Half way to somewhere...

July 26th, 2012, we made it to half a year!  I can't tell you how many times I thought ahead to this time in her life and wondered what it would be like. I had no real clear picture of what I was aiming for...really just survival, to be honest! But now that we are here, I have been able to take a look back and realize how far we've come and I'm so proud of my little family-human and furry!

Brynlee Paige is wearing a solid 6 month size in clothes and is starting to bust out of some of those even. We've broke out some 6-9 month which  are a little big, but the growing room isn't obnoxious...I just can't believe we're to that point! 

We have her 6 month appointment next week, so I'll know her new measurements then, but I expect nothing but good stats. She's definitely not missing any meals. :) We don't have any teeth yet, but I'm kinda partial to her little gummies. Considering she' still nurses too, I'm kinda freaked out about it, but I know the time is coming, so I'll just have to get over it and enjoy her little gummy smile while I can!
Her eyes have still not committed to a color....One is half brown/green and the other is a greenish-greyish blue. I had certainly thought they'd be set by now, but maybe this is being set? Kinda cool if it is!

She's solidly sitting up now and throughout the month is using her hands less and less to sit propped up. We do the belly swim constantly and she'll arch that little back and push up getting so close to the crawling position, but as soon as she does she froggies out flat.
Right now her mobility is limited to being a little pinwheel on her tummy, spinning around in circles from toy to toy. She's tried to go from a tummy position to leaning up to her bum, but right now it really just makes her roll back over to her back. We let her fall quite a bit when she sits, not doing much to cushion, catch or prevent it. She's only fallen "bad" a couple times and I think she's only cried cause it startles her, not really cause it hurts! She has this nice little fall/roll she does and when the dust settles she acts like she was doing it on purpose all along, so we roll along with it and usually act happy and clap a lot when she falls.
She's started to make waving motions with her arms and hands, sometimes prompted but most the time not. She has, however, started shaking her head, with no prompting and although it makes me hang my head, it's seriously precious to watch her do.

Taylor and Brynlee-11 days apart!

We've graduated B to a 4 hour eat, play, sleep cycle and it's been working great. Contrary to her early  newborn ways, B has ultimately become a great sleeper and I couldn't be more thrilled with that. It was a painful process to get her that way, but once we hit that groove, we haven't looked back. 

With starting a 4 hour cycle, it eliminated her late night feeding, changing to just 4 feedings a day and also moved up her bed time to 8-8:30 pm. With the guidance of my Baby Wise guru and mother of two, Katie Jensen, she coaches me on what to expect and aim for when it comes to these transitions. Having her youngest 11 days older than B is such a blessing because I look at what Taylor is doing and know what's coming up in the near future for me!

The four hour routine/schedule couldn't have come at a better time because my parents and brother came over the 4th of July! I had missed them SO MUCH and couldn't wait for Drew to meet his niece! This is something I had looked forward too since her birth, so I couldn't have been any more excited for a family week. I get so envious of all my friends near and far that live so close to their families, some even in the same towns. I would settle for one closer time zone let alone in the same town, but that's what makes these trips that much more memorable.
Driving to Raleigh to pick them up from the airport was the first time I have left TOWN with Bryn. I was pretty nervous but she always seems to prove me wrong when I'm picturing the worst. We got to the airport in enough time to walk around and take in all the Raleigh husle and bustle...she was in absolute awe. I love watching her see new places and things...she just sits in her Ergo taking it all in. I could watch her watching all day, LOL.

Meeting Uncle Drew for the first time!

Part of my family's trip, unfortunately for them, was to help John and I pack up our house. I felt bad putting them to work, but at the same time I wasn't sure when else I would ever have so many babysitters and able willings hands. As of now our house is pretty naked, with nothing on the walls, and most of the houses "extras" that aren't necessities are packed and stacked awaiting a future storage unit.

Independence Day.

For the 4th of July we BBQ'd here at the house but joined the Albaeck family for dessert and fireworks on post. With the Albaecks moving, it was nice to have one more big "family" outing before they left!

82nd AA Family Fun
Day watching daddy
get "attacked" by the
K9 dogs.

Before leaving town to Myrtle Beach, I got a last minute text from John that he and another K9 team were asked to do live demo's at the 82nd Airborne's Family Fun day at Sicily Air Field. We packed with a hurry and headed to Sicily just in time to watch the demo. Not only was there the K9 demo, but they also did airborne jumps, equipment drops, and missile launches for everyone to see. During the K9 demo John got to be the "attacked" so it was really cool to see him in his element, even if he was getting attacked by K9 dogs! Bryn held in amazingly, sitting in multiple laps, with plenty to look at...the missile launches were a bit much, luckily she and I were walking to the car when they started so we weren't in the loudest place, but it was still crazy loud and she grabbed onto me like never before!
After the demo's we headed out of town, for our first interstate trip with John following on his motorcycle a couple hours later.
The next morning we ventured out onto the beach for the first time. It was SO exciting to get to take B to the ocean for her first beach experience! We went out first thing in the morning when it was cool and still breezy. She was, again, very perceptive and almost in awe of it all. It was really fun and a special family memory for us.

