A Summer To Remember + An Introduction

Little girl Brower's are rare around here, so miss Addilynn Nicole Brower needs a big introduction. This beautiful, tiny, little girl was born very early in the morning on August 14, 2010 and we were a proud Aunt and Uncle waiting for her arrival at the hospital. The first words out of Jess's brother's (Trent) mouth were..... "she smaller than a football" as he came out of the delivery room.






She's very precious, Liz and Trent say she doesn't cry much at all, has some trouble sleeping on her own, and eats great. She couldn't have been born into a more loving family.

Jess and I have been together so long, it feels like I have watched Trent grow up before my eyes. All in a year - he has left home, found a wonderful girl to share his life with, found a job he loves and created this beautiful baby girl. We are so very happy for their new family. Here are the proud parents.



Now onto some of our summer happenings........

Jack is a hat boy and I'm glad for it because he has such a fair complexion. He loves his STL hat that looks identical to his daddy's!



A month back, we went to a Cardinals game with my parents. You know the saying, "It takes a village..."? Well it took all of us to manage Jack at the game. Gone are the days of holding him in the shade and letting him sleep through most of the game. He went to 20+ games as a baby when we lived in STL - it was so easy then! Now he wants ice cream, popcorn, wants to walk, etc. It makes for an "up and down" game trying to entertain him.

Here is our family of 3.



Jack loves his Grandpa Joe and he milks it for all it's worth. This was a cute picture of them watching the game together.



Here's the whole gang, minus the photographer (me).



In late July, we made a road trip to Gatlinburg, TN for my cousin Ethan's wedding. It was beautiful. They got married on a mountaintop, we spent the weekend in a fabulous cabin. Take out the afternoon that my mom broke her wrist, all went well.

This picture is of Jack "reading" my newspaper on the drive over. He did really well with the drive except when we got in the mountains. I bet I learn something new about Jack everyday and this day I learned that Jack gets car sick. Especially after eating many DQ french fries and half my Butterfinger Blizzard. Not a good combination for a child and definitely not for mommy and daddy trying to clean it up!



Here is the happy couple and the reason for the trip.... Ethan and Jamie Singleton. It was a beautiful wedding and an intimate reception.... just family and close friends - just he way they wanted it.



Here they are again, outside the reception.



Jack and his cousin Finley found each other entertaining. She is the only child smaller than Jack on the Singleton side of the family and I think he likes that!



These are Finley's sisters (Ethan's nieces) Carter and Murphy- they were both in the wedding. I snapped this picture of them outside the reception.



This was taken on our last night there. Jess and Jack had cuddled up for the night and were reading a good book. Nothing beats a leather couch in a log cabin on a summer night.



This is our official Grand Opening picture for Jess's office. It was in the paper a few weeks back. Almost everyone that had anything to do with the planning/building of the office + the city representatives were there. It was such a big/proud moment. Afterwards, Jess had an open house all day.



Here is our family on the day of the open house. A quick update on Jess - business is going really well. We couldn't be more pleased. Thanks to our family and friends for your support... please keep it coming!



A favorite as of late is this riding horse. He got this from my Aunt Amy's family and got the old hat from my brother's closet. Graham used to LIVE in this hat as a young boy.



Here is daddy seeing Jack ride his horsey and wear the hat for the first time! Love his reaction!



This is an action shot!



Now onto the obsession with mowing. It's a little crazy but it is very cute. Jack loves riding mowers, push mowers, tractor mowers, you name it. Red ones, green ones, it doesn't matter. If he can't be with Jess while Jess is mowing the lawn he goes crazy... like a trapped dog in a cage running back and forth between the front and back windows in the house, trying to see his dad in action.

Here his is doing his part to mow the lawn.



Here are the two of them getting ready to tackle the front lawn.





Grandpa Joe brought by the Kubota one day and took Jack for a ride. He loved it!



We have gotten a lot of use of the slide and swing set this summer. Grandma Debbie took this picture while babysitting for Jack. She comes twice a week and picks Jack up after work to help us out and give Jack some good Grandma time!



I will end with this picture. I think it could rival those magazine Milk ads. Maybe I should send it in! :)