4 weeks...

I keep hoping that one week older will mean a little more sleep at night...hasn't been the case yet, but I can hope for next week, right?!

We pulled out the swing this week - he doesn't hate it, he doesn't love it. He's lukewarm on the idea.

He does however like his carseat.

He experienced his first Easter - he slept through most of it. He woke up just in time to be completely uninterested in the fact that I was putting him in his basket for the group picture.

He spits up a lot. A lot. I keep playing the what-did-I-eat-that-might-upset-him game and after removing everything questionable I'm convinced he's just a kid that spits up. We'll deal with it - although baby's are much more irresistible when then smell like a baby, not sour spit up.

He sleeps like a dream when you're holding him - the minute you put him down he wakes up. We're going to need to work on that!

3 weeks...

He sleeps during the day - he wants snuggles in the middle of the night. Do you blame the kid? I take the late night shift - Steve's got morning duty. We're making it work. We're hoping he starts to figure out his days and nights.

Dealing with a newborn is complete trial and error. We make a hypothesis as to why he's not sleeping. We alter his environment some how and see if it did any good. Positive results = repeat actions. He wants to sleep without being bundled. Maybe we should bundle him with one arm out. Lets try a full swaddle. Turn on the sound machine. Turn off the sound machine. Turn off the lights before it's time to put him to bed. Try putting him to bed earlier. Don't give him the pacifier to go to bed. Maybe he still has a burp he's working to get out.

It's a complete guessing game when they're this young even when we've gone through this five times!

All the while Briggs is thinking - I'll sleep, I just want to be snuggled while I sleep. Is that too much to ask?

2 weeks...

He eats. He sleeps. He sleeps. Repeat.

I'm not sure we've had such a quiet baby before. He cried for 2 1/2 hours right after he was born and he had one more episode while we were in the hospital and we haven't really heard him cry since. It's amazing.

He loves the pacifier which is part of why he doesn't cry a whole lot.

He sleeps well. Better during the day than at night but we're working to change that. I've got the coveted midnight to 2am shift - then he typically settles back down and sleeps a good amount which gives me some rest.

His older sister adores him. She loves to hold him and is always willing to help.

He spits up a lot - after every feeding. (All my kids have been that way!) We go through a lot of burp cloths.

He enjoys long walks on the...road. I'm sure he would enjoy them at the beach as well. Really anywhere for that matter, he enjoys the stroller and we try to go walking most nights.

He's mastered being a 2 week-old baby.

1 week...

It's hard to believe we've been a family of seven for seven days. Luckily, my mom has been around to help us out while we get back up and running. Or walking briskly. Look, I'll take even walking at this point! The recovery after each kid gets just a little harder each time - part of it is my body, part of it is having the other kids to take care of. But we're making it work and everyone is adjusting well.

I introduce - Briggsy Boy - as his siblings lovingly refer to him as. With one week under our belt - he's by far the easiest newborn of our five kids. Don't worry, there's plenty of time for him to lose rank! He doesn't cry. He eats well. He sleeps well.

Of course once my mom leaves, it'll all change and I'll wonder where my peaceful baby went. But for now, we're enjoying it.

Most interesting baby...

It's funny to think that our fourth child might be the most documented baby to date in our family. I laugh when people have seen some of his pictures and they say, "Just wait until you have another, you won't have time for things like this." I blow their mind when I tell them he's the fourth child. I'm having far more fun with these pictures finished than I ever imagined!

We've dubbed him the most interesting baby in the world...


See all his photos here.

Weekly Photo Wrap Up...

A week ago Tuesday, I set up the studio lights for the last shoot of Cannon's weekly photos. Part of me was relieved that I didn't have to come up with another chalk drawing (some days when the creative juices weren't flowing it was really hard!) Part of me was surprised that I made it 52 weeks. And of course part of me was sad because he's one years old and we were done with this chapter. My Tuesdays are now looking surprisingly empty!

Check out the video of his weekly photos here.


I can't decide which is my favorite, I love them all for one reason or another. But I really like weeks 37-40 - perhaps just a fun stage he was in. What's your favorite?

Get a closer look at the weekly photos here.

52 weeks...

We made it. 52 weeks. Every Tuesday. Making sure I had clean white onesies. Setting up studio lights. Coming up with chalk drawings...we made it.

He's just as smiley as ever and his four tooth grin makes my day. He's crawling all around the house. He's working on the stairs and can go successfully up and down them. Although we still use the coffee table to block the stairs until he's mastered them. He drinks milk from his sippy cup all on his own and eats most anything put in front of him.

He pulls himself up on the couch and walks along it but he still has some jello legs and he still won't walk holding my hands. He likes to dance, bends the knees, bobs the head. Baby Einstein movies are still my go to when it's the witching hour and I've got to get dinner made.

He has a high pitch squeal which is enough to curl your toes. He likes to use his voice loudly during church which lands me in the hallway a good portion of the time.

He's fun and growing so quickly. We sure do love this guy!

51 weeks...

Anticipation is building...someone has a birthday next week and he's more than excited!

50 weeks...

He makes this exact surprised face all the time. And then he points. Doesn't matter where, but his pointer finger goes up as if there's something exciting or magical.

49 weeks...

Steve, Hunter and I took a quick trip to Disneyland to celebrate Hunter's birthday - fortunately this mouse did not go with us!

When I look back at pictures over the last couple months, I can't believe how much Can Man has grown. They go from infant baby to toddler in no time. He's pulling up on all the furniture and getting bumps and bruises in the process. He crawls on his hands and knees unless he's on the hardwood floors and then he army crawls (too slippery to crawl!) He can hold a sippy cup and drink from it sitting up without any help. This is a huge milestone!!

