facebook junkie = long time no blog

ok, so i don't exactly have much time on my hands since i've been in the dental hygiene program, but i somehow always find time to facebook. if i have pictures that i really want the world to see i will first post them on facebook before the blog. why? i don't know. maybe it is faster or because more of my friends will see them on facebook instead of my blog. but nonetheless, i have sisters who are not on facebook, so (lyric and hollie) this blog is for you. wow, i'm realizing you two really are the only ones not on facebook. no pressure. :)
but for those of you who are on facebook, sorry for the repeat. (i am at school and only have certain pictures on my flash drive). i promise we have taken more than these 14 pictures around here.

for fall break (yes, we have a fall break. never had one until we came here) we went to gatlinburg, tennessee up in the beautiful smoky mountains with some friends. we stayed in the coolest cabin, fully equiped with pool table, air hockey, arcade, movie theater room, hot tub, pool, 5 rooms with kind size beds and fire places, and oh much much more.

we seriously had so much fun and went on the most beautiful hikes. the most perfect time of year, with all the leaves changing.

i have to take pictures of jayden when he doesn't know it otherwise i get a goofy "cheese" face that really looks nothing like a smile.

when we looked online for a cabin, they all had this picture on their website, so we decided to mimick it and send it to our friend trevor who really should have been at the cabin with us. pathology really isn't that important.


this very well could be my most favorite picture. my boys. and owen's cheeks.

he's never laughed so much in his life until we put him in these swings.


Ward Halloween Party

trying on jayden's old chili pepper costume and loving it

NOT! he wasn't too happy to be literally stuffed into a costume. i guess we'll have to come up with a new costume this year. quinn says sumo wrestler. (i just watched a video on sumo wrestlers to get better acquainted with them before i start on his costume. i caught myself laughing out loud while in the library. seeing all those bare bums just make me giggle).

we had to go to the halloween party right after school so there wasn't much time for costumes, but browntown does have quite a few wigs (don't ask me why). they'll just have to do this year.

i couldn't get enough of owen and this wig. oh wait, i can never get enough of owen.

sidenote: cari, please do not comment on this photo ;)

hideous. that's all i have to say about quinn's wig. oh, and that it kept getting in his chili. mmmmm.

jayden loves toystory more than words can describe, so it was just fitting to have him be woody this year.

people kept calling him woody all evening which would always give him a cute grin on his face. (i'm just realizing how old he looks in this picture. my baby's no longer a baby!) ;(

him and his friend won first and second place for best boy costume. woody got second place....always coming in second to buzz. it's those dang cool wings.

my boys

i am sitting at my dad's computer in nampa, idaho recovering from a recent back surgery and missing my boys like crazy! i am almost crying while posting these pictures. that's how pathetic i am. the tux jayden is wearing was worn by quinn when he was two and owen is wearing his blessing outfit made with love by my mom. owen's blessing went great, other than the fact that i was crying in pain rather than of happiness. but i truly am SO happy. i couldn't have a more perfect baby. owen is seriously the easiest, most mild tempered baby ever, and i love him to death. can you blame me for missing them?!

Quinn passed boards!!!!!! Too bad we are unable to show our celebrations, and congratulations signs, and Quinn's dinner plate with the biggest fattiest steak I've ever seen, and the fun night we spent together, seeing how our camera is still missing.

a little more good news

both my boys got into the school we wanted! this pre-school has a year and a half waiting list and we finally made it to the top of the list, and just in time! thank goodness because i don't think i could go back to school full-time if i didn't feel comfortable with where my boys were all day. good thing we put them on the list before i got into the program, even if owen was written down as "unborn" and "baby brown".

good news, some more good news, and then a little bad news

my kid is almost fully potty trained!!! i have not changed a wet or poopy diaper in the last 4 days! he loves going potty and is fascinated by it (i mean, who isn't). it now consumes our day, but has been definitely worth it. i used to hear the word "mommy" or "cars" all day, but now it's "potty!". we are so proud of him. we now just need to teach him to open his bedroom door so he can go by himself at night.the other good news is that quinn has taken boards. it's over! he has studied SO hard for this test; months in fact. i no longer feel like a single parent! he literally studied morning and night for this 8 hour beast of a test. i guess it can't really be great news until we get the results back. i'm positive he did great. we are so proud of you dr. brown.

