Blessed

First of all, I just want to start off by saying that I am so incredibly blessed to have such an amazing daughter. My life is so much more meaningful now that she is in it. There are so many times that I just stare at her and I am still in such awe of her. Sometimes it feels so surreal, and I think, "am I really a mother? Is this beautiful being in front of me, the one that depends on me for most everything right now, the one who's laugh can break even the worst of moments, the one who I would do anything and everything for really my daughter? She is the most precious thing (not that she is a "thing," but I cannot seem to find another word at this moment), and again, I am so blessed. She has brought me so much joy, and I know that there is so much more to come. I know that there will be bad and bumpy times along the way, but that's okay. She has brought me to a place with my Mother where I never thought I would be. She makes her "Mammi" smile and be silly at times, and she has brought out a side of her that I haven't ever seen before, and I love it. She is wonderful, and Shelbi and I are both so blessed to have her in our lives. I know that she is going to be a "Mammi's girl!" Also, if it wasn't for Shelbi, I never would have met Steph and Josie, and they are so special to me and Shelbi. I have never had such a good friend as I do in Steph. We haven't even known each other for a full year yet, but I feel as though we have known each other for ever. She is a true friend, and am so blessed to have her in our lives. I can honestly say that I have a true friend who is not in the friendship for herself or around only when she wants something or when it's convenient, which has been the case with some others along the way. I know that when I need a friend, she is there, and the same goes for her.

Shelbi slept until about 8:30 this morning. I went into her room to get her up when I heard her moving all around and saw that her eyes were open, as she is very content and happy in the morning. I was greeted with her beautiful smile and her excitement kicking. Most mornings when I pick her up, she lays her head on my shoulder for a few seconds to cuddle, and I love that so very much. We came downstairs, did the diaper change thing, and headed to the kitchen for her yummy breakfast consisting of rice cereal made with apple juice. She really seemed to like that. She chowed down on that while I snuck in a bite of my peaches and cream oatmeal when I was able to. She nursed for a while afterwords, and drifted back off to sleep for a few moments until I took her off of my breast. We headed upstairs and she hung out in her activity chair while I got dressed and ready to go. We play a game of hide and seek while I'm getting dressed and brushing my teeth and darting in and out of the closet and the bathroom. She jumps and then gets excited and laughs when I pop out of the room and say peek-a-boo. She also LOVES the ceiling fan, so she's able to entertain herself for a minute or two so I can get turbo dressed (that's dressed EXTREMELY quickly). We then took our time getting her ready, as she likes to play while we do so. We play "Where's Shelbi" when we put her shirt on, and "put your left arm in, put your right arm in" and so on and so forth. We headed to Michael's, as they are having a good sale on scrapbooking supplies, and, well, since I'm addicted to scrapbooking, I had to go. We met our BFF's there, and Steph was a little stressed, but I had a good time. We ended up running to the mall to enjoy a yummy lunch of boardwalk fries and Subway subs. Shelbi and I didn't really feel like heading home just yet after our trip to the mall, so we stopped and hung out with Mammi for a bit. She just went to bed around 9:00pm, and she did so without a peep. She's such a good baby, and again, I am so blessed to have her. She hung out with Dad a bit this evening while I made some chili, and let me just say it was rather, um, interesting. I did not have any tomato sauce, so I used tomato puree (which, by the way, is absolutely, 100% disgusting by itself). I also did not have any chili seasoning mix, so I created my own. I used chili powder (and a lot of it), garlic salt, some chopped onions, oregano, salt, pepper, Red Robbin seasoning, flour, and, last but NOT least, RICE CEREAL. Yes, I'm serious. I put Gerber rice cereal in our chili. Don't ask me why because I'm not really sure, but it worked and it was good!

"I have been blessed

And I feel like I've found my way

I thank God for all I've been given

At the end of every day

I have been blessed

With so much more than I deserve

To be here with the ones that love me

To love them so much it hurts

I have been blessed"

