Breaker Breaker... One, Niner, Niner.

Ha ha.. Don't know if you understood the title. It was supposed to be a little pun. lol. Trucker talk. I say Breaker Breaker because I want to put a break on this speedy growth and obviously One Niner Niner means I have one 9 month old on my hands. Okay, so it wasn't really that funny, but I had to give it a shot. 9 happens to be another lucky number of mine so this should be a great upcoming month!

Harry Potter Fan! ha ha

Well. My sweet baby girl isn't such a baby anymore. These 9 months have gone by in a hurry and I feel like I am missing out on something in her life even though I'm not. I have been so lucky to work early mornings (4-8) and be able to be with her from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to bed. I'm grateful not to miss out on her life... These moments are so very precious to me. :)

Here is some info about her in this last month. 

At a Halloween/B-day Party. All dressed up!

• She just had her 9 month check up. She weighs 17lbs 1oz, she's 26.5 inches tall, and her head is 17 inches around. (don't know the stats this time. Doc didn't tell me) But he said she looks perfect as always and is following her growth chart very well so she is still smaller than average. 

• She now has two teeth (bottom ones). Cutting them wasn't too bad except that she refused to eat any solids really. In the mornings she would take a few bites and then I think it just hurt her so she would only drink her milk no matter how hard I tried to get her to eat. She is also starting to get her two top teeth (I think). They have dropped down, but now its the waiting game again. 

• Speaking of eating... she loves normal food! I give her bits and pieces of animal crackers or cheese nips or bread or ice cream or yogurt. But still that is not enough. She stares at me constantly when I am eating. She starts to grunt and reaches out to tell me that she wants some. Sometimes she gets angry at me for not sharing. And even when she is already scarfing down a piece in her mouth she is already begging me for more. Its cute, but its hard to teach her that I can't give her everything. 

SO hard to say "NO" to this face! She's too cute!

• She can stand up on her own. Lets just say I had to find out the hard way. (For other moms out there, put your crib down long beforehand. Even if your baby shows no indication of being able to stand on his/her own.Better safe then sorry.)
• She still doesn't crawl, but she scoots really fast. She has crawled like 4 moves, but I assume she still thinks she can get around faster by scooting. lol.
• When she gets excited or really happy she bounces up and down and all around.

Playing with Grandpa Wayment :)

• I have been teaching her things on the face like mouth, eyes, nose, cheeks, ears. I point to them on me and then I point to them on her. One day when I would say nose (without any pointing) she would raise her hand and point her finger at my nose. She did it with the mouth and eyes, but she still doesn't understand ears or cheeks. I play this game with her everyday and I can't believe how smart she is! Doc said she was advanced in this way because most kids don't learn that until after they are 1. Only problem is she gets distracted really easy so she doesn't always want to play that game. 

Swimmin with Daddy. Can't tell in this pic, but she had lots of fun. 

• She likes swimming and bath time a lot now. (She used to hate having her head get wet at all). Now she splashes over and over and over anytime I have her in water. 
• She's been going through a bit of a separation anxiety phase lately. Not too fun. Even if I am in the room with her she will sometimes get angry at me for setting her down instead of holding her. 

My little water baby. :D

Reaching up to Grandpa's face

• She tries to walk if I hold her hands! 
• She baby talks all the time. She is back to saying mama now, but dada is still her favorite one to say. She usually only says mama when she is crying. (She knows who comes to the rescue lol. )
• She claps her hands AND her feet. 
• She is getting better at waving "hi" and "goodbye" on cue versus just whenever. 
• She can feed herself little "treats" and tries to feed herself with a spoon. Its almost impossible to keep the spoon away from her and once she has it she has a death grip on it. 

Belly time with Grandma Wayment with lots of tickling too. ha ha.

Oh what an amazing little girl I have. I love her more than anything! She is my little sunshine. :) I love having her in my life and I just wouldn't be the same without her. Can't wait for the road ahead. She's gonna be a handful. 

Ward Halloween Party at my parents. All Dressed up again. :) <3 her="her">

8 months!

