Winnie's first trip to the mountains ...

This past weekend we made a trip to Pisgah Forrest to visit with Nana & Da and for them to see Winnie. I loved the ride up, seeing all the mountains, it was so beautiful!! We got there, had lunch, then hung out chatting and watching Winnie interact with her great grandparents, then headed home. It was short, but so sweet!

Hanging with Great Aunt Sherry

Da reading Goodnight Moon to Winnie <3

Laughing at Beau with Nana

Snuggles with Nana Winnie 

My favorite <3 

We love you Nana & Da!! 

15 & 16 weeks & our beach trip

This past weekend was awesome, full of fun times with family and friends. Thursday my mom and dad were here for the night, so we enjoyed a quick visit from them. Friday night our friends Greg, Hilary, and their boys spent the night to go to Charleston for a day at the beach. It was fantastic! The weather turned our perfect, the water wasn't freezing, and the kids and adults all had a blast. I needed that time, I was seriously missing the beach. Plus, for dinner I got to eat Alaskan crab legs. Delicious! 

Winnie LOVED the beach! She enjoyed playing in the water and on the wet sand, but refused to touch the dry sand. It was hilarious. She is such a fearless little thing, she would run in toward the waves and laugh and splash and wanted to play in the water all day. I'm so glad she likes the beach!!!

This girl could eat blueberries all day! 

I love our family <3

Monday my parents came back for another quick visit. I love spending time with them and love that they got a little bit of time with Winnie. Winnie adores my mom and dad and it makes my heart glad!

Winnie is doing well. We are at a stage where a little attitude is coming out and she starts to yell when something is wrong or doesn't get what she wants. She is also having trouble sleeping through the night... 2 teeth just came through so I'm pretty sure it's no longer teeth, but for whatever reason she's always waking up. Suggestions welcome! :)

"Show me your teeth" 

I had a check up appointment for our newest Brown and I got to hear it's heartbeat: 145. The nurse had to keep moving around to get a steady rhythm because the little baby kept moving all over the place. Makes me smile :)

How far along: 16 weeks
Gender: We'll find out at our next visit!!
Weight gain: 7 lbs
Maternity clothes: I have started wearing some maternity clothes. They are so comfortable not to.
Sleep: Sleep is a touchy subject. I'm not getting much. Winnie is waking up, for whatever reasons, multiple times throughout the night. Then add my neck pain and tension headaches... no sleep. But, it's okay. God's been giving me grace and strength each day!
Best moment this week: Hearing our baby's heartbeat. It's a beautiful sound!!
Miss anything: Uninterrupted sleep.
Movement: I haven't felt anything yet, hopefully in the coming weeks.
Cravings: None currently, which is surprising.
Queasy or sick: I have moments of nausea from not eating, tension headaches, and neck pain.
Looking forward to: Finding out the gender!

Birthday Shenanigans

This past week and weekend were so much fun!! Here's a little bit of what went on. :)

Thursday evening is family dinner and this past Thursday Gisele, Miri, and Bill surprised me with a themed dinner from The Paradise. The Paradise is a short BBC series I found last week and really enjoyed. Watch it! Gisele is so creative and so extremely sweet to do this. The room was perfectly decorated with white linens and fine china and beautiful lighting and dinner was delicious!! Gisele and Miri dressed the part of Ladieswear and Bill dressed as the assistant to the store. It was so fun. 

Winnie after eating some chocolate cake 

I also rang in my birthday week with a big hello to my second trimester. Hallelujah. Can I get some energy?! I have had the fatigue bug with no desire to drink coffee for quite some time and I'm hoping I will get some better sleep and more energy in the days to come. Baby Brown #2 told me it wanted a BBQ sandwich and meatball subs and grilled BBQ chicken, sooooo that's all I've been craving all week. Jim n Nicks BBQ- CHECK .... Meatball Sub- CHECKIDY CHECK!! .... grilled BBQ Chicken- CHECK! Oh then there is this... I bought a jar of pickles earlier this week and they are almost gone. Food cravings during pregnancy are hilarious and weird. I wonder what's next. 

14 weeks 

Birthday breakfast in bed :-D

Birthday lunch= Meatball sub!!!!!! 

Birthday dinner on the back deck, with just Taylor!
Grilled BBQ chicken= delicious! 

Chocolate chip cookie cake. Yes please!

Birthday eve we had some friends over to hang and play a game. It was a ton of fun and I am so blessed to be surrounded by such lovely people!! Birthday day was perfect. I had a pleasant and relaxing time at home with Taylor and Winnie, which is just what I wanted. :)

my favorite <3 

Winnie is doing wonderful. She LOVES being outside. If it weren't so hot we'd probably stay outside all day. She walks around the yard, practices going up and down the porch stairs, colors with chalk, and chases balls through the driveway. The other day she even picked up a leaf and sat on the porch picking it apart. I love her little curious and adventurous spirit. 

The other day she had a nasty fall in the drive way while holding a football and trying to run... poor little thing. After some tears and hugs and kisses she was all better and wanted to play some more. She is brave. I admire that in her. 

Poor little nose.

I love her smile!!

This week Taylor starts a new job [same company], we get to visit with my mom and dad, and then a day trip to the beach with our dearest friends. I hope everyone has a great week! 

A late start...

To keep my family and friends up to date with my pregnancy process [round 2] and Winnie I'll continue posting belly blogs and Winnie updates as much as possible. I am a little late to start with pictures and posts this time around, but hopefully I'll be able to keep this up to date now.

Baby Brown is the size of a peach
and loves all things salty. 

How far along: 13 weeks and 2 days
Gender: We won't find out for another 2 months or so, we are anxious to know though!
Weight gain: 3 pounds
Maternity clothes: None yet, but I bought a cute top for like $2 at Old Navy and look forward to wearing it.
Stretch marks: None
Belly button in or out: In
Sleep: Not a lot this week with Winnie being sick :(
Best moment this week: Taking Winnie to her first baseball game & watching fireworks together!
Worst moment this week: Almost getting sick in the car while driving... it was rough. Note to self: always eat and always bring snacks. Always.
Miss anything: Mojitos. That's all.
Movement: Too little to tell.
Cravings: Salty french fries with vinegar, chips, Chinese food, and Kit Kats which are always a good idea, pregnant or not. :)
Queasy or sick: Queasy if I don't eat or drink every few hours.
Looking forward to: That 2nd trimester energy!!

Our little Winnie came down with a cold this past Sunday that turned into a mild case of Croup. She had a fever ranging from 101.1 to 102.5 and once that dropped she has just had this nasty cough. I must say though, we could not be more proud of our amazing girl. She hardly fussed, only the days she had a fever she was clingy and cried when she sneezed or coughed. She has been such a trooper and we all can't wait for it to be over.

If you didn't know already, we have a climber on our hands. Well, this week Winnie has learned how to climb onto the living room table and couch. She's fallen a couple times, once when she started running on the table and didn't realize the table came to an end and fell right off. We are currently teaching her how to properly get down... hopefully it'll stick.

We celebrated the 4th of July last night at the Intimidators baseball game minus Taylor because he wasn't feeling good. Winnie did great!! She was so curious of everything going on around her and was such a cheerful little fan. We also watched the fireworks her first time and she just kicked her feet to the music they played while I held her ears. She watched the whole time and didn't cry once.

When it started to drizzle we hung out like this. :) 

Winnie kept pointing to the mascot so we took her over
and she cried instantly. Thankfully Gisele managed to
get a decent picture of her, but you can tell she was frightened. 

Right before the fireworks started. We were excited!! 

Happy 4th of July!!!