1 month old!

Well we hit 1 month a couple of days ago and I can't believe how fast it has gone by! It feels like just yesterday I was meeting her for the first time and now we are the best of friends, I love my little squishy!

She's had a very exciting week with both my mom and bens dad coming to visit. They are both completely smitten with her and I can't wait till them come back to visit.

Brynlee had her one month checkup and we got all of stats. She was born at 8.6 lbs and 20 in long then she lost some weight afterwards and is now 21 1/2 inches and weighs 8.13 lbs. so she's in the 40th percentile for weight and the 50th percentile for height. Before this I really had no idea what those numbers meant but the way the doctor broke it down to me is that if you put her in a group with 99 other baby's her same age 60 of them would weigh more then her and 50 of the would be taller then her. She's still really small for most 0-3 months clothes but give it a week or do and I'm sure she'll be filling them out just fine.

She loves to move around. It's the funniest thing to put her on her gym mat and see her kick and wave her arms. She's starting to like to play a lot more which makes my afternoons super fun!

I have yet to be able to capture a smile on camera but I'm trying. She gives me some of the funniest looks and it's clear that she is already starting to shoe her personality

Brynlee's Newborn Pictures

I am so grateful that I came across Tara from http://www.myurbanphoto.com/ I really loved all the pictures that she took and she was so great with Brynlee

When we got to Tara's house Brynlee was passed out in the car.  I thought boy, this is going to be easy! And than I had to take her out of the carseat...she did not like that at all.

I nursed to try to get her to be a little more cooperative--that lasted like 10 minutes! haha So throughout the 3 hours that I was there we had to stop basically every 15 minutes so I could nurse her and she would calm down.She was beginning to cluster feed, so there was no other option.

She was a champ though and looked so beautiful (as always) in all the pictures.  She eventually got a little sleepy and passed out toward the end just in time to make for a peaceful ride home.

I can't believe how much she has changed in just 2 weeks! She has lost a lot of her chunkiness and she is fighting a nasty cold.  We took her to the Dr's on Wednesday and they tested her for RSV, thankfully she doesn't have it! But he put her on an antibiotic just to help her out a little.  I have definitely seen improvement and I think she will be all better in just a couple of days.

Ode to my Left Arm

Before Brynlee graced us with her presence I don't like I ever really appreciate my left arm

I'm a righty so obviously this was my preferred way of doing anything, 

and I think my left hand felt a little rejected.

Now I realize how amazing my left arm is.

Brynlee will only sleep on my left arm.  

The recliner in our living room is a life saver to prop my tired left arm up when she finally wants to snooze

She will only burp on my right shoulder so my left hand is definitely being put to use now.

Thanks left arm, I have no idea what I would do without you.

Brynlee's First 2 Weeks!

Well we've had Brynlee home for a little over 2 weeks now, and it really has flown by! This little girl is so sweet (for the most part haha) but I can definitely see some of my spunk in her.  It's all a huge adjustment having a baby and balancing school, work, and family time.  But we are managing! Ben has been working like a mad man this past week too so it's been a little stressful.  He works Monday-Saturday from 9am till usually 7pm or later.  But yesterday he sat down with his boss and said they discussed him working one day a week from home because I'm getting a little stressed out and it would just be nice to have an extra hand so I could sleep haha not like that will ever happen again!

Brynlee is adorable, but for some odd reason she doesn't really like to sleep at night! She's up about every 2 hours to nurse and only nurses for like 10 minutes until she gets bored and wants to talk.  Yes my two week old talks! I'm talking like grunts and crying for a long time! Needless to say I don't really sleep anymore! But we have a system worked out and our developing a routine.  We have awesome neighbors as well! Last week Brynlee would not stop crying for anything and it was like the third night in a row and I was crying, Ben was getting upset, and we had my in-laws visiting so it was a little stressful that night.  Finally Ben went up stairs to the Turners and Markie came down and gave me some good advice! Every other night we give her a bath, than swaddle her up, and she nurses right than.  She usually than passes out for at least a few hours and than throughout the night she sleeps better all around.  She's got some tummy troubles with gas and all so we feel pretty bad for her because it hurts her little tummy! Anyways swaddling and baths=amazing! Thanks Markie!

Brynlee sleeps on and off throughout the day so I'm able to get my school work done and work ahead too for those unexpected days when she just doesn't want to be put down.  I'm only taking 12 credits (17 was way to much!) and they are all online, but they require a lot of busy work and writing.

First Christmas!

First Bath!

Just being cute!