Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Is it only Tuesday!


I am still not feeling great.  I woke up with a terrible sore throat, it felt like my entire throat was swollen and my right nostril is completely stuffed up.  Samuel has been wonderful so far today.  He hasn't cried one time.  I just put him in his crib for a nap.  I am trying to check my email and do a few things around the house, then I am going to eat really quickly and get to bed.  I want at least 30 minutes of a nap today.  

My mom was here all weekend and left last night.  It was a wonderful visit and a lot of help.  I needed it.  I can completely see how having a nanny would be wonderful, but they are not family.  I really like being able to feed Samuel and then pass him off to Savta.  I only changed diapers in the middle of the night.  It was great.  Dave and I were joking last night that he changed more diapers then I did yesterday.  I only changed one!  He changed two.  

Well, it is almost 11 and I am pooped.  I hope you all have a great day. 

Monday, April 28, 2008

I am feeling a bit better.  I will be drinking lots of tea all day trying to recover before Savta leaves.  

I can't get the videos that I wanted to post uploaded.  I think I will try later today.  

Maybe I will post later today.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Tired Tired

I will post more tomorrow.  We had a busy weekend.  Savta was in town and we went out for the first time since Samuel was born.  

What we learned from this weekend...Can't stay out until 10:30 pm.  Way too late now.   I am in so much pain today and exhausted.  My boobs were bowling balls and my eyes are blood shot.  I fed Samuel at 12:30 and then pumped and still got 5 oz after he ate.

So tired today.  I ate horribly and feel huge.  Tomorrow is a new day.  Savta is staying one more day because I am so tired and I may have to hurt Samuel if he doesn't sleep for a long time tonight.  Better to have intervention then do something crazy.  I am off for the evening, will post again, with pictures when I come out of my coma.    

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

I haven't posted in a while.  We have been really busy.  Oma and Opa came in town this past weekend.  It was a nice, relaxing and FAST weekend.  Samuel decided not to sleep very much this weekend, but I think he was just excited to see his Oma and Opa and didn't want to waste his time sleeping.  Dave and I got to spend about 4 hours together on Saturday during the day alone.  It was a nice break.  We ran lots of errands, went out to lunch and I had a glass of wine with lunch.  It was wonderful.  

The beginning of this week has been pretty good.  Yesterday Samuel and I went on a long walk about 3 mile.  He stayed awake for the entire first mile and then passed out.  I was a little stressed yesterday.  I spoke at Saint Louis University to one of their nursing classes.  It was a Family Violence Class and I talked about Orders of Protection and Child Orders of Protection.  I had to talk for about 40 minutes.  I talked non- stop for 30 and then I was expecting some questions and I really didn't have any.  I think I did a horrible job.  The students in the class were really young and they were looking at me like I was an idiot.  Oh well.  This was my first time speaking to a group of people about family law issues.  Hopefully I will be asked back at some point and I will do a better job.  

Today I was planning on doing this Mommy Boot Camp thing.  But it started raining and it got cancelled.  It is a outdoor class that lasts 50 minutes, so I had a feeling it was going to be cancelled.  Hopefully the weather will be good on Thursday and we will have class then.  

Samuel woke up at 5:30 and did not want to go back to sleep.  So we got up and I made Dave and I smoothies for breakfast.  It was yummy.  I put frozen mangoes, strawberries and blueberries and I used a strawberry banana juice and blueberry yogurt.  It was tasty.  

I am super lazy today.  I don't feel like doing much.  A parent educator from the Parents as Teachers program is coming by at 4:15 today.  I have no idea what she is going to do, but I will let you know.  

I am pretty boring lately.  Sorry!  Hopefully you all are more exciting.   

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Quick Post

I went to my doctor's appointment today.  Still need to lose a bunch of weight.  Everything looks good down there and we are free to go back to our regular activities (I guess that includes exercise and sex, not sure what else it could mean).

They commented on how big they thought Samuel looked.  I was telling them how heavy he was.  So they got me on the scale by myself and then with him.  He is 15 pounds!  He is huge.  

