4 months old!!

Brooke turned 4 months old yesterday!

He'll almost always cooperate for a picture with Brooke! Brooke, however, had had enough of the camera. LOL.

You can see her 3 month picture here (scroll down).

And a few other random pics...

Her first shades! Ryan had a pair when he was about this size. His fit better because he had a bigger head! : X LOL.

I think we need to get this kid in gymnastics! LOL.

:::knock on wood::: But ever since Wednesday night, Brooke hasn't been so cranky in the evenings. She still has her moments, but it's not constant and it's easier to calm her down. Hopefully this phase will be totally passed soon!

Better night!

Last night was the best night in a long time! Brooke was a tiny bit fussy between 6:30 and 7:30. Then she pretty much good up until about 9:00. She never got inconsolable like she normally does. Hopefully that's start to pass....please?! LOL. Even if it was just a fluke thing, it was still nice to get a break! Doug's mom is keeping Ryan and Brooke tomorrow night so we can go play Bingo with my mom and dad. I hope Brooke is good like last night.

She ended up going to sleep about a quarter to 11 and slept until 3. Then she drank her bottle and went right back to sleep! Hallelujah! She woke up fussing at 5 and I put her in bed with me (this happens way more than it ever did with Ryan) until she woke again about a quarter to 7 because she was hungry. Ryan was up, too. Now Brooke's being a fussbutt today.

Here's a funny I've been meaning to post. This is one smart baby (I know, who *doesn't say that about their kids, lol?). When she's fussing, a lot of times I'll try giving her the binky to see if she attacks it because she's hungry. Most of the time anymore, she won't because she knows what it is. But if I take her and lay her back in my arms and stick the burp cloth under her chin like I'm about to feed her, *then she'll attack the pacifier (if she's actually hungry). It's so funny and makes me laugh every time!

Update time

Sorry I haven't posted in so long! It seems these days a lot of times when I'm sitting at the computer, I'm holding a fussy, squirmy baby. I'm behind on emails and everything. I'm really sorry I haven't gotten any new pictures up yet! I have some to post now. I'm going to TRY to be better!

On to the kids. Brooke is still eating like a little piggy. I honestly can't even remember if I posted her last weight (and don't feel like going to look), but last Wednesday the home health nurse made her last visit and she was 8lbs. 4oz. I know she's pushing 9lbs. now! And starting to get some chub on her, which I LOVE ; ). She is driving us absolutely insane in the evenings, usually between 8 and 10, but sometimes she starts sooner. I don't know of it's colic or gas or what, but it SUCKS. It's hard to get her calmed down at times and even if we are able to, it doesn't usually last long. She's been asleep by 11 most nights, but the past few mornings has not wanted to go back to sleep after drinking her early morning bottle. This morning she was up from 3:30 to almost 5:30. :::yawn:::

Ryan had a dentist appointment yesterday. It was his 3rd time going. The first time, I was allowed back with him and the dentist just looked in his mouth quick. Ryan screamed. The last time, in January, he went back by himself and it was just a quick look and I believe they brushed his teeth. He screamed again. Yesterday he had his first cleaning, fluoride, and exam and he did awesome! Cooperated so well and didn't make a peep : ). I was/am SO proud of him! He got a good report from the dentist. I always worry a little because his teeth *are discolored from being a preemie. It's funny, though...his front teeth especially have actually gotten LESS yellow the older he gets : ). Hopefully his permanent teeth weren't affected, but we won't know until they come in.

He asks to go to school nearly EVERY day. I found out yesterday that his first day back is August 19th, the day before his birthday! He also asks nearly every day to "go to Ryan's birthday party". LOL. He is so excited for that! He's already telling people he's 5. LOL!

Okay, here's some pictures! I have more (older ones) that I'll hopefully get up tomorrow!

I LOVE this outfit.

Taking a bath is sometimes the ONLY thing that will calm her down (for a little while) in the evenings.

She outgrew her newborn Proraps! She now fits in to the smalls!

Dressed for church. We went for the first time in 4 years on Sunday!

Sacked out on the chair the other night.

In one of my many baby carriers, the Beco Obi.

Ryan playing basketball on my mom and dad's deck. I have NO idea what gave him the idea to stand in the clothes basket. LOL.

Hanging out on my mom and dad's couch yesterday.

Getting some nakie time today. Look at the chub she's getting : ).

6 hours and 40 minutes

That's roughly how long Brooke slept last night! Her longest stretch yet! Up until now the longest she went was about 5 hours and that was only once (normally she's up after 4-4.5). Only down side was she woke just before 6 to eat and no point in going back to bed after that, but I got almost 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep....woohoo! I don't expect her to do that every night or even every other night, but even every once in awhile will be awesome!

We're home!

Well, we've been home since Sunday, but I haven't really had time to post until now. Probably in another 30 seconds, Brooke will start screaming, though...just like she's done almost every other time today that I've gone to do something : /.

Our trip was fun! The ride down went great...very little traffic, which always puts me more at ease. We stopped for a pee break once and got to Bev's just in time for Brooke to eat. It took us just under 3 hours to get there. In a nutshell, this was our weekend:

Thursday night, Doug, my sister, and I went to the mall after supper. My sister and I split up from Doug pretty fast (he hates shopping with me, lol...not that I really bought anything). We took separate vehicles so we just met back at the house later. I ended up getting Ryan a new hat from The Children's Place for $2.97...can't beat that : ). Then we hit Babies'R'Us and I got Brooke a couple outfits for next summer in size 12 months (hopefully they fit) and a sleep positioner for her to sleep on that would keep her on a slight incline (she ended up sliding right down off of it all night and we took it back the next day).

Friday we went to Hands-On House in the early afternoon. There was a pretty big group of us....Me, Doug, Ryan, my parents, my sister, Bev, and Bev's ex-daughter-in-law and her daughter (who I think is 6.5?) and 2 year old son. It was a lot of fun! Pics coming later. Late afternoon, Diane and I headed back over to the mall for her to return some lip rings she bought and then to Babies'R'Us so I could return the sleep positioner. I also got Brooke 2 more outfits. Friday night, we went to play mini-golf. I almost didn't go because Brooke was sooo fussy (the story of our evenings lately), but I was talked in to it. I put her in the sling and she was good for awhile, but I ended up leaving halfway through to go feed her. Ryan had a blast and has been asking to go play again ever since : ).

Saturday was mostly a "lazy" day. Except about 3:30, Doug, my sister, and I went to Target. We got Ryan a couple pairs of shorts (one camo pair, like his daddy always wears) and a pair of jeans for school and Brooke a couple sleepers. I also got another pair of flip flops exactly like the pair I got there last year that were now shot. YAY : ). On the way back, we stopped at Sonic and Ryan and I got Cream Slushes and Doug and Diane got Sonic Blasts. We don't have a Sonic! Not even in Altoona (an hour away) where a lot of the stores/restaurants we don't have are (KMart, Target, Olive Garden, etc.). That night, Bev had a cookout and had some other people over. We ended up making a run to Rita's (another place we don't have) for Italian ice (I got a gelati....yum) and Dairy Queen.

Sunday was the day we left to come home. We got a later start than planned because we were waiting for Brooke to finish eating. Then we got lost on our way to get on to the turnpike and that added an extra 40 minutes or so to our trip. Not long after getting on to the turnpike, it started raining. More like pouring...buckets. And it was SO freaking windy. We had to cross a bridge over the Susquehanna River. It was so windy that the car kept getting blown. Doug said, "What the heck is this? A tornado?" and I yelled at him to shut up, lol. (My dad said later that he pretty much said the same thing to my mom and told her to keep an eye out.) I was SO, SO scared. And we couldn't pull over while on the bridge. Right after crossing the bridge, the driver's side wiper blade SNAPPED! Thank God there was an underpass right ahead that Doug was able to pull under and thank God he was able to switch the passenger's side blade over to the driver's side so he could see to drive. It didn't rain too much longer after that. By the time we'd been driving about 2.5 hours, Brooke was ready to eat again. We stopped at a rest stop and took a pee break and fed her and then it was a straight shot home. We got home about 20 'til 8. It's good to be home, but I miss everyone already! Ryan has been asking to go back before we even got home. LOL. He had a blast.

