I can't believe it's 2010! I remember not too long ago thinking the year 2020 sounded SO far away. Now it feels like it will be here in the blink of an eye. I don't like it. Don't like it at all.
We ushered in the New Year with no elaborate plans. I happened upon rack of lamb at Costco and made lamb chops (my first time, and I "frenched" (butchered) them myself no less), creamed spinach, salad and cholocate mousse. And bought a bottle of Champagne. Even Gavin ate the lamb!
2009 was a great year, and I really feel like we're starting 2010 off on the right foot:
Gavin's behavior has been "super best" as he says. Since last Friday we have only had one small tantrum. I don't even know how to describe the difference, but we're all feeling less stress because of it. He's not throwing fits, he's doing what's asked of him, it's amazing. He's been SO good getting ready in the mornings. And he's been eating so well! No more special Gavin meals, he's been eating what I cook. He ate vegetarian shepherd's pie the other night. Now he didn't love it, and it took me feeding him half of it to get it down, but he ate it. He's also been sticking to just water after we brush his teeth, and has been taking a water bottle with his sack lunch. Way to go Gavin (NOT "Gav"!) keep up the good work! As I think he's old enough to start earning an allowance, he's been earning change every day for his good behavior.
Sam is sleeping in his crib (for now). I'm determined to sleep in my own bed this year! I'm going to start giving his bed time bottle in his room and putting him in his crib so he gets used to falling asleep in there. I'm also not giving him any more middle of the night bottles, just rock him back to sleep in his room. He's got to sleep through the night eventually.....right?
Happy 2010! I can't wait to see what this year will bring, but wish it would just start moving a little slower!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
These are a few of my favorite.....
Posts of 2009! Julia, as part of her Working Mommy Wednesday feature, had a great idea to wrap up the year with a "best of" 2009 posts.
Here goes...I hope you enjoy reading them as much I enjoyed living and telling about them. Click on the links below to read them.
Welcome to the World Samson Joseph Sellers!
Homecoming Pics
Thankfulness
Too Cute
Our Two Pound Miracle Turns Five
Brotherly Love
Gavin's Red Letter Friday
Monsters and Moments
Here goes...I hope you enjoy reading them as much I enjoyed living and telling about them. Click on the links below to read them.
Welcome to the World Samson Joseph Sellers!
Homecoming Pics
Thankfulness
Too Cute
Our Two Pound Miracle Turns Five
Brotherly Love
Gavin's Red Letter Friday
Monsters and Moments
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sam is 11 months old!
I can't believe my baby is...well, no longer a baby.
At 11 months Sam is in 12 and soon to be in 18 month clothes. He is around 24 pounds, eats anything the big people do (cut small or mashed up), and is crawling and cruising around furniture.
He is babbling up a storm, adding a couple new words a week. He gives high fives, waves bye-bye, claps and does "so big". He can put balls into his gumball machine toy, is starting to stack his stacking toys, and loves to push Gavin's trucks around the house (making a raspberry sound as he does it).
He hasn't had a drop of formula since his first couple days in the NICU and is about 75% organic food fed (I'm trying really hard to keep him mostly organic til at least 2).
He doesn't go to sleep without a fight and won't sleep in his crib.
He worships his big brother.
And I can't believe in one more month we'll be saying Happy Birthday!
At 11 months Sam is in 12 and soon to be in 18 month clothes. He is around 24 pounds, eats anything the big people do (cut small or mashed up), and is crawling and cruising around furniture.
He is babbling up a storm, adding a couple new words a week. He gives high fives, waves bye-bye, claps and does "so big". He can put balls into his gumball machine toy, is starting to stack his stacking toys, and loves to push Gavin's trucks around the house (making a raspberry sound as he does it).
He hasn't had a drop of formula since his first couple days in the NICU and is about 75% organic food fed (I'm trying really hard to keep him mostly organic til at least 2).
He doesn't go to sleep without a fight and won't sleep in his crib.
He worships his big brother.
And I can't believe in one more month we'll be saying Happy Birthday!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Christmas 2009
Did you have a great Christmas? We hope so and we sure did!
