Life is busy!

For all those of you who keep hounding me to update my blog, here it is!
Brynlee is almost 5 months old and is getting bigger by the minute! Holy cow, everyday it seems like she starts doing something new! Her latest thing is she has started rolling over all by herself and when she is on her tummy she holds her head up super well! She also has started this new thing where instead of smiling and laughing out loud she just holds a serious face and goes "huh huh huh" and it comes out as such a fake laugh but it is fun when she does it over and over.

She has also started eating baby food, which is a good thing because she needs to gain a little weight. The Dr. says she is healthy but definitely on the small side. Currently she has eaten green beans mixed with applesauce, carrots, squash, and bananas. She is starting to get pretty good at eating, but whoever thought a little bib would get the job done was horribly wrong! We have resorted to just stripping her down and then bathing her afterwards so we don't stain all her clothes.

In the meantime I am having a complex about leaving her everyday to go to work. Part time is not so bad but I am getting burned out on commuting for an hour or more everyday just to pick her up and I hate knowing I am missing out on fun walks and playtime.

Life has been so busy in the Marchant world that it seems like we hardly have time to get much accomplished. Cody is still busy busy with school and work and I am busy keeping the baby happy, the house picked up, all other errands and working. I can't wait until life slows down and we can get more time together as a family.

Speaking of family, we were able to fly out to SC in May so Michelle could see Brynlee for the first time! We had such a blast! We got to go to Cyprus Gardens (for those of you who are unaware of what Cyprus Gardens is, it is the lake in the Notebook that he canoes around on with all the swan). We also got to play on the beach, play around downtown Charleston, go on a ghost and graveyard tour and enjoy good ol' southern BBQ! We had so much fun visiting and playing with Wyatt. Holy cow is that boy getting big though, he was nearly tripple Brynlee's size! I miss the Fullers so much already and can't wait for them to come visit us.

Thus far, all is well and we are very blessed...despite my occasional complaints.
Also, pictures coming soon...

2 months

Here is an update on our little family this month.

Our sweet little Brynlee Kate has surpassed 2 months! In the last month she has learned to smile quite frequently, sleep through the night (for the most part), squirm a ton, went to church for the first time, gone shopping with me quite a bit in preparation for Easter, had a few dr. appointments (including a slight panic of what we thought was thrush) and she was blessed.

Although she still is not as big at 2 months as her cousin Wyatt was when he was born, she is growing like a weed and is officially up to 8 pounds 10 ounces. She makes me laugh everyday and I have begun to notice her mood patterns. Mornings are my favorite with her because she generally super happy and will smile and laugh at me, in the afternoon she is pretty calm until 5 PM rolls around and she starts to fuss a little...that is about the time we wake Cody up for daddy daughter time. Smart planning on my part I must say.

Brynlee was blessed on March 28th and Cody did a great job of blessing her! Although afterwards there was rumor that she almost got dropped in the circle... : / We were lucky to have most our family and friends in attendance. She looked so beautiful all dressed in white! I was worried that with my luck she would spit up or mess all over her pretty dress but she did good all day. She was happy until it was time for pictures...we have noticed that generally when the cameras come out she tends to put on her pouty face and cry so unfortunately alot of the blessing day pictures are with red eyes and a pouty lip, but she is still adorable so it works.

In other Marchant news, we have had some craze with the recent snow days. Cody and I got to go snowboarding (my second time ever). Cody does a pretty good job of teaching me but I still get frustrated...which I have determined is pretty easy when your tumbling down a mountain at a rapid speed and biff your head on ice or when small children are passing you and giving a look that says "you SUCK!". Although I am a slow learner we still had fun and it was nice to spend time together without the baby.
Also with the recent snow, there was a slight incident with my car, black ice and a curb that sadly costed about $700. Although I am a little disappointed that the incident didn't occur while doing something fun like donuts, I am very grateful that no one was hurt and that no other cars were involved. I have determined when dumb things like that happen you have no other choice but to laugh it off and realize that God does indeed have a sense of humor...Blast those crazy snow days!

