There's no turning back now...it's set in stone...well at least wood!!!

There is no turning back now…the name is officially set in wood.  I had the entire week off of work for the holiday so I decided I would attempt to be creative.  Instead of purchasing the hanging wall letters I’ve been coveting on the internet for so long…I would instead make them myself!  I just could not justify buying the letters for $20-25 a piece when I could purchase them at Hobby Lobby for $2.99 a piece and the scrap book paper for $.50 a piece.

All I have to say is after this project…whether this baby comes out a boy or girl the name will remain.  Haha okay maybe not for a boy since it’s all pink and brown but hopefully we’re lucky and not one of the flukes in which the technician gets the baby’s sex wrong.

Here it is!  I started out with the plain wood curly letters…

Then spray painted them brown so that the sides wouldn't be the lighter color.  The night I spray painted them it was freezing cold outside and I was too lazy to go do them in the garage.  Coby warned me but I didn't listen and instead did them inside...BIG MISTAKE!  I think we both had spray paint headaches for 2 days and it probably wasn't so good for the baby...lesson learned :).

Then after 5 trips to craft stores I finally found the paper I wanted to use and traced the letters and cut the paper out...that part was probably the most difficult because of all the curls!!

Then decoupaged them on to the wood with a few coats and sealed them (outside this time of course haha) and viola...the finished product!!!  The room is looking more and more colorful these days and not so white!  We got the bedding this week too...now just waiting on the rest of the decorations I ordered and the stuff my mom's making to accent some pieces and we're good to go!!!

And the verdict is.......

Well, we had our ultrasound this morning and....

HARPER REESE BROWN

(that's right...those of you who voted for Coby's pick of Haper as the first name WON!!!) will hopefully be born on April 15, 2012 or EARLIER!!!!  We were both 99.9% positive we were going to be having a baby girl so we're just SO excited to finally know.

My AMAZINGLY resourceful husband, Our FUN weekend in Lubbock and Our 90% Finished Nursery…HOLLER!!

Well, our weekend started out with Coby’s truck dying in the middle of our drive way as we were leaving to run our last errand before heading out to Lubbock.  Since it wasn’t on his side of the drive way like it normally is…we couldn’t get my car out to go and buy a battery.  My ever so manly, resourceful and problem solving husband decided he was going to pull “Blue” out of the garage (that’s Judy and Cecil’s 4 Wheeler he hijacked for hunting season) and pull his truck out of the way so we could get to my car.  I honestly didn’t think it would work because of how old and MUCH smaller the 4 wheeler was than his massive truck BUT sure enough…it did!  I’ll never doubt him again and his handy skills again.  I seriously lucked out and married someone who can fix and do ANYTHING!!  I always give him a hard time about being so cheap and hijacking Judy and Cecil’s stuff instead of buying his own but at that moment I was just glad we had it sitting in our garage.

As we were sitting in the drive way getting ready to leave a woman came to the vacant house next door to us and started taking pictures like they usually do when a home goes back to the bank and forecloses.  YEP…both of our neighbors foreclosed on their houses this weekend and royally killed our property value…oh the joys of being an adult!  Guess we’re stuck here for quite a while!!  Our one neighbor kept telling Coby he was building a new house out in Haslet on more land and stuff but yet their house NEVER went up for sale.  They moved out about 3 months ago and thanks to my love for internet stalking I found out that the house is in HER name and they were building the new house in HIS name.  Guess they realized they would lose over 20k+ if they sold the house they were in so they probably just stopped paying the bills and just waited for the bank to take it back…I’d sure love to tell them THANKS right about now!  Our other neighbor was this precious gay African man who LOVED him some CobyJ.  Coby loves to walk out of our house with his shirt off like most of the other WT people we live near and if Willie Joe was outside walking at the time…you should have seen the grin on his face.  I think it was that exact image of Coby that helped him get through losing his houseJ.

After all that fun was over, my glider showed up on the front porch as we were out getting a battery right before we left for Lubbock and I was SO excited!!  We had finished everything else in the nursery the night before (minus the Hutch Buy Buy Baby still owes us) so I quickly ran inside and put it together myself while Coby fixed his truck.  I’ve posted pictures so you can see below…we find out the sex of the baby on Friday so we can FINALLY put a little color in here!  It’s going to be pink and brown for a girl or blue and brown for a boy….so excited to decorate!!!

