Good girl and first step!!!

Bria was adorable the other night, eating spaghetti by herself for the first time and having a blast. I always tell her, "Good girl!" when she does something new and this night she decided to copy me :) It takes her a little bit but keep watching and she starts saying it:

It was so hard to let her make a mess with the spaghetti, but I know I need to let her try things out and learn how to work a spoon. Plus I just plunk her in the bathtub afterwards :)

And this bit of news deserves it's own post but I'm gonna throw it in here anyway:

BRIA TOOK HER FIRST STEP!!!!!!

Last night I was working with her to stand on her own, I know she can but she doesn't like to. So I turned it into a game and she was having so much fun and doing really good. When Brian came home I wanted to show him so I plopped her up and she leaned forward and took a step. We both sat there with our mouths open not saying anything. I told him that wasn't exactly what I was going to show him but it was better! I'm glad Brian and I both got to see her first steps.

Today she did really good standing on her own and again took a tiny step! I'm so proud of her and I got so excited I was jumping up and down and throwing her in the air. Watch out world, Bria is on the move!

Friends

Brian has been working some long hours this week and it's wearing on me. He's gotten home after 8 pm for the last 2 nights and tonight is another late night. Maybe if he got paid more for working long hours it would make it a little easier, but his check is the same every month whether he works 8 hours a day or 13. And he just called with the news that next week his hours are all wonky. Ugh.

Yesterday Bria surprised the heck out of me by taking a 3 HOUR NAP!!! She did it once last week too and I am in shock. This girl has not taken a 3 hour nap since she was 3 months old, and even then it was only a handful of times. I'm not counting on it being a regular thing, but once a week is better than never :)

You'd think I was all productive during her nap but I was the opposite. I read, took a nap, got on the computer, and read some more. I felt really guilty but it also felt nice to lounge. Today I will be productive...after I get done blogging.

We are doing family pictures on Saturday, Jaime is taking them for us. So, what always happens right before pictures? Bruises. That's right, my little baby, errr toddler, bumped her head on the bathroom cabinet and now has a nice colorful goose egg on her forehead. Surprisingly she didn't cry too long, but I felt horrible. And now I'm trying to figure out ways to make it disappear by Saturday. Hopefully makeup will do the trick.

My friend Erin and I get together often because we need the adult conversations and because we get along so well. She has been a life saver and I'm so glad we met. Her little boy Gabe is 7 months and Bria and him love talking to each other. It's so fun to see them interact now that they are older.

Gabe apparently just told Bria a pretty funny joke:

Just hanging out together:

Gabe wanted to touch Bria's curls and Bria didn't like it so she told Gabe's mommy on him:

We had Bria's last water baby lesson last night and she just has so much fun. She loves holding onto the edge of the pool and can do it all be herself for quite awhile. She also decided she didn't want me to hold her and wanted Erin to hold her. It was hilarious. She kept reaching for Erin and didn't want me to take her back. That is HUGE considering she's usually such a mama's girl. I have noticed that her separation anxiety has gotten a little better in the last week. I know it'll probably go in waves but it's so nice that she goes to other people now without screaming.

We did sign up for more water babies that will start again in May, then she'll be all ready for Shasta!

And here is a little video of Bria swinging:

I love her little laugh.

Big girl and cuddles

Bria is a big girl now. We got to turn her car seat around to face forward and I think I was more excited than she was. Since she loved the mirror I put it on the back of the passenger seat so she could still see herself. Good thing I did because she laughs and giggles and has a grand old time looking in that mirror.

A few weeks ago Bria started cuddling with her stuffed animals when we put down for naps or bed. Brian and I cannot get over how cute it is. Usually she cuddles with her pink teddy/blanky thing, I call her pinky. But I don't want Bria to be short of options so she also has her brown teddy bear, pink & brown satin blankie, and her pink and brown polka dot blankie.

After reading that I realize I have a slight pink and brown obsession, but that's not anything new.

Anyway, she has been known to cuddle with all of them and I just love it. I was able to sneak in and take a picture during her nap the other day and brown bear was the choice of the afternoon.

She had to match her bedding so I put her in a pink and brown outfit. Totally kidding.

Kind of.

Milk and other stuff

I haven't mentioned Bria's transition to milk. She has been absolutely amazing. I cannot believe how well she transitioned, the first 2 days she drank just small amounts but ever since then she chugs it down just like Brian and I. She loves her milk and it is further proof that she really is our daughter. Not that we needed any but ya know, it's good to know some of our good points rubbed off on her.

Speaking of milk, I have officially stopped nursing as of Friday. I was nursing her just in the mornings but we are now completely done and she has been totally fine. Surprisingly so was I. I'm definitely sad about parts of it, the bonding for instance, but overall I feel wonderful that we nursed for so long and happy that it was a positive experience.

Out to lunch with Mom and Dad:

This weekend we moved Jenny and Kyle into their house! They bought an absolutely beautiful house that has tons of room and natural light. It's just perfect and we are so excited for them and to hang out at their house a lot ;) Bria had fun hanging out with her cousins and aunts and Brian and I were actually able to help since we had little babysitters. We had a lot of fun hanging with the family and the weather was gorgeous on moving day-Saturday.

