Working hard

The first two weeks we were home in our NEW home, we were working non-stop with friends and family. We had what felt like a never ending, always expanding list of things to do. Here the guys are building the side fence to keep the dogs in. Nick and his dad even put in a doggy door so for the first time in 8 years, I don't have to take the dogs out on a leash every time they need to go out.
We had some beautiful weather to get out into the yard and start cleaning up the garden. It was great to see some of the flowers the previous owner had planted years ago were still alive and doing well. She had a huge garden in the back corner that took a LOT of work to clear out. I'm really looking forward to getting a garden set up in the same area, although I don't think it will be nearly as big!

Brenna came out to enjoy the day with us. Her first day outside! She did great and was pretty content watching everyone work. And when she started to get fussy, she had two doting grandmas who were more than happy to take a break and entertaining her for a while.

7 weeks

Nick's deployment ended up being delayed by a week, which is wonderful because he is the ONLY one who can really calm Brenna when she gets worked up. Thankfully we made it through the 6th weeks with only a minor increase in crying. Brenna is really soaking up her environment, she's loves looking out the window and at bright colors. She's finally a little interested in her rattle. She doesn't reach for it yet but she really likes to watch it shake. It's been a lot of fun watching her watch everything! Her brain will grow 5cm in these first 3 months. Incredible!!

We also finally got around to getting some professinal baby pictures taken. They turned out so cute!! I can't wait to see how they turned out and get some pictures on the walls!

Big Move

We packed everything up this last week and left Baltimore for Michigan....Brenna did a wonderful job and only got a little fussy the last part of the trip. We made it in about 9.5 hours, not too bad with a little baby :)

Grandpa Don came to help us move and drive the Envoy towing a trailer back to Michigan for us. Brenna loved his facial hair!

Nick entertained Brenna on one of our stops :) She's such a daddy's girl!

Our first home! We had a great stay with ya!

6 weeks

Our baby is 6 weeks old already! They say that this is the week that babies cry the most, probably because they are becoming increasingly aware of their surroundings and get over stimulated. We were wondering if this was going to be the case....and on Wednesday night (her 6 week birthday) she had her worst night to date. Screaming and crying whenever we tried to lay her down to sleep. I think we can already vouch for this being the most she's cried so far. We'll be happy when this week passes!

Otherwise, she is such a happy morning baby...all smiles when she wakes up. She loves having her diaper changed and really loves to be naked. Unfortunately she also likes to go to the bathroom when she's naked...I've had a couple BIG messes to clean up :)

5 weeks and moving!!

Happy St Patty's day!! I can't believe Brenna's 5 weeks old already! She's getting bigger everyday and has actually grown out of a few of her newborn clothes. This makes it tricky because I packed up everything else and sent the clothes to Coldwater with my parents. Luckily we'll be there in a couple days to get into the new wardrobe :)

Here are some cute baby feet :)

And a sweet smile that we've been practicing for a few weeks now....we were just finally able to capture it on film :) They are coming more and more frequently but mostly in the morning when she wakes up.

We have been packing for a few weeks now and we're finally down to the last few days before we leave. The apartment is a mess but we're on the home stretch. Coldwater, here we come!!

1 Month!

Miss Brenna is 1 month old! I thought I'd take a couple different pictures to mark the occasion :)
Brenna is really gaining weight and becoming more alert, she loves to watch our faces and is so cute to watch her little expressions change.

We've been really busy getting a schedule down and Nick getting back into a work schedule. Plus we've been packing and sorting to get ready for Brenna and I to move back to Michigan and for Nick to deploy. Ahhhh, what a crazy time!!

3 weeks

We had Brenna's 2 week (ended up being nearly 3 week) Drs appt. Nick and I tried to guess how much weight she'd gained. I guessed 3 ozs and Nick guessed 5 ozs. We were both way off...she weighed in at 7lbs 13 ozs. A weight gain of 1lb 5 ozs! Such a little piggy :)

Her sleeping habits have been improving. She'll usually go to sleep around 1 or 2 am and sleep for 4 hour blocks until around noon. This schedule works great for me but I think it'll be painful when Nick goes back to work and has to get up around 5am!

After 3 weeks we finally found a pacifier that Brenna likes...she used it for about 2 days and now has completely lost interest.

This is the usual.... dad's finger works wonders to calm her down. Brenna's first outing!! We bundled her up and took her to watch Nick teach combatives. We got to show her off to Nick's work buddies.