The Brown Bulletin

The Brown Bulletin

Monday, January 16, 2012

And Now To Compare!

William Patrick Brown
Born:  March 18, 2008
Weight: 7 lbs, 13 ozs
Length: 21 inches
Hair: Light Brown/Auburn
Eyes: Brown

John David Brown
Born: January 5, 2012
Weight: 7 lbs, 4 ozs
Length: 19 1/2 inches
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Dark Blue (maybe they'll change?)

Hospital Photos:  
Will

John

First Bath:

Will (hating every moment of it)

John (couldn't be happier!)

Sleep Style:
Will

John


Hair:
Will (light brown/auburn and just a little)

John (dark brown/black and tons!)

And lastly, (I'll spare you the gory details/pictures)...
John absolutely HATES his diaper changes...while Will didn't mind one bit.

So far these boys have some things in common and some things not in common, but the one thing I know is, they are absolutely fabulous :)




Friday, January 13, 2012

Playing Hooky

Well, as you may have guessed, with Nana Julie and Papa Dave in town, it was only a matter of time until Will requested to stay home from school (play hooky).  So, I allowed it (haha) today.  Instead of going to school, Billy, Nana, Papa and Will piled into the car at 8:30 am and drove to the Houston Museum of Natural Science (where else right?). 
Oh, I would be remiss if I didn't give a big thanks to Nana Rosie for coming over while they were out to help me out with John!!  Thanks!

While at the museum, they (of course) checked out the dinosaurs (and made some scary faces themselves)...

 They checked out the awesome Entomology Hall...

Butterfly exhibit...(I'm betting this was Nana's favorite...they probably had to pull her out of here kicking and screaming!)

And even had time to catch the newest 3-D IMAX film Dinosaur 3-D - Giants of Patagonia!

By the time they got home, I was napping and Will crawled into bed with me (sigh :)).  Apparently this film must have left quite an impression on the little guy because I was awakened hours later by him chattering about Argentinosauruses and Liopleurodons.  That's my little paleontologist for ya!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

First Bath

Well, John had his first bath yesterday...and I must say his reaction was the complete opposite of 
Will's when he had his first bath.  He loved it!  And afterwards he was so relaxed.  
Here are just a few pictures :)




Keeping Perspective

I had Billy take this picture today of me holding my little man's pitter patters...

These are the kind of things I want to remember...perspective on how small he was at just one week old...

Because before too long, he's going to have man feet pitter patters and will be doing this!


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Introducing (drum roll please!).....

John David Brown
Born: 1/5/2012
Time: 5:33 pm
Weight:  7lbs 4 ozs
Length: 19 1/2 inches

While they were waiting....

Billy and I were enjoying a few moments alone with our little John!

Our perfect little addition to the family...
My first thoughts, "wow, that's a lot of dark hair!"
Billy's first thoughts, "those are long fingers!"
My ob's first comments, "this is one strong little guy!"

 And finally, we were all back in recovery and Will got to meet his little brother...
And I promise I'm not manufacturing any of this...
Will was absolutely SMITTEN the moment he saw him!
Will showed joy, concern and was just thrilled to see him finally...

And then this happened, unannounced, unprovoked, to our surprise!  He planted one right on John's forehead!  He is just too sweet for words!

 My four favorite guys all together :)

Again, Billy is the best dad in the world!  I called him the Baby Whisperer when Will was born because he is just so good with infants...and obviously that hasn't changed!

The next day, we were all back in our room and Will got to really hang out with John for the first time...
Will was so cute the way he would handle and talk to John just like an adult!!!
Commenting on John's hair "Mommy, his hair is soooo soft, you have to brush it like this"
Commenting on John's conversation:  "Mommy, he's cooing again, that means he's happy"
And just giving him tons of hugs and kisses...

And then it was feeding time, which Will of course wanted to help out with...

 And then on to the burping, again, Will was fully engaged as an active participant...

And even let out a little giggle when he heard John burp for the first time...

My two sons...I just love them to bits!

And of course, everyone had to chip in to help out the first couple of days...

And finally, our little bundle of joy was ready to head home!

 Since we've been home, John has been an absolute wonder...he eats well, sleeps well and is extremely strong (already lifting and turning his head) and vocal (not in crying sense, in a chirping/chattering sense).  Will is back in school and Billy and I are adjusting/recovering with the help of my parents who have graciously offered to stay a few more weeks than planned.  
Thanks mom and dad!  We couldn't do it without you!

