Love Fridays

It's Friday afternoon. The house is clean (mostly). Branigan has taken a nap and is ready to go to her Aunt Jamie's for a sleepover. Jamie (my husband) and I have plans to go to dinner. Life is good.

Enjoying a snack of mango and puffs - she starting to really like the mango!

I actually got her to look at the camera and smile! Twice in two days - that's a record lately!

Eating with Branigan and other Progress

Well, its true what they say, babies do not stay babies for long. We are definitely now dealing with a toddler. :) Branigan actually climbed the entire staircase from the main floor to our bedroom this morning. Guess we need another baby gate...geez. Jamie already can't stand the one we've got. I couldn't believe it watching her, she literally just put one foot up, then the other, as if she were walking right up them. Wow.

Branigan still has red hair (looks like a carrot in the sun), has no teeth yet, and has eyes that are still undecided (although it seems like brown is going to win out). But those are the easy facts about a 9 1/2 month old. Eating is now the hard part....

Trying to get her to try Cheerios

Really not a fan at first....

My mom has always said that by 10 months old, I would eat nothing that I couldn't feed myself. Branigan isn't quite there, but she's getting close. She is VERY picky now about baby food, and really doesn't want it that much at all. She'll eat it when she gets hungry, but it pretty tired of it I guess. So, we've been constantly integrating finger foods into her diet now. She loves puffs and cheerios, rice wafers and graham crackers. She will tolerate mango, banana, steamed carrots, apple and cheese. But she gets downright mad when you try to get her to eat meat of any kind, so I've been still pushing the baby food to get her to eat some protein.

Now she will typically have cereal (which she hates) with a fruit for breakfast. Then a snack of cheerios or puffs with mangos or apples with steamed carrots (all finger foods) mid-morning. For lunch we are still loading up on the baby food veggies. As long as I mix them, she will still eat them. Mid afternoon we do another finger food snack. Dinner is now some type of nasty pureed meat (turkey with sweet potatoes for example) and then a smaller serving of fruit. She ends with a small finger food snack while Jamie and I eat our dinner. I'm just continuing to push the baby food so that she gets some nutrition, but I'm doing a lot of learning right along with her. I've had some anxiety about getting this "right", which I'm just trying to let go of. I also have to get rid of this insane fear of her choking. I swear I'm a total freak when it comes to her eating things that I think she can choke on!

Her schedule is still going very well, and night time has become a breeze. We start her bedtime routine at 7pm, and she is lights out before 8 typically. She has also been sleeping until after 7am, which is very nice for Jamie and I!

Branigan loves to play, and her interests are always changing. She's sort of bored with most of her toys, and mostly wants to open every drawer in the house and pull everything out. If I leave her alone for five minutes in her room, she'll have her two bottom drawers open on the bureau and all of the clothes on the floor. It's hilarious. I'll walk in and she'll be standing in front of them holding some clothing looking at me like, see what I did? She really likes her books at night, and has figured out where I stash them so frequently drags them out and "reads" to herself during the day.

She's consistently napping in her crib, and generally takes two naps per day. This makes my life much more simple :). Overall, I have no complaints. Branigan is so fun, and I feel so fortunate to have such a little beauty to spend my day with. Every time she falls asleep on my shoulder, I look down at her and think Thank you God. I am so lucky. There are also many times when she is awake when I remember something my dad would always say - "You're a good girl. Especially when you are asleep." :)

Finally, back on here :)

Well, the past week has flown. We have been busy as always and had a nice visit home. We drove home last Friday, and has a super easy trip. I downloaded a book on tape (I suppose cd in this case) and just let it play while I drove, and Branigan either slept or played the entire way with virtually no crying. She was so good! We stopped twice, once she took a bottle and the other time she had a bottle and a container of food. Not bad for 420 miles! Sleep was a little tricky that night, but otherwise it was really a pretty pleasant and relaxing day (did I just say that driving down I70 through Missouri was relaxing?!?!?).

