A Summer We'll Never Forget

Arriving to the states

What an exciting time this was.  We had a new baby to share, a toddler to be reunited with, and exciting hearts.  I can't even begin to explain the feelings leading up to this point.  I had about 3 hours of sleep the night before we traveled for 27 hours with these two little ones.  Unless you are runnining purely on andrenaline, I highly discourage having just a few hours of sleep before such a long trip.  The only way I could get through it was the thought of seeing Merl and Wally at the airport in just 1 day!  We waited almost a year to see these guys again!  Let the fun begin.

Arriving to San Diego to see Papa and Mimi!  Quinn was on 2.5 hours of sleep in a day at this point.  How she was running, smiling, and greeting Tony's parents was surprising to me!  Mimi had the best idea ever and brought a balloon for Quinn.  That saved us! We had to go get the rental car when we got to the airport which took a little bit longer than expected . Wally and I shuttled to the rental place and I thought I was going to fall asleep mid conversation with him.  

3 days at our house in California and we were off again.  This time to see MY PARENTS!  So soooo exciting.  

Two tired ladies still trying to catch up on jet lag.  Quinn never sleeps like this or in someone's arms.  And when she does, you know she is absolutely exhausted.

Grandpa held Shae the whole flight.  There was a good hour stretch that Tony and I didn't have either kid in our arms.  We looked at each other with a "um, what do we do now" look.  It was pretty amazing to be hands free after such a long flight just 3 days prior!

SEEING MY PARENTS!  I wish I had better pictures of this moment.  But there' my mom holding Quinn.  I think she had just finished crying :)

The 508 House

What a great, productive summer we had on our house in Decorah.  Tony worked just about every day on this house and although there were days I was quite annoyed with him being over there and not with us, it was exactly what we needed to do to save some money on labor and get this house ready as much as we could.  It was perfect timing for us as Tony had a month off to work on it.  We appreciate ALL the help we got from family.  We couldn't have gotten this far without any of you.  Tony's mom and dad have taken on this project with us and we are forever grateful for their help!  Wally knows so much about it - and no, he's not for hire :)

Visiting our "contractor" Papa.

Quinn was all about helping (or so she thought) the guys at the house this summer.  Pictured is Quinn, Tony, and Uncle Harold.

These guys are the best!  Tony, Harold, Wally, and Andrew

Merl made a nice lunch for all the guys.  I think this was during the tear off of the back side of the house.  More on that for another post.  

Laying the footing.  

What's a "new" house without a hand print by the one and only!!!??  

Cousins, Cousins, & Cousins

There are a lot of reasons why this past summer was my favorite thus far, but having cousins around all the time was most definitely my favorite part.  I missed these kids so much. We hung out with the Huinker kids daily all summer long.  What fantastic memories we have!  I'll share them with you through some a lot of pictures!

First time meeting baby Shae

First day at Grandma's house!  Quinn went to bed at 1:00am the night we got in and woke at 1:00pm the next day.  So breakfast for lunch it is :) I think we rolled in from Minneapolis around 11:30pm or so after seeing my parents.  My mom had local beer, local pizza, and local t shirts for all of us.  She's pretty great at those things.

After our breakfast, we all went for a walk.  It took no time at all for Quinn to pick up on hanging out with these guys!  Here is my sister-in-law with all 5 of the kiddos :)

Typical summer night on Hilltop :)

My sis came down from Canada early July with Max.  No one knew Max was coming so it was SUCH a great surprise for everyone!  Beth was hands-on with Shae at all times (OK by me!) and Max had a blast hanging out with the other cousins.  Just 3 short weeks later, the whole Hoden clan came to Decorah.  It. was. a. blast.

Grandpa and all his grandkids.  Lucky kids they are!!!! We love you Grampy.

Mimi and her girls before bed.  I was probably on the chair with a glass of wine, watching, listening, and soaking in the help at this point.  My mom and dad were pretty awesome this summer bringing us all in.  Their living room turned into the room with a swing and toys.  Their freezer turned into breast milk storage, and the guest room was called the "diaper room".  My poor mother.

This would be your typical morning.  Ivy never wears a shirt to bed, they love watching a show in the morning, and Quinn imitates her every chance she gets.  

