Living the Good Life

Britlee is now 3 months old! I can't believe how fast time flies. She is growing like crazy. She is now somewhere around 12 pounds :) She smiles all the time and talks a lot. She has started doing this thing where she gets really tired so she just keeps talking. I'm not sure if she is doing it to keep herself awake or if she is singing herself to sleep but it is so cute. I told Justin she is a lot like me in that she likes "pillow talk." When it's time for bed she just wants to talk and talk, tell us about her day I guess.

Britlee grabs everything around her and puts it straight to her mouth. She refuses to take a pacifier, which is great in that I won't have the battle in a couple years of trying to take it away, but she likes to suck on her hand instead. Which results in sometimes sucking her thumb, which isn't great at all. Very cute though (for now). She loves tummy time and laying on her back so she can just stretch and kick those legs and swing her arms. Our daily walks are her favorite past times I think. She usually gets so excited when I put her in her carseat and stroller. She usually falls asleep half-way through it, so that definitely means she likes it...right!?!

3 months old and definitely enjoying it

4th of July Weekend

OK I know I am WAY behind on my blogging if I am talking about something that happened weeks ago...
We had a FIRST trip with Britlee! We went to Utah and I must admit I was a little nervous not being sure how Britlee would do in the car. She normally is great in the car, but she has never had to be in it for more than 1 hour at a time, so going for a 4.5 hour drive is a bit different. She did very well! We stopped a couple of times for her to eat and even was able to stop in Centerville to see my great grandma for a short visit so Britlee could meet her Great Great Grandma and Justin could meet her as well. It's funny how we havebeen married for almost 2 years and there are lots of members of my extended family that haven't met him. O well, I am sure he will meet all of them with time.
Our trip was so fun. We sure had a blast with friends and family. Justin and I were able to go see some of the people we met on our missions. It has been a long time since I have seen people so it was nice, I just wish we would have had more time to visit more people...maybe next time.
So really this post is going to be mainly showing pictures and maybe some comments here and there. Oh yes one thing I must say-Britlee slept all night twice while we were on our trip. She hasn't since, but we tired her our enough on vacation that she did. Either that or the Holt's house is lucky! Now the trick is just getting her to do it again and to have me sleep as much as she does. My body is still trying to get used to her not waking up as much. There are many nights that I wake up a few times in between her getting up to eat because I need to check on her because it has been "too long."

Britlee with Grandma and her cousin Eliza.

They met for the first time

Britlee with Grandma and her cousin Clara!

Clara is one month younger exactly

We tried to get the cousins together. Some were not very happy.

We missed Ryder, he couldn't be there with us :(

Britlee is spending quality time with her Uncle Trent and cousin Eliza.

We can say she is cheering that Uncle Trent is snuggling with her,

but really she is stretching. lol Just don't tell anyone :)

Grandpa and Clara

Grandpa with Britlee and Eliza

The girls having tummy time together

Meeting her Great Great Grandma! Wahoo!

We just needed my daddy to have 4 generations! What a cute bunch :)

This is a day we went to visit people, can't you tell she loves it!

Isn't she just SO cute!!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

Sadly we did not get any pictures with the 3 girls together, but we will just wait until Christmas after Ryan and Karen's baby girl has arrived and can join in on the fun!!!

The weekend was long, but so fun. A much needed vacation for our family and especially Justin. We hadn't been anywhere together since last fall and Justin has just been doing non-stop work which is no fun. It was fun to be the three of us!! Britlee sure enjoyed it too. She loved getting lots of attention, though I think sometimes she was wondering if it was ever going to end.

Being a weird mom

So much has happened and yet at the same time it feels as though nothing has happened and I have no idea what to blog about. And right now I just can't think of anything but I really want to post pictures of my adorable baby girl.

So stinkin' cute!! I just want to pinch her cheeks. This blanket is one of our favorites. My Uncle Ron made it for Britlee!! such a great blanket and will keep her warm for forever. And she looks so cute with it.

Big Girls Don't Cry!

