krazykobsiks

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

We had a great time on Halloween! Samantha seemed to put up with/enjoy her ladybug outfit quite well. This costume was well timed as she has recently discovered the book that we have had since her baby shower called "Ladybug Girl" and asks to be read the book over and over and over....

The costume started when I found the tutu and the ruby red slippers at a consignment sale..a friend found the vest/hood and I added some dots to the skirt.

We went to a couple of friends' neighborhoods to see their festivities and to trick or treat at some of their houses. Samantha thought it was very interesting that people wanted to throw things in her bucket...she learned after awhile that there was some good stuff in those little packets. She comes by any sweet tooth honestly. Rick and I coached her on which candy to get - the ones mommy and daddy like of course!

She loved stomping around in her clicky clacky shoes and carrying around the bucket. She didn't want to be carried or have any help in carrying the bucket.

Trick or Treat from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

17 Months

2011-10-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

see her first year in pictures

iAddiction

2011-10-04T13:01:00.000-07:00

What happens when you take the iWhatever away from the 16 month old...

16 months

2011-09-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

This past month has been somuch fun as we watch her on her way to becoming a master walker, learning how things work and generally discover the world around her. As doting parents, everything she does is completely amazing and a work of genius.

Cutie patootie with the crazy hair! September 1

Playing at Discovery Place Kids - September 4

Favorites:

Books, books, books...Her all time favoritesare "Ha nd, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" by Al Perkins and "Dr. Seuss's ABC's". She loves these books so muchthat she makes a very excited noise when she finds them and begs repeatedly for us to read them to her. I made some movements up to the HHFT book and she will do them along withme or if she is looking at the book by herself sometimes she will do the movements by herself. Rick and I have admittedly hid these books from time to time so that we don't have to read them 50 times in a row. Feel bad? A bit...

She loves the 100 first words book too - September 9

Here's a picture of two favorites - the HHFT book and Bobbie (formerly known as Bob) - September 16

Another favorite - the iPad, the iPhone, the iWhatever...she knows how to work those things better than I think Rick and I do. There are a lot of great apps for learning - and just entertainment too. There are books - one of our favorites is "The Monster at the end of this Book" as read by Grover.

Getting mommy and daddy to play with the iPad - September 28

We took part in Okra Fest - a made up festival our friends created. They have a fun walk/run each year and Samantha is the reigning baby champ two years in a row now. She is so proud.

This may be my favorite picture of the month - in her IU jersey before the race

Another favorite - being outside! The weather has gotten a little cooler and so we have spent some afternoons outside. She loves the front porch swing - which a year ago was our saving grace whenever we had a finicky baby.

swingin' with Dad - September 7

Can Bobbie and I go out and play? - September 26

We had flags out for 9/11 and she loved helping me pick them up!

She wore a different dress every day for weeks thanks to all the great fashions we acquired from the cousins!

I've got my fancy dress and my Vera bag (from Jenny!) and I'm ready to go! September 6

Samantha went to a birthday party for one of her classmates at the Y. The party was at the indoor pool and as you can tell, somebody LOVED the cake!

September 10

I had totally misplaced the TPC Piper Glen decal that my previous co-workers had given me for Sammie's "golf cart"! I ran across it this month and finally got her cart up to snuff....

fore! Golfing in our PJs - September 17

Tailgating:

September saw the start to the regular NFL season. We have friends with a regular tailgate and we generally join them. Samantha loves dancing to the music, meeting people and sometimes napping at the tailgates. How she pulls that off, I'm not sure.

with April - September 18

scenes from a tailgate - guarding the cooler and making friends with Norah

Those fingers!

She doesn't go long before those fingers go back in the mouth. Its kind of frustrating but then again we haven't ever had to search for lost pacifiers. Since about 5 months (there is a pic in here of when she first started on the fingers) she started sucking those same two fingers - the two middle ones on the right hand. Hopefully she'll stop before she goes off to college.

Our usual look - two fingers with Bobbie in hand - September 27

I just like this picture :)

Yum

2011-09-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

She wasn't so sure about it at first but once she got going on this spaghetti and meatballs with broccoli, then you couldn't hold her back!

Despite how the picture looks, she really does loooove her some broccoli! She can really shove it away...

The fork is only a sometimes utensil - it helps to stir the bowl...

Oh here's proof! She's putting broccoli in her mouth! Notice her method of spearing some food with the fork in one hand and actually using the other hand to feed herself. Genius..

And of course we had to be wearing a white shirt - the bib could only do so much in this situation.

Sleeping Beauty

2011-09-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

so sweet...

oh and she is so cute with that monkey shirt...even when she's not wearing it, and you ask her "where's the monkey?" she points at her belly

Discovery Place Kids

2011-09-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went up to Huntersville, NC to check out the much talked about Discovery Place Kids. We had heard that this children's museum was geared toward the younger of the kids and that it would be perfect for Sammie.

WARNING: Samantha was awfully cute this day and the momarazzi was out en force!

And off we go!

She made some friends

drove a fire truck

watch where you're going Daddy!

played "near" the balance beam

did some arts and crafts

was a NASCAR driver

walked up the ramp

and down the ramp - and repeat oh about 75 times

made a mess and helped to clean it up

played in the water table

and played

ewww don't do that!

oh she was thoroughly soaked by the end

mommy wanted ONE picture with her and she wouldn't cooperate - but we ended up with this cute picture instead

Playing Golf with Sammie

2011-08-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

Our friend Tara dropped off these golf clubs a couple of weeks ago and Samantha LOVES them. Rick is of course super excited that he might have a future golf buddy on his hands. For just having them a little while she is getting good at whacking the ball!

Playing Golf with Sammie from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

Dinner Date

2011-08-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we went to have dinner with our friends Jim & Stephanie and their two boys...Jay (5) and Ty (16 mos). With schedule differences and living in different parts of town we don't see each other as much as we should so this was a super nice time. Samantha had a great time with those boys! She has never been so dirty - it was great to see her keeping up with the boys. There was sidewalk chalkand pool time and then playing in the dirt and the sand box and the basketball hoop and the slide and and and. She also sat at a picnic table all by herself. I was very impressed that she stayed there and she scarfed down that food! Great night with great friends. Hope we do it again soon.

Oooh, that looks like fun

Ty 16 mos and Samantha 14 mos

Ty showing Samantha how its done

fun times!

Samantha's first slam dunk!

Their first dinner date

All of the pictures save for the dunking picture were taken by the very talented Stephanie! Thanks for sharing these pics with us!

Feeding Murphy

2011-08-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

Samantha is a very good big sister - she took it upon herself to feed Murphy

Feeding Murphy from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

Backyard Waterpark

2011-08-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we got out the pool and Samantha splashed around a bit in our backyard "water park".

Backyard Waterpark from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

14 Months

2011-08-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

see her first year in photos...and see month 13

We had a great July! Samantha has been learning all kinds of things like mastering walking. We even got out the baby stroller that my family gave me before Samantha was born. She loves pushing around my Cabbage Patch doll, Diana, that I (with a lot of help from the parents!) have saved for about 25 years and moved to how many states (probably 4?). There are more saved for her...now that I know that she likes them maybe I will have to get them out!

pushing around Diana

I had to put a sack of potatoes in the base of the stroller to help weigh it down at first

We had fun with Rick's family on July 4th...

Played some basketball...

Relaxed with Murphy...

Still loving on Bob the giraffe lovie a lot...

notice how she has "organized" her books behind her

Reading with Murph XL a lot...

she will get a book and sit on this stuffed doggie all the time

I went to the mountains (Saluda, NC) with some girlfriends for a weekend and had a great time. We just relaxed and shopped and went tubing! It was a great getaway...

top row: Tara, Jenn, Colleen, Keri, Meredith

bottom row: me, April, Ashley

Just love this picture of me and my kids...we were having such a nice night in and I took this self portrait. Love them.

July 15

Bubba Donna bought Samantha this super cool riding toy. At first she couldn't figure out how to ride on it and would sit side saddle. She is now becoming quite the pro

This girl is super fun. A great personality and so fun to watch her discover the world!

A Basketball Star is Born

2011-07-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

A Basketball Star is Born from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

2011-07-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

Samantha's Favorite Song...she plays it over and over again.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July with Rick's family. Ms. Samantha was happy to sport some Red, White and Blue all weekend to show her pride....

On the 4th, the family came over to our house. It sure was H-O-T! The kids played in the kiddie pools and we even bought a slip and slide - but its kind of dangerous in our bare backyard!

Bubba Donna and Papa Fred took the kids to the park...

So the adults ran off to the bar! (of course...)

It was just fun to be with family.

We enjoyed a great weekend - at the pool, at our house, some great meals and fireworks!

13 Months

2011-06-30T18:20:00.000-07:00

Somebody is getting to be such a big girl!

see her first year in photos

Samantha seems to be growing up at a lightning pace.

We had a great June. We unfortunately started the month by saying goodbye Grandma and Grandpa Lerch. They had stayed with us for almost a week after doing a big month-long driving trip that took them up to Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Columbus amongst other places before staying with us in Charlotte. They were here to celebrate Samantha's birthday with us, slave away in our yard (my favorite landscapers!) and love on Samantha...I think Murphy got some love too.

The first weekend in June we had a visitor! One of my oldest and dearest friends, Jenny. We had a great time visiting with her...much less eventful than when she visited last year. We shopped and shopped and found time to go to the pool.

