Three Bs in a Pod

Our baby boy is getting big! Complete with his mid-arm fat lines, some hard-to-clean thigh rolls, and a nice pudge tummy, he is such a squeezable little cherub. We love every ounce of him, especially that pudge tummy. We estimate he’s rockin 13 pounds at this point, and we are looking forward to his 2 month visit on Friday where we’ll get the official score.


He’s definitely growing and definitely changing. He is an active baby – always wanting to be bounced, to be talked to, to look at your face, to look around the room, to hear dad’s fake laugh, to hear mom fake sing, to ride in the stroller, to ride in the car, to kick in the bath… basically, he likes attention (no surprise). And he’s had a lot of it!


The Gothmans, our expert babysitters, watched him again while Joshua and I thankfully got a date night to see The Help (the book is SO much better). Dallas had an unexpected downpour that night (we had forgotten what rain looked like in Texas) just as we were parking which left us soaked as we tried to dry off with napkins from the dine-in theatre. But date nights are treasured regardless! Tressan had his first trip to Celina, TX to see Deion Sanders’ new paint job on his Aladdin-ish mansion and Grandma and Grandpa Briones and the Reimanns, and we got a look at the swingset Grandpa got for the kids as they grow. I see many forts and obstacle courses in the grandkids’ future. We truly enjoyed dinner with the Tripletts, Theresa, and Justin here at the house… something we have been planning since July! Tressan made his rounds at Ursuline. I’ve learned a few things in my years teaching at an all-girls’ high school: you can’t sneak in babies, boys, or cake. It’s like the girls have a sixth sense for these things when they come through the door. Last week T got a playdate invite to the Arboretum. Beth and I drove with Kennedy and Tressan in the backseat (a vision into their dating years?). We got to “play” with the Blackwells, the Thompsons, the Bradys, the Dodges. The kiddos were so cute getting their pictures taken in the piles of pumpkins. Tressan was so tired on the way home and cried when the car stopped. Beth would approach red lights going 2 miles an hour from 40 feet back so as to not stop the car completely (I love the common things parents do to keep baby happy). We also feasted on Omaha Steak cuisine with the Everetts, treats provided by Joshua’s work when baby T was born. We appreciate having our friends as neighbors more and more each day. Finally, Tressan earned his wings as he flew to St. Louis this past weekend.


Some of you know I have an irrational fear of planes since a Honduras flight a few years back and I mentally keep record of every news report of a plane going down. In a way, I actually prefer a 10-hour car ride to the 1.5 hour flight. It’s a control thing, I’m sure. So while the other passengers were busy cramming luggage and gearing up ipods, I gave Tressan a temporary 5-second baptism with my Dasani bottle. You think I’m kidding, but I’m not. Maybe it’s a sign that I studied too much theology to know that can be legit. It’s probably more of a sign that I’m a flying phobic mess. Well, we survived and there wasn’t a minute of turbulence either way. Tressan flew like a champ. You feed him and he is happy. Just like a boy. He also pulls hair. Just like a boy.

It had been almost six weeks since Grandma and Grandpa Hahn had seen him. We wanted to surprise my Dad and couldn’t believe that my Mom actually managed to keep it from him a whole week. He walked in the house and was told that a birthday gift arrived for him – turns out that birthday gift was our 2-month bundle propped up on the couch. Mom said she has never seen him more surprised. The trip seemed like a marathon of visiting beginning with the Brauners who are expecting their little one in February, and also including St. Trinity, Great Aunt Barb, and Grandpa Hahn’s work. I asked Great Aunt Barb if it was weird being a Great Aunt. She said, no she’s always been great! We agree. We have to give special thanks to the Talbott cousins (and Tina) for the lucky Cardinals socks. We call them his happy feet. Our lucky baby has them on again today for the fourth day in a row. Whatever it takes for this Wild Card! (Note lucky socks in picture.)


Other things on the homefront… I got through the fear of starting over and took up running again. It really is a “happy place” for me. Running with the jogging stroller, well the concept is a happy thing but holy guacamole it’s more tough then I would have guessed (this is coming from a girl who finds it difficult to run with keys or a water bottle in my hands). We will get there, one mile at a time. Joshua and I love the new show Up All Night. We also love that our baby is no longer up all night (hitting about 6 hours regularly). The Briones family is celebrating the arrival of Tressan’s 2nd cousin, baby Royceton Llanas, born this afternoon! And lastly, Tressan’s real baptism will be October 29 around 3:30pm at St. Ann Catholic Church in Coppell. We prefer the priest/deacon kind.