Ok seriously I believe I have the best daughter in the whole world. Yes I am bias, but I am sure you would all have to agree, she is such a good baby. She hardly ever cries, only when she is super tired and hungry. May 29th (last week) was Britlee's baby blessing. Since she doesn't sleep all the time anymore I was kind of nervous that she would cry through it all, so to help avoid this I left Sunday school class at church to feed her to make sure she wouldn't freak out in the middle of Sacrament Meeting because she was starving. As Sacrament Meeting started Britlee woke up and I thought oh boy this will be interesting. But in the meantime I kept teasing Justin because he was so nervous--he never gets nervous so I have to take advantage whenever I can.

The time for the blessing came and Britlee was WIDE awake and stayed awake the WHOLE time! Not one peep!! Apparently she just stared at everyone. Ok now you totally understand why I say I have the BEST daughter. Most babies if they are awake just cry and scream, but not mine! I was so proud :) And not only that but she was/is beautiful.

7 weeks old and Blessing Day! Britlee's Great Grandma's

Britlee in her cloth diaper Britlee just being super adorable

The last couple of weeks it seems as though the weather has been, lets say...very unenjoyable. It has been very wet and rainy. I really have not been enjoying it, Britlee and I just want to get out and play and go for walks. We have tried to be patient, but I must admit my patience was running thin. And than the best day ever came. Friday was sunny but a little chilly so we decided to stay indoors, well until probably around 7pm and we just couldn't handle it anymore. I wrapped my Moby Wrap around me and stuck Britlee inside and we went for a walk to drop some cookies off at our friends' house. Best decision we could have made. It was so nice to get out, we got to socialize, and we even got invited out to get a snow cone. Really no better thing could have happened. Even Justin got off work early so he got to go with us.

Saturday came and the weather was FANTASTIC! I fell in love with Rexburg all over again. I was starting to really wonder if I liked it here anymore, but yes, yes I do!! Justin got home from work and we finished preparing for our picnic and headed over to the park!! Britlee had her adorable sun hat on, which was so cute! We had friends that joined us and so did Uncle Cory and his roommates. The football was thrown around, mitts brought out to play catch, and lots of laughter was shared. I love summer!!!! I can't wait for more picnics and walks outside.

Yep, the cutest thing in the whole world

Holy Chunks!

Britlee sure has grown, and I mean really grown. We had an appointment yesterday with the WIC office so of course we got a height and weight out of Britlee. I must say I am awfully proud of my chunker. In the last month (since our last appointment) Britlee has gained over 2 1/2 pounds!! YAY! :) Seriously, wow. She is now weighing in at 9 lbs. and 10oz. She has some rolls and I just love them and those darn cheeks make me smile every time I look at her. She is in the 75th percentile for weight. YA Britlee. Way to go!!! I must say she hasn't grown much though, since birth she has only grown 1 1/2 inches. Putting her in the 50th percentile. But honestly since she is a Packer this is to be expected and we are still super proud! She is now fitting into some of her 0-3 month outfits, but still mainly wears her newborn attire.

We have had quite an adventure trying new things lately. One being cloth diapers. And holy smokes does she look adorable in them. She is quite the pee-er so she has to be changed a lot, which puts us out of the cloth diapers pretty quickly. So we of course and looking to get more. Since she goes through them so fast it seems as though one day is cloth and the next is disposableand than back to cloth. We will get this down soon I promise. But honestly it isn't as bad as I had feared cloth diapers to be. So this may work out after all!

Britlee sure is changing. She smiles a lot more frequently, gets cuter everyday, loves snuggles, and sure hates to miss anything. Before she would fall asleep at the drop of a hat, but now she must think she will miss something if she does. She is up and alert more, which is so fun. We get to watch her play and smile and just be content. But when she gets tired she will let you know, oh will she sometimes. She will fight it for as long as possible. She flops her head from side to side and scoots down on you til her head is buried in your arm or chest and then moves all around again. She constantly moves so she won't fall asleep and if she does she'll open her eyes real quickly and nice and big. Even when she is eating and super tired she cries for a second just to keep herself up I assume because than she will stop and then do it again later if her eyes start drooping. What a character.

