Happy Anniversary!

It was seven years ago this very evening that Lisa and I went to dinner for the first time.

We went to Rulloff's on College Avenue. It was a another grey and cold day in Ithaca, NY - but there was enough sun for a weary sunset. We decided that we'd meet en route - on the corner of College Avenue and Ho Plaza. I was playing with my new gps device because I was getting ready to go to the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, CA for a deployment to Iraq later in the year.

Lisa was chatty. In fact, we talked a lot, left the restaurant and kept on talking as we walked. We walked back up Ho Plaza, around the McGraw clock tower, past the Johnson Art Museum, down and over the Fall Creek gorge, back up the street and back across the gorge until I left Lisa exactly where we met earlier in the evening. No walk to the car, no kiss good night. Nothing. I tried nothing.

The truth is that I had no idea that we were on a date. As in d-a-t-e. I just thought she was a really neat person and colleague and someone to have dinner with. Okay, that's not true either. Someone had told me that Lisa was "interested" in me although I had a hard time believing it.

That was seven years ago.

In that time I have been to Iraq twice for a total of eighteen months. Both my parents have passed. We have two beautiful boys. We lost a daughter. We had two significant career changes and two promotions. We moved from New York (me a life long resident) to North Carolina. We have taken four trips with the Walt Disney company. We count more blessings than we do misfortunes because when misfortune does strike we have one another to count on.

That's it. Time for snuggling and spoonin'.

Back on Track

Okay, we know, we have not used our blog in MONTHS! And so much has happened in this time. So much that we want to record, want to remember, want to share. All I can say is I am sorry, and I will work to do a better job keeping a chronicle of our family life if not for right now, for the future so we can look back and smile at all that is good in our lives.

And life IS good. December 1st 2010 was the birth of our second son, Grant Robert Brown. His original due date was December 3rd. But because of my “advancing maternal age” the doctors suggested that we have this baby as close to our due date as possible. Since they do not perform any inductions on Friday (December 3rd) and Thursday’s calendar was already full, we opted for Wednesday, December 1st. How is that for the process by which Grant’s birthday was selected?

All things considered, labor went well. . . short and much easier than what I remember with T.J. I remember being able to “enjoy” the very first moments of Grant coming into this world—something that did not happen with T.J. because he was a week late and needed doctor attention and because I was living in a state of pain inside my head. Of course the story that Rich will always share of that day is how I tried to time my pushes so that Grant could be born at 1:21 pm on 12/1. What can I say. I like repeating numbers, and it gave me something to focus on during the last 40 minutes of delivery. I needed a goal, something to shoot for. And although the birth certificate says Grant was born at 1:22 pm. Rich and I know full well that his head was completely out by 1:21. My work was over.

Grant is now three months old and doing well. He is a chunky baby (much bigger than what his brother was at three months), prone to spit up, and already smiling and flirting with everyone he encounters. Bottom line: HE IS A JOY. I am amazed with how easy going he is. When he wants to sleep, he sleeps. When he wants to eat, he eats. And when he wants to poop. . . well, let’s just say he likes to save it all up for a real big mess when he is ready (sometimes waiting for up to 7 days).

T.J. is a fantastic big brother. To date, there have been no negative words about his brother nor issues with adjusting to life with a baby in the house. I am impressed that T.J. has responded so well. He does a great job mimicking how Daddy and Mommy interact with Grant and, at the end of the day, will always ask how was Grant’s day. Samantha has also been a great big sister. During the Christmas holiday, she was so helpful as she held Grant often and sat with him during the times when he would just cry out that newborn cry.

So now it is March and I am back at work. While I am super excited to return to my position with Camp, I am also a little sad that Grant and I will be spending less time together. I loved our days when I was just the two of us getting to know each other. He followed such a predictable pattern of “eat, play, sleep” that it was easy to plan my day accordingly and really take advantage of the time I knew he wanted to play.

So life IS good and we have much for which to be thankful. And, with the right amount of discipline on my part we will have plenty more stories to blog about in the months to come.

Happy Fourth of July

We spent the Fourth of July going to Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. It was a perfect day of warm weather, sunny dispositions, and lots of surf and sand.

The night before we joined the Camp crowd for the "Third on the Fourth Fireworks" at camp. Over a thousand kids, counselors and adults all sitting on blankets in a big open field next to the river - it was electrical. This was TJ's first "real" fireworks where he comprehended the sounds and bright sparkling explosions. Of course, to him, it was a-w-e-s-o-m-e.

We got up for breakfast and hit the early ferry to the south side of the Neuse River. We drove through pine scrub forest until we hit Morehead, NC and made our way over the causeway to the beach. Parking, believe it or not, was easy to find and we unloaded to the dunes.

This was TJ's first "real" visit to the ocean - you know, the one where he realizes waves and surf. He chased the water out and it chased him back in. He screeched and laughed. We loved it and it was amazing to see the fun in his eyes of such a simple act as playing in the surf and sand. We did confirm that TJ is a sand castle buster, not a builder. I, unfortunately, am a sand castle builder. Having TJ "Godzilla" Brown around is dangerous.

Sam played the part of the protective big sister and reminded me once again that that sibling bond is very strong. Of course her main goal was to listen to her iPod and get a tan, but on the whole she wanted to be with us - very cool for a soon-to-be teenager.

Our trip included a visit to the "famous" Sanitary Fish Market, a staple of the Seafarer and Seagull crowd for years and years. The restaurant is one of those community places that grew out of a reputation for good food and through word of mouth and very clever marketing of tee-shirts. Fried anything (mostly fish) and a staple of southern food that I actually like, hush puppies! We ate way too much and spent way too much but it was worth it.

On the trip home I reflected how happy I was to be with my family on a day where everything was pleasant.

God bless America!