Already Thursday

Dave took Wednesday and Thursday off this week.  It has been a nice change.  We ran errands during the week and we have actually been able to relax.  

On Tuesday evening we went over to our friends Mark and Andrea's house for dinner.  Mark is in grad school at Wash U and both of us had Wash U t-shirts, so we decided to put the kids in the t-shirts and try to take some pictures.  You can't really see the "Washington University" on the t-shirts, but they are still really cute pictures.  Taylor is about one month older then Samuel.  Aren't they cute!

Taylor is pulling Samuel's ear and I just love the look he has on his face.

Ever since Samuel's bottom teeth came in he has been sucking his thumb a lot.  We took a picture last night.  I think Samuel is definitely getting older.  He is getting to be so much more fun and we can actually run errands with him and he doesn't scream the whole time.

He was laughing so much last night.  I didn't really get a good shot of him laughing, but this is the end of the laugh. 

Here he is sucking his thumb.  

Dave and I are still eating tons of veggies.  Surprisingly we are actually enjoying this diet.  We are becoming very creative with our cooking.  It is nice.  

Samuel's Big Boy Chair

Since Samuel is sitting up much better, I decided it was time to pull out his big boy chair.  Thanks Megan, he loves it!  Here are some pictures.

By the way, I am typing with Samuel on my lap and he is fascinated and trying to type himself.  

It is super hot today. I think we may venture to the pool after Samuel's nap. 

Grand Appearance

Yesterday the two bottom teeth cut through.  I can't believe Samuel already has teeth.  He is 20 and a half weeks.  No wonder he has been so cranky.  

Rice cereal and then teeth, my baby is getting older.  So sad.

The diet is still extremely hard.  I want to eat lots of junk food and coffee, but the good news is, I already lost 4 pounds.  Amazing.  Probably water weight, but it is 4 pounds.  Dave hasn't weighed himself yet, but I couldn't resist.     

Food

Yesterday we gave Samuel rice cereal for the first time.  He LOVED it.  I tasted it because I wanted to know what he was eating and it tasted really sweet, so I am not surprised that he liked it.  We took some pictures of both Dave and I feeding him.  You will also see, every time the food started to come towards him he would stick his tongue out.  Several times he grabbed the spoon and tried to shove it in his mouth as fast as possible.  Did we wait too long?  Maybe he was starving.   

Dave and I started a Liver Enhancement Diet yesterday.  We can't eat meat or much cheese (only a tiny bit of feta), dairy, starches or breads. Oh we are also not supposed to drink coffee, soda, juice.  (We did have coffee.  We are slowly going to cut that out, but we can't go cold turkey).  We can eat tons of veggies, nuts, plain yogurt, minimal fruit (but only blueberries, strawberries, grapefruit), we can eat as many apples as we want, a little bit of natural organic peanut butter.  It was difficult yesterday, but today we actually felt great.  We both had a ton of energy and felt much better.  We are going to do it for 2 weeks, so I will let you all know how it is going.  We both need to lose lots of weight, so hopefully it will help with that.

Lastly, my 30th birthday is in August and I am asking for a camera.  Anyone have opinions on either a Canon or Nikon? I have to do research and figure out which one I want.  I want a really nice one. (Not like thousands of dollars nice, but a really nice one that will take clean crisp photos and fast shutter speed and reloading).  

That is it for now.  We are going to run a few errands and maybe hit the pool.  

I think teeth are coming

Not only is Samuel having sleep issues I really think he is teething now.  He started screaming last night and it wasn't his normal, I don't want to sleep anymore or I am hungry cry.  He was yelling like he was in pain. When we went to the pediatrician for his 4 month appointment they said that his gums looked a little swollen, but they said teeth were not imminent.  It has been a few weeks now, so maybe his teeth will be coming in soon.  Dave got up to try to rock him around 3:30 or so and he just wouldn't stop crying and screaming.  We gave him some Tylenol and I ended up nursing him a little bit and then he fell back asleep.  Then our wonderful dog started barking at around 6 am and woke him up.  It was great.  