6 Month Wellness Visit

Today was Shelbi's 6 month wellness visit at the pediatrician. Wow! It's extremely hard to believe that she is almost six and a half month old. I know that time has always gone pretty quickly, but it has tripled in speed since she came home from the hospital. Anyway, I digress. Shelbi had a nice, full belly on our ride to Camp Hill to Dr. Shrift's office. She had a nice breakfast consisting of some rice cereal with sweet potatoes followed by approximately 20 minutes of boob juice. I have found that it's a lot easier if she is wearing a one piece outfit when we have trips to the doctor. They are a lot quicker and easier to get on and off, as she needs to be stripped down to only her diaper for her check ups. She had on a cute Carter's footless outfit with a cute collar and ruffles on it that Mammi had gotten for her. It's pink with little strawberries all over it, and she looks so adorable in it (well, she looks so adorable in just about everything...I know...I'm bias)! Mammi met us at the doctor's office, and we actually both got there at the same exact time. She was 12 pounds 13 ounces, and she really seemed to enjoy sitting in the scale seat. She looked so cute in it too. Her head circumference was 40 inches and 3 cm, and she was 25 1/2 inches long. Dr. Shrift goes by her actual age and NOT her adjusted age (which I prefer by the way), as some of the other doctor's would still have her on the adjusted age curve. She is only in the 3rd to 5th percentile with her weight, but she is in the 65th percentile with her length. She's going to be a tall one! Gee, I wonder where she gets that from? The land of the giants on the Branyan/Flannery side. He was not concerned with her weight, and he actually said that we could stop with putting the Neosure formula in with her bottles. Yay for $15 extra dollars a month and no yucky formula for her! The only thing that I did not agree with was that Dr. Shrift thinks that I should nurse Shelbi first thing in the morning, and then wait until later in the morning/afternoon to feed her cereal, but I'm sticking to the routine that we are on. She eats the cereal (normally with a fruit or vegetable) and then she still nurses. If she didn't nurse at all in the morning, I would try it his way, but I think she is doing just fine the way things are. She now does not have to go back until she is 9 months, and she is done with some of the vaccinations. It seems as though she is getting worse with each set of shots, but I don't blame her, as I'm NOT a fan of needles at all either. She was as happy as an ant at a crumb fest when he first came in. Probably because her Mammi and I are a little silly AND she was only wearing a diaper. She likes to be naked. Dr. Shrift took her to give her a once over, and she was smiling and bouncy. He put her feet up on the table and she bounced around a bit, and he asked her if she was dancing, and she let out a nice, long, loud scream. She was extremely ticked off. I don't know if she was scared or cold or what, but it was actually kind of entertaining. I know it's not nice to get enjoyment out of Shelbi's sadness, but she's just so animated and dramatic already, that I have to laugh. I'm sure it won't be as amusing when she's a bit older, but I'll take advantage of it while I can. He finished checking her out and gave her back to me, and she seemed to simmer down a bit. Then, came the fun part (I know that sarcasm can't be sensed in a blog, but that was sarcasm). The nurse or medical assistant or whatever her title is, came in with the three shots and the oral vaccination. She drank the oral vaccination like a pro! The nurse said she thinks that may be the fastest anyone ever took it before. That's rather amusing because the last time she had it, she cried and kept turning her head and acted like it was horrible. Then the lady got her ready for the shots, and I covered her eyes. I don't want her to see me and associate me with the pain and discomfort, and boy was she discomforted. She let out a nice hurt cry while the lady gave her two shots in one leg and one in the other. Then, she rubbed the spots for a minute, put the band aids on, and finally I could pick her up. She continued to cry for a bit, but it was more of a mad cry. That was the excitement for the day. I did stop at CVS on the way to lunch with Mammi and Aunt Megan so that I could pick up some hydrocortizone. Dr. Shrift said to use that 3 times a day on the rashes on her face, and hopefully that will clear it up (at least for a while, as it will probably keep coming back). Hopefully, this "baby" eczema will NOT transform itself into the adult eczema that Aunt Megan and Mammi suffer from. Aunt Megan and I walked around the mall for a few minutes, and I found a cute pink, summer outfit (with a giraffe on it) for Shelbi as well. We headed home shortly after that, and Shelbi was fussy and clingy off and on all night. She went to bed around 8:30 with no problems whatsoever, as she was exhausted. Hopefully she will be feeling better tomorrow!

