The Munchkin's 1st Birthday Party

The Munchkin has finally turned 1 and we were VERY EXCITED about his 1st Birthday Party. I had been planning this birthday celebration for the past 6 months and was very excited to see all of my plans come to life. The theme for the party was "Under the Big Top". Yes, the Munchkin had a Carnival Theme Birthday Party and it was a success. We had Games, Prizes, Carnival Food, Carnival Candy and a Moonbounce. Special thanks to my Family and Friends who pitched in to help make this party go off without a hitch!! Below are some of the pics from the party:

The Munchkin had his own Sweet Shoppe

The cake was by Cookies Cakes

The Proud Mommy!

My FIRST Mother's Day...

This was my FIRST Mother's Day and I was soooooo excited!!!

For the past two weeks, I was anxiously anticipating my first Mother's Day and everything that came along with it and I must say that I was VERY pleased. I started receiving gifts and cards from family and friends the week before and it only got better as the days went by. My God-Daughter and her mom sent me the most delicious Chocolate Covered Strawberries and my parents sent me these beautiful Asiatic Lilies that are still alive! (I just knew they were going to die soon) I also received several cards.

On that Sunday Morning, the Munchkin and Keno brought me breakfast in bed and afterwards they presented me with more cards and gifts. The Munchkin signed his own card and even left me a hand print that will never go away. (Yes, that's his real hand print...He has big hands! LOL!) I also received two more charms to go on my Pandora bracelet. (Pretty soon my bracelet will be complete!!) For the remainder of the day, I relaxed and worked in my flower garden and enjoyed the personal time with my family.

There is never enough money, cards, flowers or gifts to repay a mother for all of the love and hard work that she puts into raising her children. I thank God everyday for both of my parents. Now, that I have a child of my own, I have a different outlook on life and appreciate even more all that my mom and dad did for me.

This was a WONDERFUL Mother's Day and thanks to everyone who called, sent a card, text, or Facebooked me on that special day....Now onto planning for Father's Day. Mr. Brown is a good Daddy so I have to make sure his day is just as special as my day.

Happy 39th Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

Today my Parents are celebrating their 39th Wedding Anniversary!!! This is such a blessing and my siblings and I are very proud to have them as our Parents. I often ask them, what did they do to stay married for so long and both of their answers are always A LOT OF PRAYER!!!

My parents marriage is a great example of what a Christian Marriage should be like. They worship together, pray together and attend Bible Study together. My Dad is Deacon in the church and doesn't take his duty as a Deacon lightly and my Mom is a Deaconess who is always there to lend a helping hand. I'm quite sure they have their challenges but their love for one another has never wavered. I pray that my marriage will last just as long and that Keno and I can continue to have the amount of love in our marriage as my Mom and Dad has in theirs!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!! Hope you have a blessed day and many more!!

Please don't forget to follow my Mom's Cupcake Business, Cookie's Cakes, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cookiesgourmetcakes and her blog at http://www.cookiesgourmetcakes.blogspot.com

Cookie's Cakes (Gourmet Cakes and Cupcakes)

My mom has finally decided to launch her own cake and cupcake business, Cookie's Cakes. She's completed several baking and cake decorating classes and finally decided to step out on her own. Please check out her blog at http://www.cookiesgourmetcakes.blogspot.com and visit her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cookiecakes.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

I remember the children singing this song at every Easter Play held at The Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. Whenever Easter season comes around, this song always pops into my head.

Before I go any further with this blog, I want you to know that The Browns know that Easter/Resurrection Sunday is about the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and that Jesus is the reason for the season. The commercialized piece of Easter is fun to get involved with but the Easter Bunny, Candy and Clothes are not the sole purpose of the day.

This past weekend was The Munchkin's first Easter and Keno and I worked very had at trying to make it nice for him. I know most of you are probably saying that he's a baby and he won't remember any of this, but guess what?!? We'll remember it and special thanks to cameras, we now have pictures to show him when he gets old enough to understand. We don't ever want to look back over our son's life and say, "I wish I would've done this" or "I wish I would've done that".

We spent the past two weeks trying to find the right outfit for him to wear to church. Instead of going with the normal dark suit, shirt and tie, we went with a more casual look. After several trips to the store and looking online, I finally found what I was looking for. The Children's Place had a nice tan linen suit and navy blue and white plaid shirt on Sale that we purchased. I then found a hat to match. Yes, our son has a matching hat for most of his outfits along with shoes. (His mother has shoe fetish that has now carried over to him). We also found the cutest navy blue and cream saddle shoes that went perfect with the outfit, but they were too big for his feet. So, he had to wear his tan Stride Rites.

We died eggs earlier in the week and prepared an Easter Basket for the Munnchkin. Inside the basket was a Rabbit from Build-A-Bear named "Peter Cotton Tail" and a book called "The Five Little Ducks". His Nana and Pop-Pop bought him a high chair and cart cover for when we go out to eat and his Auntie Monie and Uncle Robbie bought him more shoes!! On Saturday evening, we arranged his basket and gifts. Since we went to Sunrise Service on Sunday, The Munchkin didn't get his gifts until we got home. He enjoyed everything that was given to him. He played with his new friend Peter Cotton Tail, played with the ducks on his book and tried eating his shoes. I know...I know...He doesn't have a clue why he got all of these things. But that's ok! When he gets older he'll be able to look back at the pictures and see what his Daddy and Mommy did for him and one day when he has kids, hopefully he'll do the same thing.

The Quest to find GOOD Diapers...

Our little Munchkin is now 8 months old and the quest to find the perfect pamper for him has finally ended!!! When he was first born, we used the Pampers Brand. We received a few free packs from the hospital and we had received several packs from our Baby Shower. Once we ran out of the Pampers Brand, we started using Huggies because we were also blessed with a few boxes of Huggies. Once we started using the Huggies Brand, we immediately noticed that the Munchkin was having leakage and his blow outs could not be contained. So, we decided to try the Babies R' Us Brand of diapers and they worked out fine for a few weeks, but we noticed that the Munchkin was waking up in the middle of the night completely soaked. We were running through sleepers like we were going through diapers. By this time, Keno and I were both frustrated. So after talking to my Mom and Aunt, they suggested that we buy the plastic underwear to put on the Munchkin at night when he's sleep. We listened to their suggestion and did what they said and that worked out pretty well. But we still felt like no diaper should be leaking like this.

One day while walking through Sam's Club, we noticed that they had a brand of diapers called Member's Mark. Keno suggested that we give them a try since everything else had not been working. I immediately gave him the side eye and then thought about all the trouble the other brands gave us, so I turned that side eye into a Kanye Shrug and said, "OK!". Now, these diapers are a little cheaper than Pampers and Huggies so I really didn't expect for them to work....Well let me tell you!!!!!! These are the BEST diapers by far!!!! The Munchkin has not leaked since we started using them and they can contain his major Blow Outs!! Keno and I are both highly impressed with this Member's Mark! 8 months ago you couldn't have paid me to use Member's Mark brand diapers. It had to either be Pampers or Huggies. I'm so glad that Keno suggested them. The Munchkin is no longer waking up in the middle of the night completely soaked and we have more money to put towards his Education Fund.

Kickin' It With The Browns

Check our The Browns in their first Ustream Video called Kickin' It With The Browns http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/11862803. We received a webcam as a Christmas gift this year and decided to put it to use. LOL!!! We thought it would be fun to record a live talk show where we talk about Hot Topics in Relationships such as Communication, Money, Children, Sex and many more. Last night we recorded our first show and we talked about Communication and the importance of it in a relationship. Now, this is our first time doing this so please be patient with us. We're still trying to perfect the flow of the show. Tune in to Kickin' It With The Browns every Thursday evening around 9:30 p.m. and check us out. If you have any hot topics that you would like for us to discuss e-mail us at nicolebrown30@gmail.com.