Bits About Brynley: SEVEN WEEKS!

Brynley turned 7 weeks old yesterday and I just now had a chance to post pictures of her from the past week. We have really gotten a lot of smiles from her lately, and the ones I took of her yesterday were no exception! She really gives me most of her smiles when I'm changing her diaper, or after she's full and happy!

 

 It's been a good week so far, even though we were all tired after our night of trick-or-treating, she did end up sleeping from 9pm to 3am which was an hour longer than she normally goes at night! It has been a fun yet busy week. She attended her first Halloween, and now we are in full party preparation mode for Ryder's birthday later this month. I'm also excited for her to celebrate her first Thanksgiving. I've already started adding to Brynley's bow collection and now have a few more cute ones for the upcoming holidays.

 My pretty girl in pink. She is fastly outgrowing all of her Newborn sized clothes, so we are now able to let her start getting some use out of her 0-3 stuff. I still feel like she needs a few more things because it has been colder than I thought it would this time of year, compared to the years past, so we are having to let her wear a lot of warmer clothes. My mom brought over a few things that she'd gotten her and she's getting some use!

 We still have a fussy girl on our hands after she wakes for good by 8am, but by 10am she takes a good nap and it gives Ryder and I time to play or do a craft together. Brynley really seems to like gazing up at her play gym and so I have gotten a lot of smiles from her that way. I still can't wait to get her to coo and give me her really big smiles! Lately she has been fussier after her 5pm (dinner) feeding too, which I am hoping is a good indication that she will be ready to settle earlier and get a good nights sleep in.

 But who am I kidding? Just when you think you get it all figured out, you're given a curve ball. I will say that I said more curse words than I'm willing to admit last night due to a combination of exhaustion and no naps. Ryder was adding to the craziness and I just about couldn't take anymore. I just needed some sleep! Luckily I awoke feeling much better today after getting just another hour in. We reminded Ryder that once Brynley is sleeping longer through the night that she will be moved out of our room into her crib and into her nursery. We reminded him that once this happens that he will also be back in his own bed and his own room. He didn't negotiate like he normally does, so I think he will actually be happy to have a bed mate upstairs!

 I love having this little girl and all of her girly things I get to put her in, like these frilly giraffe socks!

 And moments like these pretty much solidify the good times, the hard times, and all those moments in between when I wonder if I can handle staying at home raising them together. I do a lot of self doubting, and this is something I really need to work on. In fact, as both kids were screaming last night and all I could think was how bad I wanted to just go to sleep, I may have even uttered the words "I wonder if Dr G wants me to come work for him". As soon as the words escaped my mouth last night, I realized I was just having a mommy meltdown moment, and just needed to take a breather. There really are so many moments I get to be a part of now that I'm staying at home, and I need to really be more grateful of this. Again, I know once I am getting more sleep that I will have less and less of these meltdown moments.

 All bundled up, we went for a great walk around the neighborhood a few times. I actually went to the gym on Monday (and after a good workout I'm still feeling the after effects ha!) and I've tried to continue getting excercise this week. The kids both seem to really getting out of the house and getting some fresh air too! In these seven weeks, I've come to really learn Brynley's little personality and love everything about her.

 We broke out the Bumbo chair today because Brynley does so well at holding her head up, and she seemed to like it for the few minutes we put her in it. Of course Ryder had to come over and give lots of kisses and baby head pats while she was sitting in it, and afterwards she was over the chair and ready to be held again, but it was fun while it lasted! I have to add that with this week, I've noticed that Brynley's clogged tear duct seems to have gotten unclogged and the hiccups she always seemed to get after feedings seems to have gone away. We've also let her have formula a few times and she seemed not to mind. It really didn't make much of a difference as far as getting her to sleep longer, so I have to say to those "experts" is that I don't think there's much truth to formula fed babies sleeping longer and better.

Along with the other changes this week, she's also gotten much less fussy through the day! I took these pictures with my iPhone and was able to get my latest FAVORITE pictures of Brynley! All smiling her sweet sweet smile of course :)

Happy 7 weeks my little Bryn Bryn!