A little Brie-occupied...

I guess you could say we're a little "Brie-occupied" lately...but in a good way! On Brie's one-week birthday, she had her very first photo shoot, and she knew just what to do!

This was our mail one day...all gifts from generous friends and family who are excited that Brie arrived. Thank you, everyone!

Well, the second and third weeks of Brie's young life passed very quickly, and we're settling into a universe with two children. Sammy is doing beautifully with "Beebee," but still enjoys doing his own thing more than paying attention to the new little person in the house. The only change we've seen in Sammy is that he's gotten louder since he's now competing with the baby's volume. I guess that's to be expected...

Personally, I can't believe three weeks have passed since this special moment when I met Brie.

Look where we are now: watching "Next Design Star" on HGTV together!
Brie's been quite the little smiler...even though she can't officially smile yet. Here she is grinning (in her sleep) at her one-week doctor's appointment. It only took her one week to get back to her birth weight (yay!), but even more impressive was that she gained nearly 7 ounces in three days: "A new record!" according to the doctor. She does like to chow down!

It's been so fun to decode Brie's personality. So far, she's is a lot like Sammy...very chill and a good eater and sleeper. The biggest (good) difference is that she doesn't spit up a ton, and the biggest (not great) difference is she can't stand to be in a wet or dirty diaper (Sammy still doesn't care), so she needs to be changed often.

We love that she smiles a lot in her sleep, so we can see her right dimple. She's very strong, so we're not going to be leaving her alone on the changing table. She probably could roll herself over if she tried!

We're yet to figure out which cry is which, but it's safe to say that she frequently needs to be changed and often wants to eat and always loves to be held. She's a far better snuggler than her independent-from-the-start big brother!

Otherwise, they're very similar, which we're grateful for. :-)

Tony was home for the first week and has been going into work later in the mornings since, so that helps tremendously as we start each day juggling two. After he's back to work full-time, things will get interesting. Let's just say that we'll be making his lunch at night because I will be too tired to get up early and make lunches on a regular basis!

I definitely feel like my days are busier and flying by, though in a good way. Sammy doesn't sit still unless we're reading a book or he's watching "Dora," so thankfully, newborns are not mobile!! Our world will flip upside down when they're moving in different directions!

It's also been fun to watch Brie adjusting to us! She likes snuggling with everyone!

Brie and Sammy aren't old enough to play together yet, but they will soon!

Sleepiness...and cuddles...

Sammy's buddy Abby (and her mom Danielle) came to visit and meet Brie, too!

A new baby sister means new toys for Sammy. Here he is with a new favorite: a yellow bulldozer from our great neighbors!

Another visitor! Sammy's good friend Gracie (and her mom Mandy) stopped by to meet the new little person, too!

OK...so not everything has been peachy keen. Sometimes Sammy gets into mischief when I'm changing Brie's diaper: oops! There goes our 300-count box of Q-tips!

But sometimes, there are quiet moments. Tandy and Michael came over to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal with us (sent by Granny), which was lovely (and DELICIOUS)!

When it's quiet, Jack likes to grab a nap. I suppose that this is comfy??

My friend Porter from high school and his (NEW) fiance Kim stopped by to meet Sammy AND Brie. Porter lives in L.A. and Kim lives in NY, so their visit to Durham was great timing! Congrats to the happy couple!

Here's Jenni with little Brie!

What a fun evening we all had...Sammy and Conor got a lot of use out of Sammy's slide!

"Teach me everything you know, Conor," said Sammy.

"No problem," replied Conor. "Follow my lead, Sammy. And remember: cars and trucks are the coolest!"

Steve (from Tony's lab) and Heidi visited with their little ones Grace and Dylan.

We got a big kick out of how similar Dylan and Sammy look!

Brie got her first official bath last week. She didn't love it, but that's to be expected.

All clean!!

I included this photo of Brie in her blue froggy outfit because this was the onesie I bought in case Gabriella had been Gabriel! As we all know, Brie was a she, so she came home from the hospital wearing strawberries, instead of frogs...hehe. (I LOVED this little onesie, though, so we had to keep it. And...Brie looks great in EVERY color!)

Three weeks down...countless more sweet moments to go!

P.S. It's been a while since we've left you with some quality video footage.

1. Here's soccer player Sammy!



2. "Who ya gonna call? Not Ghostbusters?" Remember that "Nonno" is the Italian word for grandpa. :-)



3. Here's Baby Brie with her eyes open!