Raining days make me miss Washington state so much! I really enjoyed living there. People kept on saying how much they hated the rain and how much it rained there. But for me, I enjoyed sitting on my back porch in my hammock swing just watching the rain pour down. The rain made Washington such a beautiful state with all it greens, blue, yellows and many other colors that the rain bought with it. And the smell! Oh the smell! The rain smell made everything smell so fresh and clean! You just wanted to live outside and breathe in the fresh air! At least that is what I did. I really wish I was a running back in Washington, I would have loved to run in the rain!


Another great thing about raining days is it makes everyone sleepy and peaceful! 
Yesterday Samuel, Matthew and I went to a birthday party for my great aunt Maggie! It was nice seeing that side of the family. I wish I brought my swim suit because the water look fantastic! (My cousin Benny is showing us how nice the pool is)
The only down side to the party was it was really hot outside and I kept on getting bit by bugs! But over all we all had a blast!
Last Friday, My mom picked Samuel and I up so we could go see his doctor to get a picture of him and Samuel together! I really hope that Doctor Kwan will be around to deliver our next baby! 

Thank you Doctor Kwan for taking such good care of Samuel and I during our pregnancy! We really felt at ease in your care!
Labor day is coming up and I have to admit that I am so looking forward to having Matthew stay home and help out with Samuel for the three day weekend! Something I am not looking forward to is the nights Matthew goes to school and won't be coming home till late (very late) in the evening! I know him and I will both be very tired from our jobs! 

Darn, the rain stopped!

Samuel turned 6 weeks on Saturday! I cannot believe I had him six weeks ago!!! Time just flies by! I wish I had taken more pictures of him being a brand spankin new baby though! So I am making up for it by taking a ton of pictures of him everyday! 

Well, that is pretty much it for now.... I shall leave you all with Samuel's party outfit! Which he got dirty before we went to the party.
 
This is what I look forward to everyday, story time with my boys. 

We are reading the series "Magical Kingdom for Sale" By Terry Brooks
As Matthew reads the story I am usually bouncing, nursing, rocking (not all at once) a.k.a trying to put our Mister Samuel to sleep. If you are looking for a great book to read, pick up a copy of this book!

The book is about the lawyer, Ben Holiday, who lost his wife and kid to an accident. He has been trying to get back to a "normal" life for some time but then he finds an ad for a magical kingdom for sale that has castles, fairies, dragons and.... well, you shall have to read the series to find out more! 

I love that the way Terry Brooks writes that it just draws you into the book and he is so good about the details you feel like your watching a movie rather than reading a book! 



 
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Saturday, Aug 11th, Samuel turned one month old! 

He looks a lot different than when we brought him home eh? my arms tell me that he has chunked up a whole lot.

Now that he is a month old is it getting easier? Yes and no. Now that he is older he is awake more, which means less sleep for me. I have also notice the last couple of days he has been a Momma's boy and will freak out if I am not near. How he knows I left him in a different room? Smell? Six sense? Who knows! So when he is down I have to stay near him or else he wakes right back up. 

He also decided recently that he hates being dirty, before he would be okay with being wet for a few mins, now he screams as soon as he is wet. I know this is my genes fault, I love to touch and feel everything and I notice he does as well. When I don't like a feeling, I kinda freak out. For an example; Matthew has these knife sharping blocks. I picked it up to put it away and I freaked out and dropped it. The feeling of it made my feeling senses go into shock, so much so that now I refuse to touch them Matthew finds this rather funny and leaves them where I might touch them by mistake.  

Other than those things he is a great baby! 

Matthew is getting more comfortable with handling Samuel


He really is great with him even though he sometimes thinks he is doing a bad job of handling him. Matthew has been a huge help with diaper changes, swaddling, holding him while I go potty and making us meals. At night he automatically gets up and changes him, swaddle him then hands Samuel to me to feed him. I sometimes have to tell him I can handle him and for him to go back to bed because he is getting up at 4 to go to work. I shall have to have him write a post about how his work is going and how he feels about Samuel's first month of life.


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My Mom has been a huge help this past month. From watching him for a date night to coming over and cleaning our house. I know her and my Father are loving being grandparents! My grandparents are loving the fact that they have great grandchildren. 

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I am doing good despite the lack of sleep. I am loving how much weight I am loosing. I don't know if it due to breast feeding or the fact that some days I cannot finish a meal without Samuel needing me. I was 175 the day I went into labor and at one month I am 142! Not bad I think! I am hoping to loose another 20lbs but I started out at 135. I am just glad my fat pregnancy face is finally going away! I retained so much water during my pregnancy! My doctor said he thought I was carrying around 15 litters of water! Dang!

