Two Great Videos

Loved

I bought this shirt for Samuel several months before he was born. When I saw it in the store there was no question that I would buy it for him. I brought it home, hung it in his room, and looked at it often. I knew then that if there were one word that could describe him it would be "loved". Even then David and I felt tremendous love for this growing baby inside me, how much more today. It also communicates my favorite theological idea...that we are loved by God in spite of ourselves. Perhaps I should have taken his picture when he was covered in spit up moments later to better communicate God's love for us.

David says that there aren't pictures of me on our blog. I take most of the pictures, so there are not too many to post. However, just this morning, as I had recently woken and was getting coffee, he took this one because he said Samuel would like these types of "real life" pictures. If he ever does see this picture I will tell him that he had woken me THREE times the night before, hence him on my hip at the coffee pot...certainly real life.

Snow Day

St. Louis got 8-12 inches of snow yesterday morning, giving me two days off from school and enabling me to be home with my men.
We did not do anything too special, just lots of playing and catching up on a few things.
David and Samuel do this really cute thing that involves him being on David's shoulders. Today Samuel gave him a little surprise; I had the camera close by and could not resist.
We both were able to take Samuel to get his first shots today (yes, at 5 months!) and he did a great job! He cried for about 5 seconds. It hurt us more than him no doubt. Also, he now weighs 18.2 pounds...he is huge. He will be 5 months old on Saturday.

Why Presbyterians Sprinkle

serious young man

love my turtle

gloves to protect my handsome face!

finding my feet and toes

so happy with daddy

happy with daddy

Creation is Groaning...

This is what I used to say when life seemed hard, not unlike now. It's been about a month since we have posted. Since then we have moved to the apartment above us; painfully discovered Samuel has food allergies and hence I have been working like crazy to find food that I can eat (since he breastfeeds); begun to grieve my grandmother's death/driven 24 hours to her funeral in Texas; and now Samuel and David have the flu. Samuel was diagnosed Tuesday night in the ER, David two days ago. David is fine, he is taking strong medicine and feels almost himself again. I wish I could say the same for Samuel. Of course he can only take Tylenol. It is killing me to see him hurting. Today his congestion really increased and he can barely even cry as his voice is so hoarse. I know that he and I will be up most of the night trying to find a way for him to feel better long enough to get back to sleep. I know all this will pass, but I hate it!

My grandmother, Mary Jane Vititow died about two weeks ago at 80. She had been in a lot of pain for the last decade, and knowing she was a believer, I am so thankful that she knows nothing of that now. In fact, as I think of the verse I loosely quoted above, it reminds me of the fact that her life right now is very different than mine. She no longer groans or has to hope for anything. Her hope is realized as she is in the presence of God. It is hard, however, to let her go. She was a neat lady. She was little, sassy, and a lot of fun. She was widowed 28 years ago and never remarried. She loved to play bridge with her friends. She made wonderful green pea salad, drank coke from glass bottles, and she called my her angel. We miss her.

And, here is one from late last night when Samuel woke up randomly. He was so happy and alert that David insisted on us playing with him for a minute. I think he looks a lot like David in this picture.

Dad and Debbie Come to Town

David's Dad and Stepmom left today after a really great visit that went by way too fast, which is the problem with living so far away from our families. Tonight I find myself wishing we were closer geographically as our families are all in Mississippi, Tennesse and Arkansas (except D's sister Betsey who is in LA).

New Favorites

My Buddy and Me



No Daddy! Use this cable!

Fun on the Macbook

Greetings Earthlings!



Wonder Twin Powers............ Activate!

Just an Update

Like Father Like Son

Anyone know why Samuel has been doing this lately? He arches his back with great enthusiasm and pushes his face into the bed. Even when he wakes upset and I come in the room he stays seemingly stuck in this position without turning to see me. It is strange. I think it could be that he is learning how to roll over and has discovered that it feels good to tense his muscles up like that???

A reinactiment from last night. Note the socks on hands (to prevent scratching his face) and the rolled blankets along the edges(to prevent him banging his head). Wow, I am even more of a protective mom than I thought.


Great news...yesterday Samuel took TWO naps that were both 1.5 hours! We were so proud of him as he hasn't done this since his first month of life.

He is becoming increasingly mobile in his crib. Last night he let out a yell about 10:00. When we got to his room we discovered he had placed himself at the head of the bed, completely perpindicularly. We don't know how he did it as his body (we now know) is the exact length of the width of his crib. He's also woken himself many times lately with his head banged up against the corner railings. As a result we bought bumper pads yesterday. I feel really rebellious using them as they are so controversial right now. But, we think it is the right choice.

As if we do not already have enough drama in our lives, we are MOVING to the unit above us. We love our apartment, but have recently realized how fortunate we have been as the two girls who were living above us were hardly ever home. In their last week prior to moving out we were shocked at how loud it can be. A couple of days later our landlord showed the unit to two twenty-something year old guys that looked like they knew how to have a good time, making David and I quite anxious at the prospect of just about anyone living above us, especially someone loud. So, we are moving up their rather than taking that risk. It is not as nice as our unit, but it does have three bedrooms which will make it possible for people to stay with us when they (you) visit. We look forward to the day when we live in a house. No one above us playing loud music at 2 a.m., no odd colors on the wall, unless we want it that way, and no Bosnian boys playing soccer in our front yard while loudly practicing their favorite English curse words.

