Hop Hop Hop Easter Bunny!

Allison had a fun filled first Easter! The Easter Bunny was very good to her. She loves her new doll and tea set and all the great books the Bunny brought! Allie got all dressed up her new Easter dress and looked adorable!

Our family enjoyed Easter together and spent the afternoon at Grammy Karen's where Allison got to meet some of the Bullion family for the first time. All her cousins loved watching and playing with her. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday as well!

Happy Spring!

Wow time has flown by! It's hard to believe Allison is approaching her 1st birthday in less than a month! Allie is such a sweet joy and is so much fun. Her personality is really starting to show. She has taken a liking to baby food and loves to "spit" her food - yes, you can imagine mealtime is quite entertaining! Her favorite food so far is Gerber macaroni and cheese - hmmmm.....must take after her Mom!

She has also become quite a wiggle worm! She loves to move around and should be starting to crawl anytime now. Allie and Boomer have become even closer friends. Boomer loves to lay next to her during "tummy time" and she loves to lunge for his ears (the poor dog is so good with her even as she pulls on his fur!)

Allie is now about 16 pounds and is really starting to fill out. We still go once a week to physical therapy to monitor her development. Everything seems to be on track and she is progressing so well! Allie is very amused to see the other kids there and loves to watch them too.

With the nice weather lately we've been able to get out more and enjoy some walks. Allie enjoys her visits with Grammy Karen and loves it when she sings to her (she falls asleep in her arms every time!) Nana and Papa have been over to visit and are amazed every time to see how fast Allie is growing.

Mom and Dad have been keeping busy with things. Dad is enjoying his law practice. Mom has added some hours at work at MACPA to cover for a co-worker's leave and is also handling marketing for the law firm......things have been go, go, go! Mom and Dad did enjoy a fun night out last weekend as some friends got married.

We are looking forward to a trip to Missouri next month where we'll visit Great-Grandma Shepard and meet up with cousins Jackson and Tyler from Texas for the first time along with Nana and Papa! It will be nice to have everyone together!

We hope this message finds you well and look forward to introducing Allie to you this spring and summer if you haven't met her yet!

Love,

Matt, Nicole, Allie & Boomer too!

I'm Growing and Growing!

Hi Friends & Family,

We know it's been a while since we've posted on the blog - things have been busy, busy! Allie is doing just great. She is now about 15 pounds and 26 inches long! She is actually on the full-term baby growth chart now for her height and head circumference - so we're very excited!

Fortunately, Allie has been very healthy this winter and we've managed to dodge colds and the flu so far - we're hoping things stay that way. Allie has been keeping busy with rolling around, bouncing in her new Exersaucer and just about sitting on her own now. She loves to babble and talk, talk, talk (we think she's telling us stories!) She is becoming more and more aware of Boomer and he just adores her. He likes to lay next to her on the floor when she plays. Allie is notorious for taking off her socks and chewing on them (gross!) We cannot keep socks on her at all - she is quite the hoot!

Allie (and Mom & Dad) have enjoyed some visits from family and friends this winter and are so excited for it to warm up so we can get out the stroller! We are looking forward to celebrating Allie's 1st Birthday - just around the corner!

Hope everyone is well! Stay warm and hang in there......Spring is almost here!

Love, The Shepards

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you had a wonderful holiday. Allison enjoyed her first Christmas and had lots of fun with her family! We spent the holidays pretty close to home this year as we still have to limit Allie's contact around others.

Santa was very good to Allie bringing books and toys and of course lots of cute outfits. Her favorite gift was from Aunt Erica, Uncle Kyle and cousins Jackson and Tyler....Elmo Live! She just stares and smiles and watches him over and over again. Mom and Dad admit that they are pretty amused with Elmo Live too!

Allie is doing amazing and continues to grow so fast - she is now about 13 lbs, loving her baby cereal and has tried a few different fruits . We did get Allie a cranial helmet to help shape a flat spot on the back of her head (very typical with preemies) - she'd adjusting to it well will hopefully just have it for a couple months. Allie has also been going to physical therapy one time per week to help strengthen the left side of her neck (she tends to favor the right.) Her therapist anticipates that she won't be there long and we'll just keep working on some stretches from home.

We look forward to sharing 2009 with all of you and may it bring you and your family good health and happiness!

Best Wishes,

The Shepards

Gobble, gobble!

As we prepare for Thanksgiving Day we want to give a special thank you to all our friends and family for their love and support over the past months. We cannot thank everyone for all your kind gestures for Allie. We all have a lot to be thankful for and many given blessings.

It's hard to believe that she's going to be 7 months old on Thanksgiving! Allie is doing amazing. She is babbling so much and loves to "coo" and laugh at her toys. She is starting to notice Boomer more and even decided to crawl up on him and give him a big hug (with Mom and Dad's help of course.)

Allie has been busy with Mom the last few days preparing for Turkey Day. We've made hand-traced cut out turkeys for decoration and some kiddie cornucopias (not that she can eat them, but Mom had fun!) We'll spend Thanksgiving at home this year. All the grandparents will be over along with Uncle Mike and Uncle Mark (who will be meeting Allie for the first time.)

From our home to yours, we hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Love,
Matt, Nicole & Little Turkey (Allie)

Happy Halloween!

Hi Friends and Family,

Halloween was extra fun at our house this year. I dressed up as a ladybug and loved it. Mom and Dad enjoyed picking out a costume for me. I stayed in this year and passed out candy - next year I'll get to go out and trick or treat.

I had a check-up with the pediatrician on Halloween and all is well. The doctor said I'm about 11 pounds and 23 inches long. He said that I'm very healthy and everything looks and sounds great, hopefully we'll continue on that note. Unfortunately I had to get some shots too, so I was a little fussy - those shots really hurt!

The doctor was impressed with my head control and movement and thought it was great that I'm rolling now! We got the green light to go ahead and try some rice cereal.....mmm, that stuff is yummy! Although, I enjoyed playing with it more than eating it - cereal was EVERYWHERE!

It's been so nice out lately and I've enjoyed going for long walks with my puppy dog Boomer. Mom went back to work 1 day a week and Grammy Karen comes over to stay with me. We have fun and like to read and sing together.

Now with Thanksgiving approaching, I'm going to try to sneak some goodies on Turkey Day....do you think Gerber makes pumpkin pie baby food?

Love and kisses,
Allie

Growing Up Fast!

Time is flying by and it's hard to believe the end of October is approaching! Allie has just been such a joy to us. She loves to babble and chat and yesterday she rolled over for the first time! She enjoys playing on her Baby Einstein mat and is starting to like "tummy time" more and more. We would guess her to be close to 11 lbs now, but we'll know for sure when she goes to the doctor at the end of the month.

We've had some visitors over to meet Allie and we certainly appreciate everyone's cooperation with following our "health guidelines" to ensure we keep Allie super healthy.

Allie enjoys her visits with Grammy Karen and will get to spend this weekend with Nana and Papa Shepard as they are coming down to stay with Allie and Matt while Nicole is on her first overnight weekend (girls weekend) away from Allie. Yes, she is going to miss her like CRAZY - but she knows she'll be in great hands.

Boomer continues to be intrigued by Allie. We've caught him giving her feet "kisses" and often he lays right under her swing. It will definitely be funny when she can start feeding him goodies!

We hope everyone is having a nice Fall and hope you have fun this Halloween. Allie will enjoy her first Halloween as a ladybug!

Love, The Shepards