I have been lucky enough to still be on maternity leave until the end of April and I have enjoyed relaxing at home and doing things at my leisure. I have also been lucky to have a mother-in-law and a husband who are always willing to watch Brynlee when I need a little time to myself. I was able to spend a saturday with some friends and go to the scrapbook expo, lunch, and shopping and this last week I had a blast with some old drill friends at dinner and bowling.

We have loved watching Brynlee grow this month and been so blessed that she is so healthy and happy. We are excited for her first Easter and can't wait for all the things she will learn to do in the month to come!

Week 3 update

To keep everyone updated our little Brynlee is almost 1 month old! Within the last couple of weeks it seems like she has done so much growing and had so many firsts!

I was finally able to let go and let her start sleeping in her crib rather than in her bassinet as close to my bed as possible. I was worried that I would be panicked the entire night and listen super intently to the monitor to hear any sign of a noise that she needed me to run in and hold her but to my surprise she slept great and so did I! She still wakes up every three hours but she has taken to sleeping on her own very well. She is also starting to get in her sleeping patterns and we can generally tell what times she will be wide awake and alert and what times she will be completely out.

Besides her future husband Koleson, she has another best friend...her binki. She acts like it is the end of the world if it falls out or she wakes up and it's not right there to sooth her. She will frequently shake her head from side to side as fast as she can to find it, which is pretty entertaining to watch until she gives us that look like "you jerks! Give me my bink!!".

Although her need for her bink gets old around 3 AM and sometimes makes it hard for us to determine if she is really hungry or if she just wants her bff, she does look pretty cute with it in her tiny little mouth. When her bink is not available she has resorted to finding her thumb, which is adorable! I have been warned that her sucking her thumb is a terrible habit,but I think her Grandma Marchant and I agree that it is so stinkin cute that I will allow it for now.

Baby Brynlee

As many of you may already know our beautiful baby Brynlee Kate has blessed our little family with her arrival! She was born January 31 was 5 pounds 12 ounces and 19 inches long. She is healthy and thriving! The delivery went well (thanks to the epidural). We arrived at the hospital around 3 AM and were admitted around 4 and had a chance to sleep for a little bit by the time our parents arrived. Around 7 I felt like the contractions were starting to get uncomfortable so I decided to get the epidural. Soon after my blood pressure dropped dramatically and so did Brynlee's heart rate. The nurses immediately gave me meds and oxygen until I was stable...Cody was a little concerned about it when he woke up since I didn't feel it necessary to wake him during all the fuss. After a couple hours of waiting and having my water broken she made a fast arrival after only 19 minutes of pushing...thank heaven for my sake!

I have had a great recovery and felt pretty much back to normal two days later. The doctors have kept a close eye on Brynlee because she is so tiny, but she has continued to grow and is such a wonderful baby! She is a great eater and for the most part sleeps pretty good. We are in the process of getting her body in the habit of sleeping good at night rather than during the day...this decision was made after two or three nights of staying up with her until 3 or 4 because she didn't feel like sleeping. When she is awake she is bright eyed and happy with an occasional smile. I personally like to think it's because she recognizes me but others may disagree. : )

She has been so much fun for us! Cody and I have been lucky enough to have time off work so we can both be home with her for the first few weeks. It has been nice to just relax as a little family before the craziness of life kicks in. We have also enjoyed all the visitors that have come to meet Brynlee.

Since we have been home Brynlee has only left the house for 2 doctors visits and to grandma and grandpa Pool's and Marchant's houses. Also, this week we gave her her first bath! She was much better than we expected, she actually enjoyed it and didn't make a peep until the time came to get out and dry off. She also doesnt enjoy being lotioned up but she does better if her daddy is holding her hand.

We are pretty sure she has a good sense of humor already since she likes to frequently play pranks on us. She has the mischevious habit of peeing on us as soon as we change and put a clean diaper on her... which is pretty funny for me to listen to when Cody is in the other room changing her and I hear "baby girl! That's not cool!" followed by "babe, can you get me another diaper and another outfit??" It is especially funny when she does it a couple times in a row...although rather annoying to be going through that many diapers within 5 minutes.

All in all, our little family is doing great and we love our new baby girl! We feel so blessed to have her and love being parents!