All aboard

Excuse our humor, that's us though :)

No toy will ever be able to replace a box

Especially the kind of boxes that are actually trains 

And on these box trains, the conductors are your Mom and Dad and you can tell them to go wherever you want :)

So I've been having supply issues with my boobs. I went through this with Bria too around the same age. I thought I had fixed it this time by taking Fenugreek, capsules that help produce more milk, but it doesn't seem to be as effective as it was in the beginning. Anyway, I'm hoping to fix it, but for now I'm glad I still have some frozen milk in the freezer.

Reese holding her bottle all by herself

And Brian doesn't mind feeding her for me :)

Glorious sun!

A week ago we did a little shopping and visiting with Lance, Kayla, and my Mom. They came up to find a suit for Lance for the wedding. Brian and I never pass up a chance to visit The Rack, Nordstrom Rack. 

Afterwards we headed to Lanie's to visit with my Aunt and snuggle the brand new baby. 

Reese loving her Aunt Kayla

A little Daddy's girl for sure

Reese LOVES babies

Lance, just being Lance :)

This past weekend was GLORIOUS!! We had sunshine, blue skies, and temperatures in the 80's. Hottest days of the year and I believe we hit a record the other day. To say we are full of vitamin D would be an understatement, we are happily overflowing with it because we spent 3 days straight outside. It was fabulous.
I was so excited to whip out summer clothes for the weather. It practically doubled the girls wardrobe :) Well, okay I need to do a little clothes shopping. Darn ;)

Silly sisters

A grumpy toddler and curious baby, that about sums it up

Reese's new obsession, standing or walking while holding onto your hand

Or standing by herself, are you kidding me?! This is too soon.

Love this photo of my big girl and me

Look closely and you will see a long strand of drool  coming from her mouth :)

So Saturday after I got my hair did we headed to the Woodburn outlet malls, we haven't been in forever. Outdoor mall + 30% off at Gap = YAY!!!
We found a few things we couldn't live without, like jeans for me, shorts and dress pants for Brian, and socks for Bria and me. Nothing really exciting, but all very good items. We got some pretzels and drinks then let Bria climb on the tree house structure they have there. We headed home to BBQ and ended up sitting in the backyard on the grass and just having a perfect evening. Seriously perfect.

Sunday after naptime we headed to a park, ate some dinner, then played and played. On the way home we stopped by Sonic then to another park. We could not get enough of the sunshine.
By the time we got home and did baths, we were all ready to curl up and go to bed.

I have to say though, Monday night was icing on the cake. We hooked up the bike trailer and went for a bike ride. Pure heaven. Love the sunshine.

7 months

Let's ignore the fact that Reese is officially closer to 1 than her time in my tummy. If we ignore that, then maybe I won't cry.

But probably I will.

Because this is scary how fast it's going by. I am not even close to lying when I say it feels like we were just in the hospital meeting little Reese for the first time and now here we are 7 months later.

So, let's be happy and focus on all the fun things my little baby is doing. Fortunately she is still a baby, phew.

I don't think I've posted her stats in awhile, here were her stats at her 6 month appt, which was a week late so I don't think they've changed much:

Height: 26 inches (60th percentile)

Weight: 14 lbs 13.6 oz (almost 30th percentile)

Head: 50th percentile

Wears size 2 diapers
6 months clothes

Let's also look at the developmental stuff she is doing (this is not a brag session, I'm doing his for journaling purposes, but if I wanted to brag that's my right since it's my blog and all :)

She sleeps from about 7-7. She also poops before she goes to bed, then about 3 hours later (I go in to check on her and can spell poop so I have to wake her up and change her, yeah that sucks), then first thing in the morning, then an hour later...you get the picture. She's a pooper.

"Hahaha, I LOVE pooping 'cuz my mom has to change my diaper all the time!"

Reese is so close to crawling, she will lay on her tummy and spin herself completely around in a circle, than roll to get where she wants to go. I fear crawling is going to be here before we know it. Maybe not though, maybe she'll surprise us and stay in one spot for many more months! Or maybe she will go straight to walking because the girl is strong.

Lately she has been taking two naps and I've been lucky enough that the second one coincides with Bria's. This makes for a happy Mommy. I pray it continues.

"Yeah, you keep on praying, Mom."

She is also a tummy sleeper. Before you go freaking out on me, both my girls have been and I don't think it's a bad thing. I even mentioned it to my pediatrician at the last appointment and she says Reese is definitely strong enough that tummy sleeping is not a concern.

She is a mama's girl through and through. If I walk anywhere near her when she is playing or being held by someone she thinks that I should hold her. When I pick her up in the morning and from her naps she holds me so tight and gives me the best loves ever. She also loves to bite on my chin/jaw. My little weirdo.

Did I mention we finally got her to take a bottle again? Phew! And slowly but surely she is doing better about eating baby food. Her favorite is sweet potatoes, which makes me feel good because that is the one thing I make myself for her. Besides mashing up bananas of course.

