Braylin... and the beach

Braylin goes to the beach...

Busy downloading pictures from our beach trip and getting ready for the week. Hoping to have updates posted Wednesday since I'm off that day. Can hardly wait to tell you everything Braylin's been up to!!!

Roll over, spoon feeding, growing girl....4 months!!!

Well, Braylin is now 4 months (and 3 days) old! We feel like she has changed so much just in the last week. Took her to her 4month appointment on Friday so she could get her shots...she did great thru the whole appointment, but the shots brought out some tears.

She decided she wanted to roll over for the first time right there on the exam table. I was totally in shock when she did it cause I had been trying and trying at home with no luck. Now she's discovered it's quite fun, so we get an occasional roll-over. :)

Weight: 14lb 14oz
Length: 25 1/4 inches

The big, fun news: We started on spoon feeding!!! Dr. Haynes wanted us to go ahead and start her on some rice cereal in the mornings and evenings along with her formula, and I was so excited! Especially when she said to spoon feed it to her instead of a bottle!!! It took a few times for Braylin to get the hang of a spoon, but now she seem to think it's fun -- fun to swallow just a little and spit the rest back out.

Almost 4 months....

Well, it's about time!

I cannot believe how horribly bad I've been slacking on the postings! It's almost been a month since I posted anything, and I feel like there's WAY too much to type about. So let's see where I should begin....

Braylin is growing way too fast for us! She's already passed her 3 month mark, and though we would love for her to stay the age and size she is now it's so exciting to watch how much she's changing so quickly. Reaching out and grabbing things, holding her paci to her mouth, sitting in her Bumbo, drinking out of the 3month bottle nipple, trying her best to attempt to roll over (not quite getting there yet), LOVING the NBA playoff games (she could sit with Jay and watch the games for hours -- turn the tv to a basketball game and she's hooked), continuing to be amazed by her Baby Einstein DVDs, outgrowing her 3month clothes, and the list could go on and on.

Here's a few pictures from some things we've done over the past month or so....

Bumbo chair -- I can hardly wait until she's able to enjoy sitting in this!

Stylin' in her new sunglasses -- getting ready for the beach!

Meeting Elyse for the first time! Elyse is 2 months older than Braylin. What a happy little girl! She was in town for her Aunt Laura's engagement party. We had so much fun getting to see them, and Braylin was thrilled (I'm sure of it) to meet Laura for the first time too!!!

Look at me!!!!

Hippity Hoppity

Though Braylin is only 10 weeks and has no idea what the Easter Bunny is, I thought it was absolutely necessary to get a picture for her first Easter. So off to the carrot patch (the mall) we went. She was so cute in her little bunny-and-duck smocked dress, little white socks, and her white bow shoes. Since she knows how to kick her feet over and over to expose her bare feet, the shoes didn't stay on long after the picture but she still looked cute as a button!

Since I've started back to work, I have a hard time finding time to post on the blog. I have GOT to do better! So let me back up a little.... We had Braylin's 8 week appointment a few weeks back and all went well. She did great at the doctor's office, until (of course) it was time to get her eight week shots. Not a pretty sight, but after a few minutes she decided they might not have been as bad as she thought. Her weight was 12lb 1oz, and she was 23.5 inches long. What a growing girl!!! Dr. Haynes thought she was doing great and told us she'd see us again at the 4 month appointment.

It's been nice getting back to work and delivering some babies! I surely missed it, and we've been pretty busy on the labor unit. But I LOVE coming home in the evenings and getting lots of sugar to my precious girl. It's not too hard leaving her in the mornings since she stays with Gammie one of the days and Poppi the other. It's so great leaving her with family!!! I don't know if I'd be able to leave her at a daycare.... mommy is just too too sensitive to handle that. And working five straight days would be hard too! I love having those weekdays to spend time with her. It's all working out great!!!

Day to Day

8 weeks already??!!! She's growing up so fast, and it's so much fun to watch how much she changes from day to day. She's "talking" so much now and is so alert. The more you talk to her, the more little sounds she starts spitting out. She also LOVES the camera -- get the video recorder or the camera out, and she'll glue those blue eyes to it and follow it around the room. I could take a million pictures of her every day. She's not very good about smiling for the camera -- for now, she likes to smile after you take the picture. :)

Going to the doctor tomorrow morning for her 8 week vaccinations. I can hardly wait to see how much she weighs now!!!

Babies Babies and more Babies

Braylin is so excited that she's going to have two cousins and a best friend born this year! Now we're waiting to see who's having girls and who's having boys!

1. We are so excited for Jay and Heather! Baby Hayter is due in November. Braylin said she really really really wants it to be a girl. I always forget to get an updated picture of Heather and Braylin, but here's one from the hospital after her birth.

