Shearers In Texas

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Sadie's Checkup

On Monday I took Sadie to the pediatrician for her 4 month well. She received her immunizations and as you can imagine, didn't like it very much. I am happy to report that Sadie is a very healthy baby and is definitely not a starved child. In two months she went from being in 75th percentile for weight to the 90th percentile! She now weighs 15 lbs and 8.5 oz and is 25" long. In two months she gained 4 pounds and grew 2.5 inches. As you all know, Tony is getting his wish for a fat baby.

The pediactrician did say we need to keep watch on her eye movement. She was moving them around quite a bit in the office and he was concerned that she may have wandering eyes which could lead to a lazy eye and monocular vision. He said if caught early it is treatable. So I am currently on the look out for that. We certainly hope this is not the case. We started Sadie on rice cereal. Down below are some pictures and some videos we have taken over the last month.

As for the sleeping thing, we are making a little progress. I have found a way to put her down for naps and she sleeps for 2 hours! Which is a huge step considering she only slept previously for 30 minutes at a time. My trick is to bounce her while I sit on my exercise ball. It knocks her out in half the time and lulls her into a deeper sleep quicker. We are still working on the nighttime sleeping. Our doctor explained that babies have a sleep cycle of deep sleep for 2-3 hours and then a light sleep, when they are in the light sleep cycle they have the potential to wake up easily. This is what is happening with Sadie and she has forgotten how to put herself to sleep. The doctor gave us a few ideas but said it is really hard to give sleep advice because all babies are different and need different things. He said they had to do something different with each of their babies. So, I guess we will be experiementing over the next little while. It's a good thing I like experiements! Although I could really use some sleep!!

Those are the updates for now. Hope all is well with you!

Love,
Rachel

Sunday, January 16, 2011

We're Back

I know it has been a while since this has been updated. I left it to Tony since it was his project in the beginning but he has become quite busy so I decided to take the reigns.

We are almost recovered from our Christmas trip. Sadie is having a hard time adjusting back to her regular schedule and is being extremely stubborn when it comes to taking naps and bedtime. I know, many of you are probably thinking that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, in reference to the stubborn part. That part of her personality is coming through in spades! She really didn't stand a chance though considering both her parents are pretty stubborn. Yes, I can admit it.

Christmas was wonderful and it was fun to see some of our friends again and of course to be with family. We love and miss you all! Sometimes I wish we didn't live so far from one another although the distance has made me come to appreciate family and good friends a lot more and the relationship we have. Sadie was completely spoiled this Christmas and as Tony would say she has so much stuff that one of us is going to have move out! We are quickly out growing our apartment and may have to look at other options this summer.

The trip to Idaho was long but good. I learned that there is never a changing station in the public restroom when you need one most and how to be creative in making your own chaning station in the over crowded car. I wish we would have thought to take pictures of some of the ways we came up with. Sadie was a good sport and only gave us glaring looks occasionally. :-) Now I am working endlessly to get her back on her routine. I find this to be more exhausting and hard than it was to put on a routine to begin with.

Much to my dismay, Sadie is still sucking her thumb! I have put mittens on her but she just puts the mitten in her mouth and sucks on that until it is so soaked I am forced to remove it leaving her thumb free to suck. Sometimes the sucking is so good that she'll stick both thumbs in her mouth or switch back and forth between thumbs unable to choose which one is best. Even though I don't like this habit she has picked up, she looks so cute doing it, and it is very helpful in the night as she can soothe herself back to sleep! Sadie is changing and getting bigger each and everyday. I sometimes wish I can have my tiny little baby back that I brought home from the hospital. There are certain times in my life that I wish I could just freeze the moment, and that would be one of them. She is becoming very aware of her vocal chords. Tony thinks she sounds like a cat. She is noticing her surroundings a lot more too and is more active with her toys. Sadie is also getting stronger and is trying really hard to roll over. She's not quite there yet but she sure tries. Sadie has also become very good at blowing spit bubbles. Tony and I are loving every minute of her and being parents, even when she wakes up at 2 am. You can't resist the big smile she greets you with!

