December update

We are coming up on Christmas and my girls are growing faster than ever! I missed last month so of course have lots of updates. Brynlee turned 8 months on Dec 10 and is getting so big! Not sure on height and weight, her next appointment is in Jan.  She is wearing 9 month clothes now and just this week I switched her cloth diapers to the largest setting. When she wears disposable diapers she is in size 3. She still eats a big bowl of cereal every morning and nurses. For lunch she eats some baby food and whatever else I have around for her to eat. Today she had mashed potatoes and green beans :) I started skipping her 1pm nursing and I just nurse her whenever she gets up from her nap and then she eats supper with us and nurses again before bed. She was so insistent on nursing I was starting to worry about weaning her when the time came. Sometimes I stick an extra nursing time in there but I figure as long as she satisfied I won't push it. The girl LOVES food! In addition to all the typical "first veggies" we have added peaches, bananas, applesauce, and avocado.  I plan on introducing pears and apricots next :) She also likes to eat whatever we eat so I try to share what I can. I have a baby food grinder so she got vegetable soup last time we had that. She also likes pasta. I started giving her cheerios to work on her coordination a little bit. She doesn't do well at using her pincher fingers and getting things in her mouth. Right now she grabs things with her fists but then drops it when she tries to get it into her mouth.  We have a ways to go with that but, practice makes perfect!

7 months old

8 months old

Brynlee isn't as into the excersaucer anymore and would much rather be mobile. She does pretty well sitting on the floor as long as things are within reach. Just this afternoon she sat on the living room floor with toys for over an hour and played. But, that doesn't happen too often. Usually she gets tired of being on the floor and wants me to help her walk around. She doesn't seems to have much of a desire to crawl but walking, on the other hand, is REALLY fun!  When she is on her tummy she can get around pretty well by swiveling around and scooting but still doesn't go far. I am hoping it stays that way until after Christmas. Only a couple weeks left! 

Tooth number 3 finally made it's debut last weekend after weeks of misery! The crazy part is that it's not one of the top middle teeth...its the tooth NEXT to the middle teeth! Totally weird...she's got a little fang poor baby lol. The one on the other side is trying to come in too and then hopefully the middle ones won't be too far behind. The song, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" comes to mind, hehe :)

In all honesty, football has been the biggest time eater and the most excitement for our family the past couple months. Football was the reason I didn't get any updates done last month :S  In my last post I mentioned that we would be playing the number one team in the state. We ended up beating Newell-Fonda in the biggest game of the year!  On November 8th we went to the UNI Dome for the first time in school history and totally domimated! We won that game, went back to the dome the next week and won MMC's first State Title. It was the craziest 3 weeks ever but completely amazing. I wouldn't have traded the stress and the two, 6 hour round trips to the Dome for anything :)

Hanging out at the hotel pool

Both Hayden and Brynlee got to go with us and we stayed in a hotel both times. Brynlee got to go swimming for the first time and she LOVED it! It was so cute seeing her splash and play :)  She was so at ease and had no problems laying on her back or splashing around. Hayden has always been a little fish and had a great time playing in the water with several of the cheerleaders and stat girls who were at the same hotel.

Hayden showing the crowd the award!

MMC was presented with an award during the Championship game for getting first place in the district; and because Kyle was with the team the girls and I were able to accept the award on his behalf.  It was so exciting to go out with both of them during halftime and accept the award in front of the whole crowd (it was on tv too!). I held up the certificate when it was given to me and of course the crowd cheered...but that was nothing compared to what Hayden did as we walked off the field. I gave her the certificate and she walked off the field with the paper held high over her head the whole way. The crowd just went nuts! Something about a cute little 3 year old and such a high honor as "first place" sure does something to people :) It was so fun hearing the supportive cheers down on the field. I guess I got a little taste of what the team gets to experience :)

Hayden and her favorite "football boy" Isaiah

Hayden loves attention from anybody that will give it to her but she has a special place for "daddy's football boys".  She constantly talks about them and knows a lot of them by name. And the even better part is how good they are with her. They all know who she is and are so patient with her and her incessant questions and talking. I know that she may not remember going to the dome when she gets older but I know that she will always remember the football boys and the fun she had with them. Hopefully for many years to come :)

Kyle with the championship trophy and banner

The whole family with the trophy :)

The football season may have ended over a month ago but there was lots more to take care of and wrap up for Kyle.  The awards banquet was a couple weeks ago and went really well. Lots of awards and lots to celebrate for the Eagles.  And....drum roll please!...Last week Kyle was named State Coach of the Year! I am so proud of him and all he was able to accomplish over the season. His assistant coach also got Assistant Coach of the Year for the district as well. The coaches and kids all deserved every honor they received.  Now Kyle's time is taken up with talking to college coaches wanting kids to come play for them and planning his spring around the conferences and clinics he has been asked to speak at. Again, SO PROUD OF HIM!!! :)

Hayden is getting excited for Christmas. She has been asking for a "big baby" for months now. A friend of hers has a large baby doll that she loves to play with when she goes over there.  I had been looking online and in some local stores with no luck.  So, after a city wide search of Des Moines, I FINALLY found the doll she wanted. It was a HUGE load off my mind. I felt bad, it wasn't like she wanted anything super expensive, she just wanted a doll! But, I found it and all is well. I don't have to have a disappointed little girl on Christmas :) We have a busy week ahead getting ready for all our Christmas travels. We will celebrate our family Christmas on Friday and then leave Sat morning for NE for Christmas on Kyle's side. After that we head back to IA for a couple Christmas's with my family. All together we will be gone for about a week. Praying the girls (and me!) survive so long away from home. We don't do well away from our own beds for long :(

We are so super blessed this holiday season and have so much to be thankful for. After next month's post I am sure the blessings list will be even longer after spending Christmas with all our family and friends. I pray that your holidays are bright and you are able to enjoy time with your own families :) Merry Christmas!

6 months, haircuts and Eagle Football!

