Thursday, November 12, 2009

A few quick pics

I don't make much time for blogging these days. I starting working Oct 1 and when I'm not at work I spend time with Brayli. When she's asleep I have "chores" to do. Here is a short post with a few pics.

Brayli fell asleep on our bed while I was folding laundry the other day. She is cuddling her new favorite bunny chew toy/rattle. She has a death grip on the leg.

Deidra and Joey had us over for dinner on Sunday night. We decided to put Brayli in the exersaucer while we ate dinner. She LOVED it! She can't quite reach the toys yet though. I think I know what Santa might be bringing her this year! wink, wink


Here is Brayli in her favorite place--on her changing table with no clothes on. When she is crabby we take her to her changing table and life usually gets better. Silly girl!


Another favorite for Brayli is bath time. I caught a cheesy grin the other day when Matthew holding her afterwards. SOOOO cute!
(She loves to stick her tongue out lately. Hopefully that phase will end soon)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Surprised shes smiling

After looking at these first two pictures its probably hard to guess what happened to Brayli today. Scroll down to see.








She had her 2 month well check today and had to get 3 shots! This bandaid covers ouch 1 & 2
This bandaid covers ouch number 3

Brayli's stats:
Weight: 10 lb 12 ozs (50%)
Height: 21 1/2 in (25%)
Head circumference: 38 cm (35%)
That explains why she has rolly polly legs. I can't believe she's already 2 months (9 1/2 weeks) old. It has gone by so fast and she has changed so much. It's so fun to watch her learn and grow. She loves to be sitting upright and tries to stand all the time. She thinks she's bigger and stronger than she really is. I have a couple videos but I'm not sure how to post them. Maybe I will get it figured out. If not I'm sure my wonderful "computer geek" husband can figure it out. (Don't tell him I called him that!)

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Brayli is learning early how to say her prayers. Her arms don't stay folded but she knows how to hold her hands together. She actually had them so tight one day that one hand was turning purple. She cut off the circulation!!




I had Sophia, Deidra's daughter, the other day for a little while. I wanted to get a few pics of them together. Deidra and I are only eight days apart in age so it's fun having daughters close (6 months apart). They were being so good and not scratching each other but then this happened. . . .


Brayli put her fist in the air and Sophia, who is teething, thought it was a GREAT chew toy. I quickly took the picture then saved my daughter's hand from those new sharp teeth!

Brayli's first tirp to McCall

Last weekend we went to McCall. My mom invited us to go with her, Jenna, and Quinn. We used a time share from a friend of ours. (Thanks Chanall!) They stayed Thurs and Fri. and Matthew Brayli and I stayed Fri and Sat. It was Brayli's first time seeing McCall. She actually went there last year for the winter carnival but didn't get to see anything because she was still in my belly! Anyways, we discovered that she likes to sit on the back of the couch. The second night she was being really crabby and Matthew put her on the top of the couch. She immediately got quiet. We took her down and she starting fussing again. Back up and was quiet. We tried this a couple times and it worked every time. She really likes it for some reason. The first pic Matthew is holding her but his arms got tired so the next pic I am standing behind her to support her. Brayli's hair is all falling out on top so she looks like an old man!


We woke up on Sunday to a landscape covered in snow! Crazy, huh?! We were in snow the first weekend in October! Hard to believe, I know. This was the view from our back porch.
Here is our car just before our drive home. It wasn't all off until about Horshoebend I think.

I LOVE the way snow looks but HATE to be cold! I'm NOT ready for winter.


Monday, September 28, 2009

Because I'm a Peditric Nurse. . .