This picture is from Deanna Rose last week

Peeking out the back of the Jeep in her new car seat

Hanging with Aunt Jamie

Saying good bye to Daddy before the big trip

The weekend went quickly, but we had a great time. My mom and I went to a craft show on Saturday (one of our favorite things to do) and then did some light shopping in Vincennes, Indiana. Sunday we started with church. Branigan really did pretty well during the service, except during the prayer. I guess she decided she should pray out loud, because that's when she decided to get everyone's attention around her. Otherwise, she was an angel. We then had breakfast with my Aunt Mary and Uncle Phil at the Holiday. I bumped into two of my classmates from high school there - both people that I haven't seen in years. It was very nice to get to say hello.

Just making sure she could peek over the top of her PackNPlay as well

Bottle with Grandpa

After breakfast, we went home and had I guess what I would call an extended play time. Branigan got to play sleep or eat all afternoon - and had all the attention she wanted. I was glad we got to do this, as I knew that she would get no attention the next day in her car seat while driving back to KC. We had a great weekend with my parents, and although Bran was a bit stand-offish at first, by the end of the weekend she was crawling to them rather than to me. It was sweet; she and my dad had a great time dancing together, and I think she got to know my mom as something other than the sleep lady (my mom usually gives her naps), so it was a very worthwhile trip. The trip back on Monday was slower, but still we had only two stops. It took a little over 8 hours, and I have to admit that I was about to freak when we finally got home. That was a LONG trip.

With Grandma after Church

Same with Mommy

What happened to Grandpa's church clothes?

Dancing with Grandpa

Goofing around with Mom

This week has been all about playing catch up. Tuesday and yesterday were both cleaning days, so today I'm taking Bran to the park - we both need to get out of here and get some vitamin D! Then I'll be back to cleaning today and tomorrow, as I start my end of month paperwork over the weekend, so the house will be sorely neglected!

Just a Swingin'

A Busy Weekend and Branigan's Day Out

This past weekend was not so much of a weekend as a "workend". Yuck! Jamie and I spent all day Saturday at the store shoveling mulch and planting flowers. We were TIRED when we got home! Sunday I mowed and washed/vacuumed my car. Anyone who had seen it lately knows that that was quite a chore! Fred and Shirley also just got back to town on Sunday, and so they stopped in on their way home to catch up.

On Tuesday Branigan and I had a fun day out. We started at Deanna Rose Farmstead and had a picnic there for lunch after visiting all the animals. Bran was not too impressed with the cows or chickens, but LOVED the baby goats. We didn't go into the pen because I thought she was too small, but she had a blast "talking" to them. The little goats would bleat at her and she was scream "EHH, EHH" back at them. It was pretty funny.

After that, we took off for Blackbob Park where Branigan got to swing in the "big kids" swing for the first time. At first she did not like being in there, but once she saw the other kids she settled right in. After swinging we took a walk around the park and were excited to see that they are building a pretty cool water park back in there.

After the park, we headed down the street to Taco John's to visit Jamie and have a bottle, a nice break. Then we went to Home Depot and picked out some flowers, which Branigan actually picked out the colors of. All in all a very fun day.

This weekend Branigan and I are headed for Olney. We don't have any big plans, just need to get home. I think we are leaving on Friday morning and coming back either Sunday or Monday afternoon, just depending on how the trip is going. Praying for an easy trip, as this will be my first time making the 400 mile trek just Branigan and I. Sigh.

9 Month Pictures

The photo session today didn't really go all that well, but we managed to get a few cute ones out of it. The photographer was a little scary, with multiple lip rings and tattoos, and kept saying "I'm going to get you!" to Branigan. I sort of don't blame her for not smiling, she was scaring me a little as well. :) It was a bit of a waste of time. But, here's what we got.





























After we were done at Sears, we took off for USA Baby, and got a walking stroller. My Chico one has been great, but it simply wasn't made for the walks we've been taking. We'll take it out for a spin this afternoon and see how it works!

