Thursday, July 31, 2008

new skill

Sam has developed some serious grabbing and holding skills. This is the bouncy seat that my sister gave us and it lives in our closet/bathroom. She has to have some place to hang out while I am in the shower and getting dressed; closet is as good as any other place!! Anyway... you can see that she has grabbed both of the little hanging toys. Now the cool thing about this seat is that when you grab those little butterfly shaped toys and pull on them they make the bird in the middle spin around and make music!! How fun is that? And Sam has actually gotten strong enough to make this work. I couldn't believe it when I was in the shower and suddenly heard the music. Not gonna lie I was a bit confused at first and then realized that she must have pulled hard enough.

What a big girl!!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

the challenge

So many of you may read my sister's blog (www.jodified.typepad.com; she is listed on the side as a mom and a camera). Well if you do you know that she posted a challenge on July 24th for her readers to capture the not-so-pretty side of life. To embrace the things that we hate or are lazy about, the ugly stuff. If you don't read her blog go check out the challenge before you read on or this will just seem weird!

Here comes my ugly...

Growing up my mom always made her bed. If it was mid-morning and her bed was not made something in her day had gone terribly wrong. If I needed to suck-up to her or get brownie points I would wait for those mornings and make the bed just because I knew how much it meant to my mom. Well, mom, you would be disappointed...our bed is NEVER made. Unless we have company coming over the bed looks like this almost everyday. There are the pillows propped up from when I fed Sam this morning and the computer still sits not having been put away after I read blogs and checked email this morning. Sad isn't it? What is worse is that then sometimes in the middle of the day I will find the dog curled up right in that spot by the pillows...GROSS!



So why am I showing you a full dishwasher? Because what you can't see is that there are ANTS in there! Yes we have ants in our dishwasher. We have tried the little poison trap things but that hasn't seemed to phase them. We very rarely find them anywhere else in the kitchen, just in the dishwasher. And what do I do when there become to many of them? RUN THE DISHWASHER! Ha! Bye bye ants!


And you may remember a while back when I asked all of you for advice on what to do with this empty area in front of our front door....well here it still sits...empty. I did mulch in the front planter box, hang a potted fern and create a rock garden in the smaller planter box but I have not done a thing with this empty section of garden. Just laziness I guess. But I have to say that I still like the empty mulch better than the stupid thorn bushes!


Next come weeds. I HATE WEEDS! These weeds glare at me from outside our front door and this is what anyone who comes to our home sees. They look like small shrubs! But I just can't ever seem to find the time to go out there and deal with them. Not to mention that this is just one small spot in a rather large garden that is full of weeds. Where should I begin? So instead I just let them sit, or rather grow. I mean really it will be snowing before I know it and the darn things will die then anyway.

Lastly, my sister was actually brave enough to photograph herself, stretch marks and all. I am not that brave. But let me just tell you that if the baby-blues can come in the form of severe body image problems then I have them. I hate every inch of myself right now and no matter how much running I do things don't seem to be getting better. Although I don't think running is going to help stretch marks, a bad haircut, my hair turning white, hemorrhoids (yes I still have them!), the brown line running down my stomach, my gross bumpy skin and an overall body shape that I do not recognize as being my own. When does this get better? At what point does a new mom have the power to just say screw it and love herself in spite of all the flaws and changes? Why does my physical appearance matter to me so much?

Okay, so there is a bit of my not-so-pretty side of life. Jodie I took the challenge. How did I do?


One more thing....
Friends and family where are you? This blog has been so much fun for me because I feel just a little connected to friends that I don't see much anymore and family that I rarely ever see. But lately you all have disappeared! SO COME BACK and let me know that you are out there by pressing that little button down there called "comments". Sam and I miss you!

Monday, July 28, 2008

she sleeps...and I am bored!

Sam does not usually take naps. On a normal day I get a couple of cat naps that last maybe 30 minutes at the most. However today she has been sleeping since 1:00! Now I know that most people would think that is a great thing but I am finding it to not be so much fun. I mean what have I done today...laundry, dishes, dealt with recycling, looked through the mail and done work stuff...fun right? I really would much rather play mom and read, play outside and go for walks. Being mom is way more fun than being the laundry lady and the maid!

Come on Sam WAKE UP!!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Rice Cereal!

First...
Love this picture of Sam taking a nudie nap with Emmit in her arms.
Okay, Thursday night we attempted rice cereal for the first time. What a fun, yet messy, experience. Probably more entertaining for us and just traumatic for Sam.
Take a look!
Before


First bite

She couldn't keep her fingers out of her mouth


Is she messy enough yet?

Okay nowI think she is!
She went immediately from eating to the bath. I don't know how much food actually made it into her stomach but it was fun and we will definitely keep working with her. It is so exciting to be moving on to the next stage. And this also means the end of breastfeeding! I made it to the introduction of foods which was my latest goal and I have successfully weaned her off of me in a way that has been good for both of us. I know that I could and most people would say should keep breastfeeding her but I am ready for the convenience and ease of always bottle feeding. We are ready to move on. So watch out world Sam is eating food!!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Quick Update

Sam had her four month doctor's appointment today and I just wanted to give a quick update. The doc said she looks great, growing wonderfully and seems strong and developmentally right on track. She is still 95% for her head size. She is now 25 inches tall and weighs 14 lbs 10 ounces. She is 75% for height and weight. We get to start cereal now so COMING SOON will be photos of our first attempt at food this coming Thursday night! SO EXCITED!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Laughing! WE HAVE LAUGHING!

She is suddenly ticklish and we caught her laughing on camera today!!

Now the camera is broken so the sound does not match up with the image but at least you can hear her. Please try to ignore the scary noises that I am making...part of the way I was getting her to laugh.


Wasn't that just the best!!?

Sunday, July 20, 2008

A short...but great visit!

Grandpa and Nana Enlund came up this weekend and we packed the perfect amount of activity and resting into the two day visit. So many great photos from the weekend I just had to share.
Take a look at our weekend...

Here we are resting at home. Nana decided to give Sam a peapod...we took it away before it ended up in her mouth!

Don't you just love those big baby arms?

Saturday afternoon we went out to LakeView Berry Farms to pick raspberries. The weather was great, the view of the lake was awesome and we had a good time; oh yeah and the raspberries were good too!
The sucking and chewing has gotten out of control; she will suck on ANYTHING!


And to top off the weekend I got these amazing flowers! Saturday morning we went for a walk downtown and the farmer's market was open. Nana picked these flowers out for me. So beautiful and super cheap. LOVE THEM! Thanks Nana.
Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

uh-oh

Yeah, I thought it was a good idea but now I am not sure...I cut her hair and not the back! Can you tell that she now has bangs - kind of?

See I was so sick of the baby comb over that I was having to do because her hair was getting so long that I just had to cut the front stuff. I can't cut the sides or rest of the hair because her colics are so weird that I think her hair would just stand straight up if I cut it shorter. But I just had to cut the front stuff. What do you think?
Do you see that she is practicing her sitting and standing? Any day now she will be sitting up on her own...okay maybe more like any week now but whatever I'm a mom so of course I think my child is brilliant. And I swear she is not trying to have bulging eyes, they are just like that most of the time!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

New Banner!

Don't you just love my new blog banner? It was time to update and Jodie (j.allen photography and jodified designs) offered to design one for me. Those of you who got our birth announcement may recognize the colors and flowers. I am just in love with this funky look! Jodie has started creating blog banners as a part of her Jodified design business so if you are interested go check out her blog and order your very own one of a kind blog banner. It is such a fun way to make your blog stand out. Love it!
Thanks Aunt Jojo!

photos to share

Here are a few photos to share!

If you can ignore the bad hair day I just think in this outfit she just looks like the most adorable little summer baby.
And speaking of bad hair day...this is what you get when daddy does her hair!


And meet Mr. Blue and Emmit. Mr Blue we believe is suppse to be some kind of bunny, but he had all these extra limbs and things so he started out being called the Blue Monster which has been shortened to Mr. Blue. And Emmit named himself (it says Emmit on his chest!). These two men go everywhere with Sam. When she is in her carseat so are they. Mr. Blue was the first toy that Sam really held and seemed to play with. They give her something to look at, suck on and help soak up all the drool and spit up that inevitably comes out when she is awake. They are life savers in the car when she is fussy and I thank whoever it was that gave us these two crazy things.
WE LOVE MR. BLUE AND EMMIT!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

her noises

Sam has become a fountain of babbling, cooing, screaming, blowing bubbles and drooling. She is so vocal now it is crazy. And I wish I could say that I had videos to show you all but our camera is acting up and the video camera part of it is not working. Broke my heart today that the video I shot of her laughing at me did not work; so frustrating. She is in love with her tongue right now and all the funny noises that she can make with it. I just love listening to her right now, so fun.
It is a great time to be a mom, I just wish I could share it with all of you. Maybe soon.