The months go by way too fast for this! It seems like I hardly get done updating one month and it's on to the next. Brynlee is well on her way to being 7 months old and I am just now getting the 6 month stuff done.

We had her 6 month appointment on Oct 15. I knew she was growing but had no idea how much! Brynlee is now 16 lbs 15oz and 26 1/2" long. She has gained 3 lbs and 2 in since her 4 month appointment and went from being in the 50th percentile all around to the 50th in weight and 60th in height. She had her 6 month vaccinations and unfortunately didn't do as well with them as last time. Her poor leg (the one that got 2 pokes) was soooo sore. It got really red and rashy looking, the skin was hard and then bruised after a couple days. And she was so sensitive poor thing.  She is not scheduled for any shots at her 9 month appt but then is supposed to get 6 at a year! Yeah, I think it's safe to say that that's not happening. I have always had a problem with how many shots they give poor little bodies at one time. When shots start out numbering limbs that's not ok. I already talked to the nurse about it though and she understood and was willing to work with me. We will just spread them out more over a couple months.

Brynlee popped her first tooth through the end of Sept and a week later got tooth number two. Two shiny toofers on the bottom :) As a nursing mom I am VERY thankful that she doesn't bite!  No sign of any teeth on top and I am perfectly ok with that :)  She is still on the medium setting for her cloth diapers and in size 2 disposables when she wears them. Most days Brynlee will take a couple hour morning nap around 10 and then another 2-3 hour nap around 2pm. And most days I can get her down for a short 30-45 min nap in the evening. It's just an all around better night if I can get her to take that last nap :) She's down for the night usually by 9:30 or 10 and sleeps until (hopefully) 8. She will often wake up earlier but just needs the pacifier or tucked in better and she'll go back to sleep. She has been VERY constipated lately and was NOT doing well at night at all. Up every hour at the very least, sometimes more. It was a looooong week at our house. Thankfully, I have wonderful chiropractor who is great with kids and he fixed her right up. She's back to sleeping all night. If I do have to get up its just because she's kicked all the covers off and is cold or something like that. One night I went in there and her head was on the opposite end of the bed and she was on her tummy with no covers. Crazy girl :)

Overall B is a very happy girl and LOVES to have attention but does pretty well playing by herself too. She gives the biggest smiles whenever we talk to her and laughs at her sister when she plays with her. Brynlee loves her exersaucer still and will sit in there for an hour or more just playing and taking everything in.  She started sitting up really well just before she turned 6 months and likes to sit on the floor and play as well. Everything goes in her mouth right now so I am NOT looking forward to when she starts moving around and can reach all of Hayden's little tiny toys. We definitely have some baby proofing to do around here. She loves to play peekaboo and pat-a-cake and claps her hands. It's so cute! Sometimes I think she may try to wave once in a while but not totally for sure.

Brynlee has a pretty good appetite these days and LOVES food of all kinds.  She eats cereal every morning between 8-8:30 and I nurse her around 9. She also gets some kind of veggie usually twice a day. So far she has had green beans, peas, carrots, squash and sweet potatoes. She's not as excited about the peas but still eats them pretty well. She really likes squash. Just another way she's completely different from her sister. I tried over and over for over a month to feed Hayden squash and I got the most horrible looks and lots of shivers!  I have been making my own baby food again this time around and I love having peas and green beans from my garden to throw in the food processor.  I am nursing just as often (every 4 hours starting at 9am) but she seems to be eating less at a time now that she is eating solids. She is VERY insistent on nursing and I have a feeling she is going to be harder to wean than Hayden. Even if she's just stuffed herself with cereal or veggies she is very upset until I nurse her.  She barley takes any milk that I can tell but just wants it anyway. Hopefully it's not a problem in another 6 months...I REALLY wanna get back to eating ice cream and drinking milk on a regular basis!

Hayden manning the camera while Brynlee eats veggies

Our family went to the local Pumpkin Patch in Marcus the first Sunday in Oct. The girls had a pretty good time. We got lots of fun pictures and made lots of memories :) Hayden had some excitement this month too. She got her first hair cut! She was so excited. She's been asking to have her hair cut for some time now but mom wasn't quite ready yet.  After I finally made the appointment for her she got nervous and didn't want to do it anymore. She was worried she wouldn't be able to twirl her hair anymore, hahaha :) For those of you who don't see my child in person much, she sucks her thumb and twirls her hair...A LOT. It kinda goes together. After I told her I would make sure there was plenty left to twirl she was ok with it and did great :) I guess if the thumb sucking ever gets REALLY bad and I am desperate I can just threaten to cut her hair really short so she can't twirl it anymore, ha! Hopefully it won't come to that. 

Family picture at The Pumpkin Patch!

First hair cut!

Tomorrow is Halloween and Hayden is excited about that too. She LOVES candy! I had great aspirations for family costumes but a couple weeks ago I realized that it just wasn't going to happen. I had the brilliant idea to be s'mores. Kyle and I would be the graham crackers, Hayden would be a Hershey bar and Brynlee would be the marshmallow. So cute right?! But...you kinda have to go to the work of making it and that just wasn't happening.  So, no costumes for Kyle and I and the girls are wearing things they already have. Hayden has a princess dress so she is going as a princess. Which she is thrilled about. And I have a full bodysuit for Brynlee that has little bear ears on the hood and a tail. I saw the cutest thing on Pinterest of a baby wearing one with a little TY tag on the ear. I thought, "Perfect! My little Beany Baby can be a Bean Baby for Halloween!"  Some things just fit so perfectly : )

Kyle with the district trophy :)

Yellow hair!!!!

