Brett's Travels

We left the Thursday before the 4th for Kansas and stayed through Sunday. Brian's grandma has a quarry, which is just a big swimming hole. It's complete with a floating deck, a slide and a diving board. They also have a nice covered picnic area. This is his family's favorite place to spend lots of summer days and nights. It really is nice hanging out there, I love it and wish we could go more. There was good fun and GOOD food. I wish I were back there again right now!

Brett had a good time. He and his cousin Brylynn even had a place to play and nap...



...and he got to hang out with lots of folks he doesn't see much, like cousin Kristi and her husband Adam.



He also got to spend time with grandma Peggy and aunt Stacey.





He even went for his first "swim"!






After we came home, Brett celebrated his 4 month birthday by tolerating his mother and her camera once again...Brett is now 15 pounds 11 ounces and 24.5 inches long! He started eating a little rice cereal in his night time bottle with his formula a couple weeks ago, but tonight at dinner time he tried eating some on a spoon for the first time; he managed a couple bites, but it will take some practice!!



"Really. Mom. Enough with the camera. Please."



A few days later Brett and I headed out for northeast AR to visit my side of the family, while Brian had to stay behind and work. I was a little nervous about a big road trip just me and the babe, but he did really great on the ride--we only stopped twice! Once we got there everything went downhill....our first night there we got up in the middle of the night and Brett was burning up with his first fever--I had to run to Walmart in Paragould at 2 am and got home to find his temp at 102.8. After a few hours of tylenol we were able to get him in to see a WONDERFUL pediatrician in Paragould...long story short, after 2 days of dr. visits, blood drawn out of both arms at the hospital (HORRIBLE), a shot in the leg, a perscription for that yummy pink amoxicillyn (sp?), and some ear drops and pedialite, we felt we were on the road for recovery. My mom and I pretty much held him for 3 nights. He was crying whenever he was awake, poor baby! He was just miserable. It was hard for him being sick for the first time away from home and away from daddy, but I'm really happy my mom could help us out and help take care of Brett--Meemaw took such good care of him. Thanks mom! She pulled some all-nighters and actually got less sleep than I did! It was also hard because he was sick the whole time instead of getting to visit and play with everyone. We also had to cancel out on seeing some dear friends and their baby boys who we don't get to see very often...hopefully we'll see them next time! On Saturday his fever was under 100, so he and I made the trek back home. He's feeling MUCH better now and back to his old smiley self!! That was a crazy and stressful few days though. I didn't think he would get sick for the first time till he started daycare!!

Where We Are

It's obvious I'm having trouble playing catch-up over the past few months (since March 6, to be exact!)...so I'll just begin with the present while I continue working on the longest blog ever that will hopefully include all the wonderful highlights beginning from when the best thing that ever happened to us happened to us---when Brett joined our world. There is, of course, an overwhelming number of pictures and lots to tell about our sweet little boy's first 3 months of life!

I think one of my main problems is, since there are so many photos, that when I get all the photos on here I have a heckuva time moving them around to where I want them. Takes forever and frustrates me beyond belief. I am posting several pictures, and after what seems like forever, I totally give up on moving them ANYWHERE so that they will be in any kind of relation or sequence to whatever I happen to be typing about in any particular paragraph. If anyone has any inside tricks on how to make blogging life easier in that respect, do tell. So all the random pictures will just be where they will be. Random. Happy viewing.

So here we are. Brett is 3 months old already...he'll be four months in less than two weeks! We can hardly believe how fast he is growing and changing. We know he currently weighs between 13 and 14 pounds. The most growth happened between 2 to 3 months - he just blew up and filled out overnight, it seems. He gained 5 pounds between his 2 month and 3 month birthday. I recently packed away his newborn clothes. Here's a picture of the preemie sized onsie he wore when he was first born (the red one--it was actually big on him too) compared to a onsie he can currently wear. I was actually successful at moving this picture where I wanted it.

He is starting to be much more aware of things around him and seems to have grown out of the newborn phase and very much into the infant stage. He likes the tv. He's recently noticed Buster...I think they are going to have lots of fun together before we know it - Buster better watch his tail!! Brett also really enjoys just sitting in his bouncy chair and watching whatever's going on around him, and kicking; his little legs go ninety to nothing at times. He loves playing on his back under the toys on his play gym...he's able to hit the toys to make them move and spin a ball that makes a song play.

He can now grasp some of his toys and hang on to them and wave them around...he is also starting to try to put them in his mouth. I love watching his pudgy little fingers try to reach around the toy to grasp it--he really looks like he's concentrating to make this happen! He has his fist in his mouth all the time now too. He also is really starting to like to "talk" alot, which I love to hear! We have lots of "conversations" around here lately. You would think he's telling big stories. Funny ones, too.

We love his smile. It melts our hearts and seeing it is the best thing in the whole world. I am bewildered at how much time I will spend in his face making wierd, contorted faces and sounds of my own just to see one of his smiles. We have even heard something that resembles a chuckly. He makes some of the best faces. There are the regulars, like happy, unhappy, mad, but there is now also bewildered, surprised, startled, and even shy. There are some pictures of Brett's face that Rachel took for us during our first family photo shoot recently (thanks Rach!) that show a few of his many faces. Will post some more of these wonderful photos she took soon.

