Wakeful Period and Video

I think Bria is going through the 4 month wakeful period. I actually didn't think that was a real thing until now. She was up this morning at 4 am and had turned on her back and was talking. I let her do that for a few minutes and then went in to try and help her go to sleep. Once she was relaxed in my arms I laid her down. 10 minutes later she was fussing. She again had rolled onto her back. So I rocked her to sleep and laid her down, she woke up right away and rolled on her back. I let her fuss for a little bit while I laid on her floor. Finally I picked her up and tried to rock her but she was fussing a lot so Brian tried to calm her down. Since none of this worked we decided maybe she was hungry and I fed her. She then fell asleep on my chest and we slept like that until 9 am.
I hope this little wakeful period does not last long. I'm nervous that her shots on Friday and our trip to Shasta will throw everything completely off and she will sleep even worse. Or maybe it'll help her sleep all the way through the night again...wishful thinking.

Here is the little punky monkey doing some tummy time

Here is a little video of Bria trying to roll over, it's not the best but it's hard to capture. MJ kept bringing me her ball during this video so that is why you hear noise in the background.



She also lifts her legs and then turns on her left side and lays like that but I haven't caught that on video yet.

Naps, no thanks

Normally Bria wakes up at 7:45 am, is up for 2 hours and then goes down for a 2 + nap. It's perfect because then I can shower, clean up her bath stuff, get on the computer, clean a little, and maybe do some laundry. She also takes 2 one hour naps in the afternoon and early evening. Well, Wednesday and Thursday she decided to take three 45 minute naps and I have to say I'm not a fan. Maybe she's going through a growth spurt (she cries until I feed her) or maybe she just wants to mix it up on me, keep me on my toes.
What happened to my good napper? She also got up at 3 am Saturday morning and it took Brian and I an hour to get her to sleep back in her crib. She'd fall asleep in our arms but would wake up 5 minutes after we laid her down. Silly girl. I must say I was proud of myself for keeping my patience, it helps that Brian was there to relieve me for a little bit. We make a good team.
Fortunately her nap schedule was better on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday she took a 3 hour nap, wahoo!

Bria is getting so close to rolling on her tummy, she rolls onto her side really well from her back but can't quite make it all the way over. She is still rolling from tummy to back, but not regularly.
It is really fun to watch her on her tummy because she is lifting her head so high and is so proud of herself, it's adorable.

She gets the giggles when she is tired and it is hilarious. Friday night we went to dinner with Jenny and Kyle and so Bria was out past her bedtime. On the way home I was talking to her like I always do and she thought I was a stand up comedian. She was laughing and laughing at me, it was quite precious and I loved it.

We had a mini breakthrough with MJ. I was helping Bria practice her sitting and MJ came up, smelled her, and then licked her on the top of her head! Bria looked up and MJ and smiled. It was quite exciting and I hope it's the beginning of a wonderful friendship between them :)

Thank you for the comments on The Great Shasta Debate of '09, I am starting to feel more confident about it. Although I would like to know how much Brian paid you all ;)
We have officially decided to go, we took a vote ;) Every time I start to get anxious and stress about it, I remind myself that it'll be fine even if it takes us a few days to get Bria back on her schedule. Plus, right now she is waking up once a night and wants to be rocked back to sleep so maybe this will help solve that problem (or make it worse, who knows).

Brian's first week back to his normal schedule went pretty good. Thursday night he worked late and didn't get home until 8:30 pm so he didn't even get to see Bria. That sucked. But the rest of the days weren't horrible. It was nice to be able to have dinner together and watch some tv after Bria went to bed. I think I'll make it after all, but the official verdict will come when he starts his classes again.
Speaking of classes, Brian got his grades back. This was his toughest term by far and the smarty pants got 2 A's!!!! I am beyond proud of him, he is just amazing. During his undergrad he struggled to pass his classes (sorry babe, just keepin' it real) and now that he is working full time, has a wife, and a new baby, he manages to get A's. Go figure. It just goes to show you how the online classes are much better for him. He can log on when it works for him instead of having to go to class at a certain time. Anyway, I really am so proud of him. Only 3 terms left, we can do it. Notice how I say we? I can't help it, school stresses me out even if I'm not the one in it. I feel like I have to make sure he does his homework and logs on everyday, basically I find something to stress about.

Now for some pictures!

We went out to dinner with Jenny and Kyle on Friday night and Bria was telling Jenny how hungry she was.

