The Return of Dear Aunt Flo

One day short of 3 months after Brynlee was born and Aunt Flo has returned. I honestly have been dreading this day. Brynlee has had so much trouble with nursing and being so on and off that I was pretty sure I would start while I was still nursing, but I didn't think it would be this early.

Mostly I'm just scared. I had SUPER painful visits from Aunt Flo every month before Brynlee came around, but I didn't really have any responsibilities. Now, if I am having terrible cramps, I still have to get up and take care of Brynlee. I really hope having a baby changed Aunt Flo's mind about how she wants to visit and will make my life easier.

I also read online (only because I noticed a difference) that Aunt Flo causes your milk supply to decrease. Well, as I mentioned above...Brynlee has already had a really hard time with nursing and now we want to add on the fact that she won't be getting as much as she is used to?? Whoever decided that giving a mom a hungrier, fussier baby while Aunt Flo is here was a good idea, was mean. Aren't we emotional enough when she comes?? You want to add even less sleep and more crying???? Goodness!

I know I have it good, lots of people start even earlier than I have, but that does not make me any less scared or excited about it.

I guess that's what I get for having a baby who sleeps through the night.
Being a girl stinks.

3 Months Old: A Day Early!

Stats:

Weight: 10 lbs!

Height: 22.5 in (This is funny because at the doctor's a few weeks ago she was 23 inches...)

Likes: Her lovey bug, standing up, when we click our tongue, playing patty cake with her feet, baths, sitting up in the bumbo, watching TV (fresh beat band, baby mozzart, cloudy with a chance of meatballs, etc.), getting her diaper changed

Dislikes: Getting buckled in her car seat or getting out of her car seat, riding in the car, being held over your shoulder

Developments: 

She can roll! And does, every time I put her down on her belly. 

She sleeps 10+ hours every night! YAY!

She has found her hands, and NEVER takes them out of her mouth......EVER.

Size of clothes: She is finally fitting into her 3 month clothes...that we altered to make them fit haha. She is a skinny mini but they are fitting her better every day! (these are 0-3, not 3-6 haha!)

My favorite moments: 

• The other day I put her on the table in the bumbo while Spencer was doing his homework so I could hang up the laundry and she was just having the best time! She was grinning while Spencer would just look at her, doing nothing!

• The other night we went and saw Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 and we picked the perfect time because we went on a Wednesday night at 6:30. We were the only ones in the theater the entire time so we could get up and walk with Brynlee if we wanted, we could laugh as much as we wanted, and we could chat if we wanted too! I actually like taking Brynlee on our dates since Spencer doesn't get to spend much time with her.
  

• I love when she first wakes up. She is so groggy but she just smiles and smiles and smiles. So fun.

   

• Bath time is my new favorite thing. She LOVES the bath. I took the net out of the tub about 2 weeks ago and she has been loving being all the way in the water. She just kicks her adorable little feet and grins and laughs.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• I got all of her clothes and everything of hers (except for her bows) out of my room. It was getting too cluttered and now that we have been having a morning routine that is completely on the other side of the house, I barely  bring her into my room at all. It's actually nice...that's still just space for Spencer and I that is now baby stuff free.
• We were cleaning out grandma's garage the day before the garage sale and I had Brynlee in my carrier thing and was just working. I went inside and realized she was totally crashed. It was so cute, she had her head all buried and I just had to take a picture haha

• I can't remember when this was, but Spencer put Brynlee in the bumbo and set her on a chair at the dinner table. She sat there the entire time while we were eating and she was seriously so cute, we were dying.

• Spencer and I, when we have time, have been taking Brynlee on walks around the complex at night. She likes going outside and so we usually do it in the last half hour or so before bed when we are trying to keep her up but she's not happy. It makes her happy, and we also get some time to just talk and walk. Thankfully the weather has been amazing at night!
• We got to go see Bo and Katy in their play 101 dalmations and Brynlee loved all the fun music and bright colors.

• Getting Brynlee's pictures back from my aunt! I just love looking at them, she is such an angel baby!
• Family (away) evening the other week! We went to Subway and Bahama Bucks! Brynlee really likes whipped cream ;)

• Brynlee sat through her whole first football game for Hayden's team! We got her all dressed up and she looked so stinking cute!

Looking forward to:

Finding a jumperoo/excersaucer type thing. Brynlee loves to stand up so I think she will love playing in one of those. 

The fall fest is this weekend for our ward so she is going to wear the cute Halloween bow I made her and then Halloween next week! We are going to trunk or treat with Grammy and Papa. Then, Daddy's birthday! Still trying to figure out what we are going to do for him this year :)

Jeans

I decided a while back that by the end of October I would be at a good place to buy jeans. Having a baby changes your body A LOT and I can't even get most of my old jeans past my knees. That being said, I am not one to fork over lots of money on a new pair of jeans. I usually get my jeans at Rue 21 on the clearance rack for $8. My other inhibition to buying new jeans is that I really don't want to stop wearing my maternity pants yet. I was very reluctant to buy them in the first place, but once I did I was in heaven. It's really nice to have that extra piece of elastic holding in your tummy all the time. Plus they don't move because they go all the way up to under your boobs...it's great! (My sweet husband last night even said, "I missed you in jeans...". I only wore the same 3 pairs of pants for the past 5+ months and two of them looked exactly the same).