Jenny and Samantha staying cool - June 4

bathing beauty

enjoying the splash park at the YMCA

We had such a nice weekend. It was so good of her two sons and husband to share her with us.

We love Jenny!

Samantha got a lot of great toys for her birthday - and this table and chairs from Grandma & Grandpa Lerch and Aunt LeeAnn are a hit.

June 5

She loves sitting at the table and reading her books, sorting her blocks and evidently eating her lovie - which we have now called "Bob"

Bob is tasty! June 5

It has been a hot, hot summer. We have tried to cool off a bit in the backyard.

But Samantha just loves to read her book and this is where she spends a lot of time...hanging out with MurphXL which we got at Christmastime in 2009 before we even knew that we were having a girl. We just knew that our baby needed this stuffed dog.

This month we also went on the Kobsik Family Vacation - and Samantha had a great time hanging with her cousins. We had a wonderful week bonding.

To finish off the month, we went to Knight's Castle...home of the minor league baseball team in town....for cousin Jacob's birthday. It unfortunately rained and rained that night so we weren't able to see him throw out the first pitch (like last year) but it was fun nonetheless.

Daddy and Samantha watching Jacob blow out his candles

Jacob is 13!

Kobsik Family Vacation 2011

2011-06-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

June 18 - 25th was the week of our annual Kobsik Family Vacation (see last year). Every year the family travels down to Wrightsville Beach, NC and spends a week together in a beach house. We have grown and grown while adding family most years. There were 18 of us this year! This was Samantha's second year and she loved all of the activity and family time!

Samantha got to hang with her cousin Emerson - they are 6 months apart and loved sharing food, drinks and toys of each other's.

There were many a jam session out on the deck...

Brigid, Lilly and Christine - dancing queens

grabbing my baby for a pic

Mary and Christine with their annual hand stand photo op

family pic on the beach

Sam and Aunt Lori

the four girl cuzzins

We spent Father's Day at the beach - here are all the dads and daughters

the guys...

the girls...excuse my lack of tan!

group pic on the beach

Declan turned 10 while we were at the beach!

Bubba Donna, Papa Fred and the nine grandkids

our family picture with the dunes

one for the Christmas cards...

ah...that's better

Here's a video of Sammie enjoying the water!

Fun at the Beach from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

1 Year in photos

2011-06-01T18:12:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my Baby Girl is 1 year old! She has grown so fast. It is so fun to look at this photo collage and see how much she has changed month to month. At the beginning she is propped up and so tiny. At the end of the collage she is sitting up, engaged and about ready to jump off of that rocking chair!

It is so special that the blanket that my grandmother made me is in the picture and the rocking chair is the one that my mother and father bought when I was born. These are very sentimental and will hopefully get passed down to Samantha some day.

I'll keep taking pictures every month until 24 months. Then after that we'll see what she'll allow me. I hope she'll get my cheesy disposition and want to sit in that rocking chair year after year.

12 month Doctor Visit

2011-05-31T12:03:00.000-07:00

Another successful trip to the doctor today. Here are her stats as compared to her 9 month checkup in March.

Height - 29 3/4 in - 75th percentile (up 1 3/4 in)

Weight 20 lb, 14 oz - 45th percentile (up 2lb 5 oz)

Head: 46 3/4 cm - 85th percentile (up 1 3/4 cm)

Again this was a uneventful doctor's visit except that Grandma Pat came along with us. Samantha enjoyed having the extra company. We looked at the fishies in the waiting room and Samantha was trying to make a Shhh noise for the end of the word fish. Maybe more words are coming soon? We had more immunizations which are never very much fun - big tears this time.

We go back at 15 months!

Samantha's First Braves Game

2011-05-19T18:07:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we went to Atlanta to go see a Braves game. For Rick's birthday a few weeks ago, I got him tickets and Braves tshirts for the whole family. Rick is a big Braves fan but has seen the Braves play a ton of times but had yet to see a game in Turner Field. We had been talking about making the trek down to see a game for many years so I thought it was time!

We left on Friday and got to Atlanta in time to have dinner with a couple of my college friends, Angie and Greg who live in town. It was really nice to be able to catch up with them.

On Saturday morning we got up and went to breakfast and then walked around. We were staying at the Renaissance Midtown so we were able to walk through some really pretty neighborhoods and on up to Piedmont Park where it was fun to watch a 5K, see a bunch of people working out and a lot of beautiful dogs.

the view from our hotel room

The game was at 1pm and we showed up a little early to snap some pictures and look around.

with the number of her brother's namesake - Dale Murphy

We were in the front row of our section which worked out so great. She could walk back and forth between Rick and I and nobody was getting hit on the head in front of us.

Samantha did so well. In about the 3rd or 4th inning her and I took a walk to get a hot dog and explore a bit but otherwise she loved it when people were cheering and clapped along with them.

having a great time!

After the 7th inning we walked over to the 755 club to watch the last couple of innings. Its a nice restaurant type of area with a lot of room (and carpet) and she was able to crawl around and play. She was so exhausted, she fell asleep as SOON as we got into the car.

Back at the hotel after her snooze, we went down to the rooftop bar at the hotel and had a snack and couple of drinks. There weren't too many people there so Samantha was able to explore and test out walking a little bit.

It was good practice for later that night when she took her first steps! She had such a great time practicing her walking in between Rick and I. We would turn her around and get her set up and she would take about 3-4 steps. I think her record that night was about 5 steps. She is still a bit wobbly but I'm sure it won't be long before she is running circles around us!

First Steps

2011-05-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

Samantha took her first solo steps on Saturday, May 14 in a hotel room in Atlanta after we went and saw her first Braves Game! She thought it was a great game to walk between Mom and Dad - she would laugh and try to turn around to do it again. She's a little wobbly still but is not afraid to keep trying. She'll be running circles around us in no time.

Walking in a hotel room from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

11 months

2011-05-01T18:48:00.000-07:00

So when Samantha was 3 or 4 months I would always round her age up. If she was 3.5 months I would say she was 4 months...always making her a little older. Now that she is getting closer to one year, I have been rounding down as much as possible. In fact she was one day away from turning 11 months and I was still saying she was 10 months. It is SO fun and exciting to watch her grow but I can already feel time speeding up and slipping away from me. Part of me wants to keep her this little forever. (sigh)

Samantha's first 5k

2011-04-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

Today Samantha ran in her first 5k! We took place in the CPCC Skyline 5k. We participated with our friends Ashley and Addie and Tara and Norah. It was a really fun race.

They started the joggers and wheelchairs in the front of the race which was a new experience. They gave us a couple minute head start. Us three mommy/daughter teams were there just for fun so were a little surprised when they started us and two men with joggers took off sprinting and then there was a woman with a double stroller that was following close behind. We felt like we needed to save face while everybody was watching us so we tried to keep up as best as possible. It was fun though having the road all to ourselves for a bit...then the masses came and passed us by. It was a pretty hilly race but it ended with a nice long downhill which was another new experience for me in Charlotte. I've never finished a race in Charlotte downhill.

We finished really well - 26:43. I really haven't done many 5k's but this is one of my fastest times. I looked it up - 24:10 was my fastest time in 2008. By doing this race in 26 minutes and pushing 20lbs of baby plus about 20lbs of stroller - I'm pretty impressed with us!

We celebrated with a breakfast out with the dads.

Tara and Norah

Norah and Samantha in their matching shirts we bought them at the New Orleans marathon

Me and my little racer

How do these things work?!

Later that night we went to our friends' John and Julie's house. John and Rick are high school friends. Scott and Marc - other high school friends - came over as well with their wives Kristy and Chris. Kristy and Scott have two boys...Dylan and Evan.

Here is Samantha hanging with the boys...and John...in the tent...I mean spaceship.

Samantha evidently likes younger boys...she put her arm around Evan and went in for a kiss. Evan wasn't too sure what he thought about this aggressive girl and started to cry! So funny.

Happy Birthday Rick - Buffet Style

2011-04-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

Rick just turned 36 on Thursday the 21st. To celebrate we met some friends out at a local restaurant to grab a bite to eat before getting on a party bus up to see Jimmy Buffett in concert! It was a great time and the bus was such a great idea.

Samantha at the pre-party

The crew - the before picture (we won't show the after photos)

Bethany, Brooke, Tara and the birthday boy

Colleen, Keri, Becky, Brooke and Tara

Right when we got up to the amphitheater

Me and the birthday boy

Jenn, Tim and Rick

Brooke and the birthday cookie cake

Geoff and Rick - I made him wear the skirt, but really didn't have to push too hard

Getting ready to go in

A visit to Chapel Hill

2011-04-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Rick and I found ourselves with a weekend where we had nothing to do - very rare - so we decided to go visit his sisters in Chapel Hill. We had a nice relaxing weekend catching up with the cousins.

Samantha had a good time playing with all of the Moellers' toys...

Actually I think she tasted just about every single one of them...

When does this "everything in the mouth" phase end?

She's even got something different in her mouth in the background of this pic of Emerson who was showing off her awesome walking skills...

Samantha also got to play with Emerson's cousin, Hudson, who is 4 months older than Samantha

The weather was starting to get nice outside so Samantha got to sit in the grass a little bit - she only ate a little...

The cousins played....

Brigid and Emerson

Nathan and Declan

Ciaran won't drown on that scooter!