A cute lil outfit:

She got very excited and started talking, it was hilarious:

Another cute outfit and a smile for the camera!!

I love my little punky monkey :)

Stuff

So Bria seems to be doing better, I am guessing she'll have good days and bad days as far as pain goes with teething. I'm glad she is getting some relief, and I'm not going to lie, I'm glad to have a little as well. She was so happy yesterday and just talked and smiled all day. On our walk she was squealing and talking and smiling, it was so much fun. I made the walk a little longer since she was enjoying it so much. Bria took 2 long naps and a short one yesterday so I was able to get a lot of cleaning done, it felt really good.
It's funny how some days she takes really long naps and others I'm lucky if she sleeps for an hour at a time.

Bria hasn't been a huge fan of the binkie lately. The last couple weeks she prefers her thumbs and I'm ok with that. I'm not going to force the binkie on her. The binkie does help when I give her a teething tablet, but even if she falls asleep with the binkie in her mouth she spits it out shortly after.

Brian is done with Spring term so he has the next 2 weeks off, wahoo! I am so excited for him and I know he is thrilled to be able to relax at home after work. It would be nice if he had the summer off, but he'll finish school sooner if he takes 2 classes so he's gonna push through.

Porter holding Bria-He really didn't want anyone else touching her while he was holding her and got mad at Jaidyn when she started making her laugh. It was pretty funny.

Aunt Heather got this adorable rain coat for Bria, perfect for Oregon.

She has a onesie that matched perfectly with it and of course socks. I love matching her little outfits :)

This is just a little video of Bria being her happy self. She was laughing and laughing before this video but of course stopped when I started filming, silly girl.



This Saturday Brian requested a Bria and Daddy Day of Fun so they are going to hang out and do something that day. Not sure what I'll do, I think of calling people to go hang out but then I'm not sure if anyone wants to hang out with me without Bria ;)

The Big Shasta Debate
Brian and I have been discussing Shasta this year. Brian of course wants to go (and already has that week off) and I go back and forth. For awhile I was all about it, but now I just don't know.

Reasons not to go:
1. 7 hour car ride with a 4 month old
2. Extreme heat-In the 90's
3. If she goes on the boat she has to wear a life jacket at all times and I don't think she'll like that.
4. Since all we do is go boating, the other option would be to hang out in my mom and Randy's RV all day while everyone else is on the boat.
5. Sleeping-She'll sleep in the motor home with my mom and Randy, but I'm not sure how well she'll sleep, which means I may not sleep.
6. Stressful-I think it will be really stressful for me. Her not getting her naps will really stress me out, I love her schedule right now.

Reasons to go:
1. It will make Brian happy.

Shasta is an annual thing so I've known it's been coming up, but I just don't know if I'm ready!

Could it be?

We think Bria may be teething. I didn't think it would come this soon, although she is almost 4 months old. Bria is normally a great sleeper but the last 4 nights have been pretty rough. She wakes up an hour after I put her down, then I'll get her to sleep again and half hour later she's up, then another half hour, etc. Eventually she goes to sleep and stays asleep but I was so confused as to what was going on. Even her happy demeanor during the day has been cranky. After talking to some baby experts we think she's teething. It may still be awhile before teeth actually pop through though. Anyway, today I gave her some teething tablets and those helped a lot. I think I'll do those tonight or baby Orajel and hopefully she won't wake up in pain all night, poor thing.

I'm going to keep it short because I haven't been able to get much done today. Here is what I need to do while Bria is napping: start dinner, clean downstairs floors, vacuum upstairs, clean the 3 bathrooms, do some laundry, and straighten the downstairs. Think I can do it in 20 minutes? Nope, let's hope I can get one of those items crossed off!

Some pictures from Memorial Day weekend at Brian's Dad's house:

Lovin' on our little girl:

Being patriotic:

Bria's deer in headlights look:

Bria being camera shy:

Love this smile:

Aunt Heather getting in some Bria time:

Cuteness

Some pictures

Jaidyn talking to Bria:

As close as MJ would get for a picture:

MJ is still not thrilled with Bria and I think she is getting more and more jealous. She has started going potty in the house and I am just livid. Bria's room is where MJ likes to pee, jealous much? I let MJ out often throughout the day, but she still manages to sneak a little puddle in Bria's room. I may send her to Grandma's to straighten up.
Bria has noticed MJ a few times and watches for a little bit then goes back to talking. She isn't quite fascinated with her yet but it's fun to watch her look at MJ.

