Happy 4 Months, Sweet Collier

Today, my sweet little baby is 4 months old! It blows my mind that he's been in our lives 1/3 of a year, already. Please bear with me as most of this post is for personal record and may not be all that interesting to you; I just don't want to forget these details. I love this age as we are getting to see his little personality blossom and watch him learn new things. He is a very happy baby and rarely fusses or cries. He smiles all the time and has a precious little laugh. He's ticklish and will giggle outloud if you touch his little belly or rib cage. He now rolls over from his back to his belly regularly and has rolled from his belly to back, although he doesn't do it consistently. He holds his head steady when upright and when in his bouncy seat or carseat, he lifts his head as though he's trying to pull himself forward or sit up. He loves standing up, supported of course, and he doesn't like being cradled, unless he's tired, as he prefers to be held upright like a big boy.

Speaking of big boy, our guy is weighing in at 15lbs 3oz. I took him in for a re-check on his ear infection (which was all clear) and he had gained 5 ounces in just 8 days. I don't know his length yet, as his 4 month check up isn't until March. I guess we can attribute that sudden weight gain to the addition of solids to his diet. I began giving him a little rice cereal right before he got sick, but quit when he wasn't feeling good. We resumed last week, once he was all better, and he took right to it. He eats from a spoon without any problems and literally sucks the food right off of it! I have also introduced carrots, green beans, pears, apples, and peaches. He has loved every bit of it and fusses at me in between bites; I guess I just don't feed him fast enough. The only food Collier hasn't liked is peaches, which he must get from his brother, as Noah didn't like peaches either. Now that he's had some flavorful foods, he refuses to eat the rice cereal, even when I add a fruit to it. So I currently feed him 1/2 a jar of fruit in the morning and 1/2 jar of a veggie in the evening. He is nursing/taking a bottle 5 - 6 times a day and takes around 5 - 6 ounces each time.

He is still sleeping through the night, however, while he was sick, he would wake up periodically. Once he got better, it only took a few nights to break him of that habit and he was back to sleeping a 9 hour stretch. I normally put him to bed in his crib at 8:30 and give him one last bottle around 10-10:30pm (he normally sleeps through it). He wakes at 7am to eat and sometimes will go back to sleep for an hour. He will still have a few nights, here and there, where he'll wake up but most of the time, goes back to sleep easily... all we do is give him his paci and turn on his mobile, which lulls him to sleep in no time. I'm still swaddling him even though I've tried to let him go to sleep without it, to no avail. I'm hoping to break him of that in the next month, when the startle reflex has diminshed. We are on a flexible (somewhat of a Babywise) schedule now, where he eats every 3 hours (although we are moving towards 3 1/2), has playtime and goes down for a nap after about 1.5 - 2 hours. He'll take anywhere from a 1.5 - 2 hour nap, although 99% of the time, he will wake 45 minutes into his nap. All I do is give him his paci and turn the mobile back on, and he will drift back to sleep within a few minutes.

He has definitely found his voice in the past month and babbles loudly all day long. Even when he wakes in the morning, I can hear him in his crib happily jabbering away to himself. He has also begun using his hands. He reaches and grabs onto toys and brings them up to his mouth to chew on. A few of his favorites are Sophie the Giraffe, his toy key set, and of course, his Wubb-a-Nubb paci. He's now strong enough that he can play in his excersaucer which will provide good entertainment to allow me to get some things done around the house.

We have enjoyed the warmer temperatures this past week, and since it's just the two of us, have gotten out and spent the day doing a little shopping and running errands, something I rarely get to do when both boys are at home. He's been a good little shopping buddy and is content riding along in his stroller, checking out everything around him.

I'm so proud of each of these milestones, big and small. I love every minute with my sweet little boy and I'm so grateful that that the Lord picked me and Jamie to be his parents.










{Brotherly Love}




{I love Sophie!}

5 on Friday

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I need to brag a little

Noah had his first therapy visit in Birmingham this afternoon. They evaluated him and set goals for the next 2 weeks. One of his goals was to take 2-3 steps on his own, without support from anyone or anything. Well, I wasn't there, but Jamie said Noah was really showing off and did a great job all day. Right before his session ended, he took FIVE steps on his own! We are so proud of our sweet, determined little boy! Needless to say, the therapist is changing his goal since he met it after his very first visit! They also couldn't believe the difference in him this year compared to last year. The big thing is that he now has the motivation and wants to walk and he's so much more willing to do the therapy. They were amazed at the change in his personality.

In the past couple of weeks he has begun standing on his own, without using anything for support. His balance has gotten so much better. And even last week, he bent down, picked up a big ball, and stood back up. These things that are so easy for most kids are huge milestones for Noah. He's so close to walking and I can't wait for the day when I get to see him do it for the first time! I have a strong feeling that day will be really soon.

Here's a few pictures of Noah having a good time in the bathtub the other night. As you can tell, he loves playing in the bath, especially when I add bubbles to it.

3 Month Pictures

We had Collier's 3 month pictures taken 2 weeks ago with Captured Studios and I'm so in love with them! I have always stressed whenever I take Noah to get his pictures made because you sometimes have to work to get a smile out of him, however, Collier is my smiley baby. He'll talk and smile to anyone that gives him the slightest of attention so I wasn't worried about how he'd do. However, he wasn't quite as cooperative as I assumed he'd be. He was a little camera shy and really just wanted me to hold him! Regardless, they still got some great shots. I can't wait for his 6 month session!

RSV, Bronchiolitis and Ear Infections... OH MY

It's been a hectic week at the Brink household. It all started last week when Collier developed a cough. The following day, Noah ran a fever and slept majority of the day. By Friday evening, both boys were congested and coughing. GREEEAAAT. Could the timing have been any worse? I think not. We were supposed to be leaving the following day for Birmingham, where we would spend the next 3 weeks while Noah participated in the physical therapy program at Children's Hospital. Not just any therapy, it's like physical therapy boot camp and you need to be feeling 100% in order to get the maximum benefits. We've been on the waiting list since March 2010. When they finally called me in Novemeber to schedule which month we could participate in, we decided February would be best because Collier would be 3 months old. And now both boys are coming down with colds?

We decided to continue on with our plan and head down to B'ham and hope for the best. It was obvious that the boys were both feeling bad but I just kept hoping and praying that Noah would be better by Monday, his first therapy day. Jamie headed back to Florence with my parents on Sunday afternoon and left me and the boys with my aunt at her house. When Collier woke up from his nap that evening I discovered that he had a 101.6 fever. My aunt and I both started getting worried... I finally found an after-hours clinic where we could take both of the boys to be seen. The verdict was that Noah had a bad cold with a horrible sounding cough and Collier had bronchiolitis and an ear infection, however they didn't test either for RSV. After 2 hours at the clinic and another hour trying to find a 24-hour pharmacy, we FINALLY got home a little after 9pm. I barely got 3 hours of sleep that night and Noah was supposed to have his first therapy session the following morning. Around 5 that morning, after having been awake for over 2 hours, I decided it would be best to cancel his visit since he wouldn't feel like therapy. Thankfully, my aunt had taken off work with plans to watch Collier. Instead, we both spent the day caring for the boys... Collier cried all day long, and only napped for an hour the whole day. Noah was running a fever on and off and was feeling pretty pitiful. Jamie decided to drive back down to Birmingham to help us out, thank goodness! That night, Collier cried until 11pm when he finally settled down and went to sleep. The next day was just as bad, except I noticed Collier was doing a little crackling sound when he breathed and Noah was still running a fever, would barely eat, and was throwing up almost every time he coughed. Around 1pm, I called our pediatrician's office to tell them what was going on with Collier and they recommended we have him checked out again. At that point, I decided I just wanted to see OUR doctor at home so we made an appointment for 4:30 and Jamie and I THREW every bit of our luggage in our cars as quickly as possible, and headed home. We made it home just in time for our appointment and they did an RSV test, which came back positive. She told us that since it's so contagious that Noah most certainly had it too. Three days later, they are finally feeling some better but both still have terrible coughs and congestion.

Since Noah isn't 100% he will miss this week's therapy visits in Birmingham but we are going to let him do the remaining two weeks. However, we have a new game plan... instead of me and the boys staying in Birmingham the full two weeks, Jamie and Noah will drive back and forth while Collier and I stay home. I have been devastated at the thought of Noah not getting to do this program, especially since the next time they could get us back in would be July! I'm so happy that Noah is feeling much better now and I think he'll be feeling even better and able to give it his all next week. I'm a little sad that he's only getting to do two weeks instead of the full 3 weeks, however, it's better than nothing. Plus, there's a chance that they will work us in to do another 2 weeks at a later date.

Today is Jamie's first day back at work and I honestly don't know WHAT I would have done without his help (and my aunt's help on Monday). One sick child is hard enough, but two? I know I'm going to have to get used to it because this won't be the first time that they are both sick at the same time, however, it's hard to comfort and care for two sick ones when you only have one lap and two arms! Our week has been spent doing breathing treatments, suctioning little noses, cleaning up throw up (from all the congestion), distributing lots of different medicines, and rocking, bouncing and cradling little ones. I have washed my hands at least 20 times a day and it'll be an act of God for me to not wind up sick.

After all of this sickness we've dealt with I'm debating keeping the boys as close to home as I can (even no church) until it warms up and the chance of catching another sickness decreases. I've had ENOUGH of this cold weather! Plus, it's just way to risky when you have a young baby... and 2 sicknesses in Collier's short lifespan of 3 months is 2 to many if you ask me.

What do you treasure?

Do you have any special items that put a smile on your face, bring back a fond memory, remind you of a unforgettable time in your life... something that you treasure? I sure do! Those sentimental pieces are things that I hold close to my heart and regardless of their monetary value, are priceless to me. And I thought I would share a few of mine!

One item was the very first Christmas ornament that I ever received. My mom gave it to me on 12/25/2002, which was the Christmas following mine and Jamie's September engagement. It was the first ornament we had ever received as a couple and the start of our collection of ornaments that would decorate our Chrismas tree for years and years to come! This ornament always gets a prime spot on our Christmas tree...front and center.

Another is a necklace that I purchased this past summer. I found a seller on etsy that specialized in making hand-stamped jewelry and I found a design I loved. An angel wing with a heart and circular disc. I had the disc stamped with the following: "...with God, all things are possible. Matthew 19:26" and the heart has the word "believe" on it. It's one of my favorite verses and helps me not only in getting through Noah's challenges, but with life in general. With God, all things ARE possible. Trust in that. Believe that He doesn't bring you to things that He doesn't think you are capable of making it through. Believe in miracles. I call that necklace my Noah necklace. :)

And lastly, my rings that Jamie gave me the night of Collier's birth. Noah's birth stone is the diamond and Collier's is the pink tourmaline. Jamie gave me two diamond bands, one for each child. The first is a white gold band with white diamonds and Noah's initials and birthdate inscribed on the inside; The second is a rose gold band with pink diamonds (in place of the pink tourmaline) and Collier's initials and birthdate. I had them sautered together to create one ring, which I LOOOOVE. Words do not even describe how much these two bands mean to me and the significance of them. It makes my heart smile that they represent our two boys and the thought Jamie put behind it.

So tell me, what treasures do you hold close to your heart?