It's true

Everyone has said the 4 month shots are worse than the 2 month shots. Boy, is it true. You all pretty much know that Mallory is a screamer when she cries, but this time was different. She got 4 shots again. The first one was the "Ouch, what was that for?". The second one made her mad and then of course, the ones to follow as well. She had a very pitiful scream. It was sad and I got teary watching her in the mirror hold her breath and turn red. Last time she quieted down as soon as I picked her up. This time, not so much. She was hurting! Good thing for the paci though. That helped a lot. She fell asleep while we were waiting to check out and she is still out in her crib now. Poor girl. We did have a really sweet nurse that gave her the shots. She kept asking Mallory for a "mile". Brad and I thought it was funny she left the "s" off of smile. She also gave Mallory a bright orange fish...that is in a fish bowl right now....not really, it's a stuffed animal. Anywhoo.

Now for the 4 month update:
Weight: 15 pounds (75th percentile)
Height: 26 1/2 inches (above the 95th percentile! The nurse might have stretched her a little too much on the table:) )

Dr. Kastner gave us the okay to start rice cereal. He even said we could start jar baby food, but I don't think I'm ready for that! I think we'll try cereal next week. I told him about her sleep issues (not sleeping for more than 4 hours at a time and waking up after 2 hours usually-but going back to sleep after her paci is back in). He told us to cut back on her naps. We'll see how that one goes. If she is anything like her mommy (which we all know she is, since she is moody!), cutting back on naptime won't be beneficial. But, we will try and see how it goes. It jsut dawned on me that the reason she sleeps so well when we are with family, is because she doesn't take long naps like at home. Maybe that will be the trick. He said she is very pretty and healthy. We agree!

A new friend for Mallory

I just got a message on my cell phone that my good friend Lori had her baby girl this morning! Faith Elisabeth was born around 10am and weighed 7 lbs, 15 oz. Mom and baby are doing well. Hopefully I will be able to meet miss Faith this weekend! Mallory is going to have so many friends to play with, it is exciting!

On a different note...my husband thinks he is funny. He keeps switching the way the toilet paper roll is hanging in our bathroom! I thought I was losing my mind and then I asked him about it and he owned up. Very funny.

I don't want to jinx myself (like I have done before), but the last 4 nights, Mallory has taken a bottle. Each night is less and less crying. Kelly was in town last night and she gave Mallory the first half without a whole lot of screaming. Then, tonight, there was only about 2 minutes of crying and she took the bottle like a pro! Next up, formula! I won't get my hopes up for that yet, I'm just pleased she is taking the bottle. Brad and I might actually get to stay out longer than 1 1/2 hours at a time on a date! Woo hoo!

To keep all of you readers coming back for more...stay tuned for a blog about N squared! I can't divulge anymore, but I promise you will not be disappointed!

Is "exersauce" a word?

I just got back from our friend's house. He had knee surgery yesterday, and his wife is a little squeamish and asked me to come over and change out his bandage. It was fun "playing nurse". It made me miss my job...just a little.

I've decided to start a new blogging topic: the level of difficulty required for each of Mallory's toys that we have to put together. It really is ridiculous. I mean, why can't they box up toys that are already assembled? It would make parent's lives so much easier.

Yesterday I got out the exersaucer. The box says 4 months and up, so it's time to "exersauce". It took approximately 2 hours to complete (that is including putting Mallory down for a nap and entertaining her after she woke up from her nap). The instructions were a little overwhelming at first, but not too bad after you started. The hardest part was getting one of the spinning toys onto the top of it. Brad had to help me this morning with a flat head screw driver and both of us pushing and pulling on it. I also broke a nail putting this together. There should be a warning for that: "Warning: file all nails down before trying to assemble product." After all was said and done and after Mallory tried it out, I give this toy a 2 1/2 out of 5 for it's difficulty. I'm sure there will be more difficult toys in the future.

Before:

After:

It appears that someone is ready for the soccer game today. Let's just hope the Crusaders are too! They lost yesterday to UT Tyler 2-1. It was a good game and they played really well (I thought-Brad might have other ideas!). Today it's Concordia University, another good team. Hopefully I'll have a good report for you all later.

UPDATE: We beat Concordia 3-1. I thought it was a great game, but Brad didn't think they played as well as they could have. So, he has a practice scheduled for tomorrow for whoever (read: everyone) that wants to come. Tough coach, huh? UMHB is tied right now with 3 other schools (I think) for a spot in the conference tournament. Pretty impressive for Brad's first year. Keep it up!

She'll be getting married before we know it...

Mallory is 4 months old today. We are falling in love with her more and more each day.