My daughter has experienced several symptoms that parents of my patients frequently call about. Dr. Roy said the same thing happened to him when he had his twins. According to him, we need to deal with them ourselves to better understand and sympathize with our patients and their families. Here is a list of what we've seen so far:
1. Weight loss due to lack of breast milk. (details in previous posts) Solution-supplement with formula.
2. Constipation due to formula. Solution-tummy massage, bicycle legs, rectal temp (to stimulate the muscles and promote BM), Karo syrup.
3. Extreme fussiness and gas. Solution-Change to Gentlease formula, give simethicone (mylicon) after each bottle.
4. Colicy. Solution-purchase a swing and ear plugs (we only bought the swing but ear plugs would be nice too!) Patience, lots of swaddling, walking, bouncing, singing.
5. "Newborn acne" followed by a "newborn rash" that covers her face, head, chest, shoulders, and back. It looks a lot like an allergic reaction. Solution-wash twice a day and apply Aquaphor (this stuff is GREAT!) Give it time. Brayli's is starting to clear up but it can lead to her next condition. . .
6. Cradle cap. Solution-apply small drop of baby oil or olive oil to the scalp and let it soak in for a couple minutes to soften scales. Then brush out with soft baby brush. This can and is contributing to her next condition of
7. Hair loss. Solution-deal with it!!! She looks like a balding male. She is only losing it on the top of her head right now so she has an extreme receding hair line. You can't even see her cowlicks anymore. Hopefully her new hair will grow in quick. I wonder what it will look like???? Maybe blonde and curly? Both traits run in both sides of the family.

I think that is all for now. We'll see what diagnosis manifests itself next. Hopefully nothing too serious. I guess we have been pretty blessed if these are the most serious things that we have had to go through so far. I've seen a lot worse diagnosis in patients at our clinic. All of the above are very common and I'm grateful for my job that has provided me with the knowledge I've needed to deal with them.

Now for the fun part--PICTURES!

Brayli's new, amazing swing that she LOVES which means we LOVE it too! It can swing from side to side of front to back.
Side note: Matthew's work had a baby shower for us a couple weeks ago. We got a humidifier, booster/highchair, books, and an Avent baby monitor! The IT department bought the monitor after some research. It's AWESOME--no static at all. Definitely worth the money. We also got a lot of gift cards and were able to get this baby swing and still have gift cards for future purchases.

This is how Brayli fell asleep one day at my parents' house. Very unusual. She usually likes/needs to be swaddled or at least wrapped in a blanket to fall asleep.


This is the face Brayli always makes when we take her bottle out of her mouth. I LOVE it! Her chubby cheeks are soooo cute! I also love how she holds her burp rag when we are feeding her. The hand that is covered is also holding on.



This is just a silly picture that I thought was cute. This was actually her first day wearing a size 0-3 month outfit. The pants are rolled at the waist and the sleeves are rolled at the wrist. She's 6 weeks old! Her weight on Thursday was 9-6. Matthew weighed 9-3 when he was born! At least she's growing though.

Time is flying by. I can't believe it's been 6 weeks and 2 days since she was born.

I took this picture on Saturday. She is wearing the same jammies she wore home from the hospital 6 weeks ago. They're size newborn and she still fits in them even when she stretches! I didn't think she would be able to wear her newborn clothes for so long. It's great to get such good use out of them. I borrowed some from my cousin though because Brayli was wearing the same 6 outfits over and over again. It was nice to get a few more to choose from. Thanks Deidra and Sophia!!
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

How Could I Resist???

I just love this little girl soooo much. I can't resist taking pictures of her all the time! A lady at Matthew's work made this blanket for Brayli and wanted a picture of her with the blanket so here are a few that I took yesterday.




This bottom one is my favorite. I LOVE when I catch a smile!


Unfortunately the photo shoot ended when I realized a big wet spot on the blanket. That's what I get for taking the diaper off I guess. More laundry to do. Yay!!!!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Another sleepy Sunday!

Brayli has decided church time is a great nap time. It's actually pretty nice. I don't have to worry about her crying and interrupting anything. I can just sit and cuddle her while I listen. My mom found a size newborn dress the other day so this is pics of her in her first Sunday dress.
The sweater is nice because the church is always soooo cold!

I was bored on Saturday and deciced to tie a ribbon around her head while she was sleeping. The outcome was this cute little bow. It makes her look girlie. I like it!


Did anyone else notice how chubby her cheeks are getting? Aren't they cute?



