Brenna Rose: 8 months!

I am finally catching up on these blog posts!  You are actually still 8 months and I am writing an 8 month post!  Small victories.

What a month it has been.  The week before we moved I took you to Dr.  Hunter and Heaton Eye Associates in Tyler, TX.  Our pediatrician, Dr. Brent Wadle, has suggested we take you in for a look over since it appeared like you might have one eye that tracked in more than the other.  Your left eye seemed to be turn in towards your nose and we did notice it sometimes in photos. We received a letter from Dr. Wadle stating that your appointment was set for January 10th.  I called the nurse disappointed because we would already be gone by then!  She said she would put me on a waiting list and call if anything opened up.  Shoot! I had heard such good things about Dr. Hunter and his pediatric practice! Ha, thankfully just minutes after I hung up the phone I got a call back from Dr. Hunter's nurse. She had forgotten about a couple of days that Dr. Hunter had opened up on his calendar so she was able to squeeze us in on December 11th! 

The Appointment:

We arrived a few minutes early, daddy met us to scarf down some delicious BBQ sandwiches from Stanley's BBQ!  Daddy had work meetings to go to so I took you into the appointment.  We watched fish in the aquarium as we waited. You smiled at all the strangers and particularly at one gruff looking guy in the waiting room. It was funny to see his gruff serious face turn quickly to a smile when you waved at him.  OH! You know how to wave now! Very exciting.

The nurse who took us to the back was ridiculously nice.  She talked of her 6 month granddaughter and how she had only seen her twice because her daughter and her husband are stationed in Hawaii and they have restrictions on visitors.  I let her hold and play with Brenna which she seemed to thoroughly enjoy! 

It's funny thinking about an eye exam on an infant- they can't exactly recite what letters they see.  However, somehow they can figure out their vision by using lots of fun toys with bright lights and spinning things! What looked like play time to us was really part of the exam!  When we first got into the room the nurse took a photo of Brenna.  Half way through the exam she went to retrieve the photo and then disappeared for a few minutes. When she came back she told me the doctor was going to squeeze us in for a quick consult before we gave Brenna the spray that would dilate her eyes.  The nurse gave me a heads up that the second I walked in with Brenna, Dr. Hunter would scoop her up to love on her. He is a huge fan of babies!  Glad she gave me the heads up because that is exactly what he did! Also, I must note that he had extremely good eye contact throughout the exam.  Haha, must be the eye doctor in him! 

Brenna sat on my lap in the big exam chair and was a rockstar for the exam.  The only trouble was Dr. Hunter had a hard time getting Brenna to look at the various toys he placed in front of her- she just wanted to keep staring at his face!  Dr. Hunter recommended we go ahead and dilate her eyes so he could get a better look.  Secretly, I think he just wanted to play with you some more! :)  The drops took about 40 minutes to work so I asked the nurse if there was somewhere I could nurse.  She was at a loss for suggestions other than the bathroom. Dr. Hunter heard us discussing something and returned asking what the dilemma was.  The nurse said I needed to nurse and he immediately volunteered his office!  He walked us to the back and said he couldn't offer much but he did have a big comfy chair for us!  I was beyond grateful to not have to nurse her in the hot car and was shocked at his generosity in offering his office. Definitely a day where I was feeling quite blessed! 

After I nursed you we ran out to meet daddy at the bank and then I returned with you for the second part of your exam.  The conclusion was that you have pseudostrabismus.  Strabismus is a condition where the eyes are not properly aligned.  Pseudostrabismus is the appearance that they aren't aligned but they in fact are!  Great news! Dr. Hunter showed us a variety of photos where it really looked like the infants were cross-eyed but he explained it was somewhat of an optical allusion!  He attributed your pseudostrabismus to a wide baby bridge! You just need to grow into your face sweet girl!  I was relieved and happy to know that your vision and your eye site is just perfect!  I was so thankful to leave Heaton Eye Associates with a clean bill of health.  Our experience there was top notch and I am sad we won't be in the area to see him on a regular basis! Although, hopefully we won't be in need of an eye doctor for you for a very long time!

