Happy 2 month Sam!!

I can't believe Sam is already 2 mths old. Where has the time gone?!? He is such a precious little boy and so easy. As I'm typing this, he's laying on his playmat talking to the star that plays songs and lights and smiling at it. We thought Ava was pretty laid back as a baby, but Sam puts her to shame. He has the most pleasant personality. If I knew I'd have more babies like him, I'd have 5 more!

Here are his stats from his docs appt:

Weight: 12.5 lbs (65th percentile)

Height: 23 in (48th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16.14 in (72nd percentile)

Happy 2 Month, Sam!!

My precious boy is two months old today! And he decided to celebrate by.......sleeping through the night! Woo hoo! How sweet of him to give his parents a gift :) Sam fell asleep at 10:30 and got up at 5:00. Of course, I still woke up a few times during the night because I'm used to being up around 3. I really don't think I've ever known a more content child than him. He hardly ever cries, is happy wherever you put him or with whomever is holding him. The time is going by too fast-I can't believe it's already been two months!

I had to go back to work this week (tear) and Sam is going to stay with Miss JenJen along with Ava. I think he's really enjoying it there and I hope Miss JenJen loves keeping Sam. Speaking of Ava, she gets funnier and funnier everyday. She is starting to be able to have conversations with Quay and me. A few mornings ago, I got Ava out of bed and brought her in the den. Quay always makes a big deal about seeing Ava (because he's such a wonderful daddy) and said, "Ava!! Where have you been?!?" Ava looked at him kinda funny and said "I go night night." Quay asked her if she had a good time going night night and she said, "I cry. I wah wah" and rubbed her fists at the corners of her eyes like she was crying. It was funny to us because she's never answered that question, and she really did cry when we laid her down. Such a cute kid!

My favorite day is today! Triple coupon at Bloom started today and will go through Sunday. Coupons have become sort of an addiction with the women in my family now. We all cut coupons on Sunday, and we tell each other about the good deals we find. For instance, Kraft salad dressing is on sale at Bloom this weekend, and there's a $1.50 off coupon from last week. It ends up being about 16 cents for a bottle of dressing. I think my mom picked up five bottles a few days ago. Anyway, I'm going this afternoon to use my first 20 coupons at Bloom. You get sort of a high when the cashier rings up your purchases then starts scanning coupons. It's so fun to watch your total go down. I'll let you know how I did later on!!

Sam is now 5 weeks old. At his 1 month appointment, he weighed 10 pounds and was 21.5 inches long. He's a big boy! You can tell he hasn't missed a meal! He's been a great, very mellow baby. Sam did get a little cold last week and he's still getting over it, but he's been very good throughout it. The only thing he doesn't really care for is the nasal aspirator. But as soon as I pick him up, he quits crying.

Ava seems to be getting bigger everyday, too! Her vocabulary has skyrocketed the past 3 weeks. She repeats the last few words that you say, but she's putting a lot more words together now to make complete sentences. That's a relief, because we understand more of what she wants now. At first, we couldn't understand her so well, and she'd get frustrated. She's such a precious little girl. We're really blessed to have her! By the way, she used her potty today! The first time was a complete accident. She regularly asks Quay or me to go to the potty with her. She'll sit down for about five seconds, say "all done!" and get back up. Well this morning, she pee peed just a little bit when she sat down. So I made a huge deal out of it and gave her two chocolate covered pretzels. She asked for more and I told her that those were for using the potty. She asked to go back to the potty and used it for real that time! There's nothing like good ole bribery! She also pooped in the potty as well, but that scared her. She tried to jump off of the potty when it started happening, and I had to keep her on it until she was through. I doubt she'll try pooping again in the near future since it sort of scared her, but she was pumped about pee peeing! She even told my mom and sister what she had done over the phone afterwards.


I go back to the doctor next Monday for my six week check up and I'm hoping they'll give me two more weeks at home with my little man. I miss work because I really love what I do, but I'm not ready to leave him yet. If I get two more weeks, I'll only have to go back for four weeks, then I'll be home again for the summer.

Here are some pics of my gorgeous children and family:

Sam's favorite napping spot

Sam has on a little tie!!! It's just an applique (is that how you spell it?)


Our growing family

Ava hunting Easter eggs.

Sam's here!!

Actually, Sam's been here for over a week now, but I've just now found time to write about it. Last Sunday my water broke while we were sitting around the house. Quay was still napping and Ava was watching Backyardigans. We got to the hospital around 4. Sam was born at 8:42. It was the easiest delivery I could have ever imagined! My contractions never got terribly bad, and I only pushed twice. I'm so glad Sam was so nice to me :)

Ava has done wonderfully well getting used to having a baby in the house. It seems like he's always been here to her. She likes him and will talk to him and kiss him on the head, but then she's ready to go play with her toys. The only times she gets a little antsy around him is when he's in the bouncy seat, because she thinks it's her seat.

