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One month!

Bria is now over a month old! She is such a wonderful baby and we are having so much fun with her. She usually falls asleep sometime around midnight, then she wakes up to eat at around 6:00 and then she wakes up for the day around 10:00. We spent the weekend at my parents' house in Salt Lake while my sister was in town, and we learned some helpful things about Bria: one, we are so glad she does not sleep in our room! When we visit my parents, she rooms-in with us, and she is so loud! Sam and I were often awakened by her grunts and squeals during the night. Two, since we heard her little noises all night long, we realized that she is often still sleeping when she makes some of her loudest noises. We learned that around 4:00, she gets particularly noisy. When we have been home, we always assumed she was awake and would just get up and make her a bottle. Since she was just in our room, it was easier to tell that, even though she was being very loud, she was still asleep. The same thing would happen again around 8:00. I am so glad we discovered this! We are going to be getting a lot more sleep around here. At those noisy times, if we just popped in her binky, she would go right back into a deeper, quieter sleep for another few hours.
Sam and I had a great time in salt lake this weekend. He saw Iron Man with my bro-in-law Jason, and we both got a new book (Bourne Identity for Sam and Catch-22 for me). It was fun to be with my family and get a break from being at home! Sam's parents and sister will be in town this weekend for Bria's baby blessing this Sunday. I can't believe May is nearly over!
Also, lots of people are wondering when we are moving to Virginia. The answer is we don't know! Things with Sam's movie are moving, but moving slower than we hoped. We have to move at the end of August because that's when our contract ends, and we are still planning on moving to Virginia at that time. Sam is looking for a job in Virginia to tie us over until the movie stuff all comes through. So, as soon as Sam gets a job out there, we will be moving.
Lastly (before some pictures), Sam and I were both christened official parents this weekend when, despite wearing a diaper, Bria peed all over both of us on separate occasions.

She gets all twisted up in her blankets and appendages.
Bria likes to conspire.
Sam took Bria with him almost all day Monday so I could go shopping with my mom and sisters. Sam ventured out with the wee one and my brother-in-law Jason and nephew Hunter. They took the kids on various errands and out to eat to Applebee's. Bria slept the entire time until two minutes before Sam's food arrived. So Sam fed Bria while Jason ate, then Jason burped Bria while Sam ate. Then Bria had a diaper incident and both Bria and Sam came home in different outfits then when they left.
My mom, me, Bria, sister Amy, nephew Stone, and sister Lindsay
All tuckered out after a long day with Dad.
Yes, Bria? Do you have a question?
Bria hates tummy time. She won't even flatten out on her tummy.
She would apparently rather push up on her feet than lift up her huge head.
The beginnings of a smile
Just hanging out with Dad

You're It (and a picture of Bria at the end!)

I was tagged by Maranda

Tag Rules:
1. You link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your entry
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.
6. Enjoy the results.

Six Unimportant Things:
1. I never tried Mountain Dew until I started dating Sam because I thought I would hate it. Sam was pleased to find out that I love it!

2. When I was 16, I crashed my car into a car wash-- that's right, the actual machine that washes your car.

3. When I was little, I would eat sandwiches with peanut butter, jam, honey, lettuce, pickles, cheese, and turkey. In the same sandwich.

4. I had pre-theater declared as my major until my senior year as an English major.

5. I have read all but two of Roald Dahl's books.

6. When I was in 3rd grade, I would swing my hips from side to side when I walked because I wanted to look like a model. When people would ask me about it, I would say "I can't help it. It's natural."

I hate tagging people. So, if you want to post this on your blog, consider yourself tagged.

And because I know what you all came for, here's a picture of Bria. Her hair dried like that all on its own. And sometimes she likes to hold in her binky with the back of her hand so she looks a little gangsta. She's such a cute little rapper.

Finding Our Groove

Bria made her maiden voyage at church this week. We only stayed for sacrament meeting, but it was nice to go after a four-week hiatus. We are blessing her the first Sunday in June, and we are looking forward to having Sam's parents and sister, Rachel, in town for the event. And this weekend, my oldest sister, Amy, will be in town, so I'll get to meet my newest nephew, Stone, who was born three and a half weeks before Bria.

I think I am feeling more normal every day-- both in recovering from the birth and in being a mom. Bria continues to be a wonderful baby. Sam and I feel incredibly lucky and grateful to have such a calm baby. She only wakes up once or twice at night to eat, and then she goes right back to sleep. She does have a fussy period in the evening, but it's usually because she's tired, and it doesn't take too long to get her to sleep.
It is an adjustment to just being home all day every day. I still don't feel comfortable taking her out by myself, so I don't get out much, which is difficult. I was used to being out of the house the majority of my waking hours, so I do get quite stir crazy. I have been trying to read more, and I will start to feel more adventurous as I get comfortable taking her out on my own. In some ways, it feels so natural to have Bria-- I can't believe it's only been three and a half weeks since I had her-- it almost feels like forever. But in other ways, it still feels so unnatural to be a mom. I am definitely still finding my groove, and I expect I will still be finding that groove every day for the next eighteen years.


Here are some of Bria's favorite ways to sleep:

Happy First Mothers Day!

I have had a great mothers day today. Sam made me a really nice card, and he bought me a gift certificate to get a massage, which I am so, incredibly excited about. Sam's brother Matt and his wife Jen and their son Max are in town, so we hung out with them today. We are so excited to move to Virginia, and then we'll get to hang out with them a lot more. We also went to the BYU baseball game with them yesterday, which was really fun. I don't think I had been outside during the day since Bria was born. I really enjoyed the vitamin D.
Since Sam missed his graduation, Sam put on his cap and gown today and we took some pictures to "remember" graduation. Even though we didn't get to go to the ceremony, I am so proud of Sam for graduating.
I found my camera cord, so here are some updated pictures of Bria.

Name and Pictures

I finally pulled out our laptop so I could post some pictures of Bria. However, I can't find my camera cord! I am sure it is in a box somewhere, so for now, you will have to settle for the pictures from the hospital that I uploaded before the move.

Also, I thought I would write about where we got Bria's name. Sam and I debated for a long time on her name. We had all the boy names in the world that we loved, but we could never agree on girl names. We had a list of 5 or so names that we agreed on, but neither of us really loved. One night, Sam was searching on some baby name websites and found the name Bria. He said it to me, and I liked it. I had never heard it before, but I really liked it. He told me it was Gaelic for strong, valiant, and courageous, which made me like it even more. From then on, Bria was our number one choice.

As for her middle name, many of you will know that I did not want to name her after me. I have never really liked my name, and I don't feel like a Courtney. Why would I want to pass that on? We discussed it often, and it didn't seem that Sam would budge. It was the only middle name that he liked. I had another name in mind (a family name) but he wasn't as excited about that. Going into the hospital, we were both still fighting strong for our preferred middle names. After she was born, I decided that I would let Sam win the battle. I didn't have the best labor and delivery experience, and Bria and I both had to work really hard together to get her here. I decided since we shared that experience together, it was fitting that she have my first name for her middle name. Sam was really excited when I told him we could name her Bria Courtney. And that's how she got her name!

And now for some pictures.

Resurfaced-- or in the process

The past week has been quite the whirlwind of events. Bria was born one week ago, graduation was one week ago, and we moved to a bigger apartment. Thanks to our ward, we were able to move in a total of 4 1/2 hours, start to finish. Sam and I had barely packed anything on Monday when some people from the ward showed up to help us. They packed everything and then deep-cleaned the entire apartment. Sam and I were overwhelmed with gratitude to everyone who helped-- there is no way we would have gotten everything done in time to move. So now we are trying to settle into our new apartment. It is so nice to have two bedrooms! My mom and sister have come over almost every day to hold Bria and help me put stuff away. I have been so happy to have family close by!

Bria is also doing well. She is pretty calm so far and, in classic infant style, she is confused about the meanings of "day" and "night." Sam and I have developed shifts around her feeding schedule as to who will get up with her. Our new apartment has free cable, so I am becoming reacquainted with the Food Network and its middle-of-the-night shows. I also enjoyed watching the Saved by the Bell tv movie the other night at 3 am on TBS. Ahhh, the joys of parenthood.

I will upload some more pictures of Bria soon. My dad and a few friends think she looks like Sam. My mom says she has my nose. We'll see-- the swelling in her cheeks has gone down, so they aren't quite as prominent as the picture I posted last time, although she still does have some impressive cheek bones.