Brea continues to do really well. She started sleeping through the night about 3 weeks ago and usually averages anywhere between 8 - 12 hours/night. Hopefully this continues for awhile! She is 3 1/2 months old now and our dr suggested that we could start her on cereal at 3 months instead of the suggested 4 months. I haven't yet because she seems to be more than satisfied with her 5 oz of formula every 4 - 5 hours. She has an appointment and shots on Sept 7 so we will see if mommy gets yelled at!! She has been having a few stomach issues so we have switched formula yet again so she is not on soy anymore. That has to be the most frustrating part - I sometimes wish I would have continued pumping so she wouldn't have all of these problems. Travis is convinced that she inherited his sensitive stomach.

We've noticed in the past few weeks that she has really started to grab onto things and pull them up to her mouth. She has discovered her hands and we often catch her staring intently at them. She loves the play mat that Grandma and Grandpa Diede bought for her and loves to grab at the toys within reach especially the mirror. We are amazed everyday with how she is progressing.

What a difference 12 weeks make

The first pic was taken of Brea at a week old and she was absolutely "swimming" in this 3 month sleeper. I've started dressing her in sleepers at night because she likes to kick covers off of herself so I pulled this out last week and had to take her pic again. Our little lady is growing fast! You can also really see evidence of the jaundice that she had in the first pic.

12 Weeks

Brea will be 3 months old on Friday and she is growing so fast...I catch myself forgetting that she only weighed 5lbs 11oz when we brought her home from the hospital. She is constantly smiling and cooing and continues to only fuss if hungry. I bought her a Bumbo chair on Saturday which we tried to put her in but I think it will be a couple more weeks before we will use it as she needs to get her head a little stronger. She has also discovered the TV and loves to watch it with Dad. I came home from shopping on Saturday and found both of them sitting on the couch watching Nascar!

The past week and a half have been full of changes. I went back to work last Monday so Brea started daycare. She absolutely loves going to Tania's and has three little playmates Koral 5, Kenna 4, and Braelyn 13 months who anxiously await her arrival every morning! I thought Braelyn would be jealous but she loves giving Brea kisses on her forehead and watching her smile. The first couple of days were very exhausting for me but we've all settled into our new schedule. I drop her off in the morning and Travis picks her up as soon as he is finished usually between 2 and 4 pm. We're very fortunate to have found someone that we completely trust with her.

11 Weeks

Brea is 11 weeks old today! I've posted a pic that I took this morning plus some from the day she was born.

Brea's Tree

I've posted a couple of pics of Brea with "her" tree. About a week before she was born Travis and I were sitting out on our patio and noticed that a root from an acacia tree that we cut down two years ago was sprouting out of the ground. Travis decided that we should leave it and call it Brea's tree. The first picture was taken when she was 3 weeks old and the second one was taken about a week ago.

10 Weeks

Well...I promised myself when I started this blog that I would try to update atleast once a week but I'm not sure where the time goes. Anyway the last few weeks have been busy and hectic around here. I started Brea exclusively on formula about two weeks ago and we have been dealing with numerous issues since. After experimenting with mylicon drops, gripe water and switching formulas I think we've finally discovered that Miss Brea does the best on soy formula. We originally had her on Similac because that is what the hospital gave us but have found out that brand can be the hardest on their stomachs. We tried switching to Similac Sensitive...then Similac Soy and now we have her on Nestle Good Start Soy which seems to be working!!!

Her nightly temper tantrums have also disappeared and overall she seems to be content most of the day except when she gets hungry. As for sleeping, she usually sleeps from about 9 or 10 pm until 3 am and then will go back down around 4 am until 6 or 7am. I have been trying to get up by 5:30 to prepare myself for going back to work next week.

This past week Brea and I have been on the go even with the warm temperatures. Last Tuesday we went to the Mayo Clinic to have lunch with Grandma Linda and to show her off to all of her co-workers. Last Monday and Friday were spent having lunch with friends and on Saturday we went shopping at Paradise Valley Mall with my friends Erica, Sarah and Miah. Brea and Miah (8 months) both did very well and all of us were surprised that we lasted 6 hours. I have learned since having Brea that I could care less anymore what I buy for myself...it's now all about her. With all of the sales going on Brea came home with quite a few new outfits!

On Thursday we had her first professional photographs taken. She started to cry after I dressed her in her first outfit but after I fed her a little formula she was good for the rest of the session. However, our smiley baby decided she wasn't in the mood so we didn't end up with any smiles. Oh well, we were able to get a lot of cute pics anyway.

I've attached a few random photos from the past week. As you can see she is growing really fast.

8 Weeks Old

Brea went to the doctor and got her first set of vaccinations yesterday. I think I cried more than her at the appointment. I felt really stupid but the nurse assured me that most moms do. Not sure whether she was telling the truth or whether she was just trying to make me feel better. Brea came through it like a trooper and only cried for about 30 seconds. I was prepared for her to be extremely fussy and possibly have a fever yesterday or last night but so far nothing. She gained a whopping 2 lbs in 2 weeks so she is up to 10 lbs.

I've posted a few pics of her smiling. Travis was able to get her to start smiling about a week ago but we weren't sure if she was aware of what she was doing. Now, we can definitely tell that she is doing it on purpose! She loves her boppy chair but hates her swing. I'm hoping she will learn to like it once she gets a little older. She has also started to love bathtime...she will smile and "giggle" the whole time she is in the tub. I think we have a water baby on our hands. We can't wait to get her in the pool but will wait until it starts to cool off before we do that.