Nursing is going okay. I'm having to supplement right now, but I hope that won't last for too much longer. I'm taking two different medications that are supposed to increase milk supply, so I'm praying that works. If not, then we'll bottle feed. I'd rather nurse, but if it doesn't work, I won't be devastated. Ava was a bottle fed baby, and she's been very healthy.

Emily had her baby yesterday and is doing great. I'm sure she'll post about it soon!!

Umm, we may have a problem....

Sooo, last weekend Quay brought down the swing, bouncy seat, and mini-crib for Sam. Ava has found her a new favorite seat--the bouncy. Looks like there might be a little struggle over who will get that seat when Sam gets here!

The Stud-man

We went to Myrtle Beach over Valentine's weekend for Quay's first marathon. He's been doing triathlons for almost two years now, but only sprint triathlons. Those last for about an hour. He's planning on doing his first ironman this November in Florida. That will last 11-12 hours. The swim will be two miles, the bike 112 miles, and then a marathon. So Quay, being the smart guy he is, decided maybe he should at least do a few marathons before the big ironman. His plan was to be under 3:30 and he ended up having a chip time of 2:39:47. He made it by 13 seconds! Quay said the first twenty miles were very easy, the next four were pretty bad and the last two were almost unbearable. He almost quit running during the last two but decided that if he had ran 24 miles, he could run two more. Personally, I don't know how he did it--I can barely run half a mile without hyperventilating! I think people who do ironmans and triathlons, and even marathons, have to have something inside them that doesn't mind putting themself through terrible pain. It's just not in me. I'm planning on trying to start running again after Sam gets here, but I hate it everytime I do it. Maybe if I keep at it, it won't be so bad.

It was pretty interesting traveling with an almost two year old. It's just funny to stop and take a step back and realize how different your days are when you have a toddler. I mean, everything we planned on doing revolved around Ava's schedule--when she needed to eat, her nap time, getting back to the hotel in time for bath to keep her on her schedule. We had a great time, and Ava was wonderful, with the exceptions of a few little tantrums. But she's hitting the terrible twos, so I guess that comes with her age. My parents went with us to Myrtle Beach--I wouldn't have been able to do it without them there. They helped us out so much--not to mention Ava loves having them around! Too bad Emily and Joe couldn't come.

Speaking of those tantrums, Ava has started having them more frequently now. I think she's at the point where she thinks she's telling us what she wants, but we don't understand her. She's getting to the point where she starts crying, then will either throw what's in her hands or will try to hit us if we pick her up or lead her away from where she's standing. Part of me feels really bad for her because she really thinks she's telling us what she wants, but the other part of me knows that we have to stop her if she's throwing things or hitting us. Poor Ava, I guess we'll get through this time together. :)

Oh the joys of pregnancy...

I am writing this post at 3:14 am. No, that's not a typo--I can't sleep. I woke up last night at 1:30 am with a cold, but was able to go back to sleep. Not tonight. I was hoping I'd make it through this pregnancy without catching a cold. I had one with Ava that lingered for a while and I was miserable. I pray this one doesn't stay around for too long. So, since I can't sleep, I'm playing on the computer while watching Sportscenter on ESPN to check the Clemson score. (They won by the way!!! Woo hoo go Tigers!!!)

I have also started to swell a little bit. I have 5.5 weeks to go, and I think I started swelling with Ava around this same time. Not bad swelling, just enough in my legs that I can tell they're a little bigger than normal. Oh fun fun. Five weeks can't come fast enough!!!

I've heard people say before that every stage in your child's life becomes your favorite stage. I have caught myself saying the same thing. But honestly, I'm not sure if I could enjoy any other stage in Ava's growth and development like I do this one. She's so funny right now! She's putting little sentences together, she dances all the time, and she'll do anything you ask her to do. She also loves to sing with us and will finish lines in Twinkle Twinkle, the ABC's, and Itsy Bitsy Spider. It seems like everyday she remembers a little more of each of the songs, and it's so fun to sing along with her. The only thing I think I look forward to is when we can understand her a little better. She gets frustrated when she tries to tell us something she wants and we can't understand her words. She'll say the same thing over and over, so she knows what she's saying, but we don't.

My aunt and sister have also taught her the wonderful art of sticking her tongue out. Great. My mom and I decided when Ava has to go to time out because she sticks her tongue out, we're putting them in time out, too! But Ava knows she's not supposed to do it, because she'll call me, and when I look at her she'll stick her tongue out and say "Not nice." It's so darn cute that I have to smile, but I try to make sure she doesn't see that too much so she won't think it's a good thing to do.

We're working on Sam's room and it's coming together slowly but surely. The crib will be in Friday morning and I'm taking the quilt to be monogrammed this weekend. I'll get pictures up soon, but for now just enjoy this cute one of Ava.