Samuel will be three months old on the 8th! We have really seen him mature lately via his facial and vocal expressions and interest in the things around him. He has just recently settled on his favorite self-soothing mechanism: sucking his hands (or fingers when his crazy mama doesn't have socks on his hands). This is an answer to prayer as I prayed he would "find his fingers". At his last doctor's appointment he was in the 90% percentile for both height and weight. David and I cannot believe how good-natured he is, how in love with him we both are, and how fortuante we are to be his parents.

Calling All Mamas (and Papas)--Sleep Questions

Just wondering about infants' sleep. I have read a couple of books, talked to my doctor, and scoured the Internet, but still have lots of unanswered questions regarding sleep. Samuel sleeps really well at night (like 10-13 hours; he does wake up once or twice to eat), but is not a good napper. He takes 30-45 minute naps, occasionally a bit longer. There are days when he hardly sleeps at all. I feel bad when I try to "force" him to sleep more, and bad when I give in and get him out of his crib after such short naps. Any kind of schedule I try to put him on is thrown off due to him not napping (and his reflux). Lately I have wanted to forget completely about any kind of schedule and just try to take his cues. I know most would say this would not be a good idea. But, I do not know what to do and I am curious about that option. So, I really am wondering about two different things here--no naps/lots of night sleep, and going off any kind of schedule. A few questions: 1. If he is sleeping about 12 hours at night, are the naps all that important? 2. Do/did any of you not follow a schedule, for whatever reason, and how does that work for you and your baby? 3. What time do/did your infant go to sleep at night and wake in the morning? I do not know if anyone will read this post, much less respond, but thought I would see.

The Kite Runner

Dave and I highly recommend this movie; the best either of us have seen in a long, long time. Very powerful, moving, and redemptive.
http://kiterunnermovie.com

Christmas Pictures

We stayed in STL this Christmas, mainly because the whole journey south seemed overwhelming to us with Samuel. Also, major news, I started back to work and the thought of spending my week off from teaching with Samuel and David in our little home was comforting to me, after the difficulty of leaving him everyday. More on that later...
We had a good time at the Barclay's for lunch and then came home. Dave and I had high hopes for doing a puzzle, but I felt like I had been run over by a freight train and went to bed too early to mention. Here are a few pics.

Cutie!

More Pictures

in the bath with cousin emma

Last night David, Samuel, and I drove home after spending five days with my sister and her family in Memphis. Ever since then, I have had to work really hard to get Samuel to sleep, in fact he maybe slept 30 minutes today. He has been inconsolable. I think he misses my family already. I feel the same. For five days we had people loving on us, and serving us left and right. It was great. It was also great just to have life around us. People laughing, doorbells ringing, a dog and a cat in the same room. Most days it is just Samuel and I. We have many neighbors who live together as an extended family. I know that situation has its downfalls, but lately it has looked very attractive, especially when the days here are so long, grey, and cold. We did not take many pictures, but here are a few. Oh, David's mom and cousin came up, as well as my mom, which was really good too.

Click on the link on the right of your screen to see our live action dance!

Tonight we took Samuel to get a tree. I felt like a bad mama for having my baby out in such cold weather and was happy when I saw another stroller with a cute, laid-back mom pushing it. We would have gone Thanksgiving night had David had his way. Not wanting to believe Christmas is just around the corner, I would have prefered to have waited three more weeks before getting one. But, I am tired of being the party pooper, thus this cute picture. We bought colored lights this year opposed to white ones. Neither of us have had these since we were young. We thought they would be cheery and that Samuel would like looking at them.

Samuel is a Month Old (11-8-07)

Weight: 11 pounds (85 percentile)
Heigth: still 22 inches (75 percentile)
Eye Color: Still blue
Nicknames: Buddy, Sugar Booger, Baby Eagle, Weasel (because of his efferts to be unswaddled)
Hobbies: Waving arms around slowly and whimsicly, staring at shadows and light
Dislikes: mom "cleaning" his eyes and putting in eyedrops, being swaddled
Accomplishments: Laying on his belly and lifting head 90 degrees, smiling, cutting down to about 17 diapers per day.
What mom likes best: his face (espcially when she goes to feed him in the middle of the night) and his smell
What dad likes best: his eyes, observing him observe what's going on around him
His first prayer requests: He wants you to pray for his reflux! He has some serious vomitting daily. He started taking Zantac today and we are hoping that helps him. He truly gets all anxious and stressed by it and looses his breath. Of course the whole thing makes mom anxious too. Pray the medicine would work and he would quickly outgrow this.

Three Weeks Old Today

We have not been taking as many pictures lately, but here are a few for now.
The top picture is from last Friday, when Apple started selling their new operating system, which became a family event for us. We stood in a long line for awhile and met a lot of interesting people. Samuel is obviously thrilled.
Bottom pic--the majority of his umbilical cord has fallen out. A sign of his maturity!

MIMI SIMMONS & UNCIE WORTH COME TO TOWN