The Eve of Christmas Eve

In exhibit A at the left you can see Olivia doing her best Zack de la Rocha impersonation and giving a 'power to the people' fist in the air, and you can also see Dizzle's enthusiasm as well.

In Exhibit B, Daisy and Olivia are having a contest to see who's longer. Daisy still wins. For now.

Elf? Sailor? Colorful Inmate? Regardless, a cute little peach.

On a random side note, since Cory does a great job of doing movie and game reviews I am going to just give a shout out to the few recents I have seen, and will highly recommend both of these to Cory and Chad as well. For my other readers, for example, mom, I would say not so much.

Movie #1: A Boy and His Dog- A 1975 film that developed a little cult following. I had heard of it, but never watched it until Netflix recommended it to me by my selections. At times a little sophmoric, but it's set in a post-apocalyptic world, and the ending is charming.

Movie #2: The City of God- 8.8 on IMDB, that is tough to beat. Other than subtitles, no qualms from me. Gangs, drugs, revenge, struggle between right and wrong in a different way. Gotta watch it.

Also, after years of Chad hinting at me to read Dune, I just finished it. It was my favorite sci-fi book I have ever read, edging out Ender's Game. I am hooked and want more of Paul Atreides and the Fremen people of Arrakis.

Once again, Merry Christmas, I hope you all have safe travels and good eats.

Merry Christmas!!!

I need to get a few new pics of Olivia and get a firewire PCI card so I can get my movies of Olivia on the computer. In the meantime I wanted to say Merry Christmas. Cory has a post that he mentions one of my favorite holiday shows, Rudolph. I still like it, and we even had an interesting discussion the other night in the ER, mainly about Hermie.





I am pretty sure most people our age know that Hermie, the toy maker turned independent dentist elf was unique. What most people don't know is that Yukon and Hermie moved to the Netherlands after the shooting of the film, and have lived there together unoficially betrothed to one another since. Hermie fulfilled his dream of dental work, mostly catering to the red light district, and Yukon opened a jewelry store, aptly titled, 'Yukon's Silver and Gold'

He recently had Pharell do a promo for him. You can view it here.

Merry Christmas to all of you and your families!

The First of Olivia's Christmas Gear

Olivia got dressed up in a little Christmas dress for a pic or two. Don't worry Mom and Dad, you will see her in the Santa outfit too. I really liked this picture of her, though it got vetoed for the Christmas card by Nicole. I think it is one of the best pics I have taken of her, minus the left foot movement. I think the lighting is good, and she is a peach in that outfit by the tree.

Anyway, she is doing much better now that we got her milk allergy figured out and put her on a special formula. She inherited that from her dad. We had to take her to a Peds GI specialist in Omaha and he put her on Neocate, hella expensive, but works, and now we have a happy baby. In Omaha last week we stopped by Von Maur, were there about an hour, and walked out of the store moments before the shooting started. Surreal moment, and lots of what ifs run through your head.

Ok, I have to get up in 3 hours for an ER shift, and I need a wee bit o sleep. I have to show you, and proudly so, why sleep will be uncomfortable and I will be walking around like an old man tomorrow....

Winnebago

Since moving to Sioux City, I have heard this phrase often on the other end of the line in the ER, "Dr. Brownell, transfer call from Winnebago, 96"... I pick up and accept whatever patient needs to head our way from the small Indian Reservation just south of Sioux City. I hear they have a brand new hospital, yet they transfer everything to us, which is great for us, but I wonder why? I meet many of the Winnebago tribe in our ER and begin to learn bits and pieces of what they are like, at least the ones who come to the ER, and what is going on in this little land of its own.

I decided to find out a little more. Yesterday morning I found myself at a 630 am mass at the St. Augustine Indian Mission. There were 6 of us in attendance, 4 nuns, one Winnebago Indian who was very nice, and me. After mass, I met up with Father Dave, and had coffee at the rectory, where I met the Priest's dog Duncan, and was slightly surprised at his array of hunting gets, including turkey and deer with his bow. Not your everyday Priest.

In a short hour and a half, with a tour of the St Augustine Indian Mission, school and town I was astonished at some of the things I learned. How dependent the reservations had made the Native American people, a truly oppressive system. How after generations of dependence, you will be chastised for success. Some times when kids do well, give a right answer, they may hear the cat call of "What do you think you are, white?". In 2007, 20 miles away. Seriously?

