More Christmas Pics

Christmas Day

Brea decided to let us sleep in until 630 am on Christmas morning! Apparently the Christmas Eve festivities wore her out as she normally is up at 5 am each morning. We let Travis sleep in for awhile and then began opening presents. Travis and I AND Santa went overboard this year for Brea but we couldn't help ourselves. Even though we know she won't remember it we were so excited for her first Christmas. We had to open her gifts in shifts as in the middle of it she decided she was hungry so we had to take a break for rice cereal and peaches!! She received a lot of really neat toys that she loves. One of her favorites is a crawl ball which rolls on the ground and encourages her to crawl after it. So far she will pull herself up on all fours but has decided it's easier to just roll over in order to get around. After we finished presents Travis' parents came over and we had a nice Christmas lunch and lounged around most of the afternoon watching movies and the football game Christmas night.

Christmas Eve

This year we enjoyed a pretty low key Christmas as it was just the three of us and Travis' parents. On Christmas Eve we all went to the 5:00 service at church which is new for Travis and I. Normally we go to one of the later services but decided the earlier one would work out better for Brea. It was also the children's service and Brea actually enjoyed the "puppet show" sermon! After church we went to Travis' parents for soup and homemade bread which is one of their traditions. We opened gifts from his side of the family and Brea got her first pair of Christmas pajamas. Every year she will get to open a present on Christmas Eve which will be pajamas for her to wear that night. We ended up staying at his parents until about 9pm and all 3 of us crashed when we arrived home.

More Thanksgiving Pics

Thanksgiving

Travis' brother and family were here for the past week to celebrate Thanksgiving and stayed with his parents. They arrived last Friday night and all of the kids cooperated on Saturday morning for Xmas pictures! We weren't too worried about 8 year old Nate however no one thought Brea and 3 year old Tanner would last through the sitting. Tanner was definitely fond of Brea and could be heard asking "Where's Baby Brea?" numerous times throughout the week. On Thanksgiving day we all went to the Thanksgiving Day parade and then went over to Travis' parents for dinner. We said our goodbyes to Todd, Lisa, Nate and Tanner as they left Friday to return to MN. We will definitely miss them.

I had the best intentions to get my holiday decorating done this weekend however I only got the tree up without lights or decorations. I'm going to try and decorate it this week - I can't wait to see Brea's reaction to the blinking lights!

One Year Ago - It's A Girl!

On November 20 2008 (14 weeks gestation) I had to have a nuchal translucency screening done due to my age!! We were shocked when the lab technician asked us if we wanted to know the gender of our baby because we assumed we would have to wait until our 20 week ultrasound. She said that at 13/14 weeks they are sometimes able to tell due to the nature of this test. When she said it was a girl we both said "Are you sure???" as we had pretty much guessed it would be a boy due to the lack of girls in both of our families. Travis was so excited that two days later we made our first trip to Babies R Us so HE could pick out a pink outfit for her!

6 Months

I can't believe where the time is going - Brea turned 6 months old on Nov 7th. She had her 6 month checkup at the doctor and weighs 17lbs and measured 26 inches. She loves to eat rice cereal and so far we haven't found a veggie or fruit that doesn't agree with her. At first she didn't really care for green beans and bananas but she did fine on the second go around. We've also experienced her first bout with the flu. She wouldn't keep anything down so I called the dr and they said she was fine as long as she didn't have a fever. I tried pedialyte however she didn't like it and would only humor us by drinking 1/2 oz every few hours so I gave her some water so she wouldn't become dehydrated. After about 24 hours she was good as new. A couple of the pics are of her in her bouncer which is her favorite thing right now. Even when she isn't in it she has to be bouncing on your lap!

First Halloween

We ended up taking Brea to a pumpkin patch in Scottsdale on Halloween morning to pick out her first pumpkin. Of course it was her naptime so she ended up falling asleep in the car and slept the entire time we were there! We ended up picking out three and it was a gorgeous day so she was able to watch Travis carve them in the afternoon on the patio. We finished the day by going to our friends Vinnie and Holly's for a halloween party with Brea dressed up as a ladybug. I informed Travis that next year we'll have to start dressing up as well!

So Tired!

We bought Brea a bouncer a few weeks ago and she absolutely loves it. I put her in it a couple of nights ago and all of a sudden she got really quiet and I looked over and saw that she had fallen asleep!

Baby Food!

Brea continues to grow and we can't help but wonder what happened to our "little" baby! She's been doing great and is always full of smiles except when we pull out the camera!

I attempted to feed her rice cereal as soon as she hit 4 months but she wasn't really interested and we didn't push it. I kept trying off and on and about 3 weeks ago finally decided that she liked it. I've also started her on baby food - so far she loves peas and squash but doesn't seem to care for green beans (Uncle Todd would be proud).

Fall Vacation - 3

Fall Vacation - 2

Fall Vacation - 1

We had a great time on vacation with my family in MN. Brea had fun seeing grandma and grandpa Diede again and also meeting her aunts, uncles and cousin Mason for the first time!

4 Months

I'm finally getting around to updating this. It seems like there isn't enough time in the day to get everything done anymore:) I'll have to catch up on the past month's activities. It doesn't seem possible but Brea was 4 months old on Sept 7. She had to go back to the doctor for a well visit and her 4 month shots. She weighed 14 lbs even and was 25 inches long. She is still a little underweight for her age (50th percentile) but is tall for her age (80th percentile). She did well with the shots and made it through without a fever once again.

Meeting Great Grandma's

Travis, Brea and I flew to MN last Friday for the annual Diede family get together at the lake. Brea did great considering the 2 1/2 hour flight turned into a 4 hour flight with us sitting on the runway in Phoenix with mechanical problems. It was a busy first weekend as we stopped in Sleepy Eye Friday night so Brea could meet great grandma Agnes and then spent the night with my parents in Springfield. On Saturday morning after grandma and grandpa took off for the lake we drove to Sioux Falls so Brea could meet her great grandma Thompson. We spent a relaxing day with Brea getting acquainted with many aunts, uncles and cousin Hailey who is 10 months old. Sunday morning we left for the 5 hour drive to Leech Lake for some much needed relaxation!