He's found his pointing finger and points to everything.

As of two days ago, he's no longer a nursing baby and I'm not sad about it one bit. It was good while it lasted!

48 weeks...

He's 11 months and I'm down to one feeding a day with this guy. He takes the sippy cup like a champ and pounds the food. He had his first try of ice cream. He got more on his face than in his mouth and he was loving every minute.

He is into everything. All the time. He will find anything that is not secured shut. He does not do stairs and we've barricaded the staircase.

After being woombie free for 3 months, I broke down today and put him in it. We have been struggling (for over a month) with sleeping during the day - corresponding with him becoming completely mobile. He gets in his crib and immediately sits up or stands and refuses to lay down. And no, he will not cry himself to sleep. Seeing him exhausted today, I put him down for a nap and he cried and cried. After a while, I rummaged through the garage to find the box of baby clothing and I pulled out a woombie and swaddled him.

That stinker fell asleep within 5 minutes!! I was elated to have a napping child in the afternoon and then disgusted with myself that I resorted back to the swaddle. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I want to think I'm strong enough to not use it again - but there's a part of me that can't be trusted.

47 weeks...

Yep, he's big.

Every week he's growing and learning new skills. I really just want him to master one skill: sleeping. He needs more sleep. He wakes up early and fights naps like crazy. We consistently have an inconsistent sleeping schedule and it needs to change!


One thing I'm totally loving these days: his smile. His four tooth smile is killing me.

46 weeks...

Full of laughs and giggles - he loves the tickle monster - which ends up being just about anyone in the family.

The stage he's in right now is tough. He's everywhere, climbing up on anything he can hold on to and he gets around quickly. I found myself putting the same books back on the shelf day after day - it only took me a few days to realize I was losing a battle and I removed the books all together.

Look at that smile - he's lovable!

45 weeks...

When I grow-up I want to be:

44 weeks...

He's ten months and he is a mover and a shaker. He's pulling up on things all over the house. He still army crawls, dragging is belly which makes for some awesome dirty shirts, but our floors appear to be cleaner. His top two teeth just poked through and I'm hoping that was the cause of our terrible two week napping fiasco.

43 weeks...

Oh sweet child of mine - I love you to pieces and I think you are just about the cutest thing on the face of the earth. However, it has been two weeks now of you not taking naps. Two weeks! I'm not looking for three naps, not even looking for two naps. I just want you to close your eyes some time during the day and sleep. I'm flexible as to when that should happen. I will be happier and you will be happier if we can make that work! Love, mom.

Obviously life is far too fun for sleeping for this guy. Too many places to explore, too many toys to put in his mouth, this house is his playground. After 10 months of sleeping in the laundry room, we finally moved Bennett out of the crib and Cannon finally got an upgrade to a bedroom. I would think his lack of naps was related to the move, but he dropped naps about a week before we transitioned. He's started crawling all over the place and now goes from crawling to sitting. And then the naps stopped. Its as if he can't soothe himself anymore. I walk in after a great deal of him crying and he's just sitting in the crib. Tired as can be rubbing his eyes, but the minute I lay him down he sits right back up. It's a mystery. I'm telling myself its a stage that he's just on the cusp of getting over.

Its a good thing he has a million dollar smile!

42 weeks...

We sent the kids to school and this guy is my main man all day long. We snuggle and laugh and I follow after him cleaning up his messes.


He scoots around the house non-stop and has mastered the high pitch squeal. He's starting to pull up on things which inevitably means he's more a likely to fall. His two bottom teeth finally poked through and his top tooth is close. His favorite time of the day - the minute the kids come in the door from school, ready to play with and hold him.

41 weeks...

So long summer...your lazy summer days have been good to us. Until next year.

He's started scooting around the room. I can no longer leave him in a place and expect to find him there 3 minutes later. Which means we got some work to do to make sure we're officially baby proofed. Legos are going to be the death of me. I find them everywhere and I'm trying to train the kids; we've got our work cut out. His best friends (his siblings) are on their way to school tomorrow and I've got a feeling he's going to be a little lonely! He adores them and they play with him so much. It will be a happy reunion when they step off that bus!

40 weeks...

We've spent more time in the water and on the water this week than any week this summer. My kids constantly smell of sunscreen and popsicles and my washing machine is always full of towels.

Cannon's napping is sporadic at best and I'm hoping with summer coming to an end next week he'll finally be on a schedule again. We had family here this past week and he was loved more than he could handle.

His cousins took turns holding him, playing with him, feeding him and giving him every possible toy that was out of reach. I'm convinced with the kids starting school soon he's going to start crawling because nobody will constantly be shoving toys at him, he's going to have to work to get a toy in his hand!

39 weeks...

Our little "Cannon"ball is 9 months old.


This guy is a pool regular these days. There's a reason why kids in Arizona learn to swim at such young ages - we start them in the pool pretty young.

He's a solid boy weighing in at 19 lbs (50%) and 29 inches tall (95%). He's built the most like Mr. B. We're expecting him to be mobile any time now, but I'm not looking forward to it. It's funny because your first kid you want them to hit all their milestones as quickly as possible - if they don't they're doomed to be in diapers forever. Then you have a couple kids and you're grateful that they're not crawling around because they're much easier to keep an eye on when they just sit at your feet.

At nine months he's still breastfeeding, although its growing more and more difficult as he gets older and easily distracted. Because of his height, all of his onesies and sleepers are 12-18 months and he's still in a crib in the laundry room. He's learned to drink from a straw and is getting better at getting food to his mouth, although right now he's mastering "fist" eating.

Give me a couple weeks and I just may have manipulated his first words to be momma. There's got to be some perks to staying home with the kid all day!