Well yesterday while at Khol's I got talked into decided to try on a few pairs, just to see what size I was for future looking purposes. I was so scared about this part. I knew that I wasn't the size I was before, my hips are MUCH bigger now, but what I didn't expect was to have gone up 3 sizes! At first I was a little bit bummed because it made me feel really big. 

It drives me crazy how much pressure society puts on size. Why should I care what the number on the tag says? But I did. Every pair that I tried on I would look at the number and it would just make me cringe inside. Then I would put them on and need a bigger one and that felt even worse! I hate feeling that way. I should just be able to find a pair of jeans that look nice on me and not really care what the tag says. It's just a number. And there is a difference in not caring and actually not caring. You shouldn't not care to the point of letting yourself go and not taking care of your body; but every person is different, every shape is different, and every person should be able to feel good about the way that they look. Even though I am post baby, I can feel pretty in a size 13 jeans. I can come home and my husband can think I look so good in those jeans and not even know the number on the tag and wouldn't even care.

I ended up buying 3 pairs of jeans yesterday and I came home and felt like I actually looked good in every pair of them. Who cares what size?? I am a mom to a beautiful daughter and that is reason enough to go up in pant sizes. :)                          

Let me paint you a picture...

Picture Wal Mart. Picture a woman walking into Wal Mart with a sleeping baby in her car seat, taking her time browsing.

Something like this :)

 Now picture the baby waking up. She's happy! She is smiling and giggling and just being that cute baby you walk by and just want to stare at because she is so cute! (gushy mommy moment :)) Now.

Picture the baby starts to get unhappy. She starts kind of fussing and this woman is trying to give her her binky and starts shopping a little bit quicker, realizing she should have just shopped and gotten out of there while baby was sleeping. See this woman going isle to isle looking for one specific thing that she can't seem to find and the baby is starting to scream.

Something like this

 The woman finally gives up and finishes finding the rest of her stuff. Baby? SCREAMING her head off. It's time to check out. This woman pulls into the closest lane and there is only one person in front of her. She can do it. Sure the baby is crying hysterically but at least she isn't trying to shop anymore so she can talk to the baby and try to get her to calm down. Not really working. Turns out the lady in front of this stressed out mother knows the cashier and has to get the update on her son and on all of the details of her life. COME ON! THE BABY IS SCREAMING!

Something like this

 Finally it is this woman's turn. She starts unloading her groceries onto the counter. The cashier is very nice and says, "I'm going to go so quickly because I can sense you have an unhappy little one". Thank you lady :). At this point, the woman has taken the car seat out of the cart and is bouncing it on her arm while loading the groceries into the cart. Then, baby poops. Let's add to the insanity. Once the groceries are loaded and the woman has checked out, she takes the baby over to the bathroom to change her diaper. She lets a cashier know that she is going to the bathroom and asks them to watch her cart. She goes over to the bathroom only to realize that it is closed for cleaning. GREAT!!! She grabs her cart and is pushing it with one arm while bouncing the screaming baby on the other arm. 'I will just change her in the car' the woman thinks to herself and heads out of the store, awkwardly pushing the cart FULL of heavy groceries with her left hand and trying to soothe the baby screaming on her right arm. She was moving at snails pace and starting to make a scene. She switches baby to the left arm thinking that she can move quicker pushing with her right arm. Well, that wasn't happening. She bent down and tried to push the cart with both hands with the car seat hanging on her left forearm....OW! That didn't last long. She finally made it outside and was about to cross the street when a car pulled up and decided to be kind and let her walk before it passed. Normally, that would have been very nice...except right now. Now this woman has to quickly cross the street with her screaming baby and one handed cart pushing while people are staring directly at her. Oh what a sight! She tried to push with both hands again, almost breaking her forearm, and hobbles across the street. She starts making her way to the car. She is so close...just has to pass one more car before she is there. Then the cart starts to veer off. The one handed pushing isn't strong enough to keep the cart on track. The woman comes so close to scraping up a car that she actually has to stop the cart and use all of her strength to move it an inch. She gets to the car. HALLELUJAH!! She takes baby out the car seat and changes her diaper in the back of the car. Finally, silence...baby is happy.

Something like this

She buckles her back in and sets her in the seat so that she can load up the groceries. Screaming. This woman loads her groceries in world record time and gets in the car. Baby is still screaming. And scream she did until it got so bad that this woman had to pull over at a QT, unbuckle the baby, and pick her up.

Something like this

Baby stops crying instantly.

Ladies and Gentlemen, that woman....is me.
WORST. SHOPPING TRIP. EVER.

(Pictures 3, 4, and 6 are not my child, but accurately describe the look she had on her face at those points in the story. Photos courtesy of google.)

Brynlee is mobile!

The other day (Wednesday to be exact) Brynlee rolled over!! We were at grandma Hon's house and she was laying down for her nap. We were in the computer room for a bit and when we came back out,  she was awake,  happy,  and laying on her back!! I left her tummy down,  fast asleep. I couldn't believe it!! I thought she could roll over when she was like 2 weeks old but my mom said that they can roll if they have their arms underneath them,  but they weren't this time! It was real! She rolled two other times that night and then twice the next day we haven't had much tummy time since then for her to practice. I know this is just the beginning of her mobility,  but it's exciting! I got a video of her rolling too! It won't upload though... Oh well!

This was how we found her on Wednesday :) She had blanket tucked behind her so I think she would have gone the rest of the way. 

This was the next day... all the way over!!! Yay baby girl!!

Two Month Photo Shoot

Brynlee: 2 Months Old    September, 19, 2013