In other news...
I started my second part-time job this week. Yes that's right I have another job. My advisor from graduate school has hired me as a research assistant. It is 12 hours a week just doing library research. I don't have specific times that I have to work so this week I have been doing it mostly in the evenings when Chris can be with Sam. But I must say that already I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. The house cleaning, laundry, yard work, being a mom, being an administrative assistant for WAEE and now this job is a lot. I am afraid that I have bitten off more than I can chew. The opportunity seemed so great and he really wanted me to be a part of the project so I just couldn't say no. It is good money and only goes through November. I think I can do this but it is exhausting.

Anyway, that is what is going on in our lives...Chris is golfing...Sam is babbling...and I am just plain busy!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

try the blow-dryer

When nothing else works try the blow-dryer. When you have tried the pacifier, changed the diaper, they just ate and still won't stop crying and just fall asleep, try the blow-dryer. It works!! For the last two nights Sam has been a very fussy baby right before bed. She has stuffed herself, not wanted the pacifier, not needed to be changed, not wanted me to sing to her and not wanted to lay down. The "Happiest Baby on the Block" book/video suggested that some babies need to be comforted by a similar noise to the one that they hear in the womb, apparently that sound comes from a blow-dryer. So anyway I know it sounds weird but for whatever reason letting the blow-dryer run right by her head calmed her down and put her to sleep. Crazy.

I wish I had pictures but I forgot the camera and didn't capture Sam seeing her very first fireworks. She did great, not scared at all. She stayed awake and sat on Chris's lap watching the Stevens Point fireworks. Chris and I weren't going to go because we didn't want to keep Sam up that late but our friends had such an amazing spot right by the Wisconsin river and this year is the 150th anniversary for Stevens Point so the fireworks were suppose to be amazing, that we just had to see them. So we stayed and the fireworks were pretty good. We all had a great time. And we can check off another first for Sam!

Hope you all enjoyed your Fourth of July!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

What a great first 4th!

What a day we had.

We started out by "hiking" or really just walking around a local reserve right here in town. We had intended on doing some real hiking and going up to Rib Mountain but by the time we got going it was really warm and sunny. I was worried about Sam overheating and getting sun burned so we decided to just stay close to home and someplace that we knew would be pretty shady. So we loaded up Sam, Polly and all the stuff to be prepared for anything and headed out. It worked out great! Sam loved the walk and was so happy the whole time.




My little flower child!

Then, we headed to downtown Stevens Point and happened upon the 4th of July parade! I was so excited. We did not even know that our town had a parade and we just happened to go down there at the right time. It was great. We walked around, got some lunch and watched the parade. Not great pictures but I had to get something to document Sam's first fourth of July parade!
Only in Wisconsin would a parade float consist of a John Deere tractor pulling a "Got Milk" float. You can't see them but walking a long side this float were grown men dressed up as cows; utters and all!! Only in WI!
When the parade ended Sam had had enough. She was exhausted and hot so we headed home. She took a great nap and woke up happy. We had a babysitter come over last night so we could grab some dinner. We ended up having a great time out at a local pub playing darts.
Good end to a wonderful day.
Hope you all had a great Fourth of July!

Friday, July 4, 2008

Happy Fourth!

Happy 4th of July!!

We are off to go hiking! More photos later.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

just some pictures

The ladies hanging out in the window.
Sam smiling at her daddy.
She is wearing a diaper; just hanging out having some almost nuddy time!

It is hard to get a baby and a dog to smile and stay still at the same time.

So the adorable little thumb sucking has turned into her shoving as many fingers into her mouth as she can and sucking as hard as she can!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

baby fat...not fat baby!

Take a look at the beautiful baby fat that Sam is accumulating!
Check out that double chin and the one eye slightly open sleeping.

Gotta love those chunky thighs.

No more wrists, just fat then hand!


Last night to try and get Sam to stay awake a little longer in the evening we decided to take her for a walk. But we knew that if we put her in her stroller she would immediately fall asleep. So Chris carried her on the walk. She still didn't stay awake!

Happy Tuesday!