Not Bottleless!

Brinley has decided that she will no longer take bottles. She hasn't had one since Christmas, so about a month. Yesterday Mike and I tried to give her one before bed and she just screamed. I tried again today hoping that my horrible fears aren't real. I tried three different nipple types, but no luck. She purses her lips and wails. What am I to do??

Growing little Bug

Brinley is a 1/2 year old! Crazy! I had her 6 month check up today, and this is what I learned:

• Weight: 15.1 ... which is less than when I last had her weighed. (About 2 weeks ago) 23% for her weight. The doc is concerned about her gaining weight. Apparently my breast milk might not have enough fat to butter Brin up. Really?! I didn't think that was possible.. I thought it was equivalent to whole milk, but apparently not. Formula may be supplemented to bulk her up!
  
• Height: 27.5 - 90 something percentile
  
• Eating habits - Brin usually eats every 2-3 hours. Now, I need to push that back to about every 3-4. She has started eating oatmeal, squash, carrots, bananas, apples and some more foods. I have to set up a schedule for her eating times.
  
• Sleeping habits - I need to cut the nighttime feedings down to one, so she can get a longer stretch of sleep. Doctor recommended that after bedtime routine is finished and Brin is put down, she needs to learn to go to bed on her own. I have officially been given the OK to let her cry herself to sleep. Mike and I have been having a disagreement here, but I am happy to say I was right! Oh and naps... she is the catnap queen! No consistent schedule whatsoever. So, I am going to try to change that. We'll see how that goes.
  
• Movement skills - Brin is a good sitter. She can sit up very well on her own for long periods of time. Also, she has rolled over from back to stomach and stomach to back. However, she chooses not to roll. She used to roll over to get something she wanted, but now just cries if she can't reach it. LAZY! Anyways, she is capable of doing so, but just doesn't want to.
  
• Communication - she is saying "dada" all the time! Mike just loves it!! I think she understands that he is "dada" or "daddy" but hasn't said it yet as a form of communication.
  

Basically it all boils down to me being more strict with her schedule/routine. I kinda feel like an irresponsible mother... well live and learn I guess. At least she is a happy and well tempered little bug. :)

Down with Audit!!

So, it has only been two and a half weeks into the semester, and we aren't a fan of it. I miss Mike, Brinley misses her daddy, and Mike hates school. Thankfully it is his last semester in the Master's program! Anyways, here is Brinley "throwing down" the audit book to demonstrate her disgust. I don't think I have ever seen her laugh so hard before!!

Pictures and Holiday Update

We took a few family pictures before Christmas break. Taylor Mackay was our great photographer. :) I love how they turned out. Here are a few of them:

This year my parents and younger brother, Richard, came for Christmas. It was so much fun to have them here with us. Richard, Mike and I watched Avatar in 3D. (This is the second time we have been to the "real" movie theater in our 3 and 1/2 years of marriage! And our first 3D movie ever too!) It was soo cool!

My mom and I made a Christmas dinner with ham and twice-baked potatoes. She also made some very delicious cinnamon rolls that were shaped as Christmas trees. She was also able to start and finish Twilight while she was visiting for the two days. Grandpa B (my dad) enjoyed taking long naps with our little bug. Unfortunately Mike, Brin and I had colds during the break, but we are now fully recovered.

We also took a trip up to Logan to visit my brother John and his family. There we took a little sleigh ride to see some elk. I forgot my camera in the car so I wasn't able to take any pictures of it. Our feet were frozen, but it was still a fun experience.

Here Mike is entertaining Brinley while Grandpa Brumbaugh is watching.

Here we are just lounging at John's. Richard is the pink lump to the left.

Brinley enjoying her first Christmas by eating a book. YUM!

Thanks to Lindsey Nardone for the Santa antlers! Here comes the cutest little reindeer you have ever seen! Haha!!

O Christmas Tree!

Our dear Christmas tree 3 years ago, fresh out of the package! Decorated with 3 different colored strings of light and maybe 4 ornaments... apparently invisible in this picture. And yes Mike looks quite charming in my slippers. He might be wearing them right now too. :)

I set up our Christmas tree the other day. I would have to say it has made much progress in the last 3 years. It is nothing spectacular, but I'm definitely happy with the improvement!

And some recent pics of our little bundle of joy....
Tummy time with friend Isaac Heath

A little nap time with Papa D during Thanksgiving break

Oh I just love Brinner's smiles! It is like her eyes have smiles of their own as well!! She is getting so big.. 5 months this Saturday!!

So hot right now

What I'm really loving:
*Spending time with Mike and Brin
*Harry Potter (finally reading them!)
*P90X
*Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
and...

The other day I bought this, Vanilla Almond Shredded Wheat, the most amazing cereal. Ever. I can eat it for every meal and snacks in between. It is really that good. If I was daydreaming of Christmas presents, then one would be ten boxes of it stacked under the tree. Mmmm mmm good!

I didn't want this post to be entirely about me.. so here are some of Brinley and Mike's favorites as well.

Mike:
*Playing with Brinley and trying to make her laugh
*24
*and some more 24 (note - he is trying to catch up to the current season and is a little behind)


Brinley:
*MILK!! haha (I thought that once she got a little older her feedings would be less often.. but no she is still eating just about every two hours excluding nights.)
*being held and getting lots of attention from mom and dad
*giving smiles to everyone!!
*sucking her fingers

Hunters, Tigers, Giraffes and More!

Well, I think that Halloween has to be one of the most popular blogging topics for parents everywhere! And I will be adding to the list as well!

We had a great time with our little giraffe at our ward Halloween party. Our friend, Ashlee Villordo, found the costume at Babies 'R' Us for only $10! Of course I had to make her costume a little more girlie by throwing on the flower and bracelet! :) We tied in our costumes to Brinley's by Mike being a giraffe hunter and I, the zoo-keeper. Brinley went trick or treating for the first time down a dark and spooky hallway! (It was in our church). Such fun!

Way to stick to the healthier option: fingers over candy!

Probably my favorite picture of the night. All the commotion of the evening tired our little bug out!

Smilin' away

I don't think I looked too much like a zoo-keeper... oh well! ;)

Austin Heath and Mike had similar roles but different costumes.

Me and Brinley, Liz and Isaac (vicious tiger!) Heath, and Jenna and Katelyn (pink tiger) Ralph. We often take trips to the library together. And we were on the same volleyball team :)

Our friends, the Nardones. I loved the speed bump!! Baby Porter will have such creative and wonderful parents!

Love this picture!! My husband is such a hunk!!!

Actual Halloween night was a date night for Mike and I! I was planning to surprise him with a date at the Corn Belly Maze at Thanksgiving Point, but it actually closed at 6!! (Really, being a Halloween attraction it should stay open much later on Halloween.. perhaps the actual time that is advertised on the website: 11pm!!) Such a disappointment because we really wanted to go. But, we enjoyed guryos at Burger Supreme instead. Any night with my hubby is a good one even if it doesn't turn out how I plan. :)