Our little Liv turned 6 months old today! She is as sweet as ever and still as light as a feather. She has loved eating cereal and is about to try bananas, sweet potatoes and avocados. Her newest discovery is her toes-they make the perfect between mealtime snack. She prefers to stand instead of sit and enjoys the bouncy game. She loves her brothers and sister and saves all her giggles for them.
This weekend Northwest Arkansas was covered in snow! It was a wonderful, long weekend. Friday, the kids played out back and caught snowflakes on their tongues. We got about 8 inches of snow at our house and could hardly open our front door! We made our first-ever batch of snow ice cream and loved it, especially Nate and Will. Will kept saying it was the "bestest ice cream he's ever had."
Playing in the "blizzard"!
Warm and Snug
Saturday, Nate helped a friend put down some flooring and dropped me and the kids off at my parents' for some sledding fun. Ryan, Chi Chi and Brady were there too, making it even better. Rachel took lots of cute pictures of the kids and I in action. We sledded, built a "fort" and a special snowman for Nanny's front yard. If you know my mom, she loves snowmen and has collected lots of them over the years. She had a lovely real one for a few days at least! We ate lots of great food, sat around and played games all day.
Pop & Nanny and their snowman
I stole these from Rachel's blog...can you tell a difference in quality???
Sunday, we made it to church and ate at Jose's for lunch (We are becoming regulars!). While at Jose's, Liv pooped through all of her clothes...she had on tights and there was literally poop down to her toes! (sorry if that's too much info!) Being the always prepared mother that I am, I had no spare clothes to put her in, so my baby was naked (wrapped in a blanket) in the freezing cold! Bad Mommy! We finished Sunday with some long time friends, catching up and letting the kids run out of energy.
Liv...after I cleaned up the remains of her poopy mess and got some clothes on her...little stinker!
Monday, I stayed home with the kids and our cousin Nykile. There was lots of dress up, Legos, movies and play doh! That night Liv ate rice cereal for the first time. I think she liked it. Hard to believe its time to start the solid food journey with her. We ended the evening with a little family rockband....a great, long winter weekend!
Everything is a family affair...
Watch out for "da bad boy", "explorer princess" and "Indiana Jones!" They just might be headed to your house next! :)
Well, Livia Jane is 5 months old! When she was born it was warm and sunny, and lately she is the sunshine in our lives during these cold, winter days. When she smiles, her eyes light up, and it just makes you want to kiss her all over. She loves sitting in her walker and even loves having her siblings all up in her face. I think she loves us already. :) She is getting more fuzz on her head-most days it sticks straight up. She weighs all of 13 lbs, with most of her baby fat in her legs (she actually has a few rolls, which is a first for our Brown babies)! Her favorite place is on her changing table where she kicks, giggles, talks and claps. 
Last Sunday, Kate, my mom and I went to see the play "Little House on the Prairie." I grew up reading all the books and watching the old tv show, and mom has always loved Melissa Gilbert who starred as Ma in the play. It really was fun to see, and Kate loved that it was "real people moving around." In preparation for "girls night," we braided Kate's hair, applied blush, mascara (Kate's personal favorite to put on) and LAYERS of lip gloss-every one she owns to be exact. She wore a scarf like mommy's and carried her purse full of Disney princesses and lip gloss. She loved every minute of it, which made it even better for me. I plan to make sure there are plenty more girls nights to come!
On a side note...do not go see Disney's "The Princess and a Frog!" I am extremely disappointed in Disney for thinking that it was appropriate for my children. I wish that I had walked out at the very beginning.
It's hard to believe 2009 has already come and gone. I am always a little sad to see the year end, but there is something fresh and clean and free about the days to come. I can't wait to see what 2010 holds!
We decided to bring the new year in very loudly this year. Some friends and family came over and played Rockband all night long (somehow three little babies slept through it all)! We had a lot of fun on our Beatles World Tour. My parents stopped by and got into it too...Dad wouldn't give the mic up. Will, Kate and Eli had a movie marathon snuggled up in mommy's bed and got to see the ball drop for the first time. They felt pretty special.
On Sunday, we woke up to the beautiful (unexpected) snow. While Liv took a cozy afternoon nap, we played outside in the FREEZING cold, built a mini-snowman, made snow angels and had a snowball fight--all the standard stuff! My kids loved it and had rosy cheeks for the rest of the night. 
Christmas seems to get more fun with each year. The kids are able to really enjoy the fun christmas traditions and of course, the presents! Because our family is so young, we are just beginning to figure out our yearly traditions. Every year we go the square to look at the lights and eat at Tiny Tim's Pizza. We decorate a gingerbread house, make a countdown to Christmas craft, and make a giant gingerbread cookie. This year was the first time to have Christmas without my MeMa. Usually all my aunts, uncles and cousins come together and celebrate on Christmas Eve. Instead, we chose to spend Christmas with just our immediate family. A new tradition. We had dinner at my parent's house Christmas Eve, acted out the Nativity Story and opened presents. It was a lot of fun, and I especially enjoyed the snow falling as we were warm and cozy inside. We woke up the next morning to a white Christmas at our house. The kids each got a little present under their trees and then came to wake us up to see what Santa had brought them. We played at the house all morning then made our way to Nate's parents house. Teresa always has a theme for our Christmas dinner-never traditional, but always good! We open presents, and the adults play a different game each year, and let me just say, you want to win those games! We spend the night and wake up to a huge breakfast. Everything about Christmas makes me feel warm inside. I guess that's why its my (along with many others) favorite time of year.
The Fayetteville Square
The Gingerbread House...a little droopy this year!
The Nativity Story
Santa's Surprises
Gramma and her girls
Cousins!
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!