At 4 months old, these are the tricks Mallory can do:
*Hold her head steady when carrying her
*Reach for toys when you hold them out in front of her
*Take her paci out of her mouth and hold it (she tries to put it back in, but hasn't been successful yet)
*Raise her head up and reach for her feet (or whatever she can grab) when she is lying on her back
*Make a really cute sound with the spit in her mouth
*Hold her head up and look side to side when she is on her tummy
*Almost fit her whole fist in her mouth (who does she get that trait from??)
*Turn her head in the direction of mommy's or daddy's voices
*She can turn onto her side, but not all the way over quite yet

We all go to the doctor next Thursday, so I'll have her "stats" then. I'm most curious about how long she is:)


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On a different note, today is my sister in law's birthday! Happy Birthday Jennifer! We love you and hope you have a great day!

Thank you Sharon!

Yesterday my sweet mother in law (Sharon) came to our house. She hadn't seen Mallory in 6 weeks, so she was going through withdrawals. I got to go grocery shopping, to the bank and return stuff at WalMart all within one hour! She kept Mallory for me so I could get it all done quick. Then, even better. She babysat so Brad and I could go on a date. We went to Killeen for dinner, walked around the new Kohl's and then came home to feed Mallory (because she still won't take a flippin bottle! We are getting closer with the Playtex nurser...at least she doesn't scream with that one). After her tummy was full and she fell asleep in Sharon's arms, out we went, to a movie! We saw Invincible. And we were the only ones in the theater! How fun is that? It was a real date. And much needed. We haven't been out alone since she was born I think.

It was interesting to be at dinner and realize that Mallory is definitely part of our family now (not that we didn't think so...you know what I mean). Strange how we feel like we have always had her and "what did we do before she came along". She's grown on us a lot since her first loooonggg (and loud) week at home:)

Grilled cheese and....

This is a recurrent debate that Brad and I have had a lot over the 7 years we've known each other.

Growing up, I always ate grilled cheese with soup (either chicken noodle or tomato). When I met Brad and made a grilled cheese sandwich for him the first time, he looked at me like I was crazy for offering soup with it. This is what our conversation was like:

"Soup?", he said. "You don't eat a grilled cheese with soup, you eat a grilled cheese with chips."

"Chips, with a grilled cheese?", I asked back. "No way, you have soup with a grilled cheese (unless you are at Sonic, and then you have tater tots)."

Tonight we ate cheap and had grilled cheese sandwiches. I had chicken noodle soup with it and Brad had BBQ chips. He made a gross face when I dipped the sandwich into the soup...mmmm! It got me thinking about what other people have with their grilled cheese sandwich. Is Brad the only weirdo out there?? Let me know!

Dang it.

I "spoke" too soon. Mallory woke up at 1:15am! We let her cry for 40 minutes. 40 minutes people! That is a long time! She is stubborn with a capital S. So, I put her paci back in and re-swaddled her. Now it was 1:55 and she falls asleep...for 20 minutes. She's up again at 2:18am. This time she cries for 30 minutes and her little cry is getting hoarser (is that a word?) by the minute. I give in and swaddle her/give her the paci. She is out until 6:30am that time. What is the deal? I knew I should have waited a full week before blogging about her sleeping habits...bummer.

Weekend update

Soccer: We lost Friday (in the last 53 seconds-big bummer) and won Saturday. Brad was pleased. It was HOT and muggy on Friday, but Mallory was a trooper and stuck it out the whole game. Dad came down to see Mallory, I mean, watch the game on Friday. It was good to see him. He was a trooper too. Did I mention that it was hot at the game? Saturday was much better. We had a thunderstorm and then a "cold" front blew in. Much more pleasant. LaShay, Steve and Briley (their golden doodle) came to visit us and watch soccer. We got a free lunch because of bad service at a good restaurant (then we met our waitress from the restaurant at church the next morning-oops!)

Sleep: This is the best part. Most of you know that Mallory has been having sleep issues lately. I won't go on and on about it here, just know that it was getting annoying. Anywhoo. We had to initiate some "tough love" on Thursday night. We let her cry for 37 minutes and then she finally fell asleep. She woke up again, and after another 35 minutes of crying, she was out until 6:45am. Friday night was better. She didn't cry at all, and slept from 10:00pm until 6:20am! Saturday night only had 8 minutes of crying and then sleeping from 10:30pm until 5:20am! We're crossing our fingers tonight. I put her down at 8:40 and haven't heard a peep. Now, I can handle 7-8 hours of sleep. What I do feel bad about is how hoarse she has been. She sounds so different. Except when she gets mad. It's amazing how she can still muster up this demon scream that comes out of nowhere. She is talented.

