4 months old

Calla had her 4 month check-up last Friday. She was 16lbs 11oz and 25 inches long. Her head circumference is at 90%tile, her height is a little higher, and her weight a little more, but over all, in good proportion and perfectly healthy. Her ears were clear, but she had a throat infection. So we had a couple rough nights dealing with that, but she seems to being doing well now. Hopefully with summer around the corner, she can stay well and help us get a routine going and a sense of normalcy. Even through all the sickness and sleepless days and nights, she stays a happy girl...

Here's Leslie's 4 month picture for comparison. Their stats are almost exactly the same this month...


Unlike Leslie, Calla really enjoys her tummy time. She's gotten pretty good at reaching for toys and pushing the buttons on them to get them to sing or light up. She can roll over in her bed extremely well (I have to go and flop her back over onto her belly several times a night,) but it's alot harder for her on the blanket to get her legs up underneath her to flip, so she rarely tries anymore.

She'll be moving much too soon I'm afraid, but I know she will be much happier when she can. She gets increasingly unhappy with being stationary everyday. I can tell her mind wants to do so much more than her body allows. When her little muscles catch up, she's going to give me a run for my money!

Fun pictures

We've started giving the girls baths together at night when we can. Calla loves the company and Leslie loves swimming her mermaid doll all through and under Calla's tub. Calla needs to learn to sit up before she breaks the sling on her little tub. It was meant to hold little infants, not toddler sized babies!


Pretty girl...

Leslie's last day of school was Tuesday, so they had their program. As you can see, Leslie was pretty much the only kid actually singing and doing all the hand movements. We were so proud!

Calla has really started to like her exersaucer. She likes it more everyday as she learns to grab and pull the toys more and balance, bounce, and turn better.

Sometimes, the fun is just more than she can take...

Celebration of the Arts

A couple weeks ago we went to Celebration of the Arts here is Midland. Just Leslie and my mom went the first day because the weather was nasty, but we packed up the baby and all went Sunday afternoon. Here's Leslie getting her face painted...



Kinda creepy looking, but she loved it...

She completed the outfit with a matching mermaid balloon. She was on cloud 9...

She also got to do several sand art pictures...

And we had a funny caricature drawn of both the girls as princesses...

It was so much fun getting out and enjoying the little things around town and the beautiful weather with my two girls. We look forward to many more family outings like this as they both grow older and more fun!

Sprinkler fun

We've had a few impromptu sprinkler days. I don't know why we think it would take too much time to put a bathing suit on her. Oh well, she's cute playing in her panties!




Leslie had an especially fun Mother's Day getting to play in the sprinklers over at Gran Gran's. I stripped her down to her panties, but before I knew it, she had decided it would be better in the buff. Oh well, she's cute playing naked!





We went up to Abernathy last weekend to visit (and introduce Calla) to alot of Barry's family. Here's the chunky monkey playing with Barry's grandmother, Mam-maw.


We had hoped that Calla would be good traveler and sleep the entire way like babies are supposed to in the car. But, she's not. She cried and fussed- alot. Oh well, we made it through Leslie; I'm sure we'll make it through Calla.

Overdue update...

I know it's been a while since my last update, but I just wanted to let everyone know we're still here... surviving day by day! Leslie's been sick a couple weeks, Barry was sick a couple weeks ago, and I've been sick the last week, but I think all of us are finally on the mend. Life is hard enough right now without having to deal with being sick.

Barry's been a super-big help, as always, with giving me the rest I need to heal. Between my birthday week (all of our birthdays are celebrated for a full week), my being sick, and miscellaneous other things, Barry's gotten up to feed Calla more nights than I have this last month! (I do still get up and do the constant paci plugs at least!)

Calla seems to be doing better... several weeks ago her nose got all stuffy again (and another ear infection), so her doctor switched her to the hypoallergenic formula which is a cow's milk formula, but it is already broken down into the basic proteins and amino acids. It was a very gradual improvement, so I'm not convinced that soy was in fact the culprit, but time will tell. She has a well check May 22nd, and I'm sure we'll revisit it then. In the mean time, she's thriving and tops the scales at a whopping 16lbs! Oh well- she's a healthy cute little girl, and we love her and all her rolls!

She's also on preventative antibiotics for three weeks to try and keep her ears well. So far, it seems to be working, but if they come back after she's done with the med's then the doctor said we'll need to start talking tubes. Ug. And -cillins don't especially agree with her stomach, so she's not sleeping as well as I think she could or as long as she wants to. Hopefully, when she finishes all this medicine, we can start feeling and sleeping better and getting on to more of a routine.

When she's awake, she's a super happy baby... all smiles and giggles (especially for her sissy.) It is amazing to me how different she is from Leslie... the skills and toy preferences and such. Calla already holds toys really well and chews on everything... especially her dresses! She loves to stand and is rolling around better every day. And, she finally enjoys tummy time! I guess she figured out she can see better and move around some and grab different toys etc... And when she's tired of it, she can usually get herself flipped back over, but always seems to want to go right back! (She rolls belly to back much easier than back to belly.)

Things are changing... Life is a lot different (and more difficult) than I anticipated with the addition of Calla. But, things are getting better every week, and I'm positive that trend will continue for the next several years because God is good- always. I hope you and your family are all well and that God has blessed y'all as He has blessed our little family. I'll try and get pictures up very soon. Thank you for caring and praying with us through all the craziness that is The Brauchi Experience.