Nathan is safe on his bike

Samantha and Emerson

10 months

2011-04-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

This has been a really fun month. Samantha is getting more and more busy and learning more and more tricks.

One of my favorite tricks...sleeping through the night consistently! She had slept through the night quite a few times in the past - even giving me 3-4 days in a row...but then she would follow that up with a wake up in the middle of the night for weeks in a row. Sometime at the beginning of March she started sleeping the whole way through the night. I wonder if it has something to do with being given more and more formula as I move away from breastfeeding.

Some other fun tricks...

She has perfected her crawling and loves playing underneath of things -- like the table.

March 7th

She also is pulling up on a lot of things and is starting to walk along the furniture.

March 12th

She is eating all kinds of foods now. We are introducing new things to her all the time. She LOVES bananas, avocado and cheerios. But we also get a lot of other great things too. When this picture was taken we were enjoying pancakes, eggs and blueberries. She does love some pancakes - who doesn't?!

March 6th

She is very inquisitive about electronics. Whenever she sees my cell phone she about breaks her neck trying to get at it. I also have an iPad that she loves playing with. I have downloaded some Sammie friendly apps that she can bang away at.

March 6th

She has also perfected the use of a sippy cup.

March 23rd

Something fun to watch is how she is interacting with Murphy a lot more. And he tolerates her very well. I would go so far as to say that he loves her. She crawls all over him and he will either take it and get some licking in or move away like a patient elder. He really is a great dog.

March 19th

Me and my kids - March 27th

Oh and he certainly doesn't mind the new influx of food that he is getting from Samantha...he's no dummy. He is always close at hand during meal times!

March 8th

Rick and I are so in love with this little girl Words cannot describe the depth of emotion we feel about being her parents.

St. Patrick's Day - March 17th

Favorite toys...

-her music/activity table - we finally were able to put the legs on for her to stand and play some tunes

-sorting blocks - this girl can play for hours with these blocks and the bucket and lid that it came with. In the bucket, out of the bucket, carry the lid here, crawl with it there...

-her music box - this is a toy that is getting some distance. its a little einstein toy that has lots of lights and plays classical music. I give it to her a lot when I go running with her. Its like my soundtrack for running.

March Madness

2011-03-24T18:43:00.001-07:00

Spring has sprung!

March in Charlotte starts the flowers a bloomin....

and the basketball a playin...these two have been wearing the same outfits for every North Carolina game over the last couple of weeks!

and the leprechauns come out to play!

St. Patrick's Day was a beautiful day in Charlotte. Samantha and I walked down the street to our local Irish bar and sat outside enjoying our favorite beverages with our friends...

guess which one is Samantha's!

Brooke and Samantha

my new work buddy, Ashley with her daughter Addie

me and the girls

with Meredith

family shot - Rick met us after work (aka round of golf)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The day after St. Patrick's Day, we went to Old Mecklenburg Brewery for a birthday get together for our friend, April. Samantha thought the coasters were quite tasty!

don't know about their beer, but their coasters are just the right flavor

Up to some new tricks

2011-03-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

Saying Hi from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

9 months

2011-03-06T08:28:00.001-08:00

Rick and I continue to delight in watching Samantha grow and discover the world around her. Every day it seems like she is learning something new. Such a busy bee...always playing and moving and exploring. She is such a beautiful little girl. We are amazed that she is ours.

our beautiful little girl? I love, love, love this picture - Feb 3

Milestones this past month...

A trip away - Our trip to New Orleans was the first time that both of us had left Samantha at the same time. She (and Murphy) stayed with Bubba Donna and Papa Fred (Rick's parents) while we were away. She did great and her grandparents did even better.

Rick and I in Jackson Square - Feb 12

Mobility - she officially started crawling this month. She had been inching around on her butt, rolling here and there but she finally put the pieces together for crawling over the weekend of the 19th.

We also put her in a walker that we borrowed from her friend, Norah, every day. She has become quite a pro at maneuvering around the house in the space ship. We even call it "space shipping". She loves to go into the room while Murphy is eating and run into his bowls. Murphy waits for her to run into them and then goes backto eating. She will then sit there while he eats...I think he likes the company despite the bowl clanging every once in awhile. Here are a couple of pics of this puppy torture.

yeah, yeah, I need to cut her bangs....I'm too scared! Feb 24

pretty astronaut - Feb 25

Working girl - Mommy started a new job right after the trip to New Orleans and so Samantha and Mommy starting going to work. I got a part time job at the YMCA where I am the Electronic Media Coordinator for three of the branches. I go to work from 9am-1pm Monday thru Friday and Samantha goes to the child watch right down the hall. I couldn't be happier about working for a great organization that stands for great things. Not to mention working with and for people who are so flexible about family time and about schedules. I think this will be a great thing for me.

Sick! - so the working girl idea leads into this milestone...Samantha got sick for the first time. Now we have had some snotty noses before but this was the first time she had thrown up and first time she had a fever. It started the weekend after I went back to work. It was so horrible on Sunday. I hope it gets easier as she gets older because this fever was probably harder on me than her. She just cried and cried and I didn't know what to do for her to make it better. So sad. A few days after she got all better, I got sick with a stomach bug and a fever. Yay - first of many for me too I'm sure.

Not feeling her best - Feb 22

Eating - she goes back and forth between chowing down at meal times to being a picky/cranky/irritable eater. She would go a few days where she would only eat one good solid food meal a day. Then she would go quite a few meals in a row where she is eating eating eating. Oh and this is new since we got back from New Orleans...she is refusing a bottle. It doesn't seem to matter who it is offering the bottle either...people at child watch, me, Rick, grandma. I haven't tested it out yet to see if its formula that she's refusing or the bottle. I haven't yet tried anything else in the bottle.

Standing - she has pulled herself up a couple of times but nothing consistent yet. If you stand her up she will play and laugh

Feb 19

With her boys - Feb 18

9 month doctor's appointment

2011-03-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

We just got back from Samantha's 9 month check-up today. Here are her stats compared to her 6 month checkup in November...

Weight - 18lb 9oz - 50th percentile (up 1lb 8oz)

Length - 28in - 70th percentile (up 2 in)

Head - 45cm - 75th percentile (up 1cm)

Samantha is getting a more pronounced fear of strangers - or she just remembers Dr. Giftos and all his poking and prodding and cries/is very wary when he is around. Dr. Giftos mentioned that she does seem to have an awareness of an older baby (we have a genius :)) in the way she regards him and takes him in. We talked about eating and keeping her safe as she gets more mobile. Only one shot this time but also a finger prick for some blood tests. She was not a fan of either of these but recovered quite quickly. Brave girl.

Again - perfect in every way!

We have a crawler!

2011-02-22T19:04:00.000-08:00

Samantha has been creeping and shifting and rolling and moving but it wasn't until this past weekend that she was able to get the coordination down and officially crawl! A good motivation for her to crawl is to knock down the blocks.

Officially a crawler! from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

To all of you, wherever you are...SMOOOOCH! Happy Valentine's day!

this is the card that Samantha sent out to her cousins...isn't she a good little girl?!

Super Bowl

2011-02-07T18:22:00.000-08:00

While most of my family was cheering for the Pack in the Super Bowl like Maxx...

here in Charlotte we were cheering for the Steelers!

Rick's parents are from Pittsburgh and the Steelers were Rick's favorite team growing up as Charlotte didn't have a team until recently.

Aunt Lori with some help from Aunt Cindy and Uncle Dave in Pittsburgh, hooked us up with the cutie track suit for Samantha to wear and cheer on the Black and Gold.

Too bad for Daddy's family...the Steelers lost. But we had a fun time going over to a friend's house to watch the start of the game and then we went home after kickoff for Samantha's bedtime (and her mother's too!).

8 Months

2011-01-30T19:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Florida

2011-01-27T18:31:00.000-08:00

Sammie's first Christmas was such a fun one. We drove down to Florida to Grandma and Grandpa Lerch's place. We left on Friday, December 17th and drove to our friends' (Scott and Kristy) place outside of Savannah. Samantha had fun poking at Evan who was born in September.

Karate Kick! Evan Huntley 3 months, Samantha 6 months

We got to Florida on Saturday and had such a wonderful week with my family. Everybody was able to come. Debbie, Carsten and Maxx flew in from Stockholm; LeeAnn, Nolan and Tory flew in from Milwaukee; so did Gary, Renata, Lukas and Luisa.

I took a run on Sunday down to Fort Myers Beach. I ran across the San Carlos bridge and the view was beautiful. I guess it was about 6-7 miles.

pier down on Fort Myers Beach

We had a great time swimming!

Daddy and Sammie - all smiles after a dip in Grandma and Grandpa's pool

basking in the sun

that Dove box is taaaaaasty

showing Maxx how things are done in the hot tub

Mom and Sammy enjoying the day

Grandma and Sammie - all smiles!

hangin' out

One day we went out to visit Santa. Nolan and Tory were good sports to come along!

cutie in the "snow"

posin' with Grandma

We had to do our "Christmas Eve" early because LeeAnn, Nolan and Tory had to go back home early. We took some family photos first...

The Schaffs

The Lerchs

The Brautigams

The Kosiks

Proud grandparents

siblings!

Then we got down to the business of opening up gifts!

