Vacation???

Well, Sam and I are headed to the beach on Thursday! I don't know if it will be relaxing, or more stressful/work than being at home!? We shall see! We are going with my mom and dad in the motorhome, and BJ is coming on Friday after work. I hope that Mama and Daddy don't look at this with dread, or look back on it and wonder what they were thinking!!! I think they'll be happy regardless because they will be with Sam! I am looking forward to starting on my summer tan - that will help the last of my baby fat to feel a little less pudgy, I hope!

I am the worst dieter ever! As soon as I get disgusted with myself and say I'm going to diet/exercise, I get all kinds of cravings for grease, sugar, chocolate and your basic lards! THEN, I have no energy to exercise! I have taken Sam for walks here and there, but my back is usually shot by lunchtime, and I'm exhausted by the end of the day. Mornings are out, because I'm barely awake! I guess I'm just hoping the last of this weight will just fall off without me having to do anything about it... yeah right - I'll hold my breath!!!!

Well, hope the beach thing works out... I'll let you know!!!!!!!

Cars, Cars, Cars

Well, we are on our 8th car of our marriage... yes, I typed that correctly - EIGHT VEHICLES!!!!!!! I had my silver Maxima when we got married, traded that for the 350Z (fun, but silly decision), then traded that for my red BMW - 10 months later. BJ had his little red Nissan truck when we got married, traded that for his black GMC truck, then traded that for his silver F150. We looked back, and each year we have been married (five), we have purchased either a car or a house - and each year, we say we're not going to make any large purchases... then comes Sam!!!!!
Sam has brought on our worst year yet (insofaras purchases go!) - we have bought two new cars in less than 5 weeks. When Sam was 2 weeks old, we found ourselves in the Chevy dealership trading BJ's truck for an '07 Tahoe. I must say that I LOVE the room, and it drives really good - it drives more like a car that I gave it credit for! After all my rants about how we WILL make my car work!!!! Today, we traded my BMW for a Mazda 3 - I will admit, that I hated to see that car go, and I actually had to pet it before we left it! This car is no frills, just good gas mileage and safe enough for BJ to commute back and forth to Buckhead. This has actually put us ahead financially, and should help in insurance AND in gas!!!!!! BJ is the one who "suffers" here, and has "sacrificed" for this little guy and our family, but he seems really happy about it - and it really was the best decision we could make given the circumstances!!!! I am so blessed to have such a loving and wonderful and selfless husband!!!!!!!!!!

That being said - for real - NO MORE LARGE PURCHASES FOR US!!!!!!!! That's it - we're done... for at least another couple of years!!!!!!! =)

Sam, of course was a little angel through all the sitting and waiting and dealing! Right now, though, he is awake and a little fussy... thank goodness BJ is home!!! My back hurts, and I am tired!!!! Time for bed!

Peace out everyone!!!!!!!! Laterveer OUT!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Well, I have officially celebrated my first Mother's Day!!! I really don't feel like a "Mother" yet, though! Funny, because the 3 am feedings feel pretty real, and the busy days feel pretty real! We went to the lake - Sam and I went out Friday morning, and BJ came Saturday. Nanny and Marney were there too... four mothers!!!!!!!! Sam did not cry at all those three days - if a whimper came out, someone was there to pick him up and hold him and rock him and feed him - he ate every three hours while out there! Nanny thought he was hungry everytime he moved... no, not really... he's just an active baby!!!!!! That's always grandma's solution, though!!!!!! I really don't think Sam was NOT in someone's arms or on someone's chest the whole time - unless WE were eating, I guess!!!!

The neatest thing to watch, though, was Uncle Bo. He's such a man's man, I really didn't think he would be too interested in Sam until he started getting cool toys to play with, but Bo fed him, held him and rocked him a lot! He and Sam slept on the couch for a long time Sunday afternoon. If Sam whimpered, I would ask Bo if he wanted me to take him, and he would just say "No, I got him!" Sam loved his time with Uncle Bo - Uncle Bo has a great chest for sleeping too!!!!! I think Bo is really taken with Sam and has actually surprised himself!!!!!! It's so cute!

Sam got me a beautiful necklace that has a baby shoe pendant on it with his (and my) birthstone. It's beautiful, and it's so perfect to remember my first Mother's Day!

Mimi cried when we left - I felt so bad leaving... I didn't want to leave either! Everyone is so much help! But, you know, I really don't have it bad at all. I haven't had a COMPLETE week alone yet, and I seriously doubt that I ever will!!!! And I am A-OK with that!!!! Mimi can't go longer than seven days without a Sam-fix, so we make our plans each week for when we will see each other; whether we go there or they come here, or we meet in the middle!!!!

