So Fun!

As Brynlee gets one week older, she gets one week smarter, and one week more fun!  As I'm writing this, Brynlee is currently 15 weeks old!.......or if you're my husband and prefer to hear it in months, she's 3 1/2 months!

Just because Mommy and Daddy can't be serious.

Who would have thought babies are HIGHLY entertaining with some of the stuff that they do.  Now, I'm a teacher, so I know for a FACT kids are highly entertaining with the things that they say, how blunt and honest they can be, etc.  So, why would a baby who can't have an intellectual conversation with you be highly entertaining???

Brynlee is cracking me up daily and is getting SO. MUCH. FUN.  Just her discovering, her facial expressions, and the things that she's not intentionally doing.  She is such a little blessing that keeps me constantly smiling.  

We officially have a full blown giggler and laughter.  When she's nursing, she'll pull off, look up at me, and smile.  If I smile back and talk baby-ish to her, she'll give me an all out laugh.  The most PRECIOUS thing.  Ever.  Sometimes she'll give me a laugh if I plant multiple smooches on her on the part of her cheek close to her ear.  If I make a funny noise at her, she'll laugh.  She just smiles and smiles and smiles.  Each week, he social skills are getting stronger with her coos and smiles.

Here's a video of Brynlee laughing.  This was actually towards the beginning of when we were starting to get really good laughs.  Since then, it has only gotten better!

Smiling at Daddy!

I think Brynlee has also discovered her legs, how powerful they can be, and what they can do.  When she was a newborn, she HATED....H-A-T-E-D being cradle held.  Always wanted to be held upright.  Now that she's getting stronger in her neck, she can be held sitting up while supported.  But does she want to sit?  Nope.  She wants to STAND.  This little girl is always about a few leaps ahead in what she wants to do.  She supports herself on her legs very well.  She now kicks, kicks, KICKS so hard!  She'll pump her legs up and down likes she's "raising the roof."  It's so freaking funny.  Basically, it looks like she's attempting lower abdominal exercises.  I wish I had a video of it to show you what I mean.  She bounces and jumps up and down, frantically, when she's standing while supported.  It's like she's noticing she has these lower body limbs that propels her up and down.  I call her Ms. Hyper when she does this, and again, this little act makes me laugh.

Here's a video of her using her newly discovered limbs and kicking her legs like CRAZY in the pool.

She's getting so strong overall.  Just a couple of days ago, she has discovered she has the strength to try to slide out of her travel swing.  I call it the "swing escape."  Watch how she pumps, stretches, and uses her legs to inch out.

And here's the end product of the swing escape.  Little stinker!  Or what her dad likes to call her.....Little Stinker Butt.

Looks like someone is going to start needing to be strapped in!

Brynlee has gotten strong enough to now be able to sit in her Mamas and Papas chair (basically like a Bumbo) all by herself.  It has become a saving grace since she hates lying down, or even lying at an incline.  No more having to put her in that travel swing all of the time!  It's good, now, because she's learned to escape from it.  It's great for when I'm cooking and eating dinner so she can watch and be social with me.  She just LOVES attention and interaction.  She hates to be lonely and wants someone to talk to her, my little social butterfly!

My little dinner buddy!

Sitting up like a big girl!

She's doing a great job with her hand/eye coordination.  She's grabbing and reaching for her toys, or my hands.  She LOVES Mommy's hands!  But, she's definitely displaying a curious, little mind.  Here's another thing that is so fun!  Watching her be a little girl, playing with her toys and discovering!  So fascinating to me.

I love watching her just look at her toys with curiosity.

Of course, anything she grabs these days goes STRAIGHT to the mouth, even other people's fingers.  She'll attack my fingers likes she's attacking a cheeseburger.  Funniest thing to watch.