Church nursery: We put Mallory in the church nursery for the first time this morning for service and sunday school. I was a little nervous since we haven't been going to this church for very long, but she did great. She slept during the service and then I fed her and dropped her back off without a hitch. It was nice to be in "Brad and Shannon mode" instead of "mommy and daddy mode" for a morning. We could concentrate a lot better and not be on edge making sure she doesn't cry or interrupt anything.

Nephew news: Kelly and Wade decided on a name for our nephew. His name will be Robert Tate, but he will go by Tate. You can read all about his name here or here. We are excited this little guy has a name now. We can't wait for Tater Tot to get here!

That was our weekend in a nutshell. It was good to win a soccer game, see some family and get some much needed sleep!

6 hours and counting...

The season premier of The Office is on tonight and we can't wait! Brad and I started watching this show when it first came out and got hooked pretty quickly. Michael is a dork. I always feel uncomfortable for him anytime he talks. Dwight is odd. The Jim/Pam saga is good. Although since they kissed, I'll be interested to see what happens.

I've always wanted to work in an office setting. I guess it was back when I would get paid $3/hour to help my dad at his office inputting data all day long. I would think that I was so cool when I would get a drink out of the break room fridge...or take a donut off the table (like they were for me). I mean, I was only 13 or 14 at the time. And dad would buy me a snack from the snack machine. Good times. I also like all of the office supplies. You can have all the highlighters, post its, pens, finger wax for sifting through papers fast, staple removers, staplers, copy machines with staplers in them you want. I was the same way with school supplies. And the smell of warm copy paper...brings back lots of memories.

I wonder what type of "office employee" I would be....

She already has a complex

Dear makers of Infantino toys:

I am concerned that you might be giving children bad self esteems. Giving your toys real names may not be a good idea in the long run.

Take, for instance, Mallory the Monkey. Yes, I know it is a cute name. Unfortunately, my daughter, Mallory, has abnormally long arms/legs and is a bit hairy on her back, ears, and arms. How would you like it if your aunt came to visit and gave you a toy that is named after you and happens to be a monkey?? Wouldn't you be offended?

Now, we love our dangle toys for her car seat. But, I didn't notice those toys having real names like Emma the Elephant, or Lauren the Lion. What is it? Do you think that all Mallorys are hairy and long limbed?

We are going to let Mallory play with the monkey, but we just wanted to make you aware of what you might be doing to children if you continue naming your toys after them. Thank you for taking the time.

Sincerely,
Concerned parent




****We really do love Mallory the Monkey and appreciate Aunt Kelly and Uncle Wade giving Mallory such a fun toy!

Update below....

It's my Bumbo and I'm sitting up...sort of!

"Look at me! I'm a big girl and can hold my head up all by myself!" We just have to work on getting her head in the center instead of always leaning over.

This is a cute one. And I will also give a little shout out to my friend Meredith who made this very cute blanket for Mallory (notice the M).

And here is our little poser. Check out her big girl outfit! Those are denim capris! Too cute. This outfit is from Mallory's friend Brooke. Brooke gave it to Mallory since she is so much older and can fit into it.

I felt like an "official" mommy yesterday. I went to my first play group. I got there a little late, but I got to meet several other moms. I am slowly meeting more people. It feels good. Brad has a big game this afternoon. They play Howard Payne University. It's their first conference game. Wish him luck! I'll update after the game...check back!

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Update! UMHB beat the Howard Payne Yellowjackets 2-1! Woo hoo! They were tied up until the last 2 minutes and then we scored! It was a hot, but good game. Mallory wore purple to support the Crusaders. She behaved until a fan with an airhorn came by to say hello...she didn't like that too much and let everyone around her know! Anyway, it was a good game and we got to see some Abilene High parents (5 of Brad's AHS boys went to HPU).

In honor of Mallory:

Thirteen thoughts I have had in the middle of the night while feeding her:

1. "Already?" That is after I stayed up too late when she had already gone to bed and had to wake up an hour (or 20 minutes) later.

2. "Ouch, that hurt!" I have run into many doors, walls, beds etc. while walking around our house in the dark.

3. "Do men have mammary glands?" My memory of anatomy class is a little fuzzy at 3:00 am. They don't have them, but it sure would be helpful!

4. "How can such a sweet, little baby make such a smelly, big shooey?" I'm talking out the back of the diaper here people. It's bad!

5. "I really need to finish her nursery." I mean, what, she's only 3 1/2 months old already! Geez.