Gavin really got into the whole Santa thing this year, and I actually remembered to wrap presents from Santa in different wrapping paper than presents from Mom & Dad. Everything he opened he said "I wanted that/those!" even the boring items like socks/pants/shoes. I take that back, he's my kid so clothing isn't really boring to him!
By far the gift that was the biggest hit was Wii Sports Resort. He's been playing it about 4 hours a day since he opened it. At least. Not kidding. But at least he has to be somewhat active to play it and not just vegging out on the couch, right?
Sam just had a few gifts to open, and I don't know what we're going to do as he gets older and actually cares about opening presents. Gavin seems to already have everything I don't know what will be left for Sam! I need to go through the basement and start putting toys in tubs that would work as presents and just not let him see them. It feels a little like cheating, but again, Gavin has everything.
We did presents with Grandma Betsy Tuesday night, had a bunch of the Roewe clan over Thursday night and had lunch with my mom, stepdad, brother, and SIL on Friday. Our house survived the first big holiday get together, and everything just went great! I have about 50 pictures I need to upload from the last month.
We did a lot of sleeping in over the long weekend. Gavin was on super good behavior all weekend, and it's amazing what a difference that seems to make to my stress level and attitude. Sam on the other hand is getting to be quite the little terror. If he's not making a dash to play in the cat's water bowl, he's pulling up on the TV stand and messing with the dvd player, Wii, etc. Or opening up all the cabinets and drawers. Or pulling up at the baby gate at the top of our stairs. He actually pulled it down today, so Chad has it rigged up so he can't do that again (I'll have to get a picture, he's good!). When we tell Sam no and pick him up to give him something else to play with, he's throwing a little fit. But when he's not pulling those stunts, he's giving kisses, talking up a storm, and cruising around the couches. I've seen him giving his pacifier to his cabbage patch baby and also his music station's microphone (it has a smiley face on it, with a mouth). I swear I heard him say "take it" to the baby when shoving the pacifier at his mouth. He's also saying uh-oh, all done, good, and thanks.
Tomorrow is back to work, but Gavin gets to play at KTC for the week, back to the summer schedule of daily field trips.
Stay tuned for a ginormous picture post!
Gavin really got into the whole Santa thing this year, and I actually remembered to wrap presents from Santa in different wrapping paper than presents from Mom & Dad. Everything he opened he said "I wanted that/those!" even the boring items like socks/pants/shoes. I take that back, he's my kid so clothing isn't really boring to him!
By far the gift that was the biggest hit was Wii Sports Resort. He's been playing it about 4 hours a day since he opened it. At least. Not kidding. But at least he has to be somewhat active to play it and not just vegging out on the couch, right?
Sam just had a few gifts to open, and I don't know what we're going to do as he gets older and actually cares about opening presents. Gavin seems to already have everything I don't know what will be left for Sam! I need to go through the basement and start putting toys in tubs that would work as presents and just not let him see them. It feels a little like cheating, but again, Gavin has everything.
We did presents with Grandma Betsy Tuesday night, had a bunch of the Roewe clan over Thursday night and had lunch with my mom, stepdad, brother, and SIL on Friday. Our house survived the first big holiday get together, and everything just went great! I have about 50 pictures I need to upload from the last month.
We did a lot of sleeping in over the long weekend. Gavin was on super good behavior all weekend, and it's amazing what a difference that seems to make to my stress level and attitude. Sam on the other hand is getting to be quite the little terror. If he's not making a dash to play in the cat's water bowl, he's pulling up on the TV stand and messing with the dvd player, Wii, etc. Or opening up all the cabinets and drawers. Or pulling up at the baby gate at the top of our stairs. He actually pulled it down today, so Chad has it rigged up so he can't do that again (I'll have to get a picture, he's good!). When we tell Sam no and pick him up to give him something else to play with, he's throwing a little fit. But when he's not pulling those stunts, he's giving kisses, talking up a storm, and cruising around the couches. I've seen him giving his pacifier to his cabbage patch baby and also his music station's microphone (it has a smiley face on it, with a mouth). I swear I heard him say "take it" to the baby when shoving the pacifier at his mouth. He's also saying uh-oh, all done, good, and thanks.
