Patterns

Ahhh, sleep. For the past week Brianna has been on the perfect sleep schedule. I don't know how long it'll last but I'll take it as long as possible! For several weeks she has gone to bed between 10:00 and 10:30pm except in extenuating circumstances. But I wanted to get her into a pattern where she kind of knows what takes place before bedtime. So this week I started doing that. She gets her bath around 8:30 or 9:00, then we get her into her pajamas and I feed her one last time. She's out around 10:00 or so, and then sleeps for several hours. Two nights this week I had to get up twice to feed her (2:00 and 6:00) but every other night I got up one time, at 3:00 to feed her. Those nights are my dream and my nightmare. I love the sleep - it's awesome. But anyone who is breastfeeding or has breastfed knows that going 4 or 5 hours (or in the case of last night, almost 7 hours because she slept until almost 4:00) might be good news for the parents, but not so great for the mom's breasts. So normally when she sleeps that long I wake up after about 4 or 5 hours anyway just to pump because I'm in pain. But at least I'm waking up on my own and not to these grunts of hunger! Somehow, it does make a difference.

We (Brianna and I - Stephen's not involved in this since he's at work except for the weekends) normally start our day around 10:00am. We wake up feeling refreshed and then I feed her. After that feeding I put her in her swing and I do Wii Fit. Sometimes she takes a 10 or 15 minute nap, but sometimes she just watches me like I'm a crazy lady. I do that for 20 minutes and then bring her into the bathroom to sit in her bouncer while I take a shower. Normally by the time I'm out of the shower, dressed, and ready to go for the day, she's ready to eat again. Sometimes after that we play because she's in a really good mood. If she's not in a talkative mood, she lays in her swing while I eat lunch or do some articles. Sometime between 1 and 4 she will eat again and take her afternoon nap which normally lasts about 2 hours. Then she's usually up for the rest of the night until bedtime, with sporadic naps lasting 15 minutes or so.

This schedule is so great for us. Obviously I don't get a ton done around the house, mainly because during the day she still eats every two hours and it takes her between 30 minutes and an hour to finish eating. So practically every two hours I'm sitting down for an hour not getting anything accomplished. And then there are the days where she just doesn't want to be set down, so I put her in the Baby Bjorn so I can still be hands-free but she's happy too. And then there are days that this schedule is just thrown off for other reasons.

Yesterday Brianna and I went to lunch with Jenn and she was so good. She slept long enough for both of us to eat lunch, and then when she started getting a little fussy it was just because she wanted to sit up and see what was going on. So she sat there for quite a while (30-40 minutes?) while we talked and didn't get fussy again until I put her back in her car seat. She didn't want to leave The Chick! What a smart baby.

The three of us went yard saling today and Brianna wasn't impressed. Neither was I. I found one book for her with games in it, that's it. Everyone was so overpriced. We have no more plans for the rest of the day except getting some work done and housework done. With Stephen being home, plans probably include what's happening right now - the two of them sitting on the couch entertaining each other.

That reminds me what I was going to say about yesterday at Chick Fil-A. Jenn pointed out how easily Bri entertains herself and I took that as such a high compliment! So thanks, Jenn. I think it is pretty true. There are definitely times that she just wants to be held and played with but there are plenty of other times where we can set her down and she will just look around or listen to music for 20-40 minutes. I have definitely made it a point to not constantly hold her. Of course throughout the day we spend lots of time talking to her and playing with her but I think it's really important for babies to learn to be independent and entertain themselves as well. I think Bri is such a well-rounded baby and I'm really proud of her.

*This post is probably boring to most people but mom pointed out the other day where I don't need a baby book because I have a blog. So I thought I would post some of my thoughts on my 10-week old (I can't even believe that!!) so that I can look back at this and remember later.*

Productivity

It's amazing how your definition of productivity changes based on your situation. Where I used to find that I felt productive after working 8-10 hours (or 12-15 hours based on which job I was at), I now feel productive today, already, after being awake for less than six hours. But today, I have successfully exercised, washed dishes, clipped coupons, read the Sunday paper, done two loads of laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, written three articles, and taken care of this cute little baby. If I get nothing else done today I will at least feel relieved that my day wasn't wasted.

