Bristol - One Month!?!?!

I can not believe that my sweet, screaming baby is one month already!  It seems like she was just born yesterday!  She certainly is making her presence known in the family everyday!  I have a feeling she is not going to be the kind of girl who sits back and goes unnoticed.  If she is anything like her sister, we are in trouble!  Hopefully Bristol does not try to out do Brooklyn!

Bristol is proving to be one of the greatest joys and greatest challenges in my life so far.  I love her to pieces but man can she scream and cry...and she does NOT give up!  Her current record is screaming for 6 straight hours!! Now that is with a few 5-10 minute breaks...but certainly not many!  We decided to take her to the doctors this week to try and get some answers as to why she is so uncomfortable and unhappy.  She weighted 10lbs 10 ounces!!  The doctor prescribed a stronger gas drop and said that it is probably colic. She recommended not switching formulas yet, so she is still using sensitive formula.  Well the first few days on the new drops were great!!  And then she became constipated...leading us to today, which was a day full of restless, sleepless, fussiness, and screaming.  Hopefully she is past that now and things will again improve....I do enjoy the satisfaction of being able to finally calm her after a screaming fit.  She looks up at me as if to say...Thanks Mom! So anyway, hopefully things get easier for her and she can start enjoying life outside the womb :)

The boys would like to hold her more but unfortunately she is not very content and it makes them a little nervous so right now there is not much opportunity for them.  But again, they are AWESOME at helping me out when I need them too!  Zach picked her up and brought her to other day...he's getting so grown up and mature!

Well at 1 month Bristol is:
- not doing a whole lot yet
- screaming and suffering from colic :(
- drinking 3 - 4 ounces every 2 - 3 hours
- sleeping 3 - 4 hours at a time at night...once she falls asleep!
- wearing 3 month clothes or 0-3...no more newborns though
- sporting a funky mohawk style hairdo :)
- constantly being pestered by her big sister who likes to poke and pet her and say Dog
- not enjoying the swing but loves the vibrating bouncer
- enjoying being rocked in the recliner for hours on end with a pacifier in mouth and white noise playing loudly
- loving listening to white noise ( loud)
- a wiggle worm
- picking up a few nicknames - Brissy, Bristol Pistol, and Little Monkey
- the final piece to our family puzzle <3

Loving bath time

Little hands

My poor sweet baby doing what she does best :(

At the Dr.'s office

He is so good with the babies! 

Sleepy time...this is the first time sleeping through the night..at exactly 5 weeks! 

Mohawk!

Dylan always wants to hold Bristol...this is one of the rare moments she stayed calm for him! 

Definitely starting to fill out a little more at one month!  

Brooklyn - 13 months!

Well...my baby is officially a toddler! The only thing baby about her is that she still takes a bottle before naps and bedtime.  We plan on nixing that soon but figured we would hold off while she is adjusting to having a new baby sister in the house.  She has suddenly become attached to her bottle too and cuddles with it during naps and at night..weird! She is a very spunky, happy-go-lucky little girl.  I have never seen a little girl with such a BIG personality.  She loves to make people laugh and to get a reaction from people.  She may grow up to be a comedian! I could watch her all day long and do nothing but laugh.  She loves to chase Zoey around the house with her walker and terrorize her.  When Zoey runs from her she thinks its hysterical so she keeps doing it until we finally put Zoey in her crate for her own protection lol.  Brooklyn is a little bull dozer!  She is soo strong!  She picks up things and carries them around like they are weightless.  For example, she carries around the baby gate, full boxes of diapers, and empty 5 gallon water jugs!! She tore the bumper off the fireplace, and destroys anything in her path!  She is a mini tornado!

Brookie is adjusting pretty well to having a new sister.  She still gets jealous sometimes but for the most part is unbothered by sharing attention.  When Bristol cries now she runs over to her and points and makes a OOoo OOoo sound lol.  She likes to poke at her head and point to her nose and eyes.  She has bonked her in the head twice now out of frustration (when I try to get her to stop poking her sister).  She helps me feed her, and burp her :) She is learning to be a very loving and caring big sister.  I can't wait to watch their relationship grow! <3

At 13 months Brooklyn is:
- the happiest little girl I know
- the smartest little girl I know
- running all over the house getting into everything she shouldn't
- very good at making a LOT of noise
- screaming and screeching at the top of her lungs just to hear her own voice
- 27 pounds
- wearing 18-24 month clothes
- able to have her hair put into pig tails :)
- loving being a big sister
- obsessed with her brothers...especially Zachary (she lights up when he is around)
- Zach's little mini-me
- impossible to change...diapers and clothes...its a half hour ordeal unless you really hold her down!
- constantly on the move...good luck keeping her still!
- eating all sorts of stuff...and often throwing most of it on the floor for the dog
- getting really good at drinking from her sippies FINALLY!  Only ones with a straw though!
- acquiring a few new nicknames: Baby Kong - Diesel - Tank ...all out of love though
- loving her shape sorter toy (carries it all around the house) and looking at books.
- able to follow two step commands
- loves to brush her teeth
- still taking 2 naps a day
- can throw a good fit when things don't go her way ( stiffens her body and screeches)
- wearing size 5 shoes
- able to occupy herself with her toys very well
- says Momma, Da, and Dog
- understands lots of words like eat, milky, baba, book, baby, dog, shoes, car, and lots more...she responds when we ask her questions with these words
- makes funny facial expressions
...I could go on forever!  She is a pure joy to be around.