I tried to run a few errands after the doctor's appointment but I was way to starving.  Samuel was asleep, but could have woken up at anytime.  So I headed home, ate food and now checking my email frantically before he wakes up.  

Dave went and bought diapers at Sam's this past weekend.  8-14 pound diapers!  We have a ton left.  I have been wondering why Samuel is pooping through his diapers.  Must be that they are too small.  

Charisa, you need some diapers?  We have tons!  We can bring them to you.  Time to go shopping again.  

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

I was right!

Here is Samuel sleeping this morning in our bed.  I tried to feed him and he just fell asleep.  
Here is a close up.
He just woke up!
This was last night right before we put him to bed.  He was fast asleep on Dave.


This was him this morning.  I went to get coffee at Starbucks and he fell asleep on the car ride.  


Just to follow up from yesterday, Samuel peed on me too!  Just thought you all would like to know.  

So....drum roll please...Samuel slept for 6 hours and 45 minutes last night!!!!!  Too bad I didn't.  I woke up twice and had to go in and check on him.  I was freaked out that he was sleeping so long.  I stood by his bed for at least 10 minutes each time making sure that he was breathing and wasn't going to wake up.  Each time I went back to bed expecting that he would wake up any minute and he just continued to sleep.  I can't believe it.  He officially has a bed time of 9ish.  I start feeding him at 8 and he knows it is close to his bedtime because he gets really cranky.  He is in bed by 9.  Yippee.  I hope this lasts.  I will just keep my fingers crossed.  


I am off.  We are getting 3 trees removed today and four stumps removed from our yard and the tree guys should be here any minute.  

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

I am a new woman!

I feel great today.  Guess what?  Samuel slept 5 hours last night.  We put him down at 9 and when I heard noise from the monitor, I looked at the clock and holy shit it was 2 am.  Now before I told you that I thought my boobs were rock hard and huge, well that was nothing compared to last night.  All I heard from him was a little peep, not crying or anything.  I laid in bed for another 15 minutes, just listening to him making tiny noises and hoping that he would wake up soon, so I could relieve my breasts.  Finally I couldn't take it anymore and I went into this room.  He was just looking around, so I got him up and fed him on one boob and changed him and then tried to feed him on the other boob and he just was too freaking tired to eat.  So I put him back to bed, headed downstairs and pumped the other boob.  I got back to bed by 3.  Then guess what he slept until a little after 6.  Dave got him out of bed, changed him and I fed him in bed.  He again barely ate and fell back asleep until 8:45 am.

So then we come to the rest of the firsts that Samuel has done for the day.  I woke up at 8:45 to a huge explosion coming from Samuel's pants.  My knees were up in the fetal position, so I was kind of surrounding Samuel with one side of my body in our bed.  My thighs were resting just below his bottom.  I felt the explosion on my legs.  Then he started smiling like crazy and I knew this was going to be a very dirty diaper.  I took him downstairs so I could change him and feed him.

I was wondering why his back was so warm as I was walking downstairs and I soon found out.  He had pooped all the way up his back.  Now that was a serious explosion!  He got poop all over his pj's, his back, etc.  It was disgusting.  Now, by this time he was ravenous, so he was screaming at the top of his lungs and did not like the fact that I was trying to pull his pj's off of him without getting poop everywhere, including his hair, the changing table, you know everything.  

I finally got him all cleaned up and started to feed him.  He again ate at ton off of one of my boobs for a good 10 to 15 minutes.  Then he started screaming.  I figured he probably needed to burp.  Well, not only did he need to burp, he needed to expel about 1 oz of breast milk all over my chest, tank top, and pj bottoms.  Then he rewarded me with another gigantic poop in his pants.  So back to the changing table we went.  This time he was only wearing his diaper, so that was an easy diaper change.  By this time he was pretty happy with himself, so he just smiled at me while I changed him.  I tried to go back feeding him on the other boob and he didn't want to having anything to do with that again.  So he went in his bouncy seat and I went back to the pumper.  

You think I am done, oh no, just read on...