Overall, Brynlee continues to be such a JOY!  I'm LOVING watching her grow and her personality emerge. She's crazy about her mommy.  Almost too crazy.  Shows a lot of preference for me.  Won't take her eyes off me if someone else is holding her.  Sometimes even with Tyson.  If I move, her eyes glare and follow me.  Maybe it's because she knows I'm the food source, and she wants to make sure I'm not leaving her to starve.  Or, maybe it's because I spend every waking moment with her, OR!!! she just loves her momma! 

We've officially started putting Brynlee in her crib in her own room to sleep.  We started it at about 14 weeks, and it's going great!  She still wakes up at least once in the middle of the night to feed.  Can't wait until that stops.  She's a little unpredictable with that.  Some nights it'll be between 3-4:30 a.m., but then we get those every once in a while 1:30 a.m. wake up calls.  HATE THOSE!!! We still spend TONS of time doing tummy time, but no real deal rollovers, yet.  Actually, she did roll from her tummy to back ONCE while I had her on her tummy in her crib while I hooked up the monitor.  Unfortunately, I caught it at the tail end.  Ever since then, no real rollovers.

Brynlee has been coming to the gym with Tyson and me everyday, braving the heat.  We work out in an outdoor/warehouse facility type of deal.  She's been doing it since 10 weeks and has been such a good, little girl toughing it out while Mom and Dad do their thing.  Luckily, the "gym" has what is called, "Big Ass Fans." We also place cold, wet washcloths on her forehead to help keep her cool.  She seems to do well.  Gets cranky every now and then when she wants attention, but overall does pleasantly well.

Hanky Hat 2.0! (long story...for another time.)


Did I really birth a blue eyed child?!???

Anyways!  We're just chugging along and continuing to adjust to life as a family of three!  I still can't believe that we have a little girl.....  a 3 1/2 month old, in fact!  Time is flying.  She just lights up our world, little cutie!  

Double Post: Post Pregnancy Bod and New Brynlee Developments

I wanted to finally write a post that a lot of pregnant women question, or even women who want to get pregnant might be wondering...

What is my body going to look like post pregnancy?

I wanted to post about how my post pregnancy body is doing ever since I had Brynlee.  I had Brynlee 13 weeks ago, and so far, I'd say I'm pretty pleased with how my body looks now, especially after just having a baby 13 weeks ago.  I'd thought I'd look a lot worse.  Am I completely happy???  HELLLLLL NO!  Mama has some work to do!  My body doesn't look like what it did pre pregnancy. I was a health and fitness NUT, getting trained by a great trainer and his program (Lift Strong Run Fast) for about 2 years and seeing a nutritionist that was telling me how to eat and planning my meals.  I have high expectations for my body and what it should look like!

After having Brynlee, I got so many compliments on how it doesn't even look like I had a baby.  I walked into the gym and my trainer told me that I look great.  Everyone is telling me I look great, but I don't think I look as "great" as everyone has been spouting.  I agree, I don't look like I had a baby when I'm wearing clothes, but naked?!?!??  Uhhhhhh.....

However, I lost a lot of muscle and gained some body fat.  I WILL say, though, I believe that had I not been as in good of shape as I was before pregnancy, I don't think I would look as "good" as I do now.  I think we would have had a bigger mess, folks.  This all makes me hopeful that I can get it back because I'm not completely destroyed.

I only gained 24 lbs. with Brynlee, thank goodness!!!  I'm about 2 pounds shy of my pre-pregnancy weight; but, to me, my body LOOKS like it still needs to shed 10 lbs.  In reality, it's more that I don't need to lose WEIGHT, I need to lose BODY FAT.  With breastfeeding, it's a little tougher because my body is wanting to store away some fat to help produce milk.  It's kind of wigging me out where I'm storing some of this fat.  I'm storing in places I don't think my body has EVER seen fat.  It's so weird.