2. As you know, Jen & Ray are pregnant, and we're ready for them to come in town for Easter so we can do an ultrasound!!!!!

3. Braylin has another cousin due in October! Matt (Jay's brother) and Kasey are expecting a baby too! All these babies around the same age... so much fun!!!!!

Picture time

The hat Laura made her sure came in handy during these days of 40 degree weather!

Watching Baby Einstein -- part of her morning routine

7 weeks already?!

Oh my goodness, where does the time go?! Braylin is already 7 weeks old, and I have loved every minute of it. We are having so much fun watching her change each day.

A few things we love to watch her do . . .

1. Smile! We could spend hours trying to get her to smile over and over and over. Just one smile makes my day!

2. Talk -- Those cooing sounds are absolutely adorable! I like to say she's talking to us because it's funny when she'll make a sound when you ask her a question... as if she knows exactly what she's saying.

3. Crossing her feet -- For those of you who have seen her, you know what I'm talking about. Every chance she gets, those long feet are crossed and looking oh so kissable.

4. Playing with her hands -- She loves to interlock her fingers, and she's pretty good at it!

5. Facial expressions -- She has many of these that she loves to interchange every few seconds. Her pooping face is absolutely hysterical. I must admit I laugh at that one every single day.

6. Look at the camera -- The camera seems to fascinate her most of the time. Get it out, and I can almost guarantee she'll lock her eyes to it.

7. Watch Baby Einstein -- This child LOVES her newborn Baby Einstein videos! The Baby Bach, Baby Mozart and Baby Beethoven are wonderful at grabbing and keeping her attention.

Aunt Sarah & Uncle Jay

Come October, Jay and I will be called Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jay by a little red head! Yes, Jennifer and Ray are pregnant with a due date of October 11. You can stay updated on her pregnancy thru her new blog... click here

Grandfather name requests...

Ok bloggers... if anyone out there still reads our blog, I need some help. We have 2 grandfathers who cannot pick a "grandfather" name for Braylin (and future grandkids) to call them. So help us out and please let us know what you call your grandfathers and/or what your kids call their grandfathers. Thanks!!! Hopefully this will help them out a little bit...

The grandmothers' names: My mom is going by Gammie because we loved it as soon as she mentioned it one day, and Jay's mom is going by Poppi because that's what all of the cousins called her when they were little kids so we're keeping it in the family

Aunt Jennifer & Uncle Ray

Braylin's Aunt Jen and Uncle Ray made a quick trip to visit last weekend, and we had so much fun! Jennifer hadn't seen her since she was born, and Ray had yet to meet/see her. So they packed up and headed to Shreveport for the weekend. We had all day and evening on Saturday -- they came to our house for a little while, then we headed out to lunch, Target and Ladies in Waiting, and then dinner at my parents. It was a lot of fun, but of course too short! We'll have to make a trip to New Orleans to visit them once Braylin gets a few months on her.

Valentine Baby

Braylin had her first Valentine's Day! If you can't tell, this 3-week-old is spoiled rotten.... she had several valentines day admirers...

Putting on the ounces....

Today was Braylin's 2-week doctor's appointment, and everything was perfect! She was wide awake all morning, and Dr. Haynes couldn't believe how alert she stayed during her full body assessment.

Now sit down for this information.... she weighs 8lb 7oz. Yes, that's correct...she's gained a whole pound since last week's doctor visit. But Dr. Haynes was thrilled. She was glad Braylin is finally back to her birth weight. The poor child was so under-nourished that first week home, so it's good she's putting the ounces (pound) back on. She's a healthy, growing little girl -- whose cheeks continue to enlarge on a daily basis. :)

Her umbilical cord fell off Monday night, so we're now seeing a belly button! Yippy! She continues to swing those arms around with every chance she gets, as well as kicking those adorable feet out as soon as she finds an opening in her swaddle blanket. She's so much fun to watch! Always moving around some way or another. The other night she wiggled out of her swaddle blanket, and when I woke up to her crying she had somehow rotated 90 degrees and moved to the back of the crib. Not at all where she had started the night! That little booger scared me to death when the monitor wasn't showing her anywhere on it because she had moved so much out of the camera's view.

Braylin is such a wonderful baby. I'm sure I'm jinxing myself right now and this will all change by this evening since I'm bragging about her, but she's so wonderful! We get in bed around 11 or so, and once she's sleeping SHE'S SLEEPING! I have to set my alarm to wake her up every 3 hours to eat. Otherwise, I really think she would just sleep until morning. I'm enjoying it so much...since I'm fully aware it could take a turn any night now. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't. :)

2 weeks