I took him upstairs to finally put him in his outfit for the day.  I figured all the bodily functions were done for a while.  Since he threw up all over me, I needed to get changed and then I wanted to wipe him down.  I went to get a wash cloth, I wiped everything off of him and put him in a new outfit.  I put him in his bouncy seat so I could take him in the other room so I could get dressed.  I went to the bathroom to squeeze out the wash cloth I just just on him, came back into his room looked at him and he exploded throw up all over him, his new outfit, in his ear, all over his hair (I have no idea how it got to all those places, but it was everywhere).  

So I went back to get the wash cloth, stripped him down, washed him off and put him in another outfit.  This time it was a success.  Thank goodness.  I was able to wash my face, put on clothes and put in a load of laundry.  

Now we are baby bjorning it and he is asleep on my chest.  I have spent a good 38 minutes checking email and writing here and he is still asleep.  

I am totally prepared to get peed on today.  I mean what else could happen.  It is a good thing he gave me lots of sleep last night.  I think I can handle anything today.  

We have a lunch date at 11:30, so hopefully he will behave himself.  

That is it for the day.       

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Weekend Fun


We have been exploring new things with Samuel this weekend.  We played tummy time with him and it didn't last long because he fell asleep.  Take a look. 

We went to breakfast this morning the three of us.  It was our first family outing.  Samuel did great, he slept the entire time.  Now we are trying out the Baby Bjorn.  So far he is liking that too. He is fast asleep and I am able to do stuff on the computer and carry him around at the same time.  This is pretty nice. 
We bought an HDMI cable today so hopefully I can play with it and get some videos downloaded.  All this technology is just too much.  How did we survive without it.  
Oh, so we got our bathroom facets and the kitchen faucet replaced yesterday.  The guy finally showed up and he was pretty young.  I thought he smelled a little, like late night out smell.  Anyway he did a good job and we now have new faucets and someone else spent the day installing it.  
Now that I am not pregnant anymore, I really want to start painting.  We need to paint the spare bathroom and our bathroom.  I think once those things are done all I will have to do is decorate.  We have so many projects.  
I am off to figure out this video camera stuff.  

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Been a While

It has been a while since I posted last.  Things have been pretty busy around our house.  Samuel barely slept on Thursday during the day and then didn't sleep at all on Thursday night.  He was up pretty much every hour.  Then on Friday I thought he would crash during the day, but oh no, he was up all day yesterday too.  By last night he was so tired and he couldn't stop crying.  He barely would eat because he was so exhausted.  For some reason he really enjoys my singing, I have no idea why, it actually hurts my ears, but I started to sing songs to him last night and he calmed down, ate and then slept for about 3 and a half hours.  He was so tired last night that when I went in to feed him he barely ate before he was passed out.  He didn't even really struggle when I swaddled him.  My feedings in the middle of the night, including changing him and putting him back in his crib only took 30 minutes.  It was pretty nice for me because I never fully woke up, so I was able to fall back asleep pretty quickly.  

Dave and I have been waiting since 10 am for a plumber to come by our house to put in 3 new faucets and to check our kitchen faucet and garbage disposal.  I had noticed that it was wet under the sink and I thought we had a leak, but then Dave checked it out and said it was fine.  Then last night he checked again and sure enough we have a leak.  So we called the plumber and he was supposed to come by this morning.  It is now 12:30 pm and he still isn't here.  He called around 10:30 and said he would be about an hour late because one of his friends car died, then he called again and said he wouldn't be here until around 1.  So much for running all our errands today.  I asked Dave if the guy sounded young on the phone because I have a feeling he got wasted last night and is running late because he is hung over.  I am sorry "my friend's car died" is not a good excuse.  I know I should probably give him the benefit of the doubt, but I just don't believe his story.  I will let you know if he does good work, once he shows up.  

In the meantime though I cleaned the entire kitchen (except moping the floor), vacuumed the entire house, did all the laundry and will soon organize pictures.  I feel like the day has been pretty successful.  

Update:  The plumber just called and will be here in 5 minutes.  Yipee!  