So, where were we?  Oh yes, since your eye appointment we have packed up our little Tyler apartment, moved our big things to storage, said goodbye for now to our Tyler friends and made the trek up to MN! 

We stopped at the cutest Bed and Breakfast on our way up north.  We've had a coupon for $100 off from www.bedandbreakfast.com for 5 years now!  Good news is they never expire so we took advantage of the opportunity to stay somewhere other than a hotel (we always seem to end up next to the party til 4am crowd).  Matt surprised me with this great news the week before our move!

Matt found Su Casa Bed and Breakfast by searching places that would take dogs and babies!  This was a perfect match. Turns out Lois is a huge animal fan. She has taken in rescues for years and in the 15 years she has been running her Bed & Breakfast, she has allowed dogs.  It's rare to find places that welcome our entire family with open arms- even our pups!  I am thankful we have 2 well behave puppies as well as a very quiet and content baby.

Since we were spending a night in Kansas City we had to meet up with our fellow Tylerite friend, Anna Bazan! She became a good friend and business client (Chez Bazan Bakery) of LLU but moved just a few months ago to be near family and friends in Kansas City.  She invited us over to her house, treated us to an amazing BBQ dinner (who knew Kansas City has such amazing BBQ?) and we enjoyed a relaxing night.

If we would have had more time we definitely would have taken advantage of the amenities offered at the B & B itself. This place was complete with a movie theater, jacuzzi, fire place, outdoor sitting area overlooking the small farm animals and so much more.  One thing we did get to experience was a custom gourmet breakfast cooked by Lois herself!  Matt dined on waffle boats with bananas and blackberries, bacon, and a blueberry muffin.  Lois was very accommodating to my diet restrictions (no dairy/cow protein) and made me some amazing steel cut oats with blueberries and blackberries and almond milk!  She even hunted down some nitrate free turkey bacon.  It was awesome to enjoy such a delicious breakfast knowing it wouldn't do my baby any harm! Oh and I had coffee too, delicious!

I offered to take some photos for Lois so she could update her website.  It was the least we could do since she took such good care of us!  We hit the road shortly after breakfast and arrived at Grandma Colleen's Sunday, Dec 16th.  Once again we unloaded our stuff.  We plan to be here until the end of January.  After that, Brenna, the pups and I will head to my parents house for some quality time with Gma and Gpa Chesnutt!  Matt will travel for roughly 6 weeks for LLU.  I am already sad that we will be apart for so long, but it's all in preparation for our final destination of Winston-Salem, NC.  If all goes well, we hope to make NC home!

We have been in MN just shy of two weeks and already we have gotten sick- all three of us!  The puppies seem to be fine :)  We took a quick trip over to Sioux Falls last weekend and caught a virus from staying at the Holman house which was filled with 13 kiddos at the time!  It was fun to spend time with the other LLU people but we could have done without the parting gift of sickness.

Sweet baby girl, you have been sick 3 times now (just minor colds) but this one was a doozy!  Your poor little nose was very full and you could tell that you were not feeling like yourself.  Hardly any smiles, sleepy eyes and very fussy.  I knew you first had a temp around 5am on Dec 31st. I can always tell because right behind your knees gets very hot.  I took your temp and it was 101.8. Poor baby!  I slept with you on me (secretly I loved this although I did not love that you were sick).  It was a very rough night of sleeping so around 9:30pm I gave you some baby Tylenol.  Although I always try to go the natural route- I could tell you were very uncomfortable and after giving you the Tylenol you fell asleep.

New Year's Day was the roughest day.  You had trouble nursing because of all the junk in your nose.  I asked Daddy to run out and buy you something to help clear your nose! He came home with an electric snot sucker! It even plays music.  You started hating the bulb :( Thankfully, you do tolerate us using this new contraption so I'm happy we made the investment! We took lots of naps yesterday and last night I held you again and you slept great!  Grandma Colleen found a little pillow for you so we could elevate your head.  You alternated between that and sleeping on me.  I am so thankful that you are so good at sleeping in the big girl bed! Hopefully after a few more naps and baby Vicks on your feet you will start feeling better!  The bad news is now I am sick!  Hopefully we can kick this virus and get back to enjoying time with family and friends!

I am going to try contacting our realtor today in hopes of getting the ball rolling on our housing situation.  It's crazy to think we will have a new home lined up by April!  I think we will have your 1st birthday party celebration early so all of your Gmas and Gpas can join in the festivities!

Developmentally you are now scooting backwards!  But you can feel free to hold off on the actual crawling thing for awhile :)  I am quite content with you being non-mobile for a little longer! But it is fun to watch you figure out the scooting thing, even if you are moving backwards.  Grandma Colleen has lots of fun new toys for you to play with.  Your favorite right now is a little drum.  You love to chew on the drumsticks.  You also figured out how to clap!  Just last week you even made sound!  You still love to chew on Sophie and you also have a toy from your booster chair that you love to chew on.  My favorite is when you have a toy in your mouth and you starting singing/talking really loud.  Still no mama or dada but lots of fun aaaah and oooh noises!

One thing I discovered while you were sick was when I put you down on a pillow, you sit yourself right back up!  Those ab muscles are getting strong! You can go from a sitting position to down onto your tummy but you usually need a little help so you don't land on your face :) We are officially a "2 adults and a high chair" family when we go out! It's so cute to watch you look at everything around you when we are out a restaurant. I do need to get a high chair cover for you, though! Too many germs!  The last place we visited sanitized the high chair for us! Thank you Kaladi's in Sioux Falls for that! You are also officially in a big girl car seat. I still haven't fully figured it out. Like what happens when your legs grow longer? Hopefully by then we'll have a new car with more backseat space!

Oh sweet Brenna love, my love bug, my baby- we love you more and more every day.  It has gotten to the point now where it's hard to picture life without you! Life is so different but so fun! Now that you are getting older Daddy and I are looking forward to going to our first movie! Ha, it's the small things! Once you kick this sickness we are going to do a sippy cup bootcamp in hopes that you will take milk of that while we are out :)  You are such a joyful and content baby.  Everywhere we go that's the comment, "She is so content!" I love when I send Daddy in to get you after a nap and he turns the corner and waits for you to spot me in the room, then you give me a big smile!

You love flying on your tummy, trying to feed yourself when you are in the mood to eat, watching your puppies play, snuggling with mama, sitting on Daddy's shoulders, eating your swaddle blanket before naps, sleeping in the big girl bed with mama, splashing in the bath, reading books with things you can grab and touch, listening to mama sing, listening to daddy whistle, listening to daddy play the piano, and playing with your fingers.  I love it when you clasp your sweet chubby hands in your lap. 

This is one of my favorite stages so far.  You are someone independent in that you can sit up by yourself, but for the most part you still rely on mama and papa for everything!  You love nursing- I think that's why solids aren't too interesting to you yet.  I am hoping once we get settled in NC that you start sleeping through the night again. But truth be told, I don't mind being tired if it means getting to snuggle you in the middle of the night.  As long as I get a good night of sleep every few nights so I'm not a cranky mama, then all is good!

I have lots of pictures to edit of you and I will do a big post of them soon!  So much still to do to get caught up! I am thankful for these few months and am looking forward to feeling ahead of the game by the time we move in April.

I LOVE YOU BRENNA ROSE!!!! MUAH.  You are the light of my life sweet lovebug.  You are napping right now and I just want to scoop you up! But I won't :)  Praying you wake up rested after your nap and that this yucky cold disappears soon.  Thank you Jesus for our Brenna Rose!