Into Everything

All my kids have been curious and get into things.  Bree gets into everything too.  However she is much more curious about how things work.  Today Bree sat here for over 30 mins taking the crayons out and putting them back into the box.  She loves anything that has to do with this repetitive motion.  While I'm grateful she is exploring, learning, and curious, it sure is hard on this mamma to follow her around all day cleaning up one disaster area after another.

Waiting for me

Every morning I take Sprinkles out to do her business. Lately I've had a little someone waiting patiently (or not) for me to come back in. She is so adorable kneeling there in her jammies with her paci and blankie. Occasionally the dog will take too long and Bree will start tapping on the window saying momma over and over. I can't get enough of her cuteness.

Chili for Dinner

Russ has been out of town this week for work.  Whenever he is gone I try to make simple meals that the girls will eat.  Today I made some Taco Salad.  Breanne is usually really good about feeding herself so I gave her a bowl of chili to go with all her taco salad toppings. She started eating with her spoon so I wasn't too concerned about her.  I was busy eating and helping the other three girls and didn't look at Breanne until Lily said, "Uh-oh mamma!  Look at Bree!"

Uh-oh indeed!  Little girl loved her chili but when she had her fill of it she realized how fun it was to paint her chair and herself with it.  Bree got rewarded with a bath in the sink which she was unsure of at first but in the end loved it.

Snuggles with the little girls

I've been really tired lately.  I sit in the rocking chair a lot. The little girls have noticed this and have taken full advantage of that.  They bring their blankies with them in the morning and come snuggle on my lap.  I love these extra snuggles I've been getting!

Bottle Baby

Breanne never took a bottle as a baby.  The few times Russ tried while I was away for meetings he really had to struggle with her to get her to take one.  We never pushed the issue because I was around so she didn't need a bottle.  Lately Breanne has been exposed to baby's who do take bottles.  I can only guess this is part of the reason why I keep finding Breanne "feeding" herself with this doll bottle instead of her baby doll.

In daddy's footsteps

Growing up Russell's family used to call him Linus.  This was because he carried a blanket around everywhere with him like Linus from the Peanuts comic strip.  His mom even threw away his blanket in the outside garbage once and he went to retrieve it.  

It came as no surprise to me then that my girls have loved to cuddle with blankets.  Allie is quite attached to one but not nearly like her daddy.  Lily and Char like their blankets but don't carry them around too much.  

Now Bree is a different story.  

That girl LOVES her blankets and is following in her daddy's footsteps.  She gets upset if you take her out of her crib without her blankets.  Many times I've found her in her bedroom screaming in frustration as she tries to pull another blanket out of her crib. She has really grown attached to her comforter that goes in her bed. You can see it in the picture above.  We are planning on working on that.  I've got to find a blanket that I don't mind her carrying around and shredding.  I must admit I find it quite cute to see my Bree walking around paci hanging from her mouth and a blanket trailing behind her. It almost gives me a glimpse back to what Russ was like as a baby.

Breanne's blessing dress and three month photoshoot

Bree got blessed yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of her besides the quite comical ones of our family with her.  Since Russ was still on vacation today I asked him if he wouldn't mind helping me take some pictures of Bree.  He did a lot of dancing around for me, and I got quite a few pictures I liked.  Yay!  These also doubled as her 3 month pictures. 

I had to get a full shot of Bree in her beautiful blessing dress.  It was an adventure to get this dress for sure!  Grandma Deenie gave us money to buy the dress.  I searched all over the internet but could not find one that I liked.  I finally sent my sister to a store in Provo and she texted me pictures of a bunch of the dresses there.  I picked one that I liked.  Then my sister shipped it to us.  This dress was worth all the trouble though.  It simple and beautiful.

Tiny feet in Aunt Becky's booties.

Blessing bracelet from Lala

Bree is such a smily, giggly girl!

I had just finished taking pictures when Allie started talking to Breanne.  Those two were laughing and giggling so much.  Bree looks a lot like Allie as a baby.  It was fun to get this picture of the two of them together laughing and playing.

Breanne's Blessing

Breanne's blessing was today!  It turned out a bit different than we had planned.  For one thing we were here in Texas for it instead of in California.  Because of the unexpected change of plans no family was able to be present for her blessing.  However, we are lucky to be surrounded by great friends in the gospel and many of them were present.

I set up the camera on the TV stand and got a few pictures of us before we went to church.

