This, That, and the other

I was doing really good at blogging for awhile and now I'm back to once a week, I'll try to work on that.

Bria is officially over her cold and we are so glad, I hated booger sucking her nose and worse yet she despised it, so we had a battle every couple hours throughout the day. Putting vapor rub on the bottom of her feet each night worked great because she slept through the night, thank you vapor rub!

The past couple days Bria has only taken 1 nap. When that nap is 3 hours long that is fine with me, but when that nap is an hour and a half, I'm not such a fan. Occasionally I can get her to take a second, but if she won't go down then bedtime is unpleasant. She throws a huge fit on the changing table while I try to dry her off from the bath, lotion her up, put her diaper on, and get pj's on. Brian has come in a few times wondering what in the world I was doing to her. Fortunately as soon as we sit in her rocking chair and start nursing she is fine, so I kind of laugh as she screams bloody murder-I'm such a mean mom ;)

So, Monday was an interesting day. Bria was throwing up a lot, like even more than she usually does (her normal is about a dozen times a day) and it was large amounts. I lost it in the afternoon and just starting bawling, poor Bria was wondering what was wrong with her mother.

After talking with her pediatrician and nurse over the next 3 days, Bria was prescribed Zantac for her GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). It was something we discussed at her last appointment but I think I was still in denial that she had this because throwing up has never bothered her and she doesn't cry in pain. Plus, I wanted to see if she'd grow out of it. After 8 months of vomit I decided enough was enough. That acid in Bria's throat and mouth is not good for her. We started the Zantac yesterday and she only had 3 big throw ups and 2 minor ones, yay! That is a big improvement and I'm hoping it will only get better with time. I think Monday was such a bad day because I fed her Banana Orange medley and any acidic food is bad for GERD.

Ultimately my hope is that she won't need Zantac very long and her little esophageal sphincter will work on it's own. But I'm happy that it's helping so far and pray it continues. If not, we'll move to Prevacid and if that doesn't work I'm not sure. But we're staying positive for now.

Last weekend we enjoyed lots of family time with just the 3 of us and it was wonderful. Saturday we took a walk with Bria down to our neighborhood park and let her swing.

It was a bit chilly but nice and sunny so that helped.

Saturday evening was the Beaver game-we didn't win but it was a moral victory ;) My mom got Bria an adorable Beaver headband.

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."

"Oh, dat beebee in da mirror is bootiful."

Chillin' with Dad, enjoying the game. Does it get any better?

We had a nice evening and it was fun to just relax and hang out.

Besides Monday, this week has been a wonderful week. Bria has been such a doll and we've been getting out of the house despite the bad weather.
My cousin Lanie came down on Wednesday and it was so much fun! We love that we live close but wished we lived even closer so we could hang out everyday. Bristol was an absolute doll and I don't think I heard her cry once the whole day.

We ran to Walgreen's to get Bria's prescription and were so excited to have the girls right next to each other in their matching car seats.
Bristol fell asleep about .2 minutes after this picture ;)

Yesterday I ran to Target to get some vitamins and of course stopped by Old Navy, their clearance section was on clearance-double the deals! So I bought a few shirts for Bria that are adorable, but I think this is my favorite:

"Mommy's Lil' Cheerleader"

How perfect is that?!

And now we are gearing up for the Halloween weekend, Bria's first one. Stay tuned for adorable pictures of Bria the ladybug :)

Happy Halloween!

Another cold?

Bria has been stuffed up for 5 days now. At first I thought it was another tooth trying to come up, but it's a different kind of congested and I can tell she doesn't feel good. I have no idea how she got sick, but I'm tempted to quarantine her for the rest of the winter, I don't know what else to do. She takes a bath every night and I wash her hands well, I sterilize her toys, wash her blankets, ugh. Anyway, she has not been eating or nursing very much which has me worried, I really hope this cold will go away so she can get back to her normal happy, hungry self.

She does love to stand these days so I'll prop her up against her toys or a mirror and she'll play like that for awhile.

She looks like such a big girl standing up!

Bria has taken a liking to this pillow. My Mom and I made it (ok, just my Mom) awhile back and Bria loves the tassels on it.

Bria with her pink elephant:

One of the first things people ask me when they find out Bria is 8 months old is: "Does she crawl all over?"

No, Bria is not crawling. She sure does roll around everywhere, but crawling has not peaked her interest yet. I'm not sure if there is something I should be doing to help her learn how to crawl, we put things just barely out of her reach to entice her, but she gets mad and rolls over.

That's ok, our house isn't baby proofed yet anyway ;)

8 Months

Bria has been in our lives for 8 months now, what a wonderful 8 months it has been.

