19 Months and Growing!

We really don't have a good excuse for taking 6 months to post another update but we have done some fun things. Josephine is almost 19 months old and a classic toddler with bumps and bruises to prove it. She did not walk until she was almost 15 1/2 months but is making up for it. She is talking up a storm saying several new words a day and even saying two words together.

It has been a record breaking hot summer in Seattle requiring plenty of diaper only time as seen below (we don't have AC in Seattle).

Josephine loves to imitate mom and dad talking on the cell phone. Luckily there is a standalone mode so she can't make any prank calls (at least we don't think so).

Josephine playing it cool at happy hour. We were excited to find a local restaurant that allows kids during happy hour. Great prices and it ends just before bedtime.

In June we made a trip to Missoula. Josephine is telling uncle Mark this it is "Ni" time.

Grandpa Tom gets a good night hug!

Sitting with mom after playing at the water park.

Enjoying "Out to Lunch" with daddy and Grandma Jennie.

Trying on Uncle Mark's slippers. Just a little too big.

Much to Josephine pleasure, Grandpa Tom bought a Costco size box of goldfish crackers for our visit. I am pretty sure the box was empty by the time we left. Of course mom did not eat any!

Classic Montana photo with a baby in the back of a pick-up truck.

Grandma Jennie got us some deals at the Book Exchange. Finally, some new books!

Josephine and her friend Cash enjoying the sand at Golden Gardens. I am pretty sure none of those toys belonged to us and they both went home wearing only a diaper. Sand is messy!

Almost all of the off-spring of mom's high school friends. Carrie & Chris's son Cameron, Josephine, Lynnea & Glenn's son Sam, Rebecca & Kyle's daughters Masie & Shelby, and Kristin & Tyson's son Oliver (missing: Max & Finn). Amazingly no one was crying!

Josephine and Cash trying to stay cool in Cash's backyard.

Josephine trying to help with our new tree in the backyard. The old tree came down on Arbor Day (oops!).

In May we made a trip to Orinda, CA to visit the great grandparents and celebrate Bob-o's 90th birthday.

And eat more goldfish!

Josephine loves rocks and at Bob-o and Gretch's she was in heaven with their huge bowl of rocks. She was nice enough to share with Grandzsa.

Josephine, Luca and Cash made their first trip to the aquarium in May.

They even got to touch a sea anemone and as far as I know it survived.

We took many trips to the zoo and one of them we spent with Kristen and Cora who were visiting from Ellensburg, WA.

For some reason I cannot figure out how to delete this photo so it is in here twice.

Mom was able to get off work early on Mother's Day so we had a picnic at Karkeek Park.

In March we made another trip to Missoula with a quick overnight stay in Sandpoint with Grandzsa.

I am happy to say dad no longer has the mustache.

Grandpa Tom showing Josephine how great it is to have a digital camera, or is Josephine showing Grandpa Tom?

Who needs real toys?!

Josephine took her first ride on the merry-go-round but it was not very merry. Maybe next year.

Josephine discovered the piano for the first time and was pretty proud of herself.

Josephine tackling Grandzsa. She just might out weigh her.

We hope our next posting is not 6 months from now but we can't promise anything!

Only 3 months late, some stuff from Josephine's first birthday

So, Josephine is already a year old, a year and nearly three months, actually. I know, I know, I really should have put these up for those who were not here a long time ago, but better late than never, right? Several adults and a few of Josephine's friends came over for some pizza, beer, and most importantly, cake.

First a couple of videos. My favorite part of the first one is her look of confusion at the very end when the cake is taken away. The second shows her first taste of cake . . . well, not really since the frosting was so good she took her time getting to the cake. Note that the sweet taste of frosting drives Josephine to dive right back in without even taking time to smile.

And here are some pictures from the party.

Can you get drunk off of birthday cake?

Happy 1st Birthday cutie pie little girl!

Happy Holidays!

Dear Family and Friends,

I (Browyn) have decided to send a holiday greeting through Josephine's blog. Some might call it cheating, which is probably true, but it also saves paper, time and money. As you have all seen, most of 2008 was spent watching our beautiful daughter grow and learn throughout her first year of life. However, Jim and I do still have a small life of our own beyond Josephine (much to her disappointment).