I guess that wasn't really a nutshell, but oh well! I'll try to get pics up soon.

P.S. We now have an 8lb. (2oz.) baby, as of yesterday!!

More later.

Bye!

We're headed out in about an hour for our weekend trip and will be back sometime Sunday. Don't expect to hear from me until Monday, though! Have a great weekend : ).

P.S. Li'l Miss Piggy is up to 7lbs. 13.5oz.!!

Video of Brooke rolling over

This is my 3rd post for today....lol. Sorry this video is so dark!

Chiropractor visit (and 100th post!!)

We took Brooke to the chiropractor last night and just as I suspected (from her spitting up so much lately), her spine was tightened up again. He got it loosened up some and wants us to bring her back Thursday morning before we leave for the weekend. For some reason he didn't charge us a copay yesterday, which was very nice of him! I'm hoping he can get her straightened out and she stays straightened out and we don't have to keep taking her so often. He said once she gets a little bigger, she'll probably stay better and not get out of whack so easily.

Here's some pictures in honor of my 100th post on this blog. LOL. (I was going to post them anyway...just happened to notice this is post #100, lol.)

Wearing the adorable outfit Aunt Diane, my sister, got her!

There's something so sweet about a baby sleeping on his/her belly!

One of the rare instances of her sucking her thumb.

Hanging out on my lap. Don't mind the PJ's, lol.

Riding his Jeep at my mom and dad's on the 4th. Didn't last long. He's afraid of it. We got him for it last year and he's probably ridden it for a total of 5 minutes. Seriously.

How Brooke spent her 4th of July, when she wasn't puking.

Before going to Doug's brother's house for a belated 4th of July picnic.

As soon as I figure out how to post videos, I'll put some of those up, too! (Anyway know how to do it using Photobucket??)

Be sure to check below for my 1st post for today!

Some then and now pictures

As you'll probably find out (or may have already figured out), I LOVE comparing "then and now" pictures. Here are a few! (The dates are on them.)

and

The day she came home.

and

I'd already unbuckled her and taken her out...then remembered I wanted a pic of her in there, so I just sat her back in. I wasn't buckling her back up ; ).

and

Pukey weekend

I don't know what was up with Brooke this weekend, especially Friday! We were at my mom and dad's most of the day for a cookout. She puked at least 6 or 7 times there and a few times it was probably at least half of her bottle, if not more. I was starting to get nervous that she had pyloric stenosis. Doug's dad, oldest brother, and brother's 2 kids all had it and it runs in families. I almost took her to the E.R. to get checked, but decided to wait until we got home (which was around 7:30) and see how she was doing. She didn't puke again after we got home! Saturday she had one pretty big spit ups and then a few smaller ones and yesterday she had one big spit up and a few smaller ones. I'm not real sure what's up with that. She has an appointment with the chiropractor this afternoon and I'm curious to find out how he says she "feels" (as far as the tightness in her spine and whatnot). It's been over a week since she's last been there and the first time she hasn't gone ever 2-3 days since she started going. So I don't know if that's just a coincidence that she's now spitting up more or what.

The home health nurse was here again today and despite all the spitting up Brooke did over the weekend (especially on Friday), she still managed to gain an ounce a day and is now up to 7lb. 8oz.! And she measured 20 3/4in.! She's starting to fit nicely in the bigger 0-3m sleepers we have.

She's still eating well, but driving us crazy. No longer does she take a large amount and is good for 3.5-4 hours...at least not always. Sometimes she decides she only wants a "snack" and then wants to eat again in 2 hours. It's kinda frustrating when she does this, but what are we gonna do about it, ya know? It's not like we can just let her scream and be hungry until she is "supposed" to eat again. But the good thing is she is taking her last bottle about 10:00 and then going to sleep between 11 and 12 and sleeping a good 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hour stretch! So I can't complain there. Hopefully she'll be one of those babies that is sleeping through the night be 3 months (adjusted age) old or so! : )

Friday, we had the cookout at my mom and dad's. Then on Saturday we had a big cookout at Doug's brother's house. Brooke got held by lots of people and she just ate it up, lol. Yesterday our friends came in from out of town for the day. I met Heather through an AOL message board when we were pregnant (me with Ryan and her with her oldest son, Zachery). We were both due in December (and Zach was actually born one day after Ryan's due date). She also has a little boy, Logan, who is 18 months old. We first met at Ryan's 1st birthday party and we've been going to each other's kid's birthday parties ever since (we've only ever missed one each and the same year (2nd), actually!). She came with her husband, Jeramy, and we just hung out and let the kids play and had yet another cookout, lol. It was lots of fun! The kids had a blast : ). I had fun, too, and I hope Heather and Jeramy did as well (I think they did) : ).

