Beggers can't be choosers.......

In our very first post I introduced you to our family.... by our "family," I mean Vincent, Boat-Rider, Hannah & Mylie... These are our cats & dogs. We have too many.... but now we love them & there is nothing we can do about it now. I can only imagine how they will feel when they get a new little "brother" in just 2 1/2 months.....

My sister, Molly, hates it when people refer to their pets as their "children," and how I refer to her as my animals "Aunt Molly," and how her dog is my dog's "cousin." So, I, of course, do this even more often since she's told me that.....

We started off with just Vincent. I got him before Austin & I were married and Austin was living in France. He was living in a little town called St. Vincent de Tyrosse. Then, right before we got married, we decided he needed a friend... that is when Boat-Rider came along. Austin named Boats.... apparently it goes back to a childhood memory... Poor cat....

Well.... Vincent originally wasn't too keen on the idea of having a "brother," but eventually warmed up and now they are.... best of friends.... to say the least.... When Hannah came along (the black lab) Vincent was not too happy.... We've had Hannah now for 2 years now... and they still do not get along.

Here is a little video to show their love-hate relationship.

But there is a time when they always DO get along.....

And they lived Happily Ever After......

Christmas at the Kings

This is our second Christmas without either set of our parents. Last year we were unable to make it to Texas for Christmas and I believe Austin's mom was out of town. We did make it over to my sister, Molly's house, for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner....

In my family there are two holiday traditions that I refuse to give up. One of these is Fondue on Christmas Eve, the other is a Christmas movie at the theatre. I suppose the Christmas movie was always a big deal for our family because when we were younger, my parents hauling 5 kids to one movie had to have been quite an adventure.... and then picking out a movie that we all would like was another story.....

Well... On Christmas day I had to work from 7a-3p, so we knew that we would be celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve. I went out on Wednesday during our freezing rain storm and got all the ingredients for Fondue, artichokes, and apple pie. The best meal ever..... and my first attempt at all 3.....

I made chocolate chip cookies last week that did not turn out so good.... so I was worried about my apple pie....

I made Fondue for the first time.... and it turned out delicious. Nothing like stuffing your face with a tiny piece of fruit layered in thick, beautiful, delicious cheese.... Seriously... I think Austin and I ate 1.5 pounds of cheese between us... It was the best decision ever. I think we need to make this a weekly tradition.... 365 days is just too long.....

And the apple pie turned out delicious as well....

I can always tell how much Austin likes my cooking by how long he must sit on the couch afterwards before engaging in activity.... Let's just say we ate at 3pm and he did not get off the couch until it was time for bed. :)

Christmas dinner was a bit different. Austin picked me up for work (since we were in ANOTHER blizzard....) and we had no groceries for dinner. Apparently I was so focused on the Fondue I forgot that I needed to feed him for the ACTUAL holiday too.... No grocery stores were open.... just the gas station.... so.... we got THIS gourmet meal.....

Almost as good as the Fondue.....

However, the MOST disappointing thing about Christmas (though the birth of Christ is not disappointing at all.....), was not our gas station holiday meal, and not even that I had to work for 8 hours, but that this weather CLOSED DOWN THE MoVIE THEATRE! How are we supposed to watch our Christmas movie when the THEATRE closes? That NEVER happens! Oh well.... maybe next year! So... instead we found this 3D puzzle to do.... which turned out awesome. It will be our new centerpiece. I mean, who does not want a 3D cardboard sculpture puzzle of a Bald Eagle as their centerpiece?!?

Merry Christmas everyone and God Bless you all!

Signing off....

As some of you read in an earlier blog... I have an obsession. A serious addiction. It consists of one word, FarmVille. This little game on Facebook has caused me much turmoil in the past few months. It all started when I was in my first trimester and was too sick to move off the couch. Austin's Aunt Becky got me started on this little game and it has since taken over my life... and it is not just me that has noticed....


A month or so ago my parents were in town. My mom & my dad sat me down at lunch one day and this is about how the conversation went....


Mom: (in a very serious face) "Browyn, we need to talk to you about something."