Aunt Heather got Bria the cutest PJ's ever, I'm going to be so sad when she outgrows them. Which I think is going to be sooner rather than later, her chunky thighs and arms are getting more and more rolls!

I must say it is good to know my breast milk is sufficient for her, I start to worry sometimes that she isn't eating enough or wonder if my milk is giving her everything she needs. Than people comment on how big she is getting and it helps calm my fears. That and the fact that she has some very wet diapers.

Aren't her little slippers to die for?

"Sassy just like Mommy"

I am starting to see more Brian in her these past few days, it's amazing how fast they grow and change.

Amateur photo shoot

My intention was to have Jaime do a newborn photo shoot when Bria was just a week old, but that never happened because those first few weeks were so rough and it stressed me out to think of trying to do a photo shoot. I am now kicking myself and so mad that I didn't have Jaime come do one.
So now I am attempting to get her 3 month pictures, but have postponed them and Jaime and I can't seem to get our schedules in sync. I finally decided I would do a little mini one myself so I at least have something! Not that Bria doesn't have plenty of pictures, she does, but I want the ones with a really nice camera and cute blankets and a naked baby bum. These pictures are of low quality and taken by me, a very poor photographer. The lighting is horrible despite me trying to fix some of them. Oh well. Luckily Bria is adorable so it doesn't matter.

Darn it

Brian's Work:
Brian called this morning with some bad news, he's going back to his other shift which means less time at home. I'm not so happy :( He'll be back to an "8 to 5" job, only in UPS terms that means 7-7, 5 days a week. Ugh. This other shift has been working out so well and we've been able to see him more and he's gotten homework done, it just sucks to go back.
But I have to remember, at least he still has a job, I am very grateful for that.

Our Weekend:
In other news Bria had a very eventful weekend and did quite well. She started getting a little cranky yesterday but I couldn't blame her, it was a long weekend. Friday night we BBQ'd with our neighbors, Adi and Scott. Then headed to some other neighbors house, Leah and Rick, for ice cream and berry crisp. It was a lot of fun socializing with other adults and we had a great time. Bria was so content to just sit on my lap or Brian's, she was so good.

Saturday was Maggie's 1st birthday party (Tiff and Eric's little girl) and the weather was perfect for a BBQ outside. There were tons of little kids running around and it was so much fun. Our parties have definitely changed since we all started having kids :) Bria again did really well even though her naps were short.
After the birthday party we stopped by my sister's, my dad's, and even saw my mom, we were social butterflies! Bria was EXHAUSTED to say the least and took 2 very long naps and a short one on Sunday even after a good night's rest.

Sunday Bria and I went to my mom's while Brian did homework. My cousin Lanie and her husband Kris came down so it was good to see them and rub her little 30 week pregnant belly.
You think I would've taken oodles of pictures but I totally slacked this weekend, bad mommy.

Bria Updates:
Bria is doing really well. The last week she has really noticed her head and likes to rub it. When I lay her down she'll suck her left thumb and rub her head with her right hand, it's pretty stinkin' cute and I should probably get that on video.
I do have to say I am so grateful for how well she does in the car. On Friday I ran a few errands with her and she was just so content to spend 2 hours in her car seat, what a good girl!
I still haven't seen Bria roll over, the only time she has done it is at night. Silly girl. She is getting really frustrated that she can't roll from her back to her tummy, but she is definitely trying. She usually likes to try in the morning when I'm changing her diaper, makes it fun.
I think she is about 14 pounds now, we'll find out on June 19th though. She is still in size 1 diapers but I think pretty soon we'll move to size 2. She is just about done with her 0-3 month onesies, even the Carter ones that run a little large. It's going to be sad to put those all away.
Her feet are still pretty small which she gets from me, but her fingers are long and skinny. I don't really know where she got those from but I know it means she is destined to play the piano.

Pictures:

We set up her jumparoo and she thought it was pretty cool. We had to put a big pillow under it so she could reach, although she hasn't mastered the concept of jumping yet, or even standing for that matter. She had fun for a few minutes and then wanted out. I think it'll still be another month or 2 before she enjoys it.

This was my attempt to get her to grab onto toys:

I love when she tucks those little legs under her bum, I just want to squeeze her. She's just so precious.