After all the festivities were over we headed out to Lubbock to visit Chris & Tammy and their crew at 2:30pm…so much for first thing in the am…guess you gotta just go with the flow (I’m learning that on the time schedule thing…I’m VERY much a time scheduler but since marrying Coby…I’ve had to let that go J).  Lubbock was so fun!  We went out on Friday and so did Judy and Cecil (Coby’s parents), and then Chad & Jackie and their crew came out on Saturday morning and we all went home on Sunday.  We hauled our trailer since everyone was going so there would be plenty of space to sleep.  We got a whopping 6-9 miles per gallon on the way there…we borrowed Cecil’s pick up for the way home thankfully and were able to get 20 miles per gallon…bless those Diesel engines!!! 

West Texas is SO flat, orange, dusty and WINDY but it was still super fun.  When we pulled up I asked Coby where all the trees were and if they just tore them down when they built the houses and he laughed at me.  Apparently where he’s from in Dumas it’s much worse on the tree end so he was used to it…it was a shock for me.  I’ve learned that my brother in law Chris loves to do things that are different from the norm and he’s pretty funny.  Below is a picture of the inside of the back of his beloved horse trailer and his new favorite spot…guess you could call it his man cave. 

 

He put a little heater in there and did not understand why his almost 70 year old parents did not want to sleep in the bunk beds in the horse trailer because it’s his new favorite toy J.  My question to him was who were you thinking was going to get up on that top bunk?  He told me anyone can because there’s a ladder…yep the little block of wood that is about 3 inches wide is the “ladder”.  I doubt I could even get up there haha.  We finally got to see his beloved mules that he always talks about and they were actually very pretty.  I wasn’t sure what to expect when he said he’s a mule rider instead of horse rider…guess I’d never heard that one before haha.  He took Cecil mule riding while the rest of us spent the day at the mall.  I was surprised Coby would take the mall over anything but I guess mule ridings not something he shares his brother’s love for.

 

We hit up the movies and dinner after the mall and then all went home and Chris’s friend Juan brought over crepes.  This was a first time experience for the Brown family but a routine one for me.  Crepes are our family Christmas breakfast tradition and have been ever since I can remember.  We’ve tried to break that tradition out of laziness a few times and I think Ariel and Riley almost had a heart attack…so a tradition it will continue to be.  I have a feeling with as big of a hit as it was, it will become a Brown family tradition as well! 

The weekend was short because a lot of it was spent driving to and from but I think Coby and I have a new found appreciation for the fact that Chris and Tammy and their crew drive that distance from Lubbock every single time we have family camping trips and holidays and never once complain.  I think we’ll try to make it at least a once a year trip but I haven’t broken that one to Coby yet…his preferred driving radius for any trips is 45 mins but 3 hours max J.  Anyways, we’re home safe and sound after an eventful weekend and back to the every day grind…THREE MORE DAYS until we find out the sex so we’re definitely counting down!!

Baby Name Poll for a Girl…

So, I want a boy as our first child for a lot of reasons.  First of all…I only want 2 kids (1 boy, 1 girl would be perfect world), 3 MAX and I just think it’s so cute when the oldest kid is a boy and is so protective of his little sister…it just warms my heart!!  The other reason includes the fact that I want Coby to have his hunting/shooting/scouting/partner in crime (hopefully less of the latter and more of the first ones haha), and well…since we weren’t planning on having a baby any time soon a boy would be a whole lot less expensive since my favorite thing in the world is baby girl clothes, shoes, and accessories!

Well, since my sister stole my twins I wanted JJJJ(which now I’m very glad it’s her and not me but I’ve always wanted to dress twins up…but now I still can and then drop them back off at home), and now she stole our boys!  She is having twin IDENTICAL boys…can you say ONE CRAZY HOUSEHOLD!!!!!!  Anyways, so now that they know they are having twin boys I’ve come to the conclusion we will have a girl and set my mind on it…that way I will be SO excited when the Dr. says it’s a girl and have no disappointment whatsoever at the fact that it’s not a boy! 

We have officially (well…half way) decided on a name for if it’s a girl but we can’t decide which one will be the first name and which one will be the middle name…or if we should come up with another middle name and save one of the names for if we have 2 girls…tough choices.  So….we’re going to take a poll and here is the million dollar question….

HARPER REESE BROWN

Or

REESE HARPER BROWN

I won’t tell my preference and taint the poll…so have at it!  Leave your vote before you leave!!  If in 4 weeks when we find out what the baby is the Dr. says a boy…well I have ZERO names in the bank for that so we’ll be taking suggestions haha.

Bye Bye Texas Room....Hello Baby Room!!! Our First House Project as a Married Couple!!

Well…we officially finished our FIRST home project as a married couple (well, okay 90% finished thanks to my slacking off and not doing the final paint coats on the wainscoat).  We actually did this project as the Baby’s new room shortly after finding out we were almost 2 months pregnant.  We know it was a little early but it was Labor Day weekend, our family camping trip was cancelled due to the SCORCHING August/September weather, and we finally had a THREE DAY WEEKENED in which we were determined to be very productive!

The room was originally painted the BRIGHTEST, most shocking red when I moved in to the house a few years ago and I had every intention of re-painting it.  That is…until I repainted the other guest room and forgot about that thing called PRIMER.  I ended up having to paint 5 coats to cover up the pirates/dragons/snakes/skulls and whatever else was originally on the wall (not sure how the little 4 year old boy slept in there at night).  So, needless to say after that project was done, the RED ROOM was nowhere to be found on my “To Do” list haha.  The room also had a hideous chair rail that was of a weird shape and stuck straight out that I wasn’t so fond of.

We woke up at 7am that Saturday and both randomly said, “Let’s do a project today!”…for some reason my husband has NO problem waking up early on Saturdays, but when it comes to work days…GOOD LUCK…I’m still trying to roll him off the bed at 7:45 when I leave J.  I’m an early morning person and not so much a night time person (he’s learned that even more since I’ve been pregnant…being tired is the one and only symptom I have) and he is the opposite, he’s a night time person and not an early morning person which will be PERFECT for the baby shifts J. 

Coby drove out to Decatur to borrow all the tools…shout out to my in laws who seriously have every tool any man could ever desire which comes in handy for us…we just pay them back in dinners since I love to cook but it’s too hard sometimes to cook for just 2 people...and then we don't actually have to purchase all the tools ourselves!  We met up at the store and after spending about 3 hours at Home Depot (and our entire paychecks he’ll tell you...he's a little dramatic with not liking to spend dinero but I love him for that!!!) picking out everything and people watching (my favorite thing to do in the Keller/Watauga area) we returned home with all of our supplies and ready to go!  We (meaning he) tore off the chair rail to find 1 random purple stripe across the wall…nice. 

 

Then we primed over the red paint on the top of the wall which took about 3 coats but made the actual painting SO MUCH easier to do!!!!

Then we put up the wainscoat and just as a tip to everyone...buy the pre-cut stuff!  We decided to save money and buy the stuff you cut because we had the tools and hours later we drove back to Home Depot to return it and buy the pre-cut stuff...it saved us HOURS of measuring and everything!!!

 

Then we painted the crown molding in the garage and then put it up (which I LOVE and makes the room pop so much more than it previously did!)...

 

Then the new chair rail to outline the wainscoat

Then the caulking of everything and the painting of the wainscoat (which I’ve slacked off on as previously mentioned and seriously need to finish!)

And then...THE FINAL PRODUCT!!!

And now.....WITH OUR NEW CARPET!!!

It looks pretty dang good and even though it took 2 straight full days of really hard work…it’s fun seeing the end product of our hard work.  We only had 1 set back when our little puppy (featured in one of the pictures) was feeling neglected and came in to visit.  She stepped in the paint tray...we yelled in horror...LIZZIE NOOOOOOOO...which of course scared the crap out of her and she went darting out of the room and through the house running and we had little white paw prints all over the wood floor which I VERY quickly cleaned up and all was well!!

I LOVE being married to a handy man that can fix anything and is not afraid to work hard.  So far he’s repainted a few things for me, helped me tear up my nasty backyard and the even nastier planks the previous people inserted and re-sodded the entire back and side yard and it looks a MILLION times better now (I got that out of him after dating for only 3 months…he’s the BEST!), and he re-did my front yard and stoned my plant bed area so it pops now!!

Anyways, it’s nice to have the project about 90% done in the early stages of pregnancy…not sure I could have handled the paint smell or being on my feet that long while in the later stage of the pregnancy.  We already bought a white crib because I’ve ALWAYS been in love with white baby furniture and we’re going to re-paint it with a base coat (to be determined) and crackle paint…so excited!!  Our plan is to do Pink and Black if it’s a girl, and Light Blue and Brown if it’s a boy (that one could change but the Pink and Black for a girl is set…I’m obsessed!!!).  I have no idea how people go without finding out the sex…no way with the planner that I am that I could handle that…plus if it’s a girl she WILL be in a plethora of pink and not neutral colors and the last thing I want to do with an infant is have to shop for clothes!

Well, that’s all for now…2 blog posts in 2 weeks…I’m on a roll, but then again I just jinxed myself!



