IT'S FINALLY MARCH

I have been looking forward to March since February 1st! February for Greg is midterms and that means that February for me is being a single Mom and having no husband. I think Greg had somewhere around 9 tests this month. Anyway, I knew that this month would be very long and difficult, but little did I know just how difficult is was going to be.
WE made it through the first half pretty well. I had many dates with our local Red box and caught up on a lot of scrap booking. We managed to have a nice dinner at home on Valentines Day and I thought that I would just coast through the second half of the month just fine! WRONG!! On the 16Th Greg and I were woke up at about 4am to Brinley throwing up. We went into her room and both she and her crib were covered! As soon as I got her all cleaned up she, of course, threw up all over again and again and again. We couldn't get her to stop! WE tried giving her something to drink to keep her hydrated but she wouldn't take anything. After calling the Dr. we were told to take her to the nearest ER. Well, it so happened that Greg had a BIG test that day so he couldn't come with, so I ended up calling my friend Miranda, who is a teacher but had the day off for Presidents Day, and she came with me. Thank heaven for good friends that will still love you even after your child throws up on them. We were in the ER for about 6 long hours. After a few rounds of an IV, Brinley started to act like her normal self again and she began to drink. They let us leave and being very tired we both came home and slept.
The next day was pretty normal, Brinley still didn't feel great but at least she was no longer vomiting. I spent most the day trying to get all our throw up clothes and sheets cleaned. I went to bed that night thinking that everything was going up hill. WRONG AGAIN!!
Brinley woke up at about 11:00pm with a very high fever and very congested. I gave her some medicine but it still didn't seem to help. It was a VERY long night for both of us. I think she slept maybe 3 or 4 hours and that was on me. The next morning her fever got up to 104 so the Dr had me bring her in. She told me that there was nothing for us to do but just wait it out and keep giving her Tylenol and Motrin. The next two days were the longest of my LIFE. Brinley would only sleep if I was holding her and during the day all she wanted to do was to be held standing up! I felt like was I pregnant with a 20 baby because she was always attached to me. I was so sore from holding her. The only time she would let me put her down was when she was watching her baby Einstein DVDs!! Those DVDs were a life savor!!! On Friday morning she woke up and seemed to be doing a lot better. Her fever broke and other than her being really tired she was her normal self! I finally felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel......WRONG!!!!
On Saturday evening just before Greg and I were about to go out for the first time all month, she got another fever and became very lethargic. We cancelled our date and just kept an eye on her for the rest of the day and made sure that she was drinking. On Sunday morning I went to church and Greg stayed with Brinley. When I got home she was laying on his shoulders with this far off look in her eyes. All she wanted to do was sleep and that is NOT like her at all. Greg called the after hours Dr. and they told us to take her to the ER to run some tests! So we got in the car to go to the ER... again. We got there and they took her in to take some X rays of her chest to make sure it wasn't pneumonia. After she got done with the X-rays I was putting back on her shirt and she threw up ALL over me! After doing a few more tests they came back and told us that she had the influenza B virus. So much for getting her a flu shot this year. They told us that as long as she would drink we didn't have to admit her. That night I put her in her crib to sleep and about midnight I went in to check on her and again she had thrown up all over herself and her bed. At that point I had pretty much reached my limit! I had been doing really well dealing with taking care of a sick baby by myself and not getting much sleep, but when I saw the huge mess I was going to have to clean again I just couldn't do it by myself! I woke up Greg and he called his parents and the next day PAPA MIKE was here to save us!!! Thank goodness he can fly for free whenever he wants! He took Brinley from me and slept with her all night! She got up about 3 times or so but he would always get her back to sleep so I could rest. The next morning she was doing much better and she never threw up or got a fever again. That night she slept all the through the night in her own crib, which was a huge milestone!!! Papa was able to leave the next day and now all of us are doing much better. Greg has one more test tomorrow and then he is all done until April!!
So here is to March being a better month than February!!

Happy Valentines Day

Love,
Greg, Jenna, and our little love bug Brinley

Bald and Beautiful

And Introducing the newest member!















Don't worry, I will not be joining the family trend!

Our little fish and Greg's shaved head

A few Friday's ago Greg and I decided to be "fun" parents and take Brinley swimming. She has already been a few times and LOVES it. Here are a few pictures.







So before our little family outing I opted to sit out and be the camera girl. I video recorded a lot of the event and thought to myself how both Greg and I will one day cherish watching this when our little girl is grown up and gone. Well, as soon as we got home I wanted to watch it. I guess I wanted to cherish it while she was still little and at home. Anyway, I turn it on and started watching it and Greg decided to join in. While I'm ewwwing and awwwing over how darling Brinley looks I look over at Greg and he has an appalled expression on his face. After asking what in the world is wrong he turns to me and says, "That's it I'm shaving my head." I kept telling him that his bald spot was more accentuated when wet. He would not believe me.
As most of you know Greg is going......bald. He has been begging me for years to let him shave his head. But I always tell him that it's still not completely necessary yet. He still has enough hair to pull it off, before he hits the comb over stage. Why shave it early when he will be bald for the rest of his life until we can afford a decent looking wig? I'm kidding, I have always known that Greg will make a very handsome bald man, but I just want to enjoy his hair while he still has enough of it.
After a VERY long conversation Greg and I came up with a compromise. He can go through a "trial" run. He can shave his head now, but then he has to grow it back one more time before it becomes permanent. So, we called our local Barber and here are the pictures.
Before


During




























And I'm very sorry to say that his after picture accidentally got deleted so you will have to wait until later to see the results!! Thanks for reading.

Happy Fabulous Four

Yesterday was mine and Greg's 4Th wedding anniversary. It's crazy to think how much has changed in such a short time, especially for me! Since I've been married I've moved three times, one of those times being across the country. That's a lot considering I never moved once until I went to college. I've had 6 different jobs, visited 11 new states( that's not counting all the ones we had to drive through to get here), learned how to make a meal other than instant PastaRoni with white cheddar shells( which I still claim to make the best ever), watched my first major league baseball game, well I could also say watched my first ever baseball game, memorized every major league baseball team and their city(I'm really good if you want to quiz me), drove my first golf cart, thanks to Greg had my first outbreak of cold sores, and of course the biggest change of all experiencing pregnancy, delivery, and raising a baby.

There have been many other changes but these are the main ones I could think of at the moment. I'm so lucky to be married to such a wonderful, kind person. Thanks honey for experiencing all these things with me, and for always making life so exciting. I love you!!! Happy fabulous four.

A Birthday to Remember

The past three days have been quite the experience. On Wednesday morning Brinley and were scheduled to fly back to PA. Well, I woke up that morning to find that the cold that I had been dealing with for five days had turned into a sinus infection and spread to my left eye. It was completely red and puffy and I'll stop with the descriptions there and just call it plain gross! I was so upset, not because I didn't feel well, but the fact that I was going to look ridiculous flying on a airplane with a freaky looking eye. (I guess that is the vain side of me coming out.) Anyway, I decided just to swallow my pride and not worry about it and just get through the plane ride and I could go to the Dr. as soon as I landed. The plane ride honestly went wonderful! Brinley couldn't have been better. Normally she never sleeps long on planes but somehow someone was looking out for me and she slept about half the time. The other half she was playing with this nice old lady that she befriended at the gate.
After Greg picked me up we went straight home so I could go to the Dr and get some medicine for my eye. It was after hours so I had to go the ER to be treated because for some odd reason out here they don't have any instacares. So I got my medicine and started my treatments. I finally felt some relief and was excited that the next day, the 8Th, was my birthday!!!
Well, the next day I felt anything but excited. Over night my eye infection spread to the other eye and I woke up with now two red eyes. Plus I had to take Brinley to the Dr. for her 9 month check up and run a million errands because I had been in Utah for a whole month and there was nothing in our house. I just ended up telling Greg that we would pretend that my birthday was the next day and celebrate in then.
The next day both my eyes looked a lot better and I also felt much better. I was thinking great this is going to be an awesome birthday now. Well, wrong again. I was introduced to a whole new experience in parenting, a throwing up baby. Up until now Brinley has only been sick with colds, never a stomach bug. At about 4:30pm I was feeding her dinner and she threw up all over her high chair. My first thought was great nothing got on her or me! I took her out of her high chair and decided just to give her some juice to keep her hydrated instead. As I was feeding her the juice she started pushing it away and she wouldn't drink anymore. I sat her up and all the sudden she just threw up all over me and herself. I have never seen so much throw up in all my life! I was covered!! I guess you're not really a Mom until you've been thrown up on. Needless to say I told Greg that we would postpone my birthday until Saturday.
Today has been a wonderful Birthday. Brinley is healthy again. I slept in, Greg did all the throw up laundry, he took me to lunch and then we went and got the one thing that will make any birthday a fabulous birthday, a Steinschag at Zwahlen's. For those of you that don't know what that is take a look at the picture! It is the best dessert ever. If you come and visit us we will take you to get one. Anyway, hooray for me finally getting to celebrate my birthday!!

Merry Christmas

I can't believe how much fun Christmas is with a baby! Brinley was so cute! All of us had a wonderful time. We were happy to be around all our family and friends.


Santa came to our Christmas Eve party and Brinley didn't like him at first.

But then he gave her a puppy and she warmed up to him a little.

Santa brought Brinley her first baby doll.

Here we are on Christmas morning.

Brinley in her new Christmas outfit.

Brinley LOVED opening all her gifts.

Merry Christmas.