Not only do I need to lose some body fat, but my body's tissues, joints, etc. need to go back to normal.  My hips are still a little spread from the relaxin during pregnancy.  I've read I will continue to have some of those relaxin hormones while breastfeeding.  My ab muscles, tummy fascia, and tissue are still a little stretched and still need time to go down.  I keep telling myself that it took 9 months to stretch, so it could take up to 9 months to go down.  When I flex, I see some "ab-bage," so I know they're still under there!  Don't get me wrong.  I'm de-swelling; but, it still needs to go down a little more.  Hard to explain.  I keep hearing from mommy friends that it will, but it takes time.  So HEAR THAT NEW MAMAS!  It.  Takes.  Time.

My pants fit on me weird.  I can get them up over my hips, butt, and thighs, but they just won't button thanks to all of the tummy stretching.  Well, actually, SOME will with a teeny tummy bulge, but it's not bad.  I still don't like it because it's not completely flat. I call it my "Mommy Muffin."  Again, I tell myself that it just takes time.

During my pregnancy, I took a little break from my very strict health and fitness lifestyle.  I continued my trainer's program early in my pregnancy, but stopped because as a first time mom, I was too scared to do some of the things I was doing while pregnant, especially in my first trimester.  I was afraid to lose the baby.  The "exercise" I got was walking tons and being on my feet all day at work.  I barely sat down and kept myself moving.  I continued to eat as healthy as possible, but gave myself a few more cheats than I normally would.  I didn't believe in that "eating for two" crap and ate normal amounts.  I believe this helped me maintain a good weight while pregnant.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've started back at the same gym I have been going to for 2 years because this program WORKS, and I'm determined to get back at it.  I've been eating clean for over a month now, BEFORE I started back at the gym.  80% nutrition!!!  I'm basically EASING back into my health and fitness nut mode.  It's hard to be as nutty as I was before because Brynlee does suck a lot of my time.  Between Tyson's school and work schedule and Brynlee's demands right now, it's a little harder to find the time to food prep and squeeze in some gym time.

It took me 10 weeks of adjusting to baby and getting comfortable with my body post c-section to brave it back into Scott Wells' Lift Strong Run Fast program.  I started out just walking about 2 miles as daily as possible and eating clean.  Now, I'm taking it slow to work myself back into the Lift Strong program.

Overall, I read other fitness guru's blogs who had babies and blogged about their post bod progress.  One chick gives me a lot of hope.  Her tummy looked like mine does right now when she was about where I was, 2-3 months postpartum.  Then, she updated with a post at 5 months postpartum, it was like night and day.  I'm remaining optimistic and telling myself that it will take time, but to keep at it.

Do I regret not continuing my normal exercise routine during pregnancy?  Yes and no.  I would recommend not doing what I did and continue a work out regimen.  Again, I was in REALLY good shape before I got pregnant, and I only gained 24 lbs. during pregnancy, so I believe that saved me.  That's the other thing I'd recommend....  try to be as in good of shape and have healthy eating habits established before pregnancy.  It's very easy to become very lax while pregnant.  You're just plain tired because that baby is sucking the life out of you, and dessert sounds pretty darn good most days.

Now on to some new Brynlee baby developments!  She's growing right before our eyes.  There are days I'll wake up and it's like, HOLY SMOKES!  You're doing that now?!?!  Best example I can give:  I was driving to my parents and looked back at Brynlee in the baby mirror that faces her carseat, and I saw that she was grabbing her blanket and shoving it in her mouth.  NEVER had I EVER seen her do that before.  It literally was like overnight she was grabbing things.  Here's here lying on the ground and grabbing her blanket off her floor swing...

I had put her in a very, fluffy dress for my brother's high school graduation.  She liked to pick up the fluff and eat it...

And here's a video of her grabbing and gnawing on her Wubba Nub pacifier.  She is just LOVING putting any thing in her mouth and sucking on it...

She has discovered that she has clothes on her body and likes to grab her onsies and try to eat them...