Sleeping is good. Or it was. We made the move from the bassinette in our room to the crib in his room; this went fine...the first night he woke up one more time than usual, but after that it was back to normal. He has been sleeping at night in his Miracle Blanket for a long time, and will usually sleep anywhere from 4-6 hours straight in it during the night, only waking up once to eat. We began considering anything around 4 hours a "bad" night. On average, he would most of the time sleep at least 5 or 5 and a half, but was starting to go to 6 more...one night even 6 and a half! So anyways, you know - if it ain't broke...try to break it. We decided we would go ahead and try to wean him from his miracle blanket this summer while we are not working, plus he is really starting to get a little too big for it - it doesn't wrap around him quite as easily as it used to. So on Monday night we did our normal bedtime routine and put him in a sleep sack instead - he slept for maybe two hours, then woke up every hour after that. We just finished night 3. It's getting a little better. We are going to try to be consistent - hopefully after a few more nights he will sort of get the hang of sleeping without being so confined and begin sleeping as good as he was. Hopefully.

So that's where we are. :)

My New Favorite Thing!!!

Check this out! I have been wanting one for a while; ever since my preggo friend Kate told me about hers. When I thought about a grabber I pictured the little plastic ones with the dinosaur head and teeth. But they actually make serious grabbers. It even comes with a lifetime limited warranty and an instruction manual :) . I couldn't have been more tickled when I saw Brian come out of Walgreens with this little lifesaver. I was giddy. No more killing myself trying to bend over!!! I spent the rest of the afternoon happily picking things up off the floor with my new claws that had sometimes not been worth trying to bend over to get at the time. Dryer sheets. Coins. Socks that fell between the dryer and the wall. Clumsy me, I dropped something again--NO PROBLEM! My back has never felt better (well not lately anyways). This little miracle will definitely make life a little easier over the next few weeks!

As for my car...it's still in the shop. The latest place decided it's the catalytic (sp?) converter. This will cost another $700 in addition to the $600 we've already spent. We are just thankful it's not the transmission (we hope...). We really hope this will fix it, guess we won't be sure till we get it back later this week. Hopefully my car will last another 3 years or so, at the very least.

Last weekend was busy. Not only was it Valentine's Day, but my love's birthday. He was unfortunately busy with basketball games, so I filled his car with I love you sticky notes while he was at the game Friday night, gave him a couple of cards, made him one of his favorite cakes. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!! ..I also got to attend the wedding of a great friend, Shannon Shirley, from work. I gave up on trying to take any pictures because they were all too dark, but here's one of their backs! I can't wait to see some others that Kim, Rachel, and Kate took...
Shannon and the wedding were beautiful!!! I couldn't be happier for them, she is just lovely. I was also very excited to see Gloria there, who moved off to the Batesville-ish area for her first teaching job. I miss her lots!
After I got home from the wedding and Brian got home from his game, we were content with snuggling in the bean bag chair in front of the tv for the rest of the night.

It was a busy, fast weekend, and our last free one I think for a while! This past Friday night I was able to go to the movie "Confessions of a Shopaholic" with some girlfriends. I'm grateful for the time I have to go out with them while I can, I know my free girlfriend hanging out days are now very limited, at least for a while. Saturday Brian and I went to our friends Jarod and Lindy's house. They are due with their 2nd baby girl around March 23. They had a housefull; Brian got to play poker and I got to eat and visit with Lindy, which was awesome. She's the one who sold us our house. I had wanted to take Brian out for a nice birthday dinner, but Sunday we had fun visiting a casino and trying our luck (we didn't have any) on the penny machinesinstead. We wanted to celebrate his birthday a little more since we didn't get to last weekend, and we figured this might be one of our last sort of spur of the moment"outings" together for a while...I also got a new "do"....it's a little shorter than i meant for it to be, but it's very easy for now and I will grow my longer hair back eventually!

Update

Ice Storm

Let's start with some pictures I took of our ice storm. We were very lucky...we only lost power for about 2 and a half hours, but thousands of others were without power for days and weeks. We were out of school for four days. Brian and I were very thankful to be holed up in our cozy warm house with all the comforts...tv and internet. Several of my kids at school told me they had to stay in a hotel for a few days...

Showering Babies

Rachel and some of the other lovely ladies I am honored to work with at my school threw a shower for me and my friend Kate, whose baby boy is due within a day of ours. What a way to welcome our new little ones! We really felt loved. The whole staff was there to wish us well, and there was tons of yummy food, presents, and even a money tree and a money diaper wreath. We work with a generous, amazing family of coworkers. Rachel took these great pictures...

New Sleeping Quarters

My hips hurt to bad to stay sleeping in the bed anymore. Thank goodness for our beanbag chair. Brian put it by the bed and "fluffs" it for me every night. I start off in the bed so he can put his hands on my tummy and feel the baby moving till we go to sleep...then I usually wake up in a couple hours and move to the bag. This thing has been a life saver and I didn't realize how much sleep I had been losing till I tried sleeping in this thing. I felt like a whole new person!

Superdad

Brian is nearing the end of basketball season--last week! He has been very busy helping wash baby clothes, doing dishes, helping with laundry, taking care of me, helping me up when I need it, and hugging me when I cry randomly for whatever reason. I have been very clumsy lately and breaking lots of things: dog bowl, skillet, creamer dish, the laptop. It's very frustrating to drop things because it's such hard work trying to pick them up! My car is also having troubles, possibly the transmission. In between school and games Brian has been running it all over town trying to get the problem identified and fixed. It's been to 3 different places and gotten the transmission cleaned and worked on, and new fuel filter, a flushed fuel filter, new tires, and it still isn't running right. We are very worried it needs a new transmission and he is taking it somewhere else tomorrow. I have been driving the civic that we got back in the summer. I'm so thankful he is taking care of all this car stuff, he's been trying to make sure I don't worry about a thing. He's my hero.