9 months!!

Brynna turned 9 months a couple of weeks ago, but I was waiting to post anything about it until after her well baby on friday.
Here's what my not-such-a-baby is up to:
~has 6 teeth
~crawling, fast, everywhere
~standing for several seconds at a time, and sits down with complete body control
~has begun eating table food. I'm still making her food, but I'm processing it less, leaving it more chunky. She's also feeding herself some. Her favorite foods to eat herself are peas, carrots, green beans, waffles, mac and cheese.
~is drinking from a sippy cup
~says Momma... over and over and over again. But she's saying the word, not just making the sound.
~is very shy in public, but pretty vocal at home.
~waves bye-bye and beckons with a "come here" hand movement.
~is trying to clap, but ends up missing her hands and slams them on her legs.
~has the bluest eyes and BLONDE hair!!
~loves loves loves her big sister. She follows D'Laney everywhere and laughs at everything she does and says.

Brynna got a gold star from Dr. Patyrak. He was very impressed with her gross motor skills, saying she was about 3 notches higher than was average for her age, and is absolutely healthy... except for her weight. She had only gained 3 ounces in 2 months. Now, it's not uncommon for babies her age to have not gained much during this stage, due to crawling and becoming so much more active. But it's usually more than 3 oz. I wondered not if, but when we were going to get this report. You might remember this, when D'Laney turned a year and my milk had apparently dried up, with out my knowing, and D'Laney wasn't getting the nutrition she needed. I had intended to ask Dr. P about going ahead and starting Brynna on whole milk now, I really wanted to skip formula. He basically said that we needed to do something different, that my milk was probably beginning to dry up. He said that since she is only 9 months, starting her on whole milk is fine as long as I supplement with a poly-vi-sol multivitamin with iron until she is a year. So we've begun the weaning process. Brynna loves milk, which I'm so glad for. I'm still nursing her 2 or 3 times a day, when it's time for her to sleep. I don't think that putting her down without nursing her will be much of an adjustment, but I wanted to wean a little less abruptly this time, and thought since she usually falls asleep at the breast, those would be the best times to keep nursing. And let me assure you, my milk is just beginning to dry up, I'm still producing, and even though Brynna is still nursing some, I'm in so much pain! I've said it before and I'll say it again, I do NOT envy large chested women. Hopefully over the next couple days my body will take the hint and stop producing so much and cutting back will be a little easier.
Other than that, Brynna is doing so well. She has the sweetest, gentlest personality. I never knew that two siblings could be so different, but their last name is about all my girls have in common. They have such different looks, mannerisms, and personalities, and I love it. I think it will balance very well.
I'm starting to plan Brynna's first birthday party. I'm so excited! I love planning parties.
OH! I wanted to wish a huge congratulations to Lane and Page Boyd! Baby Sawyer was born yesterday! Bless this sweet boy, he has 3 older sisters! But I know they'll love him to pieces. Page let Lane chose Sawyer's name, and he didn't even tell HER until he was born! I could never have done that, but I could never be super mom to 4 kids in 5 years either, and Page does it so well! So congrats Boyds, we love you and are so happy for all 6 of you!!

Things on my T shirt

~poop
~butt paste
~dissolved yogurt bites
~dissolved puffs
~snot (Brynna's, D'Laney's, and mine)
~chicken and sweet potato puree
~sprite
~flour
~milk (from Brynna's cup and my own "cups")

And I've only had this shirt on for about an hour! I think I'll go change now.

Iraan Homecoming

We went to Cameron's homecoming this weekend. Iraan does homecoming like I've never seen, it's 90% about the Ex's coming home (I guess that's how it should be, given the name.) Our niece Loren was chosen as the freshman duchess, so she got to get all gussied up and looked absolutely beautiful! The game was pretty exciting with the Braves winning in overtime. Of course, Brynna and I left right after the halftime presentation, so I missed all the excitement. Saturday was a parade and a tribute to Lucky Floyd, who was the band director there for many years. During the tribute, several ex band members, including Cameron and his sister Amy, performed and sounded really good! I was really surprised, some of those people have been out of school for nearly 30 years! Here's a link to all the pics that I took, but here's our sweet Lo, as D'Laney calls her. She's such a beautiful girl, inside and out, and we're so proud of her! And the boys, too!