These days Bria is:

• Eating about the same amount as last month: nurses about 4 times a day, eats oatmeal and 1 or 2 containers of fruit, then a vegetable or 2 in the early evening. She is such a good eater and opens her mouth really wide!
• Wears 6-12 months clothes, some 9 month stuff (specifically pants to give her big belly more room :)
• Likes bouncing in her jumperoo and goes wild in it
• Loves to stand. I will come sit down by her while she's playing and she'll reach down and wrap her fingers around mine so I will help pull her up, it's pretty cute
• Does not play on her tummy long enough to practice crawling, she prefers to roll wherever she needs to go :)
• Loves sitting in front of the mirror to play with the "baby"
• Loves when Daddy comes home from work and gives him a big smile
• Is babbling a lot, she says Da-da very clearly
• Pulls toys out of her little bin
• Turns the pages in books
• Laughs and smiles a lot
• When she's laying down she tries to sit up all by herself
• Has her 2 bottom teeth and they're adorable :)

Her hair is starting to get a little bit of curl to it in the back and it's pretty stinkin' cute. I look forward to the days when I can put clips and cute bows in it :)

We love you Breezie!

Pumpkin Patch

Things Bria liked about the pumpkin patch:

• Being with her Aunt Heather
• Meeting her new friend, Jack (whom she kissed twice, big slobbery kisses) and his mom and dad
• Petting the goats
• Seeing Daddy hold little baby chicks
• Falling asleep on the bumpy hayride, then finishing her nap in Jack's awesome stroller
• Seeing the goat jump on Daddy while he fed them
• And watching the adults scarf down the best donuts in the world

Things Bria did NOT like about the pumpkin patch:

• Pumpkins

It was quite hilarious to watch Bria start crying the moment we put her anywhere near a pumpkin. I was so looking forward to those cute pumpkin pictures but Bria had other plans. I think some of the reason was that she missed her nap and was exhausted, but even after a catnap on the hayride and in Jack's stroller, she still didn't like the pumpkins. I'm hoping next year will be a different story. And we are definitely going back to the same pumpkin patch next year because they had the best apple cider donuts and pumpkin donuts in the world!

The pumpkin patch itself was pretty nice and had tons of stuff for kids to do and lots of farm animals. Next year Bria will have fun going for a pony ride...unless she's scared of those too.

The goat got Brian nice and dirty:

Heather was able to capture this photo, which was a miracle since Bria is not crying in it:

Jack was adorable and tried comforting Bria, he was the sweetest:

Jack is cracking up and Bria is having a meltdown:

Brian, Me, Bria, Jack, Sarah, and Troy:

Sarah and I with our little ones:

Bria loved touching his hands and face:

Bria got her diaper changed on a flatbed truck, how many babies can say that?

Drama queen:

Family pic:

We were hoping they had more of the cute face cut outs but we only found one. At least it was cute :)

Bria

Jack

Daddy requested to have this picture taken:

Daddy holding a teenage chicken (I say teenage b/c they were bigger than the babies):

Bria sleeping through the hayride:

Brian and Troy being fatherly to the baby chicks ;)

Brian wanted to experience what it would be like to have twins:

Jack and Bria both have blond hair and blue eyes so they could be twins ;) Jack smiled about 90% of the time we were there, he was so stinkin' adorable. When we first got there and were walking towards them, Jack got the biggest smile on his face and it just melted my heart. I appreciated the warm welcome.

Aunt Heather snuggled Bria while she examined a small pumpkin, it was small enough that it did not scare her:

We tested our luck and plopped her in a bin of small pumpkins, she was ok for a minute but then she was done.

Brian and I barely took any pictures with our own camera because Heather had her big camera and took at least 5 pictures each minute, it was like our own paparazzi :) I LOVED it. She captured some cute ones of Bria and I together and that's hard for me to do by myself at home.

Thanks to my friend Sarah for coming down! Troy is hilarious and Jack is simply adorable-best smile. We had so much fun.

Videos

Blogger decided to stop hating me and let me upload a few videos, yay!

Bria loves books. She loves to play with them, loves me to read them to her, loves to eat them, she loves them. The other week she started turning the pages all by herself and it was really cute to watch. It's nice to know all the reading we do really is teaching her something! By the time I got the camera out she was kind of tired of the game, but you get the idea:

Another MJ and Bria video. Bria is fascinated by MJ's paws and tries to eat them:

Another rainy day here in good old Oregon, I think Bria and I are going to venture to Target just to get out of the house :)

It's raining it's pouring

All is well at the Holcomb dwelling, besides the 7 day forecast consisting of rain. Bria's second tooth has been causing her pain so I rub brandy on it and get her nice and buzzed to help. Kidding, kidding. We gave her some Tylenol for a few nights and she seems to be doing better, still a little cranky and clingy during the day, but overall much better.

Bria cheesing for me and showing off her first tooth (I love her little hand on her hip):

Brian is busy with classes but makes sure to spend some quality time with us on the weekends. 6 months until he's done, it cannot go fast enough. Although, when Brian finishes school it means Bria will be 13 months old which is crazy to think about.

These days Bria loves to hold onto your fingers and stand, I swear she could do it for hours. Although she sits on her own like a pro, I think she prefers to lie down on her back and roll around amongst her toys...and MJ:

I'm wondering if sitting up causes her a little discomfort at times because she spits up a lot more in that position. If she's laying down it's much better. I'm looking forward to when she stops spitting up, but right now it feels like she'll be 18 years old wearing a bib to catch her spit up.

Our weekend consisted of tailgating (what's new) and it was a nice day out. Bria was not her normal bubbly self, but still had a good time.
She outgrew her cheer outfit and I'm still mourning it. I almost tried to stuff her big belly into it one more time but thought better of it, comfort first right?

Brian and I enjoyed a little picnic style lunch at the tailgator since Bria wanted out of her stroller.
Bria does so well with her sippy cup and has for a couples weeks now. I usually help her take a few drinks and then let her play with it. She'll teeth on it for a little bit, but then takes a few drinks on her own. I'm a proud mommy.
In other news we have plans to go to a pumpkin patch this weekend and I'm so excited. I must get the infamous shots of Bria in a sea of pumpkins, hopefully it's not pouring that day but the 7 day forecast says otherwise.

Bria had a great little routine for the last month. She would go down for a nap around 10:30 or 11 am and sleep for about 2 1/2 hours, then take a little 1/2 hour nap around 4 pm. It was really nice. This weekend she started changing it up so I'm trying to figure it out still. She goes down around 11 or 11:30 am and sleeps for an hour and a half usually, then fights her second nap around 4 pm. We tried ditching the 4 pm nap altogether but that led to a major meltdown at bedtime because she was over the top exhausted. So we put it back in :)

I realized that all my posts are updates of Bria so I sat down to try and write about something else. 15 minutes later I was still sitting there and had written nothing. Well, I didn't really sit in front of the computer for 15 minutes doing nothing because that would be a waste of valuable time, but my point is that there is nothing going on in my world but Bria and Brian.

I really tried to avoid getting boring once I became a mom but I think I may have failed. At least Brian and Bria think I'm still funny. Family first right? :)

Since Bria's naps are shorter I better go and get a few things done!

The Zoo

Bria and I got to experience a first together: The Zoo.

I've never been to the zoo so when my friend Erin (who I met through the MOMS club) asked me if I wanted to join her I gladly accepted. Brian wanted to be there for my first zoo experience, and of course Bria's so he got work off-I was so excited he came with us. We had the BEST time. It was unbelievable and I just loved every minute of it.

We spent almost 5 hours there walking around and looking at all the animals. Bria was such a trooper and did awesome. She took a small 1/2 nap in between the hippos and penguins, and then was ready for more zoo. Bria had a good time and particularly liked the ducks, elephants, penguins, and orangutans. The next time we go I think she'll enjoy it even more as she'll be a little older. But it was so fun to take her and we just had a wonderful day.

We took an insane amount of pictures and I'm so glad we did. Here are about half of them:

The only bears we got to see were these guys, the live ones were in the back for tests or something:

That's ok, we saw a real one in Shasta a few years back, we're good.

Getting a hot chocolate since it was a little chilly:

Looking at the sea otters:

Had to take this picture, go Beavs!

Getting ready to see some more animals, bring it on!

New best friends, Bria and the orangutan:

One word: precious

My monkeys with the real monkeys:

One of my favorites, the elephants!

Elephants are big, like really big. Bigger than big. It was so cool.

He was doing some tricks for us here:

This elephant put himself in the corner apparently:

The baby elephant is just a year old, her name is Samudra:

Us with Samudra:

The lions are perched up on the rock in the back:

Brian driving a jeep into the cheetahs:

In the bird bubble:

The hippos were ginormous, we had no idea how truly large those things are.

Bria fell asleep on our way to see the Zebra's:

The giraffe was awesome:

One of Brian's favorites, the crocodile:

While we were there the exhibit had a rainstorm with lightening and everything, it was pretty cool.

The penguins were adorable and Bria woke up just in time to meet them:

Daddy showing Bria, the big fish:

The leopard relaxing:

Bria liked the tigers as you can see:

Or maybe it was being in Daddy's arms :)

I am so glad we got to do this and so happy that Brian joined us, it wouldn't have been nearly as fun without him. Bria has the funniest Dad ever, he was cracking us up the whole time.

We had a big long day and were so happy to take off our shoes and relax last night. We all slept pretty good, although Bria's second tooth decided to give her some discomfort so we gave her some Tylenol to help ease the pain. And what do you know, this morning that second tooth finally broke through!! Poor girl had a big day out and was cutting a tooth!

Can't wait to go back to the zoo, it was a blast!