A few pictures I snapped of what Brynn and I looked like for days. She could pretty much only sleep ON me, which made my hacking couch and overly-taxed lungs that much worse.
Originally, we had planned for Bill and Barbara to come over for a few days after we returned from Orlando to celebrate belated Christmas together. Obviously, we postponed that for a few weeks to make sure that we wouldn't give them the flu. By the time they came in late January, I was starting to suspect that I might be super unexpectedly expecting. While they were here, Brad and I ran an errand to pick something up from Target, and I took a pregnancy test while we were out...and could NOT wrap my mind around it all. The rest of the weekend felt so surreal while Brad and I tried to process having another baby, knowing that Brad was also applying for jobs and fellowships all over the country that would, potentially, have us moving when I would be in my third trimester. It was really overwhelming. And I still hadn't even completely reclaimed the mess that was our house.
January was a bit difficult in other ways, too. We started back to school- this time we were able to participate with our local homeschool community group, which I was really excited about. I just knew the girls would be thrilled! Except...in a very unexpected (and unprecedented) turn of events, both Claire and Lily struggled with some transition-from-DC anxiety. They were both so nervous about starting dance (which they usually love), and they were so very stressed about starting up with our Friday homeschool co-op (even though we already knew so many of the participating families). I was completely unprepared for my fun-loving, extroverted children to be so hesitant and nervous. It took many conversations to realize that they were feeling a little unmoored and that they would be left out and behind. That whole process took an emotional toll on all of us, and I really look back on January with a lot of emotional fatigue and sadness over how anxious and stressed the girls were.
I was looking through our family pictures from January, and realized that I have so many more of Brynna than anything else. I think it's because, on the whole, she was just happier and content to scoot around and rediscover her toys. I spent much more time with the other two, I think, having conversations and trying to work out anxiety and frustrations, but I didn't take pictures of those moments.
So, please enjoy pictures of Brynna from the month of January (and, there are a few pictures of the other two on their posts with monthly quotes- I didn't ignore taking their pictures entirely):
She did a lot of this.
Brynn-ion the Minion
She also wore many styles of glasses.
We started weaning her off of her paci...so she found substitutes.
Some happy family moments
January was a big month for us. Frankly, I'm rather glad we made it through in tact...
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