A Very Merry First Christmas!

Although our ride home yesterday was not very merry (we haaaaaate I-35 traffic between Dallas and Austin over the holidays), we did have a very merry Christmas with the Long family this weekend.  Brie and Ella were sufficiently spoiled by their grandparents and Auntie Reanna and it was just fun hanging out together.  It was probably my most favorite Christmas ever!  Brie even thought opening packages was one of the best things in the world and would grab the paper and hold on tight as I moved the package around to rip the paper off.  Then she tried to eat the paper.  Oops.  Oh well, I'm pretty confident she will survive!

We are looking forward to mom, dad and Reanna arriving tomorrow to spend a few more days with us.  Plus, we get the bonus of Ella as well.  Katherine turns 30 this year, so she and Justin are going to San Antonio for a little mini-vacation.  We are looking forward to listening to Brie and Ella "talk" to each other some more.  Can't wait to watch these two little gals grow up together!

I look lame in this picture, but my most favorite Christmas gift of all looks pretty darned cute!

 I love this picture because it captured the very first gift opening moment...she literally dive-bombed the package

And this is poor Justin on the last part of our ride home.  It took so long to get to Austin that we had to pick up the dogs at the vet in the fully loaded Accord with Brie in tow.  We were hoping to never ever have to have the dogs in this car...but thanks to Dallas traffic we had to do it...Sierra thought she should probably sit up on Justin's lap, rather than on the floor with Mozart...it was quite an interesting 30 minutes for sure!

5 Months!

 It is so hard to believe our little Brie is 5 months old already...time is flying by way too fast!  I remember this time last year Justin and I were on our cruise and imagining our life "next year at this time."  I couldn't have imagined a more perfect baby :)!  Here's some stats on our fabulous five month old:

• Weighs in at about 14 1/2 pounds
• Is about 25.5ish inches long
• Loves to chew on pretty much anything, but especially her favorite two fingers
• Is a wonderful, fabulous, amazing sleeper (she averages 10-11 hours a night...straight...yes, we know this is not normal and she is completely spoiling us!)
• Isn't laughing quite yet, but loves to give us lots of big smiles
• Prefers to roll from her back to her tummy....instead of from her tummy to her back...she likes to do things the more challenging way
• Loves to be out and about and around people...a go-getter for sure!

In other news, we celebrated our first family Christmas of the year with the Halvorsens/Schlafers last Sunday.  Poor Justin had a stomach bug, so he didn't get to enjoy much of it, but Brie and I had fun :).  We got a few pictures of the cousins, it's very interesting trying to do a photo shoot with a 6 year old, two 3 year olds and a 5 month old baby!  On Friday we head for Dallas, where we will spend Christmas with the Longs.  We are especially looking forward to spending time with Auntie Reanna, who hasn't seen Brie since August (poor Auntie Reanna!).

Here are a few pictures from the Halvorsen/Schlafer Christmas:

 Cousins: Hailey, McKayla, Abigail & Brie

 I love the expressions I randomly catch on camera...and I love that Brie seems to love hats.  She wore this the whole day, except for during nap time :)

 Brie with Grandma Halvorsen and the quilt she designed and made for Brie--such talent!

And, just because I love this smile so much, a picture of her in her new onesie from Grandma H

Happy Birthday Daddy & Jeans

Oops, wife fail.  Justin's birthday was last week and I forgot to do a Happy Birthday Justin blog.  However, in all fairness, Justin believes his birthday did not happen, so really, it was in an effort to help him ignore the day.  Anyhow, Brie and I wanted to say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the bestest husband and daddy us gals could ask for :).  Here's a few pics of Brie "helping" daddy with his packages...

 Yes indeedy, that's Cars wrapping paper.  Keepin' it young in our household...

And yes indeedy, that's a Cinderella card for daddy (it's from his princess!)

And, jeans.  Baby jeans are super cute.  However, completely impractical as they are very hard to remove and put on with multiple diaper changes in a day.  But, did I mention they're SUPER CUTE?  So, I broke down yesterday and put Brie in her adorable jeans for the first time.  And, our July mommies group secret Santa sent us the adorable pink boots she's wearing.  I'm not usually a fan of shoes on babies who can't even walk yet, but I will admit these were pretty darn cute...and they kept her feet warm :).

