8 Months Old!

Well it looks like time has gotten away from me again! Before I had Braelyn everyone told me how fast time would pass. I thought I knew what they were talking about...boy was I wrong. These past 8 months have gone by so fast. It truly is amazing watching her grow and change daily.

To catch everyone up on what Braelyn has been up to...About two weeks ago we learned to crawl forwards finally, and she cut her first tooth! Braelyn learned to crawl very efficiently and quickly. We had gotten very used to her moving about backwards but forwards was a whole new ball game. We had to hurry up and baby proof our stairs. Braelyn is very fascinated by the downstairs!

As for teething...we really didn't know she had cut her first tooth until James felt her mouth and felt something sharp! She had been a little fussy but nothing to noticeable. Our second tooth however has brought about a very cranky and irritable baby. She is such a good easy going baby most of the time that there is a noticeable difference in her mood. I have all ready started getting her used to brushing her teeth, so far she likes chewing on the tooth brush! No cavities for this baby!

Other new and exciting things Braelny likes to do:
Wave hello and good bye to everyone, especially strangers at the store ;-)
Eating her "real food" she really likes her home made baby food, and is a very good eater!
Bath time! She will sit and play in the bat tub until the water is cold if I let her.

Sleeping on her tummy with her butt up in the air.

Sitting in her high chair and eating her snacks.

 Posing for mom to take my 8 month old picture!

Watching baby Einstein DVDs and playing with her cousin Harper

 Taking walks

 Snuggling with Daddy

 Sharing french fry's with Daddy too!

Braelyn 5 & 6 months ( a little catching up to do)

Well I have defiantly gotten behind during the holidays on our monthly posts. Our first Christmas with Braelyn was very special. My mom traveled from Phoenix for the holidays to be here with us for her first Christmas. Of course she did not realize what was going on,it was more fun for us to open gifts and play with her new toys. She did like the lights on the Christmas tree and she was interested in tearing the wrapping paper off the packages and putting it in her mouth. She is very interactive now and does play with her toys all the time. She is growing and learning new things every day. She can sit up on her own and is getting really close to crawling, so far she can push her self around the living room backwards. One of her new favorite things to do when playing with her Daddy is copying what he is doing. We are constantly laughing at her new expressions and funny things she is doing.

Braelyn started eating vegetables recently. So far it is going well, she definitely has her likes and dislikes. So far she really likes carrots and peas, not as fond of the squash and green beans, but she is definitely better than her Daddy about eating her veggies! I am excited to start on fruit too, but waiting until we have all the veggies down.

At her 6 month check up Braelyn weighed 14 pounds 4 ounces and was 25 inches long. The Pediatrician was surprised to see how well she was sitting up on her own and said she was doing great.

Braelyn likes: Playing with her noisy toys
Fake coughing to get our attention
Jumping around in her exersaucer
Bath time, especially since she can sit up splash and play with baty toys.
Tags...she would rather suck on and play with the tags on her toys and bibs than play with the toys most of the time.

Braelyn dislikes: Having her nose wiped.
Being alone, if she realizes we are not in the same room, she lets us know.
Taking naps at home. James usually has to hold her for her naps otherwise she wakes right back up.

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Braelyn 4 months old and new photos!

WOW...I don't know where the past four months have gone!

Braelyn had her 4 month check up with the pediatrician on Tuesday this week. Other than having a slight cold she is healthy as can be. She is now 12 lbs 5oz. The Dr. was impressed that she had all ready been rolling over from her belly to her back and she was right on track with all the other mile stones. She has started laughing and jibber jabbering a lot. She LOVES chewing on her hands and playing with her rattle.We are getting very excited to celebrate  Braelyn's first Thanksgiving and Christmas. I took some 4 month photos of Braelyn and we are planning our Christmas photos soon.

September, Apple picking & Braelyn's 3 months old update!

 

 

We are usually really busy in the fall, with James archery hunting, our anniversary and my birthday all in September. This year has been no exception. We started the month camping/hunting for the Labor Day holiday. James got a cow elk this year. His first...not this BIG BULL he wanted, but it tastes good! Since James was going to be out of town for our anniversary AND my birthday due to his elk hunt we celebrated early with dinner and shopping. To make the night more memorable, James found $26 while we were driving down the road!

 

Braelyn has really changed/grown a lot this month! She is doing really well with tummy time and holding her upper body/head up really well now. She really likes to move her head around now and look at everything. She smiles all the time and I can't get over what a happy baby she is. We are having so much fun with her!

Braelyn likes:
Grampy to sing to her
Daddy making faces at her
Looking at her self in the mirror
Chewing on her hands...all the time!
Just started using her bumbo...so far she seems to like it.

