Brie's froggie pool

Here we are getting ready to try our new pool. At first we were a little afraid and the first day we would only splash in the water.


But on the second day, of course with our clothes on, we were willing to get in and get soaked!

Work, Work, and more Work!

So after 4 weeks of working on the house we are nowhere near ready to move in. Our new bathroom needs alot more work, but thanks to Uncle Brian it is functional and has walls. The only two rooms that are even close to being done are Brie's and the living room. We continue to find places where some of the 68 cats that were the previous owners of our house left us presents. There is a corner of the living room that needs to be completely ripped out and the windows replaced and the kitchen cabinets need to be replaced, but it will all get done with time. We want to thank everyone who has helped us get so much done already. Three rooms have been completely gutted, the irises moved, and alot of painting is already done. We could not have done it without the help of friends and family.

Brie is very happy at the new house. She eats alot better and loves to run around in the yard. She even talks more there. Last night she said "stuck" when we had her trapped in her playyard so we could eat dinner without chasing her around the yard. She seems to be mocking more of our speech as well and babbles constantly while playing.

Today we also had a new visitor in our house. Marcus was sweeping the attic this afternoon in preparation for the movers later this week. He must have left the attic door open and a bat flew down into Brie's bedroom. Imagine my surprise when I went in to put some boxes in her room and saw something black hanging on the wall. Luckily Brie was not with me and was taking a nap in our room.

Bear with us the next few weeks, with the move starting tomorrow and our internet access not being ready at the new house we may not be able to update for a little while. I also tried to add some new pictures tonight, but it seems there is something wrong with the blogger server. As soon as we are settled we will add some new pics.

Some real improvements in the feeding front

Is it the new house, all of the new distractions, that she is having a growth spurt, or has she just deciding that eating makes her feel good. I guess we will never know, but Brie has been eating better the last week. Recently we discovered the gerber graduate meals and she seems to really enjoy them. She will eat almost an entire meal in one sitting. Hopefully by adding olive oil and butter to the veggies and the bonus of some actual nutrition going into her with these meals she will have gained some weight.

With all of our long car trips lately we have discovered that Brie is outgrowing her infant carseat. She does not mind it for short trips but after about an hour she starts to sign all done. We would love to make her forward facing so she could see where she is going and look out the window, but she is a pound shy of the 20 lbs required by law to be forward facing. (Yes, we finally hit 19 lbs today!) Marcus and I have been looking at convertible carseats, but the ones we like and have the best safety ratings will not fit rear facing in our car. So it is a race to see which happens first does she hit 20 lbs or 29 inches. Her infant seat maxes at 29 inches and we are getting close. I guess if she is too tall we will have to make her forward facing sooner.

As for the new house things are starting to come together. Brie's room is almost finished. It is a nice bright pink that daddy is not a fan of, but Brie seems to like. I think it will be toned down a little once we get the furniture in and some decorations on the walls. We are also going to add some crown molding and a nice area rug. Her room is the closest to being finished. Our move is scheduled for next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday so it should be interesting.

Just a quick update!

With all of the work at the new house, finding a minute to update has been difficult. We have been taking weekly trips to Muncy to get work done prior to our move at the end of the month. There is alot to get done in a few short weeks. We spent the last few days cleaning and tearing out walls. Finally we are ready to get some painting done. Hopefully Marcus can get at least one of the rooms done this weekend. Unfortunately Brie and I are not much help. Neither of us can be around the chemicals. We have spent most of our days running errands, walking around the mall, and playing in the backyard.

Brie seems to really like the new house. There is so much more room for her to run around. She loves the backyard. She even slept well the entire time we were there. We did not hear a peep from her all night!

We did see a new pediatrician for Brie in our new area and I am not really impressed with her. Our current ped is very thorough and this lady was not. She did not even ask about her history. She just referred us to a GI and a speech therapist for the feeding issues.

Brie's current stats were: Weight 18.2, Height 28 in and head 18 inches. She has grown 3 inches in the past 3 months and gained 1.5 lbs. At least she has made some progress despite her small intake.

Brie's little secret

Finally a few minutes for an update!

As you can see we have been incredibly busy over the last few weeks. We have not even had time to update the blog. So many new things going on I am not sure where to start. Brie is doing well and is becoming quite an independent little girl. She will finally play with her toys by herself. She loves to read books and will bring them to you one after the other to read. We probably read about 20 in a day. She is talking a little more and has added baby and Brie-Brie to her list of words.
Memorial day weekend we spent in Wildwood, NJ. Brie had a wonderful time. She enjoyed running on the beach and getting sand everywhere. At first she was afraid of the water, but once she put her feet in there was no stopping her. She kept running back in faster then we could take her out. The water was freezing! She wanted to go in further then just her feet but it was definitely too cold for that. She was very angry when we took her away from the water and screamed the entire way back to the hotel.
Later in the weekend Brie got her first chance to wade in the kiddie pool at the hotel. The weather was beautiful for the trip. The pool was of course freezing, but she loved it. It was a packed weekend and Brie did pretty well. She fussed a little at restaurants and ate pretty poorly, but that is our normal.
Since coming home from vacation we are now the proud owners of a home. On Tuesday we made the long trip to Muncy and spent alot of our savings and the bank's money on a house. Now the work really begins. This weekend we are heading back to buy paint, tear out walls, and clean before we start the moving process. The house is over 100 years old and needs some work, but will be nice once we get it finished. We are slowly going to do the work with the help of family and friends.
All throughout vacation, Brie slept very poorly. We hoped it was just being in a new place and sleeping in her pack-n-play, but no such luck. She slept well Monday and Tuesday night, but Wednesday she started with a cold. She is very congested, coughing and has a slight fever. Today she was pretty miserable and spent most of her time sitting with me or sleeping on my chest. She is eating very poorly and has only had about 9 oz of formula today so far. She did have some pedialyte and some juice to keep herself hydrated. Hopefully she will take some more formula in a little bit. She is sleeping peacefully right now and kept pushing the bottle away. I think in addition to the cold she is getting two more teeth. I can see another one of her bottom teeth poking through. At least it is all at once and maybe soon we will get some sleep.

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

Brie had a wonderful time at the beach. She loved playing in the sand, running in the freezing ocean, and walking in the kiddie pool. She had a great time!