One Week Old...(July 26, 2011)

Our little princess Brielle Marie (6 days old) with Grandma Halvorsen

It's so hard to believe that our little angel is already one week old! I can see how quickly this year will fly by and am trying to cherish every moment...even the fussy ones :)! Here are some of the things I'm loving about Brie and being a mommy...

1) When she's sleepy she makes little meow-ing noises like a kitten. so. darn. cute. She also seems to "talk" already with her little sighs, coos, and cute noises. I swear sometimes she is saying "Yeah" when we say things to her :).

2) She has great facial expressions and loves to mess with her face using her tiny little hands. The other night she grabbed her nose--so cute!

Brie grabbed her little nose while snoozing on daddy...so daddy joined in the nose-grabbing fun!

3) She is so adorable when she stretches her arms out allll the way above her head.

4) She has the cutest little pouty mouth (I may not think it's as cute when it's used for real some day--ha!).

5) She loves, loves, LOVES to eat!! She is a champ nurser and loves her some milk, I love having her nestled so close and what an awesome bonding time it is.

6) She has the most beautiful little head of hair...just like her mommy did, I am hoping it does not fall out (mine didn't, so there is hope!).

7) I love watching her and knowing what a precious gift from God she is and how blessed we are to have her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8) I love knowing the biology behind our little miracle and look at her in wonder realizing she's this perfect little bundle started from just ONE cell (that still BOGGLES my mind) that had 23 chromosomes from me and 23 chromosomes from her awesome daddy!

9) I love watching Justin be a daddy, he is AMAZING! I knew he would be a good daddy, but he is far exceeding how good even I knew he would be. He loves laying down with her on his chest and it is just so sweet to watch. Ever since our first night with her in the hospital he has called her his princess, which just melts my heart!

Daddy and Brielle...chillaxin'



What a GREAT daddy! So in love with his little princess!

10) It is so neat to see the joy of my own parents as they get to know their first little grandbaby. Grandpa Long had such a hard time leaving last Saturday and is already counting down the days till he will see her again. Grandma Long is loving every moment she is able to spend with Brie and dreads the day she will have to leave...she's also a TREMENDOUS help...doing laundry, cleaning, cooking, and hanging with Brie so I can do things like shower or nap or eat (I think this last one is her favorite!).

Grandma is so proud of her little granddaughter and Brie thinks grandma is just the best!



Grandpa Long holding Brie, one of his favorite things to do! And Brie sure loves being cuddled by her Grandpa Long too!

11) Finally (though I know I could go on and on), I love, love, LOVE being a mommy. Even though I'm tired (though, actually, miraculously I have found I do pretty well on just 3-4 hours of sleep, though I prefer six!) and it's super hard work sometimes to nurse a champion eater, I would not trade this for the world and am so glad God decided to bless Justin and I with our sweet little Brie so that I could be her mommy! I can already not imagine our life without her and look so forward to watching her grow, teaching her to love Jesus and love others, and seeing her blossom into the beautiful little girl I know she will become. (And yes, all you mommy friends out there, just typing this makes me super weepy!)

So happy to have my little Brielle enter this world! Those three words, "It's a Girl" were so exciting to hear!

So little Brie, as I gaze at you tonight as you doze off after a (wow) short little feeding, I hope you know how much your mommy and daddy love you and what joy you bring to our lives!

Baby H has Arrived--Welcome Brielle Marie!

First family picture, about 30 minutes after Brie arrived...and yes, I realize our phenomenal talent for the self portrait :)

Most of you likely have heard the news already (unless I have random blog stalkers I'm not aware of :) ), but our little beautiful bundle of joy made her entrance on Tuesday July 19th at 7:04pm. We are completely enamored with Brielle Marie and are enjoying the rollercoaster that is new parenthood. Really and truly, she has been a WONDERFUL baby so far, and we are hoping she is not fooling with us and stays this way :).

I will spare you the details of my labor, but all in all it was just about as easy of a labor as I could imagine. I was in shock at how quickly and how well everything went. My doctor kept telling me I would have a super great, easy labor...but I never really believed her...and it turns out she was right (YAY for me!). Justin was a great partner through the whole thing and is an amazing daddy. He often has what I'm calling "Daddy Magic" and is able to calm her down when I just can't seem to.

My parents hopped in the car almost immediately after hearing that my water had broke and I was on my way to the hospital (literally, I was checked in at the hospital at 11:30am and they were on the road at 12:45pm...what great parents!). They had been packed and ready to head out for a couple of weeks, and were delighted to finally get "the call" from Justin :). They arrived to our house around 2am, got some much needed sleep and then anxiously headed to the hospital on Wednesday morning to meet Brie. They (of course) are totally in love with her, and it was really hard for my papa to leave his beautiful grand daughter today! Luckily for me, my mom will be staying with us for four weeks, so she still has lots of time to spoil and love on Brie. I am so, so, so thankful to have her help and know that it will make these first few weeks of mommyhood so much easier!

I have TONS of pictures to share, so if you aren't on Facebook (or want to see even more than there are on Facebook), you can view my snapfish album

Here are a couple of my recent favorites:

Chilling with daddy :)

Modeling the outfit her grandpa Long picked out just for her...I am going to have SO much fun shopping for and dressing this little gal (and so will grandma Long!)

Ready for Baby H!

Based on my appointment today, the doc says that she hates to make predictions but she "wouldn't be surprised if you go into labor in the next week". So, let the waiting game really begin :).

We also got the link to the rest of the edited maternity shots that our awesome photog friend Michael (Inner Light Creations) took for us. You can view them here: maternity shots and the password is husker (no caps or anything). We'll also be getting a USB with all the non-edited images too, so I'm looking forward to seeing those as well.

Can't wait till baby arrives and we can do the newborn shots--sooo fun!