesses and asking them if they would be willing to donate to us. To my surprise, almost every single place that I have been has donated. I am very pleased with our community and their willingness to help. So, that has consumed a lot of my time.

Update on Sterling...he's pretty much the same. Nothing real exciting going on. He has been staying well...thank the LORD!! He has a little cough, but nothing serious. The potty training has been going well. Still having accidents but that is to be expected. You can pretty much understand everything he says now. (at least I can!) He can count to 13, but usually skips 1-2-3...weird I know!

OH, I know something funny he did the other day that I would love to share! So, everyday before his nap I am trying to get Sterling into the habit of cleaning up his toys. This is a chore he is not very fond of doing and he makes it very well known. The other day I told him to clean up (with the song to go along with it and everything) and he still wouldn't do it. Now, I don't know about everyone else's parenting styles and what we find affective may not be the same for you. But we like to use time out first and then use spanking as the last result. So, after asking him like what felt like 15 times, I told him he was going to sit in time out if he doesn't pick them up right then. What does he do?? Proudly skips off and sets himself in time out!!! I think you have to know Sterling's little personality...he is quite the character. This child LOVES to sit in time out!! So I let him sit there for like a minute while he proceeds to sing, wiggle around and tell me that he is in time out, pretty much loving every minute of it. So, I told him to get up and go pick up his toys. He told me he didn't want to, that he wanted to sit in time out instead. So I thought to myself...this is obviously not an effective way to discipline our child. (of course the whole time I am trying so hard to keep a straight face and keep my composure so he doesn't think I am playing) Now I have heard of parents putting them in their room for discipline. Since his toy box is now in his room I told him he was going to go sit in his bed (which at the time had been striped of ALL bedding because he peed all over it when he woke up and so it was in the wash) with no blankie and toys and just sit there. He says, "ok" in his sweet little voice. So he pretty much skips off to his bedroom excited about this whole new idea of time out in his bed. So I let him be for 2 minutes, come back and I find him in the same position I had set him in. Sitting smack dab in the middle of the bed, sitting up, legs straight out in front just looking up at me...hilarious! Wow!! Did I find something that really worked without having to spank?!! I proceed to take him to the living room thinking he was going to clean up...he then tells me no and starts to head back to his bedroom telling me he wants to sit back in his bed. Ok, so what we have here is either he doesn't understand what I am saying (which I don't think is the case) or a case of the terrible twos! Needless to say, they were picked up very quickly when I got the wooden spoon out! No spankings were necessary this time, but if this whole terrible two thing continues that might be another story!

haircut...and, my 26th birthday~BLAH

So I will choose to talk about my hair first because the whole birthday subject is not at the top of my list! YEP, I got 10 inches cut off! Can you believe it was that long?! I have NEVER had my hair that long and was just really tired of having to fix it. See when your hair is naturally curly and extremely thick, it takes FOREVER to straighten, and by the time you are finished your arm is about to fall off! So, I had always wanted to donate my hair to locks of love. Since it is so thick she was able to get two ponytails to donate. I love it! It is so much easier to fix now and takes about half the time. And thanks to my dad, I now have a CHI!!! Something that I have been waiting for for a really long time. It cuts off so much time straightening it. So, bye bye long hair!!

Yes, I will have to admit that I shed a tear on my 25th birthday. My thinking was that, that was just one more year closer to 30. (no there is nothing wrong about being 30, I just don't want to be there yet...I'm not ready!!) So you can just imagine my feelings on my birthday this year. I didn't cry this time, but I think that is because I had the initial shock last year. I know we have to get older, but like I said, I'm just not ready for it. Sometimes I still feel like I just turned 18 longing to be married with kids, then others I definitely feel 26, married forever, with a kid. (if only everything would look and be in the same places as it was when I was 18 and no kids!! Can I get an AMEN!!) So here is what we did for my birthday. I stayed home and did NOTHING! No housework, no taking Christmas decorations down, no dishes, nothing! I sat around and played on the computer and watched a movie I had been wanting to see waiting on Heath to get home from work. he was on Sterling duty as soon as he got home! Then we went out to eat at my favorite place....MARKETPLACE!! LOVE that place! I got a huge chocolate mess for my birthday (for free of course!). For those of you who don't know what that is, you're missing out! The cup is shaped like one of those old sundae cups and they poor fudge all over the outside to completely coat it and put it in the fridge. Then once someone orders one, they fill it with ice cream, load more fudge over it, and top it with whip cream. It might not sound that special, but if you have ever had it, you would know that there is just something special about it. I think it's the frozen fudge on the outside...oh YUMMY! Talking about all this is making my mouth water! Anyway, I had a great birthday and got to spend it with my mom, brother, Heath and Sterling.

GREAT NEWS, weekend away, and New Years

Ok, first of all I have to report some REALLY GOOD NEWS!!! Heath got a new job!!!! Actually God just put it right in front of us. When he got laid off he went and applied to like all of the electric companies around here. After a week and a half of looking he got the current job he is at. Well, ever since he started he has not been happy there and the boss doesn't treat the employees very well, no sort of benefits whatsoever, so on and so forth. So out of the blue this past Friday, the owner of a really big company around here called our house phone and asked for Heath. He wasn't home so I told him to call him on the cell phone. I was FREAKING out!!! I knew that he really wanted to work for this company, but they weren't looking for anyone at the time. A funny thing about the story is we were in Target, Christmas shopping, and Heath saw his teacher from electrical school and was catching up. The teacher works for this company and didn't know that Heath had applied there before. He told him that it is an awesome company to work for and he has been there for 15 years. He told Heath he would put a good word if he was still interested in working there! God works in mysterious ways! He has been so good to us. This job was a God send because it has group insurance (the thing that I have been stressing about this whole time) paid holidays, and vacation time. So the boss called Heath and set up an interview on Monday and he was there for like an hour and a half. He said the boss was really impressed and was very nice and easy to get along with. Heath left and was supposed to get a call back the next day on the wages...PERFECT! Amazing is all I have to say! We have been praying so hard that something would come along and that God would show us exactly what to do that is in the best interest of our family, and it looks like our prayers were answered! THANK YOU LORD!!! Just had to share the good news!

Ok, back to the blog. Whew, it has not slowed down at our house since Christmas time! This post is not going to have anything with Sterling, but sometimes I like to show that Heath and I can still have fun sometimes! Heath's good friend from childhood got married the weekend after Christmas (the 29th to be exact!) and Heath and Shane were ushers. This wedding was in Austin, Texas and there was NO WAY that we were going to take Sterling. So we loaded up and dropped him off at Heath's parents for the weekend. We had never been away from him for a whole weekend before and it was kind of hard! This wedding was so gorgeous. It was outside, which you're thinking, in Austin that's not going to be so bad...well, they were having their coldest weekend so far. I had on a sleeveless dress with only a thin shawl over my arms...FREEZING! Thank goodness they had stand alone heaters or else we would have froze to death. Anyway, we were able to stay at the Hilton. Now, I don't recommend staying there because it was so much more expensive than the others and there were not very many accomodations (that you didn't have to pay for at least) and the rooms were smaller than most hotel rooms. I.E. on the accommodations we didn't get breakfast the next morning! What's that!?! I was shocked. Moral of the story, just because it's fancy and has a big name, doesn't necessarily mean it's better than the others. But we had such a great time and were so glad we were able to go. Here are a few pictures from our fun weekend away!

the view was absolutely breathtaking...this picture doesn't do it justice

Rachel, Shane (twin), Mitch(Brooke's husband), Brooke(Heaths sister), me, Heath

on the dance floor....what in the world Heath??

the newlyweds...congratulations guys!

So after a long, busy weekend, we got home New Years Eve Eve (it's not a misprint...the 30th) and were just exhausted, not to mention the 8.5 hr drive home. That was basically our New Years fun, but the next day (New Years Eve!) we just went to our neighbors house and played cards until midnight and then went to bed. Nothing real exciting, but we were totally exhausted so we didn't mind! Here are pictures of us on the real New Years!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

the long awaited Christmas stories...

Wow has a lot happened since I blogged last. I feel a little overwhelmed with all the things I need to blog about! So for your sake I will separate them out that way you don't get so bored! Just remember that everything happened in a weeks time.

So, first things first...CHRISTMAS!!! On Christmas Eve Sterling spread (or really he just dumped it in one pile!) reindeer food on our front sidewalk so that Santa's reindeer could find their way to our house and eat some food when they got here. He thought that was the coolest thing the next morning when it was gone!

So Christmas morning Sterling woke up at 9:20 and we didn't want him to go into the living room until I got in there with the camera...boy did that turn into a huge ordeal! By the time it was all over, he came out so grumpy and ran straight to me and buried his head. He bypassed all of Santa's toys laid out, and was pouting in my lap. I got a good picture of this face....

But the poutiness lasted all of 5 seconds and he was over it. He LOVED what Santa brought him and started playing with it all right away. We could barely tear him away from the tool set! (hmmmm... wonder if that's a sign of something!) He knew exactly what to do with it too!
Then he got into his stocking...he loved digging in and pulling it all out. Every time he would find something new he would say," OH WOW! Mommy look!" It was too cute! So, by the end, he was in a WAY better mood! Thank goodness! :)

So then it was time to head to Nana and Papa's (Heath's parents) house for Christmas lunch and presents. We had a FABULOUS lunch thanks to Becky and the rest of us. We all brought something and everything was so delicious!
(something that you will probably never see again!)

I just love Christmas!!! We did presents first and wow, that was crazy!

(I FINALLY got my iPod!!!)

(Heath got some well needed clothes...there were more than this)
We all opened up our wrapped gifts then it was time for the kids BIG presents.... motorized cars!

Funny story on Sterling's tractor. All the kids come bolting out of the house and they had all been set up in the drive way. They all ran out so excited and yelling, as soon as Sterling ran to his he immediately got upset and didn't want to have anything to do with it. He turned around and starting trying to get on Owen's golf cart. It was hilarious! I have a video of it, but I am not good at getting it on here and I just don't want to mess with it! (so there! ha) Anyhoo, he FINALLY got on it with a lot of coaxing from everyone. He only rode it for about 1 minuet and then he was done. He decided he would ride in the trailer behind it though if Daddy would drive. So that is what happened. (and, of course, Heath was just itching to do so anyway!) Thank God that it was beautiful outside on Christmas because we all stayed out there watching the kids have fun on their cars for a long time!



After all that fun, we came home and gave Sterling a nap. Then it was more Christmas fun with Grandma and uncle T (my mom and brother). We had a small but yummy Christmas dinner. Then opened more presents...

Daddy's genius idea... that's a trash bag by the way!
some gloves he got from Grandma
sit and spin from Grams in St. Louis (my grandmother)

And just when we thought it was all over, my dad came the next day! By this time, Sterling knew EXACTLY what to do with the whole gift opening thing. G and G-ma got him some cool stuff.

After we opened the little stuff, it was time for the big present...this thing was huge! Sterling didn't know quite what to do with this one...

He soon figured it out though! But, of course, the box was WAY more interesting than the toy box....

For a little while anyway!

So there you have it, our Christmas! It was crazy and long, but we aren't complaining a bit, we got everything we needed and then some! Thanks again to all our family and friends for making this Christmas so wonderful for us. We love you!

So that's one down 3 more to go. Check back soon to see the rest!