The Original Announcement

I tried my hand a designing my own announcement for Brooklyn and this is what I came up with.  I ended up ordering from Shutterfly instead because I could not find a site in which to print them with high quality resolution and in the correct size...  I'll keep working on this sort of project and hopefully find a way to easily print them. :-)  For now I just have it to share electronically. 

Photo Card

Initially Girl Baby Announcements

Birth announcements, Valentine's cards, & invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Brannin, Family of Four...

Well, it's been one week!  Blessed, elated, exhausted, overjoyed, stressed, blissful, overwhelmed, there has been a whirlwind of emotions this week.  I can say that blessed is the overarching emotion that I am feeling still.  Our family feels so much more complete with Brooklyn in it.  I was worried about Lincoln and how his reaction might affect the transition period, but I worried for no reason.  He is stepping into his big brother role perfectly thus far.  He asks about "baby" constantly.  A few of the moments that made my heart swell are as follows...  The other day he had spent a few hours at Grandma's house and when he returned home I was out with Brooklyn.  Josh said he was looking for "baby" and asking where she was.  The other morning he was sure that "baby" wanted to watch Thomas with him.  My favorite was when I walked into the living room to find he had put one of his favorite toys in the bouncer with her. 

Watching Thomas...

Lincoln and his"cheese" face...

One thing I've been trying to do is include Lincoln as much as I can when I am taking care of Brooklyn.  He loves to get his stool and watch as I change her diaper.  He is constantly asking me about her belly button.  I'm sure it looks awful weird with that extra piece!  I've been having him pick out her outfits in the mornings as well.  He doesn't always care to pick.  He picked a Husky onesie the other day...  Daddy was pretty happy!   

Josh and I are of course adjusting to the schedule of a newborn!  The first few nights were rough to say the least.  She was on the graveyard schedule for sure!  Of course I made things harder on myself by not sleeping during the day when she was snoozing.  I am really trying to just sit down and relax, not worry about the house, laundry, garbage, dinner etc, but it has been hard...  My body had been reminding me along with Josh to SLOW down.  She seems to be getting on a better schedule now.  We will see what tonight holds as she was awake more today than she has been to date. 

I have found that dressing a girl is so much fun.  We could be in trouble...  There are so many different accessories to choose from not to mention the clothing section for girls is ginormous in comparison to the boys!  Today I tried some tutus and head bands on miss Brooklyn and it was so much fun.  Well, aside from her peeing all over me...  Hahha!  She has actually peed and pooped on me more in her first week of life that Lincoln has in two years!  I went through four diapers when I changed her earlier today!  That excretory system is definitely fully functioning.

Haha!  This picture cracks me up with her cross eyes!  Who knows what she was looking at!  :-)  Maybe the HUGE flower on her head!

     

The Tale of Our Precious Gift

The day finally arrived when we got to meet our precious Brooklyn.  As eager as I was to have her early, she was well worth the wait.  Late in the evening on Friday the 23rd about 10:00 I had a few consistent contractions, but wasn't getting too anxious because this had happened twice before with no exciting end results.  I finally decided to start recording the timings, just in case.  After about an hour and an increase in the severity, I started to think that this might be it!  By 11:45 they were averaging 5-6 minutes apart, but I wasn't sure if we should head to the hospital because my water hadn't broke.  The last thing I wanted was to get to St. Petes and be told I was in false labor.  With much prodding from Josh, we finally decided it was time to go.  So, we started packing up the car, called my parents to let them know we would be dropping Lincoln off and we were on the road.  By the time we dropped Lincoln off and were headed to St. Petes it was 1:00 in the morning and my contractions were 3 min apart.  We got checked in and I had my exam after which they told us that we for sure needed to be at the hospital (phew!). 

We were both exhausted as neither of had slept a wink.  I luckily was on an adrenaline high, Josh however was fading rather quickly...  So much so that our nurse, Doty (who was awesome) gave him strict orders to sleep once I was all settled in the room.  She wanted him at full attention once things really got rolling.  Doty even went so far as to cover him with a blanket and take off his shoes!

I apparently have a low pain tolerance and definitely wanted an epidural.  I was so excited when the anesthesiologist came in despite the fact that he was wearing a Husky bandanna...  Josh was not allowed to watch the anesthesiologist actually give me the epidural this time due to someone passing out and suffering from head trauma.  This time the epidural was not as quick an easy as I recall it was with Lincoln...  Imagine my shock when after what seemed like too long the anesthesiologist said, "I'm going to have to start over and place it in a different spot."  What?!  Luckily Doty was WONDERFUL and kept me chatting about random things.  The epidural was of course initially wonderful, but I'm not convinced it was placed right.  I could not for the life of me move my right leg at all throughout labor and for three hours afterwards still could not use it to walk.  The last hour and a half I felt everything...  And my back is still killing me three days later.  Of course the moment she was born and placed upon me all the pain turned to pure joy, as she was perfect!!!  We got to spent that first hour with her uninterrupted.    It was amazing

I was in labor for 10 hours (so much for that second one coming early and being half as long of a labor as the first!)  She was born Christmas Eve at 8:46 a.m., weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces, and was 20 inches long.  God blessed us yet again with a beautiful healthy child. 

 She was so calm compared to Lincoln.  He screamed when they weighed him, bathed him, and gave him a bath.  She didn't make a peep :-)  Lincoln enjoyed watching the bath.  I'm not convinced that it was her, but probably more the bubbles as he has been loving bubbles in the shower lately.  Either way the picture was adorable!

