Let me count the ways....

The past few weeks, I’ve found there are a lot of little things about Daniel that make me smile. I love him unconditionally of course but I thought I’d share with you some of the things he does that make me happy.
1. He smiles in his sleep
2. He laughs and giggles in his sleep
3. After a bath, his hair is all soft and feathery
4. He lets me give him Eskimo kisses and doesn’t flinch or move away
5. He makes funny surprised faces if he poops while you’re holding him’
6. He lets me snuggle him when he’s sleepy
7. He gets a very intense face (wrinkled nose and forehead) right before he latches on – my little piranha!
8. He sleeps with his hands either behind his head or straight up in the “touchdown” position
9. If he sleeps in your arms, one arm is always sticking straight out to the side even if you try to move it.
10. He loves “watching” American Idol
11. He always is kicking just one sock off. He’s fine with one on, but 2 is just too much for him
12. He likes looking around at everything – he’s always moving his neck around
13. According to the doctor, he’s perfect! I mean, we agree but we’re a little biased so it’s nice hearing from a medical professional =)


There's more pictures below if you haven't already seen them - I know I'm not normally this quick with another post!

More Daniel Pictures

Apparently I suck since people have been checking my blog every day for new pictures of Daniel and I haven't put any up. He had his "2 week" checkup today and was 9 pounds 8 ounces so he's growing. Plus, the doctor said he's perfect - nothing wrong with him. Whew! So anyways, here's some more pictures from the past week or so. Matt says he's getting too big already.








Plus, we were trying to figure out exactly who Daniel looks like - Matt's chin, my eyes, etc. We couldn't really tell to be honest, except that he pulls in his bottom lip like I did in my baby pictures. Then we were watching our wedding video and we saw this picture of Lindsay holding Matt when he was a baby and it's official. He looks nothing like me. He's mini-Matt.

He's here!

I know it's been 8 days & all but we now have a little one that takes all of our time and attention. Mostly because he's so freakin adorable. So we went to the hospital last Wednesday night for me to be induced since I wasn't progressing very well. My sister-in-law Shannon said it was because my body didn't know I was pregnant, given my easy pregnancy, so it wasn't doing anything. My doctor broke my water the next morning at 7 and a mere 5 hours and 6 minutes later, he was here. Daniel Gerald Brinkerhoff was born at 12:06 pm on Thursday, May 8th. He was 8 pounds 13.6 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Can I just tell you that it was seriously torture to not be able to see or hold your baby right away. I had to wait until they cleaned him all up and wrapped him & it seemed like an hour!!! He's perfect. It is a completely surreal feeling though, realizing that you actually have a baby. I mean you know for 9 months you are but once he's here, you can't actually believe it. He went to the doctor's today & he's not lost any weight since we left the hospital but he's already grown an inch. The doctor said he's in perfect health. We've had a couple of rough patches, we've all 3 been frustrated at times, and I've had some emotional breakdowns (very unusual for me, but as Julie says, normal is completely different now) but the last 2 days have been a lot better. I think he's finally starting to get used to, you know, being alive and all. A big thank you to LouAnne for flying down here to help with the labor and spend time with us and a big thank you to my mom for helping with the labor, being at the hospital as much as she could (and probably times she couldn't), all her help at home this week, and for answering all my inane questions. Plus, thanks to Auntie Becca & Lindsay for helping out in the afternoons and for Lindsay & Julie for listening to me, answering questions, and offering advice & reassurance. We can't wait for everyone to meet Daniel and we look forward to the baby blessing in July! Welcome to our crazy family, baby Daniel!

He LOVED getting his hair washed

Daniel in his Bronco gear already!

Daniel, Daddy, Mommy, & Grandmas

At home with Daddy

Daniel watching American Idol


Making silly faces! Matt calls this one Danny's cross-eyed "O" face.

Taking a nap with Daddy

This is quite possibly my favorite picture right now and I submit that this photo could totally be on some ad somewhere he's so freakin cute!!!

PS - Is it weird to anyone else that Matt is a daddy and I'm a Mommy? Weird!!!

More awesome news!

Lots of great things have been happening to our family & friends, with baby news, engagements, etc. The most recent is Matt's sister Ali getting engaged! Technically, it's unofficial still but it's great news to share. Matt & I are apparently the only siblings that haven't met her fiance Phil yet but we've heard great things about him and them together so we're so excited to meet him. Congrats Ali & Phil! We're really excited & happy for you!