Gardners Village

Every year we go to Gardners Village to see the witches. I was so excited this year to be able to bring Brinklee. I dressed her in her cute Halloween outfit and we went down with my parents and sisters. Brink was spoiled by her Papa who got her some lace leggings and her Nana who got her some cute Halloween socks. We walked around the village and went to the quilt store for some cute new projects. We had so much fun and are looking forward to it next year!!

Brinklee at 3 months

My sweet girl is now three months old (well a couple weeks ago)!! She is getting way too big too fast! She is such a sweetheart and we love her so much!! At 3 months she is:
*Eating 4-6 ounces of formula every 3 hours
*Wearing size 1/2 diapers and size 3-6 month clothes
* Rolls over from her back to her belly but then is pissed that she is on her belly
*Coos and talks all the time!
*Sleeps from about 9pm until 7 or 8am in the morning! (LOVE that!!) 
*Takes little half hour cap naps during the day and once in awhile takes a couple hour nap but not often
*Spends Wednesdays with Nana Thornley, any other day during the week with Aunt Darcie and the weekends with dad.
*Is super happy during the morning and gets more upset at night.
*Loves watching Dora the explorer and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
*Is losing her hair and it is getting lighter
She is the best baby and we love having her!!

Brinklee's blessing day

Yesterday October 14 brinklee was blessed in our church by her dad! There were four other babies blessed that day but brink was the only girl! Jared gave her an amazing blessing! She was supported by so much family and friends!! My uncle Eric said he sneaked a peek at her during the blessing and he said he felt that she was looking at each and everyone in the circle. She's such an observant baby that I wouldn't doubt it!! My mom made her blessing dress and it turned out so gorgeous!! She brought back Italian lace from Italy this summer and that's what it was made out of! We had lunch after at grandma and grandpa stokes. It was such a beautiful day and we are so blessed to have beautiful brinklee in our lives!!

2 months!

Another month has come and gone and my baby is now two months old!! Where does the time go? She is so fun and we just love her to death!! At two months she:
-weighs 11 lbs 5 oz which was 68%tile
-drinks 5-6 ounces of formula every 3 hours
-goes to bed around 9 wakes up at 5 or 6 to sleep and then goes back to bed for three or four hours
-smiles and coos all the time! We love it!
-hangs out with my mom on Wednesday's and her aunt Darcie or dad the other two days that I am at work!
-is such a daddy's girl! All he has to say is "daddy's home." and she gets a huge grin on her face!
-got her two month shots and hardly cried or fussed! Even the next day!
-naps a couple times a day for a couple hours.
We love her so much and can't imagine life without our brinky baby!!

1 month old!

Brinklee is 1 month old! So hard to believe!! It has gone by so fast and I'm sad I have to go back to work in a month!

At one month brinklee is:
Wearing size one diapers
Wearing 0-3 month clothes
Was back to her birth weight a week ago!
Wakes up once during the night
Eats breast milk and 3 oz of formula with each feeding
Smiles a lot but not when I want her to!
Sleeps 18-20 hours per day
Is the sweetest baby who loves to be held!!

Brinklee's birth story

We went through quite the process to get our little brinklee here! My doctor had told me she'd start me at 39 weeks since she was measuring so big but at our 38 1/2 week appointment I was disappointed to find out I wasn't dilated or thinned and that she still hadn't dropped. Dr. Boheen said probably wouldn't be a successful induction if we went ahead with it and I was at a high risk for c section so we decided to wait it out another week. At our 39 1/2 week appointment we had the same news but after discussing it with her she was doubtful that another week would make a difference so she offered to go ahead with the induction. Jared and I decided it was our best option and went ahead with it that night. My dad came down and helped Jared give me a blessing. In his blessing he talked about the family that brinklee was with right now and that they were reluctant to send her down because of the time they were spending with her. I immediately thought of my grandma thornley and that she went before brinklee was here so that she could spend some time with her!
We got checked into the hospital at 7 that night and got hooked up to everything. I told my nurse what was going on and when she hooked me up and checked me she said I wasn't as high as she expected, I was dilated to a 1 and was having contractions every 3-5 minutes (I still wasn't feeling them because they weren't painful just felt like my belly was getting tight). I was started on cervidil and we were told to get some sleep because tomorrow was going to be a big day! Ha yeah right, sleep?? The next morning she took the cervidil out and said I was dilated to a two and having consistent contractions. My doctor came in and broke my water and they started me on pitocin. My contractions became more painful and I was able to get my epidural pretty soon after that. Throughout the day they increased my pitocin and when my doctor checked me at noon I was only a 3. We decided to keep waiting it out but they could only go to 30 on the pitocin and then it was maxed out. By 5pm I was still only about a three and brink still hadn't dropped. Dr. Boheen said I could still continue but chances were she wouldn't drop and there wasn't much more they could do since I was maxed out on pitocin. I asked them to leave the room for a bit so Jared and I could discuss what we were going to do. We decided to go ahead with the c section even though I was scared to death!! We told Boheen and the anesthesiologist and things went fast from there. They got Jared some clothes to change into for the or and then wheeled me back! They dosed my epidural stronger and got started. The anesthesiologist asked if I wanted to know when they had started cutting into me and I told him no. He said oh well they've already started! After a couple minutes dr Boheen said oh my heck look at those eyelashes!! It's not fair they're halfway down her cheeks!! Our little girl was born at 6:03pm! A couple minutes later the nurse held up a beautiful dark haired girl for me to see and then her and her daddy disappeared. They took her back to weigh her and I heard someone yell into the room 9lbs 3oz!! Holy cow! I knew she was gonna be big but didn't expect that!! They finished up with me and wheeled me back to my room to recover. We had called our families when we decided to go ahead with the c section but no one was there when I got back to the room and it made me nervous! Soon enough my dad and little sisters came into the room showing me pictures and telling me all about little brinklee. My doctor had said it would be fast and I would have my baby in my arms pretty soon after but I didn't get to see her for an hour and a half!! Apparently when our families came Jared would hold her up to the window so it took her awhile to get her warmed back up!! Finally Jared and the nursery nurse brought in our brinklee Kate all cleaned up with a bright orange bow in her hair! She was so sweet and perfect! We stayed two days in the hospital just because of my c section but went home as soon as we could! We had an excellent experience at Davis and was impressed to see the patients side of the hospital experience! Brinklee has been such a good baby and has me and Jared wrapped around her little finger!! We are so blessed to have her in our lives!!

Brinklee Kate

Our sweet baby girl arrived July 11th at 6:03pm! She arrived via c section and weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 3oz and 21 1/2 inches long! She's doing great and we are so in love with her! Dark hair and long eyelashes! She's perfect!!