Hope Beyond the Battle: 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: