Sam's 1 Year Photos

We had Sam's 1 year pics taken a few weeks ago and our photographer just posted a few on her blog. Here is the link:
http://www.exposures-studio.com/blog/

Catching Up (it's a longy)

1. TREASURE - We had our first ever garage sale on Saturday and despite all the crap we still have left, we managed to make over $700. Not too shabby. But it still amazes me the things that sold vs the things that didn't:

Cool snow sled - no, 4 opened cartons of antifreeze - yes

Plastic flower pots - no, ancient dinosaur laptop from college - yes

Columbia parka with removable fleece lining - no, Army issue arctic parka with fake fur - yes

Picture frames and vases - no, old man grabber thing - yes

and the list goes on and on. We even had 2 people offer to buy Chena (weird) and a few people who came by for specific items which when they found out we didn't have any, turned around and left: guns, gardening tools, fishing poles, and big kid toys.

All in all an odd day but I'm just glad that woman from Barrow was able to stock up on so many baby socks.


2. FAMILY - Grandma & Uncle John left this morning. We had a great visit with them but like all family visits, it flew by way too fast.

Every morning they were here, Bo would run downstairs to get Grandma as soon as he woke up. It was super cute until this morning when he popped out of bed to do the same and I had to intervene and tell him that Grandma wasn't here. She left for the airport before he got up. His body slumped. He was crushed. But after we read the note she left about 4 times and he got to talk to her on the phone, he perked right back up. He sure loves his Grandma.

3. SLEEP - We are all still ultra sleep deprived in this house and am running out of ideas for Bo. Sam on the other hand just needs to be broken of milk in the middle of the night (AGAIN) which can be done; I've just been too tired and too paranoid about waking Bo up to even deal with it but tonight is the night. I hereby proclaim this the beginning of sleep (re)training take 3. Ugh, I am so not looking forward to it but it has to be done.

Bo is a whole different story. The Melatonin is making a huge difference in getting him to settle down and fall asleep (takes 20-40 minutes now instead of the 2-3 hours it was) but we are still having terrible problems with night wakings and night terrors. On any given night, Bo is up 2-5 times; each time leaving his room and crying in either the kitchen or living room all while staring at our bedroom door. Then the nights he has a night terror, everything is exaggerated and prolonged with it taking anywhere from 1-2 hours to get him calmed down enough to fall back asleep.

A few nights ago I was at wits end and decided that if neither boy was going to sleep then they could cry all night together. I dragged Bo's bed in to Sam's room and figured, hell, misery loves company, right? Wrong! Misery apparently just loves more misery when doubled and then spills over causing extreme misery on the parents. Let's just say it sucked, was a horrible HORRIBLE idea, totally back fired and I will never do it again. Damn it!

However, after last night's horrendously freaky night terror, Bo is now scared of his own room which, after the Sam room fiasco, leaves only our room to try. (Not cool, but we will do anything at this point) And so, with his mattress on our floor wedged between my night stand and Wes' dresser (where I am sure to trip over it and possibly break my little toe while listening to Sam cry his head off tonight), we once again attempt to break the vicious no-sleep cycle of Bo-Bo & his sidekick Sam.

Mr. Tadpole

Bo finished his second round of swim lessons today and has really come a long way. He went from absolutely refusing to wear the yellow floaties and not wanting to get in the pool with the teacher, to wearing 4 floaties and swimming with the barbell, to wearing 3 floaties and no barbell. He's a little Michael Phelps in the making . . . well, not exactly but I'm proud of him and can't wait to see what he'll do next.

Ready, Set . . .

Jump!!

Showing off his certificate and sucker

WAY TO GO BO!!

Outdoor Fun With Grandma

The boys are absolutely loving having Grandma here. Between all the spoiling with toys (I think Bo got more toys this past week than he did for all of Christmas) and playing outside, they are in kid heaven.

