6 months

Briley can now sit up like a big boy.

He absolutely loves to jump.

Cute and naked!

Briley is officially half a year old and I was so excited to take him to the doctor to see his latest stats. He weighed in at 16lbs and 9 oz which was in the 33% for weight, and he was 27 1/2 in. long which was in the 83%. So he is going to be our little string bean. On a sad note we found out that he had a double ear infection. This came at quite a shock since he never acted sick or like he was in pain, but if you have ever met him he doesn't really complain about much. So he is on antibiotics and should be in full health by Christmas Day. We were also able to go see Santa this passed weekend but I can't figure out how to scan the pictures on my computer so hopefully those will be up soon. I am so excited that tomorrow, Friday, is my last day of school and I have 2 weeks off to be with Briley and the family for the holidays.

Nebraska Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving there was a lot to be thankful for because my family all got together at my sister Sarah's house in Omaha. It had been quite sometime since all of us (meaning brother-in-laws and husbands) had been together. We had such a good time with all the kids and even celebrated the occasion with professional family pics. Highlights were cooking, Briley getting to play with his all of his cousins, decorating for Christmas and "Christmas" morning, watching movies on my sisters huge projection TV, and definitely Black Friday shopping with Christine, Hadley and Kyle (no we didn't buy anything but it was all worth it because we played rock band at Best Buy). I hope it is not too long before we can all be together again.

Cambria and Avalyn
Briley holding his bottle for the 1st time

All the guys watching football on Thanksgiving. Brian and Briley are especially excited.

Gavin helping Briley open his Christmas gift. Aunt Christine and Uncle Kevin's gift.

Avalyn being cute with mau-mau's boots.

Decorating for Christmas.

Briley's first taste of peas.

Briley loves his big cousin.

5 months old

Well things have been a little busy but here is a picture of Briley at 5 months. We are still waiting for some teeth and getting really close to scooting (he likes to lift his butt in the air).

Baby Dedication

With grandpa before church started.

This past weekend Brian and I were able to dedicate Briley in the church. It was our way of leaving Briley in God's hands and having our family and friends pray over him. We both know that God has placed Briley in our lives to love and care for, and to raise to know God's will and to be able to fulfill His plan for Briley's life. He is truly the greatest gift and we thank God every day for choosing us to be his parents.

Halloween

One happy little kangaroo.

Supporting McCain and Trick-or-Treating. 2 birds with 1 stone.

The whole gang.

Showing off his tail.

With cousin Logan. He was a friendly skeleton.

Briley was the cutest little kangaroo for halloween. The costume was a tad bit small since I bought it 2 months ago, not thinking of how big he was going to get. But he happily wore the costume for approx. 4 hours.

The Solids Attempt

For the past week I have been diligently attempting to feed Briley solids. This includes a few days of rice cereal and 2 days of oatmeal (not the real stuff). Well I am not sure if Briley doesn't like the taste or if he just doesn't understand the concept of swallowing. I am pretty certain that out of the last 7 days of solids, none has actually gone in his stomach. So we are going to stop for a couple of weeks and wait until he is more ready. I guess my milk is just way to good!

Our 1st Fire in our 1st Fireplace

Brian and his dad returned from Junction last weekend with a ton of Pecan Tree fire wood. Since the other night it got down to 35 we decided it was time to break in the new fire place. It was amazing and smelled even more amazing. Briley was mesmorized by the fire and we know it will be the 1st of many.

4 Months Old and a Pumpkin Patch

Briley had his 4 month appt. on Wed to see how big he is getting. He grew 3 in since his last checkup which puts him at 26 in. and in the 83rd percentile for height. He is 13 lbs. 15 oz and the 32nd percentile for weight and his head is 16 in which is in the measly 14th percentile. He is doing absolutely wonderful and our happy little family couldn't be any happier. I am about to move him out of the bassinet into his crib this weekend since 4 months old is plenty of time to be sleeping by his mommy. It is just so easy to put the paci in his mouth around 5:30 to hold him off until I am ready to feed him. We probably won't start solids until month 5 to try to avoid a few allergies, plus its easier just to nurse him. We went to take a few pictures with the pumpkins and they turned out really cute even though it wasn't actually a pumpkin patch (we just pushed a few together at a church's pumpkin sale. I can not wait to post pictures of him in his Halloween costume, but I will leave you all in anticipation to see what he is.

Briley rolls over

Briley rolling over from his back to his stomach. He did it for the 1st time on 10/6 (3mths 3wks)

Briley's 1st time to swim

Just a really cute picture I thought I would throw in there.

Pre-swimming party with Brady

Exhausted after a long day of swimming. (sorry its out of order)

California Boys

Get psyched for the swim
Maybe next year.

Because the weather is getting cooler and Briley has never worn his adorable swimsuit, I decided to give swimming a try today. We left the water to sit in the sun and warm up, but this didn't work very well, and all we got were his calves to enter the water. It didn't make him too happy, so unless there is another hot weekend we might just have to wait until next year to take him swimming. At least we got some cute pictures.

An unrelaxing day off

I couldn't find any before pictures, but imagine the yard with nothing but weeds.
We are going to put a boulder and some potted plants on the rocky area. We had to rock it because we dont have a gutter and this is where all the rain goes.
There are 2 rose bushes that will hopefull climb up the lattices.
We planted a blue agave, 2 red yuccas and 2 purple sage.
It will definitely look better once the plants get a little bigger.

Well Brian and I decided it was about time to finish our lanscaping so we took personal days off work. It was really tough for me to use a day off and not get to see my baby boy, but it would have been tough to get any work done with him at the house. So I dropped him off at daycare at 7:30am and Brian and I got to work. We lanscaped around the front of our house and the corner of our lot. We didn't finish until 7:30 that night and I was so exhausted and my body ached. I have to say I hope I never have a day off like that again, but Brian and I couldn't be happier with the results. I am going to post a few before pics as well.

Briley is 3 1/2 months

Finally something that makes his head look big. Briley just wishes it was a Cowboys helmet.

He thought he would represent all the grandpas out there when his great grandpa perkins came into town.

My little farmer
Cousin Taryn's B-Day
Such a happy boy.
The Bice's cam to visit.

I wanted to post some new pictures of Briley since it has been quite some time. Hopefully in the next couple of days I will get to blog about our new lanscaping. He is still the perfect child and is happy all the time. The only thing I would change is for his poop not to get all over his clothes every day. We are going through stain remover like crazy.