Loving Friday

This week I've been really tired. Brynn has been awesome, but I've been staying up too late and forgetting about the fact that I have a baby that will wake me in the middle of the night. =) Oops. For some reason, I'm super excited that today is Friday. I just returned home from walking with a dear friend and Brynn is down for a nap. I'm looking forward to using this time to clean my house and bake a dessert for a family event tomorrow while sipping on a cup of decaf on this chilly afternoon.



I had to say goodbye to my beloved bible study group this week. I love love LOVE these women, but at this point in Brynn's life, she needs me home in the evenings- our days go better this way. I'm going to miss seeing my friends but will be thinking about them every other Tuesday and praying for them- the Lord is doing amazing things in all our lives.



Brynn has always been a great sleeper and my routine with her has been to rock or bounce her until she gets drowsy (about 5 minutes or so) and then lay her down to let her finish dozing off by herself. The last few days, though, I've been watching for her tired cues and then laying her down when she's fully awake to see if she can put herself to sleep. This is something I really want her to be able to do on her own and though it's easy to rock her fully to sleep because she's just so darn cute, I know it will really help things in the future if she can fall asleep on her own. So far she's doing great- is it crazy to say that I'm so proud of her for this?! =)



I'm joining a mom's club on the Eastside that has activities every day of the week for kids- although I do get together with many of my friends who are home with their kids, not many of them live in my community, so I'm excited to meet moms here where we live. Next week I'm going to take Brynn to her first Gymboree class with the group- I'm sure she'll get a lot out of it. =)



We have a full Saturday of fun family activities and I'm really looking forward to Sunday- church and then our tradition of going out for donuts and coffee afterward! I love weekends!

We're on a roll!

Ugh. Blogger is doing this weird thing where it won't let me see my pictures while I write my post, instead it's showing me jumbled-up text, so my nicely planned narrative isn't going to work this time since I can't write below the pictures. Oh well.

Brynn is now 9 weeks old and we can hardly believe how fast the days go and how much she is changing each week. It's really incredible. The title of this post is appropriate because she rolled from her tummy to her back twice today for the first time! The picture below of her on the play mat is the spot where she did it. I tried to get her to do it for the camera, but alas, as many mamas know, that doesn't always work.

She is talking a lot more and it's just the most precious thing. We make noises back to her and that usually encourages her to talk even more. It's so fun to hear her little voice- it sounds like a little munchkin. =) I almost cry thinking about the fact that her little voice will soon be saying "mama" and "dada" and of course, "MOTHER! All the other girls get to hang out at the mall all day,why can't I ?!" and "I promise I'll do my homework and chores AFTER I watch 90210." ...ok, so maybe that one is a bit outdated, but you get the point.

Brynn is very active and we frequently find her in many different positions as she sleeps- just this morning, I looked into her bassinet and she had scooched herself all the way down to the bottom corner and had an imprint of the bassinet on her forehead from being squished against it. Silly girl.

I'm definitely in a time of transition as a new mom- I've realized lately that even though it's been 9 weeks since I had a baby, that doesn't mean that life can go back to normal in terms of me doing all the things I did before I had her- commitments and such. That has been a hard realization because it means there are things I need to give up for now that I enjoy, but I'm also reminded that this season in life is short and before we know it, we'll have a whole other kind of transition to deal with in Brynn not needing us as much anymore, or at least not in the way she needs us now. So, with that in mind, I'm choosing to cherish my new reality as a mother and embrace the sacrifices that come along with it.

Brynn is napping now and I have exactly an hour and a half to shower, tidy up, and bake some cookies for company before we have to get to an appointment- Mark is coming home early today- hooray for that! I'm thinking our evening will consist of pizza, wine, and watching old seasons of The Office on Netflix- oh yea, and I'm sure our little bug will occupy what's left of the night. =)

So grateful for this time in life- it's even more fabulous than I imagined!

Hungry?

Those of you who have flipped through the newest Cooking Light may have seen a scruptious-looking plate similar to this one...I adapted their recipe due to what I had on hand and scarfed down this dish for lunch today. Take a piece of bread, my fav is Dave's Killer Organic Bread- pricey, but if you buy it at Costco, not so much. Toast it, schmear it with cream cheese (CL called for ricotta), pile on some field greens (CL called for arugula) and top it with an over-easy egg sprinkled with Lemon pepper. so much goodness, I seriously almost licked the plate when I was done. Tasty, tasty.

I'll be 2 months old on Saturday...

aren't I cute?

Monday, Monday...

Oh, Monday. After a busy weekend, which included our first date- a success!- my to do list for today is long...appointments to set, friends to call, things to wash, meals to plan, bathrooms to scrub...I'm realizing I had more time to do these things when I was working full time, not that I'd trade this new job for anything, of course. =)

Brynn is sleeping, and of course the moment I sit down to get in a quick blog post...I hear her fidgeting up there...hmm.

Quiet again. Good girl.

Here are some favorite pictures form the last few days- Brynn will be 2 months old on Wednesday and we can hardly believe it. She is getting bigger each day and my new favorite thing about her is the big smile I get whenever I get her after a nap or peek into her car seat while running errands. It's like the sweetest little "hi" a mama could ask for.

Well, that little stinker is grunting up a storm up there, so that's my cue to rescue her...guess the bathrooms will have to wait a while!

Flirting with the Monkey

Brynn has been spending a lot of time lately with her friend, the monkey. She has just started to notice her posse that hangs from the play gym in the last week or so and she will lay under there and smile and talk to her buddies, but she is especially fond of the monkey...I can see why: he's cute, colorful, always smiling, and apparently has a great sense of humor.

We hosted Easter this year and it was the first event that included all the family at the same time- so Brynn had to be shared by all. =) As usual, the food was delicious, the conversation was good and Brynn was a cutie, of course. Today I've been running errands, chatted with a great friend, fielding questions from the police because our neighbor's alarm went off, and am now cleaning up the victims of a massive diaper explosion- all layers of this morning's outfit (including socks), and the car seat insert. Boy can this girl make a mess!