Happy Easter

Today was Shelbi's very first Easter, and it was a lovely day! She woke up so happy this morning, and the Easter Bunny had made a stop here at 2 Goldcrest Place. When we came downstairs, she saw her Easter presents (consisting on some super-cute outfits and some giraffe stuffed animals) and actually played with her one "learning" giraffe. She then ate a scrumdiliumptious breakfast consisting of cereal mixed with prunes and breast milk. Daddy fed her while I jumped in the shower to get ready for church. Daddy also got her dressed in her beautiful dress all by himself! Shelbi and I headed to church, and we got to see Mammi, Uncle Tim, Uncle Nelson, and Aunt Megan. Mammi had a really, REALLY nice book for her (the second in the series), and a couple of other goodies. Shelbi also got to see some of her buddies. Erin, Corry Stone's daughter who was born 2 days before Shelbi, was there, and Shelbi really seems to like to look at other babies. Corry said at one point that there's no denying that she's my daughter...she looks just like me! I LOVE it when people say that to me. I'm sure that she will not like it if it continues, but it makes me feel good. Angie Miller's aunt and cousin were there too with her new baby, and her aunt told her that Shelbi was my daughter, and she responded that she knew that because she looked just like me. Someone else said that she looked like me too, but I cannot remember who. After church, we headed home, and we had a nice afternoon lunch/dinner with Daddy, Pap, Karen, and Karen's mom and dad. Pap got me and Shelbi a gift to share. It was a Cadbury bunny that makes noise, and it has a Cadbury egg in it's mouth. That was for me, while the animal was for her. He also got her a gift card, which we are going to use towards a walker for her. I know that some "professionals" do not like walkers as they say that it keeps the babies from walking longer, but I think that she will really like it AND it's a car! LOL Other than that, we just hung out around the house, had some DQ for dessert and watched Daddy and Ted play Mariocart, which was pretty entertaining. We did get to talk to Nick too, and Savannah actually went and picked him up and made Easter dinner for the two of them and two of her friends. I was really happy that he didn't have to be by himself on Easter. He had gotten a tattoo last week (the Marine bulldog), and he said that he is ready to get another one. I asked him what he was going to get, as he was keeping it a secret, but he told me that he is getting some kind of tree or flower or something, and on the branches is going to be his Mom's name and his Dad's name. Shhhh....it's a secret, but I think that is a really neat idea. We'll see if and when he actually gets it. Tomorrow is Shelbi's 6 month pediatric appointment, so we have another lovely round of shots! Hopefully she will do well and it will go quickly for her, as I HATE seeing her get so upset!

New Favorite and Nice Day

Yesterday, Shelbi got to experience her very first baseball game. Aunt Megan came over in the morning, and the three of us headed to Albright for Uncle Tim's double header. He pitched the first game, and he did pretty well, but they lost. They also lost the second game, but Shelbi got to hang out with Aunt Megan and Mammi and Pop for a bit, and she got to see her Uncle Tim for the third time since birth. He came to see her in the hospital and saw her at Christmas and now again yesterday. He should be seeing her next weekend too, as we plan on attending another game. She did pretty good being outside for quite a while. She's still not used to the breeze and/or wind blowing, so she got upset a little more than normal because she was not able to breathe normally. When we got home from the game, Aunt Megan got ready to leave and waved bye-bye to Shelbi, and she lifted her little arm and attempted to wave back! I thought it was just a fluke, but we were waving to people last night, so she is starting to get it a bit. She lifts her had up and will move it a tiny bit, but she's getting it, and it is SO cute!

Okay, so last evening, we decided to give prunes a try. Well, we decided to let Shelbi try the prunes (I tasted them too, and I have to admit they are pretty darn good. I haven't eaten a prune since the third grade when I made Pruters for some school project. I don't think they were too big of a hit! LOL). She made her regular "prune" face when I put the first spoonful in her mouth, but then she realized that she really, REALLY liked them. I could not get the spoon into her mouth fast enough. She would take a bite, and then when I would remove the spoon from her mouth, she would start to cry until I got the spoon back to her mouth. So, I think the prunes are a hit, and now, when she has prunes all over her face (and her bib and the straps of the highchair, and my arm when she decided to blow bubbles and they come flying out of her mouth), we really can call her fussy prune face! LOL

This afternoon, Scott, Shelbi, and I were upstairs getting ready to head to Shady Maple. We were playing on the bed and Keno was up snuggling with Shelbi too. I began to pet Keno, and at one point I said "Ahh, Keno," and plain as day, Shelbi said Keno. I'm sure that you are thinking that I'm crazy, there's no way that she said Keno, but she did. She didn't realize what she was saying, but Scott heard it too, and we both looked at each other and asked if we really heard what we thought we heard. When we were heading out of the restaurant part of Shady Maple this evening, Scott was showing Shelbi the big mirror in the entrance way. There was a middle aged gentleman standing in the entrance way too, waiting for his daughter to return from the bathroom, and he said, "She should be in contests. She is a beautiful baby." That totally made our night. Of course we think that she is the most beautiful baby in the world, but we are also bias. To hear someone say something like that meant a lot!

Okay, got to get some cleaning done, as we have Easter tomorrow, and Shelbi gets to wear her beautiful Easter dress. She pooped today, so I'm hoping she will make it at least until after church, so we don't ruin the dress, as she has been having massive poops!

Rolling Over

Well, I think that Shelbi has almost mastered rolling over from her belly to her back. She doesn't try to go from her back to her belly, probably because she despises being on her belly. She has, however, gotten a bit better over the past couple of days. She will now stay on her belly and smile for a couple of minutes at me as I'm acting like a goof to keep her from screaming her head off, and she will push herself up and look around. Last week when we were visiting Mammi, she rolled over once, and was very, VERY close a couple of other times, but that was it. Then, yesterday, she did it twice in the afternoon for me, and today, she did it twice again (for Steph and Josie). Josie is almost sitting up completely by herself, and I tried to see how Shelbi would do, but we have a little ways to go for that. She does well, though, as she tries to lean the opposite direction that she is falling.