On an exciting note...our football team is doing AWESOME so the MMC football season still continues. That means practice still every night and on weekends. The Eagles got first place in the district and along with that honor came...yellow hair for the coach! Gotta admit, I did a double take the first couple times I saw him after it turned yellow. But it's fun that he can do that for the boys. And they love coach in yellow hair too :)  Our next game is Friday against the number one team in the STATE (not just the district) and it would be incredible if we won! If we do win Friday, MMC heads to the dome for the first time in school history :) I do miss my husband and it does make the season extra long, but I don't in ANYWAY wish for the season to be over. They are doing so well and it has brought the team and community together in a powerful way. I know that it's just high school football, but I do think God cares and I can't help but feel like He is involved and has His hand in the whole situation. I see people coming and supporting our boys and I also see a oneness in the team that I never thought possible. It's so exciting to see! No matter what happens Friday, they have had an amazing year and I am so proud of Kyle and team :) Go Eagles!

First time for everything

There really is a FIRST TIME for everything and last week we had LOTS of them!

Brynlee is 5 months old

Brynlee's FIRST day as a 5 month old was Monday! The little stinker is trying to get her FIRST tooth I think and also got her FIRST cold this week :( Poor thing can hardly breath and has been keeping both Kyle and I up a lot in the night. Thankfully she has been doing better the last couple days and last night I only got up with her 3 times.  Brynlee likes to squeeze and give "kisses".  She'll grab my face with both of her hands and pull as hard as she can and give me big open mouthed kisses.  It's sweet when she's not scratching my face and neck all to pieces, haha.  I got out all of Hayden's old fall/winter clothes this week and Brynlee is in 6 month stuff already. I think she'll be in them for a while but still...my little baby is growing up! B also got to try out the Johnny Jump Up this week. She seems to like it so I think when she gets a little bigger she'll really get into the jumping part of it :)  

Brynlee's baby dedication

Brynlee celebrated another FIRST...we had a baby dedication for her at church last Sunday. Pastor Larry did a great job of challenging us as parents to raise her in the Lord as well as challenging the congregation to help hold us accountable in that promise to the Lord.  We are very thankful for our church and so humbled to have the job of raising such beautiful little girls. It is our prayer that we serve the Lord and follow Him 100% when it comes to training our children in the way they should go.


 

My big girl on the first day of Preschool!

Tuesday was a FIRST for Hayden. Her FIRST day of preschool! I am doing a few things with her at home on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have only 2 days done so far but she is loving it and mom/teacher is hoping it stays that way :) It has been a learning experience for both of us and I hope I grow in my teaching as much as she grows in learning. She has been practicing the "A" sound and trying to draw them. She can trace but likes to finger paint letters instead (go figure, lol).  She drew pictures of things that start with "a" and also worked on following directions with coloring, and finding smallest/largest items. She does really well but has a hard time following instructions. She would much rather do her own thing than have me tell her which color to use, or what shape to color, etc. That's where the learning part comes in for both of us. She learns that you have to follow directions once in a while and I learn that it's ok not to be a neat freak and perfectionist when you're 3! In all honesty though, I love her independent spirit.  She is so creative and would much rather make up her own story when she "reads" or make up words to a song about whatever is on her mind than sing a "real" one.  She thinks outside the box and doesn't let others interpret her world. A personality like that can do great things for the Lord if trained in the right way. I pray God helps me train her right even when her personality can be so different from mine and I don't always understand where she's coming from. Sometimes I don't know what to do, but He does; so I pray...a lot :)  My goal is to do a letter a week for 26 weeks as well as go over numbers. We will do lots of coloring with crayons, colored pencils, chalk, paint. She gets to use scissors, glue, do worksheets, sing songs and all the other fun preschool stuff.  We even do "home ec" and she gets to help me open cans and mix ingredients together. I am not doing a lot of structured time with her just because she is only 3 and we do a lot together when she's not "in school".  She still has another year after this one before she will start Kindergarten. 

A-ligator and a-pple. She is wearing an apron that used to be mine when I was little :)

We also had our FIRST day of MOPS on Wednesday and Hayden was so excited to go play with her friends! Towards the end of last year right before Brynlee was born she started getting really clingy and didn't want to go, so when she went with such excitement last week I was so happy.  A friend took her down to her class and she went without a second glance back.  I gotta say, I love MOPS so much and miss it terribly over the summer. It's such a blessing and rejuvenates my spirit every month when I go. I love being able to get together with other moms and spend time with other adults that are in the the same stage of life as I am. And not having to deal with kids for a couple hours is also an added blessing :)  Brynlee did great and slept in the nursery the whole time and when I got Hayden afterwards she was all wound up and had to tell me about everybody she saw and everything she did. One of the MOPPET workers told me that Hayden is her little song helper. She always stands up front and sings and does all the actions with her. Love that girl! :)

Wednesday was a busy day for us because Hayden had her FIRST day of Cubbies too! We got the verses she was supposed to have ready for the first day in the mail and had been working on them every day before nap and bed time and she was READY!  You were supposed to be able to say the first 3 verses and the Cubbies motto before you could get your book and bag. I was thinking, "Three verses AND the motto? She's never going to get her book!"  Oh me of little faith! Hayden had them down no problem and got her first Cubbies book and bag on the first night. I was so proud of her! I am also helping with the Cubbies for the FIRST time this year. I have helped in other areas of Awana for many years and even subbed once for Cubbies, but this is the first year to be a Cubbies leader. I was a little nervous at first. I have a hard time handling all the chaos of 3/4 year olds but everything went really smoothly. Hopefully every week will be like that! (Ha, riiiiiiiiight! But I can dream.) 

Friday brought another FIRST for the MMC football team. The Eagles won their FIRST homecoming game in a decade! It was the FIRST homecoming win for the seniors and obviously Kyle's FIRST homecoming win as head coach.  It was against a huge rival, Remsen-Union, and the game was definitely charged. It was a hard fought battle, but in the end the Eagles won 31-22.  I love experiencing all these firsts with Kyle and the team. I am so proud of him and all he has accomplished with the team this year. God has blessed him so much and I love seeing him so excited :)

Homecoming 2012!

