Dinner with Bebe and PawPaw

Every week we have dinner with Chase's parents. Usually on Wednesday nights. It's really great to get to see them once a week and they of course love getting to see Brantley at least once a week as well. Last night I snapped this picture while they were both "ooing and ahhing" over her. It was so cute! Unfortunately our little camera doesn't take the greatest pictures anymore but still we got to capture the moment.

BR loves her Bebe and PawPaw already!

We've also started having dinner weekly with my parents on Sunday nights. I'll have to remember to take a picture of Brantley with them this Sunday so I can post their picture also. 

 I hope everyone has a great weekend!

6 Weeks Old

Today Brantley Rae is 6 weeks old! I can't believe it. She's getting so big already!

She's so much fun and pretty easy during the daytime. We've still been struggling with fussiness in the evenings (usually from 6:00-9:00). Sometimes we can walk around with her to calm her, sometimes she just likes to nurse every hour and sometimes nothing we do helps. We get really frustrated but thankfully we have each other so that we can stay in check and calm. We know that she can't help it and she's still a little baby and that this to shall pass. Thank goodness!

Tuesday I went to my Breastfeeding Support Group and BR now weighs 9 pounds! Isn't that great! I'm so glad that she's growing and gaining weight. She is still wearing Newborn size diapers but once we use up this last box of NB we're going to try Size 1. We were given quite a few Size 1 packages so I'm hoping they will fit her now that she's 9lb.

I took these pictures this morning when she was in a really good mood. She had just eaten and played in the floor with me for a good 30-45 minutes. It was great! Chase stopped by the house and witnessed BR in a good mood not fussing. That is very rare for him to see her not fussing since he's not home during the day.

She's getting better and better at holding her head up. When she's propped up on her Boppy she can hold it up really well, but when she's on the floor she can't lift it as high. We're working on it every day with Tummy Time a few times a day. She is starting to like it more, thankfully!

I've gotten in the habit of bringing her into bed with me after she eats around 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning. I'm too tired to stay up with her or to rock her back to sleep. So we snooze for another few hours in Mommy and Daddy's bed. I love it! I know I'm not really suppose to bring her into our bed but it's working for us for now. We're working on napping today and so far it's not going well. I started trying to put her down for a nap at 10:30 because she was falling asleep in my arms. Nope! She cried and cried, I soothed and soothed. Then I nursed her at 11:00. I rocked her to sleep and put her down at 12:00. She woke back up at 12:20. Seriously! 2 poopy diapers, Mylicon later, I'm done with nap for now! It's 1 o'clock, she's still awake with a tummy ache/gas. I'm rocking her and she's content. So for now that's all. I'm hoping to take some more pictures later and update more but for now I'm done typing with one hand. ha!

She's pitiful!

Out Walking

Monday afternoon, BR and I met a couple girls and their babies at the Botanical Gardens to get some exercise since it was such a BEAUTIFUL day here in Birmingham. It felt great out there. We actually got hot! It was so wonderful to not be freezing. (Can you tell I enjoyed it? ha!)

The girls that we met up with are very nice and I'm so glad they invited me to join them. There were 7 of us all strolling our babies around the gardens. It was pretty funny. 

I didn't take this picture. I actually stole it from Liz's facebook page so that you could see what we looked like. haha! You should have seen some of the looks we got.

We had such a great time! See BR even had a little smile on her face. She had actually had a big smile just as I was taking this picture but I was a little bit too late and this is all a caught. I'm hoping that the rain will go away soon so that Spring can hurry up and get her to stay. I think I'm gonna go back to the Botanical Gardens with BR a lot once it gets warmer. If anyone would like to join us let me know. I would love to have someone to talk to while I'm walking around. No baby required, haha!

Hurry up Spring weather...We're ready!

Two Years Ago...

THIS happened and our lives were forever changed. Chase is such a wonderful husband and I love him VERY much!

Lately

So BR is now 5 weeks old and I can't believe it's already been that long since she was inside me and I was begging her to come out. haha! Life at the Williamson's house is completely different and for the most part, it's a good different. Brantley Rae has turned our world upside down and we're all still getting used to it.  I'm writing this post so that I can remember what life has been like over the past 5 weeks.

When we first came home BR slept all the time and ate every 2-3 hours no matter what time of day it was. She was often awake at night and only wanted me to hold her. We (myself, my mom and Chase) spoiled her rotten that first week because she hardly ever got put down and she got to sleep on one of our chests every night. Bad move on our parts but she slept=we slept. My wonderful mom was here for the first 3 days with us day and night. It was great to have her here helping out around the house and with BR. Chase ended up working those first couple of days while my mom was here and then he took half days when my mom went back to work. It worked out pretty well. Chase and I were able to talk BR's newborn pictures that Wednesday when she was only 6 days old. They turned out so cute! See...

