The naughty list

I was cleaning the playroom yesterday and found this little gem (complete with hand-made envelope):

I'm sure it was made after I committed some gross infraction, such as telling Olivia to stop being mean to her sister.

(Frankly, I'm just shocked that Damon made the Good list!)

All tied up

I got a sneak peek inside my belly today. Baby #4 looks nice and squirmy, digited, full-hearted, kidneyed, bladdered, aaand....male!

I suspected he might be a "he." While my pregnancies have all felt pretty similar, I have noticed a few differences:

Girls:
Toothpaste in the morning made me sick
Melasma
Hyperhormonal
Carrying higher (watermelon belly)

Damon and Baby #4:
Indifference to toothpaste
No melasma
Not as hormonal, but more tired
Carrying lower (basketball belly)

I don't know that I was necessarily hoping for one gender or the other, but it will make our family nice and balanced to have 2 girls and 2 boys. At least it makes the room situation convenient (and, it means I should be able to hang on to my sewing room a little bit longer!)

Once again, feel free to send over any name suggestions. The girls are rooting for Hungry Hippos again.

Because the world needs more cuteness

What could be cuter than 3 Brown kids?

How about FOUR Brown kids?

May 21st is the date. Consider yourselves warned.

Yum yum

Having figured out (sort of) how to feed himself, Damon has recently gotten into feeding other people. He'll use his sticky, slobbery little hand to pick up a piece of cereal, get my attention, and open his mouth as a hint for me to do the same (he is pretty persistent). Then, he shoves the pre-moistened morsel into my mouth, looks very pleased with himself, and immediately picks up another.

As you may imagine, I have to toughen my gag reflex to fully participate in this little practice, cute as it is. But even then, I have my limits. Just now, for example, Damon had just absently shoved some little graham cracker snack into his mouth when he glanced at me. I must have looked hungry, because he toddled over, pulled the half-chewed cracker out of his mouth, held it out and opened his mouth. Mmm. I let him have that one.

Today's bads and goods

Bad: bra shopping with 3 small kids
Good: finding a good small enough bra while bra shopping with 3 kids!

Bad: car backing into our shopping cart in the parking lot (fortunately, I was able to shield the kids behind the cart just in time!)
Good: we're all okay. The lady who did it felt really bad, especially when other people in the parking lot yelled at her. I tried to make her feel better, so I hope she was able to get home and shake it off.

Bad: not having collard greens yesterday when Steven requested them for dinner
Good: HELLOOOOO? How many guys ask for collard greens for dinner? We're having them tonight.

And it's only lunch time!

Capitol idea

Damon and I decided to celebrate his first birthday with a flight to Virginia to visit Grandma Brown. Thanks to some wonderful friends here who helped take care of the girls during workdays, Damon and I were able to spend a week at Grandma's visiting family, helping out around the house, and even seeing some sights.

It turned out to be a great time to go: we got to be there for two other cousin birthdays, a baptism, and Mother's day! It was neat, and unusual, for me to hang out with Steven's family without Steven, but it was a nice reminder of what a great choice I made to marry him. I loved hanging out, playing piano duets, and watching episodes of "As Time Goes By" and "One Step Beyond" with Linda; watching a local "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" with Linda and Heather (courtesy of Rachel's babysitting!); chatting with Heather and Richard on car rides to DC; visiting with Jason and Tashia; and of course seeing all the local nieces and nephews!

Damon opens his birthday presents from Grandma Brown

Damon and Uncle Richard

Savannah, Damon, Caleb, and Lindsey at Caleb's baptism

Damon, Joshua, and Caleb get ready to pick up chicks outside the ladies' room

Damon's cousin Tiana is a baby lover like her mom!

Showing off his Texas rodeo skilz at the carpet store

Showing off my great new 'do, courtesy of my niece Rachel!

And of course, we couldn't be in the area without going to the Capitol. Steven calls these Damon's "Flat Stanley" shots, where I'm basically taking pictures of stuff and plopping my baby in there, but gosh, how else am I supposed to show we were there? (or at least, that Damon was there).

Anyway, Damon and I had a fun day in DC. We saw Smithsonians...

And ate lunch on the lawn of the Capitol building.

Then we visited the monuments:

Including the new MLK one, which I hadn't seen yet. I made sure to get Damon's picture in front of the controversial (and misleading) drum major quote, before it gets changed.

Altogether we had a wonderful trip. And, as an added bonus, when we got home, Steven and the girls all acted especially appreciative to have me back.

Picnic

Far too long ago, before the weather got too blasted hot, I decided we should have a picnic lunch. Where, I asked the kids, should we go?

Well, they didn't want to go far:

As you can see, they got all dressed up for the neighbors. 

Well, some of them did.