Christmas and 9 months!

Another Christmas has come and gone.

We had so much fun this year with Brielle.

We were so grateful to all those that gave us gifts this year and helped our family out.

We are so extremely blessed.

Brielle got some blocks and loved them! I'd say that was her favorite present.

She wasn't quite sure what to do with all the presents we kept handing her. Haha funny baby.

Here are some more of the babes on her first Christmas morning!

Speaking of the babes...

She is 9 months old now!!!

WOW.

Where does time go?

I love this age so much.
It is so fun to see Brielle learning and growing and just exploring her world.

I love watching her little brain work.

Yes, it gets tiring, and yes she gets into EVERYTHING....

but how long does this little time last?

I'll blink and she'll be 5.

Then 10.

Then 20!

Ah! I want to enjoy every day with her and every little phase of life.

I hope I can remind myself to enjoy it, even on the hard days.

Her 9 month appointment was a couple days ago and she did so well with her shots.

John came with us (which was a first, because he is usually at school or working)

I was glad he was there cause I get really nervous about her shots and my tummy gets all anxious and I feel like throwing up, so I was glad he was there for support. I know I'm silly! She appreciated him being there too because after her shots she held on tightly to him and he calmed her right down. What a good daddy:)

Anyway, here are the stats:

She weighs: 16 lbs 5 oz (15th %)

Height: 26 1/2 inches (25th %)

She is just a teeny girl still. She is so adorable.
She is starting to get so frustrated with things she can't do.
I can't help but laugh at her sometimes cause she is so dramatic.
Just like her mommy, I guess.

SuperMom. My Idol.

Ok

So....

I have the coolest, bestest, most wonderful mom ever!

I'll expound...

This last week our house turned into the sick ward

It all started Tuesday when John texted me saying he was coming home from work early

I picked him up and he had a temperature of 103.4.

YIKES!

So we got him in some comfy clothes, gave him some tylenol, and lots to drink

and waited for the fever to die down....

Wednesday morning, I had a physical because I had been feeling really dizzy

and thought it would be good to get checked out...

Turns out I'm super healthy which is GREAT!

I was starting to kind of feel a sore throat though but I thought it was just a little cold...

Meanwhile, John is still sick at home. Missing another day of work:(

Thursday...John is still sick.

He had gotten up to take his last final and while brushing his teeth started vomiting.

Yummy, right?

So, trying to be a good wife I went in the bathroom to make sure he was ok...

But, I couldn't stay long cause I get sick seeing sickness....ugh...

No more talking about THAT!

So John went to take his final...

Poor guy...he had a hard time concentrating on his test cause he was concentrating harder on not getting sick all over everything:(

That night I start feeling really bad. I checked my temperature and mine was at 102. Ugh...

I made it through the night...barely...

Friday morning....I am basically positive I have strep throat. GROSS!

So I make an appointment for the doctor and in the meantime call my wonderful mommy...

I tell her what I think is going on.

(Why is it when you are sick you can't just go have your mom hold  you like when you were little?)

Anyway my mom tells me not to worry and to get some meds.

I was worried about Brielle getting it and then my mom proceeded to tell me that kids don't really get strep throat until they are at least a year...but to make sure I keep an eye on her cause it could manifest itself as an ear infection instead.

Later at the doctor...

He tells me I have the most severe case of strep throat he's seen in a while.

YUCK.

So, then he tells me not to worry about Brielle cause she most likely won't get strep since she isn't that old, but to watch out cause she may get an ear infection.

Haha.

So...

That's why I say I have the coolest, awesomest, most wonderful mom!

She is a pro at this mothering business.

I call her with ANY question I ever have about mothering, or wifeing..;)

She always knows the right answer and I trust her more than anyone.

I hope I'm gonna be as awesome as her by the time I've been a mom for 30 years:)

Thanks, Mom!

You rock my socks!

Love you.

Oh Christmas tree!

Last night we had a lot of fun!

We decided to start a tradition where each year we do some kind of art work thing that displays how

the kids are growing...(as we have more)

like with hand prints or what not...

So I have seen this before and then

I was reminded of it again when I looked at pintrest.

It's a hand print Christmas tree.

We decided to do John's hand prints at the bottom,

Then mine,

Then Brielles...

Well Brielle's didn't turn out quite the way I had pictured it.