Aquarium awe. :) 

Aquarium.

Later that day we took the bro and parents to our Myrtle Beach tradition of going to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, then we went to the Ripley's Aquarium. I could not WAIT to take B to the aquarium and the first thing she did when we got there was fall asleep! But she woke up in time for the underwater tunnel and her awe face was just spectacular. I loved being able to wear her and see all her reactions to everything.
We had one more beach morning, just the three of us, and then took some family photos down by the Cherry Point Pier before leaving town.

Family shot!

We used the last day of my family being here continuing to pack up the house as much as we could. Taking the fam back to the airport was definitely bittersweet. We stopped on our way to Raleigh at the Airborne Museum which is a must here at Ft. Bragg.

My "babysitter" and friend, Jenn Albaeck, and her fam moved from Bragg to just outside Charolette forcing me to take B with me whenever I leave the house. I knew this day was coming but I'd been avoiding it for as long as possible! I know it seems extreme to have gone this long without going out alone with her, but our track record going out in public just hadn't been that great and it really stressed me out, so I really just avoided it altogether, or waited til I could leave her with Jenn or John! Well, once Jenn moved, it was getting to the point where I hadn't left the house in days and I just needed a change of scenery. We went to Target, and of course, she puts me to shame by doing just fine and not making a single peep while we were out and even gave people smiles while she bounced along in her Ergo while I made my way around. Since then sometimes we've gone out at least once a day and she's been great.

LOVES to help feed herself.

After her five month "birthday" I started giving her rice cereal to try. I bought the Earth's Best Whole Grain cereal and she LOVES it like whoa. I never thought of consistantly giving it to her but she gets so animated and excited when I bring it out, I decided to give it to her in addition to her afternoon feeding.
We have tried introducing solid foods such as sweet potato, apples, banana, winter squash, and avocado really to no avail. She broke out with banana, made faces at apples like I gave her a lemon, and threw the avocado as soon as it squished in her hands, like it grossed her out. Sigh...I know it something not necessary for her, health wise, but it's something I was looking forward to and wanted to try while John was home so he could experience some firsts with her.
The only thing she didn't seem to mind was steamed/pureed winter squash. It was the only food she'd try solo and it's the only one she'd eat without protest mixed in with her rice cereal.
I have really enjoyed making our own baby food so far. I have bought some organic jarred of some foods we have yet to try because I got tired of buying organic fruits and veggies just for her to not like them and me using some of my milk stash to make it. If we weren't looking at moving here soon I'd just freeze it and wait, but for now this seems to work the best.
Once we get to Colorado I would love it even more if I could grow some of my own ingredients. These are all high hopes and aspirations, some of which might not happen, but I'm optimistic in at least trying!

Last day of certification with Denzel
- he passed! Therefore, now deployable.

John has continued his training this month with certification and deployment headed our way. This deployment has been the most prolonged one we've experienced yet, and from what I've been learning it's really just proof to how all units are different and handle things differently. As odd as this sounds, we're ready for him to just go already. I know my other Army wives can relate! We both would like to just get it started,get it over with, and get our family back home together.
With the house half packed up it's made things seem more real than they have so far. Lots done yet so much more to do!!
This will be our third deployment but yet, each one has it's own significant difference than the last. We don't have actual paper orders yet, so the details are still ?? to us, but being that he's in a smaller unit, things are already different in a lot of ways, so we're both pretty anxious to see what challenges this deployment will hold.
The silver lining, and purpose of going to CO altogether, is getting to be close to family again. Everytime I get anxious or down about the situation, my spirits are raised when I think about the love and support all three of us (six with the pets!) will be surrounded by. Bryn will finally get to meet the rest of her uncles and her aunts, as well as her cousins and continue to grow in her relationships with her grandparents, great-grandma and hopefully her great aunts, uncles, and cousins!! She and I will have many friends and family to hang out with I'm almost giddy thinking about it. It's hard to picture having fun with all these people that mean so much to us, without John there though. Having a kid in the picture changes things so much!
I constantly flip flop back and forth between my giddiness to guilt in that all these friends and family will get to see her grow up her first year instead of her daddy. Overall though, considering he should have been gone months ago, we are extremely grateful that he's been home to experience what he has so far and it just makes us more determined as parents to make sure she knows her daddy loves her and will do anything for her, even if he's not physically there.

We aren't sure when things are going to start, but we anticipate it'll begin in the next 30-60 days. Even though we've been saying that for a while, we feel more secure in that time frame because of deployment forms and leave dates John's had to turn in thus far.
Until then just keep our little family in your thoughts and prayers. We really enjoy the lifestyle we live and John loves what he does, the Army has given us ups and downs, but overall we're so grateful for the opportunities it's given us so far and look forward to the future, even the hard parts!

Until the next update, we're half way through her first year which seems so small in comparison to the rest of this little babes life, so here's to half way to somewhere!

A Midsummer Night's Dream.

She LOVES her books.
We read several everyday.

Who needs toys?!

Look! No hands!

I adore these cheeks....

Our new stink face, along with some nice
nose snorting. Sigh....

