Happy 4 Months, Brielle!

Sweet Briellie Bop is four months today!

 

At four months Brielle's favorite things are:

• Watching Kendall get a bath.
• Talking (babbling!) alot and loudly. {One meaning of Brielle is "messenger".  I kept telling Gabe she would be the family messenger.}
• Getting her own bath.
• Chewing her fingers.
• Watching herself in the mirror.

She's attempting hard to roll over.  Too bad the first time she did was today during nap while she was supposed to be swaddled. Soooo much for naptime today! She seems to be very social and goes to anyone easily and usually accompanies it with a huge smile.  But Kendall is her all-time favorite person.  She watches her constantly and loves Kendall's kisses, hugs and snuggles.

She's starting to get the hang of reaching and grabbing.  Mommy's fingers and her plush doll are her favorite toys.

Happy 4 months, Brielle! 

Double Digits

Ok...I admit it... the newborn stage is just not my favorite. In fact, it just might be my least favorite stage so far. Don't get me wrong.  I luuuuuuv my girlies to pieces, I luuuuv babies, and I'm a preschool teacher.  But my OCD really makes me go nuts-o when it is mixed with mega hormones and sleep deprivation.  There's just something different when it's your own child who is totally dependent on you for everything yet can communicate very little.  And my perfectionistic expectations must fly out the window as our (plural tense because Gabe is just like me in this) self-made predictable, scheduled routine gets thwarted by a non-predictable, non-scheduled newborn.  It just makes for two stressed out parents.

But seriously, with all that said...the sleep deprivation, mommy brain, hormone surges and plummets, and Hurricane Isaac and a simultaneous lice infestation (yes....a lice infestation) mixed in just for fun, I have just one question:

HOW in THE WORLD is my baby double digits already???  She's 10 weeks!! 

I always said I wanted to hurry the first twelve weeks by then try drastic measures to slow life down considerably so I can live in the moment and not feel that she grew out of "baby" too fast.  And I've reached that point.

I now know Brielle.  And she has turned into a predictable, happy, laid back little sweetie pie who has great sleeping habits and thus two renewed, refreshed parents and sister. My hormones are returning to normal, I'm getting sleep, and I'm back at work and our family a regular routine. Ahhh...life is good.  It's crazy and busy...but it's NORMAL.  Normalcy is what I craved when Kendall was born and again with Brielle.  I just like predictability and normalcy. It's not easy, but it's normal.

I don't think I'll get my wish of her being a baby for a while.  As easy going as her personality seems to be, she is in an all out hurry to "catch up" to her big sis.  Brielle watches Kendall's ev-e-ry move.  I can see her little gears moving as she's taking mental notes.  She's already putting weight on her legs when held in the standing position and is working on her shoulder control since she has total control of her head.  She is just so stinkin alert to everything! Watch out, Kendall! Your life will drastically change when your little sis can follow you!!

Here's Brielle on her 10 week birthday. She's wearing a Feltman dress that was mine as a baby.  Truly vintage :)

And a little lagniappe and apology to Brielle (as I stand on my soapbox):

I never in a million years thought that the general public, strangers and friends alike, would have trouble pronouncing her name.  Seriously??  We've lost count of people that have asked us either, "What's her name again??" or "What is it,  "Breele"?? I mean, everyone knows how to pronounce "Brianna". Or do they?

So in case any of my bloggies were wondering the same thing, it's pronounced "bree-elle". It's like Gabrielle just minus the "Ga".

And to my sweet Brielle, Mommy is so sorry that I unknowingly picked a (beautiful) name that would give you trouble in the future. And eighteen years from now if my name choice for you is still number one on your "Worst Things My Mamma Ever Did To Me" list then I'll wipe my brow with a big whew of relief and self-proclaim myself Super Mom of the Decade!

I love you, Briellie Bop!

More Newborn Pics

Newborn Pics

A friend, Tina, who lives in New Orleans and takes our family photos every year, drove up to take Brielle's newborn pictures. I was so excited since she always does great work.

Here's a link to her site.

And here's a sneak peek...

What I've Been Up To

Too much. I've been up to too much around here.  And my unprecedented blogging absence is due partly to a broken computer which took forEVER to get fixed, and partly due to being pregnant.  Now the computer is up and running just as I'm slowing down kinda but I have alot of catching up to do.

In addition to my normal activities (school/work, wife, mama, church, and all my endless projects) I've tackled cleaning out an overcrowded, cluttered guest room and transforming it into a nursery.  No small feat I tell you.  And at thirty weeks pregnant I'm finally admitting that I just can't keep my normal pace going.  I've slowed down (a tad) but I just have too much going on!

Before I could even make a room for Baby Girl I had to clean out the old stuff and find a way to haul off the guest room furniture.  (Don't look in my garage.  Yikes.) And I knew in my head what I wanted for a nursery this time around.  That's always half my problem.  I get so fixated on my vision that nothing short of what's in my mind will do.  I finally found "the fabrics" I had envisioned and a shop on Etsy that made the bedding for me.  I tackled the curtains myself.  They turned into a labor of love.  "How hard could it be to sew three rows of ruffles on curtains??? Just do it the same way you do pants," I convince myself.  Famous last words.  The curtains alone just about sent me into labor. But I must say they are exactly what I wanted.

Here's pictures of the finished nursery.   

All the wall decor came from Hobby Lobby.  I painted the canvas announcement board myself because, again, I knew just what I wanted.

Above the bed I simply framed material scraps with white frames from the 90% off home decor isle.

The mirror came from a local flea market.  I spent a few hours on the garage floor priming and painting it.  It's just what I wanted. And I figured in my over-achieving brain that as long as I'm in the garage...on the floor...nasty....covered in paint....hey, why not spray paint while I'm at it?  So a wooden wall picture frame, a wooden letter B, some tin canisters and a knobbed shelf took the brunt of that idea.  No more floors for me.  Nope. Done.

And here's a closer look at the bedding.  I love it.  The patchwork quilt is made to the mattress dimensions so it can be a comforter when the crib is converted to a toddler bed.

The hubs did help. He cleaned out his share of the junk (with me standing over him like a drill sergeant he claims.  The poor boy can't part with nothin'), cleared out the room, hung a ceiling fan and curtain rod, and assembled the crib.

The clothes are all washed, sorted, hung and folded in drawers.  Now on to other stuff like monitors, bottles, pack and plays, car seats and various other essential battery required baby must haves.

Ten weeks to go.  It'll be here all too fast.

I Think She Gets It

Kendall told one of her teachers at school that she was just like her mama.

Priceless

Matching stockings from Pottery Barn...about $25 each

Thinking ahead and buying a fourth one for "one day"... an extra $25

Being able to get the fourth one monogrammed for next Christmas...PRICELESS

Merry WHO DAT?! Christmas

Daddy Dat

Mommy Dat

Girly Dat

Who Dat?!?!

Yes, the newest member of the Who Dat Nation is scheduled to come marching in some time  mid-July!!

Baby Portraits of Kendall

Mommy took about 100 pictures of Kendall, hoping to get the "perfect" shot. Kendall was very cooperative until about picture 99, or Mommy probably would have taken more. One of these will be used for her birth announcement. I can't decide which one. Help me out! (I apologize for the sideways picture. I'm still learning this whole blog thing. Danielle, help!)

Hiccups