This weekend was SO MUCH FUN!!! Saturday, Stephen, Steve and I went on our annual trip to South Carolina to stock up on fireworks. Fortunately for us, mom and dad were willing to babysit Brianna while we were gone. It was a really nice afternoon. We got to the fireworks place and it wasn't crowded at all. This was the earliest in June we've ever gone before and it was definitely worth it. I was able to suck up to the manager by asking his opinion on a bunch of stuff and he ended up giving us two sets of fireworks for free - that would have cost us $25 otherwise. Mom and dad said that Bri performed brilliantly while she was there, so I'm really glad.

Saturday night Steve and Kathy stayed over for dinner, which consisted of ribs, corn on the cob and yeast rolls. Divine!! It was a lot of fun and after they left we stayed up to watch the fight.

Sunday was Father's Day, so we went to church in the morning and spent the afternoon relaxing watching movies. We tried to take a nap, but Bri wasn't having it. Later on in the evening we went to Jenn and Matt's for delicious burgers and a huge assortment of other foods. We had a great time there too, and by the time we got home Brianna was officially wiped out.

Now I am just looking forward to July 4th!! Every year we have a huge blowout at Steve's house with cooking out and fireworks. This year we bought MASSIVE amounts of fireworks. I am so excited! That's something we look forward to every year.

Sounds like it's time for Brianna's afternoon snack, so I'll have to end this now!

Busy Days

It seems like yesterday and today have just been full of things to do! Yesterday morning Brianna had her two-month shots at the pediatrician's office. Two months? Whaaaa? Sure, it seems like this chunky cutie-pie has been around forever, but when you say it like that it sounds so old!

She did SO good. She now weighs 10 pounds, 10 ounces and is 21 1/2 inches long. What's funny is mom found my two-month checkup sheet just today. I was 11 pounds, 14 ounces and was 23 (or 23 1/2, now I can't remember) inches long. Yowza! Of course, I was also three weeks overdue (sorry mom) and so I was a bit ahead of Brianna in the first place. The doctor raved about Brianna (well, duh.) During her shots, she cried very loudly, but as soon as they were over and I picked her up she quieted right down. Then we came home and she slept for a couple of hours. I had to go out in the afternoon because I had a dermatologist appointment, but after I got home we gave her some Tylenol just to head off any pending fever or pain she might have. We gave her one more dose about 5 hours later right before bedtime, hoping she'd sleep well. And she slept as well as any other night! I never gave her any more doses because she didn't seem to be in any pain, fussy, or have a fever. She had seemed a bit fussy before that first dose of Tylenol when we moved her, so she was probably sore. Today she has been great though.

Luckily she was great, because mom kept her this morning while I went to yet another doctor's appointment. So in the past two days, Bri has gotten shots, I've had a mole removed, and found out my mastitis has cleared up. Lots of doctor's visits.

Tonight we are having Little Caesar's with Matt and Jenn! It has just opened, much to the delight of Stephen. So I'm very excited about that!!

Brianna right after getting home from her shots (look at her cute pink camo bandaids!)

A little dose of daddy makes everything better:

Good Times

Last night we were able to go over to Stephen's family's house for ribs. It's amazing how rarely we actually see them considering we live in the same county, so we were glad when this opportunity arose. We got there, and a couple of members of Stephen's family were there that we didn't realize were going to be there. One was his Aunt Ann and one was his Aunt Pauline. We were really excited because they had never seen Brianna. Aunt Pauline is almost 90 years old, so she was so happy to meet Brianna. After an awesome dinner of ribs, mashed potatoes, green beans (fresh), squash casserole (fresh), corn (fresh), homemade sourdough bread and peach cobbler (from fresh peaches), I was in heaven!! Grandma Betty is such a good cook! We had planned on playing cards, but it was just too nice outside. The boys went and played horseshoes while the women stayed inside and chatted and I fed Brianna. Then we were able to play yet another rowdy game of Redneck Golf!

When we finished that, we realized that we had to take a very necessary picture - we had five generations at the house that night. Aunt Pauline is Brianna's great-great-great-aunt, then there's great-Grandma Betty, Grandpa Steve, Daddy Stephen, and Brianna! Isn't that awesome? I wasn't even sure that I knew any living relatives from five generations back. I know that dad can correct me on that if I'm mistaken.

We got some great pictures, so I want to post them here. There's also a video I took - Brianna is incredibly vocal as of very recently, and she sure showed off that skill last night! But I'll post the video later - with all this rambling and pictures to follow, that'll be enough for one day!