Wasup?!

Is this what's coming next??? Oh man...

Five Month Round Up....

June 26th, 2012. Five months old.

Wow, time has really flown by!
I feel like I just wrote my four month round up yesterday, so this has taken a day or two to wrap my mind around...although it feels like yesterday, so much has changed that I think that's why it feels like it's flown by.

Every morning, without fail, I'm greeted with the sweetest smiling babe. Whether I have to wake her up or she's already awake and "playing" around in her bed until I get her, I'm always greeted with this huge opened mouth smile and it's a great way to begin the day. It does not prove that the rest of our day will be that joyously epic, BUT it's a great way to start!


We had an impromptu doctor's appointment on B's 5 month birthday, she weighed in at 14.5 lbs. I was asked by the nurse doing her vitals if I've been "slipping that baby some fried chicken and grits when no one's looking"....Although her weight is not astronomical for her age, we'll just say she wears it in certain places that would make you think otherwise, and honestly, comments like that are music to my ears.
She is wearing 3-6 month clothes, but definitely fills out a solid 6 month outfit with some nice, not obnoxious, growing room. I have learned, through all her physical growth, that baby clothes are a black hole of annoyance...Any parent can relate to that, so enough said on that topic!

Hair is finally filling out. :)

B's hair is filling in more and more each day and I love it. Her scar from birth is slowly disappearing thanks to that, finally! Her eyes are still a mystery to us. She has half of a brown/blue eye and then her other eye is a grey-ish blue. Jury is still out on that one.

Some of the most astronomical changes we've experienced this month just shows how much she's growing up. She's completely out of a full body swaddle, out of a one arm swaddle, and is only swaddled from the chest down when sleeping at night. During the day John will chest swaddle her, but most the time I don't and to me it seems she does better during the day without it. She's an absolute wiggle worm and is rolling all over her bed both when awake and asleep, so during naps it seems that the quality of nap is better when she has free range of her bed than at bed time when she's a little limp noodle.

Sweet "smoosh" face
sleeping on her tummy. 

Sleeping on her tummy has definitely become the most favored sleeping position and she continues to make my heart pound when I look at the baby monitor and see her in some tummy pretzel position. I'm not sure how she sleeps sometimes. She seriously looks like a contortionist the way she twists around in her sleep...BUT the positive side out of all of it, is at least she's 100% conked out while doing it, so rock on little girl, do what you need to do.

Another big change has been in her feeding times. She's been on a solid scheduled nursing routine since about 1.5 months old and we make gradual changes to it as she's able to play longer etc...well a week or so after her 4 month birthday we were doing our last nursing "session" of the night and after only about 5 minutes into it she pushed me away. I was so startled by it I put her back to me and she kept pushing away and was as wide awake as ever.
Usually during these feedings she nurses about half an hour and then usually falls asleep on my shoulder while I'm burping her or once she's laid in bed--but she's usually almost asleep at that point so her being wide awake really startled me and sent me into a slight panic.

Why isn't she tired!? It's bed time, the same bed time routine we've had for a while, what happened overnight!?
Well after trying to force the issue for about another 10 minutes she really just kinda laid there talking to me and kept pushing me away. So I burped her a little bit and laid her in her bed WIDE awake fingers crossed she would put herself to sleep.
She was out in about 5 minutes.
I was in shock...not only did she not want that nursing session at all, but she went right to sleep without a single squawk.
From that night on, that's how things went, she would still occasionally take a full feeding but she'd still be wide awake in the end and once burped and placed in bed she'd roll over and go to sleep, no cries or fusses at all.
It was amazing, lol. I think I'm constantly underestimating what that little bug can "handle" and what she's capable of doing, and so when she finally stands her ground with me and does things on her own it not only startles me, but it also hurts my feelings some.
That night she pushed me away for the first time, I called John after I put her in bed, tears in my eyes telling him that she doesn't want me anymore, lol.
It sounds ridiculous now, but at the time it was seriously such a shock that I had very hurt feelings and it also just shocked me how big she really was getting.
Now I LOVE it and enjoy the fact that I don't have to worry about a rough n'tumble bedtime when I lay her in bed wide awake.

Playing with a spoon.

We also introduced some Earth's Best Organic rice cereal to her a week ago and it was really fun to do. I had contemplated skipping this step altogether with her because to me it's really not necessary, BUT we're not sure John will get to be here when she gets to first experience REAL food, so I wanted to do this so he can have some of the fun in feeding her with a spoon, etc, for the first time.
She'd been playing with a spoon for about a week prior so she actually had the whole spoon-mouth concept down. She was a little confused by stuff being ON the spoon at first but after playing around with it for about 15 minutes she seemed to be ok with it. I know John really enjoyed it so that's all that matters!

Happy face after first rice cereal with daddy.

Sitting up, un-propped,
for the first time!

Another big baby accomplishment is that John got B to sit up on her own for the first time.
That was a great milestone that made me even more sad that my baby girl is growing up.
With how rough things were when she was a new newborn, I never thought I'd miss my little snuggle bug of a baby, but the older she gets the more she's needing me less and less I'm finding the more I miss those things we used to do.

This month was John's 28th birthday and I was really glad he was home for it. He has a habit of being deployed on birthdays and anniversaries, so the fact that he was home for his birthday was an awesome bonus. We laid low, going out to dinner with friends, but other than that laid low and enjoyed our first family birthday with daddy.

Sporting her amber
necklace.

We've been debating here at the end of month #5 if B might be teething or not. According to my mom I got my first tooth at 4 months, so we've had our eyes peeled to see if anything is coming around. It seemed there towards the end of month 4 that she was getting really fussy, drooling buckets, and gnawing on anything she could get her little hands on. So far nothing has poked through or even swelled up, but I decided to try the amber teething necklace with B to see if it'd make a difference at all either way.
Now I'm not a crunchy mom by any means at all, I don't claim to be the opposite, but I definitely don't claim to be one either...I like to stay grey, neutral, Switzerland on all that...I go with what works. Do the beads work? I have no idea, but they are cute and if they don't work, well, they aren't hurting her, so who knows.

Damage on my car...

On June 16th my car got rear ended AGAIN.
I don't know what people have against me in this town, but this SUV has been rear ended 4 times now, and backed into once. What made this worse is that B was in the car with us and I've never been so panicked in all my life.
As soon as the impact "finished" I was half out of the car in the middle of traffic before John pulled me back into the car so he could pull to the side. I jumped out of that car so fast, shaking all over, and opened the back door and there was little B just smiling up at me with no real concern to what just happened. I was so relieved.

Damage on his car...

Unfortunately we are having problems with the guy that hit us. Although we got each other's information, he's turned off his cell phone and isn't answering any communication's sent out from his insurance or us.
They won't determine fault until they get his statement, even though he was ticketed for speeding and avoiding collision. He even admitted, at the scene, that he was playing with his iPod and that's why he didn't see us.
After having SEVERAL majorly mean hissy fits with his insurance I finally got them to agree to fix my car even though they can't get ahold of him, so in a couple weeks I'll be taking the car into the shop and getting it taken care of....again.
In the end, we were all ok, but out of all the times I've been hit in this vehicle, this one had me in a panic the most because of Brynlee in the back.
Pretty sure she got extra kisses and squeezes that day from both me and her daddy.

Happy Father's Day 2012!

This month was John's first Father's Day! It was so fun. We combined our Mother's and Father's day "big" gift by getting the XBox on Mother's day, but I knew I still had to get him something special, so I made a photo book of our family journey so far and also got him a deep tissue massage at one of the day spas in town. He works so hard for us and spends such long days with the K9 dogs and getting ready for this next deployment, he needed something to help him "woosah" before he leaves.

We are still looking at end of July into August for moving back to CO and him deploying. He and his K9 dog, Denzel, are scheduled for their team certification testing the end of July and once they pass, we are assuming he'll be deployed within weeks after that.
My parents and brother are coming during the 4th of July week to hang out with us and so Drew can finally meet his niece! They are going to help us pack up a lot of the house and get stuff organized and into storage, so that when things go down, we're no blindsided with so much to do and I'm not here by myself trying to figure it all out with a baby.

My garage sale buddy.

We had a garage sale with the neighbor at the beginning of the month and got rid of some of our furniture and a ton of odds and ends stuff that I'm glad to have gone. I don't know how a house with just three people can get so cluttered but it was and it'd been bugging me for a while, so I was wheelin and dealin, wanting the stuff to go even if I had to follow them to their car to make them take it. Needless to say we made out well, and got rid of a ton of stuff that makes me feel not so claustrophobic and intimidated when it comes to packing and moving.

Well, sitting here after B's 5 month birthday I never thought that I'd still be having problems with the healing from her birth. After my 8 week PP appt. they had to "reset" some things which set me back a couple weeks in the healing process. Well about a month later, I did feel better but I still felt like some things were off and still not completely right. When it's your first kid it's so hard to know what's normal or not, you have nothing to compare it against and everyone's experience is different....so after waiting a while and talking to my off post doctor's, I finally made an appointment for an exam and they confirmed what I had been fearing.
Things are healed, but not healed properly, so I have been actually referred to a OB specialist to see what the game plan is. My doc told me that it could take anything from steroid shots a couple times a year for pain management to even worse case re-construction surgery to eliminate the problem altogether.
I know all of this may be TMI for some, but it's something, again, that no one really talks about after their babies are born. I'm extremely envious of those women that just pop out babies and are cooking dinner that night like it was nothing...every time I get examined I get comments that I must have delivered a huge baby...when I tell them that she wasn't big at all I always get weird looks because of how extensive the "damage" is.
I have to go through my whole labor story over and over explaining how she was stuck, how long I was in labor, how long I pushed etc, and it's always greeted with raised eyebrows and questions about whether delivering her naturally was worth it all here on the flip side with these issues.
Along with a pending deployment and moving, it's really the last thing I need to deal with, but I really want to have somewhat of my "old" body back. I still struggle to sit on my own couch or the chair in B's room without hurting, so in the end I'll do what I need to do to get the issue resolved. Fingers crossed it's just not as drastic as they have said already to me!

I've still been working from home with a couple office visits a week and I have really enjoyed it.
With the older B gets and the summer coming to a close, I've taken less work and have started prepping for the impending deployment and move. I absolutely love what I do and have enjoyed so much the opportunity to continue it even after having a baby. It really affirmed in my mind that it's ok to leave your baby sometimes and go do things you want to do, and your not a bad parent for it.
I enjoy dropping her off and riding in my car in silence. I enjoy going to work, hanging out with my coworkers and having adult conversation, no matter how obnoxious it is! Those co workers of mine have had to put up with a lot from me the last 2.5 years I worked there (pregnancy, deployments, etc.), but I wouldn't trade any of them for the world and it's awesome what a neat dysfunctional family we are.

Well Bryn's first swimsuit is bought, the beach is calling our name, and we're going to be headed out with family over 4th of July weekend and I can't wait for her first beach experience. I also can't WAIT for Brynlee to finally meet her uncle Drew, it's going to be awesome. I think they'll be equally scared of each other, so it's going to be an awesome experience to watch.



Until next time here are some other goodies from this last month...

Memorial Day 2012. Airborne Museum, Fayetteville, NC.

Father's Day 2012.

4 Month Round Up

Well, we've survived another month...YAY!
Brynlee had her four month "birthday" this last Saturday (the 26th) and we "celebrated" it home alone, unfortunately, because John had to work, BUT we took adorable four month birthday pictures to commemorate, so that pretty much makes it all better. :)

****May 26th, 2012****

It feels like I keep repeating myself, but I swear that some days just fly by and some seem like they will never end.

However, one thing is for sure, our little bug grows more and more in SO many ways everyday and it's so amazing to see and experience. 

We started the month being too big for size 1 diapers yet size 2 seemed so huge.

Now, I'm almost wondering if size 3 is in our horizon soon. 

She's pretty much grown completely out of her 3 month clothes and bounces between 3-6 and 6 month clothes depending on the brand and style.

It makes me sad and happy at the same time to pack away the little things she's outgrown. 

Some of the most recent things I've packed away are things I bought her the weekend after I found out we were having a girl.

In desperation to wrap my head around having a girl (I swore I was having a boy) I went shopping at the outlets and went a little wild at Carter's, The Children's Place, Osh Kosh, and RL. I still have a few pieces left from that shopping trip, but not many. Growing little bug...

We had her 4 month doc appointment today and her stats were: 13.10 lbs and 23 3/4 inches.
I have no idea where that falls in that percentile thing.
I honestly have never looked up her stats to compare. As long as they say she's of a healthy weight and length, that's good enough for me!

One way I know she is not my child is how she acts at the doctor's office.
Today the ped was jiggling her legs around checking her hips and back placement and she let out the highest pitched laugh I have ever heard from her to date.
It caught the doc off guard enough where he stopped a second thinking she was crying, but no she was having fun on the jiggly ride.
Contrary to her two month appointment where she hardly blinked at shots, she definitely was not a fan this time. Thankfully one was oral, but the two others--one in each leg--she was pretty much over it by the last one letting out pitiful scream/cry that would make any mom stop in her tracks.
I was SO grateful John was able to go with her and I. He's made all but one of her doctor appointments so far and he's had shot/heel prick duty every single time. Poor guy.
BUT daddy snuggles seem to be the crying baby cure, so he's more than happy to go along for the ride.

So onto this months round up...

One thing, randomly noting, is John and I went on one of our "real" legit sans baby dates, leaving Brynlee with Jenn (who already watches her a couple times a week for me when I go into the office) and her family. We went to dinner and a movie, and another special moment for me on this date was I had my first glass of post baby wine. It was awesome.

Going along in the order of things, the first of May, John went to his E6 (SSG) Promotions Board and passed! Bryn and I had been studying with him for weeks (he'd recite his speeches to her during play time, she was a great listener!) and were so excited to have him accomplish this goal. We're not sure he'll make points to get his "6" before this deployment, but having the "P" (promotable) status on his name is a huge gain in general. So proud!

During this month I ventured out more and more out of my usual hermit comfort zone and went on several lunch dates/baby events with friends on my own. Usually if I did something like this I made sure I had "supervision." Now that GG is gone and John's not only fully recovered but training for this up and coming deployment, I haven't really had a choice if I wanted to get out of the house besides going to work! It's turned out great and I'm so grateful to have lady friends to hang out with that are willing to help me at home and out in public! 

There were several "firsts" this month for the little gal...

First  off we had our first "real" guttural laugh from the little babe and it was the most enlightening sound I have ever heard. It's a real hit or miss to do something funny enough to earn a laugh of that degree, so I can't wait until it becomes more consistent and I hope to catch a video of it to share.

We have also been slowly moving up her bedtime/last feeding time, as well as altered her 3 hour cycle of eat/play/sleep. She's eating every 3.5 hours (we tried jumping from 3 to 4 and it was SO no bueno!)

which means her wake/play time is about 1.5-2 hours. When we first changed her schedule to this I was SO nervous, not knowing how I could keep her entertained that long...on into another first, ROLLING!

