New tree

I just want to recommend a certain tree if you're looking for a good one to plant. Ever heard of a silver leaf maple? Well, we have now planted two of these trees in our yard. Last fall we planted one in the backyard and it was even smaller than this one...it's already as tall as the house. They grow SO fast!! They are not weak trees either. It has withstood 60-70 mile hour winds. So we thought we would plant another one in the front yard this time. So here is a picture of the new tree. I wanted to put Sterling in front of it so that I can compare next year at the same time. Hope all is well with everyone and hope you're getting in the Christmas spirit!

Thanksgiving Break

Ok, so I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get the slide show to work so you will just have to settle with a long blog of pictures! So we started off the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday morning visiting my aunt and uncle and their girls, Katie and Sarah. Sterling had fun sliding down the stairs with Katie.

Happy Thanksgiving!!
relaxin after stuffin our bellies full!
Visiting Chloe and Grams (my Grandmother)

Ready to hit the town in big St. Louis! Really we were going out to eat for G-mom's (my soon to be step mom) birthday. Sterling's new BEST friend Jerry (my soon to be step brother) and his girlfriend Shannon.
G-mom and G (my dad)
Jerry and Sterling celebrating Mizzou's win over Kansas.

Hello all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break. I know we did. We spent the holiday in St. Louis with my family this year. We left Wednesday evening and came home Sunday night. So it was a nice long visit. We didn't get in until almost midnight on Wednesday so our fun started Thanksgiving day. I won't bore everyone with every little detail but I will narrate some of the pictures!

My "soon-to-be-step-sister" Jamie, is due to have her baby any day now and we were hoping little Gavin would make his appearance while we were there, but that didn't happen. Poor Jamie is getting miserable and is so ready to get him out of there! But she is a trooper and is such a cute pregnant girl. Here is a picture of me and her this August when we went to the zoo. I think she was like 5 months pregnant.

And here we are a few days ago...she's ready to pop! Isn't she cute!

After Thanksgiving dinner when everyone was trying to clean up and the men were asleep on the couch, which meant nobody was really paying attention to what Sterling was doing. Someone looked down (the crate is in the living room area where everyone was, so that shows you that they just weren't paying attention!) and Sterling was just sitting in the dog crate! We all started laughing and of course he thought it was funny. He was trying to get out but he was stuck! With some help he ended up getting out ok. Of course he had to try it again though!

"Mr. Fix-it"

**OOPS!! I didn't even realize until hours after I posted this blog that I wrote dioxide detector instead of MONOXIDE! You'll see!**

Well, I think Sterling is trying to get a head start on his future! Ok, maybe not, but right now he does want to be just like his Daddy. The other day I'm doing my own thing and the next thing I hear is Heath calling me to grab my camera and come there quick. I was thinking "oh no, what now!" but if he's saying to grab the camera it's gotta be something good! So, I walk around the corner and see Sterling looking like this.....

(his goggles were all fogged up because he had them on forever!)

He loves to help Heath do things. When he comes home from work, Sterling always helps him unpack his lunchbox, he loves to help take out the trash, fix things, ect....he just adores his Daddy. So, Heath was installing the carbon dioxide detector and Sterling decided he wanted to help. He had got a tool set for his birthday,once again, to be like Daddy. So, the second Heath asked Sterling if he wanted to help him, Sterling ran and got his hard hat, hammer, and goggles! He was ready to go to work. the concentration in his face was too funny

So, Heath got the nail all in place for him and Sterling proceeded to try and hit the nail. Now with a plastic hammer it's kinda hard! duh, we know that, but he doesn't. So, he just kept hitting everywhere else BUT the nail! It was so cute. (please excuse the underwear shots!)

Boy was he trying his best though!

Daddy had to end up helping him in the end! But he did a good job for his first handi-man project! ha

So proud of his accomplishment!

A job well done boys!!

something I took for granted

Sometimes I forget to stop and think about the simple things in my everyday life. I haven't thought about how wonderful it is to have a good car, that I love to drive, and has been very reliable. I had to turn my car over to Keith's (Heath's dad) mechanic last Sunday to do a major overhaul on my car. (HUGE thanks to Keith and Lanny...THANK YOU!!!) The heater core had a leak in it and while he was fixing that, he just decided to fix the things on it that would eventually need to be replaced. Check out the new tires! In the meantime while my car was in the shop, I had to drive the car that his dad loans to family while our cars are being worked on...they call her Barney. Yeah, you can just imagine! Let's just put it this way, it is something that got me from point A to point B. Don't get me wrong, I am VERY grateful that he even had something for me to drive, but when it backfired in the WalMart parking lot when I started it, that was the moment that I was ready for my car to be done! So, last night Keith called and said that my car was ready to be picked up and that I can come get it when I get a chance. You better believe I went on the way to church last night to pick it up! Not another min longer!! It was so good to have my own car back! Never really thought I would miss it, but after a week and a half I was so excited! From now on I am going to try and remember the little/big things that the Lord has blessed us with, and not take them for granted!