I just can't believe how time is passing by so quickly. My little baby girl is 5 months old already;Hayden is 3 and going to Cubbies and doing preschool; my husband is a head football coach. I never would have guessed even a year ago when we moved here where our family would be right now and what we would be experiencing in our lives. I feel so blessed every month (ish) when I update my blog and remember all that God has done for us. I am so thankful I started this blog (self absorbed as it is) so that I, and even my family members, can go back years from now and see all the things that we went through and experienced. Gotta love this kind of technology :)

Brynlee's 4 (and a half) month stats

This is way past due since it's now September 2 and Brynlee will be 5 months next Monday...but better late than never!

She is growing up sooo fast! Her 4 month check up was on Aug. 13. Shots went well (she was a champ!) and she is growing and gaining weight well. She is in the 50th percentile, weighs 13lbs 14oz and is 24 1/2" long. I changed her cloth diapers to the medium setting and she wears size 2 in disposables now. Compared to Hayden at the same age Brynlee is about 1 1/2 lbs lighter and 1 1/2 " shorter. She seems so big but compared to Hayden she is a petite little thing!

Milestones: rolled over just shy of 4 months on Aug 7. Went front to back :) She also rolled from back to front in her crib on Aug 30.  First laughed on Aug. 10. (Even got video, it's soooo cute!) Had her first taste of cereal on Aug. 15 (got a video of that too) and she did great! She now eats cereal most mornings and every night before bed.

Fun events: We went to the Marcus fair the day Brynlee turned 4 months. She got to enjoy a parade and see her sister ride on some rides for the first time. Last year Hayden was a little short to ride most of them so she was pretty pumped this year :) Football started the end of August! We have had 2 games so far and Brynlee has done great! She is awake most of the time and squirms, squeals and jumps through the whole thing.  It's like she knows something exciting is going on. A little plug for my hubby: MMC is 2-0!!!  The boys have done great! I am so proud of Kyle, the whole coaching staff and the team :)

Our daily routine: Brynlee wakes up somewhere between 8:30 and 10am. If she wakes up early, I feed her cereal and then nurse her around 9. If she wakes up late I usually just nurse her.  She goes down for a nap around 10 or 10:30 and wakes up for "lunch" at 1. Another nap at about 2 and sleeps until 4:30 or 5, nurses again and is usually up for the rest of the evening.  Once in a while I can get her to take a short half hour nap after supper but I can't always count on it. Evening is also her crabby time, she gets tired but won't sleep so she just cries. It's not too bad though and I can usually distract her by going outside or playing with her.

B is still on Zantac and is doing great with it. I tried taking her off of it for a couple days and decided not to do that EVER again. The doc says we'll try again around 18 months :) I have finally figured out the whole dairy thing I think. I stay away from straight milk and and NO ice cream. I can have milk in things, SOME cheese and I even get to eat a candy bar once in a while :) My next step is to try some cream soups in things and see how that goes over. That will, thankfully, reintroduce a LOT of foods that are off limits right now. Thank the Lord for doctors/nurses who know what they are doing. I am sooo thankful that Brynlee has meds that help her! She is a very happy, smiley baby :)

Brynlee likes her exersaucer, bouncy and Bumbo seat. We rotate between the 3 of those throughout most of the day.  Playing with her feet is also a big past time :)  Who knew feet could be so much fun??  She is a BIG mama's girl and if something is wrong only mom can make it better. On the one hand that's kinda fun and flattering but on the other hand it would be really nice if daddy would work too :S  She is also a pretty big homebody and likes to stay in her routine.  She is very timid around people at first and gets nervous quickly. Once she warms up she does fine but she wants to see everybody and take everything in in the comfort of mom's arms :) Peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake are her favorite games to play. She is VERY ticklish and squeals and laughs when you kiss/blow on her neck.  Although Brynlee has slept through the night once in a while since she was a couple months old she has been consistently sleeping through the night for the past 2 weeks!  Once in a while I will have to get up and put the pacifier back in her mouth but most of the time I don't have to do that even! Love it! :)

Hayden and Brynlee get along REALLY well. Hayden loves her so much and says so all the time. She likes to hold her and play with her and Brynlee likes watching her big sister.  She always has a big smile for her whenever she sees her. As a mom, that completely warms my heart. I hope it stays that way forever! I am so proud of Hayden and how grown up she is. I couldn't ask her to be a better big sister :)

4 months old!

Hanging out with grandma during the fair parade

Cuddling with sister

It's hard to play with her feet when she has cloth diapers on so when I change her diaper I let her play for a while :)

The Great Cloth Adventure

Cloth Diapers.  Those two words were enough to send shivers down my spine and make me throw up a little bit in my mouth.  Over the last several years I had heard about people using cloth diapers again and everybody said they were so wonderful.  Words like "easy", "cute", and "fashionable" were being thrown around. Gotta say, I was a little skeptical and had no problem telling people they were crazy for even wanting to try.  The picture that came to mind when I thought about cloth diapers was smelly wet "towels", plastic pants and safety pins.  Nothing easy, cute or fashionable about that. Yuck!

Then, I moved to Cleghorn. I started going to a MOPS group at our church and one of the months there was a presentation done by some of the moms on cloth diapers. I got one surprise after another. The first of which, was how many mom were doing it! I found out there were several moms in MOPS that used cloth diapers and several more that were planning on using them. The other thing I was surprised by was how cute, yes, cute they were! There were pretty girly colors and fun designs! Another thing that surprised me was that not a single diaper on display was stained. They were all nice and white! The moms doing the presentation talked about how they NEVER had blow outs or diaper rashes.  That was what surprised me the most. After dealing with Hayden and her blow outs, sheet changes and multiple outfits a day I couldn't imagine anything holding that girl in. But, even after a beautiful presentation, I still wasn't a believer.

