A Belly Laugh

Brielle just had her very first BIG belly laugh.  Chris was holding her facing me swaying back and forth while I was dancing and singing in front of her because it was making her smile so much.  Who can resist numerous baby smiles?  I was singing a song with her name in it like we usually do and when I stopped to drum on my leg we got a fabulous surprise.  All of a sudden she just belted out a huge laugh.  It was so cute and high pitched.  We thought it was so funny and unexpected we immediately started laughing so loud with excitement.  It scared and startled her because I don't think we have ever been that loud or laughed so hard in front of her so I had to help wipe away her little frown.  It was so priceless!  Wish it would have been caught on video but I am sure we will one day.  Can't wait to hear her laugh again.  She has been giggling for awhile now but no huge laughs like this time.  Sometimes we can tickle her a little and she will giggle or the dogs with run around like chickens with their heads cut off chasing each other and she enjoys that but nothing as great as what we witnessed dancing and singing to her.  Chris now makes the most awkward and annoying sounds he can muster up trying to hear that sweet laugh again.  Lets hope he finds a sound soon that works before I get a headache listening to him ; ) 

Earlier in the night we had date night with Brielle.  I thought it would be fun to go to Barnes and Noble, get some Starbucks but I can't say no to $5 drinks (I swear they put crack in them) and read some cute books to baby girl.  As I came back from the Cafe this is what I witnessed, baby and daddy time talking about books.  He wanted to show her a book called "Who was Elvis Presley" but it was for older kids and didn't have pictures so she wasn't too interested in it.

Teething Baby and Sleepless Nights

For all the fun things being a parent brings to your life it also brings some not so fun things as well.  I guess it is kind of like getting married, you love your spouse with all you have but you have to love the little things that drive you bonkers as well.  That's how I feel about being a mother.  Brielle is my world, my everything, my future and I wouldn't want any of that to ever change but in the middle of the night when her poor mouth is hurting her so much she cries and is restless it is difficult to 'Love" that.  When you rock back and forth so many times your tummy is sore the next day (not that I am complaining because hey, what a great way to work out and not really mean to), when you sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" so many times your brain went numb and you can't remember the words, when your husband snores really loud right at the time you finally get the baby to sleep in their bed and now you have to start all over, when you give up and just bring them to bed with you because sleeping in your arms is really what they want anyway so when you wake up in the morning you are so stiff your arm wont really move is when you know you are enjoying the "not so fun" with the new parenting job.  Poor girl has been teething for well over a month now and still no little buds have surfaced through the tissue.  She is able to hold toys and bring them to her mouth now where as a month ago she really wasn't able to do that.  A friend told me about all natural Teething Tablets and they seem to be helping.  When we first started giving them to her she was unsure of why we doing it and was fussy when we placed them in her mouth.  Now when she sees the bottle of Teething Tablets and our fingers coming towards her mouth with the small dissolvable pills she opens up for us and seems to enjoy it.  Maybe she is used to the taste (if there is any) or maybe they really do help and she somewhat understands that.  She is starting to learn cause and effect with simple things so you never know.  She has a little Sofie but it is still hot her favorite thing for teething.  I think her mouth is still a little small so she usually chews on her fingers, hands or her Monkey who was named, Chewy, by Chris since as soon as she received said monkey she just started gnawing on her.  Oh to go through this at such a young age has not been easy.  One of her favorite things is when we rub her pacifier on her gums back and forth and it squeaks.  We usually get cute smiles when we do this.  She doesn't really seem to like her pacifiers to suck on but rather to chew on them constantly while we hold them for her.  Hopefully as she gets older it will get a little better when she can sit up on her own and play more with toys that she can chew on.