I'm so bummed Grady was napping during this picture :(  

Good luck on that one, Grady.  

We saw a lot of cousins from Wisconsin, too!  These kiddos are the sweetest!  Collin is 3, Ayden 18 months, and Kate 6.  They played together really well.  Collin and Quinn love playing cars at Grandma's house and apparently they love to dance together, too :)

                                          

Aren't they the cutest!  This was at the Nordic Dancer's during Nordic Fest.  They put on their own show for the crowd.  I was teary eyed.

Quinn and her "Dacie"

My cousin, Kelsey :) 

Cousin, Kylie

Shae's Godmother/My Bestie

Eleanor and Shae

Quinn took an art class at ArtHaus!  This was a picture of her telling me to leave.  Safe to say, she liked it.  I think I'll always remember this day that she didn't want me there.  It was bittersweet!

Our beautiful Phelps Park

This is Quinn & Shae's Great Grandma.  If you didn't know, you'd think she was 45!  She is active, funny, and so great with the girls.  We saw her more than ever this summer and how thankful we were!  This is at Palisades.  

Super Baby!

My awesome Uncle, Geoff dancing with Quinn on her birthday.

"Go, Papa, GO!"

Shae's Godfather and a great friend of ours, Peter!

Papa and Quinny

Playing "babies" with the cousins

A few of my high school friends got together before we left town . Look at all these cuties!

My Aunt Mary.  She's awesome.

Decorah was hit hard with not only floods this summer, but a horrible storm that took so many beautiful trees down.  This is my brother's backyard.  The trees were on the boulevard and were just starting to get big.  It was so sad to see them go down.  

WEDDING TIME!

Last, but not least - the highlight of our summer was an awesome wedding!  My cousin, Kylie married Tony's brother, Andrew.  They put on such a great party and we want to do it again!  The days leading up to the big day were fun and the girls did great with all the activities and late nights.  Quinn's favorite part was all the dancing.  She didn't stop and asked to dance for a week straight after the wedding!  

How cute are they?

We took a super fun wagon ride to the reception hall and stopped at places to take some pics.  It was a beautiful August summer day. They couldn't have asked for a better one!

....best summer ever

Quinny Quinn update

An update on this girl is needed because she is growing up fast!  I am having SO much fun with Quinn right now and all that she is doing.  It's nice that she understands most everything I say and can communicate just about anything, as well!  Here are a few of my favorite things right now:

- She sings "Happy Birthday to me" periodically throughout the day and puts anything on her head to represent a birthday crown

-She LOVES Shae.  My sister said it probably wasn't such a bad thing leaving all the cousins back home because now she's forced to spend more time with Shae - and she does.  There are times I really need Quinn to entertain her and she's awesome at it.

-"Mom, what you doing?" this might be my favorite thing right now, but ask me in 2 months when it's all I hear :)

-Loving the pool.  Asks everyday  (sometimes about 50 times) to go.  I usually agree to her request.  When she wakes up in the morning I always ask "How did you sleep" and "What do you want to do today?"  He response is "GOOD" and "I want pool jumping!" Good thing we live in California and she will be able to swim most of the year.

-She is starting to throw little fits when we leave places she's having a good time at.  Wouldn't you?  There's not too much bribing to get her to go, so it's usually a tight grip on the hand and reminding her (ya right) that she needs to be a big girl and come with mama.

-Starting the potty training thing.  Not sure I'm cut out for this! I'll let you know in a year. ha!

-She is coloring a lot these days and draws a pretty great "sun" right now.  Every color is blue or green.

- She loves helping me carry things in from the car, grabs Shae's "nighty", cleans, and picks up her toys.  I give her a ton of praise when she does these things.  I just hope there's not a hidden camera in the house somewhere.  I'd be embarrassed.

Couple recent pics of this ham.

check out that awesome hair

Mom & Dad Update

Ok- so blogs don't have to be ALL about the kids, right?!  Here is a quick update on how Ma 'n Pa Brown are doing these days.

