Two or three teeth?

Brooke has this white spot on her upper gums (somewhere near where an adult canine tooth would be), but nothing has come of it. It's been there for 3 weeks or more.

Then, last Sunday, my mom was holding Brooke and Brooke was chewing on her finger. She asked me about Brooke's teeth and I told her she has that one on top. Well, boy, was I wrong! She's got two little teeth coming in on the bottom. It's pretty cute, but I do think they are starting to bother her.

I will not be able to grab a picture of them but I will certainly try when they look more like teeth! :)

so, you want pictures?

Daddy and his baby girl

(and advertisement for Caudill Orthodontics)

Mommy and Brookie

Well, I am working on my Sprint card for the internet because I am in Atlanta for work, so hopefully, all of the pictures will load successfully.

Brooke started eating cereal last week. We tried rice cereal at first, she thought it was blah. At the end of the week, we tried oatmeal and she seems to like it. She sometimes screams in between bites which I interpret as "I want more now!" I think it is so neat to watch her eat off of a spoon. Our pediatrician said after having cereal for a couple of weeks, she can start with some Stage 1 baby food.

Turkey leg on Thanksgiving.

Brooke is getting to be such a big girl. Still not rolling over, but she will get on her side and talk and can do a 180 on her side which is funny. We have also had issues getting her to bed. She will NOT go to sleep on her own in the crib, so she falls asleep on someone, and then we transfer her to the crib, but almost 100% of the time, she wakes up and starts crying. We recently realized that she likes to sleep on her side. So, we've had some luck with that the past couple of nights, let's hope we can keep it up. Since she barely naps during the day, we think she should be exhausted at night, but she is a fighter. If anyone has any ideas, we will certainly entertain them. :)

This past weekend, we visited Santa at the mall. Brooke was so good. We got her a bright white dress for Christmas, so the picture is very bright and her dress makes it POP! It's still cute though. (Look for better pictures in a couple of weeks with the same dress).

Aww. Isn't she adorable?

Brooke loves standing!

Waiting in line to see Santa

Wearing Daddy's sweat band. I think she looks like the girl in Little Miss Sunshine :)

Ha. Chris put her in laundry basket in the crib. She loved it.

Aww. Maddie loves Brooke

Ellie does not love Brooke, but she tolerates her...

Ok, I shouldn't be too mad...

Even though there was error after error, it seems that my posts still appeared, so I am not too mad at it anymore. I don't feel like uploading pictures right now, maybe tomorrow.

Brooke sat on Santa's lap yesterday and was a pretty good baby!


Maybe, if you are lucky, I will be in the blogging mood tomorrow. In the meantime, I will just listen to Brooke babble while hanging out on the floor. :)

blogging sucks

I wrote a very long blog last night and there was major errors, and then I tried to post a message telling about the errors, but it was just more errors, so I got mad and didn't re-post.

I might some day soon...

blogging sucks

I typed a very long blog earlier and when I went to post, it was gone due to an error. So, I am mad, and don't feel like typing it all out again. So, don't be mad at me for not blogging, be mad at this site!

blogging sucks

I just wrote the longest blog and hit publish, and there was an error. I refuse to write it again right now. This pisses me off.

I know, I am not a good blogger!

Well, it's hard going back to work. When I am home, I don't want to be on the computer, I want to spend time with Brooke.

So, what's been going on...well, for me. I am back to work and it's very hard to be on the road and away from her, especially when I am not in Florida. I cover Georgia and Alabama too now. I usually end up crying when I am driving back home. I just don't like being away from her at this point in her life. She's too young to not have me at home every night. Oh well, I gotta do what I gotta do. Right now, I am in Tampa with my breastpump and cooler. Yep, I have to travel with that too, but I want to keep her on breastmilk as long as I can. I'd like to make it to a year, but we will see. She gets about 4-8 oz of formula a day, but I prefer to have breastmilk most of the time.

Chris started a new job. Our plan was to have him be a stay at home daddy, but the money just wasn't working out. So, he is doing an incoming Customer Service call center job. He is still in training. His dad, my mom and our neighbor are going to help out with watching little Brooke. We are thankful to have them. There is a chance he might be able to do this from home at some point, so it may all work out in the end.