Can you believe she is 4 weeks old already? It has gone by so fast. She is changing every day and we have so much fun with her. We're so glad to have her in our lives and all the love and happiness that she brings.
Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Weight Check



We were thinking Brayli was getting chubby and her newborn clothes aren't quite as big so I decided it was time to weigh her again. I didn't want to go into the Dr's office so we took a trip to the butcher shop instead! I think most of the Hill children have been weighed on a meat scale so today was Brayli's turn. It's not the best picture but if you look on the left you can see she weighs a tiny bit over 8 lbs!!! Yay!! She's gaining weight. We are so happy to start seeing rolls on her little arms and legs. Good job Brayli!

Posted by Picasa

Picture Time!

When Brayli was 10 days old we went and got her pictures taken. The photographer from our wedding did them for FREE! He said it was included in our wedding package. (We've been married for 3 1/2 years) He's been taking pictures for our family for quite a few years. It started with my cousins senior pics. Anyways, he hasn't had a lot of experience with newborns so I was trying to pose Brayli. It was a little hard. She didn't really want to sleep either. We got a few that we really like though. I wish we would have gotten a better one of the family looking at the camera. We got some great ones of Matthew and I but Brayli was making weird faces. Maybe I can learn how to edit in photoshop. Overall I think it was fun and we got some good memories of our baby girl.
Posted by Picasa

Monday, September 7, 2009

3 weeks old!

This was taken after Brayli's first day of church. It wore her out apparently. She's too small for all her dresses still so Grandma found this cute outfit for her to wear. This picture doesn't show it off but it's really cute. She's 3 weeks old and wears newborn clothes. She was wearing preemie diapers too but we just ran out of those so she's in newborns now. Her closet is full of summer 0-3 month clothes that are all too big. :(
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Weight check :(

We had a disappointing Dr's appointment yesterday. Brayli only weighed 6lbs 4oz. She lost a little over 1 oz since her last check. She was 6lbs 5oz last Thursday. That was with feeding her about every 2.5 hours. Of course with my baby blues I cried right there for all to see. How frustrating to put so much into nursing and not see the benefit for my baby. She now is a fan of Enfamil! She gulped that first bottle down so quick you would have thought I was starving her. Oh wait, I was. I now pump to try and get some more milk in and so we can measure how much she is actually getting. We may just have a formula baby. :( We tried!!!! Hopefully by Friday she will have a little more fat on her bones. That will be her fourth Dr's appointment before she's even two weeks old. Good thing I like and trust the Dr's and nurses at Treasure Valley Pediatrics. I'm so glad I work there and can get the help we need.

Dad got to feed her the first bottle!


Sunday, August 23, 2009

More teasers

We've survived the first week as a family of three. All I can say is no matter how ready and prepared you think you are there is always the unexpected! From Brayli losing weight and having to be woke up and fed every TWO hours, to me dealing with baby blues. Matthew has had to adjust to two crying girls in the house. Overall it has been a great week. We love our little girl so much and feel so blessed to have her in our family. Here are a few more pictures.

Brayli with her Great Grandma Walker

Test drive around the living room.
Snoozing with Dad. Notice the socks on her hands. I always disliked seeing babies like this but its better than scratches all over her face.
One week old--Waking up with a smile on her face. Her dimples are starting to show more. We love it!!


Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

SHE'S HERE!!!!

Here's a quick update on the new Walker family! Now a family of three!

One last pregnancy picture.

Brayli Ann Walker
Born Saturday, August 15 at 8:42 pm
First weight 6lbs 11oz
She hates being naked and cold

Picture with my OB-Juliette Hughes a short while after delivery.


Matthew, Grandma (Matthew's mom), and Brayli

Grandma and Grandpa Hill(Beth's parents) with Brayli

Group photo of her first visitors

First time in the bassinet. She wiggled her way out of her sweet beanie.

She hates being flat but loves to sit in the swing. It was a great find by Grandma for only $10 at a yard sale.

Labor story to follow. Time to eat!
Posted by Picasa