Monday, April 28, 2008

Why don't they come with instructions??

I really loved it when Brooklyn only nursed! There was no extra steps in the feeding process, she would nurse on both sides then I sent her on her way! Ahh...that was the good old days.

Now, we are feeding her, trying different foods to see what she will like and trying to watch to see if she has an reaction to any of them. And that brings me to this weekend.

Let me start from the beginning! We started feeding Brooklyn cereal (mixed grains) at 5 1/2 mths and she HATED every second of it. She would gag herself and ~if~ she act any of it she would puke it up within an 1 or 2 after eating it. Since she wasn't doing too well with mixed grains, we decided to give try Oatmeal a try. Who doesn't like oatmeal. (Alright, I don't like oatmeal, but I am crazy picky with foods) Brooklyn also HATED that, the same things happened. She gaged then puked. I was through with the puking so we just moved on to fruits and veggies. From then on she has not had a problem. YEAH!!

Well, we got a sample of Beech Nut Good Morning Oatmeal with Apples & Bananas in the mail. Instead of it going to waste, I thought, it has been a while since we tried cereal lets give it a try!

She ate it and LOVED it! She was actually fussing because I wasn't shoveling it into her mouth fast enough. Yeah! Dave went to the grocery store later that morning and bought a box so she could eat tomorrow too.

I put her down for her first nap at about 9:30am and when I went to get her at 12pm she had barfed everywhere! When I say everywhere, I mean that it was so much that she had to get into the tub to get clean.

Ugh...

So with the from Dave, we stripped her down and I bathed her while Dave changed the sheets on her bed. I think that I got the better job. hehehe I guess that she REALLY doesn't like cereal! We won't be trying cereal anytime soon. To make matters worse, Dave and I had Co-ed softball practice so we had to feed her again and run out the door. On the way to the field, she puked again! All over everything and she had a puddle of puke in her car seat! yuck! Of course, we didn't have any extra clothes so Brooklyn was at the softball field with just her bum genius 3.0 on. Cute uh!

Parents of the year, right here! I just kept telling people that, "She normally has clothes on, next time that you see her she will be clothed!"

Oh well...Do you think that she has a allergy or something else?

Friday, April 25, 2008

Pittsburgh Zoo

On Thursday, we took a family trip up the road to Pittsburgh to see the zoo. It was such a nice day. Brooklyn really seemed to enjoy looking at all the people passing by as well as the cool animals that were there. Even though it was a warm 78ish degrees most of the animals were out and doing stuff. I remember going to the Washington Zoo and all the animals being asleep due to the heat.

well here are some pictures of our 'family day'!

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Doesn't J look happy to be posing with Brooklyn! I guess we took one too many pictures in front of the sign. I truly think that he should get use to it with me as an aunt and with his mother always looking for scrapbook opportunities! Right Shannon! hehehe

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Everything was so exciting that she couldn't stay awake any longer!

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Ta Ta for now!

(I don't think that I like that one either)

7 Months Old~

She actually was 7 months on Tuesday but since I am a slacker I have not been able to blog about it until now. Anyway, I digress!

Yup! My little baby girl is 7 months old. She really isn't an infant anymore which in some ways makes me so sad but when I she other friends with newborns how don't STTN (sleep though the night) I am overjoyed that I am passed that stage.

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She is so different, always changing! Not just the way she looks but also in her personality. When she was a month old she was SO lazy. I am sure you all remember me crying about trying to get her to wake enough to eat and how she would sleep about 21 hours a day. Now she is so excitable about things around her. Looking at people and things for the first time, trying to figure them out. Trying to figure out her feet and hands, in order to play with a new toy or pull Mommy's hair (Trust me, not as fun as it sounds).

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This month Dave and I had a scare that I was knocked up again. I can say it was a scare ~only~ because we are just not ready to have another one yet. Someday but not now. It made me think about not only having Brooklyn but also having someone else to watch change through out their life. Being so focused on Brooklyn these past 7 months, I don't how to incorporate another person into the family. How does that work? Even the blog title says it.."And Brooklyn makes Three". Would I have to change my title???? Ugh...Thankfully, It is just Me, Dave and Brooklyn. Our little family of three!