Tomorrow is back to work, but Gavin gets to play at KTC for the week, back to the summer schedule of daily field trips.
Stay tuned for a ginormous picture post!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Last Minute Gavin ideas
Fur Blanket
In case you still need any last minute gift ideas for Gavin - he fell in love with the blanket in the above link at Target. Like crying in the aisle when he couldn't have it love (and I don't remember the last time that happened!). Yes, it's got a certain flair about it. But it's warm and snuggly and ostentatious so he loves it.
He could also use flashcards for numbers 1 - 100 and for simple addition. Also for shirt 3 or 4 letter words.
Not that he needs anything, but in case you need some ideas.
In case you still need any last minute gift ideas for Gavin - he fell in love with the blanket in the above link at Target. Like crying in the aisle when he couldn't have it love (and I don't remember the last time that happened!). Yes, it's got a certain flair about it. But it's warm and snuggly and ostentatious so he loves it.
He could also use flashcards for numbers 1 - 100 and for simple addition. Also for shirt 3 or 4 letter words.
Not that he needs anything, but in case you need some ideas.
Almost Christmas!
I just love this time of year, and it's only better since having kids and getting to experience all that excitement all over again!
It's been busy around here!
Sam is cruising along the furniture now, so we could have a walker by his 1st birthday. He is starting to "talk" more though only a few of us probably understand what he is saying. He can (sorta) say: big brother, baby, bye-bye, all done, good, mama, dada, ba-ba (a specific way he says it means bottle). He also LOVES to give kisses now. Big sloppy wet open mouth kisses, but we'll take them! Last night we had some friends over and they had a tiny baby (a preemie!) that was the size of a newborn. She was laying on the floor and Sam was so excited he just kept leaning over and kissing her on the head. He is too cute, although his habit of screaming his head off about an hour after falling asleep is not.
Gavin had his first head injury. The first message on the cell phone (and office phone) from the school nurse came Wednesday. He'd fallen and hit his head pretty hard in PE. By the time I got the msg Chad was already on his fall. He didn't pass out but he was unsteady when he got up. Friday I volunteered in his classroom and the teacher mentioned that he was still a little off balance. So we ended up at the pediatrician that afternoon, just to be safe. The Dr. said he had a mild concussion but nothing to worry about by that point. Apparently had we beedn there Wed we would have been told to keep an eye on him when he was asleep and some other stuff, so a little scary to think about what might have happened! Gavin is LOVING this snow and our awesome sledding hill in our back yard. He was kind of a wimp about cold weather last year, but this year he can't get enough, and he loves rolling around in the snow. It's giving me high hopes for our ski trip to Colorado!
That's right, I am taking him on his first ski trip sometime in the next couple months. I can't wait!
It's been busy around here!
Sam is cruising along the furniture now, so we could have a walker by his 1st birthday. He is starting to "talk" more though only a few of us probably understand what he is saying. He can (sorta) say: big brother, baby, bye-bye, all done, good, mama, dada, ba-ba (a specific way he says it means bottle). He also LOVES to give kisses now. Big sloppy wet open mouth kisses, but we'll take them! Last night we had some friends over and they had a tiny baby (a preemie!) that was the size of a newborn. She was laying on the floor and Sam was so excited he just kept leaning over and kissing her on the head. He is too cute, although his habit of screaming his head off about an hour after falling asleep is not.
Gavin had his first head injury. The first message on the cell phone (and office phone) from the school nurse came Wednesday. He'd fallen and hit his head pretty hard in PE. By the time I got the msg Chad was already on his fall. He didn't pass out but he was unsteady when he got up. Friday I volunteered in his classroom and the teacher mentioned that he was still a little off balance. So we ended up at the pediatrician that afternoon, just to be safe. The Dr. said he had a mild concussion but nothing to worry about by that point. Apparently had we beedn there Wed we would have been told to keep an eye on him when he was asleep and some other stuff, so a little scary to think about what might have happened! Gavin is LOVING this snow and our awesome sledding hill in our back yard. He was kind of a wimp about cold weather last year, but this year he can't get enough, and he loves rolling around in the snow. It's giving me high hopes for our ski trip to Colorado!