 Just loves to have her fingers in her mouth these days...this shot shows her fancy boots :)

 'Sup blog readers?

Sophie

This picture of Brie with Sophie the giraffe just might be my favorite one I've snapped.  I have no idea how I got that expression, but it is priceless.  For those of you who don't know about Sophie, she is supposedly the bestest and most awesome teething toy in the world.  She's from France and is (in my mind) ridiculously expensive.  However, thanks to a tip from a friend, I got a great deal on Sophie and she arrived in the mail the other day.  Is she the bestest and most awesome teething toy in the world?  Well, I'm not sure, but I will say that it's the ONLY teething product that Brie has actually had an interest in so far, and she seems to enjoy nibbling Sophie's ears, legs and snout.  So, in that sense, so far it's great in my mind :).  Here are a few more pics of Brie and Sophie...

I'll never get tired of that adorable smile!

 Nom, nom, nom

Sophie...eh...fingers work just fine for this baby :)

Thankful

I'm always incredibly thankful for the numerous blessings in my life, but this year it has really hit me how truly, truly thankful I am for so many things.  This year I am especially thankful for:

My AMAZING and WONDERFUL husband, not only is he a great husband, he's a fabulous daddy

 

Our healthy, beautiful Brielle, she brings such joy to our lives

We both have good, stable jobs

Being able to stay home with my precious little girl part-time--I cherish our days together

Our wonderful families (and I have to say, especially my mom, who happily came and spent almost five weeks with us after Brie was born...she's such a great example for me to follow as we raise Brie!)

Our incredible small group of friends here in Austin--they are such a great support system!

All of our great friends across the country, especially my bestest friend in the world Dawn who came to visit us and meet Brie a few weeks ago

May you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving and have time to reflect on all the things you are thankful for!

4 Months and Counting...

Our little squealer is 4 months old!  I was hoping to be able to post official stats from her doctor's visit, but our clinic made a mishap in scheduling and our doctor was actually on vacation yesterday...thankfully they called to let me know two hours prior to the appointment, and we didn't show up and find out!  Unofficially on our home scale she is weighing in at 13lb 3 oz.  Her cheeks and legs are starting to get some really cute baby chub!  I love chubby babies! 

This week we are looking forward to having four days together as a family.  We will be spending Thanksgiving here in Texas with Justin's family, which is always fun.  It's hard to believe that at this time last year we were telling all the family that we were expecting--wow how quickly that year went by!  We'll also be decorating the house and putting up the lights...last year as we made Christmas preparations we kept commenting, "At this time next year we'll have a 4-5 month old..."...and here we are! 

We hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving holiday and are able to spend time with the ones you love!

4 Month Photos:

Finding our Toes...

This week we're finding our toes.  I never knew how much fun it could be to just sit and watch a baby find their hands and feet.  Here's some pictures I snapped the other night...

 Another picture mom??

 She's quite pleased with herself :)

3 Months and Counting...

Yikes!  Bad mommy alert--I missed posting for Brie's 3 month birthday.  Oops.  I'm sure it won't be the last time (sorry baby!).  Here's some stats and fun facts about our fabulous 3 month and one & a half week old :)

• Weighs in at 11lb 12oz 
• Is about 25ish in long (it's very hard to measure our squirmy wormy baby)
• Loves to babble, coo and has started to try blowing bubbles/raspberries 
• Is starting to hold objects and loves chewing on her monkey lovey
• Still loves to be swaddled up for nap time and bed time, and mommy is fine with that because it seems to work--she sleeps 8-10 hours/night (way to go Brie!)
• LOVES bath time (evidence here ), except when we tried to move her bath time to the actual bath tub...she freaked...so we're still bathing over the sink and we're very glad we had the tile backsplash put up last year...someone really likes to splash
• She's been a great baby at daycare and they all love her already--mommy misses her the two days that she goes, but knows that it is good for both baby and mommy
• She LOVES the baby bjorn and is happy to be strapped in and do just about anything as long as you keep moving.  She enjoys vacuuming, hiking, and various shopping trips with mommy.