We got this semi decent picture of the girls before Charlotte wanted to hold Breanne.

She wanted Breanne so this happened...

And this...

We sent her off to her room to cool down and I set up the camera for a picture of just me, Russ, and Breanne.  As I was doing a test shot, I just happened to get this beautifully tender picture of Russ and Bree.  I love my how wonderful he is with our children.

And a picture of the three of us...

At church Russ was able to give Breanne a blessing and a name.  Those standing in the circle Russell, Joseph Stevenson, James Davis, Bishop Victor Bond, Lance Oden, and Gennaro Dicataldo.  Her blessing consisted of many promises of happiness, laughter and humor.  Apparently she is her daddy's child with the sense of humor!  Russ also told me as soon as he sat down that Breanne was so happy throughout the whole blessing.  She smiled the whole way through!

Breanne truly is a blessing in our lives.  She has brought much happiness and laughter in a time where it was greatly needed.  I'm excited to see what a wonderful young woman she becomes.

Bree's 2 Month Pictures

My pudge, pudge is growing up way too fast!  Yes, I call her pudge, pudge.  It is in reference to her middle name.  Anyway, the last two months have seriously flown by.  Our little Bree is one of the happiest babies.  It is such a relief to have a baby that is fairly calm considering everything else going on in our lives.  Heavenly Father definitely knew that I needed to have my Bree at this time to add a little bit of happiness and sanity to our family.  Here are a sampling of the pictures I took for her 2 month photo shoot.  The first few she wasn't working with me, and was giving me a bit of sass.

Oh no, mom's got the camera out again!

Maybe I'll smile just a bit for her.

Nope, she's crazy, I'm just going to spit up instead.

 Finally I got Bree to cooperate a bit better and got these cute one's of her.

This is my favorite!

Yep she's along one just like her sisters!

Lastly a bit of smile.

Breanne and me

Just another attempt at getting in more pictures with my kiddos.  Bree's the easiest right now because she holds still for me!  This whole project is tough, and I end up getting a lot of pictures of me that are totally unflattering.  But, I know 10 or 20 years down the road I'm going to cherish all these silly pictures of me with kiddos.  Have you been taking pictures of you with your kiddos?  Give it a try so you don't regret it later on!

Breanne's Birth Announcement

I can't believe that at the end of this month my little Bree with be three months old!  Time sure has passed quickly!  With my girls I always do a birth announcement.  I've had Bree's done for forever, but just haven't had the time to mail it out.  I didn't want to spoil the surprise for anyone so I haven't posted it on here before now.  Family should have received it by now so I can show it off to all my friends now. (You may have to click on it to read it!  In person it is easier to read)

I smile at last!

Finally!  Yes I finally got a picture of Bree smiling!  Russ got her to smile while I stood behind and took pictures.  This girl has such a gorgeous smile and we are lucky enough to see a lot!  Bree is so very happy and smiles at us all the time.  Doesn't her smile melt your heart too? Oh and notice her hair sticking up all over the place?!  I can't over the cuteness of it either :D

Playing Keep Away

Breanne lost her pacifier today while she was lying on my bed.  Instead of being a good mom, I was mean and made her find it on her own.  She is so cute searching for it. I love watching her mouth and the little faces makes as she tries to get the pacifier.  I was even extra mean today and pulled it a little further away when she almost had just so I could get a picture of her making those cute faces.  But don't you worry as soon as she started fussing that she couldn't get I plopped it in her mouth for her.  Also if you look at the pictures you can see that she is jerking her head back reall far to get that pacifier.  This is not my doing.  Bree is constantly turned to this .  She almost has rolled over by arching herself this way.  The doctor seems surprised that she can do this.  It makes a teeny bit sad to see her trying to roll over so early.  i want to keep her small forever.  My time with her seems to be passing so much faster than the time did with her sisters.  Enough rambling how about some cute pictures?!

Snuggle Bug

All my girls have loved to swaddled.  I think has something to do with the fact that they are so crowed in the womb.  Anyway, Bree loves it even more than her sisters did.  She likes to be swaddled super tight.  Tonight Russ was putting her to bed and he had swaddled her.  I looked over while he was rocking Bree and started laughing.  Bree had gotten herself so comfortable she had almost snuggled all the way down into her blanket.  Silly baby!

Smiling Bree

Bree has the cutest smile and smiles a lot!  However, that girl is quick to stop smiling as soon as the camera comes out.  Today I captured this half smile.  I love it soo much because she is smiling with her tongue out.  Russ teases me that she has my smile because I smile with my tongue out too.  At least she takes after me in one way!