That's right, I am taking him on his first ski trip sometime in the next couple months. I can't wait!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Christmas Card pictures
Yesterday we went to Portrait Innovations to get some Christmas pics. They gave us a CD with all our pics, click on the link above to see them all. Below are a few of our faves.
Sam was not his normal self as he fell asleep in the car and didn't warm up until the shoot was over. We think we still got some cute somber Sam pictures anyway! Gavin cheesed it up as usual.
Don't they look handsome in the
outfits Gamma b
ought them?
outfits Gamma b
ought them?
Friday, December 11, 2009
It's Almost Christmas!
Do you like our new look? I love it and thought it was time for a makeover. I also re-titled because I thought that "monsters and moments" accurately sums up life in our house.
Monster: Sam sleeping fitfully and waking up every couple hours Wed night. And then thinking it was time to play at midnight! Fortunately he had a great night's sleep last night!
Moment: The boys have been sitting in my big red round laundry basket and love being pushed around the living room in it. Last night Gavin asked me to put Sam in so he could push him around. Then they both got in and I looped a rope around the handle and pulled them around - much easier on the back not leaning over to push it! They are so darn cute together!
Sam's ENT appt went perfectly - tubes look good, infection free, and his hearing checked out fine!
Monster: Sam sleeping fitfully and waking up every couple hours Wed night. And then thinking it was time to play at midnight! Fortunately he had a great night's sleep last night!
Moment: The boys have been sitting in my big red round laundry basket and love being pushed around the living room in it. Last night Gavin asked me to put Sam in so he could push him around. Then they both got in and I looped a rope around the handle and pulled them around - much easier on the back not leaning over to push it! They are so darn cute together!
Sam's ENT appt went perfectly - tubes look good, infection free, and his hearing checked out fine!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
SNOW DAY!!
School and day care closed, WF is even closed, and Chad drives all over for his job, so he's not working. Grandma Betsy stayed with us last night so that she could get to work today, but decided not to risk the drive.
Chad and I have just been taking turns working/playing with kids. I also hope to get caught up on laundry! The boys may try to sled this afternoon....we have a great sledding hill in the backyard. I'll try to get some pics.
Chad and I have just been taking turns working/playing with kids. I also hope to get caught up on laundry! The boys may try to sled this afternoon....we have a great sledding hill in the backyard. I'll try to get some pics.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monsters and Moments
This weekend the boys were playing in the basement as I was cooking dinner. Gavin came running up the stairs. “Mommy, Mommy! Sam stood ALL BY HIMSELF! He was standing up holding on to the trampoline, and then he took his hands off and he stood for LIKE TEN MINUTES!”
“You have to go tell him good job!”
Well, he really only stood for a couple seconds, but I’m sure relatively speaking a couple seconds to me could feel like 10 minutes to a 5 year old.
It’s so great to see how excited Gavin gets over Sam’s little accomplishments. And how excited Sam gets over anything that Gavin does!
And I needed the good moment, because the night before my children were total monsters. Gavin was unusually cranky, and Sam would not.go.to.sleep for anything. Give him a bottle, doze off, and WIDE AWAKE! And not, I’ll-sit-on-your-lap-and-chill awake, I’m-going-to-torment-my-brother awake. And pull all the DVD’s off the shelf. And shake my head no and laugh when my parents tell me “no”. He really laughs like it’s the most hilarious thing when we say no.
And then there was the requisite it’s-winter-but-I-don’t-want-to-wear-my-winter-coat battle with Gavin. Not that I can fault him, as I am not good at wearing appropriate winter gear, and I’m quite certain my mother had the same battles with me. But it was bad enough that he was grounded from playing with his friend for half the day yesterday. And we got to have it again this morning.
Little monsters. Lucky for them they are super cute, and have super lovable moments.