and now for the bad news, we lost our camera. ok, so i lost our camera. i think i left it on the hood of our car at a bbq and forgot to pick it up. of course just in time for our trip to boise and owen's baby blessing. yes, you read that correctly, we are just now blessing owen; our five month old son. i don't think we'll be hanging his blessing outfit on his bedroom wall.

two's

i can't get myself to call them the "terrible" two's because my child is far from terrible, but with that said, this age is so far the most difficult. on saturday jayden threw one of his temper tantrums (body flailing on the ground, screaming at the top of his lungs, that sort of thing) outside the gym and i was scolded, along with jayden, by an older lady. i was feeling like a bad mom and called my mom (a mom of 10) for some advice and encouragement. i asked if any of her kids threw tantrums....she said no. at first i was thinking, "well, thanks mom," but then she explained that she never took her kids out of the house. she literally never left the house. as i was thinking about it, his tantrums only come outside of the house; when we're out and about, when he doesn't get to stay and play on the swings or when its time to leave the pool. well, nothing really is resolved seeing how there's no way i could stay in the house all day every day, but she did tell me that its just his age and he'll grow out of it. let's hope.

update

so here's a quick update:

owen turns 4 months old today! happy 21st!he is the sweetest baby and is growing so fast. SO fast. i mean, he's HUGE! i guess i am comparing him to jayden, who's a runt, but he is only four months old and is over half jayden's weight. he has just started laughing at jayden, which is pretty much the cutest thing i've ever seen.

jayden recently turned 2 years old!

for his birthday we skipped the big party because quinn and all our dental school friends are studying like crazy for boards. instead we decided to go to the zoo to meet pablo from the backyardigans. it was all very exciting. this picture doesn't show it, but jayden couldn't get enough of him and kept giving him kisses.

like i said, quinn is studying for boards so i don't see him much and cannot wait until it is over. for now the boys and i are living the life and trying to make the most of the time we have left together. no, i am not dying, but i am going back to school full-time and won't have the chance to spend all day with them like i do now.

browntown photo shoot

my excuse for not blogging very much lately is that i detest using our laptop. it is in it's dying days and is as slow as could be. i find myself getting very irritated every time i use it. and let's be honest, i don't need anything else irritating me these days. :)
our friend amber kindly took a few (and by a few i mean 500) pictures of our little family on memorial day. thanks amber. here are a couple, and i will post more of the boys later. maybe on a day where i'm feeling very patient.

baby envy

is't it usually the younger brother that wants to do everything his older brother does? well, not in our case. jayden wants to swing in the baby swing, be pushed in the stroller, get inside the excersaucer, and most recently be carried in the baby bjorn. you should see the looks we get when we go on walks in our neighborhood. i guess people think its odd to see a kid who can say hi and tell them how old he is being carried in a baby sling. well, we think its funny.

a day in the life

let me give you a little glimpse of a day in the life of owen.

now owen has an older brother that loves him so much. so much that he has to be touching, patting, kissing, hugging, bouncing, loving, talking to, reading to, and pretty much smothering owen every second of the day.

owen is VERY patient and usually takes it very well, but there are times when it all becomes a little too much.

sometimes he just thinks, "why me?"

but then he remembers that he is already half the weight of his older brother, and will most likely be much bigger than him one day. meaning, that he will be able to retaliate.

it probably doesn't help that owen's mommy and daddy smother him just as much.

the only place he can be at peace is in his crib; away from it all. and where his older brother cannot reach him.

he puts up with a lot in a day. but he hardly ever cries, and even though the pictures don't show it, you can quite often catch him smiling.

a hair cut, mother's day, and a super cute baby

so much has happened since i blogged last that i don't know where to start, but i also don't want to write a novel, so i'll try to be brief.

up first, a hair cut. we gave j-dogg his very first (and very much needed) hair cut. after watching his hair always fall in his eyes, and always looking wind blown, and even finding gum in his hair, i finally decided that it was time. even though i was the one that initiated the hair cut, i still got emotional. nerdy, i know, but he looked SO much older the instant the hair fell to the ground. we put him in his high chair, put on the bee movie, and gave him a yogurt and he held still for almost the whole time. quinn insisted on cutting his hair, and with sherstine on call, he did a great job. he looks like such a big boy.

