Brynlee turns 4 months old!

Saturday, Brynlee turned 4 months old. Brynlee, here are some highlights of your life at this point:

-You love to smile. Early morning or right when you wake up from a nap are your happiest times.

-You regularly sleep between 9-10 hours a night. You are spoiling your parents with all the sleep we're getting and we love it!

-You still are not a fan of taking naps, unless they're on your momma. If only I had a housekeeper to take care of the chores I don't get done because of afternoons spent cuddling you!

-Bathtime is quite the adventure for you. You splash and squirm, having the time of your life, while simultaneously giving me a drowning scare at least once per bath.

-You also love to suck on your fingers. You frequently spit out your paci just so you can shove your fingers in your mouth and get them covered in drool.

-You roll easily from your belly to your back and are trying desperately to roll from your back to belly.

-You are wearing size 2 diapers and are just starting to fit into your 3-6 month clothes.

-You take 5-6 bottles a day and eat anywhere from 4-8 ounces at a time. You chug your first and last bottles of the day, but you are usually more concerned with playing than eating during your other feedings.

-Your cheeks get bigger by the day, but they aren't a good indicator of your size. You're still pretty little for 4 months old. Doctor's check is at the end of the month, so we'll see just how much you've grown!

We love you, baby girl, and can't wait to see what the next month holds for you!

Mother's Day

On May 10, 2008 I found out I was pregnant. On May 10, 2009 I got to celebrate being a mom to the precious gift God blessed Brandon and I with. Brandon took care of all household responsibilities that day and I even got a nap! I am so blessed to have these two in my life!

Wedding Weekend Wrap-Up

I have been trying to write this post for a few days, but the craziness of our weekend seems to have carried over into the work week. Regardless, the long-awaited summary of last weekend is finally here!

Friday night, Brandon and I went to the wedding rehearsal and dinner for our dear friends Dan and Jenni. My friend Ashley and I decided that we didn't really need to be part of the rehearsal, so we headed off to Spencer's Gifts to get the soon-to-be-newlyweds some choice gifts. We were completely out of our element going in to that store, but we had a blast! When we returned to the church, we strategically moved Dan and Jenni's car to the main entrance so that all could see our handiwork. We especially loved that the cross is right in the middle of the bag, as if God was blessing the contents inside. If only we could have seen Dan and Jenni's face when they came out to their car :)

Saturday was the big wedding day. Brandon headed off at about 8:30, leaving me alone to get both myself and Bryn ready. Usually, Brynlee is a sweet, easy-going girl. She must have sensed my urgency in getting ready that morning and promptly decided to have a complete meltdown 10 minutes before we needed to walk out the door. I was so glad to finally get us both in the car and get her calmed down. I do not know how single parents do it every day! We finally got to the church, where Brynlee acted like the angel that she is and let me enjoy the beautiful ceremony. We ate Nelson's chicken, had some yummy cake, then hung out at the church playing yard games until Dan and Jenni left at about 6 pm (the wedding started at 11:30). We headed home, completely wiped out! What a fun and exciting day, though. Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey!

Prom Queen

Last Saturday night, Brandon and I ventured out with our good friends Chad and Ashley, for a dinner and a movie. It was our first movie night out since before Brynlee was born! Brandon's aunt and uncle watched Brynlee for us while we were out. She even got to go to her first prom! Brandon's cousin, Kenzie, attended her senior prom and Brynlee got to go with the family to watch the festivities. I would have voted her for prom queen, wouldn't you?

Yesterday I survived Cinco de Mayo at school. It's amazing how much quieter high school students are when you bring them doughnuts and cookies to celebrate the holiday :) And I'm hoping they at least all learned that it's not Mexico's Independence Day (that's if they could hear me teaching over all their food chewing!)

We haven't done too much today. Brynlee got bit, for the second time, at the babysitter's today. So I've been checking her bite mark all day and making sure I shouldn't take her in for a rabies shot....j/k. Apparently being the smallest kid at the sitter's and not having any teeth makes for an easy target. How could anyone want to bite this cute little thing? (Yes, I realize I'm biased. If you're going to read our blog, you'll just have to get used to it!)

This weekend Brandon is a groomsman in one of his friend's wedding, so we'll be participating in wedding festivities all weekend. We are so excited for Dan and Jenni and are looking forward to a great weekend celebrating with them! I'll make sure to post pictures from the big day, even if they are just of Brynlee, since I'm sure she'll look darn cute! Here's hoping you all have a great end to the work week :)

Spring...Finally!

This past weekend was beautiful in northern Indiana. We spent most of the weekend outside and Brynlee got to enjoy the wind blowing through her (five strands of) hair :) I would stand with her in front of the sliding door to the patio and she would gasp and grin as the wind made her catch her breath. We were finally able to bust out the spring clothing colors for Brynlee too. If only we all could pull off plaid pants as well as my precious baby girl!

Brandon and I took Brynlee out for some pictures by our pear tree after church on Sunday, since it is in full bloom. It's amazing they turned out so well since the blossoms on that tree stunk so bad that we were trying to hurry the photo op up just to get away from them :)

And finally, video evidence from this weekend that Brynlee does indeed know how to move it. The girl was on a "roll!"