So my munchkin is 8 months! Before I know it she is gonna be a year! We had a couple fun things to end our summer. This is going to be a very long post, but its for Brailey to read in the future so I want her to remember lots! Okay, its for me too, but I want to remember everything as well ha ha.

We went up to our family cabin and spent the time with some amazing family. A couple siblings were missing, and though it wasn't the same, it was still fun. Brailey had a good time too. She enjoyed spending time with everyone and seeing all the new people. She loved the 4wheelers and we even took her on a very slow ride up the road. Overall, a great time. And I am so excited for my two cousins who are both going to be welcoming their babies this winter! I can't wait to meet them!

With Cousin Chantelle who is preparing for mommyhood! :D

Funny Faces. :D

Blue Eyes

Push Ups. ha ha ha.

Sleepy Baby

 She doesn't fall asleep on me often, but when she does it is amazing. I love watching her sleep and having her in my arms. :) She is beautiful.

4wheeling with Mommy and Daddy :)

Sucking on her toes

The other event to end our summer was going to the Hogle Zoo with my sisters, nieces, and nephews. We had a great time. Brailey loved seeing the animals and she enjoyed the train ride. She loved the Carousel though. It was fun spending time with my sisters, getting to talk, and just having fun with our kids. Its definitely good to spend time with my nieces and nephews too. I love watching them grow and learn new things and say the funniest stuff. I can't wait for Brailey to do that too. :) Pics will be with the following info about Brailey now that she is 8 months old. :)

• She's army crawling now. Its SO cute! Honestly, I keep wondering what finally connects in their little heads and says "Oh if I just do this then I can move forward" lol. She started out just being able to get up on her hands and knees, occasionally doing a push up instead, but she couldn't ever figure out how to move forward. Randomly, one day, she just started moving herself forward. She still tries to crawl normally, but I think she needs to build up more muscles to do that. 

• She LOVES necklaces! Oh my goodness. The first thing she grabs, if anyone is wearing one, is the necklace. I don't know what her fascination is with them, but she absolutely LOVES them. They don't even have to be all bright and sparkly. They can be plain and simple and yet she still wants them... even more than her toys.
• Speaking of toys she has a favorite (other than the necklaces) she loves her rattle-blanket giraffe. Its pink and so I started calling it Pinky. She gets so excited when I bring Pinky to her. 

• She knows how to wave "bye-bye" or "hi." She doesn't always do it on cue but she does it quite often now. Sometimes when i am feeding her, sometimes when i am changing her... but she does wave. :) Its adorable!
• She's starting to eat her veggies better. I don't know that it means she likes them, but she doesn't spit them out as often anymore. She does at least like sweet potatoes. She also doesn't really like sour stuff. I made her own mashed peaches and they were a bit sour so she kept pushing them out with her tongue. 
• She's been going down for naps SO good lately. Again, I don't know what suddenly flipped a switch in her mind, but it happened. (For those of you that don't know or don't remember from previous posts, she was a bit of a drama queen when it came to going down for naps. She would cry for about 5 minutes and then finally turn over and go to sleep. NOW, however, she doesn't cry at all. She just goes right to sleep as soon as I put her in her crib... unless she is already fussy prior to nap time. 
• She's been teething a lot lately, and while she still doesn't have any teeth I can feel the gums on her bottom front and it feels a little raised now so I think she might be getting them in. Plus she has been chewing on everything... and she has had her really fussy moments.

• She is great about going down to bed early. I get her to bed by 7 so that I can get to bed by 8 since I work in the early am. Most days she goes right to sleep, but other times she just talks to herself.
• She tries to feed herself all the time. She likes to grab the spoon and then she attempts to make it into her mouth. Usually, this ends in food all over her face and possibly her clothes. I try to help her with it, but boy is she strong! So for now I just let her hold her own bottle. 
• She also likes juice and drinks from a Sippy cup regularly. And she can also drink from a straw. Such a little stinker. I decided to give her a taste of my gingerale and she loved it... took her a bit to get used to the bubbly, but she kept wanting more. She kept reaching back for it and leaning for it and opening her mouth to it. Ha ha... guess I am gonna have to keep pop out of the house from now on so she doesn't get addicted to it. (even though its caffeine free). 
• Since the doc gave us permission to give her bits of food from our plates I have let her have different tastes of ice cream, yogurt, bread, crackers, and I am now giving her those bits of gerber graduates. She loves it all! She watches me eat constantly and I can tell by the look on her face that she wants to eat everything that I am eating. 