She still LOVES watching the T.V.  It's the only way I can cook my breakfast in the morning.  I put her in her swing and turn on cartoons.  It keeps her occupied for about 10 minutes, but SHOOT!  I can make my chai tea and cook my eggs and steel cut oats in the morning!  SCORE!!!

Here's one of Tyson and my favorite pictures of her.  I took this while she sat on my lap and watched Shrek...

Do you like my bald spot?!

And here's a video of her watching some "Little Mermaid" on Tyson's iPhone.  Look at her concentrating on this so, very hard!  hahaha!!!....

We've been also doing a lot of tummy time!  This little girl is SO. STRONG.  Her neck, back, legs, tummy, etc.!  I got a coincidental roll over on the couch the other day.  She rolled from her back to tummy.  I think it was fluke, though.  The couch has a little dip where it helped her, but I will say that she was actually trying to attempt to heave-ho herself over.  She kept getting up on her side and only ONCE did she actually get on to her tummy.  I haven't seen it since.  But, Brynlee is working on it.  She can get herself up on her side on soft surfaces ie: bed, couch...  Here's just a cute, little picture of Brynlee doing tummy time on her boppy...

Addicted to kissing those cheeks!

Brynlee continues to smile and talks up a storm.  She turns to the direction of sounds she hears.  She definitely turns towards me when she hears me.  She is a wiggly thing and is now getting distracted while breastfeeding.  My most favorite distraction is when she pulls off, looks up at me, gives me a big smile, then goes back to the breast.  Let me tell you how much that makes my heart melt!!!  She's also scooting herself.  If I lie her in one position on her floor mat and leave for a second, I'll come back to find that she either spinned 180 degrees or scooted herself a few inches off the mat.  By the way.... She HATES that floor mat.  Screams bloody murder, crying with tears for me to come get her.  About broke my heart the other day when she got so distraught over me leaving her on that thing.  She loves her mama and won't take her eyes off me if we're in a strange place or some strangers are surrounding us, talking.

I just can't wait to see more, new developments.  It truly is so fun to watch babies grow!

And last, but not least!  Cute pictures of Brynlee with her cousins.  About 3 weeks ago, Tyson's sister and her family came into town to visit Brynlee.  Here are some shots with the cousins!!!

This is the floor mat she HATES!

And one last cousin picture.  Brynlee with her cousin, Braxton.  This is my sister's little boy.  He's 21 months.  My sister lives in the same city as us, so we're fortunate to be able to see Braxton quite often.  Braxton loves his baby cousin!

Anyways!  Until next time!  I leave you with this picture of my daughter making herself go cross-eyed.  Tee hee hee!!....

Our Little 2 Month Old

This Saturday, Brynlee will be 2 1/2 months.  Someone pinch me.  Has it been 2 1/2 months already?!?  Can't believe my little beauty is already 2 1/2 months.  Seems like yesterday she was in my tummy.

At Brynlee's 2 month checkup, she weighed 11 lbs. and has stretched out to 23 inches long.  The pediatrician says she had a big growth spurt since her 6 week checkup.  Our little girl also got her 2 month shots, which just about broke my heart.  So cliche, but it TRULY just ripped me to pieces.  We were cooing and just loving each other, then I had just put the paci in her mouth because she started to get antsy, waiting on the nurse to come by to give her shots.  The nurse finally had come in and told me to lie her down on the table.  I did, just watching those innocent, beautiful blues just stare at me and then up towards the ceiling.  My heart completely sank.  She had no idea what was about to  hit her.  Then it happened, that first prick of the needle, and she just about lost it.  She SCREAMED a scream I have NEVER heard since she's been born, and the paci just slowly fell out of her mouth as my helpless, little baby just lied there bawling her eyes out.  Talk about a dagger straight through Mommy's heart. There were two more shots put to her thighs and she continued this mix of screaming and crying.  I choked up big time and tried my best to not cry.  I successfully managed not to, but it was hard.  Once the nurse left, I picked up my baby and cuddled her so, SO tightly trying to calm her down. I felt horrible, and it's making me sad right now just typing this up.