We love this precious baby so much and are so blessed by her each and every day!  We look forward to the fun stages that are to come, but are cherishing these moments when she's still small and cuddly!
And, here are a few pics...she's such a ham!

 Our boo-tiful baby :)

 (This is her favorite chair...which is why almost all our pictures are taken here :) )

Showing off her new hat for Christmas--there's an adorable skirt to match. It was hard to pick just one outfit--and this hat did me in...had to have it.  Hopefully she still tolerates it at Christmas time!

Love that smile!

Chatterbox

We certainly have a chatterbox on our hands (seems she is taking after her mommy)...I was able to get a few clips of her chatting it up last night, though she usually gets less chatty when she sees the camera...so imagine this times about ten, and that's what she's like when she really gets going and mommy's not trying to film :).  And, you can ignore the silly mommy in the background :)

Ella and Brie

Time to Meet Ella!

Brie and I are very excited this morning to head up to Dallas and meet Miss Ella (OK, I'M very excited, Brie is apparently very tired as she's STILL asleep and I've already gotten completely ready, have everything packed, and now just need her to wake up and eat so we can hit the road).  I can guarantee you if I was trying to sleep right now, Brie would be awake.  Ah well, hopefully this means she will be a happy and well-rested baby in the car--right??  I must say, I'm a tad bit nervous about driving up to Dallas by myself, with a 2 1/2 month old.  But, I'm sure it will be fine and I always have my GLEE tunes ready to crank up should she become miss fussy pants :). 

It's so fun that both my brother and I have had our first child within weeks of each other.  I can't wait to see him in action as a daddy (because I know he's fabulous!) and I can't wait to start loving on my newest niece!  Maybe some day we'll get some boys in this family, but for now, it's all about girl power, and I'm just fine with that :)!

And, since a post needs a picture, here are a couple from yesterday--when Brie turned 11 weeks old--WOW!

 Hanging with her new wubbanub pacifier--it's SO cute!  She's still figuring out how to get it up and into her mouth all by herself--and it's hilarious to watch her try!  She'll catch on soon I'm sure :)

And how could anyone NOT love that adorable mug?

10 Weeks :)

Here's a few shots of adorable Brie at 10 weeks...and a link to the rest of our newborn photo shoot--it's the sample album:

And finally...little miss rolling over...she is so stinkin' strong!!!!

Two Months

I'm a few days behind in writing this as our little munchkin turned two months old this past Monday.  It's so hard to believe she's two months old already--it really has flown by!  Here are some stats on little Miss Brie:

• Weighs 9lb. 9oz. (25th percentile)
• Length is 23in. (75th percentile)
• Head Circumference I can't remember except it's in the 5-10th percentile
• So...she's a tall, skinny little babe with a small head :)
• She wasn't phased by her first round of vaccinations--she Swas a pretty happy baby all day--wow!
• She loves to smile (when she's in a good mood) and is cooing more and more each day
• She enjoys getting strapped to mommy in the bjorn and walking around the house
• She loves to be held and rocked and really likes it when she's sung to
• Her favorite book from the reactions she's given so far is "Moo, Baa, La, La, La" 
• She has the cutest little 'tired' cry in.the.world.  I swear.
• Falls asleep best when put in the crook of my arm and then gets walked around doing simple chores (things I can do one-handed)...this has become the go-to method when she gets fussy during the day :)
• She took her second road trip to Port Aransas this weekend with our small group friends--and was a good little traveler 
• She is just the cutest, sweetest, best little babe and is such a blessing to her mommy and daddy!!

 Happy and smiley...the day of her shots

 Ready to go for a walk with mommy

 Making faces with daddy :)

At the beach...she slept the whole time we were down at the beach

Cousins

Brie--8 Weeks Today :) (and so HAPPY her cousin was born!!)

Ella--Born Today :)  (Isn't she GORGEOUS??)

First Long Cousin has Arrived!

Justin and Katherine welcomed their precious little girl into the world this morning at 3:24am.  She weighs 7lbs 7oz and her name is Ella Jane.  We are thrilled for them and can't wait to meet her!  Congratulations Justin and Katherine!