She has a wheeze/cough going on that's been here pretty much since birth. I have a suspicion and fear that it's asthma/allergy related. My smart Aunt LoAnn confirmed this, she had 4 asthmatic children so she knows what she's talking about.

She is such a little grabber. She loves grabbing my face, my collar bone, arm, anything she can get her sharp little hands on. And she pinches. And recently she's become a biter. Ouch.

Still bald and beautiful with piercing blue eyes.

Mushy love stuff

It may not be our anniversary, or Valentine's Day, or Father's Day, or even Brian's birthday. But I still want to gush about my incredible husband, just because he is that great.

Having kids brings you to a whole different level with your spouse. In the early baby days you are dealing with lack of sleep and lack of knowledge about what to do with this tiny person. Eventually you make it through that, we used humor a lot.

Then came the stage where you had to start parenting and disciplining and that brings in a whole new level of issues. This was difficult for Brian and I since we didn't always see eye to eye on how to handle situations. Basically, I don't have a lot of patience and would stress and freak out and Brian was too laid back and easy going.

Eventually we ironed it all out and we started clicking. Then we had another baby. But guess what? We had already been through it so we just kept gliding on through.

I can't tell you how much I love seeing Brian as a Dad. He is the most hilarious Dad ever and does anything and everything to get his girls laughing. He doesn't mind making a fool of himself or painting Bria's toe nails, as long as he gets to spend time with his girls and make memories, he will do anything it takes.

He works so hard to make sure I can stay home with our kids and I can't thank him enough.

I'm seriously crazy about this guy. He is perfect for me. He makes me a better me and I just love him so much.

He gave me the two most precious blessings on Earth and stands by me through thick and thin.

Yep, I got a good one. I'm never letting him go.

Holy shiznit

For the first 5 months of her life, Reese would poop about once a week. No joke. The pediatrician wasn't concerned because as you may know, it's normal for breastfed babies to go that long between poops.

Well, for the last two weeks Reese has pooped at least 5 times a day. And that is not an exaggeration. In addition, she has pooped every single morning at 6 am, which means it's impossible to get her to go back to sleep once she's changed and fed and I can't very well let her cry herself back to sleep since she's laying in a massive amount of poop. She poops after every feeding and sometimes more. Her bum is so red despite my religious applications of A&D and Desitin (seriously, any advice?). I'm glad she's healthy and all, but dang, it's a lot of poop!

Here she is munching on a banana, in an attempt to slow the pooping down.

It didn't work. I believe she is pooping in this picture.

I know that introducing solids can sometimes create different issues with poop, but Reese has decided she is not very interested in food these days and mainly nurses still. She doesn't even finish a Stage 1 food in a day.

Fortunately my little pooper is still cute and happy. I just feel bad for her poor bum!

I've been able to get in some girl time each week since my husband is awesome.

One of my best friends, Tiffanie. Seriously love her.

All my girlfriends and I getting pedicures!

(From left: Tiff, Dehlia, Amanda, Leslie, Me, and Randi)

This week we don't really have plans, which is kind of nice. I'm sure we'll do some play dates and of course, some jogging. It's suppose to rain this week, I'm hoping the weathermen are either wrong, or it's the last week of rain.

But I'm an Oregonian so I know better. Hmph.

Yay for friends

Our friends, Erin and Jimmy, came to stay with us this weekend and we had a really good time. Their little boy Gabe is 6 months younger than Bria and little Lucy is just 2 1/2 months younger than Reese. We had such a great time with them, as always. Bria and Gabe are so fun to watch play together, they are definitely rambunctious and don't lack energy. They also know how to scream really well, awesome ;) Luckily both Lucy and Reese sleep through the yelling.

The men with their baby girls

Saturday was gorgeous and after playing in the backyard then eating some burgers for dinner, we took a walk to the park.

Bria and her husband Gabe (her words)

Gotta love the Ergo

Lucy and her Mommy :)

Weeeee!!

It was a perfect evening. Great weather, great friends, great memories.

Next time I will be sure to get a picture of Erin and I together!

Welcome baby girl!

Guess what? Lanie had her baby! I was so excited when she called me last Friday to tell me she was in labor, I was all sorts of giddy. I waited impatiently to get the okay to head to the hospital and then got to be there when sweet little Brinley Ann was born.

Birth is miraculous and just the best thing ever. I was so honored to be there and can't thank Lanie enough for letting me be apart of something so incredible. Her Mom flew in from Chicago and made it with 45 minutes to spare! All around it was pretty freaking exciting. And of course, Lanie was a champ dude.

I know you aren't usually suppose to post pics of someone right after birth without their permission, but hello, she looks AMAZING. Seriously, this was like 15 minutes after giving birth.

Yeah, I'm jealous too.

Proud Daddy, Mia, and Mommy.

This little angel sucked her thumb like she had been doing it all her life. Haha. But seriously, it was too precious.