 For the first few hours after the shot, she napped GREAT.  This was awesome for me since she's a sucky day time napper.  After that, she woke up to being a HUGE fusser bears.  Nothing could console her.  Finally gave her some infant Tylenol, and I got my happy baby back.  It was a miracle drug.

Brynlee is developing great.  Doctor says she's a smart girl.  It's quite AMAZING to watch her grow, develop, and change.  She's doing so many thing right now that are blowing me away!  She now does this thing where she'll do a little vocalized fuss if I'm not in her line of sight, trying to get my attention.  Watch!!!  Watch her face when I do finally approach her.  Little stinkers...




She did this in the doctor's office, and once I talked to her, she quieted down.  The doctor said that she's smart and knows what she's doing.  She does this to get my attention.  Anyways, it's honestly TOTALLY cute, and I LOVE that she knows I'm her mommy and she wants my company.  When I finally approach her, she'll stop, sometimes give me a smile like, "AH HA!  IT WORKED!!!" or coo at me.  I can't resist kissing those chipmunk cheeks right then and there.  Lately, though, she seems to be going through a "needy for Mommy's attention" stage.  I either have to be playing, talking, singing, or holding her.  If I'm not, she'll let me know!  Stinkers...  It's crazy to me how smart she's getting.  I can't believe babies can do what they do this early in the game!

Our little girl is also SO STRONG.  She's always had a great, strong neck since the day she was born.  She LOVES doing this little trick where I pull her up by her hands and she'll plant her feet into a standing postion.  Originally, I started doing it to pull her onto her bottom while giving her neck some exercise.  Her neck stays stable, but she won't sit.  She'd rather STAND!  She literally PLANTS her feet and it brings her to stand.  Her face lights up when we do this little trick.  It's like, "Hello world!!"

Oh!  And Brynlee is just like her daddy.  She just LOVES to watch T.V.  Uh. Oh.  I'm going to chalk it up to the fact she very stimulated by all of the bright colors and movement on the big T.V.

 It has gotten to the point that if she's lying down, she'll now do this sit up thing, like she's doing stomach crunches, to indicate that she wants me to grab her hands and sit or stand her up.  If I don't, she'll fuss at me.  Already a little sassy frass!  Watch her do her little crunches! :)

I finally introduced Brynlee to my students for the first time yesterday.  They all had been so anxious to finally meet the baby that was in their teacher's tummy.  Brynlee loved looking at all the faces and listening to the chaos of the students.  I wondered if she recognized this "sound" that she had heard in my tummy.  My students were so excited to see me and so excited to meet Brynlee.  I have missed them so much and it truly saddens me that I won't be there to finish out the year with them.  I wanted to give them all a big, huge hug.  I tried to get as many as I could with a baby in hand. :)  I sure did miss them....FOR REALZ!!!!

Anyways, that's just about it for now!  It's so fun to watch Brynlee grow, and I can't wait to watch Brynlee grow and change some more.  This is all so, very exciting to see her reach milestones and do some silly things.  I can't wait to see her little personality emerge.  We love this little girl to death!!!  Can't imagine life without her!  She's our little beauty....our little chipmunk...

Busy, Busy!

The title of this post pretty much sums up why I haven't updated in a while.

Lately, it has been pretty busy here at the Sutton Household.  Tyson is busy finishing up his degree.  He's making it a goal to graduate this August, so he's been furiously working hard.  When Tyson's not in school, he's working, working, working!  Again, I feel so grateful that Tyson helps as much as he does being so busy and all.  LOVE my hubs!

While Tyson has been busy with school and work, Brynlee and I have been busy going on little adventures and visiting family.  My mom came down for Mother's Day weekend.  I had a good first Mother's Day.  I just spent the whole weekend with my mom and I treated her to lunch and she treated me to dinner for Mother's Day.