I am the luckiest mother in the world - on multiple levels... my beautiful and perfect son, my wonderful, loving and super-helpful husband, my loving and supportive parents and brother, my great friends who check up on me and come visit, I could go on and on!!!!

Here's some more pictures of little Sam on Mother's Day...

He's so cute sleeping... or awake!!!!

Look at that little hiney!!!

Post Partum

So, I went to the doctor yesterday for my post partum 6 week checkup... everything is great, and I am completely healed and healthy! Nice to hear, but still a little disconcerting to have a man down there telling you that you have healed nicely!!!!!!

Sam is cuter than every - gets cuter and sweeter everyday! I can't believe how much I love that little guy! I could sit and stare at him all day... ok, I pretty much do - which is why the house is a wreck, the dish washer doesn't get emptied, etc, etc!!!!!

I keep thinking that he's growing SO fast... he's already SIX WEEKS old!!!!! I think he's about to outgrow the newborn diapers!!!! =( But not until we use up this last case we bought last weekend!!!! His newborn clothes are actually FITTING now!!!! I just want to hold him and take advantage of his little cuteness while I can!!!!

Sam's favorite position to sleep (monitored, of course... he DOES sleep, but not well, on his back at night!)

What a cute little outfit, huh?????

You can never be too prepared!!!!!!! Actually, we had bought diapers since we found out we were pregnant... they were all Huggies. We quickly discovered that the Huggies leak, and the Pampers are so much better, so we went and exchanged all the Huggies we had bought... the Tahoe was piled top to bottom with diapers - it was quite comical!!!!!!!

Bouncing Balls

OK - I've figured it out... if you really haven't held too many babies, here's what you need to do:

Start with a large ball that bounces and practice bouncing it around. Continue this exercise while progressively using smaller balls until you get to a tiny bouncy ball. If you can bounce this little ball around and not drop it (not just up and down, but off of objects and around the room), you are then ready for a newborn. This is good for hand-eye coordination and for the unexpected movements that newborns tend to make!

No, I haven't dropped Sam (thank goodness I have decent hand-eye coordination --- most days!)

That being said, he is a WIGGLE WORM. He has been since he's been born, but, he obviously is getting wigglier and wigglier!!! Cuter and Cuter too! I can hold him against my chest, and he can lift himself up on his feet!!!! He's only 5 weeks old!!!! Is this normal???? What happened to the little newborns you hear about that eat, sleep and poop??? Don't get me wrong, Sam DEFINITELY does this, but he is awake A LOT - and active!!!!! What am I going to do when he starts crawling??? If I lay him on his stomach (his favorite way to sleep), he actually SCOOTS himself up!!!!!!!

He is still sleeping good most nights - as is BJ!!!! No, really, BJ has been AWESOME... he gets up at each feeding (I just have to wake him up, but that is his request!) and feeds him for the 2 or 3 am feeding... and when he's home, he feeds him and holds him so that I can get some things done. I really couldn't do this without him - I hate it when Monday comes and he has to go to work!

We made it to church yesterday (just for the 11:00 service), and Sam was a little angel! He really is such a good baby!

Sadly, I really have nothing going on that doesn't deal with babies, sleeping or poopie... well, not sad for me - I don't even think his poopie smells bad; it's a pleasant smell to me!!!! Does that make me wierd????? =) Probably, but I'm a proud Mama!!!!

Picture Day

First of all, Happy Birthday to BJ!!!!

Well, today was Sam's first official picture day! He cried inconsoably (if it wasn't a word before, it is now!) from 8 am until picture time at 2:30!!!!!!!!! And he's still crying now (it's almost 10 pm)... In Sam's defense, he DID sleep for a few hours in between picture time and now - from shear exhaustion!!!!

Picture time was pretty intense - we did a few naked baby pictures, had the BIGGEST poo I have ever seen come out of this child - it covered the diaper from left to right, top to bottom! (That, thank goodness, did not occur while he was naked!) I had taken four outfits for changes - we used ONE!!!! I guess I was thinking this would be a calm experience!!!!

Thank the Lord that I had enlisted Mama and Daddy to come help with this! I told them not to expect any surprises where pictures are concerned... they would have to come and help everytime!!! It was intense, stressful and hectic from 8 am when he got up until the VERY large poo at the picture place... then he went to sleep and we actually got to eat and breath for a moment!

The pictures turned out really cute, believe it or not (but how could they not?)! You know how a picture is worth a thousand words??? These don't tell the half of the story!!!!! He looks cute and peaceful in them... no one would ever know how we were using a bottle and his paci to calm him in between - yelling (kindly) at the photographer to "Take it, Take it!!!!!" I wish we had a video!!!!!!

Here are a couple of my favorites...