MERRY CHRISTMAS! 2016

Merry Christmas!!

what a beautiful year it has been for us.
we're a family of four now this year and that makes for the best Christmas gift we could ever receive.

last year's card with tanner in my belly HERE :)

card design // CKFireboots

photography // kristal joy photography

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29

merry christmas, love the hjelseths 

xoxo

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

Tanner Ross || 5 months

five months somehow seems a whole lot older than four months!

oh my tanner boy. another month has yet again flown by. I remember thinking when you were first born about how fun your first holidays were going to be, but that was back in july and seemed SO far away. we've gotten here so fast! how can it be already!? though I of course miss and love those newborn days, this age you're at has been just so fun.

smiles. and giggles. and laughter. it all comes out of you so easily. and for all of us, it's our favorite thing to get you to do. we act so silly playing with you but it's so so worth it when we see your big grin and hear that sweetest laugh.

baby boy, you are so loved by us all. you've shown us another level of love that we didn't know we had.
to see the relationship already building with harper. it could make my mama heart just burst. the two of you are so sweet together and oh the smiles and giggles you give each other! there must be an extra special bond between you two birthday twins. july 13th is certainly a big deal in this house! your dad thinks I'm crazy, but I've already put thought into your first birthday (and harper's 3rd of course!) having you both to celebrate on the same day will be quite the task, but there will be sooo much love, and birthdays will be extra, EXTRA special around here!
we've got another 7 months until then, so I ought to try to slow down as to not make you grow up any quicker than you already are :)

age: 5 months

stats:

               birth: 8lbs 2 oz  --  21 inches

 2 days: 7lbs 11oz

 12 days: 9lbs 1oz

                                1 month: 12lbs 4oz  --  23 1/2 inches

                     2 months: 15lbs  --  24 inches

                                                 3 months: 17.4 lbs  --  (from the scale at home)

                             4 months: 18lbs 13oz  --  27 inches

                           **5 months:  20.4 lbs  --  (from the scale at home)

clothes: 6-9 month

diapers: size 2/3

Tanner name sign // Quincyjeanart

banner // hooray everyday

F I R S T S

--- first sickness. we found out that baby boy (at his four month appt) had brochiolitis. we were doing breathing treatments with the nebulizer every four hours (even through the night) it was rough. it took just shy of two weeks to get completely through it. so there went half of the month! --- first thanksgiving! ---  found his toes and loves playing with/holding them! (11/28) --- first time at church (12/4 it took us long enough!) --- christmas card pictures (11/26) he did good! even being that he was still not back to feeling 100% --- first snow! --- first meet with santa! --- road trip to suncadia (the day turning 5 months) ---
..........
we moved tanner out of our room in the pack 'n play to now sleeping in his crib in his nursery at night! he's been taking naps in there for quite some time. the pack 'n play just doesn't provide good support and with him growing (and he's no little baby!) he needed the better support and sturdiness of the crib to sleep in. overall it's gone really well and he's done great with the transition. 

E A T

not much change here. still exclusively breastfeeding. nursing about every three hours.
he doesn't get a bottle all that often. because we just don't need to. but we try for brandon giving him one usually in the evening about 1-2 times a week. at it's going well. no resistance from him as of late!
for the week and a half he was sick, there was a lot more comfort nursing and our 'normal' there was thrown out the window.

S L E E P

lots of change here! again... being sick and teething AND the four month sleep regression came on later in the month. we went though this with harper too. we're just powering through and trying our hardest to keep consistent with how things were before. he's in need of more comfort and soothing when he wakes in order to fall back asleep. sometimes that means shh-ing, rocking, paci replacing, or nursing. and... there's been a whole lot more of him ending up in our bed in the night.
we were just a bit spoiled with he's fantastic sleep that now 2-3 wake ups in the nights is just something we're not used to! I do think we're slowly improving though! we had one random night where he slept 10 hours straight. not a clue why. we hadn't done anything different. but that only happened once ;) and then the next night was back to a couple wake ups.
BUT we're embracing all this and caring for our baby boy in the way that he needs. and right now his needs are higher in regards to sleep ;)
I find if he's woken too early from a nap, he wakes unhappy. I do what I can to help him go back to sleep and he then wakes a happier baby once he's fully rested.
he hasn't been putting himself to sleep as well as he was before getting sick and moving out of the swaddle. and that's ok. he wanted more snuggles and comfort from mom and dad when he wasn't feeling well. now we're working to get back to him going down before falling completely asleep in our arms.

P L A Y

grabbing and reaching and pulling at everything!
he's been working hard at transferring smaller toys from one hand to the other. it's amazing how his hand eye coordination has suddenly come about. I'm sure daddy thinks that will be good for playing sports ;)
playing with sister is certainly a favorite of his too! and thankfully harper is so good with him and enjoys playing with her little brother. she is so sweet to him!

---things I want to remember---

--loves his two fingers in his mouth for some teething comfort
--stares and is fascinated by the polka dots on his zippee :) when he wakes in the morning he'll often lay there examining his arms/hands. oh and it's taken some getting used to seeing our BOY in his pink and white handmedown zippee from sister. but no sense in buying another just for a different color! same goes with the pink bath tub :)
--NOT enjoying car rides lately
--we attempted driving through fantasy lights with nana + papa. but tanner boy was not having it. we drove through chick-fil-a to pick up some dinner, then turned around and called it quits before even getting to the lights
--sweet boy is starting to feel that separation from mom + dad when being around new people or in new environments. the absolute saddest little sad face right before the cry comes
--getting good at sitting with little propping. I'm sure he'll be sitting solo this next month!
--still loves the bath! soon we'll be switching to sink baths and forget the baby bathtub once sitting up gets a little more solid


P H O T O   D U M P

we love you so, so much sweet tanner boy!! happy five months to you!

4 months

3 months

2 months

1 month

birth

xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

Photo Every Hour | Family Christmas Vacay 2016 - Suncadia

we did this trip last year for the first time and as Brandon and I talked more and more, decided it's going to be an annual trip for us. 

same place. same condo. but one more family member this year :)

7am

8am

9am

10am

11am

12pm

1pm

2pm

3pm

4pm

5pm

6pm

7pm

8pm

9pm

10pm

...and rolled ourselves into bed at 11:00 after we found ourselves asleep on the couch with Christmas Vacation still playing :)

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

Christmas 2016 Pictures

since having babies, taking family pictures means so much to me. and they become even more meaningful when I look back after time has passed. to capture and freeze these moments is everything as these babies are growing and changing ever so quickly and not going to be slowing down anytime soon!

it can feel a bit chaotic at times but that's also just real life ;) kristal always amazes me at the moments she captures for us.
original plan was to be at a local tree farm, but living in WA the rain isn't always in our favor. being in this old studio downtown was just as great and no way having two kiddos out in the rain and mud would've gone well!

last year's pictures HERE. I am amazed at how much harper has changed over this last year.

it was hard to choose which to share, so here's a majority of them :)

this first one is my absolute fave.

 ...and the best for last ;) can't wait to show them both this one in a few years.

 we're heading to Suncadia for a few days this next week and we are all so ready for it. we did this last year too, and will likely be making it an annual thing for us before the holiday. there's so much busy-ness and hussle during december. we found it so nice to escape for a couple of days and just enjoy our family without the to-do lists.

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth