Survived the weekend

We survived the weekend, barely. Dave took half day on Friday because as I said in my last post the boys were a little sick. Thank goodness he took half day because neither boy napped and Samuel was coughing so hard that I thought he was going to throw up everywhere. I made the appointment for the doctor and we took them in. We ended up closing the doctor's office down. We were there for two VERY long hours.

We saw a nurse practitioner and while she was listening to Samuel's chest he had one of his coughing episodes. After she listened to him she said that she thought his cough sounded like whooping cough. I told her that both boys had been vaccinated for whooping cough, so how could he have gotten it. Supposedly a new strain of whooping cough has developed and it is going rapid in California and they have seen a few cases at our doctor's office and she wasn't sure if Samuel had it or not.

If he in fact has it, then he gave it to Joseph and both Dave and I could get it too because it is super contagious. She wanted the boys tested to see if they have it and she put us all on medication just in case. In order to test for whooping cough the procedure is terrible. They have to shove this really long catheter with a Q-tip looking top WAY down the nasal cavity, basically into their throat. They did Samuel first and Dave had to pin Samuel down and hold his face still so that they could shove it in. Another nurse was holding his legs. It was not quick and I think the nurse doing the procedure didn't like it either because her hands were shaking a little bit too. After Samuel we had to do Joseph. After the first nostril Joseph screamed and then started smiling again immediately, probably because he thought it was all over, then the second side was done and he lost it. It was so hard for both Dave and I. I am just so happy that Dave was there too. We were both so stressed out after they did the test that on the way home we were snippy and irritated with each other, just because we were so worn out.

Even after all that drama, I seriously don't think the boys have whooping cough. I think they have a summer cold, but I know the doctor's want to make sure because it is so contagious. We will find out tomorrow or Wednesday the results. We have all been on meds all weekend. Samuel has gotten significantly better, but Joseph has gotten worse.

Last night was miserable. Joseph was like a newborn baby. He would not sleep at all. He was up most of the night. I could tell his little belly hurt because it was making a ton of noise and he was super cranky and coughing a lot. At midnight I told Dave he should go downstairs and sleep, so I could just keep Joseph in bed with me and hopefully get him to go back to bed. I have no idea when he went to sleep, I know it was sometime after 1:30 and he was up by 5.

I am just so happy that I got Dave an espresso maker for Father's Day because I am enjoying a latte with a double shot of espresso. It is soooo delicious. I am surprisingly not exhausted. I am going to try to take the boys on a long walk today since it isn't going to be too hot and just try to relax.

Friday already

I can't believe that it is already Friday. We have had a very busy week and I really wore the boys out. Unfortunately both boys are now sick and we will be heading to the doctor at 4 today. I didn't want to go the weekend without having them checked out. I want to make sure there are no ear infections because that could make our weekend terrible.

This week has been great. Both boys are starting to nap around the same time in the afternoon, so I am getting anywhere between 1 and 2 hours of alone time. Normally I am doing laundry and cleaning up the house, but at least I don't have Samuel following me around and holding Joseph at the same time.

Monday I went and worked out at the gym and the boys played in child care. I missed the spinning class that morning so I did my own spinning workout and I was soaking wet. It was great.

Tuesday, I took the boys to the pool in the morning and then I had our new summer babysitter come in the afternoon. I had a meeting in the afternoon with Woman's Place (which I am doing more and more volunteer work for them and I think eventually will start actually working for them).

Wednesday I took the boys to their first movie in the movie theater. St. Louis Mills Mall has a summer movie series from the beginning of June through the middle of August where they have free movies for kids on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10 am. We met Andrea and Taylor at the movie theatre and it was actually a lot of fun. We saw the Veggie Tales movie which wasn't all the exciting, but it did hold Samuel's attention for a good period of time. The funniest part was that Samuel was sitting by Taylor in the movie theatre and he kept trying to hold her hand. He was also bugging her so much and she told him to leave her alone. Finally Andrea had to sit in between them. Samuel tried to hold Andrea's hand too. I guess this is what I have to look forward to when he goes to movies when he gets older. What a scary thought!

Thursday we had Samuel's last music together class. He is really starting to participate in the class, by singing and dancing along with the music. It is amazing to see what a change he has made since he starting going to those music classes. In the afternoon I had the babysitter come back over and I got to run tons of errands. Then Laura came over to hang out and when Jonathan and Dave were done with golf we all ate dinner together.

This week has been super fast and busy. It has been nice. Today we are going relax and head to the doctor.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best Dads I know.

I love you all very much.

The older I get the more I realize that my Dad and I are very similar. We think the same, freak out the same way, worry about the same types of details and the list goes on. I am proud to say that I am like my Dad. I love you lots!

Posting issues

I have been trying for the last few days to post a video of Joseph laughing really hard, but for some reason it never downloads. Anyone else had issues with downloading videos?

I made a change to my blog, what do you guys think? I wanted something different, I made go back to my old one or try something new again.

Joseph has really developed in the last few days. He is rolling from his back to front all of the time and has started rolling. It is pretty cool, but it is really disrupting his sleep at night. He has been waking up one to two times a night because he rolls over on his belly, tries to roll back on his back but his sleep sack gets tangled up around him and he gets stuck half way. Not only does that make him cranky, but he is big time teething. He has screamed so much this week. We barely ever hear him screaming, but in the mornings he goes crazy until we give him a little Tylenol.

Yesterday we went to the Maryland Heights Aquaport with Laura and Andrea and Taylor. It was a huge water park. There were lots of slides and a lazy river for older kids and a play area for the little kids. They actually had a pretty big slide for the little kids. Samuel and Taylor both tried it out. Samuel went down really fast and went under water at the bottom and I think it totally freaked him out because he never wanted to go back down the slide again. Taylor on the other hand went down the slide, went under the water, freaked out for a second and then yelled "I did it!" and then she wanted to do it again and again. They were really cute playing and we had a great time. Samuel was so worn out that he feel asleep in the car about 10 minutes after we left. I don't have any pictures because I was holding Joseph. I dipped him in the pool for the first time. He screamed a little, but when I told him it was okay he smiled and put up with me continuing to dip him. It was a great time, but I don't think I could have done it alone. Laura ran after Samuel most of the time, thank goodness.

Today we are off to music class, which we haven't been to in a couple of weeks. I am not looking forward to dragging the boys out in this rainy weather.

Rainy Day

It just started to pour here. We are having quite a rain storm and lots of thunder. I really hope it doesn't wake up the boys because I finally got them both to go to sleep at the same time and I am really enjoying some alone time.

I have been trying to get more motivated to exercise. Last week and this week I went to a spinning class. Last week there was a sub for the normal instructor and she was super easy. Today I got my ass kicked. I am dripping sweat and I thought I was going to pass out I worked so hard. The class lasts 45 minutes and when I thought I was going to die I looked at the clock and we had only been going for 15 minutes. It was a great work out. I am trying to get motivated to go in the mornings around 9:30 that way the boys can play in childcare and I can get a good workout in. I am trying to attend classes because it gets me more motivated. We will see how it goes.

Today after class I was planning to take the boys to the pool for a few hours and then head home for nap time. I took them to the family changing room, got my sweaty smelly self in my bathing suit and was about to change Samuel into his suit and he went nuts. He started screaming and yelling and saying "No swim, go home." This is not normal at all. He loves going swimming and he was really putting up a fight to get in his suit, so I said fuck it we are going home.

We made it home and relaxed for a few hours. Now as I said both boys are asleep, so I am going to do as many things as I can while they are asleep.

Sick and Cranky

I have been sick all weekend and I am feeling worse tonight then I have all weekend. When I am not feeling well I get super cranky. It is almost 9pm and I am heading to bed after I finish this post.

I just wanted to write a few things down before I forget.

Joseph discovered his feet last week, but he is crazy now trying to grab at them and he can almost get them to his mouth. He also rolled over today from his back to his belly and then back to his back. He did it twice today. I am expecting that rolling will start happening in the next few weeks. He also was able to sit up (I put him in that position) and he stayed for at least 30 seconds. He only sat a few times, but he is getting better about not toppling over immediately. I can put him on my hip now and he holds his head and back up really straight, so he isn't bobbling around all the time. He is getting so big so quickly.

Speaking of big, Samuel is looking more and more like a little boy. He isn't a baby anymore which makes me so sad. He is still repeating everything. He and Dave spent a lot of quality time together today. They ran errands and went to the park. It was a nice break for me. He is just so busy all the time. We have to find more ways to wear him out.

I am off to bed to get rest and hopefully feel better soon.

Lazy Day

Samuel has a little bit of a cold, so we are taking it easy today. I think I have a little bit of a cold too. My throat hurts and my nose is runny. I wanted to go to the grocery store today and maybe the pool, but Samuel has no interest. He has just been laying around on the couch all day. He has requested to watch Toy Story, so I guess we aren't going to head out today.

It is only 10 am, but it feels like late afternoon. I have been up since about 5:30 with Joseph. I am so tired today.

To finish off my post from yesterday, we hung out in the afternoon with Laura and then went to lunch and it totally wore Samuel out. He fell asleep on the way home and then slept until almost 4. I wish I had a break though because Joseph was not cooperating and wouldn't take an afternoon nap. I tried for about 3 hours to get him to go to sleep. Dave got home from work around 4:15, held Joseph for about 5 minutes and he was out cold. It was just one of those afternoons.

I am happy that it is Friday and we have a weekend all together. I am hoping to relax and not do much.

