The Fab Four!

We just celebrated two months as a family of 4! :) What little blessing Brynlee has already been so far. We just had her two month check up this passed week {Boo for shots :( , it was a sad day}She is a happy and healthy growing baby girl. Her pediatrician says that she is in the 50 percentile for weight at 12.1 lbs and just slightly above average for her height at 23 inches. I was also advised not to get too excited about her being "tall" since I am a lil shorty and Mark isn't above average in height himself. More than likely her height will even out before too long and she will likely be average in that aspect. She had to drink yucky meds for the RotaVirus, which she made slight faces at but drank like a trooper, and had 3 shots with 4 vaccines. They combines two vaccines into one needle, which I was thankful for. One less poke sounds good to me and I am SURE Brynlee would agree. I could tell she was a little tender for a couple of days but she never ran temp and hasn't been fussy. {For anyone wondering, Yes! Mark and I have both of our children vaccinated as recommended by their pediatrician. I absolutely think it is so silly to have a child get measles or some other disease simply because you refused to vaccinate. There are more and more outbreaks of viruses due to this and it is sad that your child would have to suffer such a disease that was easily preventable! In my opinion the pros MORE than out weigh the cons!!} Ryan was not a fan of the nurse who administered the shots. He gave her the stink eye the entire time and continued to ask her questions like "Why are you making her cry? Hey! Don't make my sister cry!" I cried when she did. Ryan just stayed angry with her!! It's heartbreaking to hear your baby hurting. I know without a doubt it's best for her though. When the Dr came in before her shots, he and Ryan had great conversation as usual. ;) He was impressed with Ryans vocabulary and was surprised with how much he talked. I, on the other hand, was not as surprised with how much Ryan talked. It's when he is quite that I am surprised!! HaHa. The Dr told me not to be alarmed when Brynlee doesn't speak until she is three. It comes with having such an expressive big brother. He talks enough for the both of them and she probably won't get a word in edge wise. His exact words were "You're going to think she is delayed." I believe him. She is completely content on observing! He is completely content in speaking for the both of them. I find myself thinking back to when Ryan was this size. Their personalities at this age are night and day. Ryan was my "little old man" stuck in a baby's body. Brynlee is much more smiley and giggly than Ryan was at this age. When I would make silly faces at him to make him laugh I would end up laughing because his face would be so serious and he would be looking at me like "Why are you doing that? You are so strange!" Brynlee laughs and thinks it's funny. He is such a nice helper and is very excited to do little things for us all the time {we call them big brother favors} like bringing a diaper or the wipes from her room, putting her diaper bag in her room when we get back from somewhere or helping me put away burp rags and receiving blankets. Ryan is learning which "big brother favors" he can and can not help sister with. Examples: Feeding Bryn cheez-it's, because she hasn't had a snack all day, is not a "big brother favor" Only mommy and daddy may feed sister!! He is allowed however, to help mommy put her bib on before she has a bottle. He is not allowed to drive hot wheels on sister because he wants to play with her! He is allowed to lay on his tummy beside her during tummy time and talk and make faces with her. Ryan is always learning new ways to help ... and not help with Brynlee. He is so excited to do anything he can for her. We are growing every day as a family. Mark and I love watching our babies grow and learn. What a wonderful gift life is. I know when we are older and in our little home all alone we will cherish memories of these crazy days.

This is the serious expression I was talking about! 

Brynlee Grace

Ryan's first soccer practice ...

Ryan had his first practice yesterday with his team. He did really good. Most of the time I didn't even have to stand by him  ... most of the time! ;) He was completely fine while they were doing individual drills with their own balls, but when it came time to play a "game" {boys against girls} and Coach tossed all but one ball to the side Mr Ryan was NOT so happy!! He wanted HIS ball. Little toot. Once he got over that he did great. It was fun watching him play. He seems like such a natural to me. I guess every proud momma feels that way. I felt terrible at practice when I realized that we had left his water bottle on the counter at the house. We had extra water there for Brynlee's bottles and he was able to use that. OOPS! I will have to double check before we rush out the door next time. With a newborn in the house and a diaper bag to pack, it is so easy to lose track. It seems like we forget something every time we leave the house. Luckily it hasn't been anything of extreme importance!! We plan on playing a little in our yard everyday. Nothing serious, just have fun together kicking the ball around to get him use to it. He talked about it all day today. His first game is two Saturdays from now, I can't wait to see how he does in a game. :) I'm sure he will do GREAT! That's my baby boy ... growing so big. I am excited for the season and for him to make sweet memories on this team with his little cousins. Below are some shots of his very first practice: 

UPDATE: Since posting this Ryan has quit soccer. I realized he wasn't so into soccer when, after the second practice, he asked "Do we have to come back to soccer?" Mark and I had a talk with him when he said he didn't want to play anymore. We both wanted to make sure that it wasn't for a reason that we could fix. His reason was quite simple... "I haaaaate soccer. Mommy? When does T-ball start?" Mark and I have agreed that we will never force Ryan to play or participate in anything just  because we think its "fun" {Yes, for those of you thinking it ... this includes FOOTBALL! ;) heehee}. If he doesn't enjoy it and doesn't want to play -- that's that! Ryan seems to be {to me at least}a natural little athlete. He seems to love most sports. Soccer, for whatever reason, just wasn't for him. Thanks to all of our family who supported him in selling the Cokes and getting ready for the season. We are so blessed to have such wonderful and supportive family. 

Brynlee's Newborn Shoot with Debbie Harrison!!

A while back I had talked to a good friend about doing a photo shoot for Miss Brynlee! I was SO excited and could not wait to have her pictures taken. I have always thought there would be nothing to taking a newborns pictures. Boy was I WRONG, this lady definitely earns every dime she gets!! She makes it look easy but it is a lot of work! Debbie was absolutely great, she was so professional and had no trouble just going right along with the pace that Brynlee set. She was very patient with Brynlee and she took some beautiful shots. I met Debbie at her home on a Sunday around 3. Brynlee ate as soon as we got there ... and then of course we needed a diaper change!! While getting ready to begin the shoot we first needed another diaper change! {She went through the diapers while we were there!}While attempting to get a nakie shot of her Brynlee peed all over the blanket we were using. She also tried to eat the fuzzy blanket. Unlike her big brother I don't think she enjoyed having her clothes off!! {Ryan is our little nudist! He runs around the house in his undies constantly!}Brynlee's shoot was a lot of fun though and I enjoy having those memories of her. Miss Brynlee was 6 weeks old when we did this photo shoot and I would suggest to all new mommies wanting new born pictures to have them taken earlier, while they sleep the entire time and stay in any position you put them. ;) We were a little passed this point for her. It turned out so great though. I am so thankful to Debbie for taking these sweet sweet shots of my precious baby girl. I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I just want to savor these little moments with her and always remember how teeny tiny my baby girl was. Thank you Debbie, you did an amazing job and I couldn't have been happier!!

Here are some of the awesome pictures we received ---