The Brown Family Blog: August 2010

I know that this is going to be a shocker, but we are actually posting an update! I will take ownership of the delay on this one as Amanda has been very good to remind me that it was (and has been for quite some time) my turn to do the update. I will say that trying to be a great dad, a good business owner and a good husband, has kept me very busy and from being able to update this blog, but I hope that I am at least getting the important things right. Unfortunately for Amanda, I am afraid that the latter of the three is probably the one that is lacking the most.

Alright, I feel the best place to start this one is to put in the following disclaimer:
Although the owners of this blog have every intention of updating this blog with regular updates, pictures and videos, nothing within this blog should be misconstrued as a promise or guarantee of the aforementioned. Nothing stated within this blog will bind the owners of this blog to provide any updates, photographs or videos in a timely manner. There are no guarantees, expressed or implied, of any promise to update any information contained herein.

Now that this has been taken care of, it is pretty hard to figure out where to start and pick this back up. So much has happened since Easter when this was last updated and Clare is changing daily. She has been quite the traveler lately. Seems like we were barely home this summer! Since Amanda has been on summer break, the girls have become my traveling partners when I have to go anywhere on business. One time on the road to Oklahoma City they both were sleeping in the car so the radio was pretty much off, I did have the thought cross my mind if this was better than traveling alone. If I was traveling alone I could have atleast had the radio on...and listened to something good! All kidding aside, I completely love having my girls with me when I travel and miss them both dearly now that they are not at home with me during the day since Amanda is back at work and Clare is back at “nammy’s house”.

Miss Clare was also able to take her first trip on an airplane to Colorado and she was amazing! I know that this was not luck, but was due to the careful planning of my wonderful wife. This little tike fell asleep at take off and would then wake up shortly after landing. I think the best part of all of it all was probably watching Mom & Dad acting as pack mules to carry all the luggage, stroller and car seat across the airport. We had such a good time in Estes Park hiking. It was so beautiful and great to have some time to relax. One day, we rode the tram to the top of the peak that was still in town. Clare was strapped to the front of me, which was good since I was also responsible for the backpack. I am still not sure what Amanda was in charge of... We fed the chipmunks peanuts from our hands at the summit after getting off the tram and hiked all the way to the top of the peak. Clare loved it so much that we turned her around so that she was facing me and she slept the entire hike back down! Needless to say, I think that we have a traveler on our hands and can’t wait for all the family trips to come!

She has started cutting teeth, belly laughing, rolling/scooting all over the place, drinking from a straw, emptying all the toys out of her basket, smiling with her nose scrunched up, blowing bubbles with her spit and is even making “ba-ba”, “da-da” and “ma-ma” sounds. Now that we have Amanda covered….what can I tell you about Clare? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Most recently, Clare went to the hospital to welcome her new friend, Nora Courtney Davis to the world. She was the cutest thing with so much dark hair (yes, I know I realize I just used the word cute….) and it was so cool to see Clare interact with her. They are going to be great friends!

I am constantly amazed by the miracle of life daily and feel so blessed to have an amazing daughter and wife. They both can turn the most stressful and darkest moment into something to treasure. Every day is filled with laughter, wonder and amazement. I wish this same feeling to everyone and can’t wait to see you all again soon!

In the "jumper" at Nammy and Poppy's house ( 5 months old)