Some of my favorites from the past month:

Pulled the light off the table and was shocked when it fell 

My little rockstar

All stretched out sleeping

Foamy soap fun

Ready to go get her picture taken

Helping feed baby sister

Selfies!!

Cuddle time with Zoey

Hangin out with Dylan

First piggy tails!

Passed out eating her first Oreo

Bristol's two weeks already!!

I can't believe that little Bristol is two weeks old already!!  It doesn't seem possible! She has brought so much more joy to our family.  Our family is now complete...we have our 3 boys who are a huge help to Derek and I and are great big brothers, and our two little girls who are so sweet and precious.  I have always wanted a big family and I certainly got what I wanted.  I am very blessed to have 5 healthy happy kids! <3

Bristol is doing very well...although she does not like sleeping at night, however, she does enjoy sleeping all day long!  The doctors tell me this will switch soon...I'm not convinced!  Right now she is a very unsettled baby.  She is not content unless she is eating or sleeping.  It breaks my heart because there is nothing I can do to comfort her at times.  Again the doctors tell me this will change soon and she will outgrow it.  I'm assuming she is just getting used to the outside world and so far doesn't like it...she wants to be back in my belly!  I think she knew coming out that her sister was going to be loud but had no idea just HOW LOUD she was..and now wants to go back! lol

Anyway, she had her 2 week checkup today and is doing great!  She weighs 9 lbs 13 ounces and is 21 1/2 inches! She is taller than Brooklyn was at 2 weeks but weighs less.  She wears newborn or 0-3 month clothes still but has big feet so her newborn booties are getting snug. She is eating between 3 and 4 ounces every 2-3 hours. She holds her head up like a pro and even pushes herself up with her arms a little.  We have been trying to decide what color eyes she will have...the boys think green...Derek thinks steel blue...but I think they will be brown!  We will see! I think she will look more like me and Brooklyn will look just like her Daddy and Zachary.

First real bath!  She wasn't sure at first but ended up settling right down! 

This little lady has some big feet like her momma

Cuddle time

Sissy keeping a close eye on baby

Tummy time!  She loves it..most of the time! 

Daddy and his girls

Brookie helping me feed baby sister

Showing me where Bristol's nose is

2 weeks! 

A very blessed Christmas

This Christmas was very special!  We had a new little miracle join our family just in time for the holiday!  I do not think I could ever ask for a better Christmas gift!  Although Bristol had no idea what was going on around her this year I like to think she enjoyed her first Christmas lol.

We had the boys this year for the entire holiday so that made things special as well.  On Christmas Eve we went over to Scott and Cici's to celebrate.  The kids were all spoiled rotten, as usual, by Nana and Poppa, Aunts and Uncles, and they loved everything they got! Brooklyn was a lot of fun this year!  She was very excited with all the commotion going on around her.  I expected her to be excited to open her own gifts this year but instead was much more interested in helping her brothers open their gifts.  They are so amazing with her though that they didn't care at all.  They let her help open their gifts and even chew on some of their new things!  I could not ask for better brother's for my little girls! She will definitely be protected and loved.

Holy presents!!

Christmas morning we all got up and opened presents together.  The boys and Brooklyn all got lots of stuff.  Dylan got a new laptop and just a few accessories to go with it.  Zachary got a couple video games for the PS4, a new controller for PS4, new clothes, crazy superhero socks, an ipod and a few other things.  Colton got two airsoft guns, a few Nerf guns, clothes, legos, and a few other things.  They were all very happy with the things they got this year.  Unfortunately the boys are getting their PS4 from their mother and it hasn't arrived yet so Zach is unable to use most of his Christmas presents yet.  Brooklyn got a baby trampoline, a ball pit, a rocking horse, and a ball maze. She loved her new toys but again was more interested in the boys new things. Bristol got a few new outfits and two small baby toys.

The boys and Brooklyn...yes she is pulling Zach's hair lol

Colty with his Duck Dynasty Chia pet :) 

Dylan opening his new laptop!

Brooklyn checking out her new rocking horse from Santa! 

Oooo!

Colty and his airsoft gun...yikes!

Trying to get her to open her own stuff

BALLS!! 

New ball glove!!

The rest of the day we spend putting toys together and trying to clean up wrapping paper and boxes.  We were over our heads in cardboard boxes and paper!! Imagine 5 kids worth of boxes and paper...OYE!!  Grandma and Papa came over for dinner.  We made chicken and biscuits, one of my favs!  They gave the kids their presents and of course again they loved everything!

Bristol's First Christmas: