Sam's Baptism

Sam had his baptism this past Saturday. It was a perfect day. It was filled with love from our family and friends. I wanted Sam to feel special. I know he is so young and won't remember it but I wanted it to be a day that I could tell him about. And it was just that. In fact it so so fun filled and memorable that I felt like I was running around the whole day. I may still be exhausted. We had Owen's side of the family there, my side of the family and some close friends. I don't think I finished one conversation b/c my eyes were constantly looking for Andrew to make sure he was happy, to find Sam to make sure his needs were being met and to make sure everyone had enough food and/or drinks.

The ceremony was perfect. Adam (Fr. Rust) did such a great job. Andrew was a little cranky so he had too much of my attention. I think the baptism came and went and I didn't breath once. Sam was great. My good friend Melanie and her husband Eric are the god parents. Melanie held Sam the whole time and she did great. Sam cried when Fr. Rust poured water on him but other than that was a trooper.



We were able to take family pictures...

Owen's side of the family




My side of the family




The godparents




This is a time when I wish I was better at writing b/c my heart is full of so much but I can't put it in words. I loved having our families there and loved Adam being a big part of the day. I tried to treasure every moment but was busy with the hustle and bustle - HOWEVER it was hustle and bustle I wanted and therefore it was perfect.

My heart is full of love and blessings. Life is hard and time is hard to come by but this Saturday we focused on family and our little man. He is our baby and I want him to always know he is special and loved not only in our eyes but in God's eyes. I pray Owen and I are good examples to him and I pray that we teach him right from wrong and to love and not hate. This is a scary time in our world. There is so much negativity and sometimes I don't even know what to believe or think but as a mom - I am trying really hard to love and to not be scared of the future of our country and our world. I have two babies growing up in it - it has to be a good place and I am trusting in God more than ever!

But aside from all of that - I am happy Sam is baptized in the Catholic Church. I am happy and thankful he is ours. We have so many more special days in our future. Life is definitely good!

Sam is 7 months old

My baby boy is 7 months old! He is becoming a big boy too quickly. Some fun facts about Sam at this age are:

* He goes to sleep around 6:30 pm and wakes up around 5 am - sometimes he will wake up for a midnight snack but goes right back to sleep.
* He lights up when you walk into a room. He recognizes his family and smiles so big when he sees you. He has started to reach up to be picked up.
* He loves to chew and put things in his mouth. I see the beginnings of bottom teeth but they are moving up slowly.
* He likes to grab toys and pull them close to him. It looks like he is a gatherer (wants everything in his reach)
* Sits up so well and for long periods of time. He still loves his exersaucer and we got the jeep out now and he likes that as well.
* Sam seems to be such a content baby. If he is entertained, fed, and not sleepy then you can leave the room and do things around the house and he doesn't mind. He wants to be near people though.
* Sam is a cuddling baby...he buries his head on your shoulder and nestles in. I LOVE THIS!!!
* He still has a little mouth thrush that I can not get rid of. He goes for his ear check up on Tuesday so I am hoping they can lead me in a different direction with the thrush.
* He is still wearing 9 month clothing. I am about to get out Andrew's old 12 month pjs for him to wear. I think the length is getting too short for Sam in the 9 month pjs.

He is such a joy. When I think about him, my heart smiles.

Here are some more pictures of my sweet Samuel.

Theme days at Andrew's School

This summer Andrew's day care has had fun theme days on Fridays. The two I have pictures from are from Silly hat day and PJ day...I did good on hat day. He wore his sock monkey hat. And he wanted to wear it so that made it even more fun.





Last week was Princess and Knight dress up day. This was an easy one for the girls...not so easy for the boys. I got Andrew a batman cape for the Dark Knight. He wanted nothing to do with it. I brought it school just in case but it stayed in his cubby.

Today however was wear your pjs to school day. Andrew wears winter clothes to bed so I wanted to get him a short and short sleeve set for today. When I put it on him today I second guessed my decision but went with it anyways. Owen said he looked like he was going to the skating rink in the 1970's (disco). To Andrew's credit he wasn't real keen on this idea either but with the bribery of a blue M&M he went with it. When we got to school the girls were not in pjs but the boys were - in loose fitting ones. Andrew is the only one that was in shorts :( oh well...luckily he is too young to really know that his mom totally bombed on pj day. This afternoon they are playing with water so he will change into his swim shorts.



