First Easter

We had a very sucessful and busy first Easter at home! This is officially the holiday that we get to host each year.....my parents will get Christmas and the Paynes will get Thanksgiving! We spent most of the time working up at the shop....we took a trip to Ikea and got most of the shelving and pieces for the store and then while Jason and my dad worked on that, I cooked up my first Easter meal! Here are some pics.....the menu was pretty extensive. Several "meza" dishes, homeade soup, lamb, green beans sauteed with pancetta, stuffed grape leaves, roasted potatoes, salad, and two cakes! It was a nice day and we really appreciated having my parents here to help us out with the set up of the shop. Stay tuned because those pics will be coming soon!!!

First Easter

March 2008

Just adding a few pics from our trip home to VA and from the shop. Construction is underway!! Paint and flooring go in this week. Looks like we are looking at less then 4 weeks to open!
The VA pics are at Jefferson Vineyard on our 4 month anniversary. Jason is trying on the t shirt we got the baby as u can see:) little snug. Now if we can just get that VA weather up to Ohio we will be all set!

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.