16 Weeks

I wish I had time to write about everything that's been going on the last week or two. Things have been NUTS. But, assuming all goes well, by noon tomorrow my now-doctor hubby and I should be homeowners and on our way to visit family and friends in Arkansas. And hopefully I can finish all the packing and cleaning and laundry and maybe get some sleep between now and then?

But this post is about my sweet little Samuel.

He's such a sweet, happy little thing. I love love love him to pieces! And now he's starting to act like he loves me too, which is pretty great. :-)

At 16 weeks, Samuel weighs slightly over 15 pounds. We think he's around 25" long, though he's so wiggly it's hard to know for sure.

He sleeps from 8:30-7:45/8 nearly every night and takes naps at 9, 12 and 3 with a little catnap around 5.He has started sleeping on his side most of the time, and turns circles in his crib all night long. Occasionally he'll even go off-camera -- to the end of the crib where we can't see him on the video monitor. He's definitely learning how to get around!

He's still eating six times a day most days, including a bottle at bedtime. 

This last week has been fun as we've started putting Samuel in the Bumbo chair and in an umbrella stroller. He's been trying to sit himself up when laying down, and can actually do it pretty well when he's at an angle. 

While sitting is fun for him, STANDING is even more fun! We have to keep a close eye on him, because he'll try to stand up out of his Bumbo chair about once every 5 minutes. He far prefers standing on our laps to sitting, and LOVES jumping around. 

Samuel's been "laughing" a lot more lately, though that usually includes a conglomerate of sounds... he's still figuring that one out. :-)

He's also started using the exersaucer at the Y. It's a little overwhelming to him after a couple of minutes, but he seems to like it pretty well.

Even though he has rolled over several times, he still seems pretty uninterested in it. He accidentally rolled over from back to front in his crib a week or so ago and woke up SCREAMING. Poor baby. That had to scare him! I was a little worried that he wasn't really doing it much, but I've read several places that some kids just don't like it. He's definitely trying to get to things he wants, so I guess I shouldn't be too concerned. 

He also is still crazy about his hands... arms.. my hands... all of his toys... anything he can suck on. He actually gave himself a hickey the other day. I felt bad because it looked really gross, but I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do about it. I actually was afraid he might be teething for a little while since he's drooling alot more also, but I think he is just getting better at getting things to his mouth. 

It's so crazy how much this kid has grown, and how much like a KID he is now. He grabs things, can shake his rattle for several minutes, actually seems to like toys... It's hard to believe he was soooo teeny just a few weeks ago! He's SO fun right now, though, and I wouldn't trade this time for anything!! :-) 

Photobomb.

Talking to Jamie tonight reminded me that I haven't been posting our weekly pictures lately. Seems like it's about time!

And here's a few other random pictures because, hey, I think my kid is pretty cute. Haha.(Also, I didn't want to post bathtime pictures on facebook).

Hanging out with Grammy. 

Late nights + early mornings.

Samuel's unswaddled sleeping positions are pretty entertaining. 

Sweet sleepy baby. 

(Does anyone know how to rotate pictures on blogger? They're the right direction on my hard drive but often seem to upload wrong...)

Now seriously, is he not one of the cutest babies ever??

I'm a little biased though... :-)

[First!] Mother's Day

I didn't realize when I became a mom that it meant I basically get another holiday. Mother's Day felt like my  birthday all over again!!

Of course, some things are a little different when your child is 3 months old. For instance, Samuel decided to celebrate by waking up about 4 times in the middle of the night. Two of those he put himself back to sleep, but the other two I had to go down there and pat his head for awhile to calm him down. (He might have gone back to sleep if I would have left him alone, but at 3 in the morning, 5 more minutes of crying seems like torture for BOTH of us). This whole sleep regression thing is not my favorite. Luckily, this cute little smile makes it all worth it!

Eric also made up for it by getting up early and making me a sweet breakfast of eggs, toast and coffee, complete with cute little azaleas on the plate that he picked off of our bush out front. :-) That's sweet for any husband, but it's especially sweet when you consider how much Eric HATES getting up in the morning. He didn't even eat any breakfast himself, just made it for me!

I sang in church, so I had to be there at 8 am. It was a good morning, except for the fact that the boys didn't come until 9:30, and we had a little mis-communication about Samuel's eating schedule. The poor little guy ended up not getting fed for awhile (whoops!), and I had to miss the sermon to run over to the nursery and feed him. (It's days like that that I'm glad I'm nursing. I always have the food with me!) Luckily it ended up not being a big deal at all. But I was pretty exhausted by the time service ended at 11!