Prayer Request

I have a friend from junior high, Sunny, that has a beautiful, sweet baby girl named Cameryn. Last week, Cameryn started having seizures, and after an MRI, her doctor rushed them to Cook's Childrens Hospital. They've diagnosed her with Cryptogenic Infantile Spasms, meaning there's no medical cause of the seizures. They were sent home with a series of steroid injections, and in two weeks will go back to Cook's to see how well they've worked. Sunny and Lance, and their whole families, have had an amazing faith throughout this whole ordeal, and know that God is the Great Physician. Prayers are being said for this sweet baby all over the place, but I'd like to ask for yours, as well.

Warning: kinda gross pictures

My sister had a tonsillectomy yesterday. Since my parents are in their first week at new schools, they decided to only take yesterday morning off for the surgery, and asked if I could come stay with Cadye for the rest of the week. I've had two C-sections, but I think Cadye's poor throat is in far worse shape than my gut. It hurts her to swallow, eat, drink, talk, even breathe. She's staying on top of her pain meds, and she's really doing pretty well considering, but, man, I'm glad it's not me!






Lol, kinda sums up how she feels!

8 months!!

I'm a few days late for this post, but we've been a little busy.
My sweet Brynna Belle is 8 months! How?! Just 4 short months away from 1 year old!! This baby has changed so much in the last two months, it's crazy! She went from a quiet, timid, stationary little thing to a loud, notice me, into everything, totally mobile big girl!
~at her appt last month, she weighed 17lbs, 6 oz. (The last time I reported her weight, I said she weighted 12 something, when I should have said 15 lbs. We haven't had a massive growth spurt in the last couple months!)
~has 6 teeth! 4 on top, 2 on bottom, and she knows how to use them! She likes to bite my shoulder, hard! and laughs when I get on to her. Fortunately, she's only bitten me while nursing a couple times.
~With the biting has come her first discipline. Verbal discipline has only made her laugh, so I've tapped her hand a few times.
~still nursing, but not as much as she was. When we started solids, my milk production took a little bit of a dive. (Something else returned at almost the exact same time, and that was probably the real reason. And can I just say that I think it's totally unfair that I can no longer have kids, but I still have to deal with girly stuff like that!)
~anyway, lol, because of the dip in my milk, Brynna is eating solids four times a day. Oatmeal first thing in the morning, lunch and dinner of vegetables, and rice cereal right before bedtime.
~the cereal before bedtime is an attempt to get her to sleep better, and it's not working. Brynna was sleeping through the night at 2 months old, and not just through the night, about 10 or 12 hours in a row! But about 2 months ago, she started getting up 3, 4, sometimes 5 times a night. And let me tell you, this momma is tired! Finally, a few nights ago, she slept from 10:30 to 7:30, which was awesome, but the next we day we left for my parents house, and she's been up several times a night every night we've been down here. Maybe when we finally get home and get back into a regular routine, she'll be better about it again. I could really use the rest!
~she is crawling everywhere, and fast! Most of the time, she crawls on her right foot and left knee. She pushes up on her hands and feet a lot, too, and doesn't understand why she's not moving.
~she's pulling up on everything, and in her monitor, I watched her take about 4 steps cruising around her crib.
~loves walking while holding onto your fingers, but she's still way wobbly. If you try to sit her on the ground, she locks her legs and won't sit, she wants to be up all the time.
~her only word right now is dada, but it's not just a sound anymore, she uses it correctly. But she talks all.day.long. And she does this long, drawn out grunt thing that is hilarious. I thought she was going to be my quiet little child, but it looks like I'm going to be the only quiet one in my household for the next 18 years or so.
~sort of waves and says bye-bye, but I think it's one of those things that we think we hear just because we want to.
~loves, loves, loves her big sister, and the feeling is absolutely reciprocated. My girls are giddy when they see each other first thing in the mornings. It melts my heart.
~has the biggest blue eyes, the softest blonde hair, and is becoming a beautiful little girl... not that I'm biased or anything ;)



Brynna had to get in on the action of Sister's princess party, too. "If the tiara fits..."

What a 3 year old looks like

What will she look like as a teenager?!?!?!