Several months passed and I started getting to know a lot of the other moms that used cloth diapers.  Kellie, a HUGE advocate of cloth diapering, was working on me pretty good.  I got all kinds of information from her; got to see the diapers up close and personal, breakdown on cost savings, "green" benefits.  Then I started talking to Kyle.  "Do you think this is something we should think about?"  "What if I spend the money on the diapers and hate it?"  "Would you use them or would I change all the diapers from now on?" I went from being completely grossed out and never even considering cloth, to thinking it may not be a bad idea.

I have to admit for all you "green" people out there, that is not my primary concern. I love our  planet and I believe that God wants us to take care of it, but I also believe that this world will be long gone before disposable diapers cause the destruction of mankind. The main reason I was thinking about it was the cost. I had finally gotten Hayden out of diapers and really liked not buying them any more.  Plus, if they really were as good as everybody said then maybe I would really like them.

So, I took the plunge. After LOTS of talks with Kellie I finally decided to go with Flips. A few weeks before Brynlee was born I bought 7 covers and 18 inserts for less than $200.  I got the special laundry soap that was cloth diaper approved and had all kinds of fun looking at my crisp white inserts and bright colored covers when they arrived.

After Brynlee was born I waited for quite a while to put them on her.  They looked so huge! Technically I think you can start using the one size diapers (meaning they are adjustable and fit children all through their diapering years) at about 8 lbs but Brynlee was born that big and I still thought they seemed really big for her.  And plus, when they are first born they pretty much poop in every diaper and don't ever go very much. I just felt like it was a waste of laundry. I used the nb diapers I had and went through one package of size 1 diapers before I put them on her just 1 day shy of 8 weeks.  What a cute little bum!

After using them for 2 months now I have to admit...I kinda like it! At first I was a little indifferent.  I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either.  I went through the diaper changing motions and just DID it. There is a such thing as disposable inserts for cloth diapers that I thought I would never use but I actually ended up using those when I went on a long day trip out of town.  They worked great! I made a couple other out of town trips including vacation in Okoboji and used disposable diapers.  For the Okoboji trip, it just made sense to use disposable. We were outside most of the time, on the beach, it was OOBER hot.  Cloth diapers would have been hot, I would have had to change her more often and it would be a pain since we were in a stroller or car most of the time.  But...I was surprised at how much I missed using the cloth! I went through more clothes because (as all you moms know) poop likes to shoot right out the back of diapers.  Plus it was just plain weird not seeing her little bum in a bright pink diaper :) 

Granted there are some things I do like about disposable diapers. 1) Wearing clothes that are actually in her size and not out growing everything so quickly (cloth diapers are bulky so you have to wear larger clothes a lot of them time). 2) How little her bum is and how I can just curl her little body around mine when I hold her...cloth diapers don't allow as much flexibility in the hips. 3) Baby powder...I LOVE the smell of baby powder! You can't use any powders or rash creams with cloth diapers because it messes up the absorbancy. 4) Sticking her toes up by her face and her mouth. Ok, so typing that out seems a little odd but I KNOW I am not the only one that does it! I love playing with Brynlee's feet and the flexibility of little babies as they suck on their toes or put their feet in their ear.  It's not so easy when she has a big diaper on.  Those feet just don't quite make it up to her face as easily as with a disposable diaper.  Anyway, as you can see...the things I miss are quite trivial and no big deal at all. Totally worth the sacrifice if it means fewer poop stained clothes and not buying diapers any more. Yay for saving money!

A little note on the diaper styles. As I said, I have Flips and I LOVE them.  I also have a few BumGenius which I don't love so much. The BumGenius diapers have a pocket and you stick the insert inside, whereas the Flips don't have a pocket and you just lay the insert inside.  Brynlee tends to get wet around the waist and legs where it leaks out on the fabric. With the Flips, the insert doesn't even touch the elastic around the legs so we don't have that problem. Those are the only 2 styles I have tries so far but I think it's safe to say that I won't be trying any more with pockets :)

That is the latest on my most recent adventure. So I guess the moral of the story is...Never say never!

20 questions from a 3 year old

These are questions that I asked Hayden. My goal is to do this every year on/around her birthday until she graduates. So fun to see how the answers will change over the years!

1. What is your favorite color? Blue
2. What is your favorite toy?  Princess Baby Anna

3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? George (Curious George)
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Sandwiches
6. What is your favorite outfit? Princess dress (only wears dresses)
7. What is your favorite game? Dress up
8. What is your favorite snack? Ice cream
9. What is your favorite animal? Giraffe
10. What is your favorite song? Made up songs (likes to make up songs about whatever is on her mind)
11. What is your favorite book? Pipkin (How High is the Sky)
12. Who is your best friend? Daddy
13. What is your favorite cereal? Life
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Bubbles
15. What is your favorite drink? Milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Babies (purple baby and naked baby)
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Spaghetti
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? I don’t know

I now have a 3 YEAR old and a 3 MONTH old!

Time sure flies when you're having fun!  Although it is slowing down a little bit. The first 2 months seemed to just disappear but this last month seemed to slow down a little bit. Not sure why...we have been busier than ever!

Brynlee went to her first wedding, my cousin Kendra and new husband Curtis, the weekend she turned 2 months. She did great! It was a 3 hour trip down there and she slept the whole way there and back as well as most of the wedding, lol. She and Hayden wore their first matching dresses and got to meet some family members, including her great grandparents, for the first time :)

On June 23 Hayden turned 3 and we celebrated with a trip to the zoo in Omaha. Brynlee did very well considering she was only 2 1/2 months old and it was HOT outside! She slept most of the afternoon away :) Hayden had a great time celebrating with her cousins Keira and Lainey and friends Maddy, Lila and Eli. She loved seeing the horses (zebra) and giraffes, feeding the fish, (she saved part of her sandwich from lunch so she could feed it to the fish), digging for fossils and riding the train with daddy. She's such a big girl. I was able to get quite a few great pictures at the zoo and of her opening presents and blowing out candles later but I lost my camera so no more pictures :(

The last weekend in June Brynlee made her first trip to Grandpa and Grandpa Oswalds and attended her second wedding for one of Kyle's cousins. Brynlee got passed around to all the relatives and Hayden had a blast playing and dancing :) 

We spent the 4th of July at my parents place in Emmetsburg. Hayden LOVES the water and Brynlee got to experience her first fireworks (which she slept right through). 