Samantha's favorite part was eating the wrapping paper!

posing in my new rad pjs

yummy new gift

Lukas loving on his sister

going WILD in the jumperoo

Maxx loves Samantha's xylophone!

playing with the toys the morning after - they rock!

I went for another long run the next day. I decided that I would try running over the bridge to Sanibel. It was beautiful. I was wondering though why I wasn't seeing more runners along the way! It wasn't until the way back that I saw the no pedestrians sign! Whoops! I'm glad I got to do it once though.

top of the big bridge on the way over to Sanibel

On Christmas Eve we had such wonderful weather so we took Samantha over to Sanibel to play in the sand a little bit. She loved it. It was funny...she tried and tried to get the sand in her mouth. It was so fine that at first it was just flowing through her fingers. Then as her hands got a little wet she was successful in getting it into her mouth...and a LOT of it!

a new way to stroll the beach

Merry Christmas!

deeeeeelish!

We drove home the whole way on Christmas Day. Samantha was such a trooper in the car. She ate and slept so well. Thank goodness!

My first Christmas...in a car

On the move

2011-01-17T16:23:00.000-08:00

Samantha is getting the hang of the walker that we borrowed from her friend Norah. It is so fun to watch her run with no abandon. Her arms are up and she has no control - its so energetic.

On the move from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

Hand-me down Mt. Everest

2011-01-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

Samantha is a lucky, lucky girl. She has some very fashionable older cousins on her daddy's side that have shared their outgrown wardrobes with her. Every couple of months we get another storage tote from Aunt Mary full of clothes and shoes. Samantha has more clothes than Rick and I combined. This past weekend we got the 6-9 month tote and today I went through Samantha's drawers pulling out the clothes that she outgrew and putting them in a pile. Look what I built...Mt. Hand-Me-Down Everest!

Somebody in this family needs to have another girl so that some lucky little girl can use all these clothes again!

2011-01-13T17:48:00.000-08:00

It amazes Rick and I how busy Samantha can be. She "exercises" all day. Whenever she ends up on her back she does a lot of what we call her calisthenics. She pumps her arms and legs really fast. This video actually is pretty tame compared to what she is capable of. I also call this a video only a parent can love :)

Calisthenics from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

Twenty-Eleven

2011-01-05T16:32:00.000-08:00

Before I write down this year's resolutions, let's look back to see how 2010's resolution panned out...

My 2010 to-do's....

+ Organize my design area

-Accomplished...kind of...feel like I am fighting a losing battle in there. I also like to design at the table and on the couch...sometimes I wonder why I have a separate area.
+ Decorate a nursery

-Accomplished - it looks pretty darn good I must say! Check it out here
+ Get rid of a lot more stuff

-Accomplished...but I do have the itch to get rid of more! Should I get rid of my old work clothes? Sell the ottoman? Sell the desk in the "office"? Get rid of, get rid of, get rid of!
+ Go to church more regularly - and remember those collection envelopes so I can PROVE that I went!

-Accomplished - but I did fall off at the end of the year. I think it was from coordinated so many weddings in September, October and November. This is my resolution again this year.
+ Go hiking in the NC mountains (or closer by – anywhere!)

-FAIL - (sigh)
+ Finish my Graphic Design degree

-Accomplished - thought I was going to be done in May but I had to take one more class over the summer. Though I have yet to see a diploma -- better check on that one.
+ Take a BabyMoon

-Accomplished - we went to Savannah in March
+ Have a baby

-Accomplished!
+ Make it through the first seven months of parenting without making any major mistakes that would permanently scar our daughter for life

-Pretty sure we accomplished this one - we made it through 2010 without trips to the ER, divorce court or a psychiatrist and Samantha seems like she is a pretty happy little girl. So far so good!
+ Get a job

-Well...I decided to stay home with Samantha and work on my design biz. Hanging with Samantha kept me a lot busier than I thought it ever would. So I didn't grow the biz as much as I thought I would. I might investigate employment outside of the house in 2011.
+ Do a triathlon in the fall

-FAIL - I had a tri in mind on October 3rd but for the first few months, the thought of getting on a bike sounded like extreme torture and then as I said before I was super busy and just fitting was hard to do.
+ Try for a half marathon by the end of the year

-Accomplished - did the Dowd YMCA Half at the beginning of November

+ Celebrate 4 years married

-Accomplished
+ Grow a year older (and wiser)

-Accomplished - not sure about the wiser part
+ Design more invitations

-Accomplished - actually was pretty busy this year seeing that I had a baby and have just been working via word of mouth!

Pretty good report card I would say.

My to-do's for 2011...

+Finish a marathon! (I am set to do the Mardi Gras marathon on Feb 13)

+Get some landscaping done

+Make rkDesigns an official business

+Take a trip for our 5 year anniversary

+Love on my daughter every day

+Try that triathlon thing again this year

+Go to church more regularly

Those are my big ones -- hopefully they will be attainable!

Celebrating the New Year

2011-01-02T18:13:00.000-08:00

We had a nice time celebrating the New Year. Rick and bro-in-law, Ed, went to the afternoon Bobcats game while Samantha and I went over to Tara, Jimmy and Norah's place. While we were there the girls gave Norah's new Radio Flyer a spin around the block. They both had the same stoic face on the whole time -- that means the liked it right?!

After the game was over, Christine and I met Ed and Rick out for dinner at Enso, a sushi restaurant in the Epicenter in downtown Charlotte. It was my first time eating there and it was great! We chowed down on some fantastic sushi.

Ed and Rick - feeling very festive

me and Christine

After dinner we hijacked Lori and made her come to Fred and Donna's with us. Overall though we faded pretty quickly once getting back to the house. We were all asleep before 10:30pm. That was the first time in a while that I hadn't seen midnight. It wasn't so bad!

Murphy celebrated with us too

Ciaran (of course) liked the noise makers

me and Brigid

woohoo, party people!

We spent the night at Fred and Donna's and the next day we all went swimming at the Y and Donna made us a delicious ham dinner. Yummy

Seven Months - Happy New Year

2010-12-31T08:59:00.000-08:00

I was reading a filler article in one of the parenting magazines recently and it was all about why its "super awesome to be a mom". Though a cheesy article there were a few quotes in it that struck home with me. Somebody said about being a mother - "I always have something great to look forward to every day." How true! Sometimes Samantha gets us up too early or in the middle of the night and I am a bit grumpy but seeing that precious face light up when she sees me erases a lot of those dark clouds. She makes me laugh every day and it sure becomes addicting to try to get her to laugh or smile. I crave those laughs and happy faces. Another quote was - "enjoy your baby at the stage she is at now. There will always be great things to come but you can't go back". Again, I have to remember this more often. I would LOVE to have her sleeping consistently 11 hours or so a night but she will only be little once and I will forget these sleepy trips downstairs in the middle of the night. She needs me now and that's wonderful.

Milestones this month...

Teeth - she now has two that have broken through the gums. The lower left one broke through on the 11th and then the lower right one broke through the day after Christmas. I think they have given her a hard time here and there where she isn't napping or sleeping as well. It is sosad to hear her screams. She loves to put EVERYTHING in her mouth no matter what it is. I give her a lot of tupperware lids and boxes to chew on. Who needs fancy toys?

one of her favorite teething "victims" is books - December 10th

Mobility - Samantha is great at rolling all over the room now. She is also great at sitting up.She is doing a lean over and reach move that makes me nervous that she is going tostart crawling any second now. I don't need her mobile - its nice to have her just sitting up right now.

lean over and reach! December 10th

Eating - she is really getting good at this solid food thing now. She likes the Oat Cereal now which is great - the doctors recommend the cereal because its a good source of iron. I mix it with peas, squash, bananas, sweet potatoes, pears, peaches or apples. There are two solid food eatings a day - one after her morning nap and one after her afternoon nap.

Mom loves taking messy face pictures! December 10th

Favorite toys - still lovin' the Sophie, Sparkles and our jumperoo. New this month is the alligator xylophone toy and some fun "cell phones" that were Christmas gifts.

getting our last uses out of the swing - December 6

the real Murph won't pose in a picture with her - here is his stand-in - December 11th

Christmas Eve trip to Sanibel

2010-12-31T07:37:00.000-08:00

This is my first time putting a video that I uploaded on vimeo into the blog! Woohoo for learning something new!

Xmas Eve trip to Sanibel Island Beach from Becky Kobsik on Vimeo.

Samantha's First Snow

2010-12-27T12:58:00.000-08:00

When we got back from Florida on Christmas night it had begun to snow! It was the first time that it had snowed in Charlotte on Christmas Day since 1947. In Charlotte it doesn't snow all that often and so it is usually a fun occasion. When we woke up on the 26th it was a winter wonderland. We bundled Samantha up in her hand-me-down snowsuit (from her Dolan cousins) and went out to snap some pictures. Forgive me for the number of pictures...she was too cute to pick just a few!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours

2010-12-24T13:15:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! Here is the card that we sent out this year...notice a common theme in all of the pictures? Can you say proud parents? Samantha is truly our greatest Christmas blessing.

Girls Gifts and Garland V

2010-12-17T16:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I hosted my annual girls holiday party - Girls Gifts and Garland V. I can hardly believe this has been the fifth year that this party has taken place. That means we have been in our house for five Christmases!