While she was down here, we went to visit my grandparents.  Brynlee got to meet her Great Grandma and Great Grandpa!  My grandmother couldn't believe her little grand baby had a baby of her own!

This past Monday, Brynlee and I went with family to the Houston Zoo.  Brynlee's first zoo trip!  She had so much fun spending time with her cousin, Braxton!  Too bad she won't remember her first visit, but I have a picture to prove it!

Braxton wanted to sit in Brynlee's stroller, so they traded for a little while...  hahaha!!!!  Let's just say Braxton's legs were crunched into his chest, he couldn't fit in the carseat locked into the stroller.

Brynlee and I have been spending a lot of time over at her Gram's and Pi Pi's house, swimming and working on our tans.

Well....Mommy has been working on her tan.  Brynlee has been chillin' in the shade by the pool taking cat naps.  Gotta protect that sensitive, baby skin!

Brynlee is now 8 weeks old and will "officially" be 2 months on Thursday.  People are right.  It FLIES BY!!!!

I would just like to say what a JOY our little girl is!  Tyson and I are falling more and more in love with her every day.  She's such a talkative, sweet, happy little girl!  It's already getting better for me and it's already becoming more fun.  I keep hearing that it just continues to get better from here, and if so, I'm SO super excited because I'm already having so much fun with her NOW.

All I can say is that things continue to change so much.  She's slowly working out of that newborn stage as we continue to work out the kinks.  I've noticed her fussing and crying has gotten a lot better.  I can now set her in her swing while I shower, brush my teeth, put on make-up, etc. and she'll either go right to sleep or be perfectly content just rocking in her floor swing while she watches mommy take a shower and listens to the sound of the water.  Sometimes she seems to be in awe of what I'm doing.  It's so sweet to watch her watch me put on my makeup.  A little princess in the making, watching her mama put on makeup.

I can also put her in her swing if I need to eat or do something, and she'll just coo and talk to herself.  It has honestly been very refreshing to have a baby that now can be left alone for a good period of time, not too long, but longer than one minute.  It was just absolutely horrible at the beginning.  Of course, she'll fuss when I haven't been in her sight for a long time.  All I have to do is walk over to her and talk to her and she'll quiet down.  I LOVE that I can do this.  She seems to be recognizing me and my voice.  Sometimes, she'll start talking to me and smiling at me once I come over to her.  It's like she just needed some company.  She's the CUTEST.  THING.  EVER!  I love playing with her and talking to her, and I love giving her a big good morning cuddle.  After she's had her breakfast, I'll just hold her tight and snuggle her and, of course, kiss her to death.  I just can't help it!

So, we're moving a little further away from the constant crying and fussing...

To a happy, smiley baby...

It's not absolutely 100%, yet, but I can seem some gains we're making!

This little girl talks, and talks, and talks, and talks.  She coo's and oo's and gurgles at me like crazy.  She even makes little faces at me.  I just love when she oo's.  She'll round her lips to a tight, little "o" shape, raise her eyebrows, moves her head, and at the same time, smiles at me.  She just loves Mommy and Daddy's company. I have a couple of videos with her smiling and talking, but until I can figure out how to post them to this blog, those videos will have to wait.  :(  When she talks, she moves her mouth and tongue furiously like she's trying to get the words out, and she kicks her legs like crazy.  It's SO MUCH FUN to watch her try and communicate with Tyson and me.

As far as her other developments, Brynlee has one heck of a strong neck.  She's raising her head during tummy time and when I lift her from a lying position from her arms, she can keep her head aligned with her body and then keep it steady and straight up when I bring her up to her feet.  Yeah....I said feet because she refuses to sit and pushes up with her legs.  This little girl ALSO has strong legs!  She absolutely LOVES it when I do this little trick with her.  She loves to stand and look at the world.  Her face just lights up and she gets excited.  As excited as an 8 week old gets.  She has also discovered her hands.  She's been tightening them up into fists and putting them in front of her face.  She'll also talk to her hands.  I think she's starting to bat at objects, as well.  I have little toys dangling from her playmat thing, and she'll be punching at those objects at times.