Update on Critter Control coming out.  The guy went up in our attic and said that he wasn't sure if there were mice up there or not, but it had been about 2 years since we had them come out, so he wanted to rebate the attic with mice poisoning.  Then he looked to see if there were any holes in the roof or any signs that raccoons were in our attic.  Luckily there weren't.  But he said that the area above our bedroom since it is vaulted, the roof is very close to our ceiling, so there isn't much space there, so if raccoons were on our roof it would sound like they were in our ceiling.  That must have been it.  The good thing is, we don't have any critters in our attic and there is no way that a raccoon could get in.  He also assured me that in the 10 years he has been working for critter control, he has never had a case where a raccoon got into someones house, unless they left the door open or the raccoons got in through a cat or doggie door.  Scary! Thank goodness we don't have a doggie door and we certainly don't leave our doors wide open.  We cut down some branches on the big tree in front of our house so there is no way that raccoons can jump from the branches to the top of our house.  Do we sound a little obsessed?!  I hate insects, bugs, spiders, rodents, etc.

Where is the time going

I can't believe it is almost the last week of July.  The summer is really flying by.  I wish I could tell you what I have been doing, but I really have no clue.  I am so busy during the day dealing with Samuel and all the housework, but I never feel like I get anything done.  I have tons of little projects but I can't really seem to get to them.  

I have decided to go back to my list making.  It always makes me feel better to make lists and mark things off.  I started a list for all the things we need to do on our house, a list for errands I need to run and a list of projects I would like to complete.  

I am considering looking for a high school student to come once a week for about 2 to 3 hours to play with Samuel, while I am home so I can get all my housework done and possibly run to the grocery store.  I figured once I get used to the person, then I would feel comfortable leaving Samuel for longer periods of time and them maybe Dave and I could start going on some dates!

Here are some pictures I took yesterday and today.  

This morning I put Samuel on the floor and then I had to run to the restroom.  I came back and this is what he looked like.  Pretty funny.  

  

Exhausted

Dave and I are completely worn out.  We had a very interesting Saturday night.  Dave went golfing on Saturday and Samuel and I were busy all day.  Then we went over to Justin and Charisa's for dinner and playtime for the adult.  Dave and I finally played Wii.  It was so much fun.  I kicked his butt in bowling, but he killed me in Tennis.  On Sunday morning Dave said that he had so much fun he wanted one now.  I don't think we will be getting a Wii, we barely have time to do everything we need to do around the house!  Anyway, thanks Charisa and Justin, we had a great time!

So after we left their house around 10:30 and got home around 11, I fed Samuel and put him back to bed.  Then Dave and I got in bed and tried to fall asleep.  All of the sudden I started hearing scratching and loud noises in our attic.  It was so loud I thought there was a human in our attic walking around.  I woke Dave up and he thought for sure it was a raccoon either on our room or in our attic.  The spare bedroom, which is right next door to Samuel's room has access to the attic, so I was freaking out that if there were raccoons in our attic they would find some way to get in our house.  I couldn't go back to sleep with all the noise.  I made Dave get up and close the spare bedroom door (you know just in case they got in the house).  Then we moved Samuel into our room in the cradle.  He made the transition from his bed to the cradle nicely and barely woke up.  Then we tried to go back to sleep.  Dave fell asleep right away, but I was still freaking out.  Then I swear the animals started jumping around.  I woke Dave up again and asked him (which by they way he finds hilarious), if the raccoons could open doors.  He asked me if I was serious.  Of course I was, those things are smart and mean.  They have thumbs too.  Just as he was laughing at me for making a stupid comment, George started barking and growling and looking outside the window.  I figured someone was scaling the side of the house because of all the noise going on on the roof and in our attic.  Dave looked out the window and said that he saw a huge raccoon coming down the gutter.  After he saw that, I didn't hear anymore noises.  

We finally went to bed (this was probably 1:30 or 2 ish).  Then around 3:30 Samuel woke up and I figured since I didn't hear any noises I would move him back in his room.  So I went to put him down in his crib and I started to hear our alarm on the house making beeping noises.  Of course I freaked out and ran back into our room with Samuel and jumped in bed.  I woke Dave up again and told him to listen because I thought that something was going on with our alarm and someone might be in our house.  Well, the battery was low in one of our sensors, so it was not connecting well and making noises.  Finally we went back to sleep.  

Today ADT is coming out to fix our alarm and Critter Control is coming out tomorrow to make sure we don't have any holes in our roof.  

Last night I went to bed around 8:00 and I am still trying to recover from the night of no sleep.   I think it is going to be an early night tonight too.

It's Official

Samuel is really sitting now.  On Friday afternoon we had Parents as Teachers come out.  They are part of our school district and workers are trained to help kids improve developmentally.  Our lady came to the house on Friday.  She said Samuel was doing really well and has hit all the developmental milestones for children 3 and a half to 5 and a half months.  While we were talking we were also playing with Samuel on the floor.  I picked him up and made him sit and he actually sat for about 30 seconds or so with no support.  He did it for the first time in front of both Dave, me and the Parents as Teachers lady.  We were so excited.  

Then this morning I was playing with him again and he sat for a really long time.  The problem he has though is that he isn't sitting straight up all the time, so there is a lot of pressure on his belly.  He throws up almost every time he is sitting.  Hopefully he will get over that soon.

Yesterday we had a pretty busy day.  We went to the pool with Aunt Laura.  I don't know what it is about her shoulder, but Samuel loves to fall asleep on her.  We were in the pool bouncing around and I noticed that his was acting like he was nodding off (he had his hat on, so I couldn't really see his face).  After about a minute, he was completely out.  We had to get out of the pool and lay him down on a lawn chair.  He slept and we got to lay out in the sun.  It was wonderful.  I haven't done that in so long.  It was so relaxing.  

I am off to do housework.  So exciting.  

 

Already Friday

So this week has flown by.  I am exhausted.  We haven't had TV downstairs all week because our cable box blew up.  Finally Charter came today and fixed it.  I have been so busy that there really hasn't been any need to watch the TV, but it is nice to have it at night.  I am so ready for the weekend.  I have so much little stuff to do and it will be nice to have Dave around to watch Samuel, so I can get it all done.  

Samuel is almost sitting up on his own.  Today he sat for about 15 seconds on his own and I have able to take a picture of him.  His face is hilarious.  I wish I could figure out how to rotate the picture.  When I download them to my computer I am able to rotate and save them, but when I download them to blogger it never picks up my revised version of the picture.  Anyone know how to do that? Anyway, you will have to turn your head to see the picture.

He has been desperately trying to sit up and today he got so frustrated he threw himself backwards and I couldn't catch him fast enough, so he knocked his head on the floor.  I picked him up and he cried for a few seconds and then he was fine.  

Yesterday, I couldn't keep his feet out of his mouth.  It is a good thing I know his feet are clean.  He was sucking on his big toe like it was his thumb.  It was funny, amazing and disgusting all at the same time.  

His hair is getting much blonder lately.  It is going to be strange to have a blonde haired blue eyed kid.  

Oh, I tried one recipe in the Deceptively Delicious cookbook.  I tried the tofu nuggets.  I know you are probably thinking, out of all the recipes why would I choose that one.  Well, I had tofu in the fridge and I wanted to try something healthy.  It was gross.  Dave said he didn't think they were that bad, but after I said how gross I thought they tasted and I couldn't eat another bite, then he admitted he didn't like them much either.  So one recipe down.  I will let you know about the others I try.

I am off to do a few things before Samuel wakes up.  Have a great weekend. 

Busy few weeks and weekend

There were many firsts that happened this weekend. Here they are:

1. Dave and I went out on Friday night for dinner to Justin and Charisa's. They bought a beautiful house in St. Charles and they are pretty close to us now, which is wonderful. Play dates and adult time!!!  The last time we saw them I posted the funny picture of Samuel and Vance, where Samuel was out of control crying during the picture. We were able to get a really good picture this time. 

Before:



New Picture:

(How cute!)

2. Dave and I went out on Saturday night to our friends Cara and Jon's house for dinner and we stayed out until 11:30 pm. Holy cow, we haven't stayed out that late in forever.

3. On Sunday morning Samuel came in our bed around 6 am and then he fell back asleep until 9 am. We got to sleep in!

4. Then this is the biggest first: Samuel slept through the night! He slept from 8:30 pm until 6:30 am. It was awesome. He woke up twice and made a few noises and then went right back to bed. It was amazing. I however still woke up every 3 to 4 hours checking the clock and being amazed that he was still sleeping. At one point I had to go in and check on him because I was worried he wasn't breathing or something.   He was breathing and sleeping great.  We will see if this continues.

More pictures from the weekend:

Aunt Laura, Samuel and I went to Forest Park to walk and here is a picture of Samuel in his stroller.  I love his new hat.

Laura and I went shopping on Friday and as you can tell we completely wore Samuel out.  He didn't even wake up for the fun in World Market.

I forgot to post this picture earlier, but last week Samuel met Tuesday Brown.  This is a picture of Joel, Tuesday and Samuel.  We wish Joel and Rachael would move back to St. Louis.  We miss them!

