It's Official!

Lily can now sit up on her own without any support! It's the milestone I have been waiting for and am so excited that it has happened this soon!

Parker and Eden were both early to sit up on their own and I was really hoping Lily would follow in their footsteps for this one milestone. Things become so much easier when they can sit up and play or just look around. I can now put Lily down on the floor with a few toys and go do something without her crying or needing to be in my arms. It is her first step toward independence and although it makes me sad to see her getting so big, I feel very blessed that her development is right on track. I am anxious to see what milestone she will reach next although I am secretly hoping that crawling and mobility is still a few months away!!

The Browns Go Bowling

Since Lily has joined our family, we have not been on too many family adventures. Taking three little ones on an outing is a lot harder than taking two. We are now outnumbered and the only way we will usually agree to go somewhere right now is when we have help from grandparents. I look forward to when the kids are older and we can get out and go more, but I am also enjoying this time when Lily is little. I know we will never get this time in our lives back and I don't want to wish any moment away.

This past Saturday, Cory's work had a bowling tournament and all employees and their families were invited. I have always wanted to take Parker and Eden bowling, and I knew that there would be plenty of employees who would love to take a turn holding Lily, so we signed up to go. Parker enjoyed bowling. The bowling alley had a contraption in the shape of a dinosaur that helped the younger kids roll the ball down the lane. There were also bumpers on his lane so he was pretty much guaranteed to knock down pins on every turn. Eden, on the other hand, was more interested in the popcorn and nachos than the bowling. She did take a few turns and got excited when she knocked down pins, but she let Parker bowl most of her frames. On a completely unrelated note- Eden looked so stinkin' cute in her little bowling shoes. It will probably be the only time in her life that wearing bowling shoes is actually cute! Lily was content to sit in her stroller the first few minutes, but then started getting tired and fussy, so she quickly became my bowling buddy! I actually bowled pretty well with a baby in my arms and even got a strike on one frame. Overall, the kids had a really good time. I think we will definitely put bowling on our list of things to do again as they get older.

Happy 2nd Birthday Aubrey!

Today my sweet niece, Aubrey, turns 2 years old!

Last night we got to help her celebrate with a butterfly themed party at her house. We started the evening with a wonderful dinner that my sister made. After opening presents, we sang "Happy Birthday" to a very bashful birthday girl and then enjoyed some yummy cake and ice cream. Parker waited all day for the cake and even ate one green bean at dinner in order to get it! The kids had a GREAT time playing together! They jumped in the bounce house, played on the swing set, and dug in the dirt. Parker especially loved getting to play with Seth and Levi- Addison and Aubrey's other cousins. It is not often that he has other boys to play with and he enjoyed following them around and doing boy things! He was completely worn out by the time we left to come home. We love you so much Aubrey Kate and are so thankful that we got to celebrate with you on your special day! We hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Laundry Basket Fun

Who knew that something as simple as a laundry basket could be so much fun?

Notice how Parker can twist and turn his tongue upside down. I have to admit- I'm a little bit jealous. I have always wanted to be able to do that!

We're Going on a Trip

Eden is IN LOVE with The Little Einsteins. It is all she wants to play. It is all she wants to watch. (Surprisingly, Einsteins is one of the only two syllable words she can say clearly, so I always know what she wants to watch!) It is consuming her life right now.

When Parker was this age, he was also obsessed with The Little Einsteins. For his birthday that year, he received Rocket and the Einsteins as a gift. I had put them in the closet a few months ago because they were not playing with them. Recently, I got them back out and Eden can't get enough of them! She takes Annie, Leo, Quincy and June everywhere she goes- outside, to the dinner table, in the bathtub and she even sleeps with them sometimes. She is so much more imaginative than Parker ever was when he played with them. She takes them on many adventures and trips around the house. I absolutely love watching her!

One funny thing that she does is that she makes them "walk" up the stairs when she is loading them into Rocket. If you are playing with her, she also makes you "walk" them up the stairs before you can put them in their seat. If you don't do this, she will remind you, "Mommy, up stair."

Another thing she does when we are playing together is put one of the characters in the wrong seat and ask "Dah Joo?" which means, "Is that where June goes?". She will continue trying all of the wrong seats until she finally chooses the right seat. It has been such a joy to watch her imagination develop. I can't wait to see what she does next!

Mommy's Little Sidekick

Lily has reached the point of not being content sitting in her bouncer for long periods of time. She likes to be where the action is and, unfortunately for me, that often means she wants to be in my arms. This past weekend, I had to clean house. For those of you who have never tried it, cleaning house while trying to hold a five month old is quite challenging. Luckily, I remembered that my sister had let me borrow her baby sling. I was able to put Lily in the sling and free up both of my hands so that I could clean. Lily loved it! She sat in the sling, completely content and happy, for over half an hour. I definitely think we will be using the sling a lot more in the future!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Lily is completely smitten with her Granstan!

(And I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual!)