I finally got Samuel to smile when I was using the video camera.  We are going to by a cable today so i can download the video to our computer, then I can post it, hopefully.    

I better go.  Have a great weekend.  

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Sleep!

Oh my goodness, Samuel slept for 4 hours at one time last night.  I fed him around 8 pm and he seemed fast asleep, so we wrapped him up and put him in his bed around 8:30.  I figured I would be up again at 10:30, so I got in bed to take a little nap.  He didn't wake up until 12:30! It was wonderful, except that my boobs were huge and rock hard.  I was so happy to feed him.  I changed him and fed him, but he barely ate on both boobs and went back to sleep by 1 am.  Then he woke up again at 3:30, I again fed him (but he didn't eat too much), was back asleep by 4:30 and slept until 6:30.  I fed him again and he slept until 8:45.  that is the most sleep I have gotten.  I am sure you all are sick of hearing me talk about Samuel's sleep patterns, but right now that is the most exciting thing that I can talk about.  Oh, I think we figured out that he sleeps better when he is a little cold.  We have been putting the ceiling fan on low in his room and that has kept him sleeping.  He has got some hot blood.  Dave and I are freezing at night and he is either comfy or hot.  We are starting to figure this all out.  I think we are going to try to make his bedtime around 8 pm.  We will see how that works.  

So far this morning we went to the grocery store.  First time to go to the grocery store by ourselves.  It was very productive and easy.  Samuel was up for just a little bit and then fell asleep.  He gets so hot though in his car seat, so by the time we got home he was screaming and burning hot.  I didn't even have a blanket or anything on him.  So we went and stood outside for a while.  He cooled down pretty quickly.  He is taking a nap right now.  It is really cool in our basement, so he is fast asleep right next to me.  

I am going to check my email and maybe do a little work before he wakes up.  

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Quick Post

I have to be quick because Samuel just started to stir upstairs.  I thought he would be asleep for much longer.  Dave is in the shower, so I can't yell at him to pick Samuel up.  

Samuel is really starting to smile today.  I think he is actually smiling at me and not just randomly smiling.  Here was the first smile of the day:  I fed him and he seemed pretty happy, so I put him in his pack n play so I could get some breakfast.  While I was in the kitchen I heard some very loud gas being passed in the other room (side note: Do your kids have the loudest farts or is it just mine?  Holy cow they are amazing).  Anyway, I knew that the sounds coming form the other room meant that a diaper change was in order.  So as I approached him, he let another loud one loose and boy did it smell.  I looked down at him and said, "you stink so badly".  He looked up at me and gave me the biggest smile yet.  It was like he knew exactly what I said and he was proud of it.  He really must be a boy!

He smiled randomly all day long.  It was really cute.  One of these days I am going to have my camera ready, so I can capture a really big smile.  It makes the second two weeks of constant crying worth it.  

I went to my old office today for lunch.  It was actually enjoyable.  I am so happy that I will not be returning though.  I can't imagine having to go back in a week and a half.  I probably would have quit anyway.  I miss not going to court and interacting with people, but I have no desire to go back full time.  I enjoy being a mom.  This is starting to get fun.  

I better go deal with the crying baby upstairs.  

Monday, April 7, 2008

Weekend

Savta and Papa came in town this weekend. It was nice as always. Last week was somewhat horrible with Samuel. He cried all the time and wouldn't sleep at all. I was looking forward to this past weekend so my parents could help out with him. Of course he was super good and barely cried and slept better then he has in weeks. Dave and I were worried that as soon as Sunday rolled around and they left he would go back to his old self.

I took my parents to the airport with Samuel because we were hoping that he would fall asleep in the car and we could just transfer him to his bed when I got home, well that didn't happen. You know those Boppy head rest things, they are the really soft material and are supposed to support the head in the car seats, etc. Well I put that in his car seat yesterday. On my way back from the airport he started screaming at the top of his lungs and did not stop for about 10 minutes. I wasn't about to pull over and find out what his deal was, but I figured he was hot. I rolled down his window a bit and hurried home. When I got home, we pulled him out of the car seat and he was soaking wet. He was sweating so badly. I have never seem him sweat so much. Dave held him outside for a while to cool him down. It took a good hour or so for him to calm down and cool down. We felt terrible. Anyway, I fed him and we wrapped him and put him down for bed at 10:15 and he slept until 1:45. We turned the ceiling fan on in his room because we were worried he was still hot and he slept awesome. He slept so well last night and so far this morning has been wonderful.

