Where's Waldo?

Oh the captions I could write for this one... haha!  

What about you?  What would you write?  Leave a comment with your favorite. :)

Happy Birthday, Brianna!

I can't believe this is the 3rd birthday we are celebrating with Landrie's birth mom, Brianna!  Our first visit with her was for her birthday, when Landrie was just 5 weeks old.  :)  Writing about that visit was my very first post about Brianna.  It was back in the days of blocking out Landrie's face because our adoption wasn't final yet!

Just like our first visit, we headed out to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate!

Brianna, Landrie and Brynn

How cute are the girls with their sweet hands?  :)

YUM!  Landrie and Brynn shared some mac 'n cheese.  They have so much fun when they see each other!

I let Landrie decorate Brianna's birthday cake all by herself.  She was REALLY proud of all those orange sprinkles! Landrie had been practicing her very best "Happy to you!" version of the birthday song all week.  

We spent some time playing at our house too.  Landrie brought Brianna books to read and settled in.  So sweet!

We couldn't help but reminisce about how our relationship has developed.  So many people ask about our relationship with Brianna.  I'm with you!  Before we met Brianna, we certainly never envisioned the amazing, open relationship that we have.  Ever since we met at our match meeting, we slowly got to know each other better and let the relationship develop, just as any friendship would.  Neither one of us made specific promises about visits or phone calls. (Our agency requires pictures and letters each month for the first year, then every year after that.) We got to know each other better in the hospital and decided on our first visit.  Things have just blossomed from there!  We are friends on facebook and she gets to see all of Landrie's cute pictures on this blog too.  We are so thankful for Brianna, and so thankful that Landrie is growing up with Brianna as a part of her life.  It's not confusing for Landrie.  Are you kidding? She's just happy to have one more person who adores her!  :)

Happy birthday, Brianna!  We love you!

We are a MESS!

Whew!  We've officially survived the first 7 weeks of sweet Tatem's life.  I would love to tell you that after 7 weeks I have it all together, but that would be a big lie!  The truth is that we are a MESS!  Usually I post the good pictures, or the ones I pose of the girls.  Up until Tatem was born, I don't think I had any of Landrie bow-less on here...and that's because she never was!

Kick, kick, kick!  This is one of the many crazy shots I got trying to get their pictures in the shirts that I spent hours making.  Can you find Tatem??

I was trying to take a cute picture of Tatem.  With Landrie, I used to do all kinds of cute set ups, and I took her picture ALL the time.  I was feeling guilty for not doing it as much with Tatem!

I got about 5 seconds to shoot, then Landrie hopped in, with a big "CHEESE!"  My niece Abbie was over, so Abbie, Landrie and PUNKIN got together and sat on the fireplace so I could appease Landrie and take her picture.  Of course, in all the excitement, the pumpkin got knocked over, rolled off the fireplace and several feet over to where Tatem was still posed.  It knocked that sweet baby in the head!  What a mess!

Showers and baths are not easy to come by when life is this upside down.  We all know you can't leave a baby or toddler alone in the bath, so I've tried several things.  I think this one is the winner!  Landrie had a blast, and Tatem seemed to enjoy it too. :)

Life may be upside down right now, but I love it!  I waited many, many years to have my hands and heart overflowing.  I am so thankful for this crazy, not-always-easy stage of life we are in right now.  :)  

Disneyworld!!!

Mark's parents live right outside of Orlando, so we keep wondering when the girls will be a good age to go to Disneyworld.  I know the girls would love it, but I'm not sure they'd love it anymore than driving by a cow in a field or blowing some bubbles.  Both of these events cause squeals of excitement!  Maybe we don't need to go to Disney quite yet!  :)

This week we got the play gym out for Tatem.  Check out her face!  

Yup, it looks like Dinsey can wait. :)

Punkin, I wub ooo!

Last week, Landrie had an attack in the grocery store when she saw the bin of pumpkins.  Of course, we had to get her one!  I put it next to her in the shopping cart seat, and Landrie proceeded to melt my heart and all the other shoppers' too!  The whole time we shopped, she just hugged, kissed and petted her precious pumpkin!

That night for dinner, she insisted that we pull a chair up next to her high chair for pumpkin.  You know, so he could eat dinner with the fam. :)

The next morning, she wanted "punkin" to watch cartoons with her.

Seriously, she's in love!

So sweet!

She even used it for a chair!  I told Mark that we may have to paint a pumpkin this year.  I think carving him may scar Landrie!  

And just because her sweet smiles are too cute...

...here are some of Tatem too!

Let's go to WACO!

We were SO excited to go to Waco last Saturday!  If you're not from Texas, Waco is not the kind of town you usually get excited about visiting. :)  We had a great reason though.  Mark's dad was in town from Florida and staying with his Granny.  They drove north and we all drove south to meet up in Waco!

Landrie, PonPon (Mark's dad) and Tatem

PonPon was THRILLED to meet sweet Tatem!  

And Tatem was thrilled to meet him too!  Look at the sweet smiles she gave him. :)

Tatem got to meet Granny too!  Granny is recovering from knee replacement surgery and doing amazingly well!  We are so glad she made the trip up to be with all of us too. :)

We ate at the big Ninfa's and we had the whole back room to ourselves.  The kids loved it because they got to run around and play together. :)

Tatem got lots of snuggling from Aunt Beth.  Do you know what else she got?  Her beautiful red hair!  