Update on Brooklyn:

New Skills -

~Sitting up unassisted (20 seconds to 1 minute)
~Rolling from back to stomach
~Spinning on her stomach to reach a toy
~Scooting backwards (Dave is excited to see her start to crawl...me, not so much)
~Clapping feet...she still won't unclasp her hands to clap them BUT love to clap her feet. LOL


I think that is it...

See ya, when I see ya!

By the by: I am trying out new signatures to see what I like...bare with me!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

~ Shameless Plug ~

I don't think that I posted about this before, but a few weeks ago I went home (Frederick, MD) and while I was there my Mom gave me this picture of me in a blue dress.

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She also gave me the blue dress. The dress is super sentimental because both my oldest sister (Trieva) and I wore it and now Brooklyn is going to wear it. The dress is already 38ish years old. Way cool!

Once I got the dress I couldn't wait to take Brooklyn's picture wearing it. I think they turned out really great.

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I wasn't sure what to do with the picture once I took and then I found a friend that pencils draws protriats from pictures. She is also a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) and is was trying to find a way that she could make money at home while still taking care of her baby girl. After seeing some of her work I knew excatly what I wanted to do and sent the picture to her. A couple of day later ( I think maybe 2 or 3 ) she sent me an email picture of the finished drawing. Oh.My.God. it was great! On Thursday, I got the actual drawing at my house and if it is possible I loved it even more.

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SO, here I am plugging her because I think that he ~so~ deserves it. She could easily charge $150+ on her drawings (I checked some other services and they run anywhere from 150 to 350) but she chooses to help people out and only charge $45 plus shipping. She has a store on Esty (a place where people can buy & sell handmade products; from handmade pottery to crafts).

Her website is...www.keopuolani.etsy.com.

She ROCKS and I KNOW that if you send her a picture you will SO happy about the product.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Sleep Training...

I got this from one of my online friends and wanted to share with my blogging friends.


OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great--I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems like it's pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months. Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle. It goes like this: Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.

Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.

Night 3--every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.

Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with.My sleep sack tickled my foot. I felt a wrinkle under the sheet. My mobile made a shadow on the wall. I burped, and it tasted like pears. I hadn't eaten pears since lunch, what's up with that? The cat said "meow". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL. Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room. Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn't matter! Keep crying!! It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.

P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

April showers bring May Flowers...

Hello all! I hope that everyone (in Morgantown, that is) have enjoyed the sun shine that we have been having. I know that Dave, Brooklyn and I have been. We have tried to do ~anything~ that let us stay outside in the beautiful weather. Unfortunately, the pleasant weather is about to end with snow showers/ rain showers in the forecast for tomorrow. You gotta love April right? But remember April Showers bring May Flowers. Right????

Well anyway, over the past 2 weeks The Shrewsberry's have been pretty busy and of course that meant that I didn't have enough time to blog about it. So, now I am going it.

Bare with me...(side note - is it bear with me like the animal bear or bare with with me like bare butt..Dave didn't know either. If you know, let us know)

Last weekend was great. Dave, Brooklyn and I all went to see Elmo Makes Music. It was a concert/play at the CAC (Creative Arts Center @ WVU). It was great!

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I wasn't sure is Brooklyn like it since it started during her last nap of the day, but she was fine. We also went with Doug, Shannon and J (Dave's brother and family). J being almost two ~really~ had a great time. When the concert first started, there was a load bang and he immediately turned to his Mom and said "No, no, no" I felt bad for him but have to say that it was too cute. After that he seemed to really enjoy it, clapping and singing along with the characters.

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Obviously, Brooklyn being 6 mths old didn't clap/sing with the characters but she did like watching everyone and was mesmerized by the laser lights that were there. It was really funny to watch her. It makes me excited for the time that she will be dancing in the aisles like J was.