And, what's going on with Brooke...well, she's 4 months old now. We just went to the pediatrician yesterday. She weighs 13 lbs 8 oz. She is 25.5 inches long. She got her 4 month shots. She cried, but just for a moment or two, and calmed down with us holding her. She is NOT a napper and the doctor told us she may never be a napper! AHHH! She wakes up around 7:30 every morning and goes to bed around 10 or 10:30. She usually is awake all day, sometimes she cat naps, sometimes she takes a good nap, but mostly, she keeps her eyes open all day!!!! It's hard for us, because we don't get a break! She tried rice cereal with a spoon today and yesterday, but doesn't seem to be the biggest fan. We will try some oatmeal cereal at the end of the week when I am back home.

I don't remember if I wrote or not, but we visited the orthopaedist again and Brooke had another xray. The doctor said everything looked good (after asking us AGAIN if she is a girl or boy---wearing an all pink outfit!), and wants to see her back when she is walking! WHAT...I can't even imagine that yet! She isn't rolling over yet, but she is getting close. What I thought and our pediatrician confirmed is that her harness delayed her with this. She spent a lot of time on her back with the harness and couldn't even try to roll on her side, or have us put her on her side, so we are working on it and hopefully will have a baby rolling over within the month.

I don't have any pictures for this post because I have not uploaded pics in awhile, and I am on the road...so maybe for the next post.

I am starving. Must eat dinner. Bye for now.

Halloween 2008

Brooke dressed up as a Miami Dolphins cheerleader. She did great all night, hanging outside with her parents handing out candy.

Here are a few shots of her "posing":

Cheerleaders get tired! But still do proper cheerleading poses!

Fred, Daphne, and Brooke in her Gator cheerleading outfit

Happy Halloween!

Here are some cute pictures of Brooke with pumpkins!

More pics

Well, sometimes when I try to add the pictures, the whole thing freaks out and takes forever, so it really isn't my fault, but I meant to put these on the previous blog.

Louisville Audiology

First time at the beach (evening)

On the first leg of our flight home from KY

And, it happened again. Can't post the rest of the pics! Look for more later.

She's just getting so big!

I can't believe three months have already gone by! We watched the video of her right after the birth and it just doesn't seem possible that she was that small!

On October 16, we flew to Louisville. We flew on Southwest, which now has children board after the 60 people in the A group. Well, I messed that up. When we got to the gate, there was nowhere to sit and Brooke was starting to get fussy, so the three of us walked around the airport, changed her diaper, made a formula bottle (just in case) and when we got back to the gate, everyone had boarded. Yep, all 60 in the A group, all 60 in the B group, and all 60 in the C group. We were the last people on the plane, only middle seats left. I was sweating! However, a nice gentleman offered Chris his seat so that we could sit next to each other. THANK GOD! I don't think I could have done this by myself, especially in a middle seat. The flight went really well, Brooke nursed on the way up and slept on the way down. She didn't even make a peep!

Just hanging out at the airport

Sleeping on the plane with her favorite puppy

Louisville was a lot colder than Florida. We had to buy outfits with pants to keep her warm. While in Kentucky, we visited family in Lexington, visited Parker's grave (our Jack Russell who died when he was two), went to Jodee's wedding, and hung around downtown Louisville. Brooke was really good, with the exception of staying awake until 1:30 am on Thursday night.

Hanging with Sydlowski

Brrr...it's cold in Kentucky

Drew, Pattie, and Bryan in Lexington

Parker's grave in Indiana

First bath in a sink.

Liz, Chris, Brooke at wedding

Daddy and Brooke on the dance floor

Casey and Brooke

The Bride and Groom

Jodee and Todd

Congrats guys!

Guess Who Is Sleeping in Her Own Room???

Brooke!!!!

Yep, that's correct! Last night, I thought I might as well try it out. I knew she would be fine, but I was more concerned with how I would feel. We have a video monitor, so I woke up a few times and squinted across the room to see what was going on, but she was a trooper, and slept through the night, all the way across the house in her own room!

Here she is in the morning after her first night in her crib.

While I am at it, here are a few more pictures of our little baby girl:

Smiling at her puppy

BIG BLUE EYES

Foot hanging out

Looking at her mobile...