I close with four recent thoughts on motherhood…
1. Why do they not tell you how to put a carseat in shopping cart? (Had to call husband for this, thank you internet)
2. I’ve never heard Tressan cry like he did the day the batteries in the swing died. Personal goal: Never let the swing batteries die again.
3. I’m a believer when it comes to Oxyclean.
4. These are the best days of my life. Thanks, Joshua and Tressan!

It’s been a while since I have blogged and things are rapidly getting in the way of blogging, however, I will not fail at this!!! Life is good in the Briones house, and Baby Tressan, while entertaining us with random smiles and coos, is growing like a weed and still continues to amaze us with his antics. Here are some highlights, I will elaborate further down below, but continue reading at your own risk. Meals on wheels, the art of swaddling, the special dog, and Mom and Baby alone for the weekend.

We have been blessed to have an awesome group of friends and family helping us out over the past several weeks, most certainly with the meals. So far we have had some great pasta dishes, several vegetarian meals, a couple of ethnic creations, and one “scrape it off the floor” lasagna. I came home last week to find one of our meals in the garage, I was confused, and convinced that Mandy still had some pregnancy brain and left it in the busyness of getting all the stuff out of the car. I was just thankful that she left the food in the garage and not the car seat with Tressan….two points for Mandy!! I graciously grabbed the bag and walked inside and said “Did you forget something” her response, “no; I left it because the bag was leaking, and I was going to get it shortly.” I carried it through the house and seconds before I reached the counter…..out pours the lasagna onto the floor. Mandy was right, the bag was leaking, and it was a paper bag, and it was only right that we would have pasta spread throughout the kitchen. Luckily at least 60% of it was salvageable and Lucy dined on the rest. Out of all the meals received I have decided to give out a few awards…. Best Entrée – Sarah Berry and her “Woody B’s Pulled Chicken/Veggie Enchiladas” Very very tasty!!! Best Starter – Jason Osterberger and his “Sensation Salad” Lemme just say…it was Sensational. Best Dessert – Again, the winner, Sarah Berry and her Squirrel Sugar Cookies. Looks like Sarah is following in her dad’s footsteps and is a Master in the kitchen. If you have never tried her Dads BBQ, it’s worth the drive to Richardson…..see here.

In the first few weeks, we thought we had our baby pegged and figured out…in that he wanted his arms free to flail around and punch….. I guess we thought we would let him express himself. O Contraire…..the art of swaddling has been a saving grace and that boy is not allow to sleep without his little arms tucked tightly at his side. Its either swaddling or the sleep sack, either way…he’s in “straight jacket” stance for sleeping hours, otherwise, he finds ways to fling his little arms all around and tends to wake himself. Sorry Tressan for sanity in our home…..you are tied down….plus, you like being snuggly!! Lucy has been doing well, she has become accustomed to Tressan and they are now buddies. She definitely senses that she’s not alone in this house, and ponders “why doesn’t this new person go away” however, I think she is getting the gist that he’s here to stay. Lately, she has been able to scoot right next to where he is lying and rest her head, just a few inches, on the blanket. Her instinct is to protect, and we are starting to see signs of that. Tressan scares her at times too, check out the video below where Tressan is wiggling and Lucy doesn’t know what to do, she immediately goes into hunt mode.



Finally, Mandy and Tressan had to spend Labor Day weekend alone as I had to go out to Shreveport for Ryan’s Bachelor party. Ryan and I have been best of friends since college (a mission trip to Honduras in 2002) and I couldn’t miss it and wanted to be there to celebrate with him. Sooo…..we loaded up on Friday and drove out…..leaving mom and baby to fend for themselves for 48 hours. They did great. Mandy would send me regular updates and pictures. Luckily he was a great baby while dad was out, sleeping often and for lengthy periods of time. My mom came and stayed on Saturday afternoon to help with getting to mass and stayed the night. I on the other hand was probably getting less sleep in Shreveport than I would have gotten at home. We had a great time, enjoyed many hands of blackjack, great meals together, reminiscing with old college friends, and a round of golf, where yours truly busted out his first window in a home!!!



All in all I had a great time. I returned on Sunday just in time for mass and our baptism class. Bob and Colleen Gothman babysat for us, Colleen didn’t want to give him back!! She practically had to beg us to choose her as the babysitter, she was excited and we were more than willing as she has raised 6 boys herself (with the help of Bob of course) so we considered her a boy expert!! Back to work on Tuesday and business as usual for the week. Overall the past 6 weeks have been a blessing, full of joy and excitement. We both agree that Tressan is a little treasure and brings us so many smiles and laughs and we cannot wait to see what’s to come.