up next, mother's day. quinn gave me the best mother's day i've ever had. well, i guess i've only had 3, but this one was by far the best! i woke up to quinn holding a present out to me. it happened to be the first of 21 presents! the first was my favorite trail mix that had a clue on it to where the next present would be. this went on for almost all the presents (which consisted mostly of my favorite candies and cereals), until one clue lead me to the oven where i found a pizza stone. i assumed that was my big present bacause i had been wanting one, until i found inside another clue. it lead me to the back bedroom where i found quinn holding an adorable box and inside was a shiny new itouch! i always told quinn that i wanted an iphone and i would just hold out until we could afford the extra monthly payment, but i found myself drooling over his itouch all the time. now quinn is drooling over mine because its a newer generation.

after a huge lavish breakfast made by my man, we headed off to church. my only complaint this mother's day is that i had to give a talk. i know. who asks a mom to give a talk on mom's day?! and the topic wasn't even on mother's! after church quinn cleaned the house while letting me take a nap (the second best present next to the touch). the tafoya's came over for dinner and the boys made us dinner while shanah and i realaxed and talked. thanks q baby for such a wonderful day.

and last but definitely not least, a super cute baby.

3 years and counting

on this day 3 years ago i married the man of my dreams. i remember the day we were set up. my sister, hilary, said that she received revelation and that i needed to go out with this guy named quinn. after i got back from my mission i was constantly set up and finally vowed to never go on a blind date again, but seeing how hilary said that right after coming out of the temple i thought it must be true, (and for the fact that she has impeccable taste and is....well...perfect). that night quinn and i went on our first date. i can honestly remember the instant i laid eyes on him for the first time. not only was i floored by his gorgeousness, but i had never met a guy like him before. his smile lit up the room and he seemed genuinely happy to see me, even though he didn't know me. i remember acting like i had to get something out of my car just so that i could hurry and call hilary. pretty much the phone call went something like this, "hilary, he's so hot! k. gotta go." he was in boise just for the weekend to watch his little brother and sister while his parents went on a cruise, so he brought his siblings on our first date. and the way he treated them sealed the deal for me. he was the one. it really was love at first sight.

i can't believe it has only been three years! it feels like we have been married forever. (in a good way, of course). i feel like i've known him my whole life, and even before that. he makes me breakfast on saturday mornings. he is working his butt off in school for me right now. he is the best dad in the world. and he always lets me be right. i love you babe. remember....you promised that we'd die at the same time like on the notebook.

for hilary

my sister hilary got mad at me (yelling and screaming and even cursing) for not putting any pictures of owen on the blog. just kidding, she actually just mentioned that i finally posted a picture of owen and he has big glasses covering half his face. so this post is for hilary, who i've actually never heard yell or scream....but have heard curse. ;) if you've ever met her you'd know she's pretty much perfect. and if you've seen her in the last 6 months then i'm jealous because it has been that long since i've seen her.

with buddy baby liam

the classic daddy/baby sleeping picture. awwwwww.

me in my robe looking less than desirable but baby owen looking adorable smiling in his sleep.

jayden likes owen a little too much. he hugs and kisses and smothers the poor baby to death. but the cutest thing is when he talks baby talk to him in his jibberish and tells him all about his day. i think they'll be good buds.....fingers crossed.

owen is a perfect baby (obviosly taking after his aunt hilary) and i take back what i said about only loving every other minute, because i really do love and cherish every second i get to spend with this little angel....even if it is at 2:00 in the morning.

addict

i think our kid might have a minor addiction. he only gets the binkie at nighttime, but recently he has been wanting it more often, and since we don't give it to him i think his desire for it grows. i guess that is what we get for not taking it away earlier. here is what i found when i went in his room this morning. two binkies at once. one is just not enough. yeah, he's pretty hardcore. sorry j dogg, i think it's time.

i thought it was pretty funny so i took a bunch of pictures. sorry for the overload.

owen doesn't have an addiction (other than my boob....can i say that?) but i can't leave him out.