After church, we all came home and napped. We had some yummy chicken for lunch, talked to our padres, rested some more, then went out for frozen yogurt. Mmm. I went for a run, hung out with my sweet boys, and enjoyed the beautiful beautiful day.

How lovely is that?

It was especially lovely when I found the notes in my Bible from last Mother's Day. I don't hang on to all my notes, but I've been keeping that one because every time I look at it, I'm reminded of God's faithfulness.

You see, last Mother's Day, Eric was working and I was at church alone. We'd been trying to get pregnant for awhile, and I was starting to feel a little hopeless, wondering if it was ever going to happen or not. The sermon was about being a godly mom, and I kept tearing up like a big baby all throughout the service, praying that I would have the opportunity to do so, and that, if that wasn't God's plan, that I would somehow be okay with that. I had no clue at that time that my sweet little Samuel was already growing inside. Five days later, we got a positive test, and eight and a half months later, we got an amazing little son!

 I am SO grateful that God saw fit to give me my sweet Samuel. I've got a lot to learn about mommy-ing,. but know He has always provided what I've needed and will continue to do so! :-)

Running! [Post-Baby]

So this is one of those posts that is really more for my own memory's sake than anything else.

I haven't always been the fittest person, but the last couple of years I have really learned to focus on taking care of my body. I only get one, after all! I've got a long way to go and I definitely cut myself a lot of slack, but I've learned little by little to make healthier eating choices, and I've made exercise a priority.

I was SO thankful when I got pregnant that I was in the best shape of my life thus far. I was even more thankful that I was able to run and exercise through my entire pregnancy. It was tough, and a LOT of days I just wanted to throw in the towel and use pregnancy as an excuse. I might have pushed myself a little too hard, but I was able to run and dance up until the day I went into labor (granted, it was a LOT slower!!).

I should point out that, even with the constant exercise, I still gained ~34 lbs. I may not have looked it, but I was pretty big!

Because I was so fit during pregnancy, I guess I expected that I would be able to bounce back super quickly and be back to my "old self" in a couple of months.

Let me clarify what I mean by that. I didn't have any crazy expectations that I would lose ALL the pregnancy weight right away or that some things wouldn't be different. I felt like I was pretty practical in my expectations, and, in most ways, I was pleasantly surprised. Things didn't change as much as I thought they would.

What I was thinking would come back quickly was my speed & endurance. Running is such a fun sport to me because it's a constant competition with myself. For 9 months, I wasn't really able to push myself, and I was SO excited to get back to my own little personal competition.

The week I found out I was pregnant, I did two "easy" 7-8 mile runs at around an 8:45 pace. At 6 months pregnant, I was still able to run 5-6 miles at around a 10 minute pace. I assumed that, with all that running, it would only take me a couple of months to get back where I was (or at least close to it) speed and distance-wise, and then I could resume my normal routine.

Wrong.

Childbirth was way easier than I expected (thank you, epidural)! And recovery wasn't all that bad either. My body looks amazingly similar to my pre-pregnancy self (except for the 6-7 extra pounds I have that I'm guessing aren't going to come off until I'm done nursing. They're pretty well distributed though). But running again has been SLOW.

 It was four weeks from the day I went into labor until I went back to the Y, about 4 1/2 before I started to jog again. And, despite my high pregnancy fitness level, I am pretty much finding that I am having to train myself all over again.

It took me a week before I was able to run a mile. At 2 months postpartum, I was able to run a slow 2 1/2-3 miles. I did my first 5K the day before Samuel's 3 month birthday. Pre-pregnancy, I could do one in about 24:30. 3 months out, it was 28:30, about 40 seconds faster than the Mistletoe Race that I ran 7 months pregnant. Yesterday I ran 5 miles in just over 50 minutes. So I'm getting there. But it's taking time.

Luckily, I know what I'm doing this time. I know that you can't do long runs at a fast pace right away. I know that I need a combination of distance and speed work. I know that I need rest time. And I know it doesn't happen overnight.

I'm planning to use this summer to train myself. It took me 9 months to get "unfit," so I guess it's reasonable for it to take 9 months to get back. Hopefully this fall I will be ready to kick some race booty.

And next time around I'll know... It just takes a little time. :-)

3 Months

It's been a wild couple of weeks.

We bought a house (more to come on that soon!)

