Did anyone else love Halloween as much as I did as a kid? The focus was never on anything evil, of course, (we never wanted to dress up as witches or vampires or anything like that) but on dressing up, getting candy, carving pumpkins, and just being a kid. :) I have great memories of trick-or-treating, even when it was super cold, or even rainy!
So, in light of this holiday, my wish for you... :) May your pumpkins be carved, your costumes be festive, and your spirit be bright. :) May you see this holiday with the eyes of a child!
Brrrr! It's a blustery 33 degrees on this Tuesday morning, and it's definitely feeling like it should this time of year. I have a feeling that we have a cold winter in store for us, which I hope will equal more snow. :) That's my wish anyway.
Well, we survived Brooke's 2 month pediatrician's appointment yesterday, though it was definitely not a happy Monday. (Ryan thankfully met us there. I needed his support!) She weighed in at 12 lbs, 14 oz, (90th percentile) and measured 23". (75th percentile) Her doctor said that she looks perfect, and she's right on track developmentally. (actually, she's ahead on a few things, like head control. She is STRONG!)
Then came the time for all of her vaccinations, two in one thigh, one in the other. I had given her tylenol an hour earlier, as a few people suggested to me, and held off on feeding her so that I could feed her after she got her shots. There was a delay after she got the first shot before she realized what had happened and started to cry. The other two were quick, but she did the mouth-wide-open-with-no-sound cry before absolutely wailing. It broke. my. heart. (Thank goodness Ryan was there!) So, of course, I'm crying because I can't stand seeing her so upset. It was h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e. I guess it's just the beginning of hurts that mommy can't prevent... but, it's way better than her actually catching the illnesses that the vaccines prevent.
She was pretty pitiful for a few hours afterward, but she mainly slept it off. Thankfully the appointment was right before her big nap time, so it worked out perfectly. She was so heartbreakingly cute after she woke up, because she would try to smile and talk, but wind up whimpering two seconds later because she didn't feel well. By the time bedtime rolled around, though, she seemed pretty much like her usual, happy self. :) Whew!
Today I have a Ford Focus, with 124 miles on it and that new-car smell, to drive around, as my beautiful Explorer is in the shop getting a window fixed. Ryan realized a few weekends ago that the window wouldn't go down when you pressed the button, so we're having it fixed while it's still free under warranty. :) I thankfully only need to go grocery shopping, so getting the car seat in and out won't be that big of a deal.
I'll also be heading to the gym around noon-ish. I started back up at the gym last Monday, and wound up going three times last week, and then did our 3 mile walk one of the mornings. I also do abs and floor work at home. (the floor is the dirtiest place at a gym--gross!) It's actually pretty funny, because I thought with all of the walking I had been doing since Brooke was a week old, getting back up to speed at the gym shouldn't be that difficult. Ha! That first day, the elliptical kicked my rear, and it was all I could to do to get through an hour workout of cardio and weights. The weights were actually the easy part, since I'm used to carrying Brooke around. :) But the second time was better than the first, and the third was better than both of them, so I'm really happy about that! I guess I should take a progress picture, since a lot of you have asked how I've done, and most of the pictures I've posted of myself don't show all of me.
Well, the girl is waking up, so I need to get going. I had heard that vaccinations could mess up a sleep pattern because they're cranky, but she slept 5 hours, ate, then slept another 5 hours, as she has become accustomed to lately. :) It's great!!
On Saturday we took Brooke for her first-ever pumpkin picking at a local pumpkin patch! :) The weather was perfectly gorgeous, and the leaves are changing in our area. Of course, this was a momentous occasion, so we took pictures and video. We ended up with a big pumpkin, a pint-sized Brooke pumpkin, and some delicious apple cider! Here are some pictures of Brooke before we left, and pictures from our little trip to Pumpkinville! :)
Beautiful baby!
Holding her head up like a big girl
Ooo!
Brooke & the Great Pumpkin
Mommy to the rescue
Brooke & Daddy
Brooke & Mommy
She got so many compliments on her cute outfit! :)
Little Pumpkin -- my favorite picture from the whole day!
In other news, I'm officially a Mystery Guest! I signed up back in March, and they finally contacted me with an available assignment. Yes! So, my Mom, Brooke and I went out and enjoyed a free lunch this past Wednesday. :) All I had to do was critique our experience. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.
Also, my journal officially has had over 100,000 visits! Can you believe that? I got my ticker back in April '04, so it took a little over 3 years. Funny part is, my mother-in-law was # 100,000! :) I remember back when getting 30 people visiting every day was exciting... now it's over 150. (It was around 250 back when Brooke was due to be born!)