6. "What kind of mommy am I and will I be when you get older?" Am I doing everything I can right now for you to grow and learn new things? Will you like to hang out with me? Will you talk to me? Will we get along, or both be really stubborn when you are a teenager?

7. "Thank you Lord for the pacifier." It really is nice that it soothes her (most of the time) and helps her fall asleep a little faster.

8. "When is it that babies sleep 12 hours at night?" And can it happen sooner? :)

9. "How can I leave your room and make you go to sleep, when you look up at me and smile, making your paci fall out of your mouth?" I absolutely love when Mallory smiles. It is the best feeling in the world. Especially when I am really tired and grumpy and rethinking this whole breastfeeding thing. It makes it all worth it.

10. "It would be really nice if you would take a bottle." I know I kind of sound like I'm complaining about the breastfeeding thing. I really do enjoy it and I'm happy to do it for her sake. It's just that some nights (or days) I wish I could have a break. But no, Mallory really likes me and screams when we try a bottle. Fun times.

11. "That takes talent-sleeping and eating at the same time." I guess she isn't really sleeping, but it sure looks like it with her eyes closed and peaceful.

12. "How do you wiggle out of your swaddle so easy when I put it around you so tight?" She is a little Houdini sometimes!

13. "What a blessing." It still amazes me that she grew inside of me. Crazy. Thank you Lord for this long, loud (when screaming), chubby cheeked, fuzzy headed, long eyelashed, big footed, stubborn, beautiful baby girl. We can't imagine our life without her now.

*A side note: UMHB beat Texas Weslyan yesterday afternoon 6-0!! Gooooo Brad! It was a great game and we got to stay for the whole thing!

You just gotta roll with it

I never thought I had any quirks about the way toilet paper hangs on the roll. Apparently I recently acquired one. I have found myself changing the direction of it after Brad puts a new roll on! I prefer for the paper to hang behind the roll. I don't know why. Maybe it looks more attractive hanging that way? Maybe it is easier to tear off that way? The world may never know.

So, which way do you put your roll on?

It's raining, it's pouring...

...and Mallory is snoring...finally! That girl is stubborn. I don't know where she gets it from! She normall takes 3-4 naps during the day. Today? Only 1 early this morning. That makes for a very grumpy girl. But now she is sleeping peacefully and it is raining outside. Who wouldn't want to take a nap while it's raining? Below is a picture of her feet with rain drops on them. I contemplated setting her on our sidewalk in her bouncy chair to feel the drops, but then thought this would be nicer:) She wasn't very interested, so we came back inside.


Well, I guess I better update on the games from Saturday. Everyone knows how UT did...booo! UMHB didn't do much better. They lost in overtime 3-2. Brad was actually pleased with the way they came back in the second half to tie up the game. But unfortunately, it didn't lead to a win. We've got a busy week though. Games on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. Oh boy! Hopefully we'll come away happy campers.

Today is September 11th. I always thought it was so interesting how vividly my parents could remember where they were/what they were doing when JFK got shot. Now I have my own "JFK" to tell Mallory about. I was leaving my apartment in Abilene to go to clinicals. I turned on the radio and the first plane had hit. I thought "How in the world can a pilot not see the World Trade Center right in front of him?" It wasn't until I got to clinicals and saw the TV that I realized what really happened. I was stunned. Our instructors let us go early. That was nice of them, but we were all glued to the TV all day and had a test the next day. Nice. It still doesn't seem real to me even after 5 years and all the video that has captured it. I guess I just can't believe people are that cruel and messed up. Recently, after watching all of the specials on TV, I've been thinking more about the firefighters. They had to have known they weren't going to survive after they started the trek up the stairs. Amazing sacrifice. I just can't fathom it. Thank you Lord for the people that choose those professions.

On a lighter note, Kelly is staying with us tonight. That will be fun to see her growing belly. For those that don't know, she and Wade are having a boy! We have to wait until the end of September for Kelly to decide on the name. It's driving Wade crazy! Us too!

This one's for Brad

Today's entry is for Brad. He is a huge UT fan and "supposedly" it is a big game against Ohio State today. So, we all donned out burnt orange to support the longhorns. Mallory really enjoyed the ESPN college game day as you can see below. She talked quite a bit, more than usual. Hopefully after tonight, I will have a very happy husband. UMHB plays this afternoon at 5:00. So, go Crusaders and Longhorns!