Of course Aunt Megan had to give Tatem love too!  I got to eat a meal with both hands. :)

All the cousins had a great time together!

Cade, Colson, Jaxon, McKinnan, Tatem, Landrie, Gramm and Tucker

Tatem is grand baby #8 on both sides:)

Mark, Granny, Megan, Beth, Mark's dad and Tatem

Our family!

Then and now...

This was THEN...

Landrie Grace

...and this is NOW!

Tatem Rose

I love my tiny cuties!!

(and I love matching outfits too!!)

Newborn Pictures!

Oh I'm so excited to have them all in!  Jenny at Jenny Sawyer Photography did an AMAZING job!  You want a really sweet photographer to do your newborn shoot because life is so crazy at that point.  Tatem was just 5 days old when we did this shoot, and we had to take breaks to feed her and she even peed on Jenny's stuff!  Since Jenny has a newborn herself, she didn't bat an eye!  She was so great at getting Tatem calm and peaceful after she set up the shots.  I'm SO happy with how they turned out!

Look at those precious wrinkles!  She hasn't grown into her skin yet!

Oh I LOVE it!!  

I told my mom about these hats people use for newborn shoots, and she made it the night before Jenny came over.  She made one for Landrie too, so get ready for some cute matching pictures this winter!

Look at that tiny precious baby!  She was only 5 pounds, 12 ounces on the day of this shoot.

It was so surreal to have Jenny take pictures of our SECOND baby, while her THREE precious babies were at home.  You see, Jenny and I became friends because we were both going through infertility.  I can just picture God grinning as we first chatted, and He pictured what he had in store for both of us!

So in love!

So sweet and feminine   

I love her tiny hands up by her face!

Thank you so much, Jenny!!  We love the pictures of our precious baby!

Do y'all want to help me out??  We are trying to win a contest that Jenny Sawyer Photography is running this week.  All you have to do is go to Jenny Sawyer Photography's facebook page, "like" her page and leave a comment saying Corrie Long sent you.  Unless you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and you want to win 1/2 off a photography session yourself!  Then you can recruit friends to vote for you!  (and you could still put in a vote for me too... :)  )

She's getting booked up for her fall shots quickly, so you'd better catch her now if you want them for Christmas cards!

Best ways to stop your baby's crying or colic!

Can I just share with you how much I love facebook for quick advice on all types of things?  We even got Tatem's name from our friend's suggestions on facebook!  Last night we were at our wit's end and posted this:

Help us please! Tatem is fussy every night from dinnertime to about 1am! Last night it lasted until 4:30am. We never had this with Landrie. (Mark says he never remembers her crying! haha!) Any advice on stuff that worked for you? She's an angel baby all day long...it's just the evenings that are wearing us out!

WOW!  Did we ever get a response!!  When Landrie was a baby, I remember one night she wouldn't stop crying.  We actually grabbed a baby book and tried to look up "crying" in the index.  We were desperate!  I've never seen such a complete list of FABULOUS suggestions, so I thought I'd share in case any of you are looking for the best way to treat a colicky baby or ways to calm a just plain fussy baby.  :)  I put them into categories to help a bit.

Things to give her

-gas drops

-gripe water

-special formula (Similac soy or Parents' Choice Gentle Tummy)

-add a pinch of rice cereal to her bottle

-a pacifier

Make her comfy

-swaddle

-rub her tummy

-warm bath

-infant massage with lotion (there are books and training on this!)

-If all else fails, talk to your doctor about tummy sleeping and buy an Angel Alarm. 

Get moving

-sleep in the swing

-go for a car ride

-hold her and bounce on an exercise ball

-pat her back and sway

-Go outside or look outside for a change in scenery

Check yourself! (for those breast feeding)

-don't eat broccoli, beans, corn

-don't eat spicy things

-don't eat dairy

-no caffeine or chocolate :(

-Are you making enough milk?  DRINK water and make sure you're resting as much as possible and eating to help.  Feeding more will help your supply!

-Don't eat things from the cabbage family

-Might be a growth spurt that's making her cluster feed for a few days.

Mom and Dad

-know that it's just a season

-PRAY!!

-make sure she's having enough "awake time" during the day...but not too much or she'll be overstimulated!

-Get family help

-have patience!

-Read Happiest Baby on the Block

-Read On Becoming Babywise

Surround her with sleepiness

-run the vacuum 

-Run the dishwasher

-put her seat on the dryer and turn it on (stand right there so she doesn't fall off!)

-Put her in the bathroom and run the bathtub full blast (she's not in the tub)

Mamma called the doctor and the doctor said...

-could it be reflux? (possible even without spit up) There are meds for this.

-talk to your doctor about visiting an infant chiropractor

I think we tried most all of these things last night.  I wasn't kidding!  THANK YOU so much for your sweet words, calls and texts!  It means so much to know that we aren't alone. :)

The AMAZING news is that Tatem stopped her fussiness around 10pm last night and had a normal night!  She woke up at 10, 2:30 and 5:30 to eat and went right back to sleep each time.  Thank you, Jesus!  I think the main two things were sleeping in the swing (motion and being upright) and the fact that I drank 1 gallon of water yesterday.  I realized I started slacking on this around the time her fussiness started.  I had much more milk last night and today!

I'm off to bed now!  I'm praying for a good night's sleep for our family and yours!  :)

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