Bluebonnets

Yesterday, we drove down to Nancy's parents house which is near Brenham, TX. We met Nancy's sister Susan and her family as well as Susan's in-laws. After lunch, we went outside and took some pictures in the bluebonnets. Nancy had found matching outfits for Brooklynn and her cousin Jadyn to wear.

First Bath

Last Thursday night, we decided to give Brooklynn her first bath. Her bellybutton had looked like it had completely healed for the past few days and we actually felt like we had some time to make a production out of it.

Our lucky volunteer...

Insert water here...

Ummm...can I reconsider? I'm not sure this guy knows what he's doing...

1....2...3...

Aaahhh...this isn't so bad...

Sorry about questioning your skills back there, this is actually quite nice...

Hey wait...no one said anything about this including a shampoo!


All done! Somebody get me a towel!

Next time, don't call me, I'll call you...

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!

Finding time to add to the blog has become quite the commodity lately. Nancy and I had decided to wait until the weekends to try new additions to her diet and see if it affected Brooklynn's nursing. Well, this past Friday, Nancy decided to try some cheese. Everything seemed fine until Saturday when Brooklynn became inconsolable. Nancy was starting to feel real disappointed that pizza was beginning to look like it was off the menu for a little while longer. It was hard to believe that it would have just started to affect her 24 hours later. Usually, it happens much sooner than that.

But then, we remembered...Nancy had some ketchup late Friday night with some french fries. Aaarrgghh! Those rotten tomatoes were at it again! By late Saturday afternoon, Brooklynn was settling down again and mostly slept, obviously catching up for time lost to the discomfort she had been feeling earlier. We still celebrated her 3 week birthday at 3:17 p.m. on Saturday, but the best picture we could come up with this week was with her sleeping.

Sunday morning, we planned on attending church for Easter Sunday. It would be Brooklynn's debut. We had an adorable dress that some friends of ours bought for her in Santa Fe, NM (thanks Ronnie & Judy). Nancy and I took turns getting ready so one of us could be with Brooklynn. Nancy nursed Brooklynn just before we left, hoping she would last for the time we'd be at church. We got her all packed up and got to church with 5 minutes to spare. (We'll see how long that streak holds up!).

Through the service, Brooklynn was sleeping and behaving like a perfect angel. About halfway through, she started to squirm and I anticipated that it had been about an hour since she had nursed, so it was about time for her diaper change. So, I took a diaper, some wipes and the changing pad in hand and Brooklynn in her carrier in the other and headed to the men's restroom. As expected, there wasn't a changing table in the men's restroom, so I set up shop on the sink counter. The diaper wasn't too bad. Mostly wet. I got her all changed, packed everything up again, picked Brooklynn up and then Pppbbbhhhtttt!!!! She messed in her diaper already! This time, I could tell it was much more significant than before. I had missed the window by a mere 5 minutes! And, of course, I only brought 1 single diaper with me. Why would I need more than one, I thought. Well, I'm learning....I know, I know.

All prepared to look the fool walking back into the auditorium only to walk back out with another diaper as if to say I didn't know what I was doing, I walked out of the restroom and ran into Nancy coming out of the women's restroom. Hallelujah! I told her I needed an extra diaper. Nancy said she'd get it for me and also that she found out where the cry room was that men were allowed in. Basically, women didn't nurse in that one. I told her I'd meet her there. When we got there, the auditorium lights were dimmed at the time and the lights in the cry room were off while a couple ladies were rocking their babies. So, basically, I was flying blind here and Brooklynn left me a challenge of a diaper to clean up. Between Nancy and I, we peered in close and cleaned her up, put a fresh diaper on, and we were headed back to our seat.

We sat down for a few minutes with Brooklynn now all wide eyed and alert and thinking to herself...Hmmm, I'm well rested and clean now...I'm starting to feel a little hungry again! So, Nancy was headed back out with her this time to find a cry room to nurse. She made it back just as the service was ending. Afterward, everyone wanted to stop by and see her, especially those who hadn't seen us since before the birth.


A little later, we lined up Nancy with a couple other ladies that all had their babies within 2 months of each other. The way they're lined up is actually by due date, but Brooklynn ended up being late and was born last. A fourth baby was born 2 days after Brooklynn, but she was home with her mom this past Sunday. We'll have to get all four together sometime soon and take another picture.

