just getting by

 I feel like I am just getting by. School has been really busy. Last Friday was the end of the term. Lots of students with A-'s and B+'s that want their grades made up. Then to top it all off I am using heart rate monitors, which I have a love/hate relationship with. Love the data, love that the girls move more, hate all the set-up every day, the millions of baby wipes I use, and all the behind the scenes downloading and planning. But overall I think it is taking my class in the direction I want it to go. So YAY!

Sunday there was a little downtime so we went to visit the newest Brown. He is too cute.

 Dan was trying to match all of little Andrews expressions, hilarious!

I got to rock him and read through all the children's books he has. There is something about rocking a baby that you just gotta love.

Tomorrow is Halloween which = nightmare. Next week basketball starts which = I am so not ready to be at school until 5:30 or 6 everyday. I love it. Every year I love it but every year I so dread the time commitment.

The weather has been amazing this week. Maybe tomorrow I will actually get out and do something.

Today was Olivia's real birthday. I Skyped with her but she was being CRAZY! She was way too excited but it was so fun to see her on her special day. Can't believe she is three. Wish she lived closer.

Another Boy!

 Seriously, we do boys in this family. I love little girls and especially buying little girl clothes but I must say both my nephews are adorable as well.

Little Andrew James Brown was born on Monday afternoon. It was so fun to go visit him and his parents on Tuesday. It is so fun to see how having a baby changes everything. His parents love this guy A LOT! And I do too. You expect, well at least I do, to see the change in the mother but both my brothers changed. Sam you are a changed man, take that advice from Ben!

And all of a sudden Caleb is so mature looking. I think he also looks handsome in this picture. I must say I have been very proud of Caleb since he has lived out here (knock on wood). He has really excelled at his job, made new friends, biked everywhere he needs to go, lost 20 lbs, and after some chats (my version of a PPI) with him about house keeping items we seem to have a great routine again at this house. His goal for getting the mission papers in is middle of December. YOU CAN DO IT!

Back to the little guy that absolutely refused to open his eyes last night. Andrew is just precious. And then at work today Sam sent me a text with this picture and I almost died. How cute is he? Yup I love him already.

And just for fun let's compare how these cousins don't look so similar at birth, we will see what the future brings.

Olivia                                                              Braxton                                          Andrew

 Although the siblings look quite similar. I just love being an aunt.

The last little bit. . . . (I promise)

 Blogger is so frustrating sometimes. I don't want to organize all these pictures so I am just going to go with it.

Braxton had grown so much since I saw him in July. I love that he can now interact with you. He had great smiles and was so fun to be around. He is a pretty easy going, happy little fellow.

Katie has the magic to get this cutie giggling. He was all smiles every night during bath time.

 Olivia let me read to her a ton this trip. In the past she has had a hard time sitting through books. This time she couldn't get enough of them. We read lots of princess stories and a couple of other books over and over. Pretty sure I have them memorized. But it was fun.

 Nothing like waking up to a little girl every morning asking for "aunt LaNell." I loved that and it made it worth getting up between 6 and 7 every single day of my vacation.

The picture of Olivia below is so funny. She is playing with my brothers soda cans. They would be so proud. No she didn't drink any of that nastiness. 

 Great grandma Brown taking a turn to hold the little guy.

 Lot of smiles from two happy kids. Olivia loved the park. It is so funny to watch her try to get the older kids to play with her. She wants to be so big. And it is hilarious to watch her run. She is in a shuffling phase. Very small fast steps. Every time I watch her I think of the song "Party Rock Anthem" and I want to play the chorus....everyday I'm shuffling.

 And you can't have a day in a swimsuit without a wedgie. It is actually cute on little girls. They don't even realize because they are playing so hard. Love it.

 Thanks to my parents for traveling with me. Anthony and Aaron for sacrificing their weekend for family time. Ben and Katie for hosting us all. Jan, Lou, Grandma Brown, Ty, Allison, and Autumn for coming to Fort Bragg for a day. It was the perfect fall break.

It's back to work for me tomorrow. Today I cleaned, did laundry, ran errands, hiked the Y, and rested. Tomorrow is going to shock my system I am sure.

The Beach

 Saturday lots of extended family joined us in Fort Bragg for some fun. We ate delicious food and watched BYU stink it up and then headed to the beach. The beach was PERFECT!

















These two little girls were so excited to get swim suits on. They went crazy. It was actually one of the cutest things ever!

I really only took pictures of the two girls. They ran and ran and then ran some more. The tide was really low so it was perfect for them.

 We were able to go through the cave. Catch some star fish and then release them. Find sand dollars. Mostly pieces of sand dollars but one that was still pretty intact.

Two little beach bums.

We wore them out. They played so well together. There were lots and lots of giggles.

 Autumn Rain is a year older than Olivia. She could run so fast. Like really really fast. And she could run forever. She loved chasing people on the beach. It is crazy the difference in motor skills from 3 to 4.

 The girls loved Aaron. Loved chasing him, loved having him throw them, and they loved throwing sand at him. He was a good sport.

 He kept them entertained the majority of the time.

 This little stinker loved throwing sand on people. She thought she was so funny. Her mom fixed her hair halfway through and I love this picture of her running back out to join us. Mischief written all over that face.

 We wore Olivia out. Well she wore herself out on our walk. She chose to be a dog and crawl the majority of the way. Whatever floats your boat, but she was working really hard. I carried her back and then Ben rescued me.

 I love this little yellow swimsuit. It is so cute. It makes me smile every time I see it.

 Monday we went to glass beach. Had I known that it isn't so much a beach we would have gone somewhere else. We made do and the views were great. We played and played while Ben and Katie were at the dentist.

Again I ended up carrying this girl quite a bit. She goes and goes and then crashes hard.

My Dad and I also taught her the art of picking blackberries. So yummy!

Birthday Girl

 Olivia's birthday is at the end of October, but her parents let us celebrate a little early while we were here. I kind of hid the presents but she found them. She waited up until Ben and I got back from the grocery store so she could open them. So exciting.

 She knows how to open her presents. She didn't need any help. Games and princess toys. What more does a three year old want/need.

She was pretty excited. I can report that she made it through the memory game if she didn't have to take turns and we did play candyland once all the way though. It is so hard to take turns.

We saved the cake for the following night because it was too late. She loved the Tangled cake and we all loved that it was an ice cream cake. She was so tired because we had just spent three hours at the beach.

Digging in.

 It was fun to be able to watch her open presents and all the excitement that comes with birthdays. She looks like a 5 year old (quite tall), talks like a 4 year old, throws fits like a toddler, and crawls around on the floor like a dog. She loves going outside, loves treats, loves to have books read to her, and likes to watch her news (any show she picks but she calls it her news, seriously so funny.) She is one package of surprises and fun. She keeps us on our toes and we all think she is hilarious!