Baby Shower

Several people from town hosted a baby shower for Bentley and I (and even Bria). We had a lot of fun and received a lot of wonderful things. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Bria was in front of me the whole time we were opening gifts. She was able to help open most of them.

All the ladies were so sweet. Bria even received some gifts herself. This is the baby she received from a gal at D's office. Her name is "Jingle Bells" because Bria thought that should be Bentley's name.

I don't have any pictures from the shower with Bentley in them because she was being passed around for everyone to hold.

Cooking

Grandma and Aunt D came to visit and help for a few days. Aunt D was cooking for us and Bria wanted to do the same. She took one of my cookbooks from the shelf and disappeared. A little later I found her in her toy room...

Bria looking at a yummy recipe for an apple desert.

Bria pretending to cook the apple desert.

It was fun to watch her be creative with cooking.

Homecoming Parade

This week has been a busy week for our small town. It is homecoming week, and on Wednesday we hosted the "Capital for a Day." We have had activities almost every evening this week. Of course, one of the highlights was the homecoming parade. In a small town everyone gets involved, so D's office had a float in the parade. We all rode along, and Bria even got to ride in the back and help throw candy.

Bria had a great time. Thanks to the gals from D's office who let Bria ride with them and help, and for the candy they saved for her.

This is actually the second year that Bria has been on a homecoming float. Last year she rode on grandma's float for their homecoming while D and I went on vacation. This girl really likes parades (maybe it's because we took her to a parade before she was even a week old). I think we are starting Bentley off the same way.

Snuggle Time

Both girls love to sit with Grandpa and Grandma. Of course, if someone is holding Bentley Bria thinks she needs to be there too.

Grandpa with his two granddaughters.

Grandma with Bentley (Einstein hair after her bath).

Bentley snuggled on Grandpa's belly sleeping (it was one of her favorite places to sleep).

Birthday Party

Bria had a great Birthday weekend. She did lots of fun things, and got lots of attention from grandparents and aunts and uncles.

She started the weekend off playing with her new bubble lawn mower. She played with it for hours and hours. It is nice to have a toy for her to play with outside, especially since we have nothing else for her to do in our own yard, even though she is creative with what she can find.

After playing with the lawn mower, we met Daddy out on our friends ranch so Bria could ride horse. She loves the horses and the cows. Daddy was actually helping them work cattle and we just went for a short horse ride.

Bria holding Bentley. She loves to hold her, but thinks she should always be able to do it by herself. "I can do it by myself," is a commonly heard phrase. Grandma was sitting next to Bria to make sure Bentley was safe.

We have to give Aunt D a big THANK YOU for the birthday cake. Bria loved the butterfly, and it relieved a lot of stress for me. I don't think I could have gotten everything else ready if Aunt D hadn't made the cake.

There were plenty of presents to open and Daddy helped with them all. Bria has enjoyed playing with every single one in the last couple of days. She has especially enjoyed the games (Candy Land, Chutes & Ladders, and Memory). She has quickly learned how to play each game.

Look Who's Three

Bria's birthday is today, and she is very excited to finally be three. All day she has been asking lots of people, "can you celebrate with me?" She has also asked me if she can invite some of her friends from other towns. It was hard for her to understand that they all live too far away. However, she is very excited to have the grandparents and some aunts and uncles come for a party on Sunday.

I did my best with what we had in the yard to get a few good pictures of Bria.

Exhausted Big Sister

Being a big sister seems to be quite tiring for Bria. She has been taking really long naps ever since we brought Bentley home from the hospital. We have even had to wake her up so she would sleep at night.

She is a little angel.

Our Two Girls

Bria and Bentley are definitely sisters. It may be hard to see in these pictures (I didn't have better ones to compare), but the girls look a lot alike at one day old.

Bria at 1 day old.

Bentley at 1 day old.

Somehow when we picked Bentley's name we ended up giving her the same initials as Bria. It is funny how things like that happen even when it isn't the plan.

She's Here!

BENTLEY RANE
BORN: SEPTEMBER 8, 2009
7 lbs. 15 oz.
21 inches

After a long, sporadic labor Bentley finally decided, with the aid of medicine, to make her appearance. She is healthy and we are very thankful for that, especially after the slight complication we had before being discharged Thursday morning. Her doctor found an abnormality during her final check that required us to see a specialist in SF before we could come home. It turned out to be nothing, and we were able to make it home late last night.

Bria loving on her new sister. Even though Bria loves to show Bentley lots of love there is plenty of jealousy as well. The first day Bria was very good at calling her baby sister by her name, but has now decided she wants to call her "baby sister" and not her name.

Bentley has a lot of thick, dark hair. We hope that she keeps most of it. It is a bit spiky like Daddy's hair.

Baby Update

I wish there was actually something to update. Tomorrow is her due date, and here we sit...waiting, rather impatiently at this point. B was two days late, so I shouldn't be surprised that this one hasn't made her appearance yet. I have been having contractions and false labor for the last two weeks, and worry that I will ignore the contractions when it is real labor. We really hope we can make it the two hours to the hospital before it's too late. I have the next doctor's appointment scheduled and we will schedule a time to be induced if she hasn't been born by that point. We are excited to meet our little one and hope that everyday is the day she will make her appearance. I guess we will just have to wait for her and God's timing. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later, but there isn't much we can do (believe me we have tried a lot of things).

Play Time

Keeping B busy has been a bit easier these days. Her imagination is growing so much. She likes to pretend that her friends are coming to visit and invites them into her toy room to sit with her at her table. Their names are always different and they are invisible, so I am never quite sure what they are doing. It has been very helpful in her playing by herself a bit more, especially with the baby coming.

We have also tried doing some other activities, at least when Daddy is home (I can't always help her as much as she needs).

B riding her bike in the street. This is the first time we have actually taken it outside. She didn't like it as much as we were hoping. The pedaling is difficult when it gets to the point she has to switch the foot that is pushing, and she gets easily frustrated by that. We thought trying it outside would help since she could go straight for a while. I'm sure she will want to try again soon.

B also really loves music, so she sits down at her toy piano and makes up songs (and words). She wants Mommy and Daddy to sing along, but we never know what the words actually are. I'm glad that she is creative and enjoys music. Maybe someday she will develop some musical skills.

Our House, With Furniture

It has been a while since we have had our furniture, but I never felt like our house was picked up enough for pictures. Since the baby should be coming any day now I figured the house is cleaner than it is going to be for a while, so I better take some pictures. Here is what our house looks like with furniture.

The living room, from the dining room entrance. It was an adjustment going from our one chair to all of this furniture. The room actually felt very crowded for a while. Now it feels more homey.

Our bedroom, from the doorway into the room. The closet is to the left.

Our bedroom from in front of the closet.

The baby's room from the doorway.

B's room from her doorway.

The master bedroom (which we use as the guest bedroom) and toy room. The toy area is always a mess, but there is plenty of space in this room since the only furniture is the bed.