Mallory the minnow

I survived my first out of town trip by myself with Miss Mallory. I thought that she would sleep the whole way to my parent's house if I left right after I fed her. Well, we got about 30 minutes out of Temple and the screaming began! And for those of you who have been around Mallory for any length of time know that when she screams, you can here it 100 miles away! Which is more annoying? A screaming baby while you are driving on I 35 in the rain, or a baby sucking on a pacifier that keeps popping out of her mouth and landing where you can't reach it??? Hmmm. It's a toss up. Let's just say that we bought a paci clip right away at Target (ah, Target. I have missed it so.)! She did much better on the ride home and so did mommy:) Brad missed her a lot and is glad that she is home. When Brad went to get her out of the car, she just looked at him and had a huge gummy smile for him...too sweet!


Mallory had her first swimming lesson with Grandpa yesterday. We got through it without shooey or spit up in the pool! She really liked the water. I took her in first and she didn't cry until I put her on her back. But it was just for a minute, and then she was fine. I think she stayed in for almost 25 minutes-long enough for pruney toes! No smiles from her, but she seemed really relaxed like she was enjoying herself.

I know she looks like a boy in the pictures. I'm a bad mommy and didn't have a bathing suit or a hat for her...terrible I know. She's wearing one of those lil' swimmers. I did put tons of sunscreen on her and we tried to keep her shaded. Grandpa can't wait for her to come swimming again. I made him promise not to dunk her, and he restrained himself this time, but I don't know if he'll be able to next time!

Update on the cutie patootie

Well, Mallory is officially 12 weeks old today! Crazy how fast the time goes. And how fast you forget what you were feeling like 12 weeks ago:) We are loving our little girl! She changes almost everyday it seems. Here is the latest of what she is/can do now: Mallory loves her hands! She sucks, clasps them together, chews and stares at them like she has never seen them before. She is becoming quite the conversationalist lately. No words yet, but lots of funny noises and expressions to go with them. I love watching her with Brad when he has her in his lap. They just talk and talk. Too cute. She isn't quite as much of a bobble head anymore. I was taking some pictures of her sitting up in a chair and she can actually hold her head upright and still all by herself...for about 30 seconds and then face plant! I weighed her this morning with me (not very accurate) and she is about 14 pounds. Chunker. That is the developmental update on our end. Hopefully we'll have some pictures of her first swim and soccer game coming soon!

Family portrait!

Daddy thinks he is sooo funny!

Do we live in a bachelor pad, or am I just lazy?

Tortillas, an old bag of ice, breastmilk and the container for our ice cream maker. That is sad. I really need to go to the grocery store!

My problem is that I only buy things that we need at the moment. There is no "stocking up" or "just in case we don't already have it" happening when Shannon goes to Super WalMart. I guess that might be a good thing, until dinner time comes around.

My other problem is that I really don't like going to the grocery store. It stresses me out to be creative and come up with a week's worth of dinners. The solution? Put Brad in charge of grocery shopping! Totino's pizza for everyone tonight! No, maybe I just need to pray for excitement in the preparation of dinner area. If only I could be more like Elizabeth George...

Someone is a birthday boy today...

Happy Birthday to Wade!

So many things we love about Wade:

-He loves my sister and is perfect for her

-He is very witty and fun to be around

-Life is always an adventure: we get to look for his wallet, keys, cell phone or whatever else he brought to wherever he was going:)

-We can always count on two yummy foods when we are with him: Magic Shell and Blue Bell, Chips and a "bucket" of queso

-He doesn't know a stranger. Wade can talk to someone he doesn't even know and make them feel like an old friend. That's why he is so good at his pharmaceutical sales job!

Wade, I'm glad Kelly finally talked to you on the phone after making me take messages that one summer. You are the perfect man for Kelly and we are so happy you are a part of our weird family. We can't wait to see Wade in "daddy mode". We love you and hope you have a fantastic day!

Love, Brad, Shannon and Mallory

Things you might not know about yours truly

I stole this from my sister's blog. Thought it might be interesting:

Four Things...
Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Sacker/Checker at Tom Thumb grocery store (I once received $5 in one tip. I was quite the sacker!)
2. Milwaukee Joe's gourmet ice cream (an easy and fun job before starting at ACU)
3. CNA at Hendrick Medical Center (I am thankful for this job. I started out at the bottom and got to see what the medical field is really like-poopy old people, catheters and all!)
4. Registered Nurse in the ER at Hendrick

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Steel Magnolias (I still cry like a baby every time I see it)
2. Napoleon Dynamite
3. Clueless (back in the college days. I think our apartment had 3 copies of the movie)
4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (I still laugh like I've never seen it before)

Four books I could read over & over:
I would need to read books to answer this one. I decided today that I am going to try to start (and finish) reading all of the books we own. I don't know if I have completed more than half of them. But, when I was younger, I could read the Sweet Valley High series, Ramona Quimby series and Just as Long as We're Together by Judy Blume over and over.

