Shelley Family Update

I love to smile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brynn and Great Grandpa Shelley

Four generations of Shelley's: Grandpa Shelley, Great Grandpa Shelley, Brynn, and Dad

Brynn and Great Grandma Shelley

We stuck Brynn in the high chair today while we were eating lunch and Jesse stuck the teddy bear next to her to help her sit up straight. I just thought it was way too cute!! Too bad we didn't get a picture when she was trying to eat the bear.

And finally, this is what Brynn and Jesse are doing right now as I update our blog... taking a nice Saturday afternoon nap!!

Ok, once again, it has been a while since I have updated our blog so I thought I would post some recent pictures (mostly of Brynn of course), and give you a brief family update. Things have been going great at the Shelley residence as we continue to adjust to parenthood. It has been so fun to watch Brynn grow and to see her fun personality develope. She just gets cuter everyday! She is also beginning to sleep much better and has slept for 5 or 6 hours straight a few nights this week which I especially have loved. I hope she keeps it up. Jesse has been busy with working and doing lots of little projects around the house. Yesterday while I was gone he built a little ladder for Brynn's closet, fixed one of our sprinklers, and cleaned the kitchen. Maybe I should leave him home alone more often since he is always so productive (unlike me). And I have just been having fun spending time with Brynn and trying to get things done around the house... sadly I don't seem to get much done though. I am feeling great and am loving the nice weather outside. Brynn and I have started walking every morning with my friend Michelle and her son Gavin and that has been so great! It is so nice to get out of the house and spend some time outside.

Well, that's really all that we have been up to. Jesse and I have our 2 year wedding anniversary this coming friday so we are trying to plan something fun to do... we'll see what we come up with!!

Sleeping Beauty

Here are a few pictures that Jesse took of Brynn a few days ago while she was sleeping. She just looked so cute and peaceful. I can't believe she is one month old already. Time is flying by so fast, and she is getting so big! She is also smiling a lot more too which has been really fun. Overall, she has been a very good baby. She sleeps most of the day, and is generally happy unless she is hungry. The only real challenges have been getting her to sleep more at night, and the battle of trying to get her to take a bottle. She refuses to take a pacifier which is fine, but she also refuses to drink out of a bottle which has me a little stressed out. I am supposed to present at a conference for work this Wednesday in Heber, and Brynn is going to have to come along because I am the only one who can feed her. So if anyone has any brilliant ideas as to how to get her to take a bottle, please let me know!! I think we have tried 5 different bottles/nipples now and she doesn't like any of them. Going back to work part time in August could be a little tricky if we don't solve this problem.

ConGRADulations Adrienne!!!

This is a little late, but I just wanted to say congratulations to Adrienne (Jesse's youngest sister). She graduated from high school last week which is a huge accomplishment and we are both so proud of her! She will be going to UVSC in the fall which I am very excited about because she can come visit me and help watch Brynn :) Adrienne and Jesse are very close which I love, and now she and Brynn have something in common too... the middle name Marie. That's where Brynn got it from, after her Aunt Adrienne. Congrats again Adrienne!! I do have to say though that attending her graduation did make me feel a little old when I realized that mine was 8 years ago!!

Brynn's first boyfriend :)

Ok, so I had to post this picture because I thought it was just too cute!! Brynn and I went to visit my friend Crystal and her little boy Ty this week and this is what happened when we put them next to each other. It looks like they are holding hands... I love it! Brynn and Ty are just a week and a half apart and I am sure they will be good buddies.

My Belated Graduation Celebration

Ok, so my husband is amazing and totally surprised me with a little graduation photo shoot and party. As most of you know, I finished my masters degree in the end of March. My graduation at Utah State was on May 2nd, a day before my due date so I decided to play it safe and not sign up for graduation. Well, then I ended up having Brynn a few days late, and was so upset and disappointed that I missed my graduation. This was such a huge accomplishment for me, and I felt like I didn't have any memories of it. So Jesse surprised me by borrowing a cap, gown, and hood from one of my classmates. He told me that we were going to go take some graduation pictures as soon as he got home from work on Friday. After we took pictures, I thought we were having a game night with my sister and her husband. But instead, Jesse took me to a pavillion where our family and a few friends were waiting to have a little graduation party. All of this totally made my night. I was so impressed that he would think to do all of this for me!!

A little update

Can I just say that only being able to get online about once a week is absolutely killing me!! Daily internet access is the one thing I am really missing about work right now. It's a good thing we have TV to keep me occupied these days. I find myself watching lots of Full House re-runs during feeding times! Life is going pretty well though. Motherhood is getting easier everyday, and I can't believe how quickly Brynn is growing! She is just so cute and so much fun... especially when she is awake during the day which is very rare. She went to church for the first time on Sunday, and was a hit with our primary class. The girls just passed her down the row during sharing time. I am feeling pretty well, and am having a hard time relaxing and taking it easy. I am just so used to being on the go!! But after my little trip to the emergency room last week... taking it easy has gotten much easier. (I am fine... won't go into all the gross details but lets just say I was doing too much which caused some problems and lots of extra bleeding).

Brynn finally got to meet her Grandma Sherryl this last week. My mom came for a visit from PA and wanted to take Brynn home with her today but Jesse and I had to say no. Grandma is now even more excited for our visit to Pennsylvania in July!!

Here's one of my favorites. Brynn sleeping with daddy. This is her favorite way to sleep too. She hates being in her bassinet, and falls asleep as soon as Jesse puts her on his chest. What can I say, she is a daddy's girl!!

More pictures and an update on life...

Okay, so I haven't really been able to keep my blog as up to date as I would like to because we don't have the internet at home. I am used to being on a computer all day long at work so this has been a hard adjustment for me!!

I just thought I would give a little update on our lives since Brynn has arrived. We seriously love her so much and love having her in our home!! I do have to say though that being a mom is the hardest thing I have ever done, but is so worth it. I like to blame most of it on the sleep deprivation! But besides the lack of sleep, I am really feeling great and feel like I have recovered quickly which is a bonus.

Jesse loves coming home from work now to be with "his girls". He is such a great dad, and I just love watching him with Brynn. She is definitely a daddy's girl. She never cries or fusses when he changes her clothes or diaper so he gets to do a lot of that!!

My mom is coming for a visit from Pennsylvania this week so we look forward to having her around to help (and she is VERY anxious to meet her first grandchild).

Oh, and these pictures are dedicated to my brother Zach. He wanted to see Brynn with her eyes open, and I tried to explain to him how hard it was to capture that since she sleeps all day and is awake all night (when I am not in the mood to take pictures). But I was able to get a few cute ones :)

First bath at home

Here are a few pictures from Brynn's first bath at home. She HATED them in the hospital, but did a little better at home. She still screamed through most of it though!!

We're Home!!

Brynn with cousin Rhianna

We finally got to go home yesterday after spending an extra day in the hospital. Brynn spent her whole stay in the NICU due to low oxygen levels, but is doing just fine now. It was so nice to be able to take her home without all of the extra cords, monitors, and wires attached! Here are some recent pictures of her. the last two are from today.

Brynn Marie Shelley

I just wanted to post some pictures of our new addition! Brynn was born at 11:01 pm on Tuesday May 6th (3 days late). She was 7 lbs 9 oz and 20 inches long. My doctor ended up inducing me because my blood pressure was high. The labor and delivery went great. It was all so much better than I expected. And we love our little girl so much!!!!!