We have settled into a traditional rhythm with the party. The girls each bring some food or wine to share. We nosh on some appetizers and champagne punch while everybody arrives and then we sit down for a dinner. After dinner we exchange gifts. Each year we exchange something different in a less than $15 budget. The first year was books, then champagne flutes, cookbooks, earrings and this year was scarves. Some years have more exchanges than others...this year there were a lot of scarves changing hands as people "stole" and traded. I really look forward to this party every year and this year did not disappoint.

Me and Stephanie

Jenn and Tara

Katie and Colleen

Meredith and Meredith

Keri, April and Jenn showing off the crowns from the holiday crackers

Ashleigh opened up a gift that had TWO scarves!

Meredith had a hard time holding onto the scarves that she opened

Meredith, Tara, Colleen, Casey and Ashleigh showing off their new scarves

Brooke, Katie and Stephanie

Meredith and Keri

April, Jenn, Shannon and me

Shannon, me and Stephanie

My partners in crime - Meredith and Tara

Kobsik Family Christmas

2010-12-13T11:56:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we celebrated Kobsik family Christmas. The whole crew was there and we had a great time watching the kids open presents. They each picked a cousin's name out of a hat and bought for them. Samantha had Brigid and she picked out bunk beds for her dolls. It was a hit. Donna made a wonderful dinner and we just enjoyed each other's company.

Samantha and Emerson - both enjoying their first Christmas

The three-year-old dynamos - Ciaran and Nathan

just doin' what they're told :)

trouble 1 and trouble 2 - Lilly and Brigid

lovely - Declan and Jacob

Samantha's trademark pose -the two finger suck

Nathan got this awesomely annoying cow that giggles and wiggles

Ciaran gets his turn and Joey helps

cool shirt - "I am Ironman!"

woohoo bunk beds!

Jacob and Nathan

Papa Fred and Emerson

Donna's beautiful tree

Bubba Donna and Samantha

Andy and Mary

Half a year old

2010-11-30T18:41:00.000-08:00

Oh my little girl is getting so big! I can hardly believe that half a year has flown by. (I think I say something like this every month! She really is growing up too quickly!)

Big milestones this month...

Eating - she still isn't too excited about solid food. We take time off from it here and there but some of her favorites are peas, sweet potatoes and pears. Because of necessity we had to introduce prunes. Not a favorite of hers but she thinks they're okay.They are quite "effective" too if you know what I mean! We are still notgetting through a 1/3 of a small jar of food - but she will surprise us every once in awhile by eating a whole half of a container.

messy eater! she likes to hold her own spoon - November 11

Mobility - she is a rolling over genius these days. She's figured out how to go both ways now! She will also spin herself in a circle on her back - her head will be in one spot but the rest of her will move 360 degrees.

rollover action shots taken by mom's cell phone - November 18

Sitting up - she had been working on it and working on it and the week after we left Milwaukee, she finally was able to consistently hold herself up all by herself! It wasn't until the end of the month where she was really becoming a master of this skill.

sitting up all by herself - November 27

Favorite toys - she still loves Sophie the giraffe and Sparkles the elephant. She is now very intrigued by a Baby Einstein music box which has all kinds of flashing lights coordinated to classical music as well as her rainforest jumperoo. We put her in that at least once a day and watch her go to town. She is an active girl! She also spends a lot of time on her activity mat - it encourages the rolling over to try to get all of the toys that are attached to it.

in her jungle - November 3

Miscellaneous - we had to give her a minor hair cut already. At Thanksgiving, Aunt Christine and Bubba Donna helped to clean up some of the hair that had grown extra long in the back.

out to eat after watching the Panthers lose...again - November 21

Sleeping - nothing new really...she is still getting up once a night (sigh). We aren't up very long though so it could be a lot worse. Our little daily routine has roughly worked out to be at bed at 7pm, up at 2am, up again at 7am, nap from 9-11am, then nap from 2-4pm - repeat.

waking up from a nap - clutching one of her homemade blankies - November 2

Six Month Doctor's Visit

2010-11-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

We survived another trip to the doctor today. Here are our stats...

Weight - 17lb 1oz - 75th percentile (up 2lbs)

Length - 26in - 55th percentile (up 1.5in)

Head - 44cm - 85th percentile

The doctor said everything was looking good and on track. I had been wondering if she should be still getting up in the middle of the night or if I should be doing the "tough love" thing and letting her cry it out. Samantha has still been getting up once a night and I've been feeding her because she's been going right back to sleep. The doctor said that it was probably fine but if she was getting up more than once a night then that would be a problem. We talked about offering her more foods and about expecting more and more mobility out of her.

Poor thing got three shots - two more of the usual and one flu shot. She got kind of yowly in the afternoon after waking up from her nap. Thank goodness for Baby Tylenol (or the generic version at least).

We go back at nine months.

Samantha's First Thanksgiving

2010-11-29T17:58:00.000-08:00

We had a great time spending Thanksgiving with the Kobsik family in Chapel Hill. The Dolans hosted many of us in their nice new house for Thanksgiving dinner - it was a full house. Samantha and her brother, Murph, were a hit with everyone. Great and fun weekend. We are full of thanks for our many blessings.

Bubba Donna with the girls

in our PJs celebrating Nathan's birthday

Nathan is 3!

woohoo, Samantha's first Thanksgiving!

Emerson and Samantha go for a walk

with Aunt Mary

the feast

snoozin' with Papa Fred

playin' with Brigid's doll

We had a professional photographer come to take a big family photo - all 18 of us. We all dressed in blue for the occasion. Here are some of the pics I took while waiting for the big photo.

great new family photo

Dad and daughter

me and my girl

Lori, Sammie and Rick

Hudson 10mos (Emerson's cousin), Samantha 6mos and Emerson 11mos

Christine, Sam and Rick

A Portrait of a Pretty Girl

2010-11-20T18:57:00.000-08:00

We went yesterday to get Samantha's pictures taken...we ended up with a lot of cute pictures. Here are some of them...

Samantha's first plane ride

2010-11-17T17:00:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Samantha and I took a big trip up to Milwaukee, WI to visit my sister and brother. I was kind of nervous about taking Sammie on her first plane ride by myself. I think the gear alone was what made me the most nervous. How does one person carry all the gear that a baby needs!? I checked everything but the baby, an umbrella stroller and the diaper bag. I also brought the Bjorn which ended up being a great idea because in Charlotte the planes boarding and exiting did not have a jetway so I had to climb up and down the stairs carrying her. It was good to have my hands free to go up and down those steep stairs.

Rick helping us to ticketing

On the way there we had an empty seat next to us so Samantha was able to lay down on the seat and play and actually take a nap there.

even Sophie got to go to Milwaukee

LeeAnn met us at the airport and brought us first to Gary and Renata's house where we just hung out and talked and played with the kiddies. This was the first time that we got to meet Luisa who was born six weeks after Samantha! It was also great as always to see Mr. Lukas who at two and a half years old is proving to be quite the Energizer Bunny. Always on the go and trying to get into something!

Sammie and Luisa kicking back

Lukas paused for one second to take this picture

Samantha was loving Aunt LeeAnn's glass of water! Time to get that girl a sippy cup!

On Saturday we spent a very nice and low key day. I went running (got lost) and then LeeAnn, Tory and I went shopping. That evening LeeAnn hosted dinner where Nolan joined us as well as the Lerch family. It was such a nice dinner. So great to spend time with my siblings and their kids.

the "old" cuzzins Nolan and Tory

all the cuzzins! Tory is on record as saying she doesn't like children - this is a picture to remember. Nolan also had his hands full trying to keep Lukas on his lap!

Renata and I with our babies - compare it to this picture in March

On Sunday we went over to our great Aunt Pat's home. Sister Pat looked great and is still super busy with her work at Alverno College. She is an inspiration!

going out - this is what I call her Sammie from the Block look

Sam with Sister Pat

All in all it was a wonderful weekend spent with my family. I accomplished exactly what I wanted to do while there. Talk, chat and squeeze some babies. I only wish we lived closer and could do it all more often. Good thing we'll be seeing each other at Christmas in Florida this year!

Samantha was great on the plane on the way home - another nap! Strangers were super nice about helping us out when my hands were too full to get the stroller through security etc. I'm thinking five months old is a great time to fly with a baby.

Happy 4 Years

2010-11-12T16:33:00.000-08:00

Rick and I celebrated four years of marriage yesterday. We went out to Fleming's Steakhouse downtown and had a fabulous dinner where they wrote our anniversary date on the plate of the yummy dessert. Rick and I like to give gifts that go along with the traditional anniversary gifts. Four years is "fruit and flowers". I tried to be creative with it and gave Rick BurBERRY cologne and a sweater from BANANA Republic. Rick gave me a bottle of the brand of wine we had on our first date, a dozen red roses and one pink rose that stood for Samantha (very cute), chocolate with orange in it and a gift certificate for five massages. Fantastic!

Not a fan

2010-11-08T16:56:00.000-08:00

I'm not even a Carolina fan but this is cute

Getting Back to Business

2010-11-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

Today I did my first race since Samantha was born! I did the Dowd YMCA Half Marathon. Samantha doesn't know it, but she did this race with me last year when I was 10 weeks along. I had a respectable time of 2hours flat - a 11 minute improvement over last year...but still 10 minutes slower than my best half marathon time.