Me: (confused) "What?"


Mom: "We think you play FarmVille too much and it is affecting your marriage. Austin is such a sweet boy and we think you are neglecting him."


Me: LAUGH


Mom: (still serious) "Browyn, I am serious, look at this article we found in the New York Times. It is all about how FarmVille is destroying relationships and affecting people lives negatively."

Then.... my mother shows me this article....





It's true!! A whole article in the New York Times about how students grades drop because they are late/miss class to harvest crops.... how people make their date wait for the blueberries to get harvested before going out to dinner.... and how now people must not only tend to THEIR crops, but also fertilize their FRIEND's crops. Well, I talked to Austin about this "intervention" my parents had with me... he also laughed at the idea... but did state some of the characteristics I had as some of the people in the article.


Well.... I made a promise to my sweet husband. A big one. I would quit FarmVille... Well, one day.... just not then. I told him I would quit on Christmas.... I mean, I couldn't quit earlier than that.... people had been sending me FarmVille Christmas presents that I could not open until then.... HOW WAS I SUPPOSE TO QUIT BEFORE OPENING MY PRESENTS? Well.... Christmas was such a loooooonng time away so I wasn't so worried.... And my farm looked better then ever with all my holiday Poinsettias.....

Well.... Today after work I made a commitment. I quit. For good. I knew I had to do something rather then just "stop harvesting." I had to do something so I could not go back.... So.... I sold EVERYTHING.... and I mean EVERYTHING..... Every cute little horse, pig, cat, circus elephant, and even my clumsy reindeer..... down to each tree, chicken coop, and tractor. It's all gone. And to show my FarmVille friends goodbye I even crop dusted it into my farm....

"I QUIT".

So, here is Farmer Browyn signing off, on Level 43, 169,857 XP points....

My attempt at Chinese Food........

Tonight I attempted something I have never made before. I made Chinese Food. This is quite a big thing for me.... not just because it is cooking... but Austin's mom, Nancy, makes Spring Rolls that are one of Austin's ALL TIME favorites.... Did I really want to compete with that?!? Well.... there isn't much to do outside so I figured I had better at least try.... and testing out foods on Austin is always a good idea because he loves food.... no matter how good it really is.

So.... I looked up all the ingredients. Normally, I will look up a recipe and then if I don't know what one of the ingredients is, or where to find it, or what it looks like.... I won't make the recipe and make something else instead. But.... Austin wanted Eggrolls and Fried Rice.....

Normally I would not blog about my cooking adventure. I feel like Julie in "Julie & Julia" right now. Whenever I tell my little sister, Molly, a story she always says, "you should blog about that." Molly & John (her husband) are compulsive bloggers. So today... when she suggested I blog about my Chinese food.... I figured "why not?"

So.... Here is what it started out looking like.............

Then I rolled them up. This step was actually quite nice because it reminded me of rolling up the Subway Sandwiches like I did when I was a "Sandwich Artist" in college. ha.
I also made Chicken Fried rice.... but it was much easier.....
And the finished product.......And Austin only compared my Egg Rolls to Nancy's Spring Rolls once... Don't worry Nancy.... you won. :)

You scream! I scream! We all scream for ICE CREAM!

So, I have never been a big sweets person. Don't get me wrong, every now & then I enjoy a nice dipped cone or a Blizzard.... but it has never been something that I have felt like I "needed" everyday. Maybe part of this was the way that I grew up. Being one of 5 children any sort of "sweet" was a big deal.... and that included even sugar cereals.

My husband on the other hand, he loves sweets. I think "loves" may even be an understatement. He has the biggest sweet tooth I have ever seen. He has just been a gem for the past 3 years of our marriage enjoying sweets only on "special occasions," because otherwise we just buy the necessities... and a tub of ice cream was never a necessity.

