4th of July

It was Bria's first 4th of July and we packed our weekend full. Saturday afternoon we headed to the Red, White and Blues Festival downtown. It was fun but it is more fun when you go a little bit later, plus the heat was in full force. But luckily they have some nice fountains for kids to run around in so I took Bria over there and put her feet in them to cool her off. We kept her in her stroller nice and shaded the rest of the time.

Looking at all the kids playing in the fountains:

Sticking her feet in:

Then it was time to head over to the Jensen's for a BBQ. We had a great time and played tons of games including jump roping, we learned Schuyler (my brother in law) rocks at double dutch (is that what it's called?). Once it got dark we let off some pretty awesome fireworks and the kids had a blast. Bria was in the house sleeping away in her pack 'n play, she is my heavy little sleeper!

Isn't her 4th of July outfit cute?

From left: Jaime, Schuyler and my Dad enjoying a delicious BBQ meal (MJ is heading towards my Dad since he feeds her):

All the girls enjoying their 4th of July (from left: Cassidy, Abby, Jaidyn, and Kailey):

Big Daddy B sporting the cutest accessory ever:

Once we got home we put Bria in her crib, she barely woke up on the drive home and went down so nicely. But, it was hot in our house, very hot and we found out Bria does not like the heat. Poor thing was up every half hour to an hour from 12:45 am and on. It was rough. Finally at 4:30 am I brought her in our room since it was a little cooler, not sure why I didn't do that sooner. She woke up around 7:30 am, I fed her, and then about 8:30 she went back to sleep and we all slept in our room until almost 11:30 am! It was a wonderful and much needed nap.

Once we woke up we hurried to get ready and head to Brian's Dad's house for a BBQ. Bria slept on the way there which I thought was kind of weird since she had just taken a 3 hour nap, but I figured the car ride put her to sleep. She started getting a little fussy shortly after we arrived and just wanted to be held and cuddled. Aunt Heather was happy to oblige.


For the remainder of our time there Bria slept in our arms. I started to get really worried because this wasn't like her, where was my smiley Bria? Heather was so sweet and ran to the store to get a thermometer so we could take her temperature and even picked up some Infant Tylenol since we didn't bring ours. Her temperature was only 99.6 which seemed pretty normal considering it was warm outside. I tried not to worry but I just didn't understand why she was so tired.

On the way home she would fuss, sleep, fuss, and sleep. Then it got really bad and she started screaming and crying to the point where I don't ever remember her crying this hard. Her pretty blue eyes were covered in crocodile sized tears and her face was all red. It was freaking me out. Once we got home I fed her and then she fell asleep on me. She slept and slept and slept. She woke up for a few minutes to fuss and then I fed her again. After I fed her she seemed like she was starting to do a little better, I just had to cuddle and hold her-good thing that is my favorite past time. Around 8 pm I gave her a bath which she seemed to enjoy a little bit. After that she layed on a blanket and talked to us a little which was a great sign because she hadn't done that all day. She started to get tired so I gave her a little Tylenol and put her to bed. Fortunately Mother Nature gave us a nice cool breeze so her room was a lot cooler. She slept beautifully, all the way until 7:30 am. We all slept better and I think it is due to the cooler weather, which we are suppose to have all week, thank goodness.
So I'm not sure if Bria just got worn out from our busy weekend or what, but I was really scared on Sunday because she was just not her normal self.

She seems to be doing fine now and I can't tell you how grateful I am. I just prayed and prayed on Sunday, I hated seeing my little girl in pain, it was the worst feeling ever. If there is one good thing that came out of it, the silver lining if you will, it's that I realized how I need to chill out when it comes to Bria's schedule. Jaime kindly brought to my attention how all my posts have to do with Bria's sleep schedule. And I had to laugh because that is what's on my mind 24/7, it's all consuming. It is to the point where I constantly look at the clock and calculate when she'll take her next nap, when she'll eat next, and most importantly, when she will be ready for bed. It's ironic that I stress so much about her sleep schedule because she is an awesome sleeper. I have gotten so focused on the fact that her bedtime is 8:30 pm that I let it rule my life. Who cares if she goes to bed at 9 pm or heaven forbid 9:30 pm? So I'm going to try and take a chill pill and just enjoy our day and not worry so much about the exact time she goes to bed and the exact time she wakes up. Can't promise that I'll NEVER think about, but I'll try to sit back and relax a little more.
I'll let you know how it goes :)