Continuing with Brad. We ate at this hamburger place in Temple yesterday. It was pretty good. After we were done, Brad asked for a quarter to play Ms. Pacman (no, he didn't have to ask, he just didn't have any change on him). I gave him one and off he went. After about 10 minutes of playing, we left and got in the car. While he was bragging about how he doubled the top score, he turned the AC up and lifted his arms up toward the vents. He broke a sweat playing Ms. Pacman!! His excuse was that it was hot in there. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and had no complaints. Guess it was his mean Ms. Pacman playing skills getting him all worked up! I love it and him. Go longhorns and Crusaders!

Good times for everyone!

Today was a fun day! I got to see my really good friend (I'd call her my best friend, but it might sound junior high-ish), Kara. She lives in Abilene with her hubbie Tim, their almost 18 month old Kaylee and almost 3 month old Brooke (she was born 11 days after Mallory and they will be friends!). They have been our "really good friends" for almost 4 years now. We were very sad to move away from them. Before I get teary, I'll change the subject back to my day. Kara and I met in Comanche and got to eat lunch together! Her mom (who is wonderful) offered to drive Kara and the girls to come see me. What a woman! So, we ate at Miguel's (a mexican restaurant with a big tepee in front) and then went to the courthouse and took some pictures while Kaylee got worn out from running around in the leaves and down the ramp. It was well worth the crying fits that Mallory had about half way into both trips, the 18 wheeler that almost collided with a truck and school bus on the way home, and breast feeding in odd places. I had a great day! Thank you Kara and Lisa!

Moving on, some other good news! UMHB won their soccer game on Wednesday 6-0! A sure blessing for Brad. He said he was going to start delivering pizzas if they lost. Hmmm, would we get a discount on the pizza?? Just kidding. It was really nice weather also for the 45 minutes we were out there.

Mallory can now hold her head up at almost a 90 degree angle when she is on her tummy. And she can look all the way to the right and then the left when she is doing it. Very impressive. And if you catch her before she gets too mad, she actually looks like she is enjoying it.

Weekend recap

We had a good Labor Day weekend. I didn't have to work today (ha!).

I'm sure Brad wouldn't want me to rehash the details of the soccer games. So, all I will say is they will hopefully do better on Wednesday! He didn't have a very good Friday or Saturday.

Jason, Jenn and Julia came for a short visit on their way to Austin/Bryan Friday night. Brady and Cooper (their labs) stayed 3 days with us. Beasley and Connor had a lot of fun with their cousins:)

I feel like I got a lot done. I organized our closet (finally). It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. It brought back memories of when I would clean my room and rearrange my furniture, then make this huge presentation for my parents. I was type A back then too! Mallory's room is still in the works, but coming together nicely. Jenn gave me some burlap fabric, so I used that for a bedskirt on the crib. I framed her footprints to hang on the wall. And I have frames for the alphabet flower cards I want to put up. Hopefully I'll have pictures of it all done soon and will post them.

I missed church yesterday. Brad was in Austin recruiting and I just couldn't do it by myself with Mallory. We'll wait a little longer until I try that one.

The most exciting part was tonight. We actually had friends over for dinner! I laughed when I told Jenn about it. She said "You have friends?" I knew what she meant. Yes, we have made some friends finally. Their names are Oscar and Laura. We grilled out chicken and had a very good time visiting with them. Mallory behaved herself too. We set her in her bouncy seat looking out the door at the dogs. She just talked and smiled.

I had to include a new picture of Mallory. Here she is "enjoying" tummy time on her Boppy. She is actually craning her neck over to watch TV. Bad habits start early!

Manly hands

I've always had slightly manly hands. They are large and I have really long fingers. I crack my knuckles so they are kind of bony too. And I have different shaped fingernails. I really do! The right hand is the shape of my dad's nails and my left hand has my mom's shaped nails. Weird, I know. My sister used to call my hands "rough" growing up. Being a nurse hasn't helped matters any. (Side note: Did you know that you are supposed to wash your hands for as long as it takes to sing Happy Birthday? That is a long handwashing session!) I should have counted how many times I washed my hands during one shift. Winter was especially hard on the hands. There wasn't ever a day that they weren't cracked, red or painful. Lotions, creams, medicated creams...nothing ever worked for more than one night to help my poor hands. Until now!

Today I found "Manicure in a jar" that my mom gave me in my stocking over Christmas. It's basically a sugar rub that you put in your hands and rub together then rinse off. Normally this stuff would kill my hands, but today, heaven! It really does look like I got a manicure. My hands still feel soft and it's been 7 hours. Not that rough hands would keep me from going back to being a nurse, but it is nice to have soft hands again. I can actually run my hands over silky material without it getting snagged! My hands may never be referred to as feminine, but they sure won't be manly for at least a little longer with this little jar around!

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!