Tony has started his new job on Pendleton and starting to get back in the groove of things.  It's always tough being the "new guy" and although his job back in Okinawa was taxing for many reasons, he is realizing how good and challenging it was for him.  So far the great thing about this unit is that he's able to get in early, go for a run, have his coffee, and start the day before anyone even gets to work!  He is also home consistently around 6:30pm each night, which of course I LOVE.  He drives an hour each morning and afternoon to and from work.  You might think that's absolutely nuts, but he doesn't mind it at all - actually likes it!  Of course there are days and very early mornings when I'm sure he curses it.  A lot of military families live out this way because you can get more house for your money - and to us, that was important.  He did the drive for 6 years before we were married, so he's used to it and got through it just fine :)  Tony has been way busy at home doing projects in the backyard, watching the girls, painting, and keeping up with all the new bills we have.

Me?  I am adjusting to this whole mother of 2 thing.  Although I wish I had a better/longer sleeper in Shae, things are going very well.  I pull my hair out just once a day ;) but otherwise we are finding our routine and having fun with the community pool and parks.  Ok, enough about kids!

I am enjoying putting our house together.  It's not a quick thing with 2 little ones at home.  It was incredibly daunting at first, but once things start rolling, it comes together very quickly.
I am missing Decorah and all that went with it and also missing my friends back in Okinawa, as well.  I know time will tick on here and this will feel more home with the people that we meet, but for now I sure miss everyone!
The weather is perfect here so far and it's still September!  I'm excited for the next 6 months!  I took a month off (unintentionally) of running and working out period.  We bought a double jogger so I've been out with the girls a couple days now and it feels SO good to be back into it.  Just need to move my body.  That's it.  Does wonders for my mood - ask Tony.

Anyways - that's about it.  Wish I had a recent picture of Tony and I as that would be fitting for this post.  All my pictures are of Quinn, Shae, or some damn flower I liked in someone else's yard.

I'll do a throwback pic for the fun of it.

Shae is 4 Months!

I can always tell how busy I've been based on the last date I posted a blog!  Sometimes it's because I'm lazy, but sometimes it's because life has just been crazy!

Hopefully I'll do an update on the California house soon, but for now I'll write about Shae turning 4 months old just a couple of days ago...

Shae remains such a great baby.  Although her sleep patterns are not ideal, she does well at night and I know the 20 minute naps all day long are only temporary.  Or so they BETTER be!  She is rolling over onto her stomach every chance she gets and is very entertained by Quinn which makes my job pretty easy some days :).  She is in her own crib at night now and gets up 2-3 times.  Quinn was in her crib at 8 weeks.  I don't remember being nearly as sad as I am with Shae now that she's not in the same room as me.  I probably was.

She is in size 2 and 3 diapers (whatever I have left over from Quinn) and comfortably wears size 6 month clothes and some 9 month clothes as well.  She loves to be held and loves any sort of attention.  She hates the car unless music is playing loudly and she is starting to make more sound throughout the house than ever before.  OH and she also has a tooth!!!! Bottom left one has popped through.  That explains a rough few days I had with her.

Here are a few pics of our sweet pea!

Quinn at 4 months

Shae at 4 months

Alexa was always Shae

Since finding out the gender at our 20 week appointment, Tony and I went through just about every girl name in the book!  Every other day I would text Tony a name I liked while he was at work (oops) and he would give me a thumbs up/thumbs down.  Finally at about month 8 of my pregnancy we had decided on two names for our baby girl - Alexa & Shae!  Alexa was always a name we liked from the very beginning and Shae came later on.  So here's the story about how it all happened :)