Well.... for the past.... 26 weeks..... Austin has been in heaven... because lately this girl can not get enough sweets. I could eat anything with sugar by the truckload. It is absolutely disgusting. Well, I figured out that ice cream is not only the most tasty, but it does not give me heartburn either!! It is a double plus! (double plus in my buttocks too.... but we are focusing on the pluses of ice cream in this post....). I thought Austin was going to fall off his rocker the first time I came home with ice cream.... or doughnut holes... or baked brownies, cookies, or even cupcakes....

Well... now-a-days there has been a little "competition" for the sweets in our house. Austin is twice my size and can eat a lot more than me... even now. The other day after a long day of work I was sooooo excited to come home and eat my peppermint chip ice cream. I got out my favorite bowl, my new ice cream scoops, and a spoon. I opened up the freezer and my ice cream was nowhere to be found. I started freaking. I quickly was cursing my sweet husband's name in my head and went to the trash. Sure enough, the ice cream container was laying lifelessly in the trash... It was pure disappointment..... He ate all my ice cream.

This last weekend I went to the store and replaced my ice cream. Austin & I enjoyed a bowl together when I first brought it home. Delicious. The next night I went to get another snack before bed and I noticed that the ice cream level was getting rather low. How was I to hide ice cream from Austin so he would not eat it? I knew I worked the next 2 days and the ice cream would be gone with that much time alone with Austin..... action must be done...

So I did this.....

It worked!!! Tonight when I came home from work Austin told me that he just wanted a "spoon" of ice cream and pulled out the box and saw my note..... immediately felt guilty... and put the ice cream back.... without eating ANY! AMAZING!!! Now if only I could figure out a way to guilt him into doing the laundry...............

Blizzard of 2009!

So, I guess with there being a blizzard outside and being snowed in for 3 days, there is no excuse for me not to catch up on some blogging. For the past 2 days I have been shoveling the drive in the morning.... only because there was only 2 inches of snow or so... and I figured it would show Austin what a sweet wife I am so he will get up and shovel when I have to be to work at 630am and there is even MORE snow later this season.... however... today there was TOO MUCH for me to shovel so Austin had to do it anyway!

Well... Austin spent the WHOLE MORNING... (literally) shoveling after this crazy blizzard that we got yesterday/last night. He came in probably.... 4 times.... for "breaks." Well... turns out his hard work was for nothing because when he finally got it all done and headed off to work he got stuck.... in the street... right in front of our house. So.... Snow Day for the King Family! :)

The dogs LOVE the snow... well.... Hannah loves the snow... Mylie does not have enough fat on her to truly enjoy the benefits of the white flaky stuff... but, none-the-less, we have them play in it all the time! :)

Here are some videos of the King Family's snow day!

Well..... I have been known to be wrong. I have been wrong for the past 2o weeks.... because.... WE ARE HAVING A BOY!!! :) We had our ultrasound done today (though I am not going to post this until tomorrow). It was so exciting and suspenseful and I could not sleep ALL LAST NIGHT! I kept thinking.... Football practice or ballet lessons? Now, I know. I am very, very, very excited.... yes.... I thought it was a girl, and have been calling him by his "girl name" since Day 1. The only disappointment I have is that I will have to wait to use my wonderful girl name. :)

After the appointment, Austin and I were looking at all the ultrasound pictures in disbelief, and Austin said "I just can't tell what they are looking at when they say he is a boy." Then, I showed him this picture... and pointed out a certain little part. Austin got the biggest smile on his face and said, "Look at that! He is huge!" haha. After that I have never seen such a proud father before in my life.

Right after my appointment too I called my little sister, Molly.... who is also pregnant, with they very same due date, March 21st. Molly had her ultrasound appointment early in the morning and had been keeping the sex of her baby a secret until I found out what I was having.... sure enough.... our identical pregnancies continue... because she is having a boy too!! I am so excited to go through the same things with my sister!!!

At lunch Austin & I (still in disbelief) were talking about what it would be like to raise a BOY... when this whole time we were so SURE he was a girl..... Austin started to get really excited about having him in baseball with his cousin.... and then got even more excited when he talked about how him & John (Molly's husband) could be the baseball coaches. I think Austin is a little more excited than he let on about having a boy. :)

So.... now it is time to paint the guest bedroom blue and start registering for firetrucks instead of Barbies.... :)

Here are some more pictures of our little boy bundle of joy!

