He's back!!!!

It’s been a L-O-N-G three weeks and I have actually gotten a ton of gray hair in those 3 weeks – no joke!!!


My sweet boy who sleeps and eats went away and was replaced by a whiny cranky monster who would only eat fruit bars, popsicles, yogurt and sometimes oatmeal! Night wakings were awful – SCREAMING and flaring – Mark and I were taking turns sleeping with Sam in Zac’s room – it was the ONLY way for any of us to get rest! After the 1st week he got pink eye. After the 2nd week he came down with some awful virus and ran 102-103 for 24 hrs and Motrin wasn’t bringing it down at all. That was scary but the ped assured me he would be fine after a few days. I had some awful mommy moments where I found myself screaming at my child….. I felt horrible after the fact but was just at my wits end….what is wrong with my child??? When he woke from naps and in the morning it was instant screaming and crying – he wanted out of the crib but would hit you when you tried to pick him up. If you put him down he screamed louder. Do you want a drink? Do you want a snack? Do you mommy to pick you up? Do you want to go outside????? Tell mommy what you want…..PLEASE!!!!!!

The funny part was the fever that should have made him cranky and fussy was actually this past Monday and that was when he started actually feeling better! So was it his teeth? We are waiting for his 2 yr molars to pop. Was it a growth spurt and therefore his sleep was being interrupted? I guess I will never know….

This morning my sweet boy returned! Last night he ate chicken and sweet potatoes and watermelon for dinner – yay! Slept thru the night and when we woke up he played in his crib until 6:30 when I went in and got him. So glad your back Sammy – I sure missed you =)

Vandzura Reunion

I got the pics from my SIL Becky yesterday  - oh my she must have taken 1000 pictures!!!  There were sooo many to choose from but obviously I couldnt post them all - here are a few a lot!

Becky, Boone, Matt, and Mark (Mark's brothers and sister)

Marcia (mark's cousin)  and her daughter Katie

Mark's brother Boone with his wife Jan and their kids Hart and Elle

The Alex's (Mark's Aunt and Uncle and their kids)

Sam giving his cousin Sarah a big hug.  Sam and Sarah loved hanging out - I have tons of pics of them -so cute!

Sam's Uncle Matt (Ya-Ya) letting Sam bite his knuckle - yeah thanks Matt, now I know why my kid bites! LOL

Mark and his siblings with their Dad and Grandma

All of us with Grandma

Great news!  Unlce Boone is expecting!!!

Sam having fun

Sam's Aunt Karen (KK) pushing him

All the boys - also here is Billy - mark's BIL.... whats in those cups??

Zac and Sam at the pool

Sam swimming - he loves to kick his legs and move his arms - I think he will be a natural swimmer!

Josh and his cousin Jonah on the whale

Sam and Sarah

Josh holding the baby bird we found

Everyone had ice cream from the Penn State Creamery - I gave Sam an empty cone and told him it was ice cream - he had no clue - haha - and loved his "ice cream"  =)

Sam's 1st pair of cowboy boots - I think these were Jonah and Jacobs - cute!!

Its a tradition to go to the candy store in Portage - This was Sam's first trip - he has candy in both hands and is still crying - guess he wanted more.....

Big hug for Sarah

Oh wait! Dont forget Jonah!

Cutie pie!

Husbands and wives- minus Billy (Becky's hubby)

Becky - Boone & Jan - Matt & Karen - Mark and me

Hard to see in the pic but Sam was showing off his silly bands!!!

Just the girls!  Becky, Karen, Me, and Jan

All the cousins together!

Back row is Patrick - Zac - Sam - Jacob - Sarah - Josh - Jonah - then Hart and Elle in the wheel barrow

Mark, Sam, Grandma and Baba (mark's other grandma)

Zac and Sam - guess we know where he gets that blond hair from!!!

Zac and Grandma

Josh and Jonah

Kids are expensive!

I knew kids would be expensive but I never factored in the "extra" costs.

As you know Sam dropped our camera awhile back - I called the repair shop yesterday and its still not fixed - ugh!  Original estimate was $99 - not too bad.  Then after he fixed the problem it still wouldnt work so he had to repair a circuit board.  Now its $150.

Wait it gets even better!  They mailed the camera to Nikon to fix the last part and Nikon wont fix it because apparently the camera was not licensed to be sold in the USA - WHAT???  I know we bought it online and saved around $500 but I didnt realize that the camera wasnt officially licensed.  Apparently the company bought directly from the Japan Nikon maufacturer and didnt pay for US license fees and now that the camera is broke Nikon wont fix it.  Well, they will fix it but we have to buy a US license then mail the camera back to them and then they will fix it....... Ok, so now the cost is $250...........  oh geez..... good thing your a cute kid Sammy!!

Rowdy Roosters

I got Sam's class picture yesterday - lots of kids are missing - there are normally 12 kids but at least the important ones are here - haha

Sam is being held by Miss Jenn - Then Miss Lisa is holding Mariella.  I love his teachers  - they are the best and Sam loves them too!!
Front row is Anna (her daddy is in the AF and we talk everyday since we drop off and pick up at the same exact times).  Then Alex - when Sam and Alex were in the infant room they looked like twins!!!  I wish I had taken pictures - it was really weird how much they looked alike!!!  Anyway he and Alex are best buds now!  Then we have Maddie - this is Sam's girlfriend - haha - they are so cute together when they hold hands!  Then Aeryn is on the end. 

The end of August Sam, Maddie, and Alex will all be heading to the Bunny room!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Dinner at our house

Sam has been on an eating hiatus lately - its very stressing.  Last night I made sloppy joes and carrots and this is what proceeded.

Take cup of water.
Have a sip then dump the rest in the bowl of sloppy joe.
Mix thoroughly with your spoon.
Take several spoonfuls and dump this mixture into the carrots.
Remove bib and say "all done mommy"
.......oy!

So then Sam asked for beans - ok sure.... here you go and finally I get a smile

so yes, dinner last night was beans....... oh well, you know what they say... you can lead a horse to water but you cant make him drink!

update

Sorry for the delay in updates.


The camera is still broke =(       I called last week and the part they ordered to fix it didn’t fix it – so now they are working directly with Nikon and have ordered a new part…..ugh! I want my camera back!!!!

Anyway – summer is in full swing. Zac went down to MD to visit a neighbor in the old neighborhood and Josh is with us this week. They start back to school the end of August…so just a few weeks!

Sam is cracking me up these days! I picked him up at school the other day and he was standing in the middle of the room surrounded by Maddie, Anna, and Sophia. He was jumping up and falling on the ground and the girls were laughing so hard – Sam was eating it up and just kept doing it – what a sight to see, wish I had a video camera with me. Miss Linda was telling me she asked Sam where his girlfriend was and he said “Girlfriend” and Maddie walked over – HAHAH! So now when Sam says “girlfriend” here comes Maddie – oh boys!!!! He hasn’t bitten in 8 days – hope I didn’t just jinx myself!! Miss Jen said he has had really good days lately – yay!!

We haven’t done much around the house – mark is planning on putting a bathroom in the basement over Christmas – and we need to plant trees outside – guess that will be done next spring!

When I started this post I thought I had a ton of things to tell you but now I cant remember!!! Ugh!

Oh well, hopefully I will get the pics from the reunion soon (no pressure Becky!  haha) and will post those – got some great shots of Sam with his cousins =)