We are leaving for the weekend on Thursday to go visit a very close family friend that my mom has known since before I was born! She lives about 3 hours away. When I was kid, we used to go almost every summer for about a week at a time. We took Ryan 2 years ago, but didn't go last year. She has been up to visit several times over the last year and he's gotten pretty attached to her and has been asking to go see her ever since we told him we were going about a month and a half ago. LOL. So he's excited! My mom and dad want to take him to Hands-On House while we're there. It's a hands-on kids museum. They took my brother, sister, and I when we were kids and we loved it. I'm hoping Ryan will, too! I'm not sure what else we'll be doing while we're there, but it will be nice to just visit with everyone!

I don't have pics ready to put up yet, but I'll try to get some up before we leave! I also got a video clip of Brooke rolling over last night! I'll have to post that, too : ). She rolled over 5 times in a row, so I KNOW it's not just a fluke. I can't believe she's rolling over when she's only 2 weeks adjusted age! That's crazy! I want her to develop "normally" and not have the delays like Ryan had/has, but I also hope she doesn't hit all her milestones early....she's my last baby and I don't want her to grow up too fast! :*(

Sleep is good!

Tuesday night, Brooke decided to stay awake until 2am!! Then was back up at 6:30. I was SOOO flipping tired yesterday. She's usually awake in the evenings from about 6-7:00 on, but Tuesday night she was sleeping and we didn't wake her up until like 8:30 and I think that was the problem. Big mistake! Yesterday I kept her awake as much as possible and I made sure she was awake around 6pm. Of course after she drank her bottle at 6:30, she went back to sleep for about an hour and I tried everything to get her to wake up to no avail. But then she was awake from 7:30 on. I went to bed at 10, right as Doug was getting ready to give her a bottle. The next thing I knew, I woke to her fussing at almost 2:30 to eat. I was so excited she slept! LOL. (Of course, I found out this morning that Doug fell asleep on the couch with her and didn't bring her up until almost 2, but still...she slept!) She drank her bottle and then was back to sleep by 3:15, which is awesome because lately she's been wanting to stay up awhile. And then she was up at 6:30 this morning. I consider that a very good night! : )

I took her to the doctor yesterday because I suspected she has thrush and she does. Her tongue was all coated white and she has spots throughout her mouth. He prescribed Nystatin for her, which she HATES, but it's working already. I do think it's going to give her diarrhea, though, because she just went #2 and it was almost pure liquid : /. Hopefully it won't be bad. At least the thrush isn't affecting her eating! Little piggy was up to 7lb. 3oz. from 6lb. 14.5oz. on Monday! And today when the home health nurse came again, she was 7lb. 4oz.

The doctor calculated what she's gained since she was there on June 9th and it averaged out to an ounce a day, which to my understanding is very good and what they like to see. However, he said "it could be more." He said he'd rather her gain more now rather than later. I know preemies generally have to play catch up, but for being almost 2 weeks past her due date and at just over 7lbs. already, I think that's pretty darn good! He wants to see where she's at in 2 weeks and he said if she doesn't gain enough, we may "have to" add more calories to her formula with cereal or try her back on the Neosure. I don't want to do either of those things if she's gaining like she is now. I have considered trying the cereal for the reflux and may even do that, but I don't want to try to "fatten her up" with the cereal. And she was terribly gassy on the Neosure, so I don't want to go back to that, either. Anyway, hopefully he'll be happy enough with her progress in 2 weeks that he won't push for that.

I would have some pics for you and maybe even a couple videos, but Doug ran a recovery or something on the computer the other day and now when I hook my camera up to the computer, the picture program isn't popping up like it normally does and I don't know what to do! So I'll have to get him to fix it.