 

Half Smile

Well, I'm getting closer at getting a full smile recorded.  Here is a cute little smirk Breanne gave me today.

Breanne 2 Month Checkup

Height:

23.75 in -- 90%

Weight:

11 lbs 9 oz -- 60%

Head Circumference

 37 cm -- 10%

Today's appointment was quite typical.  Bree is tall and thin.  However, I was surprised to find out that she has such a tiny head.  It doesn't seem tiny, but apparently it is.  I questioned the doctor again about Bree turning to one side.  She still refuses to have her head turned to the right.  We even tried switching her around like he suggested and she just ignored that and turned her head the way she wanted.  He checked her head again and said it is perfectly round.  he also checked her neck muscles and said they weren't tight.  She just has a large preference as to what way she lies and there is nothing wrong with that.  I explained how it makes her roll over because she yanks her head back so far to which he was surprised at.  But yet again he said not to worry about it.  We'll see if I stop worrying about it.  Everything else was fine.  Poor Bree had to get three shots today and the oral vaccine.  The nurse was REALLY slow about putting in the needles.  I wanted to jab them in for her, she was so slow.  I'm sure Bree will get the bumps on her legs from the nurse being so slow : (

At home Charlotte was very concerned about Bree's shots.  She kept touching them and saying ow.  Even though this is out of focus I thought it was a very tender photo of Charlotte gently touching them the shot area.

Bree Milestone: Finding fingers

Bree has found her fingers this week.  She loves to stick them in her mouth and slurp away at them.  She is so noisy with them too!  During the night I usually know it is feeding time because I'm woken up by Bree slurping away at her fingers.  She gets it from her daddy : )  She is super cute though when she has those finger in her mouth though.

Bree: One Month

Bree has grown so fast this past month and half!  I can't even believe that she is already almost two months.  I decided a better get on taking her one month pictures before she isn't one month anymore.  LOL!

I tried to get a picture of her whole body to show how long she is, but she kept scrunching up her legs.  I only got one slightly decent picture with one leg extended...and partially cut off in the picture.  Oh well!

Bree is quite an easy baby at this point.  She really only cries if she wants fed or is tired.  She doesn't fuss really.  However, she will get upset laying on her  back.  She much prefers to be sitting so she can see what is going on.  That or put on her tummy.  She has outgrown her number 1 diapers, mainly because she is too tall.  Width wise the tabs still overlapping in the middle!  We love our little Bree Bree and are so happy she is part of family.  She brings a lot of smiles and laughter to us all.

RSV

Bree's cough wasn't getting better since we last took her in.  So I made an appointment for her today.  Because I wanted to see Dr. H we couldn't get an appointment until 4:30.  I called Russ to let him know, and he could tell I was freaking out over the thought of taking all four girls with me to the doctors.  He called me back a few minutes later and told me that he had worked out with his boss to come a little early so he could take the other girls off my hands.  We agreed to meet at the doctors office.

After Lily got home from school we rushed to the doctors office and waited, and waited.  Thank goodness they had a movie on for the girls!  Finally we got called back.  By this time I was wondering where Russ was, he was late!  About two minutes later he showed up and took the girls down the road to McDonald's to play.

A bit later the doctor came in and checked Bree over.  He said she was still wheezing quite badly and would need to do more aggressive breathing treatments.  This time we would be mixing two medicine's together.  I wasn't happy to hear this considering the additional one is a steroid.  He asked if the previous doctor had done a swab of her throat when she came in.  I said no.  He explained that the swab test would have shown that Bree had RSV not bronchitis like she had been diagnosed with.  He said that he was going to change the diagnosis and make sure to put that at the fore front of her chart so that if she had an further breathing problems we would know why.  

Hearing the word breathing problems sent me into a bit of a panic and I asked Dr. H what he meant.  He explained that children who get RSV have 50/50 chance of having childhood asthma.  My heart stopped.  I questioned him if it was hereditary because Charlotte had asthma.  He said yes and that because of a family member having it her chances actually went up to 75/25.  By the end of the appointment I was quite numb with shock.

It appears that we may have a rocky road ahead of us for Bree too.  Right now we are getting her through this RSV..no more going out for awhile...and then hopefully we will get lucky and she will be part of the 25% of kids that never get childhood asthma.