• She loves it when I tickle her... and she is very ticklish.
• She's got such a laid back, funny, smart personality. She just enjoys being in new places, playing with new things, seeing new people, learning new tricks. Don't get me wrong, she still has her dramatic side, but thats to be expected in most girls anyway. lol. 

She's so much fun to play with now that I don't have to be as careful with her anymore. We play airplane, and horsey, and swing (not with a real swing), and many other games which I have yet to make a name for. Don't worry, I am still careful with her. :) 

I love how big she is getting. Still miss the tiny stage, but I love this stage. I love her so very much and she is and always will be a blessing in my life. She is the light of my life. Couldn't have asked for a better gift from our Heavenly Father.

Lucky Number 7!

Awwww.... 7 months is here and already passing on us. Brailey is such a cute little squirt with a funny personality coming out more and more. Still hard to get smiles for the camera, but what do ya do? I just grow to love her more and more and more... even though she can now grab things that I don't want her to (and this is after I think that I have made it impossible to get to)... even though she can be a little bit drama queen when I leave the room. I still can't help but love everything about her. Now I know how my parents made it through the teenage years. lol. Lots and lots of love! ha ha. 

So here are so fun facts about Brailey in her 7th month. (One of my lucky and most favorite numbers). 

Look at those beautiful blues! And those chunky rolls. lol. 

• She can get up onto all fours when she wants to, but she doesn't always want to. ha ha. Her favorite forms of moving are either rolling all over the place or turning herself in a circle. 
• She is starting to understand different words. I know she knows what I mean when I say "no, no" but she is my little rebel and laughs and keeps doing what I told her not to do. And I am using a very calm, but serious voice without any smiles. Just a straight face. Apparently, I am not to be taken seriously. But now, every time I say "no, no, no" She turns to look at me cause she knows I don't approve.  She can also understand her name and she understands things like "eat" and "come here." When I say "come here" to her and move my hands in a motion to signify it she tries to roll in my direction. Its SO cute!
• She hates most vegetables, loves the fruits, so I have come up with a way to get her to eat the veggies since she would always just keep her mouth completely shut. I first tried keeping one of my fingers in between her lips so that I could get the spoon in long enough to get her to swallow, but that just didn't work very well. Now, though, I give her a bite of fruit and then she will continue to open her mouth and that's when I sneak in the vegetables. I usually get about 3 or 4 more big bites in before she starts to refuse the stuff. So then I do a bite of the fruits again and continue on. I know its kind of sneaky and tricky of me, but how else am I supposed to get her to eat her veggies? I haven't found any other good ways. 

Brailey LOVES riding up on my shoulders. I do it all the time and she is so giggly about it, but she is camera shy still. 

• She is such a smiley girl. She is constantly smiling and laughing, but capturing it on camera is hard. The one thing she smiles best for is my phone so I use that the most. (Plus its conveniently near me almost all the time). 
• She loves to try and babble all the time. She will just say different things to herself or squeal really loud and laugh. Sometimes we will make noises or say words and she will try mimic us with the same sound or mouth the words. 

The costume I made for Brailey this year. "Little Red Riding Hood" 

• She sleeps up to 13 hours at night and then takes 2 naps throughout the day, usually both are anywhere from an hour to 2 hours each. 
• I just recently found out she has a birth mark. When she got sick and I took her into the docs office to check her ears I asked the doc about it. He told me that not all birth marks show up right away and that they can take up to 9 months to show... sometimes more. Hers started showing up at 6 months, but I wasn't sure if it was a bruise or not.
• She loves to be swung around in the air. She just laughs and laughs when we do.
• She is SUPER ticklish all over. 
• She loves to grab EVERYTHING still. I don't think I have ever been around a baby that is so grabby and wants to mouth everything. I have held her up in the tub without her little chair before and she always tries to dive for the water just to get it into her mouth. I have to keep a really good hold on her so that she can't do that, but even then she always attempts to get some in her mouth. 