Tony's soccer season is underway and he is very busy with that. This leaves a lot of time for Sadie and I to bond. We enjoy watching the chick flicks that dad doesn't approve of. :-) Tony and I will be celebrating our three year anniversary tomorrow. Unfortunately Tony is very sick so there won't be much activity going on. The last three years have gone by fast which is a good thing that it isn't going slowly! :-) A lot has happened and our family is quickly changing. But we all still happy and well which means we are succeeding. I've attached some pictures from Christmas for you to see. I hope everyone is doing well, we love you and miss you all!

Until next time,

Rachel

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Silly Sadie

Most babies like to suck their thumb or something normal like that. Our little Sadie has a different habit. Watch the video to see Sadie being cute, funny, and a little odd all at once. More pictures of a growing Sadie soon to come!

~Tony

Monday, October 11, 2010

More Sadie Pictures!

Now over 2 weeks old, our little Sadie is growing! It's a good thing, too, because for a little while, she was too small to fit into her newborn outfits. Now, however, Sadie is back to her birth weight and beyond--and she appears to be filling out even more with each day.

Sadie has been excited to meet Grandma Ford as well as Grandma and Grandpa Shearer in the past weeks. She'll also get to meet Aunt Angie at the end of week. So far, she's loved being the center of attention (I have no idea where she gets it!). She can't wait to have lots of family here for her blessing in December so that she has lots of people to hold her and snuggle her.

Mom is doing well and finally regaining a good bit of her mobility. As most would probably presume, motherhood brings out the absolute best in Rachel. It's fun to watch Sadie and Mom interact . . . it becomes obvious that they often are plotting against Daddy.

Enjoy the new pictures of a growing Sadie. For the full sampling of the new pictures, visit Sadie's album on P hotobucke t.

~Tony

Saturday, September 25, 2010

SHE'S HERE!!!!!!

A little sooner than expected, but welcomed nonetheless, Sadie Noelle Shearer was born early yesterday (Friday) morning at 3:04am! Sadie weighed in at a healthy 7 lbs. 2 0z. and a good 19 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing well and both are expected to return home on Sunday. While there will be lots more to come, here's a few of the first pictures of Sadie. She looks just like her mommy! More to come soon!

~Tony

*See all these photos and several more with Sadie on Photobucket by clicking HERE

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Almost There!!!!

We're now closing in on two weeks until baby's due date and have had plenty to keep us busy over the past several weeks. Between readying the nursery (and ourselves!) for baby, going back to school, and cleaning/organizing the apartment, there's hardly been time for anything else.

We're happy to announce that all work on the nursery is complete and its ready for baby. We really like how it turned out and are excited to show it off. I'll take pictures later this week and post them for all to see.

More good news . . . we're now officially members of the Skype community and are able to video chat with all our friends and family across the country. We know that it's not really us that you want to see--its the baby. But while we're waiting for her, you may want to try it out with us once or twice to be sure we've got it all working. You can find us on Skype by searching our username (ashearer26) or just searching Tony Shearer (of Sherman, TX).

As of our last doctor visit, mom and baby are healthy and well and things are looking pretty good (see pictures at the end of the post). Unfortunately, our little girl is facing the wrong way, so all our hopes and prayers have been directed toward flipping her around so that we can have a safe, natural delivery. Feel free to add your prayers to ours as it seems that she may need a little extra encouragement.

Other than that, we'll try to keep everyone updated as things progress. With only days between now and the expected delivery date, you may want to keep your cell phone handy. You never know when you may be getting a call!

Much Love,

Tony & Rach

Sunday, September 12, 2010

How to Subscribe (properly!)

I'm proud to announce that after a little investigating and a little more tinkering, I've been able to fix the email subscription thing--at least, I think. It has been determined that the former email subscription box (the white one with the green and purple writing) was not functional. So, if you would like to receive an email whenever we make a new post, follow these steps:

1. Enter your email address in the NEW "Subscribe Via Email" box on the right side of the blog (you'll know its the right box if it says "Delivered by Feedburner" under it)

2. Click Subscribe (Duh.)

3. You'll get a pop-up that will ask you to type one of those security words. This is just to keep advertisers and spammers away from our blog. Type the word and submit.

4. A confirmation page will come up. However, there's one more step. Check your email inbox and open the message from me (its sent automatically to everyone who signs up, you're not special). Click on the link to activate your email subscription.

5. Now, you'll receive an email every time we make another post.

I'll give everyone a chance to sign up, then I'll put up another post in a few days to let you all know what we've been up to. This way, you'll know if you signed up correctly. Easy enough?

~Tony