It has been a while since we (me) did an update on us. 6 months ago I would not think it was this hard to update a blog but when you have a baby, time is very precious.



Samuel has been doing much better with his reflex. We have been working on his weight gain. I notice he was wanting about 5 more ounces a day than what I was giving him. So for a week I would pump for 30 mins after he would nurse. By doing this I was able to give him 5 more ounces a day. He seemed more happier. 

We had a weigh check up and he gained almost 2 lbs! In one month! Our hard work has been paying off. He was in the 15 percentile and now he is back to 25 percentile. 

We saw a new doctor because I had to reschedule and our doctor was busy. 

I loved this new doctor oh so very much. So did Samuel. When she walked in she introduced herself, asked about Samuel. Why he was here, if he had any problems. Our doctor would walk in and look at the computer. 

We told her about his issues with acid reflex and him throwing up all the time. She was so nice. She made sure to keep him up-right (reflex babies hate being flat on their back). Our other doctor would put him on his back right away after I said we were here for reflex. UGH.

Samuel seemed to like her as much as I did. 

She praised us on the weight gain, encouraged me to keep nursing. The other doctor pushed formula on us each visit. 

The only down side to this doctor? She is pregnant and due soon so we would have to wait a couple months for her to come back... meaning go back to the other doctor. Boo!

So new goals:

Get Samuel to his birth percentile (50%) 
Get him to throw-up less (Don't know how)
Keep breast feeding. (always going to happen).

Currently I am pumping not a lot! I hate pumping with a passion. Would rather not do it. It seems like Samuel is very satisfied with nursing. We shall see what his weight says at his next doctors appointment. 


So enough medical update, here are some fun updates!

Samuel is now trying very hard to sit up on his own. He can sit up for about 2 minuets before falling over (I try and catch him).  


He is getting really good at transferring an object from one hand to another. Which I am learning that babies tend to not learn how to do this until 8-10 months. Go Samuel! 

He is talking....A LOT. Baby talk of course. Which is good and bad. Now when he wants my attention he tends to scream at me until I come to him. This happens usually when I am cooking dinner. 

Samuel is very expressive, has been since he was born. He has started this "squished up" face recently which always makes me giggle. 

And he is starting to recognize people. Mainly people he does not know. He tends to give them his fake smile then he gets all shy and tries to hid in my clothing. Sweet boy. 


Oh and we started solids! We are doing Baby Led Weaning with some purees. So far his favorite thing to eat is bananas! He is still trying to figure out the hand to mouth thing. But he tries!


How is Matthew and I doing?

Matthew is doing well. He shaved his beard off for me for Christmas. I can finally see his face!
People have been oh so annoying with it being shaved off. (I'll stop before I start ranting at said people(s) ) 

Matthew is doing amazing in school. Samuel and I are very proud of him. He likes work, it just has long hours away from Samuel and I. 

He makes my heart melt when he interacts with his son. You can tell those two adore each other. Samuel has this excited dance he does when Matthew comes home from work. Matthew has said "things are easier now that we understand him". Which I totally agree with!

For Christmas he is getting his hand-gun license! Which he is excited about. We are going to save up to get him a new gun because his current ones are not ones you can easily carry around. He also got things for his feet! On Christmas day, while Samuel took a nap, I gave his feet a pedicure and they look so much better! 


My update.

Still losing the pregnancy weight. I am losing it too fast so trying to maintain it. I currently weigh 132 lbs! 3 lbs lighter than pre-pregnancy. 

Have not had time to go running. Any free time I am usually cleaning or taking a nap. Boo!!!

Still working on a way to get me back to school. After this degree I am thinking of doing a photography degree. Problem is, there is not a lot of photography schools near us.

I get frustrated sometimes because I feel like I am doing the same dance every day. But then I see Samuel and how much he enjoys me being with him so it helps with me not going crazy being home all the time. 

Being a mom is becoming so much easier. It is still hard but now I understand Samuel a lot better and not at a lost. Still working on sleeping. 

That is our update for now! Food is done so better eat before the boys get up!
 
Christmas seems to have just flown by without so much as a hello. Now we are waiting for New years to come. 

Our first Christmas as a family of three was amazing even though it was our test run Christmas. By test run, I mean we figuring out what is best for Samuel. 

We found out that Samuel cannot stay out very late. He was a sweet boy the whole time but coming home from my parents Christmas party, lets just say Samuel thought the world was ending. Poor guy. He ended up sleeping in our bed the whole night to keep him calm and let him sleep. This way we all got a good amount of sleep.

Trying to figure out what to do next year with the parent's party. Yes, Samuel will be older but he will also fall harder when he needs to go to sleep. 

I really enjoyed our Christmas day much more than Christmas Eve. 

Matthew, Samuel and I opened the presents we got each other.

Matthew's feet have been hurting so I bought him some foam soled house shoes so he does not have to wear flip-flops all the time. Matthew tends to hate to be bear-footed. 


Squirrel, our fur-baby got a huge raw-hid bone cane. The bone was larger than she was long... you would think it would have lasted longer than the 26th of December.
Our sweet baby boy got PAPER!!!
Okay, if you asked Samuel (if he could talk) he would tell you that he received paper for his presents. 

What he really got from us is;



2 teething toys, 
Four wooden puzzles
One green Elephant 
One GIANT Zany Zoo activity center
He also got this flower steering wheel toy from us as well. 


From family and friends he got a ton of clothes, cloth diapers, fire truck, sock monkey, teethers, quilted blankets, a teddy bear, soft blocks, lantern, soaps (these are too cute! They are shaped like cows and horses) and books!

Needless to say, our baby boy is very loved.

I was panicking about him have no clothes. Seriously, I thought he was going to stay in the 3-6 month clothes forever.... but thanks to family and friends we don't have to buy any clothes until he hits 9-ish months. I say ish because he is comfortably wearing 9 month clothes with room to spare. 

After we had a nice morning with just US, then we went to our second family.... the Porter family! Our sister and Brother Jerome and Gabriel joined us as well. 

We played Matthew's Christmas present Quelf.... if you have not played this game then you should! Best game ever! 

The Porters made us a lovely turkey dinner. It was so tasty. 

Samuel got to try some cranberry sauce but he was not a fan. 

After the siblings left, Cherilyn, Matthew and I played a couple rounds of Catan, our favorite game. I won both times! 

Mwhahahahahahahahahaha!! 

Then we went home.

Over all, Samuel's first Christmas was simply great and he was such a good boy even though for three days straight his schedule was horrible. 

We are blessed.
 
Just to warn you, you may cry!!!   


 


    What would you do if you knew you were pregnant but could never have a life with your child? Because he/she would not live for more than a day? Maybe not even survive birth? Would you abort? Would you carry the baby until they died? Until full-term?

   I was reading a story about this family. The mother already had a hard life living with Lyme, then being told she would not be able to get pregnant. Well, she got pregnant! You think from here on out it would be a happy ever after? Well, they find out that their sweet baby has Anencephaly. 

Anencephaly is a fatal birth defect that no baby has ever survived. The longest living baby was about 33 hours after birth. Some babies do not even make it past the second trimester. I became friends with this person and watch their journey with their baby. The parents decided to let the baby live and grow in the mommy's tummy. As long as the baby was in her womb, he was safe. His name is London. 

I was/am amazed by these two young people. They did so much to celebrate their baby's life, even if London was inside his mommy's tummy. They took him to baseball games, concerts, he got to meet Santa Claus who prayed with them after he took a picture with them. 

This family just amazed me.

Then, this Friday he had to come out. 

All they wanted was him to be born a live, just for a few minuets, so they could all meet this wonderful little boy they grew to love. 

Since London's mom, Alisa, has Lyme, she needed to be put under when they preformed a c-section. 

Alisa prayed and prayed that she would get to meet him after she woke up. She had them record a greeting from her just in case he passed before she woke back up. Some Anencephalyhaly babies do not survive the birth. 

London came out alive. 

He was handed to his Dad -Jamie- who then took him to a room full of love ones. Then they waited for Alisa to hurry back so she could meet their miracle. 

She did get to meet London. They shared 61 wonder minuets together. 

What a journey. These people are so strong. I don't know how I would handle that. 

That night, the night London came into this world, I spent some time hold my sleeping baby and thanking God for giving him to me healthy and alive. 

I had to share this story. Even though it is sad, it if full of life and love. 

If Samuel only lived for 61 minuets, all the crying and sorrow would be worth meeting him, even for just a little while. 

Some days I just want my son to sleep so I can have a break. These people just wanted their son alive so they could say hello and good-bye. 

Those days when Samuel is fussy does not seem so bad, if bad at all.


If you have time, please say a little prayer for this family.