What Daniel's Been Up To Since

Mostly Daniel has been doing this:

And some of this, too:

And this:

He's been hard at work ever since Camille was born. Like usual. :) We girls really appreciate everything he does to provide for us. We live very comfortable and enjoyable lives, and we know (or at least, I do) that much of it is due to him. He took a bit of time off to help with the girls, and also to spend time with family when they were here.

The first weekend of December, he drove up to Utah for Emily's wedding. I felt like it would be too much for me to go with him and take the girls. Especially since we were still struggling to get Camille breastfeeding. It was just too much. But we sent him up. Mom was here to help me, so it really turned out well. He had a good time with his family!

About a week and a half ago, he took Brooke to the zoo and left Camille and I at home. I think they had a great time. She had been asking to go to the zoo for a little while before Daniel actually took her. She got to see reindeer and giraffes and zebras. All her favorites. Daniel said that she was especially enthusiastic about the gorillas, which is kind of new for her.

Riding the carousel at the mall, after a Christmas shopping outing

Camille and Brooke

December 2014

Always taking care of Dolly

Sleepy Baby!

Gramma Fern curling Brooke's hair

Brooke is "feeding Dolly!"

Christmas outfit for church. The tutu was a bit much. It didn't last long.

My bathtub babies!

Brooke had taken her pants off during her nap (but not her diaper, thankfully) and attempted to put them back on. She did a great job ... other than that they were inside-out!

Dear Santa, I've been good (mostly)!

What Camille's Been Doing Since

Camille is the most wonderful baby!! Aside from her feeding problems (which I've written about extensively), she has such a sweet, happy, easy temperament. And she actually sleeps! That's a big difference from our little baby Brooke. :) Starting at about the beginning of December, she started sleeping really long stretches at night, only waking up once in the night to feed. She also sleeps really well during the day, most of the time. It's not hard to put her to sleep. Whenever it seems like she's slowing down or fussing overly much, I take her up to our room, swaddle her, hold her tight and start walking her. Sometimes I'll sing to her or nurse her to help her get to sleep, and it always works. It only takes a few minutes, she'll fuss a little bit, and then just drop off to sleep. She always sleeps better when I place her on her side. I can put her in our bed and put blankets on either side of her to help keep her propped up. And she'll sleep for hours like that! I usually have to wake her up to feed her, because I'm afraid she would just sleep too long and not get enough milk.

I got a cold a few weeks ago, about the time everyone was leaving from our Thanksgiving weekend. I set up a laundry basket with a pillow and blankets in our walk-in closet and started putting Camille to sleep in there at nights, so that she could sleep without being woken up by my coughing. She sleeps really well in there at night. It's quiet and dark, and I'm sure that little basket is really cozy. We sleep her on her back in there, obviously. I feel a bit weird and funny, putting my baby to sleep in the closet, in a basket. But it really works for us and for her. And we get a lot of sleep with her sleeping in there. Plus, we don't have to walk around on tip-toes, so as not to wake her.

When she is awake, she is usually really happy. We set her up either in her bouncy chair or propped up on one of the boppys, and she just sits and watches what we are all doing. She is so smiley. Whenever I hold her up, face to face, and start talking to her, she gives me big smiles and starts cooing at me. It's so fun! She's so cute! We love her so much and are so glad that she is part of our family.

She does this funny little head-bobble thing. Kind of like in Bollywood movies, the actors do this head bobble, side-to-side. It's pretty funny. Also, when I'm trying to get her to sleep, she sometimes shoves her face into my chest. I always worry about her not being able to breathe, but she seems to like having her face snuggled up into me.

Here are her stats:

1. 2 week appointment:
• Weight -- 7.4 lbs (7 lbs. 6 oz.)
• Length -- 19 inches
2. 2 month appointment:
• Weight -- 9.4 lbs (9 lbs. 6 oz.)
• Length -- 22.5 inches
• Head Circumference -- 39 cm

She had her 2 month appointment the Monday before Christmas, and she did really well until she had to get her shots. She screamed, and I almost cried. She is such a good sweet baby that it's really hard to hear her cry that hard.

We love our little girl! She is so sweet and precious. Take a look!

October 31

November 5

November 8

November 15

November 18

November 22 -- 1 month old

December 1

What I've Been Doing Since

Mostly I've been taking care of my babies. I healed up really nicely from having Camille. I didn't have much pain, so it wasn't too bad. Having my mom and Daniel's mom with us to help after Camille was born was really wonderful, but by the end, I was ready to just be alone with my little family. That didn't happen until the second week of this month. My mom was here for that first week after Thanksgiving, waiting for the car to get fixed. It was nice to have her, since Daniel left for Emily's wedding that first Thursday. I felt like I kind of needed the help with the babies, being all alone without Daniel. So I was really glad to have her there. We had a bit of a rough weekend, though. We were both pretty down in the dumps. We went shopping after the car was fixed, I went to church with Brooke on Sunday, and then mom left on Monday, in the morning.

Daniel drove all afternoon and night that Monday to get home. It was nice of him to drive all night, he didn't get home until about 3 in the morning. But I was so glad to have him. I missed him.

This month has been busy mostly getting ready for Christmas, going to doctor's appointments (both for me and for Brooke), going to some lactation appointments, doing shopping, and taking care of babies. We're getting into a bit of a routine, finally. Camille is a wonderful sleeper, so it gives me a chance to do at least a little bit of housework. Nothing much, really. Not fully into what I normally do. Just laundry, dishes, tidying up. I'm hoping to get into my cleaning routine more once the new year starts, ... maybe next week.

Not much else has been happening with me. I am trying to get some more sleep at nights. I'm not pumping as much or finger feeding the little one as much, which takes a lot of the stress off of feeding Camille. It's not 100% breastfeeding, but it's working for now. And at least she is still only getting breast milk. I had kind of a cool experience as I was struggling to breastfeed Camille and as I was getting so frustrated. Weeks after Camille was born, and as she was sort of starting to breastfeed again, I was saying my prayers and asking Heavenly Father if it was ever going to work, to breastfeed Camille. I was in essence asking if we would get there and it was worth all the effort I was putting into it. And I suddenly had this clear image of Camille latching without problem and really feeding. It was so clear, and I was convinced that if we just stuck it out, we would get there and I would realize that image. I also decided that I had to think more positively. I felt that if I was positive and visualized what I wanted from myself and Camille that it would happen more readily. And we are there! She is breastfeeding for almost every feeding! I am a little concerned about her not gaining enough weight, which is why I'm trying to still do finger feedings once or twice a day. But she's still growing, and her diapers are okay, so I figure she's alright.

This Christmas season has been wonderful. I don't know what it is about having a new baby at Christmas, but there's something really special about it. I think a lot about Mary and how it must have felt for her to have the Christ child as her precious little baby. And how she must have marveled. We had a special program in Relief Society, a kind of musical program with readings of scriptures and excerpts of "The Living Christ" in between songs. It was really wonderful! I really felt the Spirit testify of Jesus as my Savior, and I felt very distinctly that the Savior is pleased with me and my current efforts. Despite my weaknesses and the times that I falter, and even though I know He is still expecting me to try and be better, I think He appreciates what I am able to do.

There was also our Stake Christmas Musical Program that Brother Rich does every year. I participated in the choir last year, which was really amazing. This year, I passed it up because I had a new baby. But I did go to one of the performances, and I was crying pretty much the whole time. The music was beautiful, and the Spirit was so strong, testifying of the Savior.

It's just been a great December. I felt more of a focus on Jesus Christ and more of a connection with Him.

What Brooke's Been Doing Since

Brooke has transitioned wonderfully to being a big sister. The first few weeks after Camille was born were a little harder than normal. Brooke was acting out and throwing more tantrums than usual. And she also was not very interested in the new baby. She kept her distance. But other than that, it was smooth. She hasn't had any jealousy issues with Camille, she hasn't acted against her or tried to hurt her or anything like that. And as time goes on, she gets more and more interested. She talks to Camille now and talks to me about her. She is concerned whenever Camille cries. She still keeps her distance, she rarely holds her or touches her. But she does occasionally rub her head.

Brooke loves to take baths with Camille. I will often put them both in the bath. I run a bath for Brooke and just place Camille's bathing stand in the bath with Brooke. Brooke does her own thing, mostly, playing with her toys and such. She doesn't bother Camille, although she does like to pour water over her, which I think Camille really likes.

Brooke had so much fun with the Grandmas when they were here. And they certainly spoiled her. We watched far too much tv during that time, even for my liking. Brooke got really into "Finding Nemo" and "Frozen" ("the Elsa movie"). And I even succeeded in getting her interested in Tangled a bit. She also watched a lot of Mickey cartoons and "Jake and the Neverland Pirates". It was so cute to watch her see "A Little Mermaid" for the first time. She sat on the couch next to me, clasping her hands, completely enthralled. She kept asking, "What's that?" all the time, and at the shark attack scene, she kept gasping and tensing up. She was so anxious for Ariel and Flounder. It was the most adorable thing.