This weekend Samuel started to smile. He looks so cute. My dad was able to snap the end of one off his smiles and I have attached the picture.


(For some reason, it doesn't matter what I do, I can't get the picture to turn the other way.  You will have to turn your head again, sorry!).  

Today he has been smiling a lot, but mostly he is smiling when George comes around him. I put Samuel in a bouncy seat and George came up and gave him a few licks and he went crazy smiling and I swear he was about to start laughing too. I really think laughing may soon be around the corner.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

4 weeks

I can't believe it, but Samuel is 4 weeks today. I didn't mention this before, but Samuel has a second cousin, Brody who is exactly 2 weeks younger then him, so Happy 2 weeks Brody!

So my cousin Nicki and I started trying to have kids around the same time, I think it was around 2005. Neither one of us could get pregnant. It was miserable, but at least we had each other to bitch and complain to. So in June 2007 when I found out I was pregnant, she was one of the first that I told. About 2 weeks later she emailed me and said she just found out she was pregnant too. I think it is completely crazy and amazing that it took us both so long to get pregnant and now we have kids only 2 weeks apart. Now we can share all the stories and experiences of our kids. I think it is a blessing!

It is now almost 2 and I just now got Samuel to fall asleep. He has been up since about 9 am and has taken a few 5 to 10 minutes naps, but then would wake up screaming. I fed him around 1:15 or so and then swaddled him. He was wide awake when I swaddled him and he didn't even fight me and then when I set him down in the pack n play he was wide awake but not screaming. So I walked away for a second and he was out. Thank goodness. I need to clean the kitchen, write some thank you notes, vacuum and finish doing the laundry. I think I want to beat up anyone that says that a stay at home mom doesn't work hard. I would like to see them try and do all this work.

I am pooped, so I am going to go for now. Have a great Wednesday. The week is almost over!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

As I mentioned yesterday I got on the treadmill and ran for a bit. I am so out of shape. My legs are hurting today. I should get back on today, but I am not too motivated.

Yesterday was very interesting at my hairdresser. I got my hair trimmed and highlighted. Samuel was really good up until the very end. Then he started screaming. I brought a bottle with me to feed him because I knew we would be cutting it close with the feeding times. He would not take the bottle at all. He just screamed at the top of his lungs and I couldn't get him to calm down at all. I had to shove him back in the car seat and get out quickly. I pulled out money to pay my hairdresser and now I am slightly worried that I paid too much. I was so flustered that I think I counted out my money correctly with a good tip, but I am not sure. I might have paid her $20 more then I had planned on, but I guess next time I will just have the money ready, so I am not flustered.

This whole baby thing is really difficult. I knew it was going to be hard, but I guess I didn't expect it to be this difficult. I know Samuel is a good baby, but my goodness he gets so cranky. It seems like he is perfect until someone comes over or we go out somewhere. He breaks out in crying spells and will not stop. I feel terrible for the people that come over to see him. I want other people to hold him, but he starts crying like a madman and then the people just give him right back. It doesn't matter if I feed him right before I know we are having guests or I get him to fall asleep before people come over. Inevitably he will wake up, look at the person and the crying begins. Any advice from anyone? I know I can't control a baby, but my goodness we are feeling a little trapped.

Does anyone watch the Real Housewives of New York. I just turned the TV on today and that show was on. What is wrong with these people. They are so shallow.

Can someone tell me who was kicked off of Top Chef. I had to turn the TV off last Wednesday right before I found out who got kicked off. I will need a little description of the person as well. I am having a hard time keeping track of whose who on this season. I still haven't picked my favorite. Most of the people annoy me. I would love to be able to whip out meals like those chefs.