Brooklyn's Progress

Hello everyone,
So yes it has been 3 months since Brooklyn has been in this world and man it continues to be an awesome experience. Chris and I have grown as parents and we can honestly say that we have LEARNED alot. Babies are difficult little characters to read, to understand and man thank you for the Happiest Baby on the Block Video. I can remember getting all worked up and not knowing what to do when Brooklyn would cry. We have watched her grow and grow from day to day. We can remember when she use to wear NB clothing and now she is in big girl clothing (3 months)ha ha. She is definitely more active and playful and she enjoys smiling especially at the camera. Let's see what milestones she has hit, we have a book that is called What To Expect During the First Year. It says that during the first 2 months she should have mastered smiling during nap time, smiling in general, can bring hands together and to mouth, follows objects from side to side and even try looking past her shoulder. Brooklyn also likes to look into the mirror and she is still a little fussy at times. I think that this displays her personality a little bit. She has begun to be totally attached to momma. She doesn't like to be held by anyone besides her momma. Chris sometimes gets a little jealous when Brooklyn puts out the bottom lip and starts crying looking for momma to rescue her ha ha. But I wonder how long that will last before she becomes daddy's little princess.

We still swaddle her but have tried to decrease it to only when she is asleep at night. She likes to move around a lot when sleeping and without a swaddle there will be no sleep. She is gaining good weight and weighs 12 lbs and is 24 inches. I have already found that she is going to have the same trouble as me when she tries to find jeans or pants. Today I put a pair of jeans on her and they were 3 month size but were too short on her, wow high waters already ha ha. My baby is so long and her feet are a nice size too.

When Brooklyn is sociable, she is the cutest thing. She has begun to carry on conversations and enjoys other babies. My friend Nicole has done a great job of keeping Brooklyn's interest at times. She likes her some Nicole, and of course she loves spending time with both grama's, aunts and close friends. I still have not figured out how to stop her from being fussy at times when she is being burped. She drinks 4 ounces now and I can't wait until I can introduce some baby foods, but that won't be until month 5 probably. What else what else has she been up to, oohhh we go her ears pierced at her doctors office and she of course got her scheduled shots. Going to the doctor is not her favorite place but she does show them that she is a baby with healthy lungs. We are blessed to have our daughter develop

The newest thing that Brooklyn has begun to play with is her exersaucer. If you don't know what this is, let me educate you. It's the greatest toy in the world. It's like Baby heaven, it has lots of activities and toys that will help in development and engage your child as they play. Since she has held her head on her own for awhile now, she got the go ahead from the doctor to explore her new toy. Sh loved it but only for a short while. Each day she spends a little more time in there and she also loves to stand on our laps. Here is the song that we sing to her, Stand Stand, You love to stand. Stand Stand Stand. Stand on Mommy Stand on Daddy. Stand Stand Stand. You start to make everything into a rhyme with an infant these days. So please stay tuned to be updated on more interesting updates, on BMW, my training, my life and track!!! See you all soon. Bye!!!

Training for 2 months now.....any progress???

Hello everyone,
I am excited to tell you all that Brooklyn is 3 months old and I have been training for 2 months now. Things have not been easy at all but you know I have had to keep my head up and keep pushing forth. This blog entry will allow you to enter a little into my personal life, so please bear with me. Just the other day I broke out into tears and could not understand why so many things were going wrong in our lives. For one,my mom has been battling a pinched nerve, slipped disk that no doctors seem to have an answer to for about a year now, she recently in the last 3 months has been in horrible pain. I am sad that I can't make it go away but we are scheduled to see another doctor next weekend, let's hope that there is good news. Second,I am still very bitter about not having the financial support of my sponsor NIKE throughout my pregnancy, and still being in limbo regarding my contract from last year and now like many who are unemployed are feeling the toll. Many female athletes have to decide when is the right time to have kids and it would be so much easier if they (sponsors)help not only when you are doing well and winning medals but when you take a brief break with great intentions of coming back into the track world. Practice has been a hard road, to figuring out how my day will go and getting back into my original shape. The best thing is that when Brooklyn is at practice she is a trooper. She enjoys watching mommy and daddy train at UC and between the fussy cries and laughter she does enjoy herself. She will definitely have an experience to share with others!!