It's Officially Official....April 15th 2012...Baby Brown!!!

Well, we've always tried to defy the odds in life but this is not an odd we were trying to defy...but it looks like we did anyways.  WE ARE PREGNANT!!  We officially hit our 3 month anniversary mark on Sunday September 25th and also hit our 11 week pregnant mark as well...that's right...we had ONE week of marriage before I got "Knocked Up". 

I guess this is my payback for teasing my friends in college that got pregnant right away with the phrase, "Don't ya'll know what Birth Control is?" Haha.  Well...we knew what it was, and we were definitely taking it, I had an alarm that went off on my phone every day at 6pm to take it and I was very ritual about it...but apparently we're the .01% of the population that birth control is not effective for. 

Coby was excited and supportive from the moment I told him...I happened to be in tears sobbing so I'm not sure he understood what I was telling him for the first few minutes.  I was pretty in shock and although all 16 of the tests I took (I know you're laughing right now...so was Coby) said positive, I was still a bit in denial and thinking maybe all of the tests were wrong.  Well, 16 tests and $70 later we were pretty sure WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!  We are out of the shock phase now (it took about 5 minutes for Coby and about a month for me since I'm quite the planner) and in to the phase of EXCITED!!

We have TRULY been blessed so far and I'm praying that although I'm putting this in writing it won't jinx it.  I've yet to be sick, experience morning sickness or any side effects!  We've had one bad mood swing day (Coby may beg to differ haha) this past week and that's about all...when I say truly blessed I mean TRULY blessed!!)  Our dr. said today he should put us up on a billboard because he doesn't have any patients that have been that lucky.  My sister has been SO sick her whole pregnancy...probably because it's twins so I think she secretly is waiting for me to have to experience it as well but we're crossing our fingers!

Two of my best friends growing up just had babies so it will be fun to be on our 3rd generation of friendships.  Our friendships started with our moms, then us, and will now continue with our babies so I'm pretty excited! My best friend Jocelyn had her last baby about 2 years ago, and my college friends have all recently had kids as well so I'm excited to join their club and have our kids grow up together and be friends.  Oh...and not to mention, my sister is pregnant with TWINS so I'm very excited for our baby to have cousins close in age.  We never had this growing up and I absolutely LOVE being married in to a family where there are so many cousins, nieces, nephews and etc. so I'm excited for our baby to experience that joy in her/his life.  I put the HER first because I think everyone is pretty much vying for a baby girl, especially since the last 2 grandkids on Coby's side are little boys, and my sister is having TWIN BOYS!!!

Anyways, that's all for now...we'll keep you updated as we go along.  We had our 3rd appointment today, 1st with our new Dr. and let me just tell you...it makes a WORLD of difference being pregnant when you LOVE your dr. and their nurses...they actually laughed at Coby and my jokes unlike the last office :).  When someone can't laugh at my husband...it's a pretty good sign they don't have a very good sense of humor.  For those of you who know him...you're well aware he gets himself out of trouble in a lot of situations with his charm and humor (and country boy accent) and that's why I love him!!

First Sonogram - August 20, 2011




Second Sonogram - September 27, 2011



Second Sonogram - September 27, 2011


 

Here they are...The REAL Pictures...June 25th, 2011...the day the Brown's & Carrasquillo's thought would never come.

Well, it’s taken me long enough but this whole blog thing is new to me so…I finally figured out the whole picture spacing thing J.  Here are the pictures everyone has been asking for from the wedding.  There are 3 sections; 1. The Temple, 2. The Reception, and 3. The Photo Booth Pictures so ENJOY!!!

After the ceremony at the Dallas, Texas Temple…..

These are my little "flower girls" and then Camden.  Kelsie, Isa & Zarya (my parents adopted grandchildren that keep the pressure off us of having to have kids any time soon haha).  Maddy, Camden & Kensi.

 

The next 3 rows of pictures are some of my new nieces and nephews I inherited through marriage....I'm excited because they are all so cute and fun!!!


Alex, Taylor, Lauren (Lo Lo), & Nick  (Nick Nock)

Blakely, Barrett, Zane, & Zebb

 

Gentry, Ladd,  & Skyler with his wife Lauren and son Carter

 

This is my Jackson I used to nanny and his little sister Madeline

 

 

 

 

Just a little shout out on my flowers...I bought them at Central Market in Southlake and my co-workers Desiree and Haley came over during the week and made ALL my boquets and centerpieces...they were GORGEOUS!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Reception……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Photo Booth Pictures Taken During the Reception (sorry to those of you who had no idea we got copies of every picture taken J)……