It took about a month to finally feel normal, At 3 weeks I was finally able to walk around without hurting. I never imagine I would be that sore for that long after having a baby. I suppose it had to do with my size, I am what people call fun-size! Ha ha ha. 

Saturday, Aug 11th, Our friends threw us a meet the baby, baby shower. It was really nice to get out of the house and go hang out with our friends. We all had a blast and Samuel was very well behaved the whole time, I think it had to do with all the people holding him, he loves to be held. We got some really cute gifts! Samuel also got a suit! I cannot wait till he is big enough to wear it. I think he might wear it for Ms. Cheri's and Ben's wedding. 

Tomorrow Samuel and I are going on a road trip. We are getting to pick my Uncle Jr up from prison. He has been in there for over 20 years and he is finally getting out. It will be a very special time for us. I am so glad I am here to see him walk out as a free man! This will be the first time for him seeing Samuel as well. I have not visited my Uncle since 2011. I remember when we would come to Texas we would always see my Uncle Jr. We have pictures of me as a baby visiting him. I remember him always telling us to behave and never get into trouble because nothing is worth missing out on life. He had to miss out on a lot of life, he missed out on his parents growing old, marriages, births, holidays, so much! I will be sure to post pictures of the event later!

My Sister and Brother left to college. Jerome went to University of Alabama and my Sister, Gabby went to Columbia College in Missouri. I am super proud of them for going to college! I know I will miss them so much so we have to have lots of skype dates! It is hard to imagine that Samuel will be about 5 months old when they see him again. Children are a great way to see how much time has passed since you last saw each other.


I will be going back to college in the spring to finish up my agriculture degree then we shall see where I go from there. I am hoping to not put Samuel into day-care so I am trying to juggle my schedule with my parents schedule. Day-cares scares me ha ha ha.

My plan for now is to be a full-time mommy! I love that I get the opportunity to do this! I know so many moms have to work and they would rather stay home and be with their babies. 

Well, I better go and eat something before my sweet baby wakes up and wants some food as well. 

Ta ta for now!  
 
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Life with a newborn means a lot of dancing around the house, learning to sit still while feeding him, learning that there are different types of cries from him, and many more things. I am also learning that sometimes I have to stay home with him rather than going out and doing fun stuff. But, I would not trade it for the world! I love my little guy! He makes me laugh everyday with his goofy self.

Samuel is in the "fun" gassy stage, I hoping this will pass soon because it is hard sometimes to get that gas out of him. He has this high pitch scream that he does when he has a bubble in his tummy. Poor baby boy, he does not understand why

We took Samuel on Sunday, Aug 5th, to meet his cousin Billie and his great Aunt Cindy on what seems to be the hottest day in Texas. I thought Samuel handle it very well, other people might not have agreed because he did cry a little bit while we were at a snack shop. I also discovered how annoying it is when a bathroom does not have a changing table. We were lucky we could change him in his stroller because I was not about to put him on a dirty floor to change him! That bathroom was so gross! 

During that trip, I had to wait a while to nurse him so little one got breast milk in the bottle which is not his favorite, he would rather have his Mom! It was funny because when he finally was able to nurse he let out a sigh of relief then passed out. Silly little guy!

After being out all day Sunday, we had to stay home Monday because him and Matthew were just too tired to travel. While they slept I worked on my tasks I needed to get done for my job. I had to grade tests and I found it fun, I suppose it was fun because it was not my grade! I was hoping that they would all get 100's and was sadden when no one got 100% on their test. Oh well. 

On Tuesday Matthew got the call that he got accepted to become an apprentice for being an electrician! We are super relieved because that means he has a job for the next 5 years.

Loosing weight has been pretty easy so far... I am almost down to my first trimester weight. I have lost about 30lbs. I would love to look like this again
That is when I was running 5 miles everyday and was in the best shape of my life. I have to loose about 15 more pounds to look like that. I cannot diet while breast feeding but I can try and work out when I am not watching Samuel. I am hoping to get back into running and be able to run some marathons! I was able to run about 15 miles none stop. I usually ran those 15 miles once a week, I tried not to beat up my body too much. I do have a jogging stroller and cannot wait to try it out! I might try it out at my parents house  soon without Samuel in it then when he is old enough start running with him. 

Matthew starts working tomorrow so I suppose I have to learn to be by myself (well by myself with Samuel) all day. I am wondering how we are going to do this with only one car... I know when I start school back up in the spring it will be harder to get to and fro with just one car. Maybe we will be blessed with another car in the future. 

Well, That is it for now. If any new or soon to be moms are reading this, my advice for the first three weeks of your little one's life is to find a good tv series to watch to help keep you sane while bouncing, rocking, nursing, playing with the baby.