Tyson and I have been very lucky with Brynlee's sleeping, lately.  She's being "sleeping through the night."  I'll usually get her down between 9:30-10:00 and she will sleep straight through until between 6-8 until her first "middle of the night" feeding.  She has actually been doing this for quite a few weeks now.  We're feeling very blessed and very lucky to have such a great night sleeper, so far!  It definitely makes for a happier and more refreshed Mommy and Daddy.  I personally think this double swaddling technique I've discovered has helps immensely.  I started doing it last week, and I think it's given us an extra hour to two hours of sleep.  I'm not getting too excited about her sleep habits, though, and I haven't been going around "bragging" about it.  I've been keeping it hush hush because I'm still in disbelief that she's doing this.  I keep waiting for the earlier middle of the night wake up times.

Overall, I'm enjoying my time off with my little girl and being able to watch her grow.  I can now see where it's going to be hard to go back to work in August.  Our daughter is, like I said, just an absolute JOY!  She's SO beautiful and has the most BEAUTIFUL crystal, blue eyes.  I just love staring into them.  I stare at her in complete awe and can't believe I grew and carried her.  I enjoy staring into those beautiful blues and talking to her.  I think she loves her mommy....  :)

Until then, folks!  Hopefully, I will have a post up next week and it won't be as long as this last time!  Sheesh!  I'm being bad at this.

Adjusting to the Life of a Family of Three!

 Our daughter is now 5 1/2 weeks old.  Basically, she's already almost a month and a half!

FIST BUMP!

That was a FAST month, but time seemed to stand still when I was sitting there holding and bopping my constant fussy baby 24-7, while running on only a few hours of sleep at a time.  That would make anyone get on their knees and beg for mercy.  It's exhausting!!!  The first 3 weeks were HARRRRD, as you could tell from my last post.  I don't regret writing that post, and NO I am NOT depressed or resent my child.  It was my way of saying, "Hey!  Parenting a newborn is tough stuff!!!"  Plus, there is such a thing as baby blues (WHICH IS NORMAL!!!) from a sudden drop in hormones that DO go away after a couple of weeks.  I no longer lose it and cry over anything and everything.  I hope to show my "Confessions of a First Time Mom" post to my daughter one day to scare her enough to WAIT.  If she's anything like mommy, just showing her that you don't shower for a couple of days and it's tough to find time to put on your makeup and do your hair just might scare her a little.  Tee hee hee....

I loved all the great, personal messages I was getting on Facebook from those that LOVED and related to the post.  It felt good to hear that other mommies didn't like the newborn stage, as well.  They wrote to me telling me how they remembered this stage when their children were newborns and related to it SO WELL and.that I was RIGHT?!  No one just comes out and tells it like it is.  I'm blunt, honest, and I'm not going to lie and say I was born to be a mommy that just loves that fresh, couple week old newborn stage.  More power to the women who love it.  I'm just not one of them.  

Already, Brynlee has changed so much as far as growth, development, feeding, and fussiness.  Don't get me wrong.  It's still no walk in the park.  It's still hard.  BUT!!!  We're all adjusting now that we've gotten past that few weeks of newborn life stage.  I'm already starting to get excited about all her new developments.  She's even now SMILING!!!!!  I got my first 3 BIG ones last week.  Tyson put her in our bed after she woke up.  I had just come out of the bathroom, started talking to Tyson, and she turned her head to look at me because she recognized my voice.  I hovered over her, and in a baby voice I said, "Do you recognize Mommy's voice?"  That's when she gave me 3 big cooing/gurgling smiles in a row.