After that short overview...here's a few tidbits about each of my sweet girls :)

Brynlee
~Growing like crazy! Weighs about 11 1/2 lbs (not sure, next appt is at 4 months)
~Started on Zantac just over a month ago and has been a completely different baby! No more tummy trouble, crying all night long, or discomfort. I have been off dairy for the past month as well but started bring it in again Monday. So far so good!
~Eats every 4 hours during the day and is on a really good sleep schedule. Eat at 9,1, 5 and 9. Will be awake for 1 - 1 1/2 hours after each feeding and then take a good 1 1/2 - 2 hour nap morning and afternoon. Then takes a few cat naps after her 5 o'clock feeding. I feed her at 9 pm and she is usually asleep for the night by 10 or 10:30. She wakes up once a night at around 5 am but has slept all the way through till 9 a few times as well.  She has been doing this for the past month or so!
~Has just started to sleep exclusively in her bed this week! Naps and night time!
~She loves to smile and even squeals once in a while.
~Likes to "stand" and her eyes get HUGE when she does :)  Like, "Wow, look at me!"
~LOVES her bouncy! It's her podium and will almost always talk a jabber when you put her in it.
~Tried the Bumbo a couple of times. Her head is still a little wobbly but she's getting there :)
~We started cloth diapers on June 4, right before she turned 2 months and it's going well so far. She is in the smallest setting right now but may have to graduate to the middle one soon!
~She likes when her sister talks to her (basically any kind of attention).
~Likes to play picaboo and pat a cake
~Really likes it when mommy gobbles her cheeks and neck :)
~Has discovered her hands and likes to clutch them together and wave them slowly in front of her face. She looks like she's doing kung fu or something, haha. 
~Just today started grabbing her toys dangling from her bouncy seat! It's so cute...she tries to reach them and if she can't get it she gets mad but if she actually does get them she looks half surprised :)

The 4th of July in Emmetsburg!

3 months old!

Having fun with grandpa!

Hayden
~Getting so big! She is 37" tall and weighs 30lb.
~Her hair is getting super long and blonder by the day :)
~She LOVES her baby sister so much. She is such a little mother...which at times can be a bit much, but I am so glad she likes her so much :)
~Anything princess is her latest obsession. Even had a princess themed birthday party complete with a princess cake and cookies!
~Loves playing dress up in her princess dress and crown that G&G DeFord got her and accessorizing with all her jewelry :)
~Likes to have her nails painted
~Is doing much better about going to bed at night and naptimes without as big of a fight.
~Still takes a nap most days and sleeps for around 2 hours (Mom is loving that part!)
~She likes to dance and twirl and has dance sessions almost every day
~Likes coloring, stickers and playing with play dough
~She has the sweetest personality and is always concerned with everyone elses well being. If there's any owies or someone is sad she is the first one there with a kiss and hug.
~Still loves playing with her babies and dresses them up with jewelry and bows
~Loves jewelry in general! Not a day goes by where I don't pull some kind of necklace or bracelet off the baby and dog, haha!
~Has lots of friends and loves going to see people every day. I do what I can do accommodate :)
~Could swing at the park for hours if I would let her!
~Recently decided that it was ok to go back to the nursery after many months of throwing a fit.
~Will start some preschool stuff in the fall! My baby is growing up so fast! Nothing fancy, just a few things at home with mom :)
~Constantly coming up with new stories and telling me all sorts of tall tails. She has a very active imagination :)
~Started swimming in the big pool this summer. She got water wings and doesn't want any help at all. She jumps in from the side and even took a jump off the diving board last week!
~Likes to help mom and dad in the garden and is learning all about the vegetables. She is waiting not so patiently for the tomatoes to get red :)

At the beach with Uncle Alex

Walking home with Uncle Justin after the fireworks

Two sisters!

Brynlee is now over a month old!

Wow, I can't believe my baby girl is 5 1/2 weeks already! The first month of her life has been very busy. Brynlee attended her first arena football game at 18 days and did wonderfully.  Slept right through the whole thing :) One more clue that her daddy is a football coach, lol.  The first couple weeks she slept ALL the time. Way more that I remember Hayden sleeping. It was all I could do to keep her awake long enough to eat. At about 3 1/2 to 4 weeks she started staying awake more and didn't know what to do with herself...so she just cried.  There were a couple weeks in there where she cried most of the evening then it progressed to all evening and into the night and finally ended up with her crying most of the evening, into her mid-night feeding and again for most of the morning.  It was a VERY sleepless couple of weeks around this house.  Plus, it doesn't help that Hayden also gets up 2-3 times a night now as well. 

Thank the Lord things have been getting better. She is still fussy in the evenings (Hayden was the same way) but most of the time we are able to get her to sleep at a semi-decent hour. (It also helps that she is taking her pacifier MUCH better and actually keeps it in her mouth. Yea!)  I am determined not to have another thumb sucker so I have been really pushing the pacifier this time. 

The Stats: At her 2 week appointment she weighed 8lbs 6oz, which put her an ounce over her birth weight.  She also grew a quarter of an inch and was 19 1/4" long.  We don't go back to the dr until 2 months so not sure what she is now.  She is getting too big for her nb clothes but the 0-3 month stuff is still a touch too big. Brynlee graduated to size 1 diapers last week but I can overlap the tabs in front still. Little skinny binny :)  I plan on putting her in the cloth diapers soon!