Eric is completely done with medical school (and graduating in 12 days!)

We had a fun garage sale with friends.

My parents came to visit.

I ran my first post-preggo 5K, and we've been to numerous birthday, gender reveal, going away and just because parties (because apparently we are party people now. Ha!)

I love that things are getting busy again. Post-baby hibernation was fun, but I am NOT cut out to be stuck inside!

Samuel has been changing like CRAZY lately. It's so funny to me that things can be pretty steady for several weeks, and then, all of a sudden, it's like I have a different kid.

Baby boy started sleeping through the night (like 10+ hours) back around the end of March/beginning of April. He's always put himself to sleep really easily when we lay him in his crib at night. He's loved just laying on the floor or in his boppy and looking at things. He "talks" a lot, but has usually been pretty mellow.

Then the last two weeks happened. Samuel started unswaddling himself in the middle of the night while we were on vacation. He would break out of the swaddle and then wake up crying. I'd swaddle him back up, and he was back to dream land without any problem. But it started happening more and more, until I finally knew it was time to break him of the swaddle for good.

I started at nap time for several days. He got used to it SLOWLY. There was a lot of crying.

Then last week, he decided to roll over (at 3 months, 2 days)! It was super cute and exciting. He did it three times and hasn't done it since, but it seemed to legitimize the need to break him of his swaddle.

So a week ago we started putting him down unswaddled (well, his feet are still in the swaddle blanket, we just wrap it around his stomach). He's not a huge fan. Instead of playing in his crib for a few minutes then gently falling asleep, he's been nodding off then startling himself for the first 20-30 minutes he's down, leading to lots of crying. It's really sad. He seems to sleep pretty well once he falls asleep, but it is NO fun getting him there. I really hope he gets used to it soon!

To make matters worse, I'm pretty sure he's going through his 3 month growth spurt. The last three nights, he's woken up between 4 and 6, which he NEVER does. I've fed him and put him back down for a few more hours. He's also been way fussier during the day than normal. I knew this was coming, but I am really looking forward to him settling into his "new normal" once this little spurt is over!

On the fun side, Samuel has totally gone from a newborn to a kid in the last week or so. As I mentioned, he learned to roll over. He also has started grabbing things purposefully and shaking them. He pulled the string on his bouncer that starts the music all by himself. He's grabbed and rattled the toys on his floor mat. He's figuring things out SO quickly. It's crazy!

He also learned how to yell this week. Not scream in anger (he already knew how to do that). Just yell for fun or to let us know he wants something. It's cute, but it definitely makes things a little harder. If we're not giving him attention, he'll yell at us. He knows we can hear. LoL.

Speaking of which, he's yelling from his crib right now.... Guess nap time is over!
Until next time!

Beach Trip!

It's been a fun couple of weeks! Eric finished up his final year of medical school (yay!) and we've had some time to just hang out, get things done, and then spend a nice long weekend at the beach. 

Ahhh... :-)

We decided a few weeks ago that, since we weren't moving to another city and having to spend this "residency prep" period in a hotel looking for a home, we would spend time in a hotel at the beach instead!

 We ended up going to Isle of Palms, SC, just outside of Charleston. We were able to get a 2 bedroom condo at a resort for cheaper than most of the hotels in downtown Charleston. Samuel got his own room, we got a kitchen to cook in (and cable!), we were right by the ocean, we had access to all the resort stuff (not that we used half of it!) and we were just 20 minutes from Charleston. The only downside was that we couldn't afford to stay longer!!

 

Samuel in his beach swag. Eric insisted he keep his polo shirt on for fear of sunburn. 

Samuel did pretty well on the trip all things considered. 300 miles is a long trip for 2 month old, but he only fussed toward the end of the trip (while we were in traffic and it was raining - of course!).

He wasn't really sure what to think of the beach. He primarily slept in his stroller while we laid out and read. It was pretty funny to watch him when we got him out in the sand, though (and to see his reaction to his hat and sunglasses, both of which were waaaay too big)! We also put his feet in the ocean for a bit. He didn't hate it, but he definitely was confused about what was going on!

Unfortunately, the weather was only really nice on Saturday. Sunday and Monday were colder and  pretty dreary, so we hung out in the condo and went for a walk on the beach when it wasn't raining. We also found some fun chess and checkers sets at the main part of the resort - a perfect rainy day activity. (Eric kicked my hinie, btw. He played a lot of checkers as a kid).