Four places you have lived:
1. Sugar Land, TX
2. Hurst, TX
3. Abilene, TX
4. Temple, TX

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. The Office
2. House Hunters
3. Live with Regis and Kelly
4. TLC/HGTV

Four memorable places you have been on vacation:
1. NYC with the fam
2. Breckenridge, CO (first time to ski)
3. St. Petersburg, FL (honeymoon)
4. Trek from Texas to Anderson, South Carolina (that wasn't necessarily vacation, but very memorable, a month after marrying Brad)

Four web sites I visit daily:
1. yahoo.com
2. extraco.com
3. weather.com
4. blogs

Four of my favorite foods:
1. chicken fajitas at On the Border...mmmmm!
2. Macaroni and cheese (I ate SOOO much of this when I was pregnant-roughly 40 boxes probably-I had to give it up for about 3 months. You will be glad to know I have had it twice in the last week and still like it. Phew!)
3. Johnny Carino's chocolate cake
4. Chips and queso

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Somewhere near a beach or pool to get a tan
2. San Francisco, CA
3. NYC with Brad (he's never been before) at Christmas time
4. Holding Mallory and seeing her smile (she's asleep)

So, what about all of you guys? Hmmmm??

Lots of things running through my head

So, now that I have the intro entry done comes the hard part. What do I write about next to keep you all coming back for more? This one is a big one. After this it is smooth sailing and the pressure is off. I've decided to do a jumble entry today. Jumble is code for rambling just FYI.

Brad and I ponder often how our parents raised us without all the stuff that babies come with now. How in the world did they breastfeed before a Boppy came along? And a bouncy seat! I think that was what my carseat was back then and now it's a form of entertainment. A wipey warmer...come on! I must say the one "extravagant" thing I love now more than ever is a pacifier. I know, I know, they had those when I was a baby. But Mallory has just now taken to the idea and our house is a little more quiet now. She would SCREAM if we would even try to put the thing in her mouth up until about 2 weeks ago. Now she screams for us to put it in her mouth:) Kara said she looks like Maggie from the Simpsons when she starts sucking on it. I think it's pretty cute.

Mallory was back in her bassinett last night. I put her down in her crib at 11:30pm. She woke up at 5:00am (good girl!) to eat. As I am feeding her I notice a black object out of the corner of my eye. I think I have "spi-dar". I can spot any bug really fast. It's annoying for Brad because I don't kill them, I just point to where he needs to go! Anywhoo. So, I see this little black spider and I keep my eye on it until Mallory is done eating. I lay her down on the bed and go to get something to kill the spider. Do I grab a tissue so I can squash it? No, I first get on Brad's flip flops so I don't step on any other bugs (because since I found one there has to be tons more), then I return and it is gone! Great. Now I am paranoid that it has crawled up the leg of her crib and into the bed. So, off we go back to mommy and daddy's room where she (and I) slept soundly until 8:00am! Brad was confused when he woke up to hearing her shooey (that's what we call #2 around here and Mallory's are exceptionally loud!).

My last thought for the day and then I am done. I love Bermuda shorts! I have a short torso and long arms so normal shorts look weird on me. They always look way shorter than they really are (the fingertip rule in school was very annoying). So when I discovered Bermuda shorts it was heaven! Plus they are super comfortable. I guess you know I am wearing some right now.

Well, that is it for now. Mallory just woke up so I am going to de-bug her bed before she is ready for another nap!

Stretttcccchhhh

Here is a goofy picture of Mallory. She is stretching right after she has eaten. She almost rolled off my lap. And she is waving at her daddy. And she is naked because I think her #2 came out the back of her diaper and onto her outfit. Nasty.

(I promise I'm not going to be annoying and have like 4 entries a day-Brad would make me go back to work, I was just wanting to practice putting pictures on this thing!)

I've given in...

Okay Kelly, I have jumped on your bandwagon. And Wade's I guess too since he is quite the blogger lately:)

Disclaimer: I am not making this blog because I have all these insightful and funny things to say. Mainly, it is a way to keep everyone updated on us and to talk to people everyday! I have found with my new job, there isn't a whole lot of talking going on. Yes, I talk to Mallory everyday. It's not silent in our house. But, I don't consider "Can you smile at me?" and "Wow, that was a loud toot!", talking. I need real conversations...oh wait, I'm typing on a computer right now. Is that considered real conversation? Anywhoo. You get my drift.

So, here it is...Shannon's blog! Try to enjoy! Sorry Brad, I was bored this morning!