 

Over the past few weeks BR has developed a touch of Colic. At around 5-6 o'clock each might she starts to fussy A LOT. Some times it helps if we walk around bouncing her, but then sometimes she wants to eat every hour on the hour until 9 o'clock. We've been trying Mylicon but it hasn't seemed to help all that much. My cousin, Sara, told me about Gripe Water last night. She said that it's a soothing agent type medicine instead of a gas relief. I'm gonna get some of that later today and try it tonight if we need it. Overall, I'm hoping that BR's colic goes away over the next week of so. I'm really tired of fighting her fussiness every night.

Brantley Rae has gotten LOTs of love from Mommy and Daddy over the past 5 weeks. We just love watching her little facial expressions and watching her change everyday.

On February 7th, BR took her first real bath because her umbilical cord stump had already fallen off. She didn't care for it all that much but she survived. I was so nervous during the whole thing that she was going to fall out of the hammock thing and fall in the water. Thankfully she didn't and I got her all clean and dry.  I was so glad for that to be over and done with. I waited a few more days before trying that again. haha!

I know another thing I was gonna document. BABY ACNE! Yuck Brantley Rae has got a serious case of it. It's all over her sweet little face and I wish there was a way for me to make it go away but I know I just have to keep her face clean and wait it out. I talked to the nurse at her doctors office this morning and she said it should go away in a week or so. We will see. Here is a picture of the acne. It's sadly worse on the right side but you can tell it's pretty bad. It doesn't seem to bother her so that's the good thing.

 

So guess what...Brantley slept for 5 hours straight!! Hallelujah!! 

I was SO happy, surprised and a little worried when I woke up and it had been 5 hours since I put her to bed. Thankfully she was okay and starting to wake up so I quickly went into her room and picked her up to love on her and thank her for sleeping so long. haha! I know that's silly but I seriously hope this becomes a nightly event so I can get more sleep.

Today has been a pretty good day. Chase has been off work today so we got to go to Jacks for breakfast. It was yummy and better than a bowl of cereal. When we got back home BR and I played, I feed her and after even more playing she finally went down for a nap at 1:30. She's still sleeping. I can't believe it! I'm sure she'll wake up soon and be ready to eat her lunch, if you will.

Don't you just want to eat her up? I do!

I'm not sure what all we're doing this weekend but I do know we're gonna do some shopping for myself and BR tonight. I need pants and she needs a mobile for her crib. I found a really great one at Toys R Us. I love going shopping for Brantley. It's so fun!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Maybe I'll have more pictures to share on Monday.

I'm a Babywearing Momma

 Yesterday, Brantley Rae and I went to the Magic City Slingers group at the Hoover Library. They are Alabama's first babywearing group. Check out their website to read more about them. 

This is how the group works. You join for $30 and you get to rent a different sling every month for 1 year. At each meeting you can try on different types and find one that you and your baby like. Brantley and I tried on a few before we finally chose the one we brought home. You actually don't have to join the group. If you have your own sling you can bring it and ask them to help you put it on without paying and joining the group. They were really nice and we LOVE our sling so far. Oh I almost forgot, the group meets the first Wednesday of each month on the bottom floor of the Hoover Public Library.
Check us out...

 

BR falls asleep really fast each time I put her in it. It's GREAT!! We went to Target yesterday after the meeting and I didn't have to take her car seat in. It was GREAT as well!!

Let me know if anyone wants to go with me next month.

BR at 1 Month Old

 

 8 pounds 10 ounces

22 inches long

                                -Sleeps 3-4 hours at night (I can't wait for this number to increase)

                                -Eats every 2-3 hours during the daytime (She's a growing girl!)

                                -Naps a lot during the daytime

                                -Really fussy in the evenings (I REALLY hope this stops soon!)

                                -Stairs at bright lights and contrasting patterns

                                -Follows objects and faces with her eyes

                                -Smiles randomly, usually when she's sleeping or waking up

                                               

                                    Likes:                 

                                      -to be held                             

                                      -paci                                 
                                      -tummy time (they have a Love-Hate relationship)                      

                                      -being swaddled                      

                                                                             

                                    Dislikes:               

                                      -her bouncy chair and swing     

                                      -getting in her car seat               

                                      -putting on clothes, especially shirts that go over her head    

                                     -tummy time                             

                                     -taking pictures when she's cold (Hence the screaming in the picture above, ha!)

Hopefully over the next month or so, Brantley's 'likes' will start to outnumber her 'dislikes'.

We are very much in love with her!! She changes more and more everyday and it's so neat to watch.

I'm hoping to take better pictures soon but our house is so darn hard to keep warm it's hard to keep her happy while I try to take them.