What a weekend! The weather was amazing... so fall-like--crisp and just gorgeous.We had the Penn State vs. Wisconsin game on Saturday, so we left bright and early after dropping Brooke off with her grandparents. Leaving her was a lot easier for me this time around, (not one tear!) knowing she did so well last weekend, and was going to have fun. :) But, of course, I missed her a ton!
We got to the game around 1:30, and had plenty of time to tailgate. (we brought lunch this time, since food is soooo expensive there!) It was actually really nice being able to take our time, and enjoy the experience. There were plenty of other people there grilling out, people staked out in their RVs, and little boys with their dads throwing the football around. :)
I took a LOT more pictures this time around, so I'll share those. I figure, we won't do this every year, so we had better have lots of pictures to remember this time by. :)
Pretty Trees -- in most places the leaves were already past-peak once we got in PA!
We had to stop along the way so that I could pump, but the area was so pretty that we got out to take this picture!
Us, Fall of '07 :)
Beaver Stadium -- Happy Valley :)
Tailgating! (mid-bite.. nice) We forgot our chairs...
Obligatory us-in-the-stands picture, before the game
Go PSU!
Right after I took this picture, they scored :)
After dark
So, we had a blast, of course. It was an exciting game, and we crushed them 38-7! The next game we have tickets to isn't until Nov. 3rd, so we'll have a couple relaxing weekends until then.
Oh! And I have to mention that Brooke is finally getting on a schedule! :) She's going down around 10:30, eating once somewhere between 5-7 hours, then getting up at 8:30 every day. It is wonderful. I know she'll eventually go down earlier than that, but I'm loving this schedule for now!!
Hope you all had a great weekend, and Happy Monday! :)
Wow Moment #1: Brooke slept a fabulous 7 1/2 hours straight the night before last!! I woke up in a panic, and ran to her room to check on her, only to find her still sleeping peacefully. :) Last night I was worried she had reverted to her early sleeping patterns when she woke up after a mere 3 1/2 hours... but she went back down for another 5 1/2 lovely hours. I'm not sure when it happened, but I'm pretty sure I've almost forgotten about my sleepless nights with her. :) Almost.
Wow Moment #2: I found out yesterday at my 6 week post-partum check-up that I had gained 50 lbs while I was pregnant! (Before then, I didn't know what I had gained, total) Um, wow. Just wow.
That's my bad news. The good news, however, is that according to the doctor's scales, I've already lost 34 of them! 16 to go. I can do that. :) 34 lbs lost in 6 1/2 weeks is pretty good, right?
And with that, I'll leave you with pictures that I took of Brooke today! :) She was in her crib, contentedly watching her mobile, while I was switching over laundry. I can't believe she'll already be 7 weeks old on Saturday!
Okay, here's my first attempt at posting some video of Brooke! I caught her on video talking and smiling in her bouncy seat yesterday morning. :) Let me know if this works!
Well, yesterday, at 6 weeks, marked the first time that Ryan and I left Brooke for an entire day! I'd really only left her for an hour at a time with her Grandmom (my Mom) to run to the grocery store, but that's it. I admit it, I cried a little. While I was definitely excited to get away with Ryan and "just be us" for a day, I was REALLY going to miss my girl!
I was SO excited to finally get to go to one of the games in good ole Happy Valley with my hubby. :) He took his brother to the first game, and a friend to the second. I had never been to the main Penn State campus, so it was hilarious to me that EVERYTHING up there has to do with the university! Way before you're anywhere near the campus, you'll see the Penn Stater Hotel, Nittany Oil company, etc. They're proud of their school. :) It was a really gorgeous drive, though, especially with the leaves already near-peak up there! It was beautiful!
The Penn State Nittany Lions were playing the Iowa Hawkeyes at 3:30, and we got there around 1:30, I think. We were STARVING, so we first went in search of food. Thing is, it was so hot (it apparently got up to 90) that we weren't in the mood for real food. Thankfully they had a Penn State Creamery ice cream stand! :) One word: YUM!
It was a GREAT game, mainly because, well, they won. :) 27-7. I only took two pictures, so I'll post them both, even though they're both terrible! In the one of us, Ryan has his eyes closed because the sun was beating down on us for about 90% percent of the game. Once the sun finally went down, it was SO nice and cool, and breezy that we almost completely forgot how unbelievably hot it had been. It was perfect! I took the second picture of both teams on the field, but I honestly couldn't see what I was really taking a picture of!