I went to visit on Monday after they got home and I was in heaven snuggling a little newborn :)

Me and precious baby Brinley

Brinley and Reese, BFF's :)

This week has been pretty good, it's gone by quite fast actually, which is nice. Bria had her first dentist appointment yesterday and I was in shock with how well she did. I took her about 6 months ago for a free dental exam, but they didn't do a teeth cleaning or anything. So this was her first actual dentist experience. I took both girls and since Bria was in a good mood I thought things might go pretty well. I couldn't have known that they would go so well I would feel like super mom or something.

Seriously, the whole Mom thing makes you feel like a failure at times. Like when Bria decides that hitting Reese is acceptable, or when she throws herself on the ground because I told her to go get a kleenex and wipe her nose. But yesterday the stars aligned and I had a magical dentist experience.

Bria hopped up on the chair like she was an old pro, she giggled and smiled as the hygienist showed her all the cool tools she was going to use to clean her teeth, she opened her mouth big and just laid there as she cleaned her teeth. When the dentist came in she continued to be super girl. And while all this was going on, Reese was sitting happily in my lap sucking her her zipper to her jacket. All this probably doesn't sound that impressive, but it's pretty exciting to have such an easy experience at a place like the dentist with a toddler and baby.

So yeah, I'm celebrating because it was a Mommy victory!

Another victory is my dedication to jogging. 6 weeks and I'm still going strong!

How adorable is this?

Bria didn't mind until I had snapped about 27 pictures and then she finally said, "Can I get out now?"

I couldn't help taking pictures, I loved that Reese was sleeping on her big sister. Good stuff.

Bria and Reese

What are the girls up to these days? I feel like I get caught up in just posting pics and quick updates that I don't always journal the little things my girls are doing. Let's start with my eldest.

Bria

Sleeping: 8 pm (usually doesn't fall asleep until almost 9, sometimes even later) to 7:30 am. She naps some days, on the days she doesn't nap she still spends almost 2 hours in her room by herself playing.

Eating: Her eating has improved tremendously from what it use to be. She eats a fruit and vegetable each day (sometimes a bite of an apple is all, but it still counts in my book!) and is like me in that she could and would eat cereal for all meals. Love it ;)

Playing: Some days she does so well at playing by herself and using her imagination. It's fun to hear her use different voices when playing with little stuffed animals or something. Anytime I'm on the phone she has to get her phone and then she walks around and talks on it.

Helping: She has been so wonderful helping with Reese, she gets her toys, burp cloths, and blankets. The cool thing is that she can usually soothe Reese if I'm in the middle of making dinner or doing dishes. Bria also loves using wipes to help wipe counters and cupboards.

Misc: She is becoming more independent which is so cool. She has put her shoes on and gone outside in the backyard all by herself. I'm sure most moms would freak, but Bria is pretty good about staying close to us at all times, even at home. I did tell her that she needed to ask before going outside :) She's also started going to the bathroom by herself, her bathroom upstairs has a stool by the toilet that climbs up on so the only thing we have to do is wipe after she is done. Our downstairs bathroom has a stool too but it's a little too tall so she doesn't like climbing on it, we just have to set her on the toilet. She is super inquisitive, very observant, and incredibly lovey. I'm so happy she's mine.

Reese

Sleeping: 7 pm-6/6:30 am (Oh Lordy this is too early for me, we were spoiled with Bria, it's been rough trying to wake myself up so early, but I can't complain because she sleeps through the night). She usually takes 2 naps a day, sometimes 3.

You are in love with that hat aren't you? My cousin Lanie made it, the coolest part is the the green flower can be changed out for any color flower. Yep, place your orders here folks!

Eating: She nurses about 5 or 6 times a day and eats baby food once or twice. She eats well, just doesn't eat a lot. Her favorites so far include apples and peaches. She is getting really good at drinking water from her sippy cup.

Playing: This little girls can entertain herself for quite awhile which is so nice. She loves her jumperoo and has mad hops (ie jumps a lot and really high). She loves putting everything in her mouth, especially non-toy items...cool. She is incredibly strong and has taken steps while holding on the the edge of the couch. She loves her giraffe, peacock, and little bunny rattle. But I think her favorite thing to do is watch her big sister. She is in love with Bria and squeals in delight at her just walking into a room. She reaches for her and LOVES when Bria tries to pick her up. She gets so giddy when I lay her in Bria's bed with her before nap time, it's so precious.

Helping: Reese helps me improve my ability to get poop stains off of clothes :)

Misc.: This little girl is absolutely the sweetest little thing. She has the best smile that lights up a room, gorgeous eyes, and an adorable laugh. She is definitely a mama's girl and thinks I should be holding her if I am within a 50 yard radius of her. She is without a doubt a perfect addition to our little family.

My sweet girls.

Proof of their love :)

I sure love them, can't believe how fast they are growing up!

Do I say that in every post? I sure feel like I do, but I can't help it, it's totally true.