This race is actually just a pit stop along my way to a bigger goal - the 2011 Mardi Gras Marathon on February 13th. Yes, I have done it again. I have signed up for a marathon. I have questioned my sanity many times but it comes down to this...I get charged up by having a goal. A big part of me wants to be able to say - I ran a marathon less than a year after giving birth. I am also very susceptible to peer pressure. I will be traveling to New Orleans with 4 otherfriends signed up for the marathon and 2-3 others signed up for the half marathon.

My post baby body has had some challenges with running. Be it the new pain I am feeling in my hips when I hit double digit miles, or the way I trail way behind my friends while climbing the millions of hills that are in Charlotte, or the way I need to wake up earlier to pump, or the way I need to wear two sports bras (or I just found a heavy duty sports bra that works wonders) or the way that the bouncing up and down of running makes me want to stop to pee a lot more often! :) I remember that Labor Day weekend I went for a run with my friends...they were doing 10 miles and I was doing my first long run...6 miles. That was one of the hardest runs I have ever done and boy was 6 miles long! I am hoping that as I lose more weight that my running will feel a lot better. I am currently at 1-2lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight but about 6-7lbs over the weight at which I ran my best marathon. I am trying to get as close as I can over thenext 8 weeks despite the holidays.

Another change that post-baby running has brought is the scheduling of it all. I used to be able to get up whatever day I wanted and go head out the door to meet friends without thinking twice. Now I need to make sure that Rick will be home to be there with Samantha. Or I need to wait until Samantha gets up and is fed and we can head out with the jogging stroller. Though running with Samantha has its challenges. I have been running with Samantha in the carseat on top of the BOB. This adds considerable weight to the stroller and it is HARD! I have a threemile route that keeps us off of main roads and when I first started a few months ago I walked most of it...now I am trying to phase more and more of the walking out. Oooh those hills are hard.

Samantha in the "big girl" part of the stroller for the first time - November 1

Just last week, Samantha and I had our first outing with her in the "big girl" part of the stroller. It was only for a walk, I have yet to run with her like that but I think she should be just fine. I have padded it with a carseat "cozy" that seems to help keep her in place.

So what is my goal for the marathon? Ultimately I just want to finish. I think something under 4:30 would be a good goal for me. My best marathon time was 3:53 and my slowest was 4:38 done a month after my wedding with minimal training.

I'll try to post my training online here...think good and fast thoughts for me. :)

Happy Election Day

2010-11-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

I took Samantha to the voting polls today - we voted together. :) She even got a sticker

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

We had a GREAT Halloween weekend! On Friday, I took Samantha to a Halloween play date in the neighborhood. I put on her little skeleton outfit and off we went. It was so fun to see all the cute little costumes. Before we left, Rick had to get a picture with Samantha...

I carved the pumpkin below using Samantha's hand as a stencil for the eyes. It was very funny trying to get her to lay her hand flat on the piece of paper and then to stay still as I traced around it. I got a pretty good semblance of her hand print. Murphy is posing with the pumpkin.

This is probably the best picture of Murphy we've ever taken - so regal.

Our cutie-patootie skeleton!

I tortured Murphy and put his skeleton shirt on him. I got it a couple of years ago for him as his costume. He had to match his sister!

Yay Samantha!

On Sunday afternoon we went to the Halloween parade in the neighborhood. The Caseys met us there.

Little Norah is getting so big. I can't believe she is walking - almost by herself.

Samantha slept through a good portion of the parade.

Here's a shot of the crowd before the parade. There was a fantastic turnout. There had to be a few hundred people there. Lots of great costumes on the kids and some on the parents as well. Rick and I will have to step it up next year.

5 Months

2010-10-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

These five months have flown by. Rick and I laugh because we talk about our daughter so much and all of her "big achievements". I know it probably sounds mundane and ordinary to others - especially those who don't have children - but it is amazing how much she is learning and growing and doing these days.

heading out in our baby Pumas - Oct 1

She is so grabby now. We went out to dinner last week and I brought her onto my lap and within a second she had the spoon full of spinach and artichoke dip in her hand and headed towards her mouth! She especially loves electronics! Cell phones, remote controls and computers.

Samantha is "facebookin" with Daddy - Oct 19th

She is rolling over a lot now. She will take days off of it but has gotten quite good at going from her back to her belly. She has done it a few times in her bed and has NOT been happy about it. The poor thing will spit up a lot when she is on her belly and I'm sure it makes her uncomfortable.

Its starting to get colder for our morning walks - we are starting to bundle up more and more!

yay! go IU! we only have minimal IU gear if anybody wants to buy us more! :)

We started on solid foods on October 8th - mostly just rice cereal. At best she thinks its "ok". We'll be moving on to bananas and peas here soon.

While she eats she will take a bite and then stick her two middle fingers in her mouth. Those seem to be the favorite at the moment. Its her big comfort a lot of the time. Helps her go back to sleep and just soothe herself when she is getting worked up.

looks like she has three of them in there now, but usually it looks like the 'hook 'em horns' from Texas

playing with a noisy toy that a friend gave us - Mommy likes it too

Samantha is growing and growing - she is at 16lbs right now.

cutie duck outfit from Aunt LeeAnn - Oct 20th

Favorite toys include - Sophie the giraffe, this crazy "ball" - that I would recommend for everyone - it is so easy for her to grab!, Sparkles the Elephant and Ms. Smartypants (which I blogged about here)

Our adventure in food tasting

2010-10-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

On October 8th, I started offering rice cereal to Samantha. She ate it alright for a week or more and then just about refused to eat any of it after that. I have tried again here or there but she just doesn't seem to excited about it. But she sure looks cute in the big high chair.

One night I tried putting her in the bouncy seat - it gave her better access to her foot which she has just recently discovered.

In between bites she sucks on her fingers and holds on to her foot - too funny.

Samantha doesn't need anything else than breastmilk right now so I am not too worried about her eating too much. We'll keep introducing food. Perhaps bananas soon or sweet potatoes...hmm we'll see.

Pumpkin Picking

2010-10-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Carrigan Farms in Mooresville, NC to go pick some pumpkins! It was a great day. They took us out on a tractor pulled wagon to the pumpkin fields where we could each pick a pumpkin and there were some animals for the kids.

city folk posing with the tractor

she did NOT want to look up at the camera - but still a cute little pumpkin

me and my cutie

the fam

pumpkins are yummy

Sammie with her friend Norah

our little pumpkin

Sleep!

2010-09-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it, we've been very lucky. Samantha has been a pretty good sleeper, only getting up once a night starting at one month old. People would ask me what my secret was...I would say get a baby that sleeps. I wish I had done something special in order to repeat it with future Kobsik children.

Just this week we hit a big milestone for both Samantha and her parents. I just took down bassinet that she had been sleeping in for the first three and a half months of her life. (sniff, sniff)

the bassinet in the corner of our room - no longer :(

She was about to outgrow it and it was time for her to be on her own. So we actually got Murphy his second ACL surgery on September 9th and when he came home from the surgery, all four of us started to sleep downstairs in Samantha's room. Yes, we know it was a little silly but we still love our doggie like he was our kid and he loves to sleep with us so we thought camping out in baby girl's room was a great way to transition her (and us) to her new sleeping situation. We actually slept down there for two weeks before I said I might be ready to move back upstairs. Murphy had just been cleared from his surgery and his sutures were removed so I knew he would be able to join Rick and I back upstairs. So last Saturday, we took the plunge and slept in our own bed. What did Samantha do? She slept from 8:30pm until 7:30am!! 11 hours!? I guess she was waiting for us to get out of her room! The next couple of night she put herself to bed earlier and earlier sneaking back until 7:30pm and then I would hear from her at 4:30/5:00am. 9 hours ain't bad, but she had just spoiled me with the 11 hours! Last night she slept from 8pm until just before 6:30am. Pretty good. I am liking this.

We have started to set up a night time routine. We take Samantha into her room and change her diaper and then change her into her PJs. We then put her into her sleep sack - like a wearable blanket. She was never a fan of the swaddling and will kick any type of blanket off of her in no time flat! The sleep sack has been a great thing for her. But anyways, after the sleep sack, we rock in the rocking chair and read her a book. Then Bubba Donna gave me a prayer to say with her - that she said with her children...

My Jesus come to me

make a good little girl of me.

My heart is little

and no one can enter

but you my dear Jesus

Good night my Jesus...

After the prayers, Samantha gets a bed time snack and then off to slumber land.

Rick reading Samantha her bed time story

This routine seems to work for Samantha. She seems to be interested in the books, if only to help turn the pages. I look forward to doing this with her for many years.

Four Months

2010-09-30T11:34:00.001-07:00

Four months?! And she is actually 17 weeks right now - what a big girl!

She is growing and growing and learning new things every day.

in her new jumperoo activity center

She has great head control now - from day one she had astrong head and neck and she can be held up like a big girl now. She loves to be supported in sitting up -no laying down like a baby anymore.

We still spend a lot of time on the swing. There's something about it that is magically soothing to her.

We get a lot of smiles from her - and some laughs. Murphy gets a lot too. She likes to reach for his head and we feel for the guy once she learns to grab his ears. He is going to get a lot of love. But he loves her too...he loves to come lay next to her when she is on her activity mat.

She "talks and talks". Lots of cooing going on like she is practicing her vowels. I'm working on Mamamamamamama. Watch, her first word will be Murph.