As for Justin and I, well not many changes. Justin started a new job a couple weeks ago and is enjoying it. It is weird for both of us still to have him home around 5pm. Before it was so much later then that. As for me, well...my finger is still intact and I am sure grateful. Ok so it wasn'tthat traumatic, but there were moments it felt like it. I was getting dinner ready the other day and was cutting the carrots, but somehow missed the carrot entirely and just got my finger. So things got a little messy for awhile. But no worries we got it wrapped real good and eventually the bleeding stopped. Now really the only complaint I have (as long as I don't bump it ) is that everything is a bit more challenging, it all takes so much longer. But we will survive and make it through!

see what I mean by cuter every day!! This was her on Sunday

What's in a name?

How did you get your name? Is there a story, or did your parents just like a name and gave it to you?

I personally have had my children's names picked out since I was a little girl. I never thought they would change. Even before marrying Justin I told him all of them so he could get used to them. Poor guy didn't have a say. But than one day I was sitting in sacrament meeting and heard a boys name that I absolutely fell in love with. Which means one more name to add to my list. When we found out we were pregnant I just knew all the names I had picked out were not going to be used to name this child. Oh boy, what disappointment. So I had to start searching. We decided if it was a girl we would use Britni, my sister's name that died shortly after birth. From there we didn't know whether it would be a middle name or a first name. I picked some favorites and shared them with Justin. Some he liked, and some he didn't. Sometimes I wondered why I gave him the option to help because before when I had my childhood names there was no changing my mind. It just makes it so much more complicated to add a spouse in helping to make the decision. It's hard enough with just me. OPINIONS...sometimes it's good to share them and sometimes it just makes life so much more complicated, sometimes in a good way and sometimes not. But I do have to admit it is fun to look through baby name books. There are some INTERESTING ones out there. I am glad Justin helped pick the name though, really it can't just be left up to me. :)

After months and months of searching and discussing we finally got Britlee's name down to a list of TWO!! YAY, we felt so proud. Justin was going crazy not having a name and I just kept saying well we gotta wait and see her to officially decide. Thank goodness Justin is patient and loves me or I think he would have strangled me. Ok not really but you know what I mean. People kept asking us her name and I think Justin was tempted to just say the one he liked and that would be that. But thank goodness he didn't because just a month or so before Britlee was born my sister in law mentioned Britlee to us again and of course we fell in love. The first time we heard it we liked it but somehow it didn't make it to the top 5 or whatever list we had going. So after that a long discussion took place and we added it to the top two! YAY for us, it really felt like an accomplishment to have two names we both loved and agreed upon. So the next step was just waiting until we saw our bundle of joy to decide on the official name. That day did come and still I was so unsure. I loved both names and I didn't want her to have the wrong one. So it took us a couple days in the hospital, but now Britlee is Britlee forever! And we LOVE it! It fits her so well...I think anyways.

So to end the suspense of whether Britlee's name has meaning, I know you were all just sitting on the edge of your seats wondering, I have to say YES it sure does. Her whole name is filled with meaning! It is also made up, so it is very unique to us. Though I have to admit we were not the ones to make up Britlee's name, it was her Uncle Ryan and Aunt Karen. They are so creative :)

So now I will tell you where Britlee Rayne came from.
I have a sister, Britni, that died shortly after birth and since I was having a girl and she was due the same month my sister was due I thought it would be kinda cool to name my baby after my sister. It took a long time to decide whether Britni would be the first name or the middle name. We tossed lots of ideas around. Ryan suggested Britlee--Britni and Lee combined. So Britlee is named after her aunt and her grandma! Lee is my mother's middle name. Pretty neat if you ask me :)
Rayne is a combination of my Grandma's middle name and Justin's grandpa's name. RA is from Rae (my grandma's middle name) and AYNE is from Wayne (Justin's grandpa's name).
Ryan came up with her first name and Karen came up with her middle name. So as you see our baby girl Britlee is super special with a special name and being named by her aunt and uncle. She is one lucky girl.

So what is in your name?