Like she knew my anxiety, the little gal turned into a little roly poly around this same time and is just a little rolling machine. She has been rolling from tummy to back for a while, but now we are finally rolling from back to tummy (only rolling to the right, right now) and this creates not only great exhausting exercise (and usually pretty good naps!) but it keeps her entertained for a LONG while rolling across the room, scattering the animals like wild fire. 

I am having to actually force her on her back some when she first starts her play time. There for a while I'd finish feeding/burping her, set her down on the floor and she'd immediately roll over and spit up. Sigh.

So I have been using a blanket to "block" her for now and after about 5-10 minutes or so, I'll move it and let her roll on her merry way. 

With the change up of bedtime, it's caused us to have to get up in the night with her sometimes. Usually nothing that a new diaper and some snuggles/rocking from dad can't fix. I'm SO grateful that he'll get up with her if she wakes, it wasn't always this way! 

Fortunately for me, if she does wake it's usually close to when he's getting up for work anyways (between 4-5 am) so it kinda works out for me to get to roll over while he changes her, rocks her, and has her back in bed asleep in about 15 minutes. Nothing like a daddy's touch. :)

Bryn is a talking/screaming machine. 

I'll have her set up in the living room playing and go to the kitchen to get coffee/breakfast for myself and she'll be talking/shrieking away. I actually had a couple panic moments when I'd be out of the room and I'd hear a shriek from her (keep in mind the kitchen is only about 10 feet from our living room), I'd go running in and she'd be laying there--her slobbery, smily self, usually holding some toy and screaming happily at it.

I've had to catch myself in trying to decipher which screams are legit and which are play. Honestly they sound identical, so yeah, I have left her in the living room legitimately crying and I had no idea thinking she was just playing. Sigh, live and learn.

John left to Jersey this last month to take a soldier to deploy leaving Bryn and I alone together for the first time. The timing of it was actually awesome, because I was no longer intimidated by the babe and considering that we had such a well established routine, we went about our days just like normal and it really didn't feel that any different except at nighttime (usually dad plays and puts her to bed when he gets home) and at bath time. 

I had to give Bryn bath's alone for the first time and that was probably the most daunting thing of the whole week he was gone. 

Go figure.

We had made it such a family affair that it never crossed either of our minds that I would have to do it alone. He had done it alone a couple times before, and carries such an intimidating confidence about it when he does. I SO did not have that, so if it weren't for a really obnoxious spit up day, I probably would have put it off for as long as possible to the date of his return!

John got home the day before Mother's Day. 

Our first Mother's Day.

Originally we didn't plan for him to be home that early, we had planned for him to get in Mother's Day night, so it was an awesome surprise to have him home the night before.

Mother's Day was so special. You only get your first Mother's Day once, and John and Bryn set a very high precedence for this first for me.

I got a beautiful necklace "from" Bryn, along with 24 roses from my mother-in-law, then John and my parents put in together to get me an XBox/Kinnect and some workout games so I can lose the last of this baby weight!

After Mother's Day I had a doctor appointment to get my back/hips adjusted. 

I had back and hip pain while pregnant, then we all know how my labor went, so needless to say, the pain it still there on occasion. 

Thankfully not even nearly as bad, and with some stretches I've been given, I see myself bouncing back easily in the next couple months.

While at the doctor's appointment I got an official weigh in, the first I've had since my 8 week PP check up. I'm proud to say that I'm only 8 +/- pounds from my pre baby weight and I know exactly where that weight is and know exactly how to lose it, hard part will be finding the time!

I've still been working from home (and going into the office 2-3 times a week) and feel so blessed to be doing so. It gives me time away, adult conversation, and obviously the money doesn't hurt!

As I have said before, my military wife friend, Jenn and her kiddos baby sit Bryn for me when I go into the office. I'm SO grateful to have them not only for that but for their friendship and child rearing knowledge! I am constantly at the mercy of the other mom's I'm around to know if what I'm experiencing with Bryn is "normal" or "abnormal" (or sometimes it's just me being paranoid, so I'm learning). It's so nice to be able to drop her off and not think or stress about her while I'm away. I'm able to concentrate on my work and get a lot accomplished in the small amount of time I'm there. It's really invaluable!

One of the main things I liked about Bryn staying with Jenn a couple times a week was for Bryn to "learn" to be bottle fed on occasion. She was fine with it for about a month or so and here lately has decided no mas. 

However, as opposed to some parenting tactics, I refuse to let a 3.5 month old "dictate" to me whether she'll take bottle feedings or not, SO we started doing more of them to nip it in the bud. 

Besides when Jenn would feed her, I would set it up for John to do a feeding while I went out to run errands, and man, did she give him a run for his money. There were times where I would come back and she still wouldn't be fed because she fought him THAT much...

In that one particular instance I took the bottle from poor exasperated John, and tried it myself, refusing to give in to my picky eater. She took it from me immediately (note: this is my first time ever bottle feeding a baby, let alone mine).

What a STINKER.