A face & neck shot
A face shot

A feet shot,

And of course, another penis shot!!! :)

This One's for Bridget.....

I've always been a competitive person.... I am not quite sure where this trait came from.... but it is definitely there. I think I have to credit most of my competitiveness to my brother, Willy. Willy is just one year older than me, and we grew up doing many of the same things, in many of the same classes, and competing against each other in sports.

This is a picture of my brother and his bride, Erin.

Well now, all throughout school I remember getting back report cards and Willy & I comparing.... and then walking around the house flexing our arms, saying "4.0" in a 'tough' voice. If one of us did not make the 4.0, we made sure the other one knew. In elementary school our gym teacher chose team captains one time by "who had the longest fingernails" It was quite weird with me & my brother having teams that were against each other. Anyways.... what I am trying to get at is I have always been competitive. I wish I were not so competitive... but I guess in some ways (grades) it is good.... but this blog is about how it has gotten the better end of me...

You see, a couple months ago I was on Facebook (which I am on quite often).... and I became "friends" with many of Austin's extended family. They played this stupid little game called FarmVille. I would always get these stupid updates about lost cows, harvesting crops, and leveling up. I finally put all these FarmVille updates to "ignore" and went along my business. However.... One day while I was sick at home.... Austin's Aunt Becky emailed me that she wanted to be my "neighbor" on FarmVille. What the heck?!? I had nothing better to do in-between my trips to the bathroom vomiting....

This was the biggest mistake of my life. It started out just wasting time for the afternoon. But, I had planted crops.... and they wouldn't be ready to "harvest" until the next day..... I was forced to get on the next day and "harvest" my crops and "milk" my cows.... It became an obsession. I had to level up, I had to have the best farm, I had to plan everything around when my crops would be ready for harvest...... because we all know I didn't want them all to wither and die. That is a big waste of my fake FarmVille money. Pretty soon I could not hide my obsession any longer. I totally understood Aunt Becky asking me to be my neighbor, because I was asking everyone. When my family came to visit, I would have to jump on the computer really fast to make sure my crops were doing okay.... and see how close I was to beating someone else. One of Austin's friends was my biggest competitor.... he had such a high score... but it was nothing for me.... I was on a mission to beat him. Soon enough, I did. It became strategy... Now.... my score is much higher than any of my neighbors.... but I still can't find the courage to delete the application.

Look at my Farm here.... it is beautiful. All my trees, crops (melons, peas, onions are what I am growing currently), horses, pigs, goats, cows and even elephants! (Yes.... I think the FarmVille inventors are running out of ideas.... having Elephants now available to collect "circus peanuts" from...)

This has become a topic of recent conversation with my family. They cannot believe that I like such a game... and that I am so addicted. I don't even like the game anymore.... I just can't bear the thought of someone else beating me at it. It controls my life. My sister, Bridget, even joined a fan club entitled, "People Against Playing FarmVille."

One day, my FarmVille neighbors, you may find that I moved out of the neighborhood......

Preggo Post

Well...

I am trying to think of things that are going on in my life that I can blog about.... however.... the most exciting thing in my life right now is Baby King... and how she is affecting me.

The biggest thing Baby King likes to do to me is give me heartburn.... BAD heartburn. I get heartburn from drinking milk. It is absolutely awful. I went to the doctor the other day (or week) and the nurse asked me if I was eating okay. When I told her yes, but "I am eating Tums like they are candy," she gave me a strange look. Then she said, "Did you ask the doctor is Tums are okay? I don't think they are." Well.... this TOTALLY freaked me out... and it would you too if you knew the large quantities of Tums I eat on a daily basis.....

