And then there were four!

A lot has happened since September.  Ethan started to walk at 11 1/2 months and he also celebrated his first birthday.  We shared the occasion with play mates from the BATS group at church and also with the Pike family in Eynsbury.  There were belated, but much enjoyed, celebrations with the Browns to follow in the coming weeks!




Phil went to Nairobi at the end of October for GAFCON 2013.  By the time the conference arrived Phil was extremely ready for a holiday.  While his time away wasn't exactly restful, it was inspiring all the same and he came back spiritually refreshed.  The schedule of the conference was demanding but there was time to do some sight seeing including visiting a slum and seeing some Kenyan animals!

 


When Phil arrived at the airport in Melbourne, Ethan and I met him and we travelled straight up to Shell Cove for almost two weeks with Steve and Ruth.  Needless to say that both boys were very tired.  While we were up at Shell Cove Ethan had a great time picking tomatoes from Steve's cherry tomato bush, spending time with cousins Hannah and Audrey, playing at the Kiama pool and even splashing about in the backyard.

When we arrived back in Melbourne it was a quick run up to Christmas and then another break in preparation to welcome baby Isaac Samuel.  By the time he was 9 days overdue, Mum was getting pretty big, very hot and generally over being pregnant.  After a week of 40 degree weather Isaac was born at 2:39am on Saturday the 18th of January 2014.  He weighed about 3.8kg and measured 52.5cm in length - much heavier and longer than Ethan

  

 
 

So far we are adjusting well to being a family of 4.  Of course, we're tired, but overall we're coping pretty well and Isaac is generally feeding and sleeping really well.  Looking forward to the first 6 weeks being over when bubs tend to settle down even more.  Ethan loves pointing out baby Isaac but is still getting used to the idea that it's not ok to hit Isaac on the head when mummy is feeding him.  Hopefully he'll work that out sooner rather than later.
Things with Phil's work and professional standards continue to drag on.  The uncertainty and length of the process is very frustrating, particularly for Phil.  However Phil is feeling much less stressed overall which is making the process more bearable as a family.  We're all looking forward to some resolution.

A big 5 months...

Since I lasted posted, the Brown family has grown from Phil, Lisa, Ethan and Moses to incorporate it's newest member.  I'm currently 24 weeks pregnant with another little boy.  When Phil and I discovered I was expecting, the news was welcome but surprising.  I have to say I was just enjoying having a nice glass of wine after Ethan went down for the night - but that will have to wait!

Since April, Ethan has been growing in leaps and bounds.  He's now almost 11 months and he's turning into a real little boy.  His vocabulary is coming along nicely and includes words such as Mum, Dad, dog, duck, yay, yum and just recently, hello.  His favourite word has to be dog because he's just besotted with Moses and would happily sit and pull his hair all day if we'd let him.

He's also very close to walking.  After a slow start to his crawling career (about 8 1/2 months), he has taken to walking around whilst grabbing onto things very quickly.  He now stands reasonably comfortably by himself so we're just waiting for him to take that first step unassisted.

Ethan also has been busy growing teeth.  His first popped through while we were holidaying in New Zealand (8 months) and the second followed closely after.  We've been lucky enough as a household to also get another three through in the past few weeks.  It's been a tumultuous time!  But we've been enjoying Ethan so much - every day he makes us smile and laugh.  We're constantly amazed by his development and how fast he's growing up.  We're also excited about adding another little boy to the family.  We're hopeful that the two boys will be great friends.

While this time has been filled with the joy of watching Ethan grow, it has also been an extremely challenging time for us as a family.  I've been unwell for most of the pregnancy (again!) and this has taken it's toll.  Phil has also been going through a really tough time a work with a lot of disunity in the parish and accusations made against him.  We're looking forward to this phase coming to an end and moving on with life and ministry.

Approaching Six Months...

In the past 2 months a lot has happened.  We moved house from the suburban plains of Maribyrnong to the urban pastures of Brunswick.

Our house, in Thistle St has been wonderful!  We honestly thought that leaving our McMansion would be difficult but God has provided a house for us that not only suits our needs perfectly, it is in a great neighbourhood and is close enough to walk to church.  There are lots of young families around us and we have already connected with a few of them.  We're also loving being able to walk to a number of great cafes for brunch or a coffee.  The house itself has 3 bedrooms and a great living area at the back of the house.  Even though the move itself was very difficult, we're very happy here.

In the past 2 months Ethan has gone from baby to little boy.  We celebrated his 4 month birthday with starting solids and he has developed a wonderful eating / sleeping pattern which we're very thankful for!

Am I related to Shrek??

We also gave Ethan his first haircut and managed to get him out of his swaddle!  Praise the Lord!

He's been having a lot of fun using the new activity centre / eating the microphone, sitting up in the bumbo, getting strong with tummy time and now he's even sitting up by himself.  What a star!