After my 4 months of maternity leave I returned to work at Seattle Childrens on the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance unit with a slight twist to my schedule. To prevent the need for childcare, yet continue to support the family while Jim is in school, I took a position where I only work 24 hours a week but it requires me to work every Saturday and Sunday. It may not sound like fun to many but it actually works out perfectly for our current life. Ironically enough, my first weekend back was Mother's Day weekend. Once I got over leaving Josephine for 2 days I came to enjoy it. I get to use my brain and take care of other people's sick children which is a lot easier than taking care of your own. I have found that my "nurse brain" completely leaves me when it comes to my own child. I am slowly learning to combine my "mother brain" and my "nurse brain", but it does not come naturally. Constantly questioning your ability to nurture your child seems to go hand in hand with being a mother, but this too seems to get better over time. Watching Josephine grow over this last year has been amazing. It seems impossible, but she just gets cuter and cuter, but I don't have to tell you guys that.

Along with updates to our baby blog Jim managed to complete 3 more quarters of Pharmacy school in 2008. He only has 2 more quarters of classes and 9 months of rotations before he is awarded his PharmD. It may still sound like a lot, but he is over halfway done, and we can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. Jim has been an amazing father! His weekends are now spent changing diapers, washing bottles, playing with stuffed animals and reading books titled "Jesse Bear What Will You Wear" and "Mama Always Comes Home." He is always willing to put Josephine to bed so I can have a "Mom's Night Out" and does his best to reassure me when I am being irrational (not that it happens very often!). Josephine and I gave him one free weekend when we flew to Chicago to visit my Villanova roommates. I am not sure who enjoyed the free weekend more, Jim or Lorelei (our dog).

Speaking of Lorelei, our poor neglected dog. She is slowly recovering from losing her spot as #1 princess. The first 4 months of Josephine's life Lorelei ignored her, but over the last 7 months Lorelei has come to the realization that Josephine is not leaving so she better learn to deal with it. She is finally back to being her more social self and even giving Josephine a few kisses here and there. Funny how their relationship improved tremendously once Josephine started eating solid food.

We hope that you all had a very Merry Chirstmas and we wish you all the best for 2009!



Now I will let you enjoy the numerous pictures from the last several months.

Not to start on a sad note but we had to include this very sad picture of Josephine when she had the flu for the first time.


Unforutnately, she passed the flu on to the rest of the family. Poor daddy!


How can you not be happy when you wake up to this? Good morning!


One of our favorite pastimes is visiting the zoomazium at the zoo, which happens to be a quick 5 minute drive from our house. Here are a few pictures from a typical day at the zoomazium.


playing on the fake rocks and showing her hippo teeth

playing the bongo drums

popping out of the dinosaur egg and doing her best to actually look like a dinosaur



Josephine had her introduction to spaghetti. She loved it, but I don't think her highchair will ever be the same.


Josephine also had her introduction to snow.






And to Santa Claus. You guess which one she liked best. Let's just say that is not a smile on her face.


But the best was her first experience of Christmas. Luckily she had her older cousin Graham to show her the ropes. We were able to spend Christmas Eve with Devin, Bridget and Graham before they headed to warm Southern California (only a few days late).




Christmas morning. Daddy's favorite present of the day, cuddling with his daughter.

Stocking time! Fruit in the stocking won't cut it for long but I figured I could get away with it the first year.


Her first presents from Uncle Mark and Grandpa Tom.


An adorable handmade rocking chair from Grandfather and Grandzsa.


But who needs toys when you have bows and wrapping paper!


Josephine's first baby doll.


Two days before Christmas Lorelei got her teeth cleaned (not the Christmas gift she was hoping for) which caused her to have a partially shaved front leg (also not the Christmas gift she was hoping for). Apparently neither was the Nyla bone we gave her. OK, so maybe she is still the #1 princess in the house.

Josephine in her Christmas outfit (you have to love hand-me-downs). She has already given up the baby doll for a slinky, oh well!


Here are a couple other cute pictures of Josephine with a few of her favorite toys.

A couple of video clips

As promised, and only a few days late, here are some recent videos of Josephine. First up, an attempt to feed her yams. I guess these will not be a favorite food.

Next, a couple of videos of Josephine crawling and standing. It is very cute, but it has made it very difficult to get anything done while she is awake as you cannot take your eyes off of her.

And finally, she can crawl up the stairs. Sorry for the Blair Witch Project filming, but I was a little more concerned that she not fall down the stairs than that the video look good. Enjoy these clips. Sorry for the lack of witty commentary.