Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Its been done...




Well, I did it. I have started supplimenting formula with my breast milk. Why, you ask? Well, I can't seem to produce enough milk. I have tried EVERY trick of the trade. Some days I have enough, some days I do not. Last week I started pumping and mainly bottle feeding to see how much Sam was getting at each feed. The poor baby sometimes only got 2 1/2 ounces. So, after talking with Greg yesterday, we decided that supplimenting would be best.

Do I feel like a failure? A little bit, yes. But, Sam's health is more important than my pride. I'll get over it. Look, I already am!! :)

Monday, July 27, 2009

Swimming, Spider and Christening pictures

Samantha went swimming for the first time yesterday. We were at Greg's grandparents for about an hour and she wouldn't stop screaming, so we gave up and headed home. We passed Carl and Angela on the way and they said that we should head back and try again. So, after a few times around the block to calm the little one down, and a trip to Walgreens for some Mylicon (I forgot the one at home), we headed back for round two.

She did FABULOUS! You can't tell by the pictures, but she loved being in the water. She was in for close to 20 minutes! What a big girl! :)

Ready for Swimming


happy!

family picture

take 2



So, as Greg's cousin, Amanda, was holding Sam, I decided to relax on a noodle. As I was getting situated, this HUGE, UGLY, brown spider came crawling out of the hole. I screamed SOOOO loud! I was laughed at by Greg, Carl and Angela until they saw how big that thing was. Then they
understood! Greg thinks it was a wolf spider. Who knows, but as Carl was killing it, she let her
babies go. EWWWW! Oh, and to top it off, cousin Jennifer said, "Oh, yea, I forgot to tell you about that!" WHAT?! You KNEW there was a spider in that noodle and you didn't tell me?! AHHH! :) I am DEATHLY afraid of spiders, ESPECIALLY big ones! My heart races just thinking about it!


Ok, here are the Christening pics I promised! Enjoy!

Being blessed


Baptism

Sam3+040.jpg (320×214)

she did so well!
Sam3+043.jpg (320×214)

family picture





Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Schedule Time

Well, after battling with the little one, I have decided that she has no choice. She WILL take a nap everyday. I put her in her crib, turn on the bath water for 5 minutes, and BOOM she's out. :) I can even put her down early now if I know I need to be somewhere later in the afternoon. She is a smart cookie. A stubborn smart cookie!!!

We will see how long this lasts!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Cherish

I've come to realize that as much as I do cherish time with Sam, I do not think I fully cherish her. During the times that she is awake (which is almost ALL DAY LONG!), I am continually thinking about all the things I should be/could be doing. For example, currently, my house is a DISASTER, I have done no laundry in over a week (with the exception of her diapers) and I am about to lose my mind. I was talking to Greg's aunt this weekend and she reminded me that it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I SHOULD be enjoying the time with her; watching her grow, learn new things, and just enjoy her. It won't be too long when she will be talking back, hanging out with friends over me, and just growing too fast. So, I really should sit back, enjoy the time with her and forget about the rest. It will get done. Maybe not every day, maybe not every week, but eventually.


(does anyone want to volunteer to clean my house?! :) )

Weekend Update

We had an eventful weekend!!! We were busy hanging out and celebrating with friends and family all weekend! Saturday, Greg and I FINALLY had a quiet morning. We basically hung out and did nada. We decided around 11 to go for a walk and ended up walking 2 1/2 miles because it was so gorgeous out! We came home got cleaned up and then went to Val and John's house for their summer BBQ. It ended up getting chilly so we brought the party inside. The boys played poker and the girls hung out upstairs with the babies! I really enjoy our group of friends!!

Sunday was such a great day! Sam was christened and then we went back to his parent's house to celebrate with friends and family. I do love when both families mingle and we have such a great time. :) Sam was supposed to nap during the whole celebration but she must have known it was her own party because she did NOT want to miss it! That was perfectly fine, though, because she was absolutely glorious! What a good baby! Oh, and she didn't shed a tear during the entire baptism. :0) We knew she was a great baby, but man, oh man, she is a SPECTACULAR baby!

Pictures to come!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Wine-O

It turns out that white wine does not do wonders for Sam's stomach. Or, maybe it does, but definitely NOT in a positive way. I've been trying to figure out what has been making her stomach so upset lately. Tuesday she screamed bloody murder for Nancy while I was at the grocery store.

My tentative conclusion: the milk she gave her was from Sunday, and on Sunday I drank wine.

Today, she woke up from her nap screaming at the top of her lungs (after only 45 minutes of sleeping) and wouldn't stop until I gave her Mylicon. Which, by the way, is a Godsend.

My more sturdy conclusion: I drank wine last night with dinner.

I do not think I am going to continue to test this theory. No one likes a screaming baby; especially her when her tummy hurts. :(

I guess I will switch to beer. I haven't paid much attention to it until now. Hopefully, wine is the only culprit.

The positive side to all of this: I can sing "You Are My Sunshine" to her and it will calm her down in an instant. Three cheers to a soothing song!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

SO BIG!

You know that game you play with your kids? "How big is (child's name)? SO BIG!"

Well, here is MY baby, and she is SO BIG!!


Sam as a newborn

Sam at 1 month


Sam at 2 months



Sunday, July 12, 2009

5K

Greg emailed me this week and asked if I wanted to run the Charity (for Stand Up to Cancer) 5K this weekend in honor of the All Star Game. I was a little hesitant because its been 11 months if not more since I've done a run/workout that hard. I decided to buck it up and do it, and it was amazing! The race itself was a little challenging. We went with our neighbor, her sister and her friend from Chicago. I ended up falling behind the pack and running on my own. I think that made it more difficult because I didn't have a buddy to keep me encouraged to run. Sooo...I ran a mile, walked a mile, ran a mile. Truthfully, it wasn't all that bad. I could have done a lot worse! I'm really proud of myself for going for it. I figured if I didn't start now, I never would.