Well, I asked my doc and he said Tums were fine.... but suggested I switch to Zantac. I was very weary of this idea..... especially since Tums and I had formed such a close bond the past 4 months. However.... the other day as work was "Chili Day." I knew I was in trouble. I broke down and tried a Zantac. Let me be clear, I said just ONE Zantac..... ONE. Any heartburn? Absolutely nothing!! It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Since then (this was just yesterday) I feel like a whole new, brighter, happier, person. :) So.... I have not had a Tums for 2 days and I am loving it.

hmmm..... what else??? I have felt little Baby King start kicking!!! Last week I was laying on the couch.... concentrating..... and I felt her! Though I wasn't sure if it was just gas... I knew it was a different feeling than anything else.... but I still wasn't so sure. Then, when I went to Texas for vacation, she really started to move around. Now she kicks whether I am laying or sitting up.... It is just so weird!!! She's really in there..... She is kicking as I TYPE this! I have a baby inside of me...... Is that weird to ANYONE else?!?!

Those are the exciting things of my pregnancy so far. The next paragraph may not be suitable for men.... just an FYI. Stop reading. The more un-exciting things...... my ginormous boobs. For those that know me, you know I have some pretty big twins WITHOUT being pregnant..... now I am in a whole new porn star level of boobage.... however.... my belly is getting bigger which makes them not so porn-starish and more just disgusting. I actually had to move into different scrub tops for work, not because my belly was too big... but because I could not get my boobs out of them at the end of the day!! You should see Austin & I at home trying to get my scrub top off..... it is awful!!!

Well.... this is it for now. I wish I had more... but this has been consuming my life and body for the past 20 weeks so I thought I should have a blog about the adventures of Browyn's pregnancy. Also.... next Tuesday (November 3rd) we find out is she is indeed a She! So.... Stay Tuned!

Being a Man

So.... I am not a very fast blogger. I am not quite used to writing new blogs all the time.... Right now I am in San Antonio, (I will blog about this trip later), but my sister, Molly, and her husband, John are CONSTANTLY thinking of things to write about in their blog. After anything funny that happens they say, "Oh my! We are blogging about that!" or "That is going in our blog!" It is so depressing that I do not have this skill....

I would like to say my "other half" has not yet made his appearance in the blog spotlight. He did say he was going to write a blog last weekend (when he wasn't working) and he did not. I came home after working 12-13 hours on Saturday and Sunday..... and Austin was sitting on the couch... this is how our conversation went:

Browyn: "Hey Austin! How are you? What did you do today?"

Austin: "I did Man things"

Browyn: "Man things? Like what?"

Austin: "I organized the garage, like a man."

Browyn: "Oh yeah, what else?"

Austin: "I mowed the lawn, like a man."

Browyn: "And??"

Austin: "I moved some furniture, like a man."

Browyn: "Did you write the new blog?"

Austin: "No. That is not manly."

Sad. Soon... he will grace us all with his writing.... however. He seems to think that once he writes blogs then nobody will read mine anymore because his will be "so much" better. Well now Austin.... no pressure now.

Okay, okay, okay..... I will post another blog.... here it is....


I suppose we have talked about our animals, our new baby, but not about us.... So.... here is a little Browyn & Austin history for y'all.


Austin & Browyn met in high school.... our sophomore year in high school. Austin sat behind me in Biology class and it was bliss after our first meeting.... um.... not really....

Austin liked me.... I had a boyfriend. Austin joined the cross country team.... I broke up with my boyfriend and started dating someone else.... Needless to say, Austin quit the team.... The next year (Our junior year) Browyn liked Austin.... Austin had a girlfriend.... Austin broke up with girlfriend and made Browyn his girlfriend.... and then is was bliss.....







Our first date was Homecoming. We were pretty stylin'.











We continued to date until my parents moved me to Texas for my senior year of high school. How dare they? I suppose they made me go with them to keep me out of trouble.... however.... kids will be kids... and Austin and I got pregnant.... We had 2 kids before we finished college at Doane. Aren't they adorable? We had these beautiful children and it was bliss after that..... Their names are Alex & Liam.



















Okay, okay, okay.... those that know us also know we are compulsive liars.... good trait? bad trait? Still up for debate.... The truth is.... we really don't have 2 kids named Alex & Liam.... Alex & Liam in the above picture are two of the greatest kids in the world though. Alex was our guest book attendant at our wedding & Liam was our ring bearer. Their mom was my nanny growing up and is considered family..... so.... it is appropriate to steal her kids as my own, right?

