Brynlee

Brynlee changes so fast so I need to continue updating. I am happy to say she has changed for the better. She is so happy and smiley almost all the time. Sometime she can't even hold the bottle or pacifier in her mouth because she can't stop smiling. I still love showing her off and hearing from EVERYONE how cute she is. Brynlee used to be pretty high maintenance- requiring someone to talk to her, hold her, feed her, etc. every second. If she was put down without anybody paying attention to her- she would cry. Thankfully she isn't nearly that bad anymore and will play with her toys or watch Baby Einstein for sometimes 20-30 minutes at a time. The one thing she still hates is being in the car in the dark by herself. She's okay during the day when she has something to look at though. I LOVE that she will just sit in my lap and cuddle. Sometimes I can even work on the computer while holding her.
We had our first roadtrip with her yesterday. John's grandpa died earlier in the week so we went to Salt Lake and back in 1 day. She slept most of the way up, then played for an hour or so (with me in the backseat). On the way home she slept for 2 1/2 hours, then looked at pictures of herself on our cellphones for a while. As soon as the light from the phones turned off, she got upset. She went to bed at her normal time when we got home too, which was nice (and unexpected).
I didn't realize how lucky we are with her sleeping through the night. I have talked to a lot of new parents recently with babies a lot older than Brynlee and they don't sleep through the night yet. Brynlee has been doing it since she was 7 weeks old. But it did take a lot of trial and error on our part to figure out what she likes. I'm nervous that when we put her in the crib (and it doesn't vibrate like her bouncy seat does) she will go back to waking up frequently. She has moved her bedtime from 11 PM to 10 PM. I think she will continue to move it forward as she gets older. She sleeps until 9 AM sometimes, but more often between 8 & 9 AM.
I stopped nursing when school started as it was just too much time and stress for me to handle. She was drinking way more than I could produce anyway, so we just went to straight formula. She is back to spitting up frequently as she gets used to the formula, but otherwise is doing just fine. It's amazing how much she drinks. For about 3 weeks she would drink 6 oz. every couple of hours. It has slowed down a little and I've noticed a lot of times she is a snacker. She likes to drink a little, then play, then drink some more. So it may take a couple of hours to drink 6 oz. now.
She babbles so much and I absolutely LOVE it and can't get enough of it. I keep trying to get a video of it, but haven't been successful yet. She also likes to stick her tongue out when we kiss her on the mouth. It is pretty funny.
She has discovered her hands and likes to chew on them or stare at them. It is the funniest thing to watch her as she is concentrating on an object or trying to reach for it.

It is so amazing to me that she knows who her mom and dad are. She smiles for us almost every time we look at her, but is very picky about who else she will smile at. She is a little shy around strangers and definetely prefers mom or dad to hold her most of the time.

We love every second we get to spend with our cute Brynlee! It is so hard to go to work and leave her, but at least I know she is well taken care of. As always we are so grateful to have her in our lives!

Pictures will be posted later.

2 months old!

Cute things that happened recently:

Last night after feeding Brynlee I held her up over my shoulder to burp her. As I'm patting her back I felt 3 small pats on my back from her. It was sooo cute and funny!

We had been out doing some grocery shopping and got home around 5:30. We were all starving, but of course the baby gets priority. I quickly warmed up some soup in a mug and took it upstairs so I could drink it while feeding Brynlee. A few minutes later John brought his food upstairs so we weren't lonely. Apparently Frank was feeling left out of the feast so he went downstairs and got his rawhide. He was carrying it in his mouth as he came upstairs. He sat down right by us and started eating too. It was hilarious because he doesn't eat those too often and certainly has never taken it upstairs before. The fun ended however when he puked it up on our carpet a few minutes later.

Brynlee is growing and changing everyday!

As far as eating goes we are doing much better at nursing. It's so nice to not have to pump AND feed her a bottle, but she doesn't always get full. She often nurses for an hour each time, plus at night we give her another 2-3 ounces in a bottle. For Brynlee to not be gassy and in serious pain I have to not eat dairy. It sucks, but worth it to have a happy baby and not a fussy, sad baby. Since I spend so much time feeding the baby, I have watched a lot of TV lately. I actually don't mind all the time spent sitting in the rocking chair.

For a while she was pooping out the diaper several times a day. I got so tired of changing outfits, scrubbing and washing clothes (and the stains still wouldn't come out) that I finally started doing a double diaper. Newborn diapers seemed too small but size 1 too big, so 1 of each worked better (though still not 100% effective). Thankfully that isn't a problem anymore and only wears size 1.

She smiles all the time and laughs too! There is nothing better than seeing your adorable baby smile at you. One night we were all awake at 2 AM and Brynlee had the biggest smiles. We didn't mind being woken up in the middle of the night if she's all smiley and cute. She also coos and babbles when she's happy. I seriously can't get enough of it. I wonder ifshe gets sick of me kissing her all the time but I just can't help it. EVERYONE just thinks she's the cutest baby ever and we totally agree!

Brynlee sleeps a lot better now that we have her figured out somewhat. Currently she sleeps in the bouncy seat, swaddled, on her side, with the vibration and white noise machine on. She has a hard time staying asleep though, but seems to get better every night. For the last several days she has slept for 8-9 hours at a time, which is awesome. We just need to work on getting her to bed earlier (before midnight would be good). Soon we will put her in the crib and hope that she will sleep well in there. I wonder how much the noise and lights of the tv or our talking affects her sleep when she is in our room. We can't seem to go to sleep right at the same time as her.