4 month update

Joseph had his 4 month appointment this morning. He got only a couple of shots and he did great. He cried for just a second and then started laughing. What a big boy!

So here are his stats:

Height: 25.5 In. (73%)

Weight: 15 lbs 6 oz (62%)

Head Circ: 42.5 cm (58%)

I was convinced that Joseph was going to weight more then Samuel did at 4 months and I was sure that Samuel was taller then Joseph. Boy was I wrong. Here were Samuel's stats:

Height 64%

Weight 16 lbs 11oz (84%)

Head Circ: 34%

What a difference! I guess I am going to have two big boys.

Today has been a busy, fun and rough day. The doctor's appointment was stressful, not because of Joseph but because of Samuel. He was messing with the sink in the room the entire time, turning on the water, trying to fill of the little dixie cups and running around the room. He was loud and it made it difficult to talk to the doctor about Joseph. Then when we left Samuel threw a huge fit because he wanted stickers and when I grabbed one to give to him it wasn't want he wanted. I had to drag him out of the doctor's office. Plus, Samuel was in big boy undies today and we made it to the doctor's office and to Laura's house without any accidents.

Once we got to Laura's I think he was so excited about being there and playing with everything that he forgot he wasn't wearing a diaper.

Got to go, sorry post is cut short, but both boys are screaming like crazy. No rest for me.

4 months old!

My sweet baby Joseph is 4 months old today. The time has really flown by. I feel so luckily to have another beautiful baby boy. He is such a wonderful little baby. He wakes up happy and smiling. Don't tell Samuel, but I am so relieved that Joseph is nothing like how Samuel was as a baby. It is such a relief to have a calm easy going and barely cranky baby. It also doesn't hurt that Joseph is a pretty good sleeper too. We have some bad nights here and there, but mostly Joseph wakes up once a night and that is normally sometime between 4 and 6 in the morning. It is wonderful.

Joseph can almost roll from his back to his belly. He would make it over if he would only turn his head. He gets his body completely over and will just not roll his head over. Oh well, it will happen sooner rather then later.

This past Thursday Joseph stayed in a sitting position for about 20 seconds. He got so excited he toppled over to the side, but at least this was the first time he was able to stay in a seated position.

He is laughing and become very verbal as well. He gets so excited sometimes that he starts screaming (happy screams) and it is so cute. I swear he is starting to say mama, at least that is what his babbling sounds like sometimes.

He has his 4 month doctor's appointment this Thursday, so I will update after the appointment.

Here are some cute pictures of Joseph from this past week:

Catch Up

I know I haven't posted in a while. We have been really busy. Samuel, Joseph and I went to visit my family in Kansas City last Saturday and then we headed to Tulsa for the week to spend with my parents. I have lots of updating.

Last Thursday my mom came in town and we relaxed and hung out on Friday and left on Saturday to Kansas City. It was Joseph's first long car ride. He did great at first and then couldn't stand being stuck in his car seat for the second half of the drive. We were planning to stay the entire day and hang out with my grandparents, but I think it was pretty overwhelming for my grandmother. George literally barked the entire time and it was super annoying. It was wonderful for my grandparents, my uncle and aunts to be able to meet Joseph. We ended up leaving after about 4 hours and driving to Tulsa so that we could get home at a reasonable hour. It was a very long day for all of us.

Here are some pictures from Kansas City.

Samuel and Zayde
Uncle Izzy with Joseph
Bube with Joseph

Zayde with Joseph
Aunt Riva with Joseph

The Tulsa portion of the trip was super busy and went by way too quickly. I was able to get together with two of my really close friends from high school and visit with many other family friends. It just seemed like every day just flew by. It is easier to explain what we did by looking at all the pictures below.

Samuel loved shaving with Papa

We went and fed the ducks at the park

Samuel and Joseph hung out with my oldest friend, Emily. We have been friends since freshman year in high school!

Samuel spent countless hours coloring:

We relaxed:

I love this picture. Joseph was sleeping on my mom's shoulder and then Samuel wanted my mom to hold him too, so he got on top of my mom and Joseph. Obviously it woke up Joseph and he loved be squished by Samuel. The look on Joseph's face is adorable.

Samuel spent all day playing outside, here he is doing somersaults in the yard:

Exploring the rocks with Papa:
We also went swimming. It was hotter then hell in Tulsa and it was so nice to know someone with a pool. Samuel had such a great time and has no fear of the water.

Last morning in Tulsa:

Samuel wasn't so happy...

While we were in Tulsa, it seemed like Samuel's vocabulary and language skills exploded. He is talking and repeating everything. I am really going to have to watch my expletives now. Samuel can also count to 11 now on his own.

I had such a wonderful time in Tulsa. It is just nice to have quality time with my parents and be able to relax and hang out with them. I look forward to spending a week with them every year.