Baby Pool

Bria went in our little kiddie pool on Friday for the first time. As I mentioned, it has been deathly hot here so we needed to cool off. I blew up the little kiddie pool we got last year (I think I almost passed out-we need a bike pump to inflate that thing), stripped off Bria's clothes and hopped in. I only filled it like an inch but it was enough to cool us off...until Bria peed on me. But I was expecting it, after all she was naked and diaperless. We had a fun time and it definitely helped cool us off.
We sent Daddy a picture of Bria's first pool experience :)

In the process of blowing it up:

Bria watching MJ and waiting patiently for Mom to blow up the kiddie pool:

"Um, it's ok Mom, kind of cold."

She liked it better on Mommy's lap:

Her little feet taking a dip:

So it was nice to cool off for awhile but the heat kept coming and our house got hotter and hotter. I took Bria to my Mom and Randy's so we could enjoy some AC, it was wonderful. Once Brian got home we headed to Costco for a portable AC, but Costco only had one choice in the store and it was an expensive choice. We checked out Home Depot but didn't like their selection so we are going to order one from Costco online. In 7-10 business days we should be a lot cooler in this house. Anyway, after we got home from Costco our house was hotter than I'll get out, so we packed up and stayed the night at my Dad's. It was wonderful and we are very grateful to them for sharing their AC with us.

Sleep routine & random thoughts

I must say how thankful I am that Bria goes down relatively well. Now, that is not to say we don't have difficult times where she is over tired and refuses to go down. In fact, just the other night I let her get over tired (on accident of course) and she did not want to go to sleep. I rocked her, put her down and she immediately rolled onto her back and fussed. I would calm her down, sing to her, rock her, let her fuss, nothing was working. Finally I decided to put her down, rub her back, tell her I loved her, and then walked outside to get a breather. She was crying pretty hard but I needed a break. I came back in about 5 to 10 minutes later and I heard silence. I went in to check on her and sure enough she had put herself to sleep. Usually she goes down much easier and either wines a little or goes right to sleep. So it was hard for me that the last noise I heard was her crying.
Our sleep routine usually starts by me singing Hush Little Baby once or twice and then putting her down in her crib. She will snuggle up, find her thumb, switch positions a few times, and then is off to dreamland. Occasionally she will fuss and whine and then go to dreamland. This isn't something she was born with, we have worked hard to get to this point and I know it will be a continual work in progress. Nonetheless I am thankful, so very thankful. My back is thankful too, 14 pounds gets heavy after awhile. Have I mentioned I'm thankful? Because I am.

Bria has decided however that she wants to get up nice and early. Wednesday and Thursday she got up at 6:30 am and today it was 5:45 am. Fortunately, she went back to sleep this morning after I fed her. I must say even when she wakes up early it's so fun to go in there and see her big smile, she is always so happy in the morning. Waking up from her naps though, she is like her mom, very cranky.

Well, Oregon is heating up, we're in the 90's. That is so not cool when you don't have AC (ba dum ba). Yesterday was quite miserable, until we stripped Bria down and then she was happy as can be. Last night was not fun though, it never cooled down so even though we had our window open and fan right in front of it, nothing. It was 77 degrees in our house when I woke up, and that is downstairs! So, we are going to Costco tonight and getting a portable AC unit. We have a window unit that my cousin so graciously gave us and I think we'll try that in our room and put the portable one in Bria's. I really hope this works out because it is so horribly hot in our house. If it was just us I think we could deal with, we have for the past 2 summers. But I hate making Bria suffer through this, it's just not fair to her.

I thought this was a cute little outfit, her shirt has fishies on it. I had to make sure and put a headband on though so people know she's a girl. I still get annoyed when people ask me if she is a boy or girl.

This is one of my favorite pics, she is just so scrumptious.