Little Elf -- present from Gram Fern

Holding Dolly

She loves doing hair, especially my hair. :)

My mom brought her car when she came, so she took Brooke on outings a lot, shopping and what-not. She also loved having some of her aunts and uncles here for Thanksgiving. She pretty much had the time of her life with them! They did all sorts of fun things with her: taking her to the park, reading books, watching movies, playing with toys, etc.

I've noticed that Brooke has started to imitate what I do a lot. She has been such a good mommy to Dolly! She changes her diaper, gets her dressed (in Camille's clothes), and even tries to nurse her. She puts Dolly in Camille's carseat and bouncy chairs. It's really pretty cute how attentive she is to Dolly. Brooke also likes to do her hair and make-up, just like mom. :) Evey time I open up my makeup drawer, she comes over and says, "Okay, I need ..." and then she'll pick something up. Sometimes my comb, sometimes my lipstick ("I need lips!"), my face cream, my eye makeup.

She's been getting into a lot of mischief, too:

• She got into a jar of Desitin and rubbed it all over her face and in her hair. I was putting Camille down for a nap, and when I walked in to see what she was doing, she said, "I'm washing my hair!" It took 4 baths and multiple washings each bath to get it out!

Still has Desitin in her hair, after several washes

• She found my mascara and put it all over her face.

• She's been finding candy in the house and getting into it. Sometimes she'll come to me with a container and say, "Please? Please can I have some candy?"

"Please, Mom? Please can I have some candy?"

• We've had some problems with Brooke taking her clothes and diaper off when she is in bed. Once she took off her pajamas and diaper, threw it out of her crib, and then pooped. She started screaming, and Daniel went in to find poop all over herself and the sheets and blankets. Daniel stuck her into the tub immediately, and then I went up to clean up her bed. Another time, I put her down for a nap, and she did the same thing. That time wasn't quite as messy, but it still took some time to clean up. Suffice it to say, she didn't take a nap. She's done it a few other times, too. We finally had to buy some cheap footsie pajamas, cut off the feet, and put her into them backwards, so she can't get out of them. One time she even had a onesie on. She couldn't unsnap it, so she took her arms out of the shirt and pulled it down over her body, took her diaper off and threw it out of her crib. And she had poop all over her. Crazy!

•  Brooke was throwing more tantrums once Camille was born. And she had been resisting bedtime more and more, especially when the Grandmas were here. We all kind of catered to her and went to her when she woke up in the night. But once the Grandmas left, we stopped going to her altogether. She was just getting used to waking up for the attention. And after ignoring her for a few days, she stopped waking up. And she started taking naps again and going to bed better. I think with all the people here, things were too exciting and she didn't want to sleep at all. And, of course, when she doesn't sleep, she's quite a bit worse in behavior. Lately, though she's been napping again and sleeping better, which makes me much happier. 

• Brooke loves to sing. She likes to sit at the piano and play and sing. She will sing parts of "Twinkle, twinkle", "Bah, Bah, Black Sheep", "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam",  and "Old MacDonald". It's so cute to listen to her. She also sings randomly, just says random words that she knows in a sing-song voice and style. It's so cute. 

Reading to Dolly

Dolly, all diapered up

Camille's Blessing

We blessed Camille the Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 30th, 2014, in the Newhall ward, while the whole family was here. Daniel gave Camille a beautiful blessing. It was just what I wanted for her! Before we all went to church, I said a special prayer for Camille and that Heavenly Father would bless her with specific things, mainly so that she would have the strength she needed to resist temptation and to make it safely home to Heavenly Father.

In the circle with Daniel were Grampa Holbrook and Grampa Fernandez, Scott, Houston, Cousin Steve and Cousin David (Bowens), Uncle Bob and Bishop McKeon. And following is (pretty much) the blessing Daniel gave:

By the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood, which we hold, we present this child to give her a name and a blessing. And the name we give is Camille Aileen Holbrook. At this time, we give you a blessing. I bless you to have the strength of Heavenly Father to go forth with strength and power, especially in a time of great difficulty and danger in the world. I bless you with the Spirit of Heavenly Father and the light of Christ and the ability to follow it, and to withstand temptation. I bless you to achieve and accomplish both what God wants you to accomplish, and what you would like to accomplish. I bless you with comfort, peace and love from family and those around you, and that you will always be surrounded by good people in your life, who will help you, to be guided and directed for good. I bless you with the building blocks to a righteous life and to go forward with faith, to be able to make righteous decisions. And I close this blessing in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Brooke was loving the rain we had that day. She got really wet jumping in puddles and standing in the rain.