Bo taking the hose up to the top of the slide

Sam trying to get in Bo's waterfall

Grandma & Sam doing 1 of 3 trillion laps around the back yard in the cozy coupe
Bo joining in on the fun

(and yes, he's only wearing underwear, which by the way he peed in about 20 minutes prior while turning on the hose, but that's a whole different story)

Sam's 1 Year Stats

Height: 29.5 in (50%)
Weight: 24.5 lbs (75%)
Head: 18.75 in (75%)

And healthy as can be.

Happy Birthday, Sammers!

To celebrate his birthday we spent the morning at Pioneer Park with Grandma and Great Uncle John (who both flew up here on Tuesday). It was an absolutely gorgeous day and we all had a blast.


Wes stopped by and joined us for a picnic lunch as well
We also got ice cream and rode the train before heading home for naps. Bo was afraid the train was going to be really loud like the one in Austin at Zilker Park that he hated, but it wasn't. He and Sam both enjoyed it
I fixed Sam is favorite meal (meat loaf & mashed potatoes) which he absolutely devoured before digging in to his birthday cake that Bo & I made earlier that morning
I'm not exactly sure how much made it in to his mouth but he sure had fun playing in it. There was cake EVERYWHERE!
Then it was time for presents (unfortunately I was a bad mother and dressed him in non-matching, quite clashing pajamas which made for funny pics but Sam didn't care)It was difficult for Bo to understand that the presents were for Sam and not him. He had to play with every toy first but Sam was a good sport about it and just swooped in as soon as Bo went on to the next fun thing.

Happy Birthday, Sam! I still can't believe you're 1.

Dude, Again?!?

We decided to find out the sex after all. Really, come yesterday, there was no wavering. We were both anxious to know and thank goodness we were because the very first swath of the ultrasound was no holds bar, spread eagle, here I am and here is my PENIS!

To Know Or Not To Know, That Is The Question

Tomorrow is our big 20 week (or 22 weeks in my case) ultrasound and we keep going back and forth on whether or not we want to find out the sex. In the beginning I was all about definitely finding out, then went through a no-I-don't phase and now am in an hour by hour emotional battle of yes-I-do, no-I-don't with the no-I-don't pulling ahead by a hair right this minute.

There are so many pros and cons of each that I just can't decide. I loved every minute of not knowing with Bo. The delivery was all the more exciting (as if pushing a baby out of your cooter isn't exciting enough) because of the surprise at the end. Sure, the yellow and green onesies and gender neutral nursery got old but all of that was quickly rectified with one trip to Fred Meyer and the onslaught of grandparent spoiling which quickly followed. Besides, redheads look horrible in yellow and pale green so all of that original unisex garb got tossed anyway. But that's neither here nor there. My point is that there are so few surprises left in life so why spoil one that still can be. Yes, I know, it would still be a surprise so to speak if we find out tomorrow but there's something to be said for the Christmas gift let down. Peaking at your gifts in your mom's closet in November is never as much fun as ripping open the package in your pj's Christmas morning. The thrill and excitement is so much better. Damn teddy bear piggy bank.

BUT - it was fun finding out with Sam, too. The ability to plan and prepare was great. Not that you can't prepare without knowing the sex, but it gave me time to adjust to the idea of being totally outnumbered in our house and saved me from many countless hours of perusing both the baby name book for another pointless girl name and the girlie pages of Pottery Barn Kids Catalog searching for the perfect quilt and bumper set. We knew we were having a boy and everything was easy. We had what we needed and we were ready. And thanks to my super speedy birthing genes, the birth was still exciting to say the least, just in a different sort of way. This time it was, "what will he look like" and "will he have my ugly feet", and "oh my God he's coming NOW", but definitely still a thrill.

So with this one I could go either way. Part of me wants to find out so I can have time to deal with the fact that we may never have a girl or give me months to pick out the perfect shade of pink for her walls. Part of me wants to endure the anticipation and challenge of waiting just because I always like a good challenge and why not? He or she is what heshe is and we will love this baby unconditionally regardless of (in Bo terms) peanuts or no peanuts.

So folks, looks like it's going to be a game time decision for tomorrow at 11:00 . . .