A New Car Seat for Branigan

We went to the Dr. this morning, and Branigan is in perfect health. Her stats were:

Weight: 21 lbs, 12 oz (90th percentile)
Height: 29 inches (90th percentile)

What a big girl!! Time for the new car seat, and for us to start her on some more finger foods. I just love our doctor, she spends tons of time with us, and explains things not just from a doctor's standpoint, but also a mom's. We are very lucky.

Learning to use a sippy cup - most of the water was on the floor, but she enjoyed spilling it

Her last nap in her infant car seat

Whew. Coming back from vacation is punishing!

The last two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. We came back at the end of the month, which means I had all my paperwork to do, plus quarterly taxes. Ugh. Plus the house was a wreck, so I spent every day last week cleaning! I think I am now finally caught up. The store has also lost four employees since we got back, so Jamie has been working tons there.

Branigan and I have settled into a pretty good routine though. She is getting up between 6:30 and 7am, and taking a bottle then. At 8 she has breakfast (usually oatmeal and some fruit) and goes down for her first nap at 9 (which she has been taking in her crib every day!!). She gets up anywhere between 10 and 11. I always hope for 10:30. Once she's up she gets another bottle, plays for a while and then it is lunch at noon (usually whole grain cereal and two veggies). Then she plays until about 1:30 or 2:00, and its time for a bottle and a nap again which goes until 3 or 4 (probably depending on how long her morning nap was). Once she's up she has another bottle and a snack (trying to get her to eat finger foods at this time) and then we go for about a 45 minute walk. At 5:00 she has dinner (usually wheat cereal and a fruit or fruit dessert like mango smoothies) and then plays while I cook dinner for Jamie and I. At 7:00 we start the bedtime wind down with the five B's - bath, baby lotion, book, bottle, bed. As long as we are really consistent here, she's usually asleep by 8:00 and out for the night. I pretty much head to bed at that point as well - the day exhausts me too!

The weather here has been just beautiful. 70-80 degrees with a light wind (there's always some wind in KS) and blue skies. Everything is in bloom and green, and I've already mowed twice! It's nice to feel like I have things sort of under control at the moment.

Branigan is finally getting over her cold - two weeks of crusty snot and on and off fevers - glad she's feeling better! She is 9 months old today, and I can't believe it! The last two months have gone particularly fast. I looked at her yesterday and thought woah! there's a kid over there! She's just such a good baby. No teeth yet, which I am totally okay with. Crawling is easy for her now, she almost runs with it - you definitely have to be on your toes to keep up! She's pulling up on everything, and actually walking along the sides of things. Hard to believe, and it gives me a heart attack! She's started saying "bah bah" a lot, especially when I ask if she wants a bottle. She still says "Ehh Ehh" to like everyone she sees to get their attention. Her hair is still bright red, and starting to get some length. Its mostly on top and in back with very little on the sides. We like to play with it when she's in the bath tub and give her a "fauxhawk" - she thinks its pretty funny to see a line of curls going down the center of her head. Her eyes are still sort of undecided, blue around the outside with brown in the center.

Standing up at the window - she likes to play with the shutters

Getting ready to climb...

Up she goes!

Did I mention that she can go upstairs? Yikes! I found her on the second stair the other day climbing to the third. That was really something! She has also learned to clap, and claps for just about everything. And her dancing is hilarious. I keep trying to catch her bouncing to the music, but she always stops when the camera is on!


I can't wait to find out how much she weighs and how long she is tomorrow, she's just huge! I see other 9 month olds and she dwarfs them! I've gotten out her "big girl" car seat just in case, as I have a feeling that we'll be moving up after our appointment tomorrow. Her feet hang over the end of her current car seat...thank goodness her bigger one rear faces! She's pretty solidly wearing 12 month sized clothes now, and I think will be moving into 18 month within the next month or so.


Jamie and I have been doing well, just feeling crazy busy. Saturday we had a booth at the Olathe Marathon - and it was a disaster! I'm not going into any details there, but suffice it to say that we are ANGRY with the chamber of commerce here. What a waste of time and energy. The good news is that the store is really picking up now though. Whew! We really need a good month!