Angella here, resuming my baby reporting duties for the Browns.

Amanda just called to tell me that she woke up in the middle of the night with contractions and within twenty minutes of being admitted, Baby Brown #3 arrived into the world. (Sometime around 3 a.m. - I’m sure Amanda will do an official recap when she’s back home.)

Brinley Anna Brown weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces. I’m heading up to see baby and her Momma on my lunch hour, so check back in a few hours for a photo.

Congratulations, Amanda and Steve! And Avelyn and Karenna! Can’t wait to see who Miss Brinley grows up to be.

***Edited to add a photo of fair Brinley. Amanda thinks she’s a good mix of her two sisters and I have to agree with her:

This photo is of Steve’s brother, Trevor, and his foxy new wife, Laurell on their wedding day. Along with the grumpy, uncooperative niece they would probably like to Photoshop out of this picture. Oh, good times!

*Photo by the amazingly talented Jamie Delaine.

Ahhh. Did you hear that? The sweet sigh of a rested mother? Yeah, that was me. We just got back from a stunning wedding weekend at God’s Mountain Estate where we celebrated the marriage of Steve’s brother, Trevor, and his stunning new bride, Laurell.

The entire weekend was like something out of InStyle magazine and we had such a great time enjoying amazing cuisine, fantastic conversation with friends and family, and the chance to just unwind and relax. We had some friends watch the girls for the weekend so we were truly able to enjoy the occasion. Avelyn and Karenna made an appearance for the ceremony.

(This is the one photo Avelyn actually cooperated for. When it came time to take family pictures, she turned into an angry, floppy, scowling noodle. SO FUN.)

It was so nice to spend some quality time with Steve and here’s to a Happy Father’s Day to the poppa of our two (and 3/4) girls. We love you, Steve!!

Best wishes to Trevor and Laurell as they begin their lives together. We couldn’t be more happy for you two!

This photo* was taken last year when we were at our church’s annual Family Camp. That weekend goes down in history as the pinnacle of Avelyn’s difficult stage and the entire experience was filled with embarrassing meltdowns, irrational tantrums, unbearable clinginess, and mind-numbing hopelessness. I doubted she would ever grow up to be anything more than a demanding brat, and I feared I was failing miserably at motherhood.

Shortly after that weekend I was told about the book “Connected Parenting” and I felt as though it were written for our family directly. I started implementing some of the author’s techniques and we saw noticeable changes in Avelyn very quickly. Oh, how I needed to see that: the potential for something better than barely scraping by. It’s been almost a year since then and I cannot believe the strides she has made. She is a sweet girl with an astounding memory and imagination, a laugh that bubbles out of her with ease, a fiery will that she’s ready to defend at all times, a gentleness with animals and her younger sister, a sensitive soul that needs honouring, and a free spirit that loves that loves to dance in the rain.

The other night we were sitting in the living room, moving boxes everywhere and the house in a state of disarray, and Steve put some music on while he was setting up the stereo system. Avelyn, Karenna and I all started dancing together and it was a moment I’ll never forget. Karenna was buck-naked wearing nothing more than a pair of mary-janes, Avelyn was in her princess jammies, and we were spinning and dancing and jumping and laughing. After that, I sat on the couch and Avelyn brushed my hair softly, telling me how pretty and long it’s getting.

It might not sound like much, perhaps even border on cheesy, but an evening like that, after so many years of meltdowns and unrelenting discipline and wearying doubts about my parenting skills, was perfect. To be able to enjoy our girls, see them grow into kind souls and dance like funky white girls in our new living room…worth it all.

*Photo, again by Angella.

Hard to believe a mere two weeks ago we were in Disneyland and now here we are, back to real life, which, at the moments means packing, deep-cleaning, yelling at the disobedient and neglected children as I try to pack and deep-clean, living in a tiny suite while we wait for our house to be livable again, all while my belly balloons by the day and my aching body tries to keep up with the demands.

We won’t have telephone or internet access for about a week, so it’ll be quiet around here for a while we try to regain a pinch of normalcy. Wish us luck!

We got up at 4:30 this morning to catch the first of our three flights home. We are tired. And a little bedraggled (see above photo…that’s what 12 hours of travel will do to you)! But so happy to be fully reunited as a family. I’ll tell you all about the trip once we’re caught up on sleep and get the dozen mounds of laundry done. A HUGE thanks to Nana (Steve’s mom) for watching Karenna…she went above and beyond the call of duty and we are so blessed!

Right now I am sitting in a private villa overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We are in San Diego and are having a marvelous time. We spent the entire day at Sea World and Avelyn was amazed by all the creatures we saw. We have never really done the “family vacation” thing before but it’s going pretty well. An ornery three year-old can be a bit challenging to lug around even the most idyllic of destinations but we’re finding the fun in between the meltdowns and bad attitudes.

Tomorrow we’re off to the Zoo. And for now, I’m off to lounge on the bed while Steve and Avelyn are out for a dip in the pool.

*We left Karenna at home with her Nana. Judge not, lest ye be judged!

I wiped my kitchen counters for the first time in a week, which means my parents have headed back home to the prairies and it’s up to me again to keep this house running. When they come to visit, they do everything (clean bathrooms, mop floors, change diapers, cook lasagnas) and I am the kind of person who has no problem accepting that kind of help (read: am disturbingly lazy). I so appreciate the break they give me and when they leave I feel refreshed and loved and taken care of. They are so great and I miss them already.

Karenna is giving me a run for my money these days. She is always into trouble and I can’t leave her alone for a minute without her destroying something or climbing into a bathroom sink to eat a tube of toothpaste. Crazy beast.

My latest belly shot is posted at urbanmoms.ca. Feel free to take a look and my startling girth. Then send me some poutine.

My new post is up at urbanmoms.ca and it’s about how my mom is pretty much the best lady I know.

My dad has been a long-distance runner for 40 years. His passion is training and competing and winning. When we were little we used to tag along and cheer him on at his races and yesterday we had a full-circle moment when we piled the kids into the truck, drove to Kamloops and watched my dad run a cross country 8 km race in the Masters World Games.

That’s right…World Masters. He placed 10th in his age group…in the WORLD.

Go, Bumpa! Too bad all those athletic genes of his seem to have skipped a generation.

We made a sign and cheered loudly for him as he passed us by.

Here’s a close-up of the inspiring artwork:

It was a great day and I’m so glad we were there to share in his success.

(Speaking of exercise, my latest post at urbanmoms.ca is all about my lack thereof. Take a look-see!)