Introduction to the sippy cup

Shelby's in the kitchen

Shelby is getting much better at sitting up unassisted. Here is a video of her playing in her little kitchen.

Patriots fan by birth

Before Shelby was even born, her Uncle Scott and Aunt Erica

sent her a gift of her first New England Patriots article of clothing.

It's a pink Tom Brady jersey in a size 12 months.

Here are pictures of Shelby growing into her Jersey through out the football season. We missed a week of pictures here and there, but you get the general idea.

Shelby's little secret

Can you see Shelby's little secret????Look closely...

Thursday 13: Thirteen things to blog about since my last post

1) This is the new book/toy shelf in Shelby's room. We went ahead and got a white shelf because we are planning for her "big girl" furniture to be white as well. I think it looks precious. 2) Alice and Eden, along with their parents came over for lunch on Sunday. The girls fed Shelby lunch.
The each had their own bowl and spoon. Shelby is a very messy eater!

3) Shelby is getting around much better now. She is able to "scootch" herself a little and rolls herself with intent. She loves playing in the floor on a blanket. She is very interested in her toys. She also on this particular was very frustrated that she couldn't pick up and play with the bears sewn on the blanket.

4) I have been getting seed catalogs almost every day this week. I can't wait to get to work on the garden planning. I definitely made a new rule for myself of not buying and growing things I don't think we will absolutely love. 5) On MLK day, I got a chance to get outside and clean out my garden beds to start getting them ready for planting in the spring. It was perfect weather to get out and work in.

6) Here is a list of things I know we will definitely attempt to grow this year. It's early in the planning so there isn't much on the list other than the things I know we love.

*tomatoes

*okra

*cucumbers

*basil

7) I think I might try my hand at growing blueberries... if for no other reason than to make my Aunt Patsy's Blueberry Pound Cake.

8) Hanny the Nanny has been sick this week. She has the stomach bug and so on Wednesday I stayed home. Determined to be productive (you know without leaving the house) I did a book shelf make over in the living room (while watching Trading Spaces). Here is the before........

and the after....I have to get new pictures printed for the frames and that is why their are post-it-notes on the frames.

9) The cleaning didn't stop there. I cleaned the whole living room and got it somewhat de-cluttered. Maybe I will have more inspiration for the rest of the house soon.

10) We have our post-placement home study coming up in the next few weeks. I think it's our last.

11) See this blur?

It's Rylee. Because Hannah was sick again today a string of unexpected events occurred. One of which is I went to get Brady 7 hours earlier than expected. Of course, he wasn't quite ready so I got to spend some time with Aunt Patsy and Rylee. Of all days for me not to have my CAMERA!!! I am SO UPSET about it. The girls had a great morning together. There has to be a do-over so I can get pictures.

12) We got sweet Brady back today, one day shy of two weeks later. He is glad to be home and has spent the evening enjoying extra attention and snuggles. Here is what his incision looks like.

13) Here are pictures of me and Shelby catching up with Brady. The family of 4 is together again and that is definitely for the best!

a tale of two puppies

I snapped this photo of Brady on December 22nd.

I thought he looked so majestic. He was watching a bird on the other side of the screen. I love this picture and plan to get it framed for my house, probably in black and white. Who would have known then that 9 days later Brady would suffer an injury causing a need for surgery on his knee.

Enter- the dashing Dr. Shane: Modern Day HeroAlong with the partner in his practice, Shane was able to repair Brady's torn ACL and CCL. Brady's surgery was 3 days ago. Maggie went to check on Brady the afternoon after his surgery. She didn't think he would be too active having had the surgery only a few hours before. She opened the gate to the kennel and Ol' Brady started running around like nothing ever happened. She had to chase him down and get him back in his kennel where he was supposed to be resting. He was SO mad at her that he refused to look at her for this picture.

Brady is still at the clinic recovering and we should be getting him back some time next week. I can't wait for his friends to start signing his cast! Meanwhile it's like he is at camp with us getting frequent photos and updates. He's in great hands! We are taking advantage of his absence and trying to get ahead of him in the vacuuming.

On a side note, here is a FUNNY picture of me with Brady and Shelby before we took him to the clinic. He was out of him mind on pain meds- just look at his expression.