So, to find a happy medium, we're still bottle feeding her at once a day, and on a "non" Jenn day, I'll start off the feeding and half way through when it's burping time, we'll switch off and he'll finish with her. So far it's 100% working and she's none the wiser. 

Finger's crossed this time next month, it'll no longer be an issue. 

Where does she get this attitude and stubbornness from?? Ugh.....

Well the next big step for us as a family is John heading to certification with his K9 dog.

Once he passes his certification he'll be deemed deployable.

The kennels have been called multiple times by higher ups requesting a timeline for when he'll be ready to deploy.

Knowing these deployments are coming down the line makes these accomplishments in his career bittersweet. I couldn't be more proud or more heartbroken in the same breath than I am now facing what we are about to endure. 

They say "each deployment is different," and in my experience, sans baby, that's very true.

Now with Brynlee Paige, it just eats us up inside.

Honestly we avoid talking about it, and if we do talk about it, we talk more about moving plans than our thoughts or emotions about the obvious other parts. 

I think we both are so raw in our emotions on the subject that right now things are better left unsaid. We have done this before, we know what the other one is thinking.

I'm thankful to have the option to go home to Colorado with our families and be surrounded by them and our friends. There's no better remedy in our situation.

With expecting to be gone from NC by the end of summer we are anticipating the pending move and are slowly but surely treating it as the next hurdle to jump and then move on to whatever is next in line for our family.

We both love our lifestyle, the good and the bad, but this will truly be a new experience that no one can prepare us for. Keep our little family in your thoughts and prayers and we venture into this new trial. It's going to be hard, and thankfully we both have a pretty thorough understanding of that, but that doesn't make it any easier.

Until next time, here are some of the 3-4 month goody moments:

"Nekked" time is always good in this NC heat/humidity. :)

Roly Poly with her puppy's supervision. 

Yay for summer time!

1. Bumbo is finally fun!
2. Everything MUST go in mouth.

Someday I'll be as big as my big-little (18lb!) brother. 

Three Month Observations and Confessions

OMG, we've survived another month and what a month it's been!
We kicked off the beginning of month #3 with our first tear free bath which was a momentous occasion. Baths had been a drudgery of our every 2-3 day routine and so once this hurdle was jumped it's been joyous ever since! If anything we have fun now with her splashing around. Can't wait to use our Bloomin Bath we got once she's sitting up a little better.
Right now we still tag team on bath time. I'm too nervous to do it by myself. John has mastered it several times by himself and I'm ok with that. Not intimidated in the least.

Their favorite daddy and daughter time.

Bryn did us all a favor by having her first full night uninterrupted sleep the last night that GG was here. GG left on the 28th and we've missed her company dearly. I am so thankful she came and gave me the help that I needed to get back onto my feet.
Totally invaluable.
So back to sleeping!
Our little bug finally slept through the night on the 28th and has been a sleeping queen since. We've had one or two early morning wake ups that were really random, but she's put herself back to sleep without much if any intervention.
She's starting to move around in her bed so we had to eliminate our little "tie down that baby!" contraption and let her have free range of her bed to scoot where she pleases.

Sick baby snuggles. :(

We had our 4 year anniversary this month and spent it with our first sick baby experience.
She had a cold and was pretty congested and coughing, so we laid low for the most part. John did bring us girls flowers though, so that was special. :)
With Bryn being sick we all learned a lot together.
First off, she's a happy sicky--at least with this kind of sick.
 Not sure where she got that from, to be honest. John and I are total babies when we are sick.
She would smile and coo away as we were sucking snot out of her nose. If anything I think she liked it.
Thanks so much to all of you with all your congestion remedy suggestions! We bought the humidifier that worked wonders and we just now stopped using it even though she's been well for a while.
We lowered her bed back down from an angle to help her breath/sleep easier while being congested.

Boomer Sooner??

Our newest habit, that started while being sick, was finger sucking!
Not thumb sucking--finger sucking...
"Hook 'em horn" finger sucking to be exact.
I was worried about her being disowned from my family when we first discovered this new habit, but considering it's not a pacifier and she uses it as a sleeping soother, we're going to forgive her a pass on this one!
We've tried to let her sleep the night with the arm out, in case she needs it, but she went back to her usual hitting herself awake, so we've continued using the swaddle sack at night time and she's been a sleeping/napping dream.
The positive side of the finger sucking vs. pacifier thing is at least she'll never lose it, she can use them by herself, AND they "fall out" when she doesn't want it anymore.

Our current sleeping arrangement. 

Asleep at the docs office.

At Bryn's 2 month appointment she was awesome!
She even fell asleep among the check ups, shots, etc.
Another way she's not my daughter was when it came to her shots.
She scrunched up her face like she was going to cry, but by the time a cry could have come out it was done and she was fine. I was so proud (this is coming from a mom who passed out getting her nose pierced, so yeah, this is a proud moment)!!
Her two month weight was 10.12 lbs and 22 inches long.
I thought she was way more than that, but at least she's gaining appropriate weight, so oh well what I think!
I talked to the doc about her spitting up issues at this appointment and they prescribed her Zantac in liquid form. I hate giving her medicine of any type, but I conceded on this one cause I just wanted the spitting up to stop.
Here at the end of her third month I can't say it's helped or hindered, so I'm exploring other avenues to this issue and see what we can do.
Thankfully when she spits up she's never upset or cries, BUT it's after almost every feeding so it's something that I'm in contact with the lactation consultant about instead of the ped. Fingers crossed we find a remedy. Hopefully by the next monthly update we'll either grown out of it or have had some type of breakthrough.