A Little Bit of Context

On John:
The last nine months have been...well...an emotional roller coaster for our family.
At our 18 week ultrasound, we learned that we were having another boy (smile) and that he was a "two vessel cord baby".  My doctor assured me everything was going to be okay, but sent us to a high risk doc for more tests and forbade us from 'googling' it, but of course, we did anyway.  Word of the wise, always listen to your doctors.  A simple google query showed us that John would be born at a smaller than average birth weight (5 lbs or so) and...
Worse case scenario, John could be born with down syndrome.
Least worse case scenario, John could be born with renal (kidney) complications.
All that being said, we decided to forgo the offered amniocentesis at the high risk doctor and put our faith and John's well being in God's hands.  To make a long story short...John was born at a completely average weight and his post birth ultrasounds came back completely normal!  I feel like our family, through prayer and support from our friends, coworkers and fellow church goers made this all possible through continued faith, that God would see favor on our family...and He did.

On Me:
So, now I know what it is like to be President of the US...you age like, 10 years for every year in office right?  All this worry and anxiety over the last 9 months has really worn me out, I must admit, but when John was born and I saw him, I just new everything was going to be ok.  I prayed and prayed (as the surgery began) that I would give anything to transfer all of John's potential issues to myself, so long as he would be born issue free...and, well, let's just say, I think the good Lord heard me!   The day after John was born, we discovered two things...while John's ultrasound was COMPLETELY NORMAL, during the surgery, I had lost nearly half of my blood and was being recommended for a transfusion.  Again, to make a long story short, after a few more blood tests and a trip to the ER, my blood counts are going up and I am now home, resting and slowly recovering.

On Will:
I just can't say enough about this little guy, he isn't even 4 yet, but he's an old soul, I swear.  He has the emotional/sentimental tendencies of an adult.  He is so mature in how he talks and treats John.  He has been looking forward to the big day for quite some time and we even had a daily countdown going.  The minute he saw John, he showed so much concern for his well being.  John let out a little cry and Will said "It's going to be ok baby John, it's going to be ok".  He is just so sweet, he's my little hero!

On Billy:
Billy has been the best, most supportive, most involved dad/husband in the world throughout this whole ordeal.  Since I am more or less bed-ridden, Billy handled absolutely EVERYTHING in the hospital and has continued to handle all of John's needs now that we are home.  I don't think he has slept in a week!  All the while, juggling Will's needs, his own needs, and issues at work.  I just can't say enough about him, and all of you readers know I don't like to get 'sappy' so I'll stop with this:  Billy, thank you so much for all you do and for being the best guy any wife could ask for.

On my parents:
Pure troopers.  They have really made things easy around the house, from waiting on me hand and foot, to helping out with John and Will whenever possible.  They have cooked for us, cleaned for us, and most importantly, hung out with Will so he still gets all the attention he needs and deserves!  You guys are the best and we are so thankful you are here to help out!

Ok, ok, enough of the drama, now for the moment you've all been waiting for (see next posting) :)

Baby Birthday Prep

I know, I know, this blog is a little bit late, but I have an excuse!  (more to come on that in a later post)

The Big Day came last Thursday...we all hung out in the morning and left for the hospital in the afternoon.  Things were GREAT.  Will was super duper excited and I was, well, ready!

Best big brother in the Universe = Will

Me + 34 lbs = SCARY!

Best Dad in the Universe = Billy (more to come on that later too!)

Best labor and delivery coach = Will!  
He knew exactly what was happening and was asking all sorts of questions, which kept me distracted. 
 "Mommy, when is John going to be born?" 
 "Mommy, what is that in your arm, a needle?"  
"Mommy, are they going to cut your belly open today?"

After a little prepping, a visit from the anesthesiologist and a visit from my doc, it was time for baby John to make his entrance!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Big Brother

So tomorrow, 1/5/2012, at about 4:30pm Will is officially going to be a big brother!  I have some awesome stuff planned for him at the hospital while he waits patiently for mommy to get out of surgery.

And yes, he is excited and is aware of his new 'responsibilities'...but I'm thinking we may need to find a way to incorporate baby John into some type of Super Friend role for play time purposes...because that is all Will can seem to think about these days (code word for Super Friend playtime is "go upstairs" as you'll hear below).


Wish us luck tomorrow!!!!

Playing Paleontologist

As you have all read before, Will has declared he wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up.  So we got him a mini dinosaur fossil excavation kit as a stocking stuffer.  
Today, he and Papa Dave began the excavation!  

It was so cute to see the two of them working so hard together...and with so much patience!

They both got a little dirty in the process, but it was worth it to find all those fossils!

Making Chores Fun

Nothing like a 4 foot tall leaf pile to make raking leaves more fun than work!  
I love my little man's technique...

Here he assesses the situation...
 Lowers his head and charges...
 And jumps as high as he can!
 A perfect 10!

Again, he assesses the situation...
 Lowers his head and....
 Flies into the leaf pile!
 One day we may have to pay him to clean up our leaves...
But for now...it's all fun and games!