I learned of the brand new hospital, with xray and lab, but nobody to run the machines for much of the time. I learned of the rampant health problems of the Winnebago and Omaha tribe, with the mainstays of alcoholism and diabetes afflicting many. It truly is a fascinating culture, with many sad stories of the tragic inevitability of their future, though this may be changing. I hope to learn some more about them in the next months.

I will be getting more involved with the Mission over the next few months, and will share any interesting stories I find. The first of those being the story of a small Winnebago Indian child, raised by his dad crippled with Polio. The short of it is a story of a kid raised by an incredible and loving father, who used to play catch with his son, and from a 3 dollar box of balls, bats and gloves from the Sacred Heart garage sale, a future star born. He barely made varsity in high school, got offered not one scholarship to college initially. Eventually landed on a smaller college team in Kearney, NE, and 2 years later was drafted to the Majors. In one year he jumped from Single A ball to the majors, and he strikes out 20 in his first 15 1/3 major league innings, all scoreless. He hits 100mph on the fastball. He finishes the regular season 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA, handing the ball Mariano Rivera with ninth-inning leads again and again and fueling New York's late surge to the wild card. His name? Joba Chamberlain.

The best story I have ever read in Sports Illustrated: Joba Chamberlain

Olivia's Checklist: 1. Have 1st ever Thanksgiving. 2. Meet Grandparents.

Proper attire for turkey day, would you expect any less from a daughter of Nicole?

It was a big weekend for the Sioux City Brownell's. Olivia had her 1st Thanksgiving. Celebrated mainly by eating, sleeping, filling her diapers, and repeat. I worked friday, so I felt like I missed out on the pop culture Black Friday, which I take some guilty pleasure in. Come on, Best Buy doorbusters? Not so secretly love 'em.

Then on Saturday, Mom and Dad, now also known as Grampa and Gramma, made the trip to Sioux City. It was the first time they got to meet Olivia, and she is their first granchild, so it was a pretty special weekend for all of us. Ok, 2am, time to go to bed...enjoy the pics.

Mom still has the touch to make 'em sleepy happy time. Apparently it spilled over onto Daisy as well.

Olivia meets grampa for the first time.

Nicole has a few cooking talents, with one of her specialties being paci soup. Mmmmm.

Dizzles' Cave

...The Other Dog...guest post by Daisy "Dizzle" Brownell

I got my first piece of mail today, addressed aptly to Dizzle Brownell, 26 Heritage Place. It was from Jamie and Sharon Steen, (thank you!) It was a book called 'The Other Dog', about a dog in a similar position as I am. Life was just perfect for me. King dog of the house, I was. Treats, attention, and army-crawling to my hearts delight. But, mom and dad brought home a NEW dog. Can you believe it? As if I weren't enough. Her name is Olivia.
In the book, the poodle had his parents bring home a similar dog, the same breed they call 'Baby'. In the book, the dog comes to love the baby. Well, do you know me? Maybe I will change my tune, but right now I am selling myself to the highest bidder. Payment should be offered directly in the form of meats, cheeses, and scratches, with the promise of never bringing home another dog.

After dad opened my book from Jamie and Sharon, I had some fun with the package.

Addendum: While Daisy insisted on making this post, in no way are we letting her sell herself. We still love her greatly, and she is still an equal family member, though 1/4 of the pie is apparently noticeably less than 1/3 of the pie to her. Additionally, Olivia is doing great. Growing like a weed. Her weight on monday was 8lbs 8 oz, up 1 lb from her birth weight already.

I hate Eaton-Lambert Syndrome

After 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of medical school and 3 years of emergency medicine residency, I am now qualified to examine a teddy bear. Ok, so really I was just showing kindergartners what happens when you go to the doctor.

I did take my EM boards yesterday. Brain was fried after, but it went really good. Man, I hate Eaton-Lambert syndrome. On every emergency medicine test I have taken, Eaton-Lambert is a choice on about 2 or 3 questions throughout the test. It's called a "killer foil", an answer that teases you into wanting to pick it, because it sounds mysterious, intelligent, so it MUST be the right answer. So, I decided to actually read up on it, as the details are always tempting me to pick it, and this way I will know for sure whether it is the right answer or just a killer foil. Well, after 6 hours of testing, and 305 questions, I never saw the phrase "Eaton-Lambert" once. Not once. Figures.
Why did I start this post at 350 am? Because 7 day old babies have NO normal sleep pattern. At least not at my house. Babies have been springing out of the woodwork. In the last 2 weeks we can announce our friends:
Brent and Melissa, Oct 26th, Baby boy Jack
Us, Oct 31st, Olivia Greer Brownell
Sam and Meredith, Nov 3rd, Gabriella Jae Burkett
Nick and Stephanie, Nov 4th, Ainsley Lillian Proud

Holy cow! That's a lot of babies in almost 1 weeks time. February was a fertile month. In the next 2 weeks we are expecting Brandon and Nicole Triggers little girl too. After that, Cullen and Jodi are on the Horizon, as are our friends Jamie and Sharon. Good luck to all. Waaayyyyy more diaper changing and feeding than I ever realized, but worth every minute.

Last, but certainly not least, I leave you with some video editing fun I was having. I really like this song, by one of my favorite artists, and the song is called, "W is for Winner". I think the video fits pretty good with it.

Long but excellent weekend

Our first weekend at home as a family! Rough first night, but great thanks to Jenni Galles and Mindy Dunne for saving us. They brought lasanga, sandwhiches and help with things around the house which gave us a big lift for our sleep time. Daisy is not quite sure of what exactly Olivia is yet.

Olivia donned her first hawkeye gear and settled in for what seemed to be a long day against the Northwestern Wildcats.

This is Olivia screaming when she saw Jake Christiansen once again throwing the football as if he was afflicted with some neuromuscular disorder. I think her official quote was, "Jake Christiansen couldn't hit water from a boat"

Ok, she settled quickly when the Hawkeye defense stepped up and Jake looked much better in the second half. Hawkeyes WIN!! Can you believe a 7-5 season on the horizon?

Last but not least, we decided Olivia kind of looks like a gloworm when she is all wrapped up.

Going Home Today!

Very Tiny Hands

They like to be bundled

Uncle Mike and Olivia

Cousin Jordyn came to visit and got into the chocolate.

Had to add this picture to show how cute Jordyn really is when she doesn't have chocolate moustache.

Welcome, Olivia.

We started with labor yesterday morning...19 hours later we are blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Mom did a fantastic job, and is doing great. Dad is happier than ever, and I never could have imagined what this could be like, and what it means to have your own child. Thank you for everyone that has been there for us, we love you all.

OK, I got the serious stuff out of the way. Now we can do a little jig for the HALLOWEEN BABY. I have big plans for extravagant and over the top Halloween Decorations, costumes, and celebrations for the next 18 years, and now can be fully justified other than my nerdiness.

Olivia Greer Brownell

7 lbs 8 oz

Born: 10/31/2007 at 12:56 am

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Late QB move by KF

In a surprising move by KF and KOK, Daisy "Dizzle" aka DVB has replaced Jake Christiansen as QB vs MSU today. She was seen wearing Drew Tate's old number 5 at practice. Look for more precise passing and fewer sacks today with her in the pocket. Also look for really confused MSU players.

I found some old pics from an SD card that were fun to look at. This is Diz right after we brought her home. No new news on the baby front. The due date is Halloween, so any day now. I will post pics as soon as we have them!

Geared up for Siouxland Lewis and Clark Marathon!

This is Larry Mgoba. Just to clear it up, I won't be in direct competition with this guy. Actually, I am not even sure which race I am running yet. Not the marathon though. I am entered in the Relay, and 5 member team to run the race. Should be fun, though one person is out and we need a 5th. If we can't field a team, I am going to suck it up and run the half-marathon. I have been running a lot, but 7.55 miles is the longest I have run in probably 6 or 7 years, so even a half will be stretching it. I actually set out to run a 10K tonight, but got lost on my run in Morningside and it ended up almost 8 miles. I am sore now, but a good sore. We'll see how it feels in 12 hours.

Third Generation, Coming Soon

As I sit here in the ER at 230am, checking over a few pics Tony has, I realized I am going to be adding one human to the earth soon. More importantly to me, to my house. Kind of gives me a little bit of that 'oh crap' feeling. I really like this photo of Dad, Ty, Terry and I from the Ty's wedding. We'll add the first 3 gen shot pretty soon. Nicole and I went to the OB today, baby's head is down and we are at 37 weeks. Coming soon!