I was working on her scrapbook a bit today, and I'm hoping to get a little bit more done this evening. I'm also in the process of putting a lot of her pictures in her photo album and some frames. She was quite the angry little girl this evening, but that was due to her being quite tired. All in all, we had a good day. The BFF's came over, we ran to Target where I found a super cute shadow box frame (with pink giraffe's in it), had some yummy DQ for lunch (and I'm about ready to finish my Snicker's Blizzard), and got out scrapbook mess organized. It's funny when the girls are together because it seems as though one of them will be content to play in the exersaucer or the Kickin' Coaster, or whatever, and the other one is a little fuss pot. Then, when the fuss pot chills out, the other one starts. Oh, well, before we know it we will be chasing them around the house or telling them to go play in their bedrooms! LOL I think Shelbi is going to be the bully in that relationship. The last two time they have been together, Shelbi tries to grab Josie's bib (and then tries to eat it), and Josie has gotten a little upset both times. Today, it was because Shelbi was hitting her in the face. Shelbi does seem to smile a lot when she's looking at Josie, so I'm sure they will be GREAT friends.

Oh, and I'm not sure what prompted this, but little Ms. Shelbi was up from 12:15 last night, until around 2:00am. Hopefully that was just a one time thing, and I'm LOVING her sleeping through the night. She is a very good baby, and I am SO blessed to have her.

Okay, enough rambling for now.

Well THAT was fun...

There's definitely some sarcasm in that! LOL Too bad Mammi just barely missed out on the excitement. She was nice enough to stop by when she was out and about (which she really shouldn't be doing because she has a BROKEN FOOT) to drop off my taxes. She came in and hung out with her "Bi" for a few minutes, and then headed to her next destination. Shortly after that, Shelbi was playing contently in her Exersauser. She started to cry pretty hard pretty quickly, so I picked her up, and caught a whiff of some, um, poop. The not pooping for a couple days is just lovely when it finally decided to come to the surface. I went to change her diaper, and she was a horrible mess. I stripped her down, and headed upstairs to the bathroom for a tubby only to find that the fuse had blown in the bathroom, and there was no light, and there are no windows in that bathroom. I put her in her PNP and headed to the basement to flip the fuse. Upon my return, Shelbi decided that she wanted to pee as well. Bath went nice, she's all nice and clean, and now she's fidgeting in her swing...fighting sleep...and I'm hoping to get some more cleaning done around the house and listen to the LMN movie that I have on that has Christopher Meloni in it (even though I do NOT like his character) and/or General Hospital.

Quick Monday

I just wanted to jot down that Shelbi actually ate her cereal this morning without any fruit added to it. So, hopefully she has adjusted herself to the taste, and we can continue to have the rice cereal in the mornings for breakfast, and then either a fruit or a vegetable for dinner. The vegetables have not gone over too well yet (she likes sweet potatoes, SCREAMS at peas and carrots and squash), but she really likes the fruits. Her favorite seems to be the bananas, and I have tasted them, and they are pretty darn good! LOL I did feed her squapplesauce the other day (squash on the spoon with applesauce on top of it), and it worked. So, whatever it takes to get her fruits and her vegetables. This evening she had pears. She seemed okay with them, but she didn't seem to be too much in the mood to eat. She had been rather fussy and clingy off and on all day, so I think she MAY be on the verge of teething! Oh, no!

We met our BFF's Steph and Josie at the Wal-Mart on the Carlisle Pike at 10:00 this morning to pick up our Easter cards and do some shopping. I had a nice long list of groceries to gather up, and the girls did really well. Josie was good the entire time, and Shelbi started to get fussy right at the end when we were checking out. I then ran into JoAnn Fabrics really quickly while Steph kept an eye on the girls, as I was out of the green letters for the scrapbook, and the Love Bugs page is missing some letters and words. We then headed to The Olive Garden for our yummy soup, salad, and breadstick lunch, followed by a scrumdilliumpsious white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Shelbi was quite the little fuss pot, so we didn't lolly gag there too long after we were finished.

This evening, we read the one Baby's First Library Animals book one and a half times, sang a couple of songs (You are My Sunshine, Baa Baa Black Sheep minus the part that I didn't remember, and Everybody Love You), and then I put her in her crib, and she did not fuss or cry or anything, and she drifted off to sleep around 9:00pm.

Okay, I have to get back to addressing her Easter cards, so I will close for now.