Facial Expressions

Braylea makes several humorous expressions and I was able to catch a few.

This pic definitely shows those chubby cheeks!

This is her halfway smile..she wouldn't cooperate and smile big for us once I got the camera out.

Always sticking that tongue out..

More family time..

Saturday and Sunday was spent at Great-Gparent Nutters' for more Christmas celebration. Saturday we spent all day over there opening gifts, snacking all day, and playing cards(which I actually won!). Sunday Great-Great Gma Tillie came to town and we opened gifts with her and ate the big meal of turkey and ham with the works.
We can officially say that we are through with all 5 Christmas gatherings..they were fun but we are also glad to be home.
Here's a few pics of the fun..

Merry Christmas!

Miss B is done for!

For being only a month old, Braylea definitely hit it big with gifts. She was the star of the show!

Christmas Day

Christmas day was pretty hectic. We started off going to my Mom's house to open gifts and eat lunch. Next stop was Great-Gparent Schoenhofer's Christmas, then to my Dad's house to do the same thing. Braylea was pretty worn out by the time the day was over with.
Her dad thought her Christmas outfit was pretty corny but it was honestly the cutest outfit I could find for a newborn size. I looked everywhere in Joplin for the cute dress, but the ones I liked did not come in her size..next year will definitely be easier to shop for her.
We couldn't believe how warm it was..we definitely did not get anywhere close to a white Christmas. The only good thing about it was that I didn't feel as bad getting Braylea in and out since it wasn't too cold outside.
We are looking forward to next Christmas when Braylea will be able to get excited about it and be running around everywhere. She just got tossed around to everyone and either cried because she was hungry (which is often! lol) or slept most of the time. She does know what home is though..she gets cranky when we are away for a long period of time.

This is how Bryson digs into the turkey..just grabs the whole leg!

I've never been good at remembering to take pics and as you can see I just took some at Mom's house. I forgot the other two places we stopped at..sorry! I'm trying to get better.

Happy Birthday Braylea..

Wow it really does fly by..Braylea was one month old yesterday and it is just hard to believe. We feel like we just brought her home from the hospital. We had a busy day today. Braylea, Aunt Lauren and I started the day off by going to Chanute for my first check up with Dr. Taylor. We, then, ate lunch at El Pueblitos, finished some last minute Christmas shopping, then heading out to visit our friends...the Allens

Brantly and Braylea getting to know each other..Brantly is 2 months older than Braylea.

Just chillin..

Crosby giving Braylea kisses..so sweet

Braylea was putting the moves on Brantly already..Daddy wasn't too happy about this!

Harley spoiling Braylea.

We then finished the evening by celebrating Christmas at Gma and Gpa Nutters'.

Bright eyed..

Too much excitement..couldn't even stay awake to open all her presents. Camo and derby outfits..Dad was excited.

Gpa Billie

Aunt Lauren and Dane

Cooking with Mom

This is our nightly ritual when Mom has to make supper for Dad. Braylea hangs out in her Boppy on top of the counter. This picture was too cute to pass up. It doesn't always end up this peaceful! lol

Newborn Pics!

We got to view and order Braylea's newborn pics today. We couldn't be more pleased. It was neat to see our very first 'family' picture. To view them go to portraitdesignsbylasha.com; click on ENTER SITE then on CLIENT..the password is 'nutter'. Enjoy!

No more cord!

Braylea's umbilical cord finally fell off..such a relief! I hate those things and now I can see her cute lil belly without that ugly thing in the way and soon will have a full bath..yea! She loves the water, so I'm hoping that will be a good experience.
Nothing else exciting has happened. I had to get out of the house today, so I took Braylea to have Pizzos for the first time and then to Wally World. I timed it just right..she started crying for food just as we were getting home.
My maternity leave is already over half way over and it is already getting to me. It is going to be so hard! I'm just afraid I will miss out on something. She seems to change everyday and making more expressions all the time.

Shopping Pro in the making..

We ventured out on our first shopping trip with Gma Karen Thursday. It was very nice to get out of the house for the day and doing what I love! Gma bought Braylea her stroller and we found her some cute clothes..she is definitely spoiled. I also broke down and bought myself some sweats and a sweater..it was so nice to be able to buy normal clothes again. I was also able to wear my old Buckle jeans out..I was pretty pumped that they fit!
Braylea did real good. She slept most of the time and when she was awake, she just looked all around at all the bright lights. You could tell she knew she was in a new place. She sure liked it though..Momma and Braylea are going to be shopping buds!

We wore her out..shopping is a tough job!

Random..

Such a hard life!