Love Taylor's
precious upset face. :)

During this month, after GG left, we had our first official play date!
In closest to furthest order we have Lucas (2), Taylor (3.5 mos), Bryn (3 mos), and Logan (just shy of 2 mos).
Brynlee is still learning to be sociable. During this play date she didn't nap at all and was a crank for the rest of the day, but here at the end of the month she's much better and way more tolerable.
She and I both are still learning the concept of going out, either alone or with people, and not exhausting each other.
The simplest things are so hard now!
We're learning, and have totally had our ups and downs, but I think we're getting it here lately.




A big change for us has been me has been temporarily working part time as a contractor.
I decided to not go back to my job after Bryn was a little over 8 weeks old.
They counter offered to let me work from home and come into the office on occasion and I snatched it up big time.
This has kept me crazy busy during nap times and times when John's home to play with her leaving me some down time to work.
I have had to learn to balance home, dinner, baby, husband, along with a work load, but I honestly love it. I feel a sense of accomplishment and personal pride when I'm able to balance it and make it all work. It's time consuming and the laundry isn't always done when I want it to be, but so far it's working out really well.
While at the office I drop Bryn off at my friend Jenn's house.
She has four sweet kiddos so I knew she along with her sweet babes would be perfect for watching Bryn.
In this we also have started to have to bottle feed her more often than we had on occasion.
In the past when we've bottle fed her we haven't had a real issue, but suddenly the bottle we'd been using she started to reject so we changed game plans and found one she'd take and so far things have been really great.
It's SO AMAZING to be able to drop her off and not worry about her being kept on her schedule and not worry about her getting her feedings in on time, etc.
Although Bryn's been sleeping the night for almost a month now, I however have not.
I still get up in the night to pump just in order to stay ahead for these bottle feedings and because "the girls" get so full at a point in the night that I wake up hurting, so gotta do what I gotta do! I've built up an awesome system and a confident stash and it's left me wiggle room to even leave her home with John on occasion, extending over a feeding time, and not be rushed in whatever errand I'm out doing.

We've graduated to a three hour eat, play, sleep cycle finally which took some adjustments in the night sleeping arena. We had been using a 2.5 hour cycle for about a month and started to progressively work it up to three hours so we were finally on the "true" Babywise cycle. I'm glad the Babywise method is up to your interpretation for you and your baby, but getting to that three hour cycle was critical for me. Once we got over the 2.5-3 hour cycle hump, it's been smooth sailing since.

We celebrated our first Easter with the little bug this year and had a little photo session with her huge stuffed lamb that Nettie and Papa bought her for Easter. It was also her first Sunday at church and our first time back at church since she was born so it was extra special.

Sleeping at church. 

Easter fun with daddy.

Easter dress a la Dana Atarama. :)

I think lambs are going to become our Easter tradition. :)

Such a good sport for pictures!

We've noticed during her play times she's no longer as tight fisted as she once was. She'll be laying on her play mat and look at the dangling butterfly, reach out, and grab it and smack it back and forth. So exciting!
She's also started to roll from her back to her side as opposed to her stomach to back, so I think that rolling full circle is well on it's way.

The biggest battle of this month has been the car seat.
Oh, the dreaded car seat.
It took me getting tired of being in the house all day to finally come to the consensus that I can't do this forever and that she needs to get over it! Especially with going over to Jenn's several times a week.
I think going to Jenn's is what's helped us make progress in this area.
We are still not completely out of the woods, but progress is progress!

This month we had our Centering Group reunion where all us mom's got together with the babies and got to share about our mommy hood experiences so far and also our labor stories. I thought for sure I'd won the "longest labor" category, but one female soldier beat me, she was in labor 36 hours poor gal!
I also thought I might have won the most "bizarre" experience/labor in our group with my whole crooked head stuck baby, BUT one of the ladies got the ER at Womack in time to get on a bed and was already crowning, another poor gal (ironically she was one of the first ladies who wanted no pain, all the meds they could crank her up on, and she was one of the only ones that had no medication in her labor).
Our midwife took our picture as a group with all our babies, but I haven't gotten them yet, so I'll post them when I get them. It's really neat to see things come full circle with all our babies!

The most exciting change (to me!!) has been the change of hair color on her! I had been saying for a while to people that her hair was turning lighter in the natural light, almost a hint of red, and no one could "see" it or believed me. Thanks to this pic I think I caught as close to proof as I am going to get for now..

I don't know how you could miss it! It might not be red, but it's definitely lighter!!

Well that's our month in a nut shell.
I can't believe how much she's growing physically and developmentally.
Everyday brings some new experience and I just love it and can't wait to see what this next month brings!
Until then....

My little drooler. :)