Fun New Running Log

The Best Way to Clean a Baby's Face Off....Too Good Not to Share.

Hmmm. I am not sure if this is approved by the American Academy of Pediatrics, but it'll do. I had to share this because I about spit milk out my nose when I saw it. Thank you Muncher. With our first one coming in the next few weeks, it is helpful for me to pick up parenting tips wherever I can get it.

Here's the link to this post on Muncher's Page.

The Hawkeyes were sick yesterday.

It was the ugliest game I have seen by the Hawkeyes in a while. The boo birds came out in Kinnick. I am ok with that. There was a debate on the boards about booing. Some for and some against. I like this quote arguing that booing is your right, and ok:

Originally posted by luvmyhawks: "What in the hell is going on with all the coddling of these football player's? Give me an effing break. Look, the entire team, coaches and player's deserved to be booed today. Can't handle the heat, go to Akron. Good lord."

Another: "I've never boo'd but I see no problem with people doing it. I don't want to hear the argument that these are just kids. College football is big business and the NCAA, Conferences, coaches have turned it into that. We now have the Big Ten Network so they can make more money and get more exposure. It's to bad the players are caught up in the middle of the business, but they are. College football can't have it both ways, where they have millions of fan (spending millions of dollars), but then the fan's shouldn't boo because it's not nice. Coaches are making millions of dollars and treated like kings. I highly doubt the boos upset them (except for the coach at OSU).The day the coaches are working for free, the games are free, and the players are not on scholarship, that's the day we should not be booing. "

I agree with Bio Hawk. If a player gets upset to the point of not being able to play because the players are booing the program he is playing for, then he isn't cut out for division 1 football. If he can't handle that, then how can he handle blitzing linebackers? This isn't a division III school where the players are giving up spare time to play, this is division I. If you can't handle booing, there's plenty of division II or III schools you can play at.

I am not for booing for the most part. But I certainly think people have the right too boo and voice their displeasure at the shoddy play and coaching we have seen this year. Jake was miserable. The O-Line was miserable. KOK's play calling was miserable. We may not have top 10 team talent, but we have more talent recruited to Iowa the last few years than teams we are losing to. I understand the boos, if nothing else.

Tyler and Jess' Wedding (and a Flan Castle)

Tyler had his wedding a few weeks ago. Wanted to share some pics. To get to a whole bunch more, and a lot better quality ones, you can see all the pics over at Tony's Link to the right, or click HERE.

2 down, 1 to go, Terry...

Paul has a good handle on how to grab the camera.

???????

The Camera Man. Excellent photos. Excellent friend. Excellent Male Dancer.

I don't think I ever got these posted from before. When Nicole and I stayed with Chad and Hilary this summer, Chad decided he wanted to make a Castle of Flan. So, he did.

Here is the proud engineer.

Here I am, just after a run, digging in to the Flan Castle. My main role in the fruition of this project was getting it out of the castle mold, and eating it.

Baby Girl Brownell Coming Soon....

She is 32 weeks in the making, and will be joining us soon! We had a 3D ultrasound today which was really fun. We got to see her face, little hands and feet. It is pretty weird when you start seeing a little person in there. Here's a little clip of the ultrasound, and if I get my printer/scanner hooked up I can put a few of the still images up too. I knew you would love this, mom!

Hawkeyes at Soldier Field

Hawkeyes versus NIU at Soldier Field

View from outside Soldier Field

Mike and Ann came out from Maine and were able to part from their pet lobster for a few days in ChicagoMe, Trigger, Kyle, Mike and Sam
UI Med School Reunion

Nicole and I heading into the game

We had box seats, our own suite for the game. Catered, air-conditioned, 3 TV's with the other college games on. It was a pretty sweet way to watch the game.

Sam and Mer in our suite. The suite worked out extra well since both Nicole and Merideth are 32 weeks pregnant. The air-conditioning and our own bathroom made the game much easier for them.

Sam, Mike and I

Hawk Band just prior to kickoff. It was a great game, Hawks won 16-3. Defense looked good, the offense scared me a little. We'll see.

These last pics are just of the big shiny metallic bean in Millenium Park in Chicago. Nicole and I walked back to the Hotel after the game through Grant Park and Millenium Park. It was a beautiful afternoon, and those are great parks with lots to look at when you are country folk like us. This shiny spaceship was our favorite.