First steps!!

Yesterday our girl took her first successful steps!  She had so much fun teetering between Chuck and me- it was absolutely adorable.  Yay Brinn- we're so proud of you (and she's very proud of herself)!  Check out the video:

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone had a great Easter!  We certainly did!  We started the day by packing up the family and heading to church.  Brinn slept in the car on the way over, so I was optimistic that she would do well in the church nursery.  While Chuck and I enjoyed the service, poor B was miserable.  When we picked her up, she was hysterical- blotchy faced and all.  I was so sad for her and felt completely guilty.  Next time, she'll be attending church service with us- we'll see how that goes... After she calmed down, we went home.  She felt much better when she saw that the Easter bunny had visited our house while we were out:

She received some new teethers, a banana toothbrush, a stuffed bunny, apple puffs, and the book Runaway Bunny.  No candy this year :)  I assume that the Easter bunny knew that B is too young for candy, so if she received any it would have been up to Chuck and me to eat it.  And since we are headed to Vegas at the end of the month to celebrate my 30th birthday, Momma doesn't need any candy ;)
While Brinn played with her new teethers and Chuck brushed her teeth, I whipped up a spinach and ricotta frittata (recipe from clean eating, here: http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Recipe/Ricotta-Spinach-Frittata.aspx).  It was delicious and perfect for our Easter chardonnay brunch! 

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing.  It really was a great Easter Sunday- Brinn's first :)

Earlier in the week, Brinn was invited to an Easter egg hunt and playdate at a friend's house.  It was a blast- they brought in live chicks and a bunny:

B was really unsure of the chicks, but I was happy to see that she didn't touch them- I really was worried that she might accidentally kill one.  They also had someone dress up as an Easter bunny:

I felt bad for the girl, because I was sweating in my sundress.  She must have been on the verge of a heat stroke.  Regardless, Brinn had fun playing with the other babies and sitting in an inflatable ball thing (not sure what its actually called):

And a video:

10 months!

B is 10 months old!  I feel like every day she is growing up, and its all going too fast.  Just today she started to walk with her little walker (see video below)- I'm so glad that I caught it on video, because I've watched it several times today- each time with a smile and maybe even a tear.  She definitely has the desire to walk- she can cruise through our upstairs playroom and 'walk' through the hall by holding onto the walls.  And shes always SO proud of herself for her great accomplishments.  Its just amazing to see how much she's progressed since the little, tiny, helpless girl 10 months ago!  She is still staying strong with her 8 teeth, which has provided the family with some downtown from teething (YAY).  But, her gums are looking super puffy again, so I'm thinking she may be cutting her first year molars in the next couple weeks.  And its a good thing that our girl has so many teeth, because the girl can eat!  I typically serve her two 3 course meals a day (lunch and dinner) with a bottle for breakfast and snack.  I've been cooking for her a lot more often now that we are moving onto proteins and table foods.  I'd say her favorites are blueberry kashi waffles with cream cheese, homemade mac and cheese, and pastina with meat sauce.  Those would probably be my favorites too, so she's clearly my daughter- the girl loves her some carbs!  I'm attempting to make homemade baked meatballs this week, we'll see how that goes...
Anyway, I don't really think there is anything else to update.  We're just living our lives and enjoying sweet Brinn.  Below are some recent pictures... Hope everyone is doing great and have a happy Easter weekend!
XOXO,
Corrine

9 months old!

Our girl is nine months old (9 1/2 as I write this)!  Only 3 more months until her first birthday- whoa!  Initial party planning has begun, thanks to my addiction to Pinterest :)  I've learned that I need to self edit or else I risk Brinn's party to end up looking like a big fat obnoxious pink wedding explosion.  Hopefully it will turn out tasteful...

Anyway, updates... Brinn had her 9 month check up, and here are her new stats:
Weight: 20lbs 11.5oz (80%)
Length: 28 3/4" (90%)
Head: 17 1/4" (50%)
Our pediatrician was again happy with Brinn's development and growth.  Brinn smiled and laughed the whole appointment until it was vaccination time; then she gave the nurse a death stare. 
Brinn is a very fast crawler now and is starting to cruise (walk while holding onto furniture).  She's pretty good at the side step, but hasn't yet figured out how to steadily step forward.  We're in no rush :)

Its been a warm winter, so we've spent a lot of time at the park by our neighborhood.  Brinn loves the swings and crawling around to meet older kids.  I've even had a little girl ask me if Brinn could play with her- so sweet!  Here's a little video at the park and some recent pictures:

Swinging:

Lunch with Mommy:

 Deep thoughts with Daddy:

More park time:

We live for this...

Our girl Brinn is pretty ticklish! Check this out...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last year I was pregnant, watched the horribly unromantic (really, the antithesis of romantic) movie "Blue Valentine", and was in bed probably by 8pm.  This year, I'm making a fancy dinner (sea bass, stuffed roasted peppers, and creamy polenta), will be drinking wine, and cuddling with my TWO valentines!  Its already been a great day- Brinn's first gift to me was sleeping in until 9am :)  Hope you all are having a great holiday too!
XOXO,
Corrine

DaDa!!!

And Brinn has said her first word- Dada!!  Check out the video below- it melts both of our hearts!  Time to work on Mama now...