And her latest trick, she found her feet! She absolutely loves them, especially the right one because that is the one that ends up in her mouth. Who needs toes when you have your feet?

Incredibly Random Thoughts by Lindsey
I decided I like the lighting in our bedroom as well as our big mirror. I look pretty tan in it. I always take a look in the mirror and think, "Perfect, I have a little tan, I can wear white." Then I step out of the bedroom, stand next to Brian, and turn around to go change into black. Darn Brian for being so naturally tan, I hope Bria gets his skin.

I sleep better when the house is all clean, especially our bedroom. I don't know what it is, but it makes me feel complete and relieves some anxiety. I realized this the other day when I found myself picking up Bria's room and thinking to myself, I bet she'll sleep better now that her room is clean.

I love the feeling of taking of my running shoes and socks when I get back from a vigorous walk with Bria. My feet are all warm and I feel productive.

Video
Bria playing with her feet, she found her feet on my birthday, June 25th! I was so excited, for some reason I've been looking forward to this milestone, along with her sitting up.
Anyway, it's funny because in the video you can hear Brian in the background wondering where we are, instead of answering him I just let him follow the screams of Bria :)

Go Beavs!

I put Bria's OSU onesie on and did a little photo shoot. Thanks Aunt Sara for her cute onesie!

Aren't these socks adorable?

Here she is sporting her Beaver pride (I added the bow to girlie it up)

Giving mom a little smile:

The blanket is from Brian's mom, it was a perfect back drop for these pictures!

The little booties were cute:

I thought Bria was going to roll over so I started filming, but she started getting cranky and tired and decided she didn't want to. It's still pretty cute though, she sticks her thumb in her mouth and gets sleepy.



Saturday night we went to a BBQ at a friends' house and Bria did really well. I put her in their office around 9:30 pm (way past her bedtime, but she was all smiles) to go to sleep, thinking she wouldn't do it and so we'd have to leave, but my little angel fell right asleep! So we hung out and talked for awhile and then decided it was time to call it a night. I was so nervous to go in and carefully pick her up, but again, she did awesome. She woke up a little but fell right back asleep on the ride home and snuggled up as soon as I put her in the crib. I was such a proud mommy :)

Her sleeping has been great since we got back from Shasta. She sleeps all the way until about 7:30 am and is all smiles when you go in to get her. Sunday she slept in until 9:30 am since she had gone to bed so late, I couldn't believe it. This morning she got up at 5:30 am and was hungry so I fed her and then tried to have her go back to sleep on my chest but she was so curious and just wanted to look around. I finally put her back in her crib and she went right to sleep. Again, she didn't wake up until 9:30 am. I have a little sleepy head! But, I am trying to remember that soon she'll change it up on me because that is what babies do. So I will enjoy it for now and not stress over when it's going to end.

I've got a cute video of her latest milestone, you'll have to come back tomorrow :)

Father's Day-Belated Post

This was Brian's first Father's Day and he said it was by far his best one ;)
I am in awe of how wonderful Brian is, he is the most amazing Dad and so incredibly involved. He loves to make Bria laugh and it's his personal mission everyday to do so. He is also the king of putting her to sleep, once she hits his chest it's all over. Sometimes he even puts her to sleep a little too soon, but I can't complain.
It is truly the best feeling to watch Brian with Bria and it just warms my heart. I could not ask for a better husband and father to Bria, he amazes me everyday.
Not only does Bria have an amazing father, but I do as well. I love my Dad so much, he is always so incredibly loving and supportive. It means the world to us.
Hope everyone had a nice father's day!

Shasta

Well, we survived our first family vacation! Overall it went really well and I was pleasantly surprised for the most part on how well Bria did. Here is a little recap:

Sleeping: A+
Bria did awesome. The first 2 nights she went to bed at 8 pm and woke up around 7 or 7:30 am. It was wonderful and I was so happy. The third night she woke up at 4 am, I fed her and then she went back to sleep until 6:30 am. Not quite as good as the other nights but still not bad.