This is a definition of a hungry girl! Gma Karen was trying to calm her down and Miss Braylea knew she wanted to eat..so she attacked Mom's chin and we thought she might have gotten a hicky from her. It was quite comical.

Things have been going real good. Last night was by far the best night. I fed Braylea at 1:30, she woke up at 4:30 to eat, then back up around 8:30..I was very pleased! I hope it just gets better from here. :)
She is also becoming so much more alert. She will just stare at you while you talk and it is almost like she is soaking it all up and she'll even shout out a lil 'coo' to let us know she is listening. She already seems to be getting her own lil personality. I can't wait until she can smile back at me..I'm hoping that will come soon.
We got our family/newborn pics taken yesterday. I can't wait to see them. We go back Friday to view the proofs. I think she got some real good poses!

Two Weeks

We had our two week appointment today and couldn't be happier. I wasn't exaggerating when I called Miss Braylea a piglet..she gained 11oz in one week! She is now up to 7lbs 10 oz. Momma is already dreading the next appointment though because it is her 2 month checkup which includes immunization shots..ugh!

Proud Daddy!

Daddy and Braylea supporting the camo..

Recent pics

Uncle Jason spoiling Braylea

Wide awake.

Posing for the camera..

Things have been going really good. I have ventured out a few times on my own with Braylea to go show her off and to also get myself out of the house. I would love to have the opportunity to be able to stay at home with my baby girl so I didn't have to miss any time with her, but I just don't think I could handle being home all the time. I'm already stir-crazy but I am also loving the time away from work as well. I'm thinking a part-time job would be terrific..but wishful thinking.

I am glad that the weekend is here. Bryson's schedule just sucks in general but with Braylea's sleep schedule, it just makes it worse. Braylea seems to sleep more during the day and wants to eat more during the night, so is obviously up more then. Therefore, she will sleep longer in the morning so Mom does as well. Bryson already sleeps in until at least 11 since he doesn't go to bed until late. When he gets home, I'm usually exhausted so he is up with Braylea while I try to catch some zz's until she wants to eat again. As you can see, we don't get to see each other much at all. I'm going to learn to take advantage of the weekends even more.

One Week Old

Wow..a week has already passed since Braylea came into our lives. It has been a rough week but well worth it. It is so true that you can never be prepared to be a parent; everything just seems to be thrown at you all at once and there is no handbook with directions. It literally is a trial and error job. Wednesday through Friday night was definitely rough for both Bryson and me. She would just scream bloody murder all night long and we knew she was warm, fed, and changed..there was nothing we could do but let her cry. By Saturday night, things began to get a little better. My milk finally came in then so I think the poor little girl was just starving..I felt so bad that I couldn't provide her enough at the time but I just couldn't give up trying. The supplement of formula that we tried had helped some but just must've not been enough. She is definitely a little piglet now. She is eating every two hours and mainly sleeps between feedings. She, of course, takes the longest naps during the day..lil turd!
We had her one week appt yesterday and couldn't be happier with the results. We decided to stay with Dr. McFarland in Chanute and definitely feel like we made the right decision. Braylea is up to 6lbs 15oz now and hoping by next week's appt she will be back to her birth weight. The doctor said she couldn't be more perfect and we didn't argue!
Daddy had to go back to work yesterday and it was definitely hard on both of us. For one, we have never been able to spend a whole week together like we got to last week and enjoyed every minute of it as new parents, and for two, Bryson never left Braylea's side all week, so leaving for 8 hours was rough. I felt terrible as well since I get 6 weeks to enjoy her and he only got one. Dad's really do get the shaft on that situation.

This boppy is a life-saver!

Big Stuff!

First Bath

She loves her hair getting washed!

All clean!

Not happy..

Daddy to the rescue to calm her down.

1st Thanksgiving

I'm sure glad that the weekend is over! I feel like ever since we got home we've been on the run. We had Thanksgiving Thursday through Sunday so we are definitely worn out. Braylea did get to meet her entire family though which was nice. She did really good at being tossed around to everyone..she mainly just slept all day...soooo that meant she was up with Mom and Dad alllll night long..yippee! lol No, we have had a few rough nights but I think we are slowly getting better.

Tammy and Mallory playing with Braylea

This picture is something you don't see very often. It is a 5 generation picture with Braylea's Great-Great Gma Tillie, Great-Gpa Gary, Gpa Bill, and Daddy Bryson. This means so much to me since I don't have any grandparents to share Braylea with.

Braylea had too much Turkey like the rest of us. She was out and took over Great-Gma's(G G) rocking chair.