Sunday night we braved the rain and went into Charleston for some seafood. Samuel enjoyed taking in rainy downtown Charleston while we waited to be seated.

And we enjoyed trying a random seafood platter (seabass, cobia, monkfish and scallops in a spicy lobster broth). We also got some fried oysters. Considering I've pretty much only had 3 types of fish ever (and shrimp) and basically never eat seafood, I think that was a pretty brave meal!!

Other than growing like crazy, Samuel's been doing a lot of the same stuff the last couple of weeks. He is talking a TON, loves playing on his playmat or the floor, is actually enjoying tummy time, and sticks EVERYTHING in his mouth!

See what I mean?? He thinks his hands are the best. He also has been caught chewing on burp cloths, wipes, the bear behind him in this picture.. basically anything he can find. He doesn't seem to be teething. He just has a bit of an oral fixation right now! 

Oh, did I mention that he actually started sleeping the whole night?!? Just to clarify, to me the whole night means from when we put him down (8:30ish) until at least 7. He hasn't done it every night, but he has done it four times in the last week or so. Hopefully in another week he will have it down! :-)

He's also seriously getting on the verge of rolling over. I kept expecting him to do it all weekend. He can get on his side, but hasn't quite figured out how to get over his arm yet. It's going to be really exciting when he finally does it, but I can't say I'm quite ready for a mobile child! I love having my teeny non-mobile boy!

I know I've said it before, but I am seriously amazed at how much I love this kid and how much more I love Eric as we figure this parenting thing out together. I keep thinking my heart can't grow anymore, but then it does. I'm so grateful we are getting to have this time together as a family right now! 

My heart just grows and grows.

9 Weeks + Samuel's First Easter

 Okay, I know I say this every time, but little man is getting SO BIG. I weighed him on the Wii this morning. It said he weighed 13 pounds. Not that that's a shocker since he was 12 1/2 last week at the doctor, but STILL. He's turning into such a little chunker!

This week was fairly uneventful. The weather has been toying with us, but it's been in the high 50s several days and even almost 70 one day last week, allowing us to go out for some walks/runs in the stroller (and some nice visits to the Y when it's not. Like today. It's snowing today). Samuel's staying awake a lot more during our walks, but he doesn't seem to mind them at all.

Eric had Good Friday off, so we were able to take a little family outing to Chick Fil A where everyone stopped to talk to our sweet boy. Can you blame them? Let's face it, he's stinkin' adorable. We also got a lot accomplished around the house -- cleaning, cooking, paying bills, and working on Eric's contract and license application (so he can be a doctor. How crazy is that??)

Baby boy has been continuing to sleep well (usually 7-9 hours, then back down for 3-4 more), but has managed to figure out how to break out of every swaddle blanket we have, including the "Miracle Blanket" that guarantees to keep them swaddled until 14 weeks. He got both arms out before 9. Can I have my money back?

We had a nice little gathering of med school couples over Saturday morning for brunch. Unfortunately, I woke up Saturday morning with my throat on fire. I get a cold every spring, and this time it came on strong. Luckily, I was able to power through and visit for a few hours and then sleep all afternoon.

I was tempted to not go to church Sunday morning. Truth be told, I felt pretty miserable. But I have missed enough church this year and I was not about to miss Easter and especially not Samuel's first Easter (not that he knew what was going on). So I toughed it up and went and, even though I could barely croak out one of my favorite songs ever (In Christ Alone), it didn't matter, because I was SO grateful to be able to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior with fellow believers. How blessed we are!

I thought I would just go home after service, but I decided to tough it up some more and go out to Easter brunch with friends. I felt pretty crunchy by the time we got home, but it didn't matter. It was worth it to share lovely Easter memories with family and friends. :-)

Taking care of baby when you are sick is not very fun. I'm just glad he hasn't been sick at the same time. There has been one good part about it: we have been home for him to take naps in his crib. He's still had a few fussy periods throughout the day, but I think having established nap times is really helping with his overall mood. We spend a lot more time playing and laughing in the interim.

I know there probably aren't too many ages I'm not going to like, but I reallly am liking two months right now! Samuel's really starting to interact a LOT. We have little "conversations." He gets excited when I sing to him. He likes anything colorful and smiles and laughs at, well, everything (including me blowing my nose. Apparently that's HILARIOUS).

He seems to learn to do something new almost every day. It's so crazy to see how much he has changed! Even though I occasionally get a little bored, I am soooo thankful to have this time with him right now!

Seriously, how blessed I am. :-)