In other news, Sam got congested and feverish over the weekend – after being runny nose free for a week. Ugh! We see the ENT for follow up on Thursday so we’ll see what she says. On the shoving-as-much-healthy-food-in-before-he-turns-three-and-picky front, I was feeding Sam quinoa with sautéed onion, garlic, and bell peppers last night! It was super yummy and to get the recipe click here.
“You have to go tell him good job!”
Well, he really only stood for a couple seconds, but I’m sure relatively speaking a couple seconds to me could feel like 10 minutes to a 5 year old.
It’s so great to see how excited Gavin gets over Sam’s little accomplishments. And how excited Sam gets over anything that Gavin does!
And I needed the good moment, because the night before my children were total monsters. Gavin was unusually cranky, and Sam would not.go.to.sleep for anything. Give him a bottle, doze off, and WIDE AWAKE! And not, I’ll-sit-on-your-lap-and-chill awake, I’m-going-to-torment-my-brother awake. And pull all the DVD’s off the shelf. And shake my head no and laugh when my parents tell me “no”. He really laughs like it’s the most hilarious thing when we say no.
And then there was the requisite it’s-winter-but-I-don’t-want-to-wear-my-winter-coat battle with Gavin. Not that I can fault him, as I am not good at wearing appropriate winter gear, and I’m quite certain my mother had the same battles with me. But it was bad enough that he was grounded from playing with his friend for half the day yesterday. And we got to have it again this morning.
Little monsters. Lucky for them they are super cute, and have super lovable moments.
In other news, Sam got congested and feverish over the weekend – after being runny nose free for a week. Ugh! We see the ENT for follow up on Thursday so we’ll see what she says. On the shoving-as-much-healthy-food-in-before-he-turns-three-and-picky front, I was feeding Sam quinoa with sautéed onion, garlic, and bell peppers last night! It was super yummy and to get the recipe click here.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Sam's new moves
I really need to find some time to post (and take!) some pictures, but in the meantime here is a Sam update.
He got his seasonal flu shot booster and his first H1N1 vaccine yesterday. He did pretty well. There is a lot of vaccine controversy, but I did a ton of research before making a decision. In the end, the benefits outweighed the risks, especially since I have a friend who's friend's 10 month old baby died from the flu.
He is crawling fast, exploring the whole house. He loves it. His favorite thing to do is make a break for the laundry room when we've left the door open so he can splash in the cat's water bowl (I know, SO gross). He is pulling up and he can now lower to a sit with some control without just plopping. Since I clapped and yay'ed for him the first few times, his new game is to pull up, sit slowly, clap for himself (and look for me to clap for him). Repeat, repeat, repeat. Not much cruising going on yet.
He's super cute as always. Still has the cold/congestion hanging on, but mine is finally gone, and his is getting better. I started him back on his reflux med since when I googled chronic productive cough that was one of the reasons. It actually seems to be helping, and he was waking up crying at night as if in pain, which is also now gone, so I think he was still having acid reflux, even though it wasn't coming all the way out.
That's all we have for now!
He got his seasonal flu shot booster and his first H1N1 vaccine yesterday. He did pretty well. There is a lot of vaccine controversy, but I did a ton of research before making a decision. In the end, the benefits outweighed the risks, especially since I have a friend who's friend's 10 month old baby died from the flu.
He is crawling fast, exploring the whole house. He loves it. His favorite thing to do is make a break for the laundry room when we've left the door open so he can splash in the cat's water bowl (I know, SO gross). He is pulling up and he can now lower to a sit with some control without just plopping. Since I clapped and yay'ed for him the first few times, his new game is to pull up, sit slowly, clap for himself (and look for me to clap for him). Repeat, repeat, repeat. Not much cruising going on yet.
He's super cute as always. Still has the cold/congestion hanging on, but mine is finally gone, and his is getting better. I started him back on his reflux med since when I googled chronic productive cough that was one of the reasons. It actually seems to be helping, and he was waking up crying at night as if in pain, which is also now gone, so I think he was still having acid reflux, even though it wasn't coming all the way out.
That's all we have for now!
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