Keith's Birthday and Visit from Jill Hurst

Brooke in her outfit from Grammy

Brooke and Keith at the hospital on his birthday

Brooke and Jill on our porch

Primanti Sandwhich

Keith turned 27 on Friday. Sadly, he was on-call at the hospital again. I made Paula Deen's White Chocolate Macadamia nut pie and brought it to the hospital. It was delicious! On Saturday he came home and opened up his presents. He got a Paella cookbook and pan from his parents. I am excited for him to use this present. My mom got him a massage gift certificate at a place in Pittsburgh and a Starbucks card. Josh and Steph sent him a Starbucks card too. He is going to love getting his fancy White Chocolcate-Caramel drinks at Starbucks. I got him some I-Pod speakers and a book on herbs. A book might seem like a boring gift, but he really really likes learning about herb gardening. I also picked out a golf hat for him. I figured that he would take it back (which he did) and pick out a different one. That is perfectly fine with me. I can still say I got him a golf hat for his birthday.
Our good friend Jill Hurst was in Pittsburgh visiting friends and family last week. She was able to come and spend a couple days at our house too. It was her first time to see Brooke. Brooke loves to be held and cuddled so she was excited for a visitor. We were excited to be the first people to take Jill for a sandwhich at Primanti Brothers. We all had the steak sandwhich with coleslaw, fries, tomato, and an egg on top. It makes for a pretty big bite!

Brooke's Hip Check and Kim's 6 week Post Delivery Appointment

Brooke on our bed watching the fan

On Thursday Brooke and I went back to the hospital; for the first time since she was born. I had a routine checkup with my OBGYN to make sure everything was healing after delivery. All the ladies in the doctor's office were so excited to see Brooke. She slept in her car seat the whole time I was in the waiting room. Then she decided to scream all during my appointment with the doctor. Our doctor has 5 kids of her own, so she doesn't mind a little bit of crying. The good news is everything checked out okay and she said I am cleared to resume all activity. I wanted to take a picture of my scar to have for documentation, but the location is a little too low to be appropriate for Internet viewing.
On Friday we took Brooke for her 2 hip ultrasound. She saw the orthopedic doctor again and he said the problem is resolved. So she is cleared of any hip problems, hooray!!
I have started putting Brooke in the Moby wrap around the house. We even took both dogs on a walk when she was in the Moby warp. It works really well.
Here are a few things Brooke is doing at 6 weeks old:
Rolling from her back to her tummy
Lifting her head
Watching the ceiling fans and her car seat toys
Smiling at familiar faces
Cooing at her penguin
Sleeping 5-6 hours at the first night shift

Wild Turkey with babies and the Herb Garden

Fun with Bath Time!!

Brooke loves to cuddle with her daddy!

This is one of her many excited faces when she plays in her crib.

Most of you know that I am deathly afraid of birds. I am scared to walk in several downtown areas because of their high pigeon population. Thankfully there are not any pigeons in our Pittsburgh neighborhood. There is a wild turkey. I met this turkey last year when she crept up on me in our yard. Her surprise entrance definitely scared me. A few days ago, I looked out our window and saw this wild turkey. She is back and has four baby turkeys in tow. Hopefully they will move before her babies get big. Keith ran outside and snapped a couple pictures of them.
Keith has done a great job with our herb garden on the porch. We have been eating basil, mint, green onion and cherry tomatoes so far. His tomatillos, peppers, and regular tomatoes are getting close to ready as well. I have especially enjoyed having the mint. Keith makes a wonderful mojito with the mint from the herb garden.
Lastly, Brooke is really enjoying her bath time. We have been giving her a bath every other day. She loves the huge body washcloth from her cousin Claire. It is great at keeping her warm during the bath. She also loves playtime in the crib. She has started cooing and smiling at her mobile and stuffed animals. She has even rolled over a couple times from her tummy to her back. I will try to get it on video soon.

Infant Probiotics

A friend of mine started her baby on infant probiotics recently for his gassy tummy. She was blown away by the improvements that he felt from this treatment. So, when baby Brooke started experiencing painful gas a couple weeks ago I started to consider it. First I tried to figure out if she was fussy because of something I ate. The only food that has really seemed to set her off is peanut butter and onions. I went a few days eating very bland foods and she still had a gassy tummy. It is hard to watch her be in pain. Her face gets completely red when she is trying to push and she cries really loud. When my mom left on Tuesday I decided to buy a jar of the probiotics and give it a try. I gave Brooke her first dose on Wednesday morning in her bottle. Within 24 hours I can already see a difference. She is still passing gas and pooping like normal, but without any pain. She is even smiling while pooping now. SHe is sleeping better and fussing a lot less. If you are reading this and you have a gassy baby; give the probiotics a try. I am using Udo's choice infant probiotics. We bought it at Whole Foods.

Goodbye to Grammy until October

Grammy with Brooke at the hospital on the day she was born
Grammy with Brooke on her first Sunday to attend church

Grammy with Brooke after feeding her the first bottle

Grammy, Brooke and the dogs on the day Brooke was one month old


Tuesday was a really hard day for Brooke and I. We had to take my mom (Grammy) to the airport for her to fly back to Arizona. We were so blessed to have her stay with us for 6 weeks. I honestly do not know what I would have done without her help. In the beginning she was the most helpful with laundry, the dogs, and watching Brooke while I squeezed in an extra nap or two. By the end of the trip I really just enjoyed her company. It is so nice to have someone to talk with during the day; especially with Keith working so many hours at the hospital. The house definitely feels lonely now that she is gone. Even though Brooke can't talk yet, I know that she misses her Grammy too. She was very blessed to have so much love from her Grammy for the first 5 weeks of her life. We are already counting down the days until she comes back to visit during her fall break in October. We will have to settle for skype and talking on the phone for now. Here are a few pictures of Brooke and Grammy.

Brooke is 1 Month old

Brooke is officially one month old today. Here are a few pictures that we took today.

Brooke's birth announcement

Here is the announcment that we sent out for baby Brooke. Jessica did a great job taking pictures of Brooke on Father's day.

Brooke 3 weeks

Brooke is now 3 weeks old. She is still eating every three hours and growing like a weed. She even has a little belly! She loves to do tummy time and work on lifting her head. She is making eye contact with her crib mobile, faces and her swing mobile. She took her first bottle on Friday night from Grammy. She is happy to get a bottle or nurse. We are hoping to start giving her a bottle each night before bed. Brooke has been coming on more outings with us this week. We have been to Costco, a few restaurants, the grocery store, the mall, and church. Here are few pictures from this week.