Christmas in Paragould

Brielle's very first Christmas was fun, exciting, a little stressful, disappointing for two reason but awesome all at the same time.  The stress of Christmas was the driving part.  Have you ever drove almost eight hours with a small baby?  Wow, it is a chore in it's self.  Brielle isn't a huge fan of the car to begin with.  She like most babies who immediately fall asleep when they get into the car, she is more of the "I hate to be pinned down, hot or bored" type of baby.  She needs a lot of stimulation and a lot of attention therefore me sitting in back with her (which is usually Chris for short drives) entertaining her the duration of the long drive.  She did like watching videos from Netflix on my phone for a little bit but when all the colors and movement got boring it was on to the next idea, then the next and then the next.  I think you get the idea.  She was pretty good but I was exhausted at the end of the drive, each way.  Before we left Tulsa there was a lot of talk about how Tulsa might get snow on Christmas day.  Chris and I were pretty sad by this due to the fact we weren't going to be in Tulsa and really wanted to see it coming down.  We obviously got over it and left to go to good ole Paragould, Arkansas.  If you have never been to Paragould you might ought to know there is so much to do there there is nothing to do there. 
The night we came to town Chris' mom and sister were going to a Christmas party and wanted to take Brielle with them so we took advantage of the opportunity and went on a date since it isn't very often we get to do anything without a baby.  Went to a few places to have a few drinks and then to an awesome meal.  Needless to say I enjoyed myself a little too much and didn't feel too great the next day.  Before heading home Chris took me to my first first experience at Roy's to meet up with some friends.  Lets just say I ended up drinking water the whole time so I could be a good mother when I got home. 
The next day we got the house ready for TONS of people to come over because SANTA WAS COMING!  This by far was the biggest "Santa" party I have encountered while being with Chris thus far.  We had at least forty people if not more there and each and every person received a gift from Santa and HAD to sit on his lap.  It was a great time.  Kids running all around, tables and tables full of fabulous food, laughing, family, friends and of course SANTA.  Perfect first Santa party for miss Brielle even though she slept through part of it. 

 

(Santa really wears a girl out) 

Christmas Eve was a nice day to spend with Family.  Coffee, homemade scones by aunt Ashley which were my very first ever and I'm pretty sure I could eat them EVERYDAY, a walk, spending time with Brielle, watching Christmas movies, taking naps and of course Midnight Mass!  Brielle's first one!  OK, OK I must confess it wasn't technically midnight (they didn't even offer a midnight Mass) so we went at 6:00 instead.  

(She sure looked cute on Christmas Eve)

So back to the weather, all this hype that was in Tulsa was slowly making it's way to Paragould and Chris and I began to get a little nervous.  We were leaving the day after Christmas which was the day after this huge storm was projected to hit.  We started talking about how we might have to leave early so we did not get stuck at his mom's house.  Normally it would not matter and would happily like to get stuck there but my dad and grandma were driving up from Dallas to visit and see Brielle for the first time so I really wanted to get home in order to spend time with them as well.  Christmas day came around and as we listened to the weather and watched what our friends were posting on the oh so helpful facebook for times like these we decided we needed to leave on Christmas day.  When we awoke there was a blizzard warning for Paragould so we knew we needed to leave soon after Christmas presents were opened and Christmas dinner was consumed.  We were disappointed to leave early but scared about driving with an infant and getting stuck on the side of the road.

(Handmade stockings by Grandma Jenny)

(Brielle's stocking was trimmed with lace that I wrapped a "Mother's Poems" book in for Chris' mom for Mother's Day.  The lace was on a gift for me when we announced our pregnancy so it already has a nice little history.)

 (What a great Christmas morning outfit, Chris)

 (Somebody was in a very good mood)

 (excited about her bike trailer!)

 (Grandma Jenny and Brielle Christmas morning)

 (Aunt Debbie and Brielle)

 (Aunt Debbie, Seth and Brielle)

(Now a lonely Christmas Tree)

We packed the car with all our awesome gifts, extra water, extra food, extra coats (because we didn't bring any due to the weather said it would be in the 60s before we left Tulsa) and headed back home.  While we were driving Chris and I thought driving to Tulsa through Little Rock instead of going 412 would be best in case we did get stuck because we would be on the highway and easier to find if something bad happened.  As I talked to my dad he thought maybe going up through Missouri would be best which we never ever thought of.  We ended up going 412 the entire way and only saw snow for about 30 minutes and it didn't even stick on the road.

This is where the other disappointing part came to be because I would have loved for Brielle's first Christmas to be white.  Oh well.  So Paragould ended up getting slammed and had a beautiful day after Christmas.  Lucky them....

On the way home we got hungry and Brielle really needed to get out of her car seat so the only thing that was open was a Chinese restaurant.  Go figure.  Every year "The Christmas Story" is watched so eating at a Chinese place just added to our Christmas Day experience with Brielle.

Brielle got so many presents for Christmas, I think she is a very loved little girl!

 

 

(I feel like this dress was made for MY daughter!)

Grandma Jenny Comes to Town

A week and half before Christmas Grandma Jenny wanted to visit her sweet baby girl so she drove the long 7 hour drive to stay with us for a few days in Tulsa.  We did all sorts of things while she was here; ate Wawee burgers (burgers from the deer Chris' brother Eric killed), visited Santa so Brielle could meet him for the first time, made Christmas candy, Brielle got to stay with Grandma Jenny for a day instead of going to Mrs. Cathy's house, made foot and hand impressions and finished some Christmas shopping. 
First lets start with the oh so fun meeting Santa visit.  Thank goodness Santa was a good sport and hopefully had a stuffy nose.  Did the last sentence give you a clue as to where this story is going, if so then you are 1.) a parent 2.) have been around babies or 3.) have been around babies and situations like these are amazing birth control!  We decided to go out to eat to Charlie Mitchel's which Chris is not a fan of but is a great husband because he knows how much I LOVE the BLTA there (BLT with AVOCADO).  Anyway, Chris was holding Brielle for awhile and then he passes her off to me.  I immediately "smell" something so I gathered all my changing diaper tools with me, you know the usual things rubber gloves, head to toe plastic coat, helmet with face shield, water hose, hand cuffs, pine tree scent air freshener (you never know what could happen), the mother-in-law and of course the baby.  Typically the mother-in-law in not included but thank the Lord she was for this particular visit.  We get into the bathroom and find the changing table.  Giving that this night Brielle was going to meet Santa and have her picture taken we did not pack another "Christmas outfit" and she had completely pooped straight through her onsie.  Thank goodness it did not get on the pants or the dress that was covering the onsie because there was a huge stain on the back when we were all finished.  We used about fifty bajillion, (bajillion is a number right?) wipes to clean the mess and tried as much as we could to clean her onsie but the poor kid stunk for the remainder of the night.  I used a citrus scented lotion on her to try and cover no make that mask the smell a tiny bit but it didn't work so well so I had to go to Bath and Body Works and spray her with something to help it since we were at the mall.  We still caught a small whiff here and there so we explained to poor Santa that Brielle had had a tiny explosion and we were very sorry.  The first picture they got was a little frown because she had just woken up.  I had noticed her dress was messed up a little so I quickly asked if I could fix it and when I did and sat down in front of the camera Brielle spotted me and gave the most adorable smile I could have asked for.  It was the perfect first Santa picture and a great story to go with it. 

The next night was a little less exciting but still a great night.  We tried a few times to get hand prints and footprints so the trial and error was quite interesting.  It was pretty simple to make though.  Salt, flour and water.  Mix, kneed, roll into a ball, flatten, make the impression and bake for three hours at 200 degrees. 

 (This is us torturing my child just so we can have a hand print to gaze upon later in life to remember how tiny she once was.  To me it sounds like it is totally worth it)

 

A Christmas Photo Shoot

We got to use a really cute Santa outfit while Chris' mom came to visit us so we decided to do a Christmas photo shoot with Brielle.  It turned out so cute. 

Rub a Dub Dub, Baby in a Tub

Giving Brielle a bath is so much fun.  She enjoys it so much and usually we have to change out the water a few times because she thinks she can go to the bathroom in the tub.  All we can do is laugh : ).  Tonight baby girl and I had bath time without Chris but it was still fun.  I can't wait until she can sit up on her own so she can splash around and play with toys!

Loves getting her hair washed.

She looks scared right here but she was actually very excited.  Her little legs were just kicking like crazy and she kept making her excited panting like noises.  : )

Christmas With My Mom

My mom came to Tulsa so we could do our Christmas together and so she could watch Brielle for us while we went to my work Christmas party.  It was nice to get out of the house without the baby but we did miss her.  It is getting a little easier to not be sad when we go somewhere without her now. 
 Anyway, so Christmas was fun. Tons of presents which is always fun because who doesn't love opening presents.  I honestly could have gone all Christmas without one gift for myself because I still open up Brielle's for her so it feels like a fun little gift for me too.  We ate at Spaghetti Warehouse because Dave loves that place, went to Bass Pro to look around and buy a few Christmas presents, took family photos and looked around at all the fun shops downtown Tulsa has now.  It was a pretty awesome weekend. 
These are some of the gifts Brielle got this weekend:

We got some awesome family photos as well.  My mom wanted some to send to our family up north so that was a great way for Chris and I to give her another Christmas gift.

 

 

(my favorite picture of Brielle thus far)