I'm learning her cries, what she needs, and how to calm the fussiness a little better.  I've learned most her fussiness is due to being overtired, and I'm not getting her to wind down fast enough.  She seems to already have a built in routine....sort of.  Once she's overstimulated, it's fuss city.  She sleeps VERY well at night, but sucks at it during the day time.  She just gets WAY too overstimulated.  She's a MUCH happier baby, though, when she's gotten at least a couple of good naps in the day time PLUS she's easier to put down at night when she's gotten a few good afternoon naps.  And, yes, even with naps during the day, she sleeps nice, long stretches at night.  Sleep DEFINITELY seems to beget sleep for her.

 We've introduced the pacifier to start calming her down more.  I wanted to wait until we got breastfeeding well established.  I am not a big advocate of using it as a sleep aid/prop. It just doesn't work for me.  Yes, during afternoon naps she starts to doze with it once in a while, but she's usually drowsy and it'll fall out and then she'll either wake up or start to snooze into a deeper sleep.  I just don't want her to fall into a deep sleep with it in her mouth for reasons that will take me too long to explain in this post.  I use it to get her to calm down and satisfy that natural suck reflex that babies have at this age.  Basically just to soothe her when we're in fuss city.  It has definitely helped!  For as far as going to bed at night, I do what is called the 3 B's.  Bath, boob, and bed.  I give her a bath, feed her, then rock her till she falls into a deep sleep.  That routine seems to work for us and for me as a mommy that needs to stay sane.

Her feeding has gotten MUCH better.  No longer does she snooze on the boob.  She'll close her eyes once in a while, but she still suckles.  She's MUCH more efficient.  Now, I'm no longer spending an hour feeding her.  It takes her 20-30 minutes TOPS!  Thank. The. Lord.  She's stretching to 3 hour feeding periods once in a while throughout the day with some 2 hour.  Fine with me!  I'm not a prisoner of my own home anymore.  Now that's she's more efficient and taking longer stretches to eat, I'm able to get out and get a few things accomplished out in the open world.  I no longer have anxiety about leaving the house and her blowing a gasket because she needs to eat.  Oh...And just in case you wanted to know, my nipples are doing much better.

I've learned how to shower and put on makeup with her.  At first, I didn't like how I had to do it.  I just wasn't used to it and was used to have some free hands and just my "me" time.  I have to do it a little differently now, but YOU ADJUST!  It starts becoming a routine.  I have that type of personality that HATES change and HATES changing the way I have to do things, but I adapt, and I've adapted.  Now, it's getting easier for me to come to grips that I can just let her lie in her swing in front of the shower while I shower and let her be in the Baby Bjorn while I put on makeup.  If she fusses, shes fusses.  Mommy has got to do what she has got to do.  She'll eventually wind down.  But!  I think she's also maturing a little more with each passing week.  I don't think in week 1 or 2 I would have been able to do this with her without her full blown wailing.

So, we've started creating little bits of routine here and there.  Brynlee has been sleeping great at night with on average one 7 hour stretch of sleep.  Unfortunately, it's not uninterrupted sleep for me because I have to get up to pump on a missed feeding because I'm so engorged and in so much pain and leaking like a faucet.  I'm actually producing an overabundance of milk and am having to get that under control.  Today is the first day I feel like it's starting to even out a little more....FINALLY!!!!  My boobs went a whole 9 1/2 hours last night with me not waking up in pain and leaking, needing to pump.  Needless to say, I got a whole 6 straight hours of sleep last night, and I feel GREAT today!  Brynlee slept about 9 hours straight last night, which allowed me this 6 hour stretch.  I WISH my body could unwind and I could go to bed when she does.  I would have gotten 9 hours!

Overall, I'm falling more in love with our daughter every day.  I love talking to her, and when she coos back at me, it's super special and REALLY cute!  I ESPECIALLY love her really cute smile.  I can't wait to see how much more she changes with each passing week.  It's really fun to watch her grow and change!

MY BEAUTY...