Brynlee smiles a LOT.  Whenever she starts to fall asleep she starts smiling. It's so sweet and I just love watching her while she drifts off :) Sometimes she'll even "laugh". She does that fast newborn breathing and puts a little voice with it so it sounds like a little chuckle. Seriously adorable! This week she started to smile a little bit for real.  She likes it when I kiss her neck and I'll sometimes get a little tiny smile out of that one :) She doesn't quite "talk" yet but she is getting sooo close! I can't wait to hear her little baby cooing and talking :)

Bath time has gotten soooo much better! At first it was completely traumatic and Brynlee would FREAK out every time.  But, us mom's have some learning to do sometimes too, and I finally figured out that she just needed some more security. Now I give her a wash rag to hold onto with one hand and I hold her other hand so she doesn't get so nervous. Now she does great with baths! Although she does have to be VERY warm. I put a space heater right next to the sink while I am giving her a bath and then move it to the counter where I get her dressed again. It's crazy hot but if she's not warm she's screaming.  Brynlee also likes having lotion put on after bath time. I massage her arms and legs and tummy and she just lays there and enjoys it. Hayden HATED it when I would put lotion on her. Screamed the whole time so I finally gave up. I am glad Brynlee likes it cuz I really doing it :)

Brynlee has met her grandparents of course and one set of great-grandparents so far. She has met Uncle Alex but still needs to meet all of her other uncles.  Chad and Eric are about 2 hours away now and both busy working and Justin is at school in Des Moines about 3 1/2 hours away.  We have a trip planned to my parents house for Memorial Day/my birthday and will get to see Justin then.  Hoping she'll get to meet everyone else very soon!

Brynlee with Great-grandma Oswald and...

...Great-grandpa Oswald :)

The school here had a shower for us last week. It was so nice and was a good opportunity for me to meet some of Kyle's colleagues and for them to meet Brynlee also.  We got so many nice things and Hayden got spoiled as well!

Hayden got some great presents at Brynlee's shower too :)

 
One of the things that the whole family loves to do now that it's warmer is go on walks. We have a double stroller and we load up the girls and walk around the town.  (Literally the whole town...it doesn't take long ;))  Sometimes we go to the park and sometimes we just walk. Either way it's a great way to end a beautiful summer day and spend some time together as a family.

Getting ready for a walk around town :)

Hayden is acting more and more grown up all the time. She is a constant challenge these days but still a joy to have around most of the time :) I like to say she is 2 going on 13, haha.  She is OBSESSED with her birthday these days. The poor kid had to go through daddy's birthday in March, Brynlee being born in April, Mother's Day, my birthday is next week, Father's Day in early June and then FINALLY it will be her birthday.  She tells everybody "my name is Hayden, I am two, my birthday's in June" and then holds up 3 fingers. Hahaha!  Goofy girl :) She wants strawberries for her birthday, they are her favorite.  Glad we got that taken care of ;) Hayden also loves playing with babies and dressing like a princess. Thankfully her definition of "princess" is a little loose and I can still get her to wear a tank top and shorts as long as the top looks frilly enough. No t-shirts or jean shorts though. Her latest of obsession is...wait for it...Dancing with the Stars!!  We watch the show together and she'll dance around to the music with her bear.  Every morning when she gets dressed she puts on a "princess dress" and asks if she can go on DWTS now, lol.   Not sure how many 2 year olds can say their dream is to be on DWTS :)  Oh well, let her dream.  Maybe she will be famous enough to be on the show one day!

Well, that's the info for month one of Brynlee's life. Right now, we are getting ready for a weekend full of graduation parties.  That means no cooking for me! :)

Brynlee at 1 month old!

The Birth of Brynlee Rae

Well, it has been 3 weeks since Brynlee Rae joined our family. I should have blogged about this a long time ago. I am sure I have forgotten things already.  I can't believe it's been 3 weeks already! Time sure does fly when you have an infant. I just hang on tight and hope I can keep up :)  Right now I wanna make sure I get down all the details of my beautiful second daughters birth and you all are welcome to read along.

First off I should probably begin with a disclaimer: WARNING! I was NOT a pleasant person to be around during the last few (ok several) weeks of my pregnancy.  As long as I am blogging the story I should probably be honest. In my defense I have spent the last 3 years expecting to "have a c-section or at the very least be induced early", in the words of the doctor I had with Hayden. THIS doctor had different ideas from the beginning.  Needless to say, the closer my due date got the more of a...ehh hmmm...I became.  I would trade off being scared, irritable, frustrated and out right infuriated.  I also have to admit that I didn't act like the child of God that I am supposed to be a lot of the time. There were times when I was just plain upset with God toward the end. I knew there was no where in the Bible that said He would protect me from all the experiences that I had with my first delivery and that scared me to death. I was at the point where I didn't even pray about it because I didn't thing there was a point. If I tore, I tore; plain and simple.  There was nothing I could do about it.  But, blessed that I am, I had a lot (and I do mean A LOT) of people who were acting a lot more mature that me and were praying hard on my behalf.  For all of you who prayed...I am truly thankful!  I have since repented of my rotten attitude and know that God is in control no matter what.

Anyway, on to the fun part. During this pregnancy I always measured a couple weeks smaller than my due date and at the end I quit growing completely at 33cm.  I also wasn't gaining weight the way the dr. thought I should (I thought I was gaining just fine!). So at 37 weeks I had an ultrasound. Turns out the baby was right on with my due date and weighed about 6lb 1oz.  BUT...they told me they could be up to 14oz off in either direction. I am no dummy, I did the math.  If she was 14oz bigger she could potentially be 8lb 7oz by my due date! And if she was smaller than they estimated she would still be well over 7lb by then.  Believe me, I said as much to my doctor.  I know she wasn't as small as everybody thought she was.  And what did the doctor do...oh she's not that big. And besides, you are really close, you could go anytime on your own.  RIIIIIIIGHT. 