Well.... now that you know that we don't really have kids named Alex & Liam... you should know we really just have one kid.... but his name really is Liam too (coincidence, right?) Isn't he adorable? He is our pride and joy right now and he is really looking forward to having a sister and being a big brother. He is just so smart..... just like mommy....









I just watched The Office.... and as I am typing this I can hear Micheal saying to Pam, "If you are lying to me, your baby will come out a liar, that is how it works... " So.... You should take away from this blog something very important.... Austin & I are both liars. We always have been. I remember when I was little before I would go to bed my mom would make me pray that God would help me not be such a liar.... this is the truth.... she really did make me pray about this! She also made me pray that I would stop wiping my boogars on the wall before bed too.... neither prayer worked that well though.... I think my baby will come out wiping boogars all over and lying about what sex it is......

If Molly does it.... than I do too.....

Okay.... Time for Post #2.....


I guess this post IS really about the exciting things in life... and the biggest thing that has been going on in our lives for the past.... 14 weeks....


We are pregnant!! We are having a little Baby King in March next year.... her actual due date is March 21st, 2010. I say "her" and "she" because I, we, are pretty confident that she is actually a "she." Let's just say it is Mother's Instincts.... and if I am wrong.... well... I am sure it will not be my first mistake as a mother. And... I will quickly delete this blog so there is no evidence that I ever thought he was a she.
There are 3 things that make this even MORE exciting.....


#1 My due date is the same day as my uncle.... who passed away before I was born.... so this makes this day extra special for me

#2 Austin's brother, Wes, and wife, Jaime are pregnant too... and due in January!


#3 My little sister is not only pregnant TOO... but we have the SAME DUE DATE! :) I actually wasn't going to post that we were pregnant this early into my blogging career... but so far everything in our pregnancy has been on the same day..... finding out we were pregnant.... all of the doctors appointments.... puking over and over again in the toilet.... having the site of chicken instantly make us sick... etc... SO...... when Molly & John posted on their blog this morning that THEY were in fact pregnant.... I thought, "Well, I have no choice to tell the world now....."


Boy... these dogs have no IDEA how much their lives are going to change..........

First of many.....

Wow... I am officially a blogger now. This must mean that I have something extrodinary going on in my life that I think everyone should know about... or not. Really, my life now consists of working 3 days a week, and driving around my wonderful husband on the days I have off.... and the days I work, actually....

We also have 4 lovely pets that we would have much less stress without.... here's a little summary on our four "children" (as Aunt Molly would call them.....)

Vincent: The oldest. He is our transexual cat that spends most of the time in the laundry room because he is constantly getting Bladder Infections or Stones. He had to get his penis cut off a year ago because he had a stone caught in it and it wouldn't come out... so... now he is our "he/she."

Vincent is the cat on the left with the creepy eye action going on....

Boat-Rider: This is our only true male in the household... well... besides Austin. He is yet another cat that by default also spends a lot of time locked in the laundry room....

This is Boatrider with our neice, Alexis. I promise that she really likes him and she was not trying to end his life in this picture...

Hannah: Our black lab. She is a wonderful dog... besides chasing the cats (when they are allowed out), eating our new fence in the backyard, and barking at any human or animal that comes into a 100yard distance of our yard.

Mylie: Our newest addition and the most trying. She is not all there. She does whatever Hannah does, but does not know why she is doing any of it. She always has a blank stare on her face. She not only does the annoying things Hannah does, but she also is the culprit of digging random holes into our yard. Currently, we have random objects placed all over all of the holes in our backyard to prevent any more digging. Unfortunatly, we did not have an item as large as a couch to put next to the house outside... so there is still one huge hole that she continues to keep digging and digging and digging.....

Wow.... so much pressure for this blog. I already want to delete all this and start over... and be much more.... funny.... but it is like we just met... and I feel like I first must introduce us and then get into the more intimate details of life....