Smiley baby in the morning

And, tomorrow, we are off to Louisville for a wedding. We are also going to visit some family in Lexington while we are in Kentucky.

Oh, and Brooke is in her crib for the second night in a row. She went to sleep at 9:54 tonight, that's WAY earlier than she usually goes to bed! But, we did have a tiring day, out running errands and meeting with friends from 9:45 until 2:15.

Look for more pictures soon!

I am CRAZY!

I am not sure if I have documented this on here before, but since Brooke has been home with us, I have been nuts. For almost all of the 10 weeks she has been around, I have woken up in the middle of the night and thought Ellie (and sometimes Maddie) was Brooke. I have woken Chris up to have him get her out of the bed, with him reassuring me that it is not Brooke and that I am feeling the dogs. I have even woken up and made myself keep my legs in a certain position because Chris told me to so that Brooke wouldn't fall out of bed. WE HAVE NEVER HAD HER IN OUR BED! This has happened almost every night. What is it...that I am extrememly tired? That Ellie was my baby for 6 years?

But, last night, was the kicker...

I woke up, felt "Brooke", realized it wasn't Brooke when I felt the snout and ears, BUT I still picked Ellie up. (side note: I have tried to pick her up previously, but there is quite a weight difference between Ellie [35lbs) and Brooke [11 lbs], so I have realized it and went back to sleep). BUT, I was crazy last night and I picked her up and got halfway to the bassinet. Chris wakes up and tells me it is Ellie and not to put her in the bassinet. Thankfully, he woke up or Ellie would have been having a slumber party with Brooke.

Why am I so nuts??

No more harness, yippie!

Okay, it's been a week since she has been harness-less, but I just haven't felt like taking the time to upload pictures and whatnot...I promise I will get better.

Last Friday, Brooke had an appointment with the orthopaedist and had a repeat X-ray. After the X-ray, we went into an exam room and got the good news as soon as we walked in. She needs to go back in six weeks for a follow up, but the doctor says her hips are perfect! YEA! We thought about having a burning party for the harness, but really 1) it wasn't THAT bad, and 2) we need to show her this harness when she is older and 3) maybe we could use it as an embarassment when she in her teens. Just kidding about that last one...and for doing so great, she got a jogging stroller as a gift!

We also had a pediatrician appointment yesterday. Brooke now weighs 11 lbs, 6 oz and is 24 inches long. She is growing so much. Her height is in the 90th percentile and her weight and head circumference are in the 75th percentile. Both Chris and I thought she would be 25 inches, but she's not...she just seems so long! She also had her first set of vaccinations. The first was an oral liquid, she wasn't too fond of it and kept gagging on it. The others were needles in her leg! I thought she was handling it fine, but then she turned bright red, held her breath and let out such a scream! It was so sad! Her daddy picked her up and soothed her and she was much better. The vaccinations knocked her out. We left there around 10:30 and she was still sleeping at 2:30. I decided to wake her up to eat since she hadn't eaten since 8:30. So, all in all, yesterday was a long day, but she handled it well.

Morning of pediatrician appointment

She also got to see her grandfather (Chris' dad) yesterday. He has been in Michigan for the past 8 weeks or so. He missed her a lot.

Let's see what else she has been doing. For the past few weeks (maybe 4-5 weeks), she has been sleeping through the night. Her least amount of time is 5 hours, but she usually sleeps for 8-10 hours. People keep telling us that we are lucky and boy, do we know it...we only had a couple of nights of sleeplessness, and those were not enjoyable.



Brooke has been smiling a lot more on her own (without gas being the instigator!). Her daddy can get her to smile when he blows in her face or when I do raspberries in the air.

Sadly, I go back to work three weeks from today. I am really going to miss her. I love spending the day with her and running errands with her. I think she will miss me too, but at least she will have her daddy with her during the day. He's still looking for a way to make money from home, so if any one has any ideas, we are definitely open to them. :)





Pictures below:

First time in the pool.

Florida/Tennesse Game.

Second time wearing pants.

After her bath.

SMILES!!!!

Isn't she adorable? Looking at her daddy.

With Mommy in Baby Bjorn (and wearing Robeez shoes!)

In another sling with daddy (yes, that is a wife beater he is wearing!)

All stretched out. No flash because it wakes her up and we don't need that....