Way too long overdue!

Well hello there! It's been quite a while =)

Every time I come to the blog, I think I won't have enough time to update it like I would like to, but tonight I decided there's no better time than the present! So here's what's been going on since my last post (in a truncated version, don't worry!)

• May was my 25th birthday. Nothing really exciting happened but it was nice. I did get my hair highlighted, I remember that, LOL! Briley started tumbling classes at ABC through Woodlands Elite. She really likes classes and loves coming home to show her daddy what all she learned at tumbling class!
  
• June & July kept me busy at the daycare. I went on lots of field trips with the After Schooler kiddos. I did lots of bowling, movies, and went to The Bounce once.
• August Greg started working nights. =( Briley & I really miss dad when he's at work (his shifts are 7p-8a). Greg & I also took a nice trip to Float the River with our friends Brady & Jenny. We did the river then on our way back home, we took a small detour to the Natural Bridge Caverns! We had a great time taking the tour and we also bought stuff for the kiddos. Unfortunately, when we were on our trip, my mom and dad called to say Canden (aka - Bubby) was really sick. My dad and mom had come to our house to babysit Briley while we were gone. My dad took Bubby to the vet where Bubby passed away =( He had been having seizures and we didn't know it. There was nothing we could do, his heard had given up. Greg and I were obviously quite bummed - we bought Bubby 2 days after Greg proposed....he was our first child =( We are still without any pets, as we're waiting quite a while to decide what to get next. No one will replace Bub, he was quite a special guy. Briley moved up classrooms at school! She went from the Bees class to the Lions class! Mrs. Ranae, her teacher, is amazing! Briley is loving her new class.
  
• September was huge. We had Hurricane Ike come through town. Ironically, the storm hit the night of September 11th. We all (me, Greg, Briley) stayed the night on our couches which we pushed together in the center of the living room. We had everything stocked up that we could - paper products, juice, bread, peanut butter, all those non-perishables we could think of. Power went out around 4:30am and was off for over a week. Even before the power went out, the water was disgusting - yellow, nasty! Greg stayed and worked - getting the old, unusable food out of the store and getting the shelves stocked with whatever it is they could find in the back to stock with. He was beyond miserable but he did have Billy here to have as company. Briley and I left town, obviously, because it wasn't safe for me to be here with a 2 year old. We went to my parents house and stayed til power was restored. You really realize how much you take for granted once you don't have those every day essentials. It was a learning experience. Then, come the end of September, we got life altering news. I am PREGNANT! =) Yes, I'm expecting again! At the time of this post, I am 15 weeks, 1 day pregnant. We are obviously excited, and from the moment I found out, I've had a huge feeling this one is a boy. If I'm right, we should have a Lane Scott joining The Brown household around June 21, 2009!
• October was fairly uneventful. I worked, Greg worked, I went to school, and there was Halloween.
• November was another month of change. After talking to Greg, I decided to make a job change. I love ABC Academy, but working 10.5 hours a day was taking a toll of me and an even greater toll on my family and household. Plus, being pregnant, I felt a strong desire that I need to be home more with Briley & the baby. So, I interviewed with Conroe ISD and accepted a position at Oak Ridge High School. I'm a Secretary for an Asst Principal and a Counselor. I work 7-3 and am really really enjoying my new job. I feel much better not leaving Briley at school so long and I've got a lot more time to tend to my house and to be with my family. We're enjoying our new schedules. Currently, I am on 2 weeks vacation for Christmas Break. This has certainly been a treat! I've got lots of things done, and have been able to spend lots of time with the family.
• In December, I took time to finalize my plans for graduating from A&M! I am short 3 courses - I enrolled in 1 elective, just completed my 2nd elective and now am enrolled in my last course! An English class I'm taking through Texas State U. So, I got the "official word" from my advisor in which she said "If I were you, I would apply for graduation!" So, I am officially applying for graduation Mon, Jan 5th. I've got everything lined out, and am beyond excited to finally close this chapter of my life. So, it's one more class then I'm going to be graduating in May (either 15th or 16th, not sure yet) from Texas A&M University! And to keep it LARGE, I'll graduate, then a month later give birth! =)

That's what's happened in a nutshell! I hope to get pictures posted before long. I'll have to make a slideshow of the past 8 months and post it on here! Until then, enjoy catching up and we WILL talk soon!