Leaving for T-Town

I am leaving tomorrow for Tulsa.  I have been a little nervous about driving by myself 6 hours with just Samuel and George, but I am hoping for the best.  The only bad part is that last night I started to come down with a cold.  My throat is killing me.  I couldn't sleep last night because it hurt so much to swallow.  In the middle of the night I was convinced that I had strep throat, but today it hurts but is killing me.  I have only had strep throat once and I will never forget that pain.  My stomach is also very upset and I now have a running nose.  I feel like it might be allergy related, but since my stomach hurts too, I am not sure.  

Anyway, now I am a little more nervous about driving since I am not feeling great.  Dave is trying to convince me that everything is going to be fine, which I am sure it will.  

We will be gone for a week, so I am not sure if I will be doing any posting.  

I am going to head to bed now and hopefully sleep off whatever it is that I caught.  

Happy Birthday Laura!

We wanted to wish Laura a very happy birthday today.  We hope she has a great day.  Love you!

It is Friday and I am so ready for the weekend.  If it stays nice out, I think I may take Samuel to the zoo.  

I am pretty sure that Samuel is teething again.  He is drooling like crazy and last night he woke up a few times crying.  He is still sleeping and it is 8:10.  I have to be somewhere at 9, so I am going to have to wake him up at 8:20 if he isn't up already.  I love the fact that he is sleeping in more.  I can get so much done in the morning.  

Well, I have errands to run and lots to do.  We have a pretty busy weekend before I leave for Tulsa on Sunday.  

Have a great weekend.

Is it really Wednesday?

I can't believe how fast this week is going.  Today we have to get an oil change in the car because Samuel, George and I are going to Tulsa all next week.  It is going to be my first road trip with just Samuel and George.  I bought a few videos for the car and hopefully that will keep Samuel occupied until he falls asleep for a nap.  We are leaving on Sunday afternoon.  We haven't been to Tulsa since last year at this time.  I have lots of stuff to pack, but I will probably wait to do all of that on Saturday.  

It is 8 am and Samuel is still asleep.  I can't believe it.  He went to bed at 7:30 last night. 

Hopefully the rain will stay away and I can get in a good run today.  

I am going to enjoy my few more minutes of morning while Samuel is sleeping.  

Happy Memorial Day

We are going to relax and maybe run some errands today.  It is yucky outside.  I am not a huge fan of the rain and it looks like it is going to rain all day.  

Here is Samuel in his new car.  

Ready for the weekend...

Although it has been really warm here, the last few days have had a nice breeze, so I have opened the windows in the house.  Yesterday, Samuel and George thought it was the coolest thing to have the windows open and they sat by the window for a really long time in the morning.  I couldn't grab the camera fast enough to get a picture of Samuel with his arm around George, but I did get these few really cute pictures.  

Last Sunday, Samuel was taking a nap, which lasted about 3 and a half hours.  When Dave went to get him from his crib, he had cut his eye and had a black eye.  I don't know who snuck into his room and punched him in the face, but it was pretty amazing.  It looks much better now, but here is the end of the black eye:

Just a random picture:

Off for my run.

Hip Hip Hooray

Samuel slept through the night until 7:15 this morning.  I woke up twice but went right back to sleep.  He barely coughed at all last night.  I think either it is allergies or a small cold that he caught and is fighting off.  

Samuel is really trying to communicate a lot lately.  Not only do I think he is forming more words, he is really signing a lot of stuff.  He regularly signs more, food/eat and milk.  I looked up online last night more signs to try to teach him.  I feel like he is more of a sponge now then ever.  It seems like everything I say or do he picks up on and repeats it.  

I think we are going to relax again today, so he can get more rest and we will be all healthy for the long weekend.  

Another sleepless night

Samuel's cough got worse last night.  He finally fell asleep around 8 last night after I rocked him for about 30 minutes.  He screamed if I put him down before.  He normally goes down so easily, so we knew he wasn't feeling well.  At midnight he woke up and screamed for about 15 minutes and was just getting louder and showed no signs of going back to sleep.  I went in his room and rocked him until he was sound asleep and put him down, then he woke up screaming louder then before.  We weren't sure what to do because we knew he was sick and I didn't want to spend my night rocking him, so we brought him into bed again.  This will end tonight.  His cough loosened up in the middle of the night and this morning he isn't acting sick at all.  Actually sine he got up at 5:45 he hasn't coughed at all, his nose isn't running and he ate like a champ for breakfast.  

I on the other hand am so exhausted.  I want to take care of Samuel and make him feel better, but at the same time I want to lock him in his room, so I can sleep all afternoon.  I am pooped.  Plus, my body is so sore from exercising.  I realize how out of shape I am now.  So sad.  

I am off to drink more coffee.  

We had a very busy weekend.  Oma came to visit.  On Saturday, Marleen and I went on a 6 mile walk (it only took us 1 hour and 20 minutes).  Then on Saturday night Dave and I went out for the evening.  It is always nice to get a night out when we have family in town.  On Sunday we went out to breakfast and relaxed the rest of the day.  It was such a nice weekend, I was not ready for the week to start.  

Samuel has a cough that will not go away and it is getting worse.  He cried all night last night and finally at 3 am I went in to rock him.  He wanted to be held and would not let me put him back in his crib and I was so tired, so I just brought him in bed with us.  He cuddled up with me and went back to sleep pretty quickly.  As much as I loved cuddling with him, I really hope he sleeps all night tonight.  If not we will be off to the doctor.  Other then the cough he is acting fine.  I am so tired though.  

Today Samuel and I went on a 4.5 mile run/walk.  I feel so good exercising so much in the last few days.  It is a lot of me and it feels great.  

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Samuel enjoying his jello pudding:

Oma and Samuel at brunch:

Hockey Fan

Last night the Red Wings were on TV and Dave was so excited because normally they play late at night and Samuel is never awake.  One of our friends gave Samuel a red wings jersey when he was born and it finally fits him, just in time.  

He has also started to crawl up into his rocking chair and rock.  

The chicken with saffron rice was really good last night, but it took about 3 hours for it to be ready.  I didn't brown the chicken as long, but that didn't make a difference.  The chicken was really tender and tasty.  I used brown rice instead of white rice and I think that changed the cooking time significantly.  I think I needed to cook it even longer then I did, but it took instead of 30 minutes in the oven about an hour and 15 minutes.   Still it was yummy and I will make it again.  

Samuel and I have music class at 11, so we are going to play until then.  Have a great weekend.  

Last night we had some serious storms roll through St. Louis.  The thunder was so loud.  It woke me up and made me jump a few times.  I was certain that it would wake Samuel up, but I am beginning to think he has his daddy's sleep genes.  The boys slept right through the loud thundering.  

So, I have not been sleeping through the night in, well, 14 and a half months.  Now that Samuel is sleeping consistently through the night, I am really getting frustrated that I wake up at least 3 to 4 times in the middle of the night.  I talked to my doctor about what to do about my sleep issues and she suggested relaxation breathing, not having the TV on in the room and taking Benadryl two nights in a row to see if that helped.  I haven't done any of those yet.  I am thinking I should try a bottle of wine, ear plugs and a sleep mask.  Sounds so much nicer to me.  

I am trying a new recipe tonight.  It is chicken with saffron rice.  It will take about an hour and half to make, probably longer with the prep time.  The picture looks really good and it seems pretty healthy too.  I'll let you all know how it turns out.  I have been in the mood to cook and bake this week.  I made cookies last night and went shopping today for lots of food for the weekend.  

I am off to chop onions for the dinner meal.  

Pictures

Still Recovering

I am exhausted so far this week.  I think the jet lag and no sleep last week is now catching up to me.  I could sleep in everyday.  Luckily Samuel has been sleeping until a little after 7 everyday, so I can sleep in a little bit.  

My house is a disaster.  I am going to working on cleaning it today.  I have bills to pay and the entire house needs a cleaning.  

The Gala went really well.  We had our follow up meeting last night.  There weren't very many things that we need to change for future years, just more volunteers that don't have guests at the event.  I felt bad because I was busy the entire evening and barely got to sit with my guests.  Oh well, at least our first gala was a success.  We will have another one in 5 years, at least that is the plan.  We made a good amount of money for Woman's Place and that was the goal.  

I don't have any pictures because I forgot to bring my camera.  I know other people took pictures.  There are supposed to be pictures in all the newspapers around town, so hopefully you all will see some.  

I am off to clean.  

Happy Mother's Day

I just wanted to wish all you mothers out there a very happy mother's day (especially my mom and mother-in law).  We love you lots and appreciate everything you do!!!

Tired Family

Dave and I worked until 12:15 last night to get all the programs labeled and alphabetized for the Gala tonight.  It was quite a job.  I had to fix all my spreadsheets and labels before we could even get started.  I can't believe it took so long.  I don't even know how long I would have been up if Dave didn't help me.  Thanks honey!

I have to be nice to him today not just because he stayed up with me, but because when I get tired I get really cranky.  So even though he was so nice to stay up with me, I still proceeded to snap at him last night, in the middle of the night and this morning.  I know I am a bitch, but sometimes I can't control my crankiness.  Samuel didn't sleep well last night.  He woke up three times starting at 2:30 and ending at 4:15.  I went in the first few times and then I yelled at Dave to go in the third time.  Third times a charm.  It is 7:30 and he is still sleeping.  

Okay, I am tired.  I need coffee and then I can continue with me morning.  Have a great weekend everyone. 

One more day

Tomorrow is the Woman's Place Gala. I have been working my ass off getting stuff done. I am not a late night person and this week, I have been staying up really late organizing table assignments, making guests lists, figuring out all the logistics for check-in, the auction and check-out. This is really a lot of work. I am not sure if event planner is something I would like to do in the future (Megan, I totally have more respect for you and all your party planning!)

Once Friday is over it is going to be total relief. Samuel has been great playing on his own and sleeping in. Yesterday he slept until 8:20. Then we ran errands all morning. He skipped his morning nap, but then took one in the afternoon for about 3 hours. It was amazing.

Tonight I have to put labels on all the programs and write numbers on all the programs for the oral auction. It is probably going to be a long night tonight too. Luckily my Dad is coming in town tomorrow, so he is going to watch Samuel all day so I can get stuff done. Then he is going to watch him Friday night.

Saturday, Laura is graduating with her Master's in Education from Webster University. So we will be heading to her graduation. Yeah Laura! Then food and relaxation the rest of the day.

Sunday is Mother's Day!!!! I know we are going to Schlafly Bottleworks for brunch on Sunday. They have an awesome brunch. We are going around 11 if anyone else wants to join us.

I am going to become one with my spreadsheet now. I am going to try to get some work done before Samuel wakes up this morning.

Pictures from our Europe Trip

Here are some pictures from our trip. I will have to add the pictures from Italy. These are pictures from the Netherlands and some from Paris. I will have to post more pictures later.

14 months

Samuel is 14 months today.  I haven't made of video of him in a while.  He was eating breakfast this morning, so I took a little video.  

I finally slept through the night last night.  Ever since we got back form our trip, I haven't been able to sleep.  Last night I think I only woke up 2 times and it was just to turn over and I went right back to sleep.  I got up about 6:45 and Samuel slept until 7:20.  He didn't take the greatest naps yesterday and then he stayed up until about 8.  I like it when he sleeps in because I can get so much done in the morning before he wakes up.  

Tonight is taco night in honor of Cinco de Mayo.  Yum!

We are back

We are back from our wonderful week abroad.  This is going to be a pretty boring post because I am really tired today.  I am really busy getting stuff done for the Woman's Place Gala this Friday and I haven't been able to sleep because I am worrying about everything I need to do.  

I downloaded all my pictures this morning and they are pretty amazing.  I need to go through them all to figure out which ones to post.  

We had an amazing time visiting family in the Netherlands and eating, drinking wine and walking through Paris and Rome.  We loved every place we went and will have to go back soon. 

Dave and I only got on each others nerves one time.  We took an overnight train from Paris to Rome.  The train was disgusting.  There was only one bathroom per car and we had to ask them to put toilet paper in the bathrooms twice.  I can't believe on an overnight train they wouldn't have toilet paper.  We walked all day long in Paris (approximately 9 miles), then we got on our overnight train.  We brought sandwiches along with us for dinner, but they were not good at all.  Dave bought a salad on the train that was just lettuce and shaved carrots.  Not good either.  We were supposed to be in Rome by 10 am, but for some reason in the middle of the night the train stopped continuously.  At one point we were stopped for about 2 hours.  It was hot and gross in the middle of the night.  Anyway, we didn't get to Rome until about 2 pm.  We hadn't eaten anything big since the day before at lunch.  We were so hungry, dirty and smelly when we got to Rome.  By the time we checked in Dave and I wanted to kill each other.  We were so hungry that we were dizzy.  Finally around 3:30 or 4 we got a late lunch, with a liter of wine and we were fine.  

I will post more stories later, but I think Samuel just woke up from his nap.