She has rolled over a couple of times but I don't believe she knows what she has done. She can get herself about 95% of the way there but doesn't seem to know how topull that arm out of the way. She can do this both ways right now.

She seems to have a bit of a fear of strangers. I used to be able to pass her off to anybody without any problems but she is starting to want to be with us more and more. I have gone to the YMCA and droppedher off at the childwatch a few times and she has cried at the beginning and then been just fine after I've left. Its heartbreaking to leave while your baby is doing that.

Samantha in her workin' out outfit

She has been to her first Panthers tailgates! She has done really well with all of the noise and has actually napped at both tailgates. The Panthers seem to be stinking it up this year but its not because of Samantha's team spirit!

We take a walk or a walk/run most days. She loves being in her carseat and in the bjorn. Thank goodness! She will fall asleep every time we head out.

the princess on her throne

Four Month Doctor's Visit

2010-09-30T10:49:00.001-07:00

Samantha and I just got back from our four month doctor's visit. I learned what I already knew that she is perfect and super advanced! :) Well actually the doctor did say that she is coming along great and that her awareness is up there with a six month old. So of course she is a genius.

Here are her stats compared with the last visit at two months:

Weight - 15lbs 1.5oz - 75th percentile (up 2lbs 12.5oz)

Length - 24.5in - 50th percentile (up 2in)

Head - 42cm - 50-75th percentile (up 1.5cm)

The doctor also said I could start her on cereal here and there for the next month and then slowly introduce fruits and vegetables. Now, I am torn. I read in multiple books that you should wait until 6 months for a lot of reasons including possibly keeping away childhood obesity, food allergies and all kinds of other bad things. So I might wait a little bit before I get that cereal out. Plus I hear solid foods are kind of a pain. I'm also thinking that with her championship spitting up ability that cleaning cereal up off the floor would be a full time job. I just want to do what's right!

She got a couple of more shots for her immunizations. She was already crying because she was almost naked in a cold room and there were strangers looking at her. So the shots were hardly a blip on her crying rant. She seemed extra yowly at home so I gave her some liquid acetaminophen and will again tonight. Poor girl.

She's getting bigger and bigger all the time!

Baby Gym Class

2010-09-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today Samantha and I took advantage of a offer of a free class at the My Gym. It was for babies under 1. I was a bit skeptical about whether Samantha would enjoy it or not - I assumed she was too young...and she was for some things, but overall she really liked it! It was nice and silly - lot of songs and games and goofiness. My kind of place. We actually act cheesy like this at home a lot but it is so much more fun to see other people acting goofy! We might look into going again some time in the future.

we're dancing and pumping the air! go, go, go!

Bunny Sighting

2010-09-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

After Samantha's bath...

Father Daughter Weekend

2010-09-15T15:16:00.000-07:00

I went to Orlando this past weekend to attend my friend, Mauricio's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding - hot, but beautiful. I got to hang with my old Accenture buddies, Dina and Robert. It was great to hang out with them again.

Rick and Samantha had a good weekend together. On Saturday, they went to our nephew, Jacob's, baseball game and then to John and Julie's for a cookout. On Sunday, they met a bunch of friends downtown to watch the Panthers lose to the Giants. But it wasn't their fault the Panthers lost! They were showing their team spirit in matching outfits!

Dolls!

2010-09-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Growing up, I didn't have many dolls except for the Cabbage Patch dolls which were wildly popular at the time. I believe I ended up with 5 of them - which I do still have. My siblings teased me unmercifully about them (I'll admit I was an easy target!) so I didn't venture much past those dolls.

Rick's mother - Bubba Donna as she is called by her grandchildren - gave Samantha a Madame Alexander Christening doll for her baptism. This is Donna's traditional gift for all the girl grandchildren for their baptism. I had to ask Donna if Samantha would be able to play with the doll. Its just so pretty and I've never had a doll THAT nice before. Donna insisted that she be able to play with it. She said when she was growing up she had a lot of dolls but they had to stay on the shelves and never got to play with them unless she was sick. She wants her grandchildren to play with their toys! We had to take some pictures to thank Bubba Donna for her gift. The pics we took that day are some of my favorite of Samantha.

Now this doll was a $2 purchase from the consignment store and I call her Miss Smartypants even though she is not wearing pants, she has a nice crinkly skirt on. Miss Smartypants is one of Sammie's favorite toys. She's got all kinds of crinkly things to play with, a rattle on her, rings to hold on to and chew on etc etc. What a cutie...

Samantha's Baptism and Family Weekend

2010-09-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend was an extra special weekend. Months ago - before Samantha was even born, my sisters planned a trip to Charlotte to visit. I thought that if I had my two sisters (one who lives in a different country!) in town already, then I would make a family occasion out of it! I would have Samantha's baptism that weekend. So up came my parents fromFlorida. Unfortunately my brother, sis-in-law and family were not able to make it because they just had baby Luisa in July. Much too soon for her to be traveling. I hated that, but I knew that this was my big chance to have the majority of Samantha's family available on the same weekend. Since we started the party, Mary and Andy (Rick's sis and bro-in-law) asked if their daughter Emerson could be baptized on the same day. Of course! How special!

Debbie, Carsten and Maxx flew into Charlotte the Sunday before Labor Day weekend. They spent a night with us and then borrowed my car to drive down to Charleston, SC for a couple of days to look around. They came back on Wednesday and wegot to hang out for a couple of days before everybody else came into town. Maxx was teething and having a good ol' case of "the fear of strangers" so I didn't get to hold him much...here is one pic of us "torturing" our children. It was so funny!

On Friday, LeeAnn was able to join us! Carsten and Rick and the kids went over to Rick's parents place and LeeAnn, Debbie and I went out to eat, just us sisters. It was nice to be able to catch up, just the three of us.

On Saturday, my parents flew into town. It was a nice relaxing day until that evening when we hosted all of Rick's family and mine at our house for a pizza party. There was Rick's parents, sisters, spouses and children (15 people), Andy's parents, sister and fiance (4 more), then all of us (plus 9) - making a total of 28 people in our house and on our deck. Thank goodness it was a nice day! My house gets mighty small past a few people. It was very fun chaos.

Sunday was the big day for the baptism! The humidity broke and it wasn't as hot as it had been in Charlotte the past few weeks - it was actually in the 80s!

The baptism took place after the 12:30pm mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was very special because it was a private service for just our family. Deacon Carlos Medina performed the baptism and did such a great job. It was a bit longer than most baptisms, but it was very meaningful. He took the time to explain why we do certain actions throughout the baptism and personalized the service for us and our family.

Samantha did alright through the baptism. She was a bit uneasy to begin with - I think tired. So she slept through the first half of it. Even for the most part when the poured the water over her head.

She woke up as we walked to the front of the church and wanted to "make a joyful noise" the rest of the time. We chose Rick's friend from elementary school, Marc Gignac, as Samantha's godfather and my sister, Debbie as godmother.

After the baptism, there was a party at Bubba Donna and Papa Fred's house...

Samantha's grandparents...

Emerson's grandparents...

We even had some friends come and celebrate with us! Brian, April, Brooke, Jason and Meredith. We consider our friends to be Samantha's extended family...

The "original Kobsiks"...

It was such a great party. It was so nice of Fred & Donna to host us all and Christine planned a food spread for us that would rival any fancy party. Samantha received so many special gifts. It was more than I could have asked for her celebration.

Since it was a holiday weekend, we had one more day with my family before they had to leave to go home. So on Monday, we went to downtown Charlotte and had lunch and then took a quick walk around the city.

Then Monday night we celebrated Maxx's one yearbirthday (one month early!)

can you tell that they are homemade? I should practice my icing skills...

He was quite dainty with the cupcake...all he did was poke his pointer finger into the icing. Hopefully this was a good warm-up for the real deal in October! He'll be ready to shove it all into his face!

I wish these weekends could happen more often. The next time we'll see my family is at Christmas in Fort Myers this year!

Three Months

2010-08-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

Mommy's First Weekend Away

2010-08-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

I didn't think I would be able to do it, but I did and I think that I'm a better mother and Rick is a better father for it. I left Samantha this past weekend to go on a girls beach trip to Sunset Beach, NC. My friend, Brooke, was able to work out a trade with one of her personal training clients for a beach house for the weekend. A lot of the girls went down on Thursday night but I didn't think I could be away that long so I drove Tara and myself down on Friday evening.

We had a lot of fun. There was games and laughs and drinking and beach time. There were 14 girls staying in the house. Since I was there last I got the air mattress on the floor.

I missed Samantha a TON. Especially since I am still exclusively breast feeding and I had to go and disappear from the fun and pump. That wasn't so much fun. Rick and Samantha did great. He said it was an adjustment with getting up in the middle of the night to feed her and get a bottle ready. But he did really well...I knew he would. Okay, to be honest I was a little worried about the middle of the night feedings but I shouldn't have been!

playing dominoes on the beach with Jenn and Ashley!

the crew playing board games

all of the girls out to dinner the last night

Road trip to Chapel Hill

2010-08-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

So we are able to say something new...we are able to DRIVE to visit Rick's sister Christine and her husband and three kids. After living in Chicago for almost 20 years they have returned to North Carolina and have bought a beautiful home near Chapel Hill, NC.

Even Murphy got to come along - here he is looking sleepy in the back seat...

We had a fun time visiting with them. Rick and Ed tried out the neighborhood golf course while Christine, the kids and I went for walks along the neighborhood nature trails and hung out around the house.