And I have some bad news. I have delayed posting about this because I'm just really bummed out and I guess part of me was hoping it wasn't true. Brian has to take one more class spring term. In the big scheme of things it's really not the worst thing in the world, but right now it feels pretty darn close. In my mind I had pictured Spring being the first season that Brian wouldn't be tied down with homework and tests, but that dream is gone. He has one last class to take. It's only 3 more months, but it's a LONG 3 more months.

I should probably end on a good note so I will say that Bria has been doing absolutely amazing at water babies. I can't believe how much more comfortable she is in the water. She doesn't mind being dunked under anymore and she'll hold onto the edge all by herself. I am sooo happy that she is more comfortable in the water because we love to spend our summers on the lake :)

Waking up from a really good nap:

*Something is wrong with blogger so this post is all messed up but I can't fix it, oh well. Blogger can be sooo frustrating.

Party on dudes

On Sunday we went to Porter's birthday party. He's the big 5! Bria had an absolute blast playing with all the kids and despite her 45 minute nap she was in the best mood, it was wonderful. She enjoyed chili and applesauce for dinner and a bite of some delicious banana cake.

She spent the rest of the time being a ham and occasionally screaming at me (when she realized I wasn't holding her).

First we stopped by the park to play since it was nice out, Bria did not want to leave.

She LOVES the swings!

And the splinter-free bark dust:

But we finally tore her away and once we arrived to a house full of family she was very happy again.

It's always fun when the family gets together:

The big birthday boy himself opening presents!

Bria loves being in the middle of all the kids:

Cassidy and Bria (you can see all Bria's curls in the back!):

Jaidyn is so good with her and Bria adores her so much:

Our future soccer player:

One of Porter's AWESOME cakes:

Fun was had by all :)

Saturday-By Bria

Saturday started out like a normal day, mommy came and got me from my crib, then changed my diaper which I HATE, why can't she wait a little while before she does that? We hung out for awhile and then mom started eating delicious shredded wheat so I decided to help her eat them.

Then Aunt Heather came over and I was so excited. She continued to feed me shredded wheat and apparently my parents left sometime during my delicious breakfast. That's okay though, I got to play with Aunt Heather all morning.

I love cruising furniture these days

Cruising the dining room table

Just being my silly self :)

I played with my orange ball, orange because that's the color of the Beavers, Go Beavs!

I love looking outside.

I'm so silly!

Cheese!

Do you like my designer jeans?

I read lots of books.

I climbed up the stairs and went through mommy's wallet...I know where she keeps the good stuff.

After she fed me lunch I was pretty tired so she laid me down in my crib and I cuddled up with my pink teddy bear/blanket. I only take an hour and a half nap these days because I really don't want to miss out on all the fun and Saturday was no different, plus I wanted to make sure Aunt Heather was still there.

She was! And my Grammy M decided to come over too, I didn't even think about why my parents weren't there because I was too busy getting kisses and hugs. Then we headed off to a big grown ups outing. We went to Red Robin and I was so entertained with everything that I didn't get cranky at all. After our big meal out we went to Target and Kohl's and I was just having a ball. If I wanted out of the shopping cart Heather or Grammy just carried me, it was awesome. When we got home I wasn't even tired, I just wanted to play and play. Grammy tried to take a little nap on the couch and I thought that was silly so I went over and played games with her.

Playing games with Grammy when she tried to nap. No napping in this house!!

Then it was bedtime and my mom and dad still weren't home. That's weird because my mom has ALWAYS been there for bedtime. But once my grammy gave me the bottle I was in heaven and started to get pretty sleepy. Once my head hit the crib I cuddled up and went to sleep. I dreamt about seeing my mommy and daddy the next morning, which I did!

Bathtime.

Bottle time...mmmmm

I had a fun day with Heather and Grammy M, thanks for spending the day with me and spoiling me!

Who are the lucky ones that get to watch me next time?

Saturday-Seafood and Wine Festival

We had a wonderfully eventful weekend. Saturday we headed to the coast to attend the annual Seafood and Wine Festival. Bauer's parents have the coolest Beaver bus in the world and they let us borrow it for the day. We piled in and headed over. I'm pretty sure the drive there was as much fun as the Festival itself, we had a blast. Lance and Kayla came with us and Lance drove us there and back, such a sport! He did awesome and I never got scared or anything :)

Our driver, Lance Armstrong!

Enjoying the bus ride.

At the festival we enjoyed some delicious food, although it was not the Seafood that is so popular there because neither Brian nor I are huge fans. We did get lots of good bread and of course some wine.

We saw about 132 people that we knew, it was crazy! Every corner we turned we saw someone else we knew and hadn't seen in awhile, it was so neat and we enjoyed seeing lots of friends there.

I'm not sure we made it to all the vendors, but even still we had a great time and I'm so happy we were able to go. The weather at the coast was gorgeous and that can be quite rare here in Oregon. The Festival is under huge tents so it's not like we would've got rained on, but you do stand outside in line for awhile (although this year we walked right in, score!) so it's nice that it wasn't raining.



On the way home we stopped by the casino. I'm not a gambler but I enjoy watching others play and Brian loves it so he was happy. I could definitely do without the smoke though, it was not pleasant to breath in there and I was dying for fresh air after an hour.

It was such a fun day and I'm grateful we were able to go and enjoy ourselves.

So, what was Bria doing while we were gone all day??? I'll let her tell you in the next post...