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The only part that I didn't like was that during the intermission the vender's brought in Elmo balloons into the theater to sell. That in itself isn't too bad but when I asked how much they were the vendor told me $8.00. WHAT??!!?? I told Brooklyn right then that she would not be getting one, unless she can pay of it herself. LOL

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On Tuesday night we to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the WVU Coliseum. Dave had been to see them when he was younger with his Dad and brother but Brooklyn and I have never been before. I was ~super~ excited. I was a little worried about were our seats were but it turned out that we had really great seats. I was able to see everyone on the court and take pics too. (I didn't get any GREAT pics but pics none the less)

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Brooklyn of course was more excited about lady that was sitting next to us then watching the basketball players. She actually keep touching the ladies face and then laughing about it. Thankfully the lady was nice and thought Brooklyn was cute so all was well. I thought the show was going to be the players doing off the wall dunks and cool basketball tricks BUT they actually played a game. Dave later told me that is what always happens. Of course, the Harlem Globetrotter won the game.

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Since spring has sprung, I am starting to get my garden ready for this summer. I don't plant flowers due to the bee-phobia that I have (in a nut shell - I have never been stung and after 28 years of seeing others be stung, I am pretty freaked by it). Since I can't plant flowers, I plant veggies and fruit instead. I am really excited too. Last summer since I was pregnant and couldn't do as much I just did a few veggies in planters out back BUT this year we are making a big garden out back. We borrowed a tiller (Thanks Dan & Julie) and tilled some this afternoon.

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Dave had to start it (the tiller was a little scary at first) but then I finished it up. It took a lot of core muscle to it but it was fun. We will leave the garden alone for about a week or two then till in some good top soil and manure (well, maybe Dave will do the manure part...LOL).

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I am planning on planting corn (sliver queen), red & green peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, green beans,tomatoes (cherry & regular) carrots, basil, parsley, and rosemary. I think that is it...

I think that might have been my longest post yet!

Hugs...

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Sun-Shiny Day

Yesterday was just a buetiful day! Brooklyn and I had loads of fun in the back yard. Here are some pics. Enjoy!

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Hugs...

yeah, I stole it...so what?

As the title says, I stole it from another blog. I guess I can't really say that I 'stole it' since she said that we could take it and use it. Here we go...

Type your answer into the “search” box.
Pick an image from the first page.
Copy and paste answer into blog.

My name is:

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(amber)

My relationship status:

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(married)

My favorite color:

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(blue)

My celebrity crush:

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(seth green)

My favorite princess:

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(princess ariel)

Favorite adult beverage:

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(strawberry daiquiri)

My dream vacation:

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(in the mountains)

When I grow up I want to be:

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(princess)


hugs...

Sunday, April 6, 2008

What is ~wrong~ with this picture?

I am pretty sure that we didn't put her like this last night!

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I would like to know what she was doing that she ended like this! LOL

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

6 Months ~ New Stats! ~ and she sits!

Brooklyn had her six month appointment yesterday. She also had to get her monthly shots! She normally does really well but not yesterday. The nurse was really great and tried to be quick but Brooklyn was having none of it! I have never seen her face that bright red. It looked as if you was laying out in the sun for 18 hours. I had to laugh at the way that she looked...I know bad mommy!

Anywho, her are her stats!

Weight - 17lbs. 1/2oz 75th percentile
Height - 25 3/4 in. 75th percentile
Head - I can't remember...but it was in the 50th percentile


She is starting to sit on her own. I think that she really likes it...we also got her this great new toy from Target. It is the Leap Frog Musical Table and she loves it. It is awesome! It plays music and also teaches her numbers, letters, and colors (in english and spanish)!

Here are the pictures for this month.

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Tuesday, April 1, 2008

I can't believe that I am saying this...

I didn't think that this would happen so soon!



~~~~~~Brooklyn's gonna be a big sister!~~~~~~~~~



OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!








<3 April Fools <3