Books for new moms and dads

Hey Parents to Be -

I have been coming across some really great books lately that I think are really valuable in terms of suggestions for child rearing.....especially when it comes to issues such as self esteem and confindence. I also got a great book on cooking for babies and children......just wanted to share. Here are the titles....I got them off Amazon really cheap and its fun because its always fun to get stuff in the mail:)

1. Your Self Confident Baby by Magda Gerber
2. A-Z Gide to Raising Happy, Confident Kids by Dr. Jenn Berman
3. The Petite Appetit Cookbook (Easy, ORganic Recipies to Nurture your Baby and Toddler)

Also I found a great website (www.euphoriamaternity.com). It has a more organic appeal and offers great tips and clothes and gear.
Happy Reading!

From Fat to Phat:)

It's been about a year and a half now that Jason and I have taken on a new approach to eating and working out and how we live our life in general. We started a program to help us lose weight but ended up gaining a whole new perspective on life and health. Although we aren't working out quite as hard with the pregnancy, we are still incorporating the same way of living....and I think its almost easier to do now. I have replaced wine with orange juice and so how bad can that be:) We are definitly planning on keeping active once the baby comes and incorporating physical activity in our family as well as cooking healthy meals. I am going to take a stab at making some of my own baby food. In any case this is more for amusment than anything else....but these are our before and afters. Not going to show you the whole body shots but you can get the picture:) The first one is obviously the before. Then the after. Then newly pregnant:)

Brown Family Pictures!

Some pics of us from our honeymoon, first thanksgiving at our home, and of our little buddy georgie:)

Our extended family:)

Just wanted to post a few pics of our friends... I am sure there will be plenty more where these came from in the future. These would be people we sort of consider our extended family......especially here in Columbus! The pregnant ones are Adam and Emily Ross.....we will be sharing child rearing and child birthing experiences with them soon not to mention most other life experiences that we like to share with them. We have a pic is of Leigh Ann and Rob.....now Rizek! There wedding is actually tomorrow so stay tuned for some wedding pics! Then we have Chrissie and Stef..... my maids of honor in our wedding and two of my very best friends....followed by pics of JJ and Amber (now residing in P Burg), Ken T. O., Tricia who is leaving us soon to head off to Denver, Megan my long time friend and her man Dan, and our man A.P.

For those that know us well I think its easy to tell that Jason and I really value our friendships.....these are people who have really made our lives special and now that we are starting a family we hope to continue to have them a part of all that comes with that.

Meza

So on the work front we have been facing some changes this year...... I left my job at Express corporate for a number of reasons. Now it wasn't with the intention of going into business for myself but that had been somthing that we had been talking about doing seriously since our trip to Napa. We had visited this store there called Olivier as well as a market called Oakville Grocery Store. The one cool thing about Napa is that it is filled with little hole in the wall quaint shops and markets. There is very little there that is big and commercial. We fell in love with that aspect and being in those places made me really think about what I wanted out of life and how amazing it would be to bring somthing like that back to Ohio. I knew I didn't want to go back to corporate retail....it just isn't for me, and I knew that I wanted to do somthing bigger that emcompassed all the things I love. So our idea for Meza was born over some seriously strong beers that we had in Headelsburg the last night of our honeymoon. It was either being drunk with love....or just drunk off the alchohol that made us jump on an idea like this. My leaving Express gave us the kick in the ass to bring this to fruition.

So we are slated to open the first location of Meza close to April 1, 2008 in Uptown Westerville, where we live. Due to some interesting liquor liscence laws we are not able to sell wine until the fall but will be opening as a gourmet and specialty food shop. We are hoping its a smash hit..... great for the cooking enthusiasts....and those who don't like to cook I am sure at least like to eat! We will keep you updated on the progess of the store construction....and on how seriously broke we are until this place opens:) Be sure to plan on being there come opening!

Baby Brown!!! On the way!

So a few days after New Years...which I spent doubled over with some serious heartburn....I took a pregnancy test thinking that I honestly wasn't pregnant since I had taken one the week prior and so I thought I guess I would just take the last one to be certain and then put the idea behind us for a month or two.....
and what do you know:) It was positive! I told Jason that night on State street (the main street near our house where we are opening a business) by way of giving him a gift to open ( a baby cap and baby socks) :) I guess we were both a little shocked....but unbelievably excited!!! No one seems to tell you about the rollercoaster of emotions you go through when you find out you are pregnant....being excited....but then scared. Feeling like you are too young. Being upset about the change in lifestyle. Trust me I felt all of them. In the end I guess I may not be one of those girls who "loves" being pregnant..... don't get me wrong. I love that there is a little person inside of me and I love that I am going to be a mother. So in other words I love the outcome. I cannot wait until this baby gets here.....its just the getting there part that is harder to deal with than I thought. Trust me, I cannot wait for this baby to arrive. It is all we can think about at times! I have been thus far having an easy pregnancy I think in terms of morning sickness and not feeling well. It more so the restrictions and the body image issues that are coming into play now. Of course the payoff is greater than anything else in the world so all of it is worth the sacrifice. The one thing I am learning about with somthing like pregnancies is that its the start of parenthood. Everyone has an opinion about how it should be and how it should be done and people are all different. And families raise children differenly and that is somthing I think will be really important to remember. So its just somthing that you have to work at in terms of sticking to your guns and your belifs. And hopefully that you are entitled to feel however you feel.....even if its not all roses all the time:)
We are preparing the nursery.... here are some sneak preview pics. The tree on the wall will be the base for a "family" tree...it will be surrounded by pics of our friends and family! If you can't tell we think it may be a girl..... but really who knows. Truth is either sex I think would be exciting....I am actually getting geared up for either!
No matter what it is we are excited that it's a BABY!! . We find out in 8 weeks if it will be little Jakob or Little Laila Luciana!

