The Brown Brick Road

Capturing our adventures one photo at a time...

When he grows up

Not only can I not wait for BBB to get here, but I can’t wait to see what he’s going to be like as he grows up.

Will he be ready to head out on big adventures and crawl all over the rocks?

Stephie crawling

Or just try to crawl looking like he’s had too many drinks “on the rocks”?  🙂

Robert crawling

Robert crawling

One thing’s for sure, he will definitely know how to politely fold his hands and pose…

Stephie

And look very cute in navy and white.

Robert

I can’t wait to see if he has red hair….

Stephie

But regardless of the color, I think it’s a given that he’s going to have a lot of hair!

Robert

And I can only imagine that BBB is ALWAYS going to be just as happy as these little kiddos…

Keath, Daddo, and Stephie

And never, EVER, act like this poor little guy!  Right?!  🙂

Robert, Lou Lou, & Ronnie

Regardless of all the above, I do hope all our future holidays are this happy…

Stephie

and BBB is just as smiley as this cutie on all of his birthdays!

Robert

In all seriousness, if we really want to know what BBB is going to look like, just compare this:

Baby Robert

With this:

BBB

Mini-me anyone?

A little Christmas secret

Taking true advantage of being in Alabama and so close to the fam, we spent a fun 2009 Christmas Eve and Day in Montgomery celebrating with the Browns….

We then headed back to Birmingham so we could host the Patterson family at our new house on the day after Christmas!  Little did everyone know that while Robert and I were setting up this…

And waiting on Delaney and everyone else to make their appearance….

That not only were we cooking up a fantastic meal….

But we were cooking a bun in the oven as well!!  We found out the morning of December 26th that we were going to become a family of 3!!  woohoo!  Guess Santa knew what we really wanted for Christmas after all…

A merry Christmas indeed!

Home owners!

I know you all are getting anxious for the baby posts…and I promise they’re coming soon (just like I hope BBB is coming soon…3 weeks to go!)  But, first I have to introduce you to our first baby – the kind with 4 walls!

So, after lots of looking we finally found just the right house!  Hooray!

Welcome home, Brown family.  Welcome home!

Over the next few weeks we tested some paint colors…

Gutted a bathroom…

Updated the kitchen…

And did a little yard work.  (A little pro landscaping – below – mixed with many hours of Robert and me (and GJ!) sweating face and on our hands and knees getting it all done!)

I’d say it all turned out pretty great!

We’ve loved living here and getting it all fixed up and decorated…during all the seasons!

Birmingham

So, we moved back down south, quickly settled into Birmingham and started to learn our way around and make new friends.  That didn’t stop our fun travels though!

We celebrated Mary Beth and Holland’s engagement and wedding in Montgomery…

And skied in Beaver Creek….

We went to weddings in Santa Fe…

North Carolina…

Aspen…

and we even got to go back to our old stomping grounds, New York City!

We welcomed a new member of the Patterson family!  Ava Delaney Patterson was born in May!

and a few months later we all made the trip to Tampa to see her get christened.

We were in a new city, Robert had a new job, I was working from home and things were great.  The only problem was that we were living in an apartment that made my NY apartment look like the Four Seasons.  Every Sunday we would scour the paper and internet and then hit the open houses!  We saw lots of duds, lots of ones we couldn’t afford and then we saw one that seemed just right…. (I know you can hardly wait for the next post.  such suspense!)

AL or Bust!

A few months after the wedding, Robert and I decided to change up our adventures a bit and say goodbye to Manhattan (sniffle, sniffle).  Robert got a job in Birmingham, AL and we took the ultimate road trip back to our Southern roots.

But we had to go to Anguilla for a wedding first…that was a good choice!  Thanks Lynds and Phil!

In August we packed up the rental car and headed out for a 3 day, 1000 mile road trip.

We stopped in Pennsylvania to see some familiar (and cute!) faces…

We took some super fun tours of battlegrounds in Gettysburg…is my sarcasm translating??  But, Robert loved it!

We took the scenic route through the Blue Ridge Parkway…

And visited Robert’s alma mater, Hampden-Sydney.

Finally we made it to our home in AL!

Ha!  I wish!  The Biltmore House was awesome but it couldn’t compare to our apartment when we finally made it to Birmingham…

Home Sweet Home!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  I’m off to hang out with my parents and will be back next week with the rest of the story…