Well, I finally convinced her to induce me on April 10 (one of my 2 due dates they came up with. Either the 10 or 12).  She almost put me off another day but with Kyle's encouragement I stood my ground. Which ended up being a good thing cuz they had 2 more babies born the next day. It was a full house around there! Kyle's mom came up Monday night before the scheduled induction to stay with Hayden and early Tuesday morning we headed out for the hospital in Le Mars. The dr. broke my water at 8am and I was really hoping that's all it would take. Unfortunately this stubborn girl had other ideas. At 1pm when nothing much had happened and I still hadn't made much progress they started me on pitocin.  I started out with a very low dose and they uped it very slowly over the next couple of hours. I was planning on getting an epidural but I wanted to hold out on that as long as I could to make sure my labor didn't slow down. Kyle was actually having a harder time with it than me I think :) He kept trying to convince me to get the epidural. I assured him I was fine and the pain actually reminded me that this was actually happening and things were progressing.  I had been feeling contractions for months and had one instance where I was sure I was going into labor and then didn't.  I was so frustrated and was just glad to finally be having this baby!

About 3 or so I finally got the epidural.  By that point the pitocin was definitely doing it's job and things were getting intense really fast. Plus the nurse convinced me that there was no chance of my labor slowing down since I had the pitocin. Finally able to relax a little I settled in for what I hoped wouldn't be too long of a wait.  The dr. came and checked me about 5pm and I was at about 5 cm and the nurse said usually you progress about 1cm per hour.  So hopefully by about 9 or 10 we should have a baby!  At 8pm they checked me again and I was 6cm.  Talk about disappointing! I was about ready to cry.  What is wrong with this kid?? Why doesn't she want to come out??  The nurses tried calming me down and assured me the last half goes much quicker than the first. Thankfully she was right and when they checked me again at 8:30 I was almost complete :) At 9pm I gave a little practice push to help the last little "lip" as the dr called it and I was fully effaced and 10 cm dilated. A few minutes later I started pushing. 

I should mention that this labor experience was COMPLETELY different than with Hayden. With Hayden I went into labor naturally and all they had to do to get my labor progressing quicker was brake my water. I also had the epidural of all epidurals and didn't feel a single thing until well after I delivered. When it was time to push the nurses had to tell me when I was having a contraction so I would know when to push. I couldn't feel any of it. It was wonderful! I wish it was like that this time too! Not so much...I wasn't in a lot of pain at first but I could definitely tell when I was having a contraction. And when it came time to push...not fun.  Definitely felt that too. I can't imagine going through all of that without drugs. More power to all you ladies that do it. It's just not for me.

So like I said, I felt that urge to push that everybody talk about. Things went pretty well and I was tolerating the pain ok until right at the very end. They kept telling me just a little more. And the dr. had the nerve tell me she had a big head!!  Seriously!!! Not what I wanna hear right now!!!!  That's when things started get crazy. Her shoulders got stuck (didn't know that at the time) and all I could see was the dr looking like she was pushing her straight down as hard as she could. I have never had anything hurt that bad in my life. I about climbed out the back of the bed.  I wanted to say DON"T LET ME TEAR! but the only thing I could manage was "ow, ow, ow" over and over again. (That is the understatement of the century btw, I am just not much of a screamer or crier so I said ow instead).  Thank the Lord she wasn't stuck too bad and it was over relatively quick. 

At 9:31pm Brynlee Rae FINALLY decided to grace us with her presence :)  It took the dr just a couple of minutes to stitch up my ONE second degree tear (not four third degree like last time) and then I was holding my beautiful 8lb 5oz, 19 in long baby girl.  If I wasn't so preoccupied I probably would have said "I told you so!"  I was even gracious later on when the dr was wondering where I "put it all" and just smiled.

Well, in spite of my attitude, struggles with trusting God, fear of this delivery and tearing in the end...it was a MUCH better experience than last time. Now, three weeks later, I am doing really well and am light years beyond where I was at this time with Hayden.  In spite of the tear and my attitude, God has helped me heal well and I am very optimistic that the rest of the healing process won't be stretched out over the next 6 months. 

(Sorry, not sure why the pictures all went here. And I can't figure out how to turn them either.)

Brynlee Rae Oswald
8lb 5oz, 19" long
Born at 9:31pm, Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Brynlee and momma right after she was born

Brynlee and daddy minutes after birth

Hayden seeing her sister for the first time :)

Sisters!!

Brynlee at 1 week old

3 weeks old today!

At three weeks, Brynlee is doing great!  At her 2 week appointment she has surpassed her birth weight and was 8lb 6oz and had grown 1/4".  I am nursing and doing really well with it. She doesn't have much of a schedule to speak of...sometimes she'll eat after 2 1/2 hrs and sometimes at night she'll go 5.  But, she isn't even a month yet and still sleeps ALL the time so I am hoping that a schedule will come soon :)  She is a really good sleeper and only wakes me up about twice during the night and than goes right back to sleep again. She has a long period of about an hour or more in the morning where she's awake and again in the evenings.  It's kinda interesting because she had about the same schedule in the womb too :)  I try to give her a bottle a couple times a week just so she's used to it and she takes it really well. Maybe Kyle and I will get a date night soon!  Brynlee does not like to be put in her car seat but calms right down once we get going. I am hoping it stays that way! Right now she sleeps in many different positions.  I have her on the boppy in the bassinet at night (she didn't like the bassinet so much when we first tried it), and throughout the day she sleeps on her back or side in her crib and on her tummy on the floor. Sometimes I'll put her on her back on the couch too. I am hoping not to get her too dependent on any one place or position.  We'll see how my plan goes :) When she's awake she is very alert and likes to look around at everything and seems to listen very carefully too. She likes when people talk to her.

Hayden has done very well with her new sister. She was so excited to meet her. When she came to the hospital to meet her for the first time she made a beeline straight for Brynlee and wanted to hold her right away. She kept telling everybody, "that's my baby sister".  It was the sweetest thing :) Even now at home she loves to help with everything from bath time to diaper changes.  Sometimes she can be too much "help" but I am glad she love her sister. Never having a sister of my own I am hoping these two are best friends throughout their lives. Sisters are special things :)