First Month

I can hardly believe that Bria will be one month old tomorrow! What a wonderful month it has been. We are half-way through our doctor recommended "house arrest" to shelter the baby from the cold and germs outside and although a little stir crazy at times, I have been loving the "cuddle time." I am so grateful to be close to our families, as they have been a big help getting Alexis to and from school and helping entertain the girls for me.

They have also been attending all the events I've been missing. Aubrey had her first dance recital. She was so excited to perform on stage and thrilled by the rose her grandpa gave her after the show.

Alexis has been performing all month long at various events throughout the community with the "One Voice Children's Choir." The choir has around 150 kids and does a fantastic job.

She has enjoyed learning the music and her sisters love to help sing along in the car while she practices. Her dad has been so great to adjust his schedule to take her to her performances; sometimes three a week! It has really been a busy month with a lot of activities...and Ambria and I have been snuggled up inside for most of it. She is doing great and growing like a weed. At her two week check up she had almost gained a pound from her birth weight and her "chubby-ing" cheeks would suggest she is continuing to grow. She has been good at night to go back to sleep after she eats and is very peaceful most of the day. She loves to be held and she has a lot of people willing to help out with that. Her sisters frequently request the chance to hold her, but no one more than Aubrey. She would hold her for hours if I'd let her. One morning while she was cradling the baby on the couch while watching morning cartoons, Aubrey told me her hand felt funny. I told her that her arm was probably falling asleep and her response was, "No; I don't think so. It feels like there are dots in my fingers." What a perfect description of what a hand feels like when it's been asleep!



Keeping up with all four girls is exhausting but feeling more managable everyday. There is rarely a dull moment, however. For example; this morning (after being awoken twice by Allie crying about leg cramps, and three night feedings for the baby), Allie came to my bathroom and wet all over the floor (she apparently arrived just a few seconds too late). After I cleaned up the mess, I bathed the baby who smelled like spit up from the night before, and her she had a diaper blow-out moments later while I was feeding her. I changed her clothes and cleaned up her mess and headed upstairs for some breakfast where I found Aubrey and Alexis doing "service." They were mopping the floor...with a half inch of soap suds covering the ENTIRE kitchen and dining floors! Aubrey was skating around and around the kitchen island in the suds in her bare feet as Alexis was adding more and more water to the floor. What a mess! There were about a dozen towels on the floor and a third a bottle of dish soap. By that point, I was ready to go back to bed! No chance of that however, it's Christmas break and we have fun things to do. We are all excited for Christmas and wish you all a very Merry one!


P.S. Today is Adam's birthday; this is how I found him at 8:30 this evening. Apparently this father of four is exhausted in his old age!