They then moved us from labor and delivery to our room.  The hardest part was watching Lincoln go back home with Grandma and Grandpa.  He couldn't understand why I couldn't get out of bed and "walk" with him.  He told me, "No, hold baby," and cried on his way out the door.  It was awful feeling!! 

It was mid morning when visitors started to arrive.
   

  

We were not overwhelmed with visitors and it was nice to relax and just enjoy her.  From the beginning I was adamant that we weren't spending Christmas in the hospital and that it would be horrible, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The hospital really made being there special.  When she was born and as we were headed to our new room a lullaby was played throughout the whole hospital.  Apparently after every birth they play a lullaby to lift the spirits of other patients.  Santa and Mrs. Clause came to our room to pay Brooklyn a visit and take her picture.  Someone had knitted a bunch of Christmas hats and they delivered one to each room for the babies. 

It was our hope to be released in the morning on Christmas so that we could have some family time and celebrate the holiday at home.  We had a laundry list of things that had to get done first, starting with her pediatrician check.  While checking her out they found a faint heart murmur.  They told us not to worry and that there was a good chance that in the morning it would be gone and would have resolved itself (it was gone in the morning :-)).  She then had to have her hearing check which she passed with flying colors.

 

The final item to scratch off the list was the car seat check.  She was not a huge fan... 

We then got officially discharged at 11:00 on Christmas morning.  Yeah!!!  It was not home to relax just yet though...  We had quite a day ahead of us.  Picking up the missing link to our newly founded family of four was the next priority.  He was at Grandma and Grandpa Brannin's as they were celebrating Christmas with the rest of the Brannin clan.  We arrived and of course everyone wanted to meet Brooklyn just as much as I wanted to give my little man hug and kisses.  We did our Christmas with Josh's parents and enjoyed the fellowship.  

Finally we were homeward bound.  Lincoln's attitude towards Brooklyn I believe was greatly influenced by the car ride from Grandma and Grandpa's to our house.  He no longer was a solo rider, he now had company...  It was weird to come home and have two kiddos to cart into the house.  Ahhh, it felt great to be home.  Josh unloaded the car and we sat down, relaxed, showered, and did our little family Christmas for the first time with four.  Lincoln loved opening his presents as did the dogs.  Josh and I had had our own mini gift exchange in the hospital and of course Brooklyn slept peacefully right through the whole thing.  Although this was relaxing and wonderful our day was not yet over...
   

We headed to my grandparents to celebrate with my mom's side of the family.  I think they were most excited to meet Brooklyn though :-)  Finally we trekked next door to my parents house and ended the evening with a small gift exchange before closing the chapter on Brooklyn's first Christmas. 

It was an amazingly long day, but worth the effort.  And of course Josh, Lincoln and I received the greatest gift of all, our beautiful little girl, Brooklyn Noelle Brannin!     
 

     

Learning Letters!!

Lincoln's new favorite pastime is typing letters on the computer or rather "wetters on the puder" as he enunciates it.  I open word and put large font on the screen and he types away!  It has taken him awhile to recognize that some of the keys really mess him up if he hits them simultaneously, but he is recognizing more and more letters on his own.  Today he was excitedly talking about the letter h, b, and q.  When I went to see what he had typed he had in fact typed those letters!  I have a wooden "B" that I am using for a house project and when he saw it he started talking about the letter "B".  He even knows that the backspace button erases his work.  It is so exciting to see him learn and watch him as information engulfs his little mind.  It's so true that their minds are like sponges soaking everything up.  What a crucial time to read and spend time talking with your child.  I LOVE it!!!   

The Christmas Festivities Have Begun!

One of my favorite things about Christmas is getting together with those family members that live far away.  It is nice to just sit, visit and relax catching up on life.  Of course there is always delicious food as well!  Now that we have Lincoln it is so fun to see the cousins get together and play.  This is one reason I have always wanted to have three children.  My brother and I only have three first cousins, two of which we only saw around Christmas and they are all at least ten years younger than myself.  It would be so much fun for Lincoln to have lots of cousins to grow up with!  In case this doesn't happen, as Josh and I each only have one sibling, we have many friends with kids around Lincoln's age. 

We usually make two trips down south every year.  My dad's family lives in the Portland area and Josh's mom's side lives in Longview.  With Brooklyn's estimated arrival date so close to Christmas both families graciously came up our way instead. 

We spent Saturday at my parents house with my Grandma Bev and my aunts and uncles.  It was great to see them along with my cousins, Alex and Logan.  I can't believe how much they have grown since the last time I saw them.   

Lincoln opening presents

Aaron and Necia's first Christmas as a married couple!

The original Riddell women, hehehe... 

We can't forget Necia and myself :-)

Then there are the Riddell men.  Funny, they are standing in age order and hair order!  Jeff (left) is the youngest and has the least amount of hair.  Steve (right) is the oldest and has the most.  Then there is my dad who falls in the middle!

Logan, the eighth grader whose football team was undefeated this year!

Alex playing with Lincoln.  She is so sweet!  And she recently won a photo contest!

We spent Sunday at my in law's house and at Hop Jack's breaking bread and catching up.  Josh's cousin has three kids one of which is only two months younger than Lincoln so it is really fun to see them all get together.  Again, it's amazing how much they grow when you don't see them but every six months or so!

Corbin opening his presents!  He is quite the camera poser!

Hallie looking through her Disney Cookbook.  Don't forget that you are making something delicious and inviting me over, right? :-)

Keelie opening her books!

All three siblings together, aren't they adorable!