Brailey and her cousins Quincy and Adalyn. :) They put their arms around her so that she wouldn't fall! SO cute. 

• She is a such a love bug. She can play on her own, but she loves having someone to be with. 
• She likes hearing me talk. I read her books all the time and she likes to listen to my voice. 
• She loves watching her cousins and trying to "play" with them. Her version of play is to grab them and pull on them. lol. 
• She always gets comments on her big blue eyes and I absolutely LOVE them... just as bright as her daddy's. 

Love this picture of all three of them! Just Beautiful! :)

I just love her with all my heart and being. She is so spunky and hyper and smart. I can't wait for more! She is just amazing in every way to me. Its funny to hear other parents say "Isn't he/she the cutest baby in the world?" with their own babies.... I understand why they believe that though. Because they are with them every day... they know everything about them. I don't base Braileys beauty on just her appearance... I know she is gorgeous because of her personality and the beauty she has within. The innocent spirit she has inside that tiny little body, the funny, crazy, dramatic little girl, and the wonderful person she is already becoming. So I too believe that my baby girl is the most beautiful baby in the world. No offense to any other mothers in the world. :) lol. I understand why God see's all his children as beautiful. He not only created us, but He knows everything about us... the good and the bad. He can see the beauty even when others can not.

Half Of A Year, But All Of My Heart!

6 months has come and gone all too quickly. It boggles my mind a bit to think how I was in the hospital 6 months ago giving birth to such a beautiful little girl and now she can do so many new things. This past half of a year with her has been adventurous, spontaneous, joyous, momentous, and just about any really great word you can think of. Its been a blessing to say the least. She has brought such indescribable happiness into our lives and it's so hard to imagine a life without her.

Would it have been the same if we had waited? Would it still have been her, had I not miscarried? Sometimes I wonder where we would be in life if things had gone differently... and all other paths just seem to be the wrong one. She is such a light in my life. She is always teaching me things and helping me to grow as a person... as a mother. I now see things so differently.


Before, I didn't care how badly I ate, or how much I exercised. I didn't care about having mail in a pile on the floor, or cords laying on the ground. I never had to worry about high places or things that could be swallowed. As an adult, you forget the importance of these things. (Or at least, I did). Now that I have her I think about how I am supposed to teach her good eating habits if I am not eating healthy myself. How am I supposed to get her out of the house as a kid to go and play and exercise if all I do is sit on the couch all day? A man named Jared Matthew Kessler once said "Lead by example, not by instruction." And so I shall, but that's all explained in the post before this one. 

She has stolen my heart just like her daddy. The love I have for them is almost overwhelming and from what I hear it only gets better with more children. :) Brailey is such a smart little girl and she learns quickly. So here is the new stuff about Brailey.

• She reaches for everything and gets really excited for her milk!
• She can't crawl yet, but she can scoot herself around in a circle to get to something.

Yummy CARROTS!!

•  She has been eating fruits and veggies for the past few weeks and it has been pretty fun! She can be quite funny to watch. I go for about a whole week with each new one instead of the 4 day rule just to be safe. Her first meal was carrots, which she loved. Then Bananas... She wasn't sure what to think. They were kind of tangy... but near the end she started to like them. She HATES peas, but I don't blame her she basically refused to eat them. And she LOVES her applesauce. She just gobbles them down. I plan on trying Sweet Potatoes next and then Pears and so on. We will see how the others go. But so far her taste buds are similar to mine. She likes fruits more than veggies. lol. Doctor said we can also give her little things to try off of our own plates. Soft things like a little bit of scrambled egg, a little bit of wheat bread, a tiny bit of yogurt... and just a few other things. I have given her a tiny piece of scrambled egg and she didn't like it. She kept trying to push it out of her mouth with her tongue. lol. It was funny to watch.

She really wanted those carrots. lol.

Carrot face. lol. Such a good first meal.

Banana time! Didn't know what to think.

Ewww... yucky peas! ha ha.. LOVE this face. 

•  At her 6 month doctor appointment she weighed 14 lbs 10 oz: 24th percentile, She is 24.75 inches long: 18th percentile, and her head is 16.5 in. round: 35th percentile. So she is pretty small for her age, but she is growing along her curve great. Doctor said she is perfect AND that she is advanced for age by being able to sit up on her own by the end of her 5 months. And she did so great with her shots. She didn't cry for the first one... only the second one. And then she stopped crying when I picked her up. Such a good girl. :)

Measurement time!

Sitting up on her own at the doctors office :)

Momma hugs

•  She said her first word (even though she doesn't know what it means) and it was MAMA!!! ha ha Yeah! All that "training" paid off. lol. Now she mostly only says it when she cries. Like "ma ma ma ma ma." Now I am training her to say Dadda! lol.  

Daddy being silly while waiting for doc to come in.

Kisses from Daddy.

•  She loves to shake her toys up and down like crazy!!!

Giggles!

Love this smiley girl. 

•  She now sleeps 12+ hours in the night. I usually get her to bed by around 8:30-9 and she wakes up sometime in the night at least once and then she plays around or talks to herself and then goes back to sleep after a little bit. Its so fun to watch her on the monitor cause she stares at the camera like she knows what it is. lol. She also moves A TON in her sleep. When I put her down to sleep she will be in one position, by the time I leave the room she will be in another position.... when I come back 5 minutes later to check the monitor again she will be completely different again. And so far she likes sleeping on her tummy. I always lay her down on her back and in no time at all she is on her tummy. It still scares me, but not as much now that she can roll really good both ways.

This was SO funny. I was trying to get a picture of them together and she shoved his face away and I captured this when she did it. His face was PERFECT and she just looks like "yeah, I did that!" lol.

Better picture of her and Doctor Visick. :) Such a great doctor. 

•  She rolls around all over the place now. She will be on one side of the room and even if I turn my back for a minute she will be in a completely different place or clear on the other side.

Time to get ready for shots. 

OWWW!

Celebrating 6 months at the Ogden days parade with Aunt Amberly.

•  She grabs at anything and everything and it automatically goes in the mouth. She was trying to eat my friends hair and the look on her face was HILARIOUS. She had this disgusted look like "eww, what is this?" but she still kept putting it in her mouth.

Rainy day parade. 

More kisses from daddy while watching the horses go by. lol. 

• She loves to be able to move around. She is getting to the point where she doesn't like her bouncer chair or her swing. I have been avoiding putting her in the swing for the most part anymore because I don't want her to get too used to being swung to sleep during nap time. I have been putting her in her crib for naps over the past month and she fusses or cries for about 5 minutes and then she falls asleep on her own. Happy Mommy Moment! lol.
  
  
• She doesn't really care for binkies. She likes to chew on them, but that is about it. She will just pull it out and play with it in her hands or she will spit it out. She prefers her thumb, but she hardly uses it either. 

• She likes to screech at the top of her lungs just to hear herself. 

• She loves seeing herself in the mirror... she will talk to herself and reach for herself and just giggle and smile. 

• She stares at other babies when they are around and tries to grab them. I think she is fascinated by them. 

• She has what we call The Pitchford Allergies. She is "allergic" to the sun. Not really, but she sneezes every time she is out in sun. Jordan has it and so does all of his family. It must be some sort of a gene or something lol. Makes me laugh inside. :)

• She is so different when we are out in public. She just stares at everything. Getting her to smile is very hard. It's the same look she gives me when I pull out the camera to take a picture of her. lol. The only thing I can really capture a smile on is my phone and I don't even know why. You think she would be used to the camera by now.

• I am pretty sure she hates her headbands. ha ha ha. She always pulls them off... no matter how many times I put them back on they usually end up around her eyes, in her mouth, or on the ground.

This little turkey of mine is growing up so fast. It makes me realize how short life is. It felt so slow getting to the point of having my own children and being a mommy, but now life is just like a ticking time bomb. I feel as though I don't have much time left before it's all over and done with on this earth. I am just glad that it doesn't really end here and that I get to be with my family for eternity. I love being with her and being able to watch her grow and learn new things. I am overly grateful for her and the better person she has helped me to become.