He is SO patient with Shelby. Every time she touches him she yanks out a handful of hair. He never even cares!

Now- on to the Story of the other puppy. As you know, Maggie and Shane are wonderful people- and a super cute couple.....SEE...........
They are very generous and are always giving us things for Shelby. This visit brought some toys that Charlie has gotten "too old" for but the Shelby is "just old enough" for. Shane loaded the boxes of toys into my car and after I left Maggie called and said "When you get home, call me because I want to tell you about this cute little dog we sent for Shelby". I though nothing of it. When I got home I called and it turns out the "cute little dog" is actually possessed!

Meet Bucky.

Maggie reported that this was actually Bucky #2. The first Bucky's batteries ran out the day they got him and they never replaced them. Another family member bought the same dog for Charlie and so that just had two. One that made sounds, one that didn't. Bucky#2 would randomly come on and sing at all hours of the day and night without anyone being near it. Once Maggie was giving Charlie a bath and from the other room she could hear it singing and changing it's song mid stream like someone was pressing the button. Like a chain letter-- they were glad to get rid of Bucky. Our first experience with Bucky was the night we brought him home. Shelby had played with him most of the day. She loved playing with him. Fast forward to around 10pm. Shelby is in bed and Bucky is sitting on the book shelf turned to "off". Mr. D. and I are both sitting on the couch watching TV when all of the sudden Bucky said "Peek-a-boo-- I see you" I screamed, got up and threw him out into the garage where he spent the night. On a side note, it snowed that night and the garage was really cold- so there Bucky! The next day I went and got him for Shelby to play with. We have not had any other Bucky activity since. Bucky will have to leave us just like he came to us, so those with younger children, beware of our hand-me-downs!!

triple layer sweetness pie

Rylee

Shelby

Charlie

share wear

We love sharing clothes with our cousins and friends. Here is the same outfit on two little ladies.

Rylee

Shelby

5 months

Shelby is 5 months old today. She...

...can roll every direction known to man- front, back, sideways

...prefers to be on her tummy

...is desperate to crawl. She's trying to figure out the knee and hands working together

...babbles almost all of the time

...has a smile that lights up a room

...is a hearty eater

...likes to stand and needs little support to do so. We suspect she will walk early.

...is starting to sit unassisted

...loves a bath

...prefers her daddy above everyone else

...was 26.5 inches long at her doctor's appointment 3 weeks ago and weighed 15.3 lbs

...wears 6-9 month clothing

...wear size three Huggies

... makes an air kiss sound often

...transfers things from one hand to the other

...loves music

...is very interested in toys and books

...continues to be a precious miracle!

Happy New Year

Here is a picture of our sweet little New Year's Baby.

For more photos of our New Year's celebration go here and here. I had a terrible stomach bug and was miserable. Still, looking at this sweet girl always makes me feel better no matter what.

snow- the first go around

My friend Karen says that Shelby is enchanted. It did after all snow on her first Christmas... IN ALABAMA. It's a rarity, though it looks like we are in for a lot of it this winter. Here are pictures of Shelby in her precious pink snow suit.

For those of you who know how easily Shelby gets overheated- underneath the snowsuit is just a size 3 Huggies diaper!

YUM-MO in the tum-mo

On Christmas Eve, Shelby ate rice cereal while sitting in her new high chair. She loved it! We are allowed to add one food per week and were instructed to stick to orange and yellow fruits and vegetables. We have been good about the orange and yellow fruits and vegetables but have introduced more than one a week because if she didn't like something we waited a few days and moved on. Shelby loves sweet potatoes. She loved peaches but broke out in hives. She likes squash and rice cereal just fine. She hates bananas.

Aunt Maggie gave Shelby a sample of frosting and ice cream at Charlie's birthday party. She loved them both!

I haven't started making baby food yet, but I am going to start making homemade sweet potatoes this week. I figured I should try and see what she likes before I invest time in making it. We tried to make her rice cereal but my food processor wasn't strong enough to pulverize the brown rice to a powder. I was able to find an organic whole grain infant cereal so we will be using this instead.

Stay tuned for more adventures in eating!