We're roasting, but we don't care! :)
See?? I told you it was bad. :) I'll do better next weekend!
So, we had an awesome time! It was really, really great for us to have some quality couple time, and of course Brooke had a grand ole time with her grandparents. :) Now that it went well, I can't wait for this coming weekend when we go back up again!!
With Brooke finally feeling better, we set off this morning to visit my old office and see my old coworkers! It was so great to see everyone, and introduce them to my baby girl. :) Being there again made me realize that while I do miss everyone, being home with Brooke is so much more important. She changes every day, and I can't imagine missing a second of it... and thank God that I don't have to.
An amazing part of being a mom that I've discovered is the absolute joy in watching your child develop, and see their personality begin to show. Brooke is so beautiful... but she's also very thoughtful, unbelievably curious and observant, a total sweetheart and cuddlebug, and she's hilarious! She makes the funniest faces, has the daintiest mannerisms, and her smile and coos just melt me. And I don't have to ever miss a day of it. I feel so blessed!
Last night, she slept for a glorious 5 hours straight, (then ate) followed by 2 hours, (then ate) then another hour while I showered and got ready. The night before, she slept 6 straight hours! What a good baby. ;-) Sure, it could change at any moment, but I'm enjoying it when I can!
More pictures to share! The first three are from last Friday, so she was 4 weeks, 6 days old. The last one was taken yesterday at 5 weeks, 4 days. Have I mentioned she has CHANGED SO MUCH since she was born?!
Propped up on the sofa! :)
She was in the middle of telling me something. Obviously :)
I just got back from shopping for jeans... talk about depressing! I never thought the day would come when shopping could depress me, but alas, that day has come! I'm still not able to fit into my old jeans yet, and it's a real downer having to wear my maternity pair from the 2nd tri. (which, granted, I only wore a handful of times because they got too tight and felt like I must be squishing my baby!) Ryan and I are going to the Penn State game this weekend, and I'm happy to say that I will NOT be wearing maternity jeans to it! :) I know I need to cut myself some slack... after all, it has only been 5 weeks and 3 days since I delivered. Besides the fact that I don't sit around all day, either... I've walked 66 miles since Brooke was born!
I just got word the other day that my first horse, Scatch, has navicular disease, which essentially means he's permanently lame, and likely in pain. :( So, so sad. He was the horse I started riding when I was 15, when no one else would because he was so bad! I learned more from that horse than I did from my 5 years of lessons before that. He's a beautiful chestnut quarter horse who looked red in the sunlight. I have such great memories of him, and from those days when I got up and fed him every morning, and kept the barn clean in order to get free board. Trail riding and swimming in the pond just a few miles from the farm, and riding through snow-covered fields... those were the days! Ten years of my life were spent around horses, either through lessons, my own horses, (I've had two) or riding for my college's equestrian team. I do miss horses and riding.. a lot some days.. but unfortunately it's a very expensive hobby in this area unless you know someone or own your own land!
In other news, I have a couple pictures to share today... can you believe it? :) These are from when she was only 2 1/2 weeks old, when I was taking pictures for her birth announcement. These didn't make the cut, but they came out darn cute if I might say so. :)
Baby feet!
Beautiful girl...
I'll post some recent ones soon. :) I have a lot! Hope you all are having a great day! :)
Another week, another entry; mommyhood is certainly keeping me busy. :) And what a week it has been! She has still been sick, but it doesn't seem to bother her quite as much now. Hopefully she'll be completely out of the woods soon.
She had two really rough nights (for her and for me!) where she only slept for 3 hours, then was up every hour thereafter. Not fun. It was especially not fun considering she had been sleeping for at least 5 hours every night for nearly a week before that! Finally, she slept well again last night, so we're both happy campers. :)
Speaking of happy.. the little girl can SMILE! She first smiled at me last Monday, then smiled at both Ryan and I on Tuesday, and has been smiling at us/various objects of interest ever since. It's incredible! She has the most beautiful little smile... it melts my heart! Not only does she smile, but she tries to "talk." Irresistibly cute, much?
Some things that seem to be of great interest to her include... the tree behind our sofa, the fireplace, her nursery (the bright color and the sign above her closet) and our kitchen in general, (maybe the color and sharp contrast from the white cabinets?) and the ceiling fan. Who knew? She also really loves sunlight and windows, and LOVES her morning walk!
I have pictures to post, but they're not uploaded just yet. Maybe tomorrow? She has changed SO MUCH, I can't get over it.
Well, the girl is hungry. :) Hope you all are doing great!