update on potty training

I just have a quick update on the whole potty training thing! I have good news to report...yesterday at school Sterling's teacher told me he had gone potty on the big boy potty!! Not only did he just pee, but he did BOTH!!! YAY Sterling!!! So she has now told me to put him in pull-ups. Looks like we are going to be potty trained before we know it! Pray that it won't last long and that I will manage to keep my sanity as well! :)

record books

Ok, I've got something to write down in the record books! Yesterday after church we went to eat at Mazzio's. Sterling was doing great then all of a sudden when he sat down to eat he didn't want anything. He started whining and just not acting right. He wouldn't even touch the food in front of him. 1st thing to write down...this child NEVER rejects food! So Heath picked him up because obviously he wasn't going to be eating anything. So, as Heath was holding him he was so fidgety and you could just tell something wasn't right. Heath said Sterling's gut was just really swollen and tight. He kept complaining of his belly hurting. I was so scared he was going to throw up all over the place or something. So, Heath ended up turning him around on his lap and started to lightly rub Sterling's belly. If he would quit, Sterling would make him keep doing it. It must have made him feel so much better because this is what I saw in a little bit...
So the 2nd thing to record....Sterling NEVER EVER falls asleep anywhere, ESPECIALLY where there is food! (look at his belly!) Well, he woke up on the way home and was acting just fine. When we got home, Heath took him to his room to get him ready for his nap. All of a sudden I hear Heath yelling "LANE I need some help back here!!" As I walk back there I see him running to the bathroom with Sterling held way out in front of him. Sterling had diarrhea EVERYWHERE!! Needless to say he was stuck straight into the bathtub and hosed off! Poor baby, no wonder his belly was so tight and he didn't want to eat! That is the only time it happened, so he's not sick. We think what happened was the the ladies in his class had given him either something expired OR a bunch of straight apple juice. So, word to the wise, don't let people give your child straight apple juice if they aren't used to it! :)

oh the joys of potty training

Yep, you guessed it! We've got this whole potty training thing in full swing! This is the potty chair that Sterling has. The blue rubber ring comes out...thank goodness! Because today we had a little "incident". See, he has been telling me when he has to go pee-pee, but never the other. This morning we went to a sample sale for Levis jeans, (so cool, EVERYTHING was only $5!!! I got two pairs of jeans for me and two shirts for Heath. They had jackets,sweatshirts, shirts, shorts,skirts, etc.... we got there right at 8:00 when it opened and everything was already gone! People get hasty and crazy at those things! They just grab everything and then go through it but that is how I got my stuff. I just sat there while a lady was going through her stuff!) and when we got home I heard him start to grunt, and every mother knows exactly what that means...perfect opportunity, so I took him to the potty. He sat down and proceeded to do his business. I praised him and praised him! I was so excited!! Well he was SO excited and decided he wasn't done. He proceeded to go again, AFTER I had already cleaned it up from the first time. So he sat down, and every time one comes out (sorry if this is nasty! I'm trying to keep it as clean as I can!) he would stand up real quick and look at it and say,"POO POO MOMMY!!" then sit back down. Well the last time he did it, it must not have completely "dropped" off because he went to sit back down and you can just imagine what comes next.... yep, he had poop smeared ALL over that rubber ring and the plastic rim and of course his legs and booty! It was a MESS to say the least! But I couldn't get mad, I just smiled and cleaned him up. What can I say, I am one proud momma! I'm so excited he's starting to realize what he's doing. While we are at home I keep him in big boy underwear (no more nakedness in the Brown house!) and he,for sure, knows to tell me when he has to go. He sometimes gets confused though when I put a pull-up on him, but he's/we're working on it. SOMETIMES when we are out, he will look up at me and tell me he has to go, but most of the time it's too late and he's going while he's telling me! He has been doing this whole, using the potty thing, all week so far. You go Sterling!!

**totally forgot to blog about this (mainly for the family).... NO MORE PASSI!!!!! Yep, we are FREE from the pacifiers!!! YAY!!! He hasn't had one since the blog about him falling asleep without it. We think it's pretty cool at least!**