Side note: Samuel has been sleeping for an hour and a half right now for his nap.  I am getting so much done.

I pureed some Butternut Squash and Sweet Potatoes.  I am planning on trying some recipes from the cookbook Deceptively Delicious.  I will let you all know how it goes.  

Have a great week everyone. 

Doctor's Appointment

We had Samuel's 4 month doctor's appointment yesterday. he got 4 more shots and an oral vaccine. We were thinking about splitting up his shots but they were the exact same shots he got at 3 months and he did perfectly fine, so we decided to give it to him again. He was a little sore n his legs, but acted fine otherwise. He was really tired in the evening so we put him to bed around 7:15 and he slept until 3. Thank goodness. I then fed him and he slept again until 6:30. This is the most sleep I have gotten since May and I am not exaggerating. Ever since he had pneunomia the beginning of June he hasn't slept more then 3-4 hours at a time. I have been exhausted. This morning I got up, made coffee, got Dave's breakfast, lunch and snacks ready for work and now I have been playing with Samuel. He is hanging out on the floor next to me in his play yard thing.

So Samuel weighted 16 pounds and 11 oz. He gained less then a pound in a month, but he is still the 84% percentile in weight. He was like 64% in height and 34% in head circumferance. Crazy.

One last thing before I go. Yesterday I happened to have the TV on when the new hour of the today show with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford were on. That hour is terrible. Hoda looks so uncomfortable because she has to deal with a true idiot as a co-host. Kathie Lee is one of the most annoying idiotic people on TV. They were talking about celebrity new born babies and they mentioned that the "man" finally had his baby girl. Kathie Lee was like "I don't know what to call 'it', is she a woman or a man. I think she is a woman, she had a baby." She went on and on about how strange it was and that she would invite "it" onto the show, but only if "it" came on to do a mommy makeover, as a woman. Hoda tried to tell her that this was a transgender person who is now living as a man and should be treated as if he was a man. If you refer to the person it is a "him". Kathie Lee wouldn't buy it and just kept going on and on. That is just one example of how stupid and annoying she is. Anyone else feel the same way? Poor Hoda, if she were the only host during that hour I would watch it, but because Kathie Lee is on, I can't stand it.

Pictures from Michigan

Pictures from June

Home again Home again

We are home from a weekend in Michigan.  What a trip!  One thing we learned: Samuel is not a good traveler at all.  He was fine at the beginning of the trip and then couldn't stand another minute in his car seat.  It took us about 9 hours driving.  Once we got to Michigan and then back to St. Louis he was so happy to be out of the car seat and he was enjoyable, but the drive wasn't so great.  

We got Samuel a new car seat, one of the convertible car seats that are bigger.  He was filling up the little pumpkin seat and we were worried about driving such a long distance with him in something so small.  We think he really like the new seat because he sits up higher and can look out the window.  

The trip while we were in Michigan was really nice.  Samuel met his cousin Jacob for the first time.  (I will post some pictures once I download everything).  It is really interesting how babies check out other babies.  It was pretty cool to see them together.  Jacob will be 11 months in a few days and the difference of 7 months is just amazing to me.  They grow so quickly.  

Samuel also met his great Aunt Irene and Uncle Butch.  They drove from Canada to see Samuel.  It was a very pleasant surprise.  Oma and Opa were excited to have everyone under one roof.  

Not only were all the humans excited but George had a wonderful time too.  For those of you who know George, she isn't much of a REAL dog.  She doesn't like to walk on wet grass, she walks around puddles in the street, she won't go outside when it is raining, and I could go on forever.  Well when we go to Michigan she turns into a real lab.  Oma and Opa have a big pond and we can't keep George out of it.  She swam so much and retrieved sticks from the water.  She loved it.  We wore her out so much on Saturday that she could barely move Saturday night and then slept the entire time on the car ride home.  Then she went upstairs around 7 when we got home and went to bed for the night.  

Also, Samuel is now 4 months old.  I can't believe it.  He is almost able to sit up on his own.  he can sit for about 2 seconds and then he falls forward.  We are working on it though.  

That's it for now.  I am off to download pictures.  

  

Super Busy

We have been so busy this week.  I have been running tons of errands and we went to lunch with Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Laura.  

I hope everyone has a wonderful July 4th.  I will post lots of pictures after the weekend.  I am trying to clean today.

Sorry so boring.