Today I made it to church and through church without Brianna needing to eat. Wahoo! I know that won't happen every week but I can't stand missing several weeks in a row. Then for lunch we were able to have fried squash which is great of course, but even better, two of the squash came straight from our garden! They were sooo good! Our squash looks great this year:


Also, yesterday I was able to swing by work to get some stuff done. It was supposed to be kind of a practice run to see if I can get away with leaving Bri with Stephen after he gets off work until I need to feed her again. I ended up driving 40 minutes total to and from work, and working an hour and five minutes. Whoopee. After Stephen and I talked, we think I could probably stretch it to an hour and a half - maybe - but it just seems so crazy not knowing for sure when she'll need to eat again. That's why I am loving this new writing thing! I can write an article over a whole day or sit down for 30 minutes and get it done. And never leaving Bri's side! (Not that I'm not okay with doing that every so often. Was that the correct use of a double negative...?)

Okay, anyway, here are the pictures I spoke of earlier!!

Grandma Betty gives Bri piano lessons!

Brianna's great-great aunt Ann

The Bunny Chair! (Her new favorite seat)

Redneck Golf:

Brianna's great-great-great aunt Pauline:

Proud Grandpa Steve:

Five Generations!!!

Time Flies

How has it suddenly been almost two weeks since I last blogged? Time is really flying around here. Which is great news for us because it means that it won't be long before Claire arrives!! I am super excited to meet her and start loving on her!

I never blog anymore because I feel like we don't do anything that interesting around here. Every day pretty much consists of staring at Brianna in awe (still), some light housework, running errands, and occasionally meeting someone for lunch. In the past couple of weeks it seems like Stephen and I have had doctor's appointments galore, and it ain't over yet! In fact, one of my appointments coming up on Monday is Brianna's two-month appointment, where she will be blessed with several vaccination shots. Lucky her! So that should be interesting.

Meanwhile, Bri is finally fitting into her cloth diapers. I am really excited about that because I cannot believe the hundreds of diapers we have had to go through, just waiting on her to gain some chunk in order to fit into these! Every day it seems like she smiles and coos more at us. I've got some great videos that I'd love to upload, but I'm not sure how to hook the camcorder up to the computer yet. I'll get on that.

Last week, Stephen's family came and stayed with us a few days. It was nice to have some extra hands on deck for when Brianna just wanted someone to hold her. We were even able to squeeze in a road trip to Eden to see Stephen's grandparents, who had yet to meet Bri! That was a great trip because we hadn't seen them in several months.

Also, Lib and Jorge came into town for a few days, so we were able to see them and finally introduce Brianna and Ruthie! I hadn't seen Ruthie since she was only two weeks old. That's crazy to me. She is definitely a cutie and has such a great personality!

This week mom, dad and I started our weekly lunch dates back. It's a little different now because I usually have to feed Bri in the middle of our card games, but that's a small price to pay! Especially since they're so flexible. For well over a year now - almost TWO! - I have looked forward to Wednesdays because of lunch with them, so I am really excited to get back into that. Especially because I'll get to start making new soup recipes again! I don't know many people other than us that enjoy soup on a 95-degree afternoon.

Today, Jenn accompanied me and Bri to Sonic for lunch, and then we traipsed off to TJ Maxx to see if we could find any good deals. I'm not sure if Jenn did, because Bri began crying of starvation in the shoe aisle, so I made my purchases quickly and left. It was a beautiful day to eat outside, though, and I definitely enjoyed that! Jenn is definitely someone I need to see on a weekly basis or I get fussy.

Other than that, things have been pretty normal around here - church, the occasional book sale, rebate shopping, and mystery shopping. The only new thing is that Jenn has introduced me to the world of freelance writing, so I have started doing that. That sounds so cool! Anyway, last week it took me forever to write a couple of articles and I started thinking maybe I wasn't going to be such a big hit, but in the past two days I've been able to write four more, so maybe it will work out after all! As long as I can sit down and just write, I can pump something out. It's pretty interesting.

Okay, enough talky-talky. Here are some pictures of my not-so-little baby girl!

On our way to Nenah and Papa's!

Jenn definitely learned how to help Brianna relax!

She loved being around her Nenah!

Papa even left work to come home and see his great-granddaughter!

Four generations :)

Verrrry soothing!

Stealing her kisses!

We've GOT to break this habit!

BFFs already

Some very important ladies in Bri's life

Brianna loved being held by her aunt Joy!

So sweet:

Exhaustion sets in: