Even funnier than falling asleep in the jumper is that when he woke up he starting jumping again! Like he never stopped...... hahahah
Monday, September 28, 2009
Rough Day!
Sam is battling a cold and after a 3 hour nap on sunday morning he decided to take another nap in the junper - lol
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Sam's Birthday party!
We celebrated Sam's birthday on Saturday, September 19th - the day couldnt have been more beautiful! We had lots of family and friends come up from MD and WV and had a great time!Here he is next to his first cake - which of course he wasnt allowed to eat - lol
I have more pics but I havent downloaded them - so be looking for an update to this post =)
Edited: Is this the picture you are waiting for Chris? LOL!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Happy Birthday Sam!
You’re 1!!!!!
Its been a great year! Here is a recap of your first year of life:
September – you were born at 8:18am via c/section in Fort Belvoir VA
October – First Halloween - you cried and slept and nursed….alot!
November- First Thanksgiving
December – First Christmas - Baptized
January – You rolled over for the first time
February – We moved to PA – your 1st food was pancakes on Fat Tuesday – started Daycare
March – you got 2 teeth! Started sleeping on your tummy - sat up!
April – we moved into our new home – slept in crib for the first time
May – first time you were in a swimming pool – you loved it! – First plane trip to Denver
June –you started to army crawl
July – you crawled on all 4’s – you clapped!
August – 2nd plane trip to Georgia – said “more”
Here was our first glimpse of you:
Then we found out you were going to be a boy:
You arrived:
And that brings us back to today –your First Birthday:
The year had lots of ups and downs, especially with you being my first child, we were learning together! But we made it! I am looking forward to your 2nd year of life with even more enthusiasm – I love your little personality and can’t wait to see how much more you change and grow!
So, Happy Birthday my sweet boy! I love you so much!
Its been a great year! Here is a recap of your first year of life:
September – you were born at 8:18am via c/section in Fort Belvoir VA
October – First Halloween - you cried and slept and nursed….alot!
November- First Thanksgiving
December – First Christmas - Baptized
January – You rolled over for the first time
February – We moved to PA – your 1st food was pancakes on Fat Tuesday – started Daycare
March – you got 2 teeth! Started sleeping on your tummy - sat up!
April – we moved into our new home – slept in crib for the first time
May – first time you were in a swimming pool – you loved it! – First plane trip to Denver
June –you started to army crawl
July – you crawled on all 4’s – you clapped!
August – 2nd plane trip to Georgia – said “more”
Here was our first glimpse of you:
Then we found out you were going to be a boy:
You arrived:
And that brings us back to today –your First Birthday:
The year had lots of ups and downs, especially with you being my first child, we were learning together! But we made it! I am looking forward to your 2nd year of life with even more enthusiasm – I love your little personality and can’t wait to see how much more you change and grow!
So, Happy Birthday my sweet boy! I love you so much!
Our Breastfeeding Journey
Warning to my Dad and others out there who don’t want to read about my boobs – LOL – you may want to skip this post!
One year ago today I brought my baby boy to my breast for the first time and he happily nursed away…. and nursed and nursed and nursed….. you get the idea! 3 days later my nipples were raw, red, bleeding, I was in pain. I met with the Lactation Consultant several times over the next few weeks. Initially I pumped round the clock every 2 hours for almost 5 days so my nipples would heal – I would pump and Mark would bottle feed. Once they were healed I used nipple shields to prevent any more damage. Sam latched on and it was going better but he was a very sleepy nurser due to jaundice and trying to wake him up AND keep him awake to nurse was a nightmare! He would take 60-90 mins to nurse and then repeated every 2 hours for the first 8 weeks. Everyone always says that breastfeeding is easy and it shouldn’t be painful and if it is then you are doing it wrong. I think there is so much misinformation on breastfeeding out there that women have unrealistic expectations about breastfeeding and then quit after a few weeks. I won’t lie – I wanted to quit every day, make that every feeding! Several times I told Mark he needed to go buy formula cuz I was DONE! Sam wasn’t gaining weight and so of course I felt like a failure because I could not feed my child enough to make him grow – we added 1 feeding per day of formula and he still wasn’t gaining. The next week I slacked and gave formula 2 times and guess what…. he gained weight! The ped said “see, it’s the formula” and I just laughed because it WASN’T the formula.. it was breast milk.
After a few weeks I weaned Sam off the nipple shield and then he was finally back on the bare breast and it got easier…. Then I got a clogged duct – ugh!
I tried taking lecithin every day – didn’t work so I had to nurse laying over Sam, or soak my breast before feeding, or get in the shower and massage – it was awful. The worst part is I continued to get them 3-4 times a week until about 7 months. Today at a year I still get them although sometimes I can go 2 weeks without one. They are painful and very tender even once the clog is gone but I have come to expect them so when I get one I just suck it up and deal. I haven’t slept on my side or tummy since the 2nd trimester of my pregnancy because if I do it’s a guarantee that I will develop a clogged duct- so I have to sleep on my back….. man I miss tummy sleeping!
Its exhausting knowing that you’re the only one who can feed your child – it was me getting up every few hours to nurse on demand in those early months while Mark slept away…. Yes, I was a little bitter but it’s the price you pay when you breastfeed…. But, totally worth the price I must add =)
Looking back I could have easily quit… on numerous occasions…. But I didn’t.
Something in the back of my mind was determined to nurse my child and so I stuck with it and I am so proud of myself! I know it was something that only I could give my child and I actually enjoy nursing him these days – even though he likes to try to stand up all-the-while keeping my nipple in his mouth – yikes! Lol
He is just starting to sometimes sleep thru the night but I don’t care if he does or doesnt – he only gets up once and that is actually my favorite time with him – its dark, quiet and nurses so perfectly – always such a nice moment to share with my little guy!
So, here we are at 1 year! We made it! Yay for us! We survived!
The future is wide open….
One year ago today I brought my baby boy to my breast for the first time and he happily nursed away…. and nursed and nursed and nursed….. you get the idea! 3 days later my nipples were raw, red, bleeding, I was in pain. I met with the Lactation Consultant several times over the next few weeks. Initially I pumped round the clock every 2 hours for almost 5 days so my nipples would heal – I would pump and Mark would bottle feed. Once they were healed I used nipple shields to prevent any more damage. Sam latched on and it was going better but he was a very sleepy nurser due to jaundice and trying to wake him up AND keep him awake to nurse was a nightmare! He would take 60-90 mins to nurse and then repeated every 2 hours for the first 8 weeks. Everyone always says that breastfeeding is easy and it shouldn’t be painful and if it is then you are doing it wrong. I think there is so much misinformation on breastfeeding out there that women have unrealistic expectations about breastfeeding and then quit after a few weeks. I won’t lie – I wanted to quit every day, make that every feeding! Several times I told Mark he needed to go buy formula cuz I was DONE! Sam wasn’t gaining weight and so of course I felt like a failure because I could not feed my child enough to make him grow – we added 1 feeding per day of formula and he still wasn’t gaining. The next week I slacked and gave formula 2 times and guess what…. he gained weight! The ped said “see, it’s the formula” and I just laughed because it WASN’T the formula.. it was breast milk.
After a few weeks I weaned Sam off the nipple shield and then he was finally back on the bare breast and it got easier…. Then I got a clogged duct – ugh!
I tried taking lecithin every day – didn’t work so I had to nurse laying over Sam, or soak my breast before feeding, or get in the shower and massage – it was awful. The worst part is I continued to get them 3-4 times a week until about 7 months. Today at a year I still get them although sometimes I can go 2 weeks without one. They are painful and very tender even once the clog is gone but I have come to expect them so when I get one I just suck it up and deal. I haven’t slept on my side or tummy since the 2nd trimester of my pregnancy because if I do it’s a guarantee that I will develop a clogged duct- so I have to sleep on my back….. man I miss tummy sleeping!
Its exhausting knowing that you’re the only one who can feed your child – it was me getting up every few hours to nurse on demand in those early months while Mark slept away…. Yes, I was a little bitter but it’s the price you pay when you breastfeed…. But, totally worth the price I must add =)
Looking back I could have easily quit… on numerous occasions…. But I didn’t.
Something in the back of my mind was determined to nurse my child and so I stuck with it and I am so proud of myself! I know it was something that only I could give my child and I actually enjoy nursing him these days – even though he likes to try to stand up all-the-while keeping my nipple in his mouth – yikes! Lol
He is just starting to sometimes sleep thru the night but I don’t care if he does or doesnt – he only gets up once and that is actually my favorite time with him – its dark, quiet and nurses so perfectly – always such a nice moment to share with my little guy!
So, here we are at 1 year! We made it! Yay for us! We survived!
The future is wide open….
One year anniversary!
The moment a child is born,the mother is also born. She never existed before.
The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.
One year ago today I became a mom ♥
I always thought I knew what it would be like to be a mom before I had kids – yeah, I had no clue! It has been a long crazy year filled with happiness, sadness, confusion, sleeplessness, and lots of crying! Before Sam I couldn’t really fathom how much love I could hold in my heart. The love a mother feels for her child is like no other. Sure, I love my parents, my husband, my step-kids, my nieces and nephews, and brothers and sisters, but my heart just opens up when it comes to Sam. I would do anything for that little boy – I would give my life for him.