My absolute favorite time is when she is awake, calm, and just hanging out. For the most part she prefers to be held, cuddled, and talked to. But she also spends a fair amount of time just looking around and not requiring constant stimulation. She is just so fun to watch. This time is right after she eats (as long as she got enough food and isn't still hungry) and usually in the evenings.

On December 29th she had her 2 month Dr. appointment and got several shots. John couldn't be in the room with her while she had her shots, so it was just me. I've never seen her face get that red (almost purple) and she screamed bloody murder for about 10 seconds, but was okay for a while. She went right to sleep and was acting like she was drugged (she kind of was). She slept for several hours, then woke up miserable. We gave her Tylenol but it took a while to work so it was so sad seeing her in pain and not being able to do anything about it. Being a nurse you would think I would know how to prevent this, but #1 I am not a baby nurse ( I only know how to take care of adults) and #2 I am the mom, not the nurse when it comes to Brynlee. I should have known to give her Tylenol right after the shots and that she would feel crappy for a while, but I didn't think about it. But I am learning and will do better next time.

2 month weight: 10.5 lbs. (43rd percentile)

2 month length: 21.5 inches (24th percentile).

At her 2 week appointment she was tall and skinny and now she is short and chubby. Not really though, as she is still completely in the normal range. It's just funny how fast that changes. She is obviously getting enough food as she has several fat rolls on her legs, arms, and neck. And her cheeks are still one of the first things people see and talk about.

Brynlee had her first cold around Christmas time. She was sneezing every 5 minutes and had a stuffy nose. She is still getting over it, but didn't seem too affected by it. I wasn't surprised she got sick as almost everyone around her was sick.

I will be honest by saying that the first 6 weeks were not really fun. I didn't think I wanted to have another baby for a loooong time. But it's finally getting better, we are getting most of the issues worked out, I am getting more sleep, and she seriously is sooo cute and funny. I just can't get enough of her and love her more than anything in the whole world. I am so lucky to be her mommy!

Brynlee's baby blessing

Brynlee was blessed on January 2, 2011 at our church. John blessed her and did a great job. It was very nice to have our family and friends there with us that day. Brynlee looked beautiful in her white dress. Right before we left for church John told Brynlee to cooperate and sleep during the blessing if possible. She smiled at him and we laughed. But she did just that- slept during the blessing and not much after that. It was nice she cooperated and was quiet (and didn't puke all over the dress). I was also happy that her face cleared up quite a bit that day. She had the newborn rash/baby acne/blessing rash (whatever you want to call it) for several weeks.

I originally wanted the dress I was blessed in to be altered and lengthened so Brynlee could wear it (and look like it's from 2011, not 1982). My co-worker wanted to make the dress, but couldn't get it to work using my dress, so was going to make a new one. She ended up getting really sick and couldn't finish it on time. So the day before the blessing I was left to find a dress. My sister and law and cousins all offered to let me borrow their daughter's dresses, so it worked out okay.

Next time John's mom will make the blessing outfit.

We sat her in the corner of the couch just so we could get a few pictures. She seemed to enjoy it and stayed there for a while.

New Year's 2010/2011

We spent New Year's Eve at the Miller's house playing games and eating lots of food.

Brynlee's cheesy smile!

Grandma sleeping way before midnight.

First picture of 2011

We watched fireworks in the warm house and kissed at midnight. It's actually the first time either of us has had a New Year's kiss. Last year we fell asleep before midnight. I guess this year we are getting used to the sleep deprivation. We are always so boring and don't go to any party's or anything, but we wouldn't change it.

Christmas 2010 (and some random pictures)

I love this outfit and realized I hadn't taken a picture of Brynlee in this outfit yet, so I decided I needed to one day. She often has her hand up as if she is waving.

Her super cute winter dress. I will have to get a better picture later.

Brynlee Christmas night. She wore herself out.

"My 1st Christmas" outfit. Bought by Aunt Suzy. Gotta love it!

Brynlee with all of her Christmas presents. Doesn't look too excited does she?

From Mom & Dad- 2 books, piggy bank, and the pink playmat (she already opened it).

From Grandma & Grandpa Miller- quilt and burp clothes, crib sheets.

From Grandpa Winslow- fairy princess book with her name in it.

From Grandma Winslow- ball toy, 24 month purple coat, Mickey Mouse books

From Uncle Matthew- books that we put a picture of her face in it.

Plus other fun things that are not pictured.

Frank enjoying one of 3 edible Christmas presents.

Our cute family :)

Christmas morning at the Miller's house

Grandma Miller loves holding Brynlee (hello- who doesn't?)

One of the first smiles we were able to capture on camera.

Another cute Christmas outfit (Santa's helper) plus cute smiles!

This onesie was given to me by my friend.

It is so true as you can see by the picture :)

I realized one day I didn't have many pictures of just me and my baby, so we needed some. (I hate having my picture taken, but I know I will regret not having pictures later)

Baby carrier that we bought for cheap and is to helpful sometimes! She loves it and always goes right to sleep.

More random cute pictures

She often has her hands covering her face

Falls asleep in weird positions