Pizza! Pizza!

Brooklynn and I had an early morning on Friday. We got up at 9:30 so we could meet Christopher for lunch. I fed Brooklynn, changed a diaper, picked out an outfit, put Brooklynn down to play and attempted to get ready. Needless to say, with an infant, it's not that easy.

I put Brooklynn in her bouncy seat and brought her into the bathroom so she wouldn't fuss, but that only lasted about 5 minutes before she wanted to be picked up. I abandoned the flat iron and tried to put on some makeup while holding her. I told Brooklynn to remember this someday when she's trying to get ready for her first date...

I went ahead and got us dressed, packed the diaper bag and headed out. Brooklynn fell asleep in the car. She always does so well in her car seat. I've been craving pizza since Brooklynn was born and had been avoiding it because of some potential adverse affects the cheese and tomato sauce could have while nursing her. But it was soon the weekend, and so Christopher and I decided to chance the cheese at least, and so we were meeting at Christopher's normal Friday lunch hotspot, Double Dave's, where they have an all you can eat buffet of pizza and salad. I ordered a special pizza with spinach and cheese and no sauce. It satisfied my craving for now, but I'm still looking forward to the real thing with sauce!

Now, almost 12 hours later, Brooklynn still seems okay and hasn't shown any colic tendencies. Slowly but surely maybe I'll be able to add more items back to my menu! In the meantime, I'm sure Christopher will be happy for us to visit him for lunch as often as we can.

On The Road Again...

Nancy just couldn't wait to get on the road again. She hadn't driven since the 18th of February...29 days ago! She hadn't left the house since the 28th of February...19 days ago! So, today for Brooklynn's 2 week follow-up with the midwife, Nancy took the wheel...with a newborn in the backseat.

We got up early since this was the first time we had packed a diaper bag or even put Brooklynn in the car seat. Good thing it wasn't overly complex, although we did overstock the diaper bag a tad. Of course, this wasn't going to be challenging enough, so in addition we had morning rush traffic to deal with as well as thunderstorms in the area with risks of hail and tornadoes.

Nancy, the responsible and cautious driver she is, safely got herself and Brooklynn to the appointment while I drove separately (not that I didn't trust her...) At the appointment, everything checked out great. Nancy appears to have completely recovered and her stitches look 95% healed. Brooklynn weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs. 4 oz.! Not soon to be appearing on "The Biggest Loser", Brooklynn averaged more than 2 oz. per day since her last weighing. Nancy's making whole milk look like skim!

After venturing out finally, Nancy was feeling comfortable and decided to run a couple errands while she was out. At lunch, she and Brooklynn met me for lunch at TGI Friday's. Except for a sudden scare at a birthday celebration at a table nearby, she slept through lunch and was a perfect angel.

In the evening, we had dinner brought to us from Buca di Beppo (compliments of the Amaro's) and so we enjoyed a relaxing evening of no cooking. Around the time we finished eating, Brooklynn was fussing for some more "Daddy time" before bed, so we sat on the couch and she drifted off to sleep, confidently knowing she was loved.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho...

I went back to work today. It was hard missing my afternoon nap! I did go ahead and come home for lunch though. I just couldn't go a whole day yet without spending some time with my Brooklynn. Of course, by the time I got home, it was time to change a diaper, run to the grocery store to get some milk and bread (and dr. pepper!) and then come back home for some dinner before another diaper change and feeding before bed. Ahh the life of a new parent...

Tomorrow is Brooklynn's first day to take a ride in the car! We're going to have to get up real early to get everything ready before leaving. I'm sure the first time isn't going to be the smoothest. We'll be taking her for her 2 week checkup. I weighed her on our scale here at home and she's coming in at 8.5 lbs.! We'll see what the midwife's equipment says she is, because you know, that's official...

Brooklynn's 2 weeks old!

At 3:17 p.m. this afternoon, we celebrated Brooklynn being 2 weeks old. We dressed her up in her first dress that we got from her Auntie Sue. It was a dress Brooklynn's cousin Jadyn wore when she was a newborn. She's getting so big!