3 months

Brynn is SUCH a cute baby! I'm biased, of course. She turned 3 months yesterday and I still can't believe she's OUR baby. It's difficult to capture her smiling on camera lately because she seems mesmerized by the camera lens and just stares at it when it's pointed at her. So, although the pictures don't show it, she smiles constantly and my favorite thing is going in to get her after she's been sleeping and being greeted by a big, gummy grin and a little coo. She rolls, has great head control, is tolerating longer sessions of "tummy time" and is pretty content when she's awake. People told me the fussiness would mostly disappear after 6-8 weeks and it really has, which is so nice. It's easier to take her out and not worry about her having a meltdown. I think it's partly because she can see better and farther now, so she can observe and enjoy what's going on around her. She started laughing about a week ago and we have a video of it from this past weekend when she had her first real fit of laughter...THE CUTEST THING EVER! It's amazing how a baby's laugh just melts your heart and makes you want to laugh, too. She sucks on her hands constantly and has found her thumb, too. I sucked my thumb until the 5th grade (don't be a hater) and although it's super cute to watch her suck on hers, I don't want her to have bucked teeth and 4 1/2 years of braces like I did! We'll see. I'm thinking about making the transition from swaddle to sleep sack so she can soothe herself in the night with her fingers and also so it's easier for other people to put her down, since the swaddling is a bit complicated to get right. I'm nervous about it because Brynn always startles herself with her arms, so I'm not sure how long it will take her to get used to not being swaddled...tips and advice are welcome!
And as if on cue, Brynn is waking up from her nap, so I'll leave you with some of our latest photos!

uh oh...

The magic of being a mama

My friend Kristen, a beautiful woman and mother who also has a gift for expressing her thoughts in writing, has spent the last week or so sharing on her blog some reflections about motherhood, in honor of Mothers Day...I've passed my computer many times in the last few days trying to decide how I can encapsulate my own musings on motherhood in this little space. It's difficult to describe how I'm feeling this year, my first year celebrating the joy of being a mom myself, as well as honoring my own mother.



Brynn will be 12 weeks old in a few days. When I allow myself to daydream, the memories of my pregnancy and her delivery are fresh. I remember hearing, before I had Brynn, that as soon as the baby pops out, you'll want 12 more. Well, for me, even though I was in complete awe of Brynn the moment I saw her, the memory of the pain it took to welcome her into this world was so real and raw and recent that I thought to myself, "Let's just start with ONE baby at a time, 10 years apart". =) Of course, as the weeks have passed, I am ready to do this all over again a million times if it means having another gift like Brynn.



A friend recently said to me "Robin, I've never heard you complain about anything with Brynn. It's so refreshing". I've wanted to be a mom for so long and had always hoped it would be part of God's plan for my life, that I can't imagine complaining. Now, I know I have many years of child-rearing ahead of me and there will be plenty of opportunities for griping, but I really don't want complaining to be a part of my character as a wife and mother.



I've just recently started reflecting on what a gift it is to be able to nurse my baby. I cherish this time with Brynn so much, the way she snuggles up to me, makes little noises, grasps on to me with her tiny hands, closes her eyes...it's such a precious time and I sometimes have to remind myself to not watch tv or use the laptop during this time, but instead spend time looking at her, praying for her, and just being with her. I know this season of mothering is short and I want to be able to look back and remember every detail of my dates with her at 2am.



Although I can spend a lot of time talking about how wonderful my new role as a mother is, it wouldn't mean nearly as much to me if Mark weren't here to walk along with me. He and I were sitting on the couch the other night looking at a photo of Brynn on the wall and he said "that's our daughter...we're a family now". Crazy. Since we were married almost 7 years before Brynn came along, I already felt like we were a family, but having her here gives so much more depth to our relationship and love for each other. It's been so magical for me to watch my husband become a father.




These last 12 weeks have been the most challenging and rewarding weeks of my life, full of so much "newness". As I hear Brynn rustling awake from her nap, I'm reminded that "me" time is often cut short, but I wouldn't trade all the alone time in the world for even just one moment with my baby girl.

Happy Mothers Day to all the amazing moms in my life. You have encouraged me up to this point and continue to do so daily in our conversations and experiences together. I'm inspired and amazed by all of you- there is definitely an instant camaraderie with other moms the moment you become one yourself, and I'm grateful for the new bond I have with the women in my life.

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?