By the way...it has a super hero alligator on it and super hero glasses on the shorts. I thought I was definitely getting a good pj set. Oh well...this is one reason I am shocked I was blessed with boys - I don't know about boys...but am learning :)

Off Balance

I feel like our world lately has been off balance. Mainly my rhythm with Andrew. He is telling me "no" alot and not listening. I know it is his age but I don't know how to positively spin this like I have done with him every other time he has gone through a developmental stage. I am assuming that is what is going on. He is 2 1/2 so I am sure there is a growth spurt happening. I need to read up on that. He has become a little more clingy than normal and poor Owen can't do anything right in Andrew's eyes.

Andrew loves watching tv now. Not just one show anymore he likes anything on sprout. This is a new thing - he used to like having it on but would play and watch. It was almost like background noise. I am definitely ok with that b/c I like to have the tv on all the time too - just for noise. But now he sits and stares at. Luckily everything on sprout is good to watch and I do think he is absorbing the little things they are teaching kids - but it is become a problem because that is all he wants to do when he is in the house. He also loves outside and would be out there all day but it is 90 plus degrees outside and I just don't want all of us to get too hot.

I also feel that when we get home at night we are rushed. I am rushed to get the bags out of the car, put up dirty bottles from the day, empty dish washer, straighten up, try to do another chore all while keeping Sam entertained and paying attention to Andrew. I hear "Mommy, I need you" or "Mommy, I want you" probably 100 times from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. I try really hard to sit and play or sit and watch a show with Andrew to give him attention but there is just so much to do. I do have realistic expectations that the house will not be they way I like it but there are things that need to get done. I just feel like I am struggling a little right now.

So with the struggle of getting ready to end the day, I do let Andrew watch tv. But then comes the problem of turning it off to get in the bath and ready for the night. He just won't do it. He goes crazy at night. I call it night time crazies. I know he has energy but it is important to get in the bath at a certain time for Sam. Sam is tired and ready for bed at 5:30 but has to wait until 6:30 so by that time he is so over the day. I just don't know how to get Andrew on board with out having a melt down. I am tired of time out b/c it does nothing except prolong bath time. Tonight I am going to try a treat if he listens. I don't know...this morning I just wanted to cry. I guess that is why I am writing about it - hoping I can make sense of it and just move on.

What's been going on this week

I feel like we have been super busy but with nothing in particular to write about. Owen's birthday was this past weekend. He has been extremely busy at work because one of the employees quit and they haven't replaced her yet. So Owen has been doing two jobs just to stay afloat. It has been hard on him. We managed to get away for his birthday to the movies and that was a fun night out. We had lunch with his parents on Sunday.

Andrew has been a mess lately. He is saying "no" more to us and is meaning it. I am having to teach myself again not to ask him yes or no questions. However even when I tell him to do something he tells me no. Andrew has been going into time out more lately because of this.

A funny Andrew story from this morning. We wake up around 5:45 am - Owen goes to the computer to do some work and I get in the shower. Andrew also wakes up around this time and comes out to play or to see what we are doing. Today Andrew kept asking Owen if he was finished. Owen said no but asked what he needed. Andrew told Owen that Ralphie needed to go outside - so the two of them let Ralphie out. Then a minute later Andrew told Owen he needed to let Ralphie back in. After realizing that Owen would not be playing with him, he went into Sam's room. He turned on the lights and woke Sam up. Sam has become very vocal about being hungry and he goes from peaceful to loud in a matter of seconds. And this happened when Andrew woke him up. Owen said that Andrew came out of Sam's room with a look on his face that said "oops...maybe I messed up with waking him up".

I took both boys to Mommy and Me today. I feel like Andrew is getting tired of the same ole routine every day so I wanted to change it up for him too. He was super excited about going to Mommy and Me. We had several talks about it being Sam's class. And he did understand. He was such a joy to be around today. He was so good at my office and he was good with Sam. I thought I was going to regret taking him but it all worked out.

I tried to get a picture of the two them...but the two of them did not cooperate with me.







