Smiling Happy Baby

So, we have a new trend! Miss Brie is a very happy baby, especially in the morning. She is all smiles and is even starting to giggle a tiny bit. It is the most beautiful thing ever:) She is not a fan of road trips, however. Memorial Day weekend was supposed to be when she met her grandpa Alfred and Shannon and her uncle Alfred. We embarked on our auspicious journey from McEntire after Danny got off of work Thursday evening. By 9pm we were still in SC, 5 miles away from GA and we had spent 45 minutes in a Burger King parking lot feeding then changing then feeding then changing and there was no end in sight. Danny decided that we were definitely not ready for a road trip with Gabrielle yet, so he called and broke the news and we turned around and headed home. It still took us until after midnight to get back because we had to stop 2ce more for feeding and changing. We may try again, but we will definitely start with a shorter goal in mind before we undertake such a magnificent feat again:)

4 week checkup

So, we have a very growing girl! At her 4 week check-up on Wednesday, she weighed 9lbs and 6 oz. She has only grown 1/4 of an inch lengthwise...so she's getting to be a little babyball:) She's doing well. The sad thing, she's started losing her hair on the front sides :( Apparently, I lost all of my hair and was bald until I was about 2...but I was hoping for a better fate for Gabrielle. She is doing so many cool things now too! She smiles on purpose and she loves her mobile in her crib where we change her. She is content to sit and stare at everything around her for hours at a time. Last night, she was awake and just checking things out with only very short catnaps in between for almost 8 hours! She's even starting to entertain the idea of taking a pacifier and she's eaten small bits from a bottle about 3 times now. So, I know she won't starve when I have to drill. On Thursday when I was getting ready to head out to bible study, I had put her in her carseat and I was gathering everything by the back door. She was sitting there crying and when I started to get close to set something down, she stopped. Then when I walked away again to gather the rest of our stuff, she started crying again. I never once touched her or talked to her! She's a little goober already! I can only imagine what we have in store:)

2 Things

Okay, just for Philip we're posting the poopy face pictures. What do you think about the resemblence?

We've been having a great time. This week we got a stroller/travel system and took our first walk...we got a spiffy bathseat for a present and had our first enjoyable bath...and we had our first mother's day. It's been a busy few days! Brie is staying awake longer now and not all that time involves screaming:) She's enjoying her new vision and starting to find her voice in very small doses. She stayed awake for her entire walk yesterday and just enjoyed it. We will be heading to the pediatrician on Wednesday to see what progress she's made and make sure all things have healed properly. I think she has a perfect little belly button now:)

Yesterday being mother's day was a little freaky. We had lunch with my parents, and so being with my mom and having my own daughter put a lot of things into perspective. I can't fathom that I was so small once and that one day Brie is going to be as big as me with her own child(ren). It's very humbling to see things in the big picture sometimes and also very scary. I mean, I can't even imagine her with teeth...much less with her own family! Anyway, I'll keep you posted on updates from the doc. She's starting to fuss again, so I better get the pics attached so I can relieve Daddy.

Family Adjustments

As you can see, here's our routine. Eat on mom's lap, fall asleep. Repeat frequently. Every once in a while, she lets me put her down to sleep, and I can get some things done. It's actually not bad, she's a delight and changing every day. We've had a couple of outings, including church on sunday and the baby shower.
Tuesday, we went to the chiropractor, and THREE stores! She even nursed in the sling in Baby's R us :) Her awareness range is expanding beyond a foot now, and she is noticing toys in her bouncy chair, yay! She smiles at stuff, and coos. Now if we could just get her to stop swallowing giant bubbles of air that result in instant gas pain, we'd be set. Not much else for now, but will post again soon. Enjoy the pics :)
Heather