Hurts like Poo

Recently I said that while getting my finger stitched back together at the hospital... and then I was mocked by my nurse for a good 5 mins or so. She was being funny though, not mean.

So, now that I've got your attention, yup, I had to have my finger stitched back together. On Friday I made the mistake of trying to break up my mom's dogs while they were fighting over... something, we're not so sure. There must have been a chewy involved or something. They've never fought before. Anyway, I put my hand on Piper's collar to pull her back and Sadie went to bite Piper's neck... and my finger was in the way. To make a long story short, the tip of my left pinky was kinda hanging off, only attached by a flab of skin on the bottom of my finger. Eww - I know. I won't gross you out too much. Yesterday while re-bandaging it Aaron took pictures for me. I had the intent of posting them here with the story, but after looking at them, I may need to run to the bathroom and didn't want to make you sick too. Let's just leave it at, 'it's gross.' Rightly so, it looks like my finger was bit off and then sewed back together.

Quote for the entire month

"Cleaning your house while your children are growing is like shoveling snow while it's still snowing."

Brielle's Blessing

We blessed baby Brielle in church today. Ahh, it was so nice.

My brother Todd is in town from Phoenix and so I wanted him to be able to be there.

And we had the most beautiful dress for Brielle to wear! Joey's (Kassi's fiance) mother made it for us. I know that she's real extended family, but they seem like close family. They are such great people! Anyway, Angie made this wonderful outfit for us. It's complete with a blanket, an underdress, dress, slippers, and Russian bonnet. It's all cotton-knitted by hand. It must have taken her forever! You can see it in the pictures below, but in person it's even more beautiful!

Our happy little (and growing) family.

Aaron, me w/Brielle, my brother Todd, and Sophie

My parents and brother with my family

Ahh, cousins are great!
These are most of my girls' cousins (we're just missing cousin Isaiah).
Sophie totally adores them, and they adore her right back!

See, we kinda look related... well, we are, but by marriage.
My mother in law SueAnn and my sister in law Sasha.
I'm so lucky to have such wonderful in laws! I love them! (btw, isn't Sasha just way too cute?!)

My beautiful Brielle. Look at the beautiful blessing dress!
Thank you again Angie!

My baby is almost 4 wks old!

Here are some new pics of my growing girl.

I simply cannot believe that she'll be a month old on Sunday!!

Conquerer of the Grocery Store

Yup, we went grocery shopping. Both of the girls must have been trying to boost my confidence b/c they were SO good! Brielle fell asleep in the carseat right away and Sophie was perfectly happy with fruit snacks and puffs. It also helps that it was a fairly quick trip with no "looking" - just getting. But ahhh, maybe some normalcy will return to our home after all. Now, if I could just keep the house clean!

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

To preface this post, I'll say that nursing doesn't go so well here. I mean, it goes well if the goal is to put the baby to sleep. I have valium boobs or something that causes the baby to fall asleep within five minutes of starting to nurse. So, instead of nurse, wake baby, nurse, wake baby, nurse, etc. etc. etc. I've started pumping breastmilk and then giving it to her in a bottle. The pumping session is quicker normally, she will stay awake to actually eat, and I know how much she's getting. Warning: If the topic of pumping or breastfeeding makes you feel uncomfortable - time to stop reading.

It seems that this is my daily routine:
Pump, feed/change baby, play with Sophie, try to get the dishes done, pump, feed/change baby, play with Sophie, try to get the dishes done, pump, feed/change baby, play, dishes, etc. etc. etc.

This is all I do. Well, with feeding Sophie somewhere added in.

Notice that there isn't any laundry getting done here. Or cleaning. Or exercising. Or fun fall excursions.

Notice that I am too scared to take both girls to the grocery store to get groceries. (Going with just Sophie is most of the time an exercise in the distract-toddler-with-snacks technique.) I'm a little ashamed to say that I haven't taken them anywhere by myself yet, except to my parents' house, which doesn't count.

I guess there are two reasons why I haven't gone anywhere with them yet. First off, I'm worried about handling both of them, especially in the oh-so-exciting grocery store. Secondly, I feel strapped to the pump which is then connected to the wall. Again, breastfeeding is not going so well. When we do breastfeed, she's asleep fairly quickly (which means she's not getting what she needs and then will be awake and want to eat again in 20 mins). But more than that for public is the fact that it *hurts!* She flattens my nipple when breastfeeding, and um, well, that really smarts. It should remain round, not pancake-ish. Ow. Double ow.

SOOOOO... I end up staying home. And I pump, feed, and repeat (with some dishes and Sophie added in). I feel like I'll never break out of this cycle. And I don't know how to go grocery shopping.

Sophie - Quote of the Week

Every day Sophie amazes me with how much she knows. There are so many times each day where I think "Where did she learn that?" or "I didn't know she knew that!" However, tonight was the funniest example. She picked up this little dolly mirror thing (kinda like the offspring of a rattle and a mirror), put it over her eye and says...

"I'm a pirate! Aaaarrrrrrrrrr!"

We're still here!

I know I haven't posted lately, but as you can understand, we've been busy. I can't believe that Brielle is already 2 wks old! WOW.

Sophie loves her baby sister.

She's always so excited when she gets to hold her or play with her on the floor.

On Wednesday, Aaron's youngest sister came home from her mission! Yay :)
We're so happy to have Kassi home!
Sophie took to her right away and loves her to pieces!

Brielle is such a sweet little baby. Of course, she's still up all the time for eating, or just because, at night, but hey, that's to be expected, right?
All these people that have babies sleep for 6 hrs at night... that's just not normal!

Here is Alexandria, my niece, holding Brielle. She was so excited to hold her. She's such a little momma ;)