Driving: C-
Not a complete failure but way worse than I expected. She is normally so good in the car so I thought that would be fine, but I think going over the pass really hurt her ears so she screamed for about 2 hours on the way there. The good news is that it doesn't take 7 hours to get there, only 5 1/2. We made it in about 6 which is pretty good for having a 4 month old.
The way home she did a little better and at least slept more.

Boating: B-
Ok, the first trip out on the boat went really well. She was all smiles and loved it. We took her swim suit and diaper off and let her lay on a towel naked which she loved. We of course kept her shaded by placing her under the passenger dashboard and a towel above her, she just loved it and was so happy.
The second day however was rough. We anchored the boat with 2 others and were enjoying the sun and water. Bria was doing good for awhile but I think it was just too hot, she was overtired and we just couldn't get her to sleep. My mom, Brian, and I all took turns. Our friend Kim came over and was able to at least get her to stop crying by bouncing her on her knee. It worked for awhile which was a nice break. Then Bria went back to screaming her head off. I don't think she's ever cried for that long of a period. Finally we started the boat up and drove off, it took a few minutes but the hum of the boat and cool breeze put her to sleep. Once we got to the docks my mom and Randy headed up to camp but Brian and I stayed on the boat since Bria was sleeping. We layed her down under the passenger seat again and then chilled on the back of the boat. She slept for 2 hours which was so nice.

Overall: B+
I haven't felt that relaxed in a long time and it was wonderful. My mom helped a lot which made it so nice. Wednesday morning she stayed with Bria at the RV while Brian and I went boating with the Delgado's and Snodgrass'. Brian did the sky ski and wake surfed and I just did the wake surfing. I didn't do so well but that's ok, I still had fun and Brian did awesome. He even did a 360 on the wake surf which was awesome.
We both had a good time and are glad we went.

Now for the good stuff, pictures!

Bria chillin' under the passenger seat in the shade:

Lovin' on Grandma while mom and dad took a dip in the lake:

Family picture :)

She was talking up a storm and it was adorable (this is before she started screaming her head off):

Love the little smile on her face:

The hand on my chin melts my heart:

In the middle of her screaming fest Dad calmed her down for a few minutes:

Finally she took a nap while Brian and I hung out on the boat:

Wednesday was Hawaiian night:

Kim holding Bria while Kaitlyn says hi:

Aloha

My mom and Randy enjoying the delicious grub:

My little lady:

It feels good to be home and sleeping in our own beds. While Bria slept well, we didn't. We went to bed late, tossed and turned most of the night, and just missed our bed. So we are still trying to catch up on sleep but it was totally worth it.

4 Months

Stats:
Weighs: 13 pounds 15.5 ounces-60th percentile
Length: 25 inches-75th percentile
Head: 16 inches-50th percentile

I thought she weighed more since she has so many adorable rolls! It looks like she may get her daddies height, I can just see our family pictures 15 years from now: Brian, Bria, another child :), then pan down to see Lindsey.

Bria-isms:
Rolls from tummy to back (both left and right)
Rolls from back to side, almost to tummy
Loves eating her hands
Sucks both thumbs, starting to favor her left one
Loves sucking on her receiving blankets
Started to enjoy her jumperoo
Doesn't like to stand
Started to scream-she is finding her voice :) I'm not a fan of the screaming cry, I miss her little sweet cry.
Started blowing raspberries yesterday and it is adorable! Hopefully I can catch it on video soon.
Loves looking at herself in the mirror, it is so fun to watch.
She is getting close to playing with her feet, she swings her legs up higher each day.
Loves to cuddle, yay!!!!

Her appointment went pretty well yesterday, although she is so not a fan of those shots. She pretty much cries until we can rock her to sleep. Once she had a little snooze she was all smiles and back to her normal self thank goodness. I really hate shots.

She has done a little better the past 2 nights, she has woken up around 1:30 am both nights. I go in there, turn her over and she goes back to sleep. That has been really nice.

"Um, excuse me Thumper, you are kind of blocking me."

"Much better, stay there, thanks."

Contemplating life:

All smiles :)

My happy girl:

Love those chubby legs:

Wish us luck in Shasta, I am excited and nervous all at the same time. Our first family vacation!