So, today I am taking a moment to reflect on the day that Sam made me a mom and to thank him for teaching me patience, love, kindness and how to smile at 4am when I really want to be in bed sleeping ;-)
It makes me wonder if my mom privately celebrates my birthday as a milestone in her life, too. I bet she does
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Ummm... Can someone help me here...please!
Sam likes to crawl OVER things, people, animals - I guess its fun - sam decided to crawl over this rocking police car and then got stuck - LOL - he didnt have any pants on so I guess his skin wouldnt glide over the plastic toy like it normally would - and yes I did help him but only after taking a picture! =)
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Just Peachy!
We headed to Georgia, home of the Peach last weekend to visit our friends Chad and Gena and their new twins evan and Taryn. This was Sam’s 2nd plane ride and he didn’t do as wonderful as the first. He refused to sleep and wanted to be passed back between me and Mark. He wanted to look out the window and bang on the seats. He was very curious looking around at everyone, waving, trying to make friends (oh wait that sounds like Mark! Haha) After a few delays due to rain we made it to Georgia around 7pm. Chad picked us up at the airport and we headed to their place. They live about 90 mins from the airport, north, west, south, I have no clue, It was dark and I was in the back with Sam.
Sam slept in the car so when we arrive at Gena and Chad’s he decides he is awake and “thanks for the nap” – The twins, Taryn and Evan, were already asleep so we had to wait until the morning to see them.
Taryn and Evan were born in April so they are 5 months old and sooo cute!!! Sam liked to “pet” them like he does piper – heehee – we have been teaching him to be gentle with piper and pat her instead of grabbing hair so that is how he acted with the twins. However their 2 dogs had wonderfully long hairy tails that Sam could NOT resist and he kept grabbing them at every opportunity – sorry Teebo and Nash!
We stayed until Monday and just hung out at the house –with 3 little ones under 1 we figured that was best!
Gena and Chad were awesome hosts and really went all out to accomodate me and Sam and our milk free diet – you guys are awesome! Thanks!
We took the kids swimming one day, played with the exersaucers, tried out Evan’s and Taryn’s toys and just hung out – that’s the best kind of vacation!
So here are a few pics from our weekend – There were 100’s to choose from but obvioulsy I couldn’t post them all so I tried to pick some of my favs =)
Oh and the plane ride home was a repeat of heading out there – except this time there were LOTS of babies on the plane making noises, not just sammy – lol. And the people around us all loved Sam and played peek-a-boo with him and talked with him. Heck, even at the baggage claim the women were coming up to us saying bye to Sam =)
Right….. picture time……
Sam slept in the car so when we arrive at Gena and Chad’s he decides he is awake and “thanks for the nap” – The twins, Taryn and Evan, were already asleep so we had to wait until the morning to see them.
Taryn and Evan were born in April so they are 5 months old and sooo cute!!! Sam liked to “pet” them like he does piper – heehee – we have been teaching him to be gentle with piper and pat her instead of grabbing hair so that is how he acted with the twins. However their 2 dogs had wonderfully long hairy tails that Sam could NOT resist and he kept grabbing them at every opportunity – sorry Teebo and Nash!
We stayed until Monday and just hung out at the house –with 3 little ones under 1 we figured that was best!
Gena and Chad were awesome hosts and really went all out to accomodate me and Sam and our milk free diet – you guys are awesome! Thanks!
We took the kids swimming one day, played with the exersaucers, tried out Evan’s and Taryn’s toys and just hung out – that’s the best kind of vacation!
So here are a few pics from our weekend – There were 100’s to choose from but obvioulsy I couldn’t post them all so I tried to pick some of my favs =)
Oh and the plane ride home was a repeat of heading out there – except this time there were LOTS of babies on the plane making noises, not just sammy – lol. And the people around us all loved Sam and played peek-a-boo with him and talked with him. Heck, even at the baggage claim the women were coming up to us saying bye to Sam =)
Right….. picture time……
This is what it will look like if we have twins....lol
Mark, Me, Gena, ChadSam, Evan, Taryn
My ladies man.... notice the hand on the knee - lol
another one...lol
the boys in their exersaucers
cute
headin home....
Psssssss...............
After Sam's bath I usually let him crawl around his room naked to air out - LOL - last night I guess I waited a little too long.... he peed on the floor and on his leg - oh well, could have been worse (poop!) hahahah
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