This weekend is Sam's baptism. I have been looking forward to it for months. I can't believe he will be 7 months this week and getting baptized. Life is flying by and I hope I am soaking it all in.

Rainy Day = Movie Day

Saturday Aha and Mick called to see if Andrew wanted to go to the movies. Owen said sure, he would love that. When he told me, my heart sank. Of course I want him to spend time with his grandparents and it was a rainy day and perfect for a movie. But I wanted to be there with him when he went to the movies for the first time. So Owen called his mom up and we invited ourselves along for the adventure. Aha and Mick did not mind us tagging along and it made it a special memory day.

We went to see Madagascar 3. Andrew loved it. He got gummy bears and shared Mick's popcorn. He sat for the whole movie and talked about it all weekend.





After the movie we went and had lunch then Andrew rode with Aha and Mick home. I am so glad Andrew enjoyed it and that we all went together. Even Sam joined in the fun. So at 6 1/2 months - Sam enjoyed his first movie too. He watched the first half and then fell asleep the 2nd half of the movie - what a trooper.

Definitely a fun weekend and now we know Andrew can go to the movies :)

Sam's 6 month well baby doctor visit

Sam went for his 6 month well baby check up last week. I had been anticipating this visit because Sam had not been feeling well. His stomach seemed very sensitive and he would spit up his whole bottle - even if I nursed him he would spit up. So I was worried to say the least.

I wish I could report that he was 100% healthy but that is not the case. My poor baby had an ear infection in each ear, thrush in his mouth and diaper rash :( But what a little trooper - he didn't "act" sick except for spitting up. He never ran a fever and slept fairly well at night.

His nose has cleared up (even though I can tell he has drainage in his sinuses) but the thrush is taking longer to clear up than I would have thought.

Here are his stats from the visit

weight - 18lbs (54%)
height - 27 1/2 inches (78%)
head circumference - 45.7 cm (95%)

So he is a healthy boy and growing like he should be.





Sam is doing a couple of new things so I wanted to make sure I typed them in order to remember them always.

* He does not like eating food. I thought this would be such a fun thing but he cries and shows no interest at all. Maybe he will go straight to people food and skip baby food.

* He slept on his tummy all night last night - first time ever!!!

* He is great at reaching for toys and puts them straight into this mouth

* He loves watching Andrew - it is like he is studying him to learn how to be a big kid.

* He cuddles and likes to cuddle up with a stuffed animal or blanket when he sleeps. In fact he sleeps with a shark at the moment. Owen thinks this is hilarious but it is the perfect size for Sam. There is nothing that can choke him on the shark and it is soft. Therefore my 6 month old sleeps with a shark :)

* He sat in a high chair at a restaurant for the 1st time last weekend. He didn't really like it b/c he couldn't rest his back on anything b/c he was still too small.



* Sam is no longer nursing. It was so bitter sweet for me and almost a little too cold turkey for me. But he seems to be good now and I can really tell how much he is eating during the day so that helps us with bed time. He has been sleeping really well at night since I stopped nursing him. :( still sad because he is my baby. In fact everything that Sam outgrows is sad to me in a sentimental way b/c he is the baby and I don't foresee another child in our home so again all of these mile stones are bitter sweet.

And here is one more picture of my sweet Samuel at 6 months old.

A week in pictures

I love blogging because I love getting my blog book. It motivates me to keep telling stories of the boys and to keep posting pictures of them. I do print real pictures to put in an album, but I love having a book about them too.

So here is our week in pictures.

Backyard Pool time with Friends...





Andrew had a birthday party to go to on Monday and Ms. Amanda picked him up early from school so he could go with Brantley and Emery. Sam and I showed up a little later.



Sam is sitting up so good now on his own that I thought the Zaney Zoo would be fun for him to play with. Turns out that Andrew is now interested in all of his "old" toys. Luckily this one has 4 sides so all could play and have fun together.



This past weekend Andrew fell asleep on the couch. This was the first time he has ever done that. It was on Saturday and he feel asleep in the car on the way to eat lunch and then didn't take a nap when we got home...he was one tired little man.



Yesterday for the 4th we went to the pool and then had laid back home time the rest of the day. It was nice to have a slow day in the middle of the week.





That has been the last week in pictures :)