Seven Months of Updating in One Post

Well, things have definitely changed around our household since the last update. On January 9 at 9:54 pm, Brandon and I welcomed our adorable baby girl, Brynlee Paige, to the world. The last three months have been exhausting, but unbelievably fun all at the same time. I haven't exactly had the time to blog since Brynlee's arrival, but I feel like I need to get back to it so that I can have a record of her milestones. Milestones thus far are sleeping through the night, which she started doing at about 6 weeks old. And her newest baby feat that she accomplished was rolling from her belly to her back last week. She's been stubborn and not really wanting to do it again since, but at least we know she's capable and we can check that off of her "baby to-do list." Here are some pictures of our princess over the last few months. Here's to hoping it won't be seven months until I blog again :)

Our first photo as a family

Turner meets his sister!

First bath at home

Brynlee's baby dedication


Easter

Most recent picture of Brynlee

P.S. After writing this post, I realize now why I stopped blogging. It has taken me over an hour to upload pics, modify fonts, etc. Anyone else have this problem? I couldn't even use Safari to write my post as it wouldn't upload photos. And Blogger makes it look like posting should be soooo easy.....ugh!

It's a....

After 19 weeks and 5 days of anticipation, we found out Thursday that we are having a baby GIRL!!! I can't believe that my intuition was right all along. I had almost convinced myself that it was a boy, just to have my bases covered. But, for the longest time I thought it was a girl and surprisingly, I was right! We will now have an even amount of testosterone and estrogen in our house (Brandon/Turner vs. Me/Baby). My sister has already bought 3 outfits since finding out and my mom is out today to see if the resale shop in town still has this little baby bikini we saw a few weeks ago :) Brandon has already forbidden me from buying any clothes because we're quite sure that our little one will never have a shortage of things to wear. Tomorrow we are going to Babies R Us to do our registry. I can hardly wait to get that scanner in my hands while I think Brandon is more interested in the Chipotle that we're going to have for lunch! We decided last night that we definitely need some excitement in our lives because we spent our Friday night listening online to the Fairfield High School football game. Brandon even went so far as to answer the trivia question that they had and won! Don't you wish you could've hung out with us on our eventful night at home?! Well, that's all the current excitement from the Yoder household. I'll keep you updated as to baby happenings. The next long-awaited event is the expanding of my stomach, as it looks right now like I've just been eating a lot of dessert instead of there being an actual baby in there :) Meanwhile, here's the ultrasound pics of our little one. Top picture shows a butt view, middle is her whole body, and the last one shows her legs, which look long to me. We can only pray she doesn't have my midget legs!

Week 1....finished!

First week of school is in the books and I survived! So far, my classes seem exceptionally good, which is awesome :) It's been hard getting used to a new book and I'm realizing that I don't really like the textbook, but oh well. At least I have a good group of kids, so it makes the stress of using a new textbook a little less intimidating. I also dropped the baby bomb on my principal on Friday, which I was not looking forward to. I had heard that in the past he is not the nicest of people to deal with when you inform him of a maternity leave. But, he actually was pretty nice to me. I figured it was time to inform him when I passed a group of students I had last year and heard one of them say "Dude, she looks pregnant" as he was walking away :) It feels good to not have that secret lingering in the air anymore. In related baby news, our big ultrasound day is now just 4 days away! One of Brandon's employees told me to drink orange juice before my appointment to help give the baby a sugar boost and be active during the ultrasound. So, we trekked to Target to get some OJ today...I'll try anything! We also bought supplies today to paint our basement, which will be changing to our office so that the current office can be the nursery. Progress is being made and it is exciting! I will make sure to update again on Thursday, hopefully with confirmation of Baby Y's gender!

Baby Baby!

We had our 16 week appointment last Thursday and all seems well with Baby Y. We got to hear the heartbeat again and it was a solid 140 bpm, right in the middle of what they consider normal. We could hear him/her a lot easier this time because he/she has grown so much in just 4 weeks! Thank goodness they let you listen to that heartbeat each time or I don't think I'd believe I am actually pregnant :) I don't look pregnant (yet) nor feel pregnant so it's kind of surreal to hear that little "thump thump thump" and be reaffirmed that there is definitely a baby in there. My midwife asked if we wanted a 20 week ultrasound, which was music to my ears! I emphatically said "Yes!" and we are scheduled for August 28th! I cannot wait to find out if Baby Y is a little Brandon or a little Brooke. While my sister was here, we bought some ADORABLE baby outfits. Here are some that she bought. Can you tell I think it's a girl? At last count, the baby's closet has 10 girl clothing items and 2 boy items! I guess that means I'll just have to shop a little more if we find out it's a boy :)

Family Time

Over the last few weeks we've been busy having family visiting. First, Brandon's sister and brother-in-law came with our niece and nephew. I hate that they live so far away (Florida) and it was a blast to see them. Elli had her 6th birthday while here and celebrated with 2 parties! I still secretly think she turned 20 just by the way she acts. She's so grown up and it cracks me up! Here she is with her bear, Sunny, at one of her birthday parties. Her brother Kolbyn also enjoyed the festivities, riding a scooter with his Uncle Bobo and putting his butt in birthday cake :) We also discovered that Kolbyn really likes to give his Clifford kisses...a lot! My family came last Saturday while my parents were on their way to Tennessee for vacation. My sister is finally back in the states after spending all summer with her hubby in England, so she stayed at our house for a few days. It was a ton of fun and I'm slightly bummed that although she'll be in the U.S. (they're moving to Phoenix next week) she'll still be way far away. Overall we had a great time bonding with our relatives over the past few weeks and hopefully we get to spend some more time with them before our lives are consumed with all things baby!