Greg and I want to do the 1/2 marathon in April in honor of Sam's birth. This put it all into perspective...I need to train! Now, I really want a jogging stroller. That would be AWEEESOME! :) A double would be perfect since I will be taking Ben in a few short weeks.

Greg has all of a sudden become highly interested in a triathlon. I am completely supportive, although I think he needs to train a little. The Kirkwood triathlon is full and the waiting list has like 50 people on it. I think he needs to wait a year and train. He's not so convinced by that. We will see.

Other than that, our weekend has been uneventful. Friday night we went to Harry's bar and grill on Southwest Ave. for one of Greg's co worker's last day of work. They have karaoke on Friday nights. It was a blast. I sang "None of Your Business" by Salt N Pepa. Classic Katie. My brother babysat. How wonderful is it to have family in town to baby sit for you? Not only do you not have to pay, but its quality time that they have with Sam. Awesome.

Saturday Greg went over to Val and John's to power wash and clean their deck and today he is staining it for them. :) A little extra cash in the pocket never hurt anything...and its going to help pay for our ski trip that we are taking this winter! YAY!!! Sam and I just hung out. I kind of want to make a trip up to Spicer's in Clayton since I have $100 worth of gift certificates there. (One of my student's parents own it.) I wonder what we could find with that...hmmm...and think of all the CANDY we could get. Mmmm...Candy :0)

But, first, its nap time. My body is exhausted from that run. Can't wait for it to be back in tip top shape! :) :)


Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Bliss.







So peaceful...for both baby and Mommy!


Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Success!

SAM TOOK A NAP TODAY! I made her soothe herself to sleep in her pack and play. She whined and fussed but never all out cried, and she got herself to sleep, for 3 hours! YES! I was able to eat lunch, stuff diapers, watch Michael Jackson's memorial, have sherbert AND read my book. By the time she was waking up, Grandma Berger was here. So i'ts been a GREAT afternoon!

I hope to repeat it tomorrow! :)

Update...

Our baby girl has been rather gassy the last couple of days. She isn't really eating and she doesn't like to be in any position but standing or sitting. Poor baby. I think its because I have been slacking on my water intake and she isn't getting enough milk. She seemed to be swallowing more air than milk. Have no fear, I have resoloved that issue, and she is getting PLENTY of milk now. Its amazing what about 50 oz of water can do! :)

Here are some pictures...

Smiles!

Big eyes!

Sleepy baby.

Working on her core muscles!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Oh boy...

Greg's conversation with Samantha today while she refused to go to sleep...

"Oh, man, Sam. We are going to have trouble with you. You are going to be stubborn and want everything and I'm going to give it to you."

And this is what I have to look forward to! :)

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Catch-Up

I think about blogging a lot, and then when I go to do it, I have bloggers block. Well, Grandpappie wants to read something while at work, so here it goes!

Yesterday, Sam had her 2 month check up. She is growing SO fast! She weighs 11 pds 4 oz and is 23 1/2 inches long! The poor baby had to get 4 vaccines yesterday by shot and one by mouth. She was not a happy camper at all! She cried for about 10 minutes and then passed out. She was pretty good until Mom and I got to the mall to shop and then she started screaming! The women who worked in the store thought that she was a colicy baby. We had to explain probably 5 times that she just had her shots. Poor baby. Grandma is the perfect pillow, though. :) But, so far, she is better today!
So back to shopping. Mom and I went to Destination Maternity to get a swim suit. Normally, I would have bucked it up and not bothered to pay for ANOTHER swimsuit that won't fit me ever again unless I get pregnant over the summer which I plan on NEVER doing...run on sentence but I wanted you to get the out of breath feel that I get when I think about being pregnant during STL's heat...
Right so where was I...oh yes, we went to Destination Maternity because just last Saturday we went to the "regular" stores and NOTHING fit. But we were successful at DM and I'm happy. And it was on sale, so my mom was happy too! :) We also bought some shirts for me so I stop wearing my maternity shirts. I think I've lost enough weight to where people will just think I have a beer belly. Greeeeeaaaat. But still no need for maternity shirts. That is probably all the motivation I need to get this stomach back in tip top shape!

Ugh, now its time for me to go on my rant rage...Since the moment I got pregnant, my face has broken out into this awful stuff called adult acne (ba ba bummmmm). I hate it. I'm done with it. I want to move on. Yes, its hormonal, but I want to be able to control it as much as possible. Since I can't do that with birth control because the good stuff will dry out my skin, I have to do it with good face products. So, I went to Sephora yesterday, bought all organic face care and retinol in hopes that in a couple weeks, I will at least have my break outs under control. I hope.

Ok, back to Sam. :)

She has been a talking machine. Her favorite words are "oooo" and "a-gooo", but she has started putting in "waaa" and "wooo" as well! She is also starting to laugh a little. She gets so smiley and then lets out this puff of air. We LOVE it! :) It is so fun to see her do something new every day! She is also starting to try to sit up. She will lift her neck and we will help her sit up the rest of the way.
The other day, she gave Greg the puppy dog look for the first time. I already know that I'm going to be the disciplinarian in the family because she already has him wrapped around her fingers. He gave in to her puppy dog look and she didn't even WANT anything yet. Oh boy.

On to Finnegan...

He's been eating the carpet. Great. I think its because he smells spit up on it (even though we clean it up), and wants to eat it. Greg thinks he is acting out. Its probably both.



Here are some pictures:
Sam at 1 month


Loving tummy time


Talking to Daddy