Month 10 was Pumpkins, and Footballs, and Bears OH MY!

Little Miss B,

Have I told you before how much fun you are??  Even so, I'll tell you again...you are SO much fun!!  You remind your daddy and I every day how blessed we are to be your parents.  We are SO thankful that God chose us to be your mommy and daddy!!

Some of our favorite things that you are doing new this month are clapping and sticking your tongue out when we ask you to (without us even showing you first...obviously you are so smart!), you shake your head no (sometimes it's even at the appropriate time), your little wave has changed to where you are waving at yourself (which is just so cute!), you are quite the little crawler (and you wiggle your booty more the faster you go), and your face lights up when you hear two things: the Hot Dog song and your daddy's voice on speakerphone while he's out of town for work!

And we can't forget the famous "Sweet Bryleigh," as we've started to call it.  Let's just say, you'll be able to get a lot of stuff in life if you keep making this one sweet little face!!  You've even used it on Emmitt!!

Your personality seems to grow every single day, and so do your opinions!  I'm enjoying every single step of this journey.  You LOVE: bouncing, crawling to your room and playing, playing in the pillows, and your walker.  You HATE: having your face washed (still!), cheese and turkey, and when we take the iphone away from you (all you want to do is eat it anyways!).  My only wish is that time would slow down just a little bit!  We love you so much, Bryleigh.  We are so proud of the strong, independent, smart, brave little girl you are!  

Tenth Month Stats

Wearing:  Not much change here...still wearing 9 months in everything and can still wear lots of her 6 months stuff - especially onsies and pants.

Eating:  I think the "eating" aspect of this season of life is going to end up being my least favorite.  It's just tough.  We got the bottle part figured out, so she's not fighting us the whole time anymore.  At the beginning of eating baby food, she was still having 5 bottles a day, but we quickly dropped that to 4.  Over the past month we dropped it down again to 3 bottles and 3 meals, and this is working great for everyone!

We are trying more real food, but we've had a lot of trouble.  I'm not sure if it's texture issues or what, but she's gagged (and THROWN UP!!!) at some pretty basic foods, so we're just going to take our time! She LOVES puffs and has also had cheerios, potatoes, toast, french fries, and a bite or two of mommy's mac n cheese!

Sleeping:  Let's talk about this whole "Daylight Savings" thing.  "Fall back" always meant one thing...EXTRA sleep, and everyone knows how I feel about my sleep! :)  But when a sweet baby girl wakes up with her internal clock everyday at 7:00, that doesn't change just because someone decided the daylight hours need to happen at a certain time throughout the year...so that internal clock goes off at SIX in the morning instead.

Let's add to the fact that it happened on one of our not-so-good nights.  I got a little time with Bryleigh about 11:45 because she had lost her pass, was to tired to wake up and find it, but was distraught she didn't have it (this happens about once a week).  Then we had some more time at 2:45 when she decided to wake up and STAND UP in her bed (this also happens from time to time).  Any time she does this, I just bring her back in our room for a slumber party because that is the only way she'll go back to sleep on those nights.

And to end the day, she was ready for bed by about 5:45, which would normally be 6:45 (a little early for our normal routine...but Sundays are always tough on a girl, especially Sundays spent playing with Mimi and Pappy while Mommy and Daddy are out on a date).

We've been able to get a little bit back on track, and bedtime is around 8:00, but Little Miss is still waking up at 6:00 on an average day!  And she's still taking 2 good naps a day.

Teeth:  She's got her 4 bottom ones in good, and working on one of her top teeth right off the middle. I'm not real sure how that one is looking because she REFUSES to let me see, but I know it's coming in and it's been a tough little booger for the last 2 weeks of this month!!

Unofficial Measurements: We went back to the doctor today for a shot, but didn't get actual weight or length measurements.  She handled the shot(s) (a story I prefer NOT to talk about...) very well! The nurse even commented on how tough she is!! :)  Not much change on the measurements...22 pounds, 28 inches, and 48 centimeters for her sweet little head!  (Those are some pretty rough estimates because she is quite the wiggle worm!!)

Tenth Month Highlights

This has been the first full month of Brad being gone, but we made sure to pack in lots of family time while he was home, especially with it being Bryleigh's first Halloween!!

We kicked off the month with a visit to the Pumpkin Patch and a quick dinner before Brad left for North Carolina.  Bryleigh wasn't too enthused by anything she saw, but we did get some cute pictures! We're trying not to check EVERYTHING off the list during her first year, so we decided to save buying her first pumpkin and pumpkin carving for next year! ;)

There were two things I didn't want to sit at home for during the start of Brad's new project: my birthday and halloween!  So Bryleigh and I loaded up and headed to Mimi and Pappy's to celebrate my 29th with them.  Even from 1,000 miles away, Brad made me feel special and loved, and so did my parents! They surprised me with a present from Bryleigh, which definitely made my birthday all the more special!!

One of my very favorite things about my hometown is the Fall Festival/Hopkins County Stew Contest.  Brad has gone with me since we started dating, and we were so excited to take Bryleigh this year!!  We were even m ore blessed to have our best friends come along with us - Justin, Kari, and their little boy, Rylan.  It's so fun to show off Sulphur Springs and all the good it has to offer...including YUMMY stew!  Can't wait for Bryleigh to actually get to eat some next year!!  We also got to end the day with some time with DeDe and Poppa B!

The stew festival means fall, and fall means HALLOWEEN!  It's not my favorite holiday, but it's definitely a fun one, and when you can dress your little 9 month old up like a bear, it's even better!  We spent the week in SS again, and we were able to take Bryleigh to the Trunk-or-Treat up at FBC where my dad works on Wednesday night.  We ended up not walking around, but she was pretty mesmerized by all the people and costumes...and she loved her Mickey Mouse light-up Halloween bucket from Mimi! Considering Bryleigh was asleep by 7:30/8:00, we didn't do any trick or treating on Friday or have trick or treaters at our house.  We just cozied up inside for some good snuggle time!

Of course, it's fall...so there's always a football game on and a team to cheer for!!  Brad and his dad went to a few Cowboys games and the Baylor/OU game in Norman, and Brad and I got to go to a Cowboys game together while DeDe and Poppa B were on a trip to Colorado.  (It was a good game for Poppa B to miss though since Romo didn't get to play and we ended up losing! Can't win 'em all.)

We also got some fun time with Brad's family!  Poppa B and DeDe brought over a crock-pot full of yummy pulled pork, and Aunt Erin joined us for some free entertainment from Bryleigh girl.  I'm pretty sure we could all just sit and watch her play for hours.  Bryleigh even got in on the dinner making action, helping DeDe with the potatoes and Poppa B with the pork!  The highlight of the night was her playing in the pillows on our bed and jumping every time Poppa B ran in to the room.

And a few more of our favorite pictures from this month...