About a week before I was due, I asked Tony for his honest opinion in which name he liked better.  He always said that it was my decision, but when forced - he admitted he liked Alexa slightly better than Shae because it had more syllables and more nicknames.  I agreed for the most part, but for whatever reason just couldn't get over the name Shae!  So anyways, that Monday morning (12:30am) when I went in to the hospital to deliver Shae, the doctor asked me in between pushes what her name was!  I didn't know for sure at that point because I figured I'd have a few hours of labor to really think and decide.  After Shae was born, there were a few nurses trying to get her to breathe and pumping her stomach - the last thing I cared about was what her name was!  After we finally got a cry and I started to breathe again the doc asked me again.  I looked at Tony and he said "it's up to you".  I said that we can call her Alexa Louise Brown.  He nodded his head and smiled.  That image still sticks.  Here he was holding Alexa at the time, smiling when I told him her name was Alexa.  How could I not call her that!?  To shorten the story a little bit, basically the next 2 weeks I cried because I would look at her and 100% see SHAE.  I didn't know what to call her.  Alexa? Lex? Lexi?  Nothing came off my tongue with ease.  Tony knew I felt this way.  Finally, the day before we left Okinawa FULL of excitement and tiredness, I told Tony I liked Shae better.  And guess what, HE AGREED!  My first emotion was relieved and happy and my next thought was Sh**, now what?  My sister told me after "Alexa" was born that it was possible to change her name.  Even though at the time I knew I could, I couldn't fathom doing any more paper work or making phone calls.  PCS'ing and buying 2 houses online within a span of 3 months was not necessarily fun...and then to add even more to the mix.  But that day before we left, I made a decision and went with it.  I changed her name through social media at 2:00am before getting up at 5:00am to catch our flight back to the states.  When I woke at 5:00am I turned to Tony and said "I changed Alexa's name last night".  His response was just a shake of the head and a smile.  It felt incredibly right and still does.

Lets try this again.  Meet Shae Louise Brown :)

Shae is 2 Months

This blog is way overdue and thanks to a friend on Instagram for pushing me to get on it!  At 2.5 months Shae weighed in at 14 pounds.  I put away most of 0-3 clothes and of course all of her newborn ones.  I can't believe how fast she is changing!  She continues to take most of her naps in swing and loves to be held, of course.  Amazes me how much LESS time I have to hold her now that I am running after Quinn.  There are times their sleeping schedule is spot on, but when it isn't I try to soak up all the snuggles I can with Shae while Quinn is asleep.

I have a 3 month blog to write in just a week so I've got a lot to share when that one happens :)  In the meantime here are a couple of pictures of our sweet peanut.  Love her more everyday.

 

 

Shae got to meet a very special lady this month.  Norma Hervey was a professor of mine at Luther and we have remained in touch throughout the last 10 years.  I took a class from Norma and traveled all over Europe with her for the month of January my junior year.  She retired a few years ago and now teaches full-time in Prague.  She is such a unique lady with more experiences and stories than you could possibly imagine! 

Quinn turns 2!!

I am back on the blogging after taking way too much time off!  Life has been nothing short of crazy lately.  I have a couple big blogs to write and post, but thought I'd start with the most important one. My baby Quinn turned "2" on July 1st!

Dear Quinn,

Another year has passed and you are growing so much.  This past week your vocab has been through the roof and you are working hard on putting sentences together.  They don't always make sense, but 98% of the time I know exactly what you want or what you're trying to say.  Here are the words/phrases/sentences your dad and I hear alllll day long:

* I want sucker
* Mine too
* No, please (No thank you)
* I want waty (water)
* I want Grace (any of the Huinker cousins)
* No mama me
* I hurt ouchy
* Sissy Shae
* Sissy you alright?
* MIMI! PAPA! (yelling)

You are loving being back in Decorah this summer with all your cousins around.  Mid August after Uncle Andy and Kylie's wedding we will head back to California and live in our new house!  We are sure going to miss all the Decorah activity, but I'm sure you'll love our neighborhood in Murrieta because there's a big pool and a lot of parks!  I hope we meet friends soon after we get there :)

 You sleep about 11-12.5 hours a night and nap for 1.5-3 hours a day.  Favorite thing to eat is pasta, sausage, and pickles.  You haven't watched much TV at all since being in Decorah this summer but when you do, you like Doc McStuffin's and Curious George "monkey". 

You are one of a kind, Quinn.  You are more social than I ever thought you would be.  You love all mommy's and are warming up to men in general.  Last week you actually ran into Uncle Brian's arms and gave him a hug.  I was pleasantly surprised!  You ask about me when I'm gone, but overall you're ok with me not being around.  There was an Art class in Decorah you took the last month and the teacher said you were wonderful.  That was so nice to hear.  Hopefully you save your "sassy" for home :)

It's been such a fun year with you Q babes!  We love you tons!