After crying on Chris's shoulder and asking him "why..why are these things happening and will I be good again?" We immediately prayed and asked the Lord to help my mom find answers to her painful affliction. I also prayed that we would continue to be able to pay our bills and most of all that I would continue to get stronger and more fit each and every day. I will compete this indoor season and hopefully make he indoor team this winter. I will never forget the one thing he said to me and it has allowed me to want to push myself each and every day to be the best that I can be. He said, Mary yes we knew that this would be hard but your a fighter. You have fought for everything and whenever someone has put you down, you have picked yourself up and proven them wrong. He reminded me of my unique story that I often tell when giving motivational speeches. I was never a great athlete like many star athletes that represent track and field now, I grew into one and I will continue to grow. I wasn't highly recruited out of high school, didn't win a conference title in college, never made the NCAA's, quit my job as a school teacher to pursue track in 2006, never made a final in the 400 meters in a national championships until 2007, fought and fought to prove to my current sponsor that I could be a good 400 meter runner. And now... he said look at you...you have a Gold Medal, supportive family/friends and a beautiful daughter who will love to hear the story of how we decided to attain her into this world. I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband and I know that as I continue to train....I HAVE SOMETHING TO PROVE.

So yes I have made progress, I am getting my feel back, my strength, my speed, my fast twitch muscles. We are increasing the work outs this month and I will be working hard along with my training partner Courtney Wicks, and of course the hubby Chris! Please continue to pray for us and God Bless.

Brooklyn is now 2 months old...

Hello everyone,
Yes I know I have been slacking a little on updating my blog...but man motherhood keeps me busy!!!! Training is going well and I have been training now for a month. I am still training at the University of Cincinnati and I am excited about the upcoming season. Thanks to everyone who is so supportive of me...I really appreciate the support. I know that there will always be obstacles,or even others trying to bring my dreams down, but I will rise and continue to push forward through the thick and the thin!!!

Brooklyn is also doing well, she is talking more (of course baby talk) and is more active during the day. She enjoys playing belly time and smiling at mommy and daddy. One thing that she enjoys is standing while of course we support her. When she is upset and crying standing does the trick. She is so strong and likes to sneak peeks at the TV while being feed. We got her pictures taken at 8 weeks and man does she look so cute!!!! She actually has posed for the pictures ha ha, who would have known...my little diva, who isn't at all camera shy. Hey maybe she will be America's Next Top Model...Tyra look out.

Big thanks to BH Photography with Brett and Jessica. They did such a good job. They are located here in Cincinnati in the West Chester area, feel free to give them a call if you are looking for a photographer. www.bhpimages.net or jshansbauer@cinci.rr.com

Let's see what else is going on......oh we encountered our first cold and I was so worried as a first time mom. "Was I doing all the things I was suppose to do?" She is doing better now, still has a stuffy nose which she has passed on to her mother.
C Ya!!!!

It's back to training....

Hello everyone,
It's that time again.....an update about Brooklyn and all that she has been up to. I hope you are all doing good and things are going well. Brooklyn is now 7 weeks old, boy does time fly fast. She is doing some amazing things such as smiling, cooing, holding her head up all by herself, and even pushing up during tummy time. I can say that the best thing was her first smile at Mommy. I had to look at her and ask her if she really just smiled at me. Sure enough she did it again to verify that, yes she did!!! We have done some outings recently and she continues to grow each day.

It is amazing how babies develop and have their own personalities, Brooklyn does have some of my characteristics! I guess in the end she looks just like Daddy but acts just like her Mommy...hahaha The doctor's visits have been good, she is on target for everything. Her last weight was 2 weeks ago and she was 9lbs 9 ounce and 22.5 inches long. She did really well when she had to get her shots and only cried for a short time. When she does cry she puts her lower lip as far as it can go and pouts before letting out a wail. My baby is already figuring out how to put on a pouty face for us.

So the baby days have been tough and easy at different points. She likes to cry sometimes and makes me think that she will be a expressive person. We are getting better at knowing what it is she wants, a diaper change, food, or just wanting to be held. One thing I am excited about is watching the video the Happiest Baby on the Block...boy did that save Chris and I...whewwwwww It gave us wonderful tips on how to calm our baby and provide her needs. So if you know anyone that has a baby, I highly recommend it. Training has started for all of us, and we are on week three. Man is it hard getting back into shape. I am taking each day slow but realizing that this is going to be hard hard work. I am feeling things that I have never felt before, and I am feeling like I am getting old (knees hurt, hips hurt, legs juggle haha) But I am determined to make my comeback and show Brooklyn what Mommy did and can do. So best of luck to us all!