She went a little crazy on the canvas...

At first I was my little uptight self and got a little sad because it didn't turn out

AT ALL like I had planned...

But I'm so in love with it now because it just shows her funny personality.

It's seriously perfect and I looked at it today and just laughed.

Here it is..

In all it's glory.

(Sorry the lighting is bad)

 Kids seriously make everything SO MUCH more fun.

Even if they only are 8 months old :)

Conforming??

So...I did it....

I joined Pinterest.

Why?

Well, first of all I was just curious as to what the crap this thing was that EVERYONE

and their mom is talking about.

I'm not gonna lie..I spent some time on there last night and I don't really understand it all.

It doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me yet, but I think I'm doing it right and it is fun.

I like seeing all the stuff on there.

Anyway, I'll have to sit down with someone that knows what's going on so they can show me the ropes.

Another thing I did that I swore NEVER to do...

(My sister will HATE me for this and I hope she doesn't read my blog cause I'm not telling her)

I bought my first pair of skinny jeans.

YIKES!

I've always kind of had a weird thing against them.

I think they are rather silly actually but I found some online

(Thank you for the tip, Jennie)

for way cheap and I thought...what the heck?

It's worth a shot right?

I mean, not to sound like a brat, but I have skinny legs...

I could probably pull those off...

And I don't feel like I look good in ANYTHING else lately..

SO maybe this is my answer..?

Anyway....

I will try them for ONE day and if I hate them....

They are going away forever and I'll have to find something else to boost my self-esteem.

*Sigh*

The life of a woman.

We have such decisions to make.

None of them are easy.

It's Monday, Monday, Monday....

Wouldn't it be nice, sometimes, if your only worries were  tyring to figure how to roll back over onto your back?

Brielle is trying pretty hard to crawl but she can't get up on her legs very well yet.

I'm not that anxious to get her crawling though.

I like that I don't have to chase her around everywhere!

Some new things Brielle has been doing lately....

-She says "dada" all day long. It's her favorite sound to make. I love hearing her little voice.

-She feeds herself! As most of you probably saw my video on facebook ;)

-She is starting to notice tiny things on the floor and putting them in her mouth. I need to keep my vacuuming up!

-She is starting to take a bottle better.. She'll only really drink like 2 oz. but sometimes she refuses nursing so I don't know. I think she may be getting confused. It'd be nice if she decided what she wanted;)

-For the past week she has basically boycotted baby food and only wants what I eat.

-She noticed snow for the first time and did nothing but stare at it. Funny little peanut.

Anyway we are all decorated for Christmas and are excited to have our first Christmas together with our little darling girl. It's going to be a small Christmas but I have to keep telling myself that Brielle won't remember she only got one present for her first Christmas right?...

Ok, she's getting two...I exaggerate ;)

Anyway I love this time of year. I am glad I have my wonderful family and I know this year, especially, we will be able to focus on what is really important on Christmas.

Have a great day!

Web MD

SO, I'm pretty sure I'm becoming paranoid....

I used to be really easy going when it came to getting sick and what not...

but now every time something feels weird in my body I start to freak out!

I look online on Web MD at the symptoms I'm having (dizzy, constant headache, back pains...etc...)

and according to how I feel today 

I have a brain tumor 

and my kidneys are shutting down.

YIKES!

Sometimes the internet is just wonderful but right now I am thinking not so much.

This is why I could never be a doctor.

Also why I should NEVER watch House.

(Although I haven't watched the last two seasons)

Anyway...I'm sure I'm fine but I do need to get checked out or something cause I've been just feeling weird.

I hope there isn't anything wrong and maybe it's just from a lack of sleep.

8  months of crappy sleep could VERY well have something to do with it.

I need a vacation where I can sleep in for as long as I want.

I never knew I could love my sleep so much...

Who am I kidding?

I knew that would be the hardest thing, for me, about having a baby.

She is getting better lately but I'm still not functioning very well.

I feel like a zombie most days.

GAH! I need to stop complaining about it and be thankful for the sleep that I do get...

That's my brilliant mother's advice to me.

Anyway....

I'm going to raid DI today. Not that I can get anything but I sometimes just like to check it out...

Also it's nice to get out of a house you are in for most of your life.

I need a good, cheap, hobby.