Braelyn doesn't really like:
Tummy time on the floor...she like it on the mombo pillow though.
Being swaddled with both hands inside, we started leaving one hand out...so she can suck on it!

 

 

Grammy sent Braelyn kitty cat ears, tail and nose...so far we are just enjoying the ears. The match her Halloween outfit really nicely.

 

This weekend we went to Emmett to pick some fresh apples. I have been wanting to make Braelyn some apple sauce so we made a day of it. I pretty much had to drag James along but he ended up carrying Braelyn around the entire time and showing her all the apple trees while I picked 50 lbs of mostly golden delicious apples. The owner of the orchard said they would make the best apple sauce and I think she was right! I canned 27 pints of apple sauce today and I think it turned out really good! I can't wait for her to be able to eat all of the yummy baby food I have frozen/canned her. She has a dedicated compartment in the deep freezer with nothing but baby food. With the help of my mother in law and James' grandma we grew lots of great veggies. So far I've made her, zucchini, spaghetti squash, summer squash, peas, green beans, carrots, crooked neck squash, apricots, cherries and peaches!

 

 

What we did in August and Braelyn's 2 Months Old!

Well it's fall in the Hollis house hold, hunting season has begun!

 James has really gotten into archery hunting in the past few years and this year he decided he would try out his climbing tree stand. I don't know who is more nervouse about him climbing 25 feet in the air. He attempted to practice using it when we were camping to get more comfortable...

 

We camped a lot in the month of August!  Braelyn and Daddy's favorite acitivity while camping is napping.

 2 Months Old!

I can't belive how fast the past two months have gone. I returned to work after a 7 week maternity leave. Probably the hardest thing YET! The first week back Braelyn stayed with James. I think it was really good for James to have that time with her. When I got home after James' second day he said "you really learn a lot about this little girl in two days!" I had to laugh. I think they had a good bonding experience.

Braelyn has started really noticing things around her now. She moves he head from side to side and follows things around the room now. She really likes watching the celine fan too.

James took her for her 2 month check up and her firts shots. I think it was much harder on me than on her and I am glad I wasn't the one that had to take her. James said she did awesome and hardly cried at all. She weighed 9.13lbs and is now 22 inchs long. I can't belive how big she is getting!

Braelyn really likes:

 Her activity gym

Camping (slept 5 hrs straight for the first time)

Singing with Daddy...lots of cooing going on these days

Riding around in the the ergo baby carrier

Braelyn dislikes:

The car seat... if it's not moving she's not happy!

 The pacifier, so we gave up on those. I am not too sad about it though.

Going to sleep, she has learned how to fight going down for naps.

 

We are having so much fun with her. We all ready can't remember what life was like without her.

Braelyn one month old!

Well life has definitely changed around here for James and I. We are enjoying all of the new and exciting experiences of first time parents, even the messy ones! Braelyn of course sleeps a lot at this stage but she has started having longer and more awake time recently that she enjoys looking around and taking in the world around her. We have really been busy this month, enjoying our summer and incorporating the little one in our favorite summer activities.

At one week old we took our first day trip to Cascade for a family reunion for my my mother-in-laws side of the family. It was about a 2 hour car ride and Braelyn did really well.She got passed around a lot but slept through almost all of the commotion.

My parents arrived on sat the 21st of July. They drove straight through from Arizona and made it here safely in 14.5 hours. My mom was only able to stay one week, but my dad is staying permanently and is getting situated here so that they can make the move here to be closer to us permanently.



While my mom was here James and I were able to get out of the house for almost 3 hours and catch a concert at the fair with a few other couples. We had a nice time, but I couldn't help but worry that the baby would wake up and be hungry so we didn't push our luck. Of course she slept the entire time!

This weekend we took our first family camping trip. We have a very nice home away from home with our camper so it really was nice. It was nice for me while she took her 2-3 hour naps to sit and relax because I had nothing else I could do...at home I can always find LOTS to do while she is sleeping. Most of the time it's house work but I did have some time recently to make some cute baby shower gifts for cousin Harper.(we can't wait to meet her!) It was nice for me to get into my craft room for a while.

Overall, we are all adapting to being a family of 3 very well. She is usually only waking me up once at night for a feeding and then again early in the morning which will be OK when I go back to work. I really do think using the techniques from the Happiest Baby On the Block is working and hopefully before too long we will have her sleeping through the night!

Things Braelyn likes:
Taking morning walks
Doing housework with mom in the Ergo baby carrier (don't know how I'd get stuff done some days with out it)
Cuddling on mine or James' chest
Taking a bath
The swing and the bouncier
Being swaddled up tight

Things Braelyn doesn't like:
Being strapped into her car seat
A pacifier
Roxy (our boxer) sniffing in her face

Playing in my crib while mommy puts laundry away.

My First camping trip, hanging out in mom's chair.