Easter and California Visitors

We planned Brooklyn's blessing around Spring Break so that my sister and her family, along with my parents could all stay a little bit longer. Plus I had a couple of days off as well! We had a full house, but an awesome time. Brooklyn was constantly being loved on, which made me oh so happy!

Camden told us he was going to be the Baby Whisperer and get this little one to go to sleep. Every nap time he just wanted to hold her and snuggle her to sleep.

 Haddley read to Brooklyn all day long! She would get stuffed animals to match the book and sit and play with her the whole time.

 More nap snuggles

 I got this picture while I was at work. Cami was babysitting and at one point she couldn't find Parker. He had quietly gone into Brooklyn's room to watch her sleep and keep her safe. He is 3 and is NEVER quiet. He had turned his tablet down so that he wouldn't wake her.

 Aunt Cami taking good care of B while I was at work

 Each of the kids brought Brooklyn a present. Parker insisted that Brooklyn needed a Thomas blanket. Cami tried to explain that it was for him, but for Brooklyn. He said that she needed one too. So one afternoon we had them both snuggle up with their Thomas blankets.

 We LOVE Easter! Since everyone was headed home before Easter Sunday we decided to dye eggs a little early. Brooklyn was super cute in her Bumbo the whole time, but had no idea why we were trying to get her to smile while holding an egg.

 One day we met up with some friends down at Temple Square. Mark had taken the day off to spend some time with all of us. It was so quiet on a week day and nice to just enjoy the visitor center and take a tour of the conference center.

 This picture pretty much sums up the whole week. Everyone wanted to help take care of Brooklyn. Parker here is playing a game, but earlier he had been taking pictures on his tablet of the whole bath and making little videos of her. He only liked to help wash her hair.

 The Easter Bunny came early to Utah! He left us a ton of goodies and a special hunt in the backyard. I was so glad Brooklyn got to have her first Easter Egg hunt with her cousins.

 She scored some candy (for mommy), a rubber ducky, bubbles, bows, socks, and Money!

 Daddy helped her hunt for her eggs

 My mom stayed a couple extra days and let us have a date Saturday afternoon. It was nice to get out and see a movie, but I did keep checking my phone because I missed my sweet girl so much!

 My sweet snuggled up baby!

 Easter Sunday we had a family party at the park. Unfortunately it was freezing so Brooklyn had to stay bundled up in her stroller the whole time.

 Earlier in the day we did put her in a cute dress for church. She wasn't in a super smiley mood, but was happy to be kicking her legs.

 Utah Spring = Snow and warm cozy clothes

We also got great news about Brooklyn's hips. We had another ultrasound and doctors visit. He was very pleased with the progress she is making. Her hip that was the worst is actually doing better than her other hip now. The brace was a smart option for us. I'm so glad we did it. Now she gets to kick all day long and just wear it at night. That should only be for about another month as more of a precaution. Then we will just keep doing follow up appointments to make sure it is still right on track! This was a huge blessing for us in so many ways. We love seeing her be able to kick and show her personality through her wiggles. I was also worried about sending her to different babysitters with the brace still on. I didn't want any of them to be nervous about changing diapers, holding her, or taking it off and on if she had a blow out. Now we don't have to deal with any of that and I couldn't be more grateful!

Brooklyn's Blessing

We were able to bless Brooklyn on Sunday. We are so grateful to have so many wonderful friends and family in our life. So many people were able to come and be party of her special day. Mark and I truly felt blessed as we looked around the room to see so many people we love. My parents and sister were able to come out from California along with my Aunt and Uncle. Mark had a ton of family come over and a couple of friends. 

 She makes the silliest faces. I can't wait until she starts talking!

 Brooklyn wore my blessing dress and my best friend Carrie made her the little booties. Her Great Great Grandma Hubbard made the blanket. I loved being able to use such special pieces for her day.

 Cami and her kids got to the house about an hour before the blessing. They immediately only wanted to be around Brooklyn. Luckily she was in a good mood and happy to meet her cousins.

 Right away Camden was in love with little Brooklyn.

 I'm so glad Cami could be here! Love having my sister around to help.

Time Flies

I'm down to my last couple of day on maternity leave and I'm not sure how 8 weeks has gone by so quickly. I also can't believe that Brooklyn will be 8 weeks on Saturday. I feel like her size hasn't changed much. She is still my petite little baby, but her personality gets bigger and bigger every day. It has been fun to see her start to smile more and really recognize my voice. She will turn her head to find me when I start talking and gives the biggest grin when I pick her up in the morning. We have grown pretty fond of each other lately. 

We are still working out our bedtime schedule, but we are making some progress. I feel like with her reflux and gas issues it makes her bedtime routine so tricky. She falls right to sleep, but almost exactly 30 minutes later she wakes up shaking her arms and moving like crazy. She can't be swaddled and HATES to be swaddled, so we are just hoping that we can grow out of this phase. Once she is asleep she usually stays asleep for much longer stretches. We even got 8 hours out of her the other night. Hopefully we will get better at this routine thing, because I'm going to be one tired teacher come Monday! 

 My little snuggle bug will sometimes fall asleep while she eats. Lately she has started snuggling with her burp cloth and I think it is just about the cutest thing ever.

 The Provo City Center Temple open house was amazing. Mark and I had both really been wanting to go so we decided to brave it with our inconsistent evening sleeper. Luckily she was a champ that day and slept through the whole thing! The temple is gorgeous. I'm so glad they were able to restore so much of the old tabernacle.

 We have started going on walks almost every day. This day I remember taking this picture and thinking how grown up Brooklyn looked. She was wide eyed and ready to go.

 The tongue...she loves to stick it out at you all day long!

 She still loves her hands by her face while she sleeps. Of course she looks extra cute trying to pose here.

 This picture reminded me how tiny she still is. She looks so beautiful when she sleeps.

 We went to Vernal for cousin Max's baby blessing. It was a quick trip, but we had a great time visiting with family.

 I've fallen in love with Brooklyn in sweaters!

 My little girl showing off all sorts of silly faces

She loves to watch tv...which is kind of funny to me! She has really been enjoying Fuller House

 We read books every night. Lately she just likes to crinkly the pages of this new book though.

 Afternoon naps are a struggle for Brooklyn. I feel like by then her reflux is a little worse and she usually needs to poop. Both of these things make it hard for her to sit in her rocker and nap. I often have to rocker to back to sleep, which can take FOREVER! A lot of the time she needs to fall asleep on my shoulder so that her tummy feels better. IF she can fall back asleep I often end up putting her down on the couch close by me wrapped up in blankets and propped on pillows. My hope is that someday she will get a good afternoon nap!

 We found out day one that Brooklyn had a click in her hip. By day two the doctor could hear it in both of her hips. We got an ultrasound and saw a specialist only to learn she has hip dysplasia. It sounds a lot worse than it really is. She just needs her hips in a better position so that they can fully develop. We are hoping she won't have to wear this brace too much longer, but we know it is best to take care of it now. Our hope is that by having her in the brace for a couple of months now, we will eliminate the need for braces as she gets older and or surgeries. It took a lot of adjusting on my part to deal with the brace. She only notices it a little bit when we change her clothes. For me it has made feeding her more challenging, diaper changes SUCK, she can't wear pants, and I miss snuggling her close to me. But she does look super cute in her little brace!

 We finally made it back to church! We only lasted for sacrament meeting our first Sunday because we were all exhausted from a long night. Mark let me go upstairs and take a nap. I woke up to these two snuggling on the couch.