Travle blog - Highlight Napa Valley!

We have gotten the great oppertunity to travel this past year and considering it may be a bit before we can go on any more trips I think its fair to say that we made the most of 2007! We went to Serbia and London to visit my family. Having Jason experience that was one of the most exciting things I have ever done. I am hoping our next trip to visit our family will also be an oppertunity to go to Croatia and visit Split and the island of Hvar. This is an area that I use to spend summers as a little kid and I am hoping it can be our first family trip with our baby next summer!

We also took two white water rafting trips this year with our friends....pretty amazing experience ( and may I add nothing either of us would have done the year prior). Lastly we were lucky enough to be able to honeymoon in Napa Valley. For those who haven't been there I can't stress enough how beautiful it is. I know for people who are not wine drinkers it may not be the top choice in their heads but quite honestly even if you don't drink wine I think its a worthwhile place to see! The temp. is perfect......mid 70's when we were there in early November. The scenery really is breathtaking. If you are a food lover....I can honestly say I have never eaten food that good.....even down to the Mexican which is local and authentic. Our favorite area there was St. Helena.....this cute little town in the valley that has the most adorable shops....one of which inspired our newest business venture. I will round back and post some pics later from Serbia but with this blog I am including Napa pics in hopes that it will make it on to your list of places to visit!

Wedding Day

Our wedding was an absolutly amazing day for both of us and hopefully for our families and friends as well. We got married Nov. 3, 2007 at the Jefferson Vineyards in Charlottesville, VA, Jason's home. The weekend couldn't have been more beautiful....we really lucked out on some great weather. It was a definite merging of cultures as we had several of my family members in from Serbia and from England! I think the greatest part was seeing everyone interact, regardless of the language barrier and enjoy themselves.
The day prior to the wedding the girls and I ( girls being my 5 best girlfriends) spent our time at this fabluous place called a Guest House in the Clouds. http://www.aguesthouseintheclouds.com/ The place was like a secluded cottage in the woods with 3 bedrooms, a master bath and a living room and kitchen. Aside from the killer incline it takes to get there, the views were amazing and it was just really cool and private.
We were married outside on the hill overlooking the horse pasture of the vineyard ( and yes...there were actual horses out) and had the reception in a big white tent. Anyway it was a pretty great day. I will post some pics for those who couldnt make it!

Our House.....the never ending metamorphasis

Jason and I are both people who enjoy actually doing things ourselves....i enjoy cooking from scratch, he enjoys building a piece of furniture and bringing somthing from conception to reality. So when we were looking for a place to set down roots in Columbus we were looking for a place with good bone structure that we could mold into our dream home. Columbus seemed to be the reverse market of what we were use to......new home = bad, old home = $$. As far as new homes, bad not in the sense that it was not a good home....bad in a sense that it seemed that the newer the home the harder it was to sell later on.....since Columbus is such a growing city there are new homes and condos popping up daily...somthing that bit us in the ass when we went to sell our condo.
In any case we were looking for a home with charecter and charm, existing hardwood floors, a decent yard, a fireplace, and the possibility of a big kitchen. SInce I love to cook and spend the most time in the kitchen we were really looking for a home that had at least the possibility of one day having a great kitchen. After a long search through cold nights, snow storms, and a plethera of some really wacky houses, we were finally able to find our gem. It was a bit hard for me to see the potential that Jason was seeing....but once the wall seperating the kitchen and the dining room came down I think we both were realizing that it was the perfect layout for us. This experience has given me a new found respect for my husband and all the amazing talents he has....I mean he literally tore out a wall and built a kitchen from scratch. Makes my cooking from scratch seem like small potatoes:) We still have several rooms to work on.....bathroom renovation is next, followed by painting the outside, landscaping and patio and finishing the basement. Someday we would like to even add on....luckily our initial want of a decent yard turned into a little over 1/2 an acre so there is some room to grow. This house has turned out to be our passion....it's our favorite place to be and we really have enjoyed reinventing it and making it our blank canvas. Anyway, I will post some pics of our "flip this house" and keep you updated on our progress!