Brigid and I did each others hair. Here is Brigid showing off her fabulous hair do. Model in the making.

I think I did a great job - perhaps I have a future in hair design? We counted - we got 34 bows in her hair! :)

Here is the picture that Brigid took of me with my fabulous make-over...

That afternoon we met the guys at the community pool. It was such a nice pool. Has a little kids wade-in area and a few lanes for lap swimming if so desired and if you happen upon the pool when there aren't all the families in it. Though I thought there was going to be a lot more people there. It was pleasantly busy. The kids were able to play with some of the other children that they met there and we were able to enjoy the salt-water pool. Samantha also had her first time in the pool. I forgot a bathing suit for her - bad mother - but we just took her in wearing her onesie and later just in her diaper.

She seemed to really like it. She didn't cry or fuss so that means she loved it right?

We also bought Ed & Christine's car - its a good thing we had two cars for the drive back because we came home with a TON of hand me downs from the cousins. This is Samantha **loving** the bouncy seat hand me down. Makes me wonder why we didn't have this thing like two months ago! Its a must have!!

Fun weekend - welcome to North Carolina Ed, Christine, Declan, Brigid and Ciaran!

12 Weeks

2010-08-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

Well this is kind of funny - Samantha is officially 12 weeks old which would mean that she is 3 months old but I don't feel like she is 3 months old until the 30th of the month which isn't until next week!

Just this past week - even the past few days - I have noticed that she is reaching out for toys and such now. This is definitely new.

She has also started sucking on her hands. She prefers them to a pacifier which I hear is both a good and a bad thing. Good because she can control those fingers and she can find them in the middle of the night as compared to a pacifier which she can't necessarily control and definitely can't find when it falls out of her mouth. Bad because it is a hard habit to break if it becomes a problem later. You can't take away her fingers!

I've noticed she is sucking mostly on her pointer fingers which was actually my finger of choice when I was younger. Can that be a trait that is passed on? Here I caught her in action!

Samantha is also quite the spitter-upper (that's a technical term). I swear both her and I go through 3-4 outfits a day. It doesn't seem to bother her and she seems to be gaining weight and if her diapers are any gauge there is definitely enough getting into her. So this is mainly a laundry issue - as the pediatricians like to say. This is another trait that I hope she outgrows soon though.

She's a continual joy to our lives. I tell people that on average she's awesome. She has her moments where it seems like a demon has taken control of her but overall I feel that she is a very good baby and has been little trouble. She seems adaptable to different people, places and situations. So much to love!

Photo Shoot

2010-08-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

I snapped these pics while Sammie was on her activity mat. I can't believe how big she's getting...look at these pics in this outfit compared to the one I took on July 5th (ha, look at that buddha belly!).

July 5, 2010

This outfit was so big on her six weeks ago and now its definitely getting to the point of retirement.

Looks like she is giving that big monkey a nervous glance. She actually likes him a lot - when he is hit just right he plays some music and has some sounds. Rick and I have memorized his "tunes"

She loves hitting that lion - he's got a bell in him that makes her happy.

Murphy felt left out...

Get together with the mommies

2010-08-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

Got together today with my friends Stephanie and Katie. We all have new babies in the past few months. Here we are in March when we got together for dinner all pregnant like...

Here we are with our new babies on a little shopping and coffee trip. Stephanie's first born, Jay, also joined us. Here's the crew!

Jay (4yrs), Stephanie, Ty (5mos), Katie, Colton (7wks), Samantha (11wks) and me

Me and my kids

2010-08-15T17:57:00.000-07:00

Love them!

A visit from Dayton

2010-08-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

Today we had a fun visit from Dayton, OH in the form of Tricia! I met Tricia when I lived in Dayton while working for GE. Immediately when I moved there I looked up the local Junior League to see if there were any events I could attend in order to meet some people. The only thing going on was a book club meeting that same week. I hadn't read the book but thought I could definitely drink some wine and eat some appetizers. At that book club meeting I met Tricia!

Tricia is taking a driving tour of many of the eastern states. She headed south through Tennessee to Atlanta and then drove up to Charlotte where she visited with us and some other friends she had in town. She came and held Samantha and put her right to sleep! She's hired! We also went and had lunch at Dish. She has consulted The Food Network and their recommended restaurants in the towns she is going to visit. Rick and I hadn't been to Dish in awhile even though its a mere mile away from our house. Its good southern cooking and we really enjoyed it! We will have to return soon.

Thanks for visiting Tricia! So glad we made your itinerary!

Tara & Jimmy are married!

2010-08-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we celebrated the wedding of our good friends Tara & Jimmy! I was proud to be one of Tara's bridesmaids. I met her 5 years ago at the YMCA at 6am as a part of the Y-Runners group. I met many of my good friends there. Thanks Y!

It wasn't just a one day affair but a whole weekend of fun. Thursday night they get together for friends and out of town guests at Dilworth Neighborhood Grille.

We took this awesome family shot that night...

Samantha got to show off a lot of her cute cute party dresses this weekend. Here was Thursday's...

The poor thing had gone to get her two month immunization shots that day and had a rough afternoon. I was supposed to go get my nails done with Tara, her mother, grandmother and Meredith but instead I was trying to console my hurting baby. Thank goodness for baby acetaminophen! I can't say Baby Tylenol because all the infant Tylenol products are still under recall and I had to buy the Target generic brand. It still worked very well. My poor baby.

On Friday, Tara hosted a wonderful Bridesmaids luncheon at the North Harbor Club...and it was actually more than just the bridesmaids...it was all the female family and visitors from out of town. It was such a nice group of ladies. The North Harbor Club was really nice. I will have to go back there when its a bit cooler and sit outside looking at the water on Lake Norman.

Here is Samantha's cute outfit for the luncheon (seriously its all about the outfits)...

Friday evening was the rehearsal at St. Peter's....

Samantha was very good during the rehearsal...this is what she did the whole hour that we were there in her cute brown outfit...

The rehearsal dinner at the Charlotte City Club which I had never been to before. It had some beautiful views of the city and the space was gorgeous! I was in love with the chandeliers there...

Here is Meredith holding Samantha...

Samantha did not do as well during dinner as she did during the rehearsal. As soon as the salad was served she got restless and I missed most of the dinner (sigh).

But then afterwards, Jimmy's parents hosted a cocktail reception at the Westin Lobby bar that really was quite fancy. There was a food buffet for the kids as well as the adults. The kid's mac n' cheese was not to be beat though!

Here are Tara and I at the cocktail reception. Rick and Samantha let mom have a night out...

The wedding was gorgeous...it was a warm day but the humidity was a bit reduced that day. Samantha came to the ceremony and then spent the afternoon/evening with Rick's parents and sister Lori. Before she went home, we took a moment for a family photo.

Then the proud parents each had to take a picture with the cute baby girl.

Tara and Jimmy rented the trolley to get the bridal party to the reception. I had it at my wedding too and I just love it. It adds a really festive air to things.

The reception was at Byron's Southend Atrium. It was a really neat modern and contemporary place to have a party. It was so much fun...there were a lot of my friends there and I had a lot of fun dancing and talking to everyone.

This is a picture of the girls that I met at the YMCA when running. Kelli, Meredith, Tara, Megan with her son James and then of course me. None of us go to that YMCA anymore and Megan moved to LA, but we formed some great friendships very early in the mornings.

Here are some more pics of the party...

Geoff, Brian, Rick and Tim

More running buddies! April, Brooke, Tara, Me and Meredith

Tara and I

The happy family

Jimmy and the girls! Keri, Colleen, Brooke, me, April and Jen

What a fun party!

On Sunday morning there was a casual breakfast gathering at the Westin. It was good to et a chance to say goodbye to Tara and Jimmy's family and friends that I had spent the weekend with.

Congratulations Tara & Jimmy!

Two Month Doctor's Visit

2010-08-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

We went today to the pediatrician and saw the nurse practicioner there which was nice because she is a lactation consultant and it was good to be able to ask some breast feeding questions of her. Here is Samantha's two month stats compared to her one month visit:

Weight - 12lbs 5oz - 70th percentile (up 1lb 10oz)

Length - 22.5in - 34th percentile (up 1in)

Head - 40.5cm - 76th percentile (up 2cm)

Now, I got these percentiles online...I forgot to ask at the pediatrician's office. She seems larger compared to other kids I've seen so I wonder if some of those percentiles should be higher?

Samantha did very well though we were kept waiting in the room for 30 minutes before the nurse could come in and see us and that was about 30 minutes too long for Samantha. Right at 30 minutes she decided she was hungry and done being there and was getting fussy. She propped herself up on her elbows which I hadn't seen her get that high before. She has always seemed to have really strong neck muscles. I suppose rolling over will come soon? No more leaving her alone on the bed while I get something from the bathroom!

She also got three shots today for vaccinations. Her vaccinations were Pentacel (combo of DTap, IPV, and Hemophilus meningitis), PCV (penumococcal meningitis) and Rotavirus. I knew they were coming and I knew she would cry but when that nurse stuck her with the first needle, Samantha's eyes got real big and then she let out a very loud cry. The nurse was good she did them real quick to get them over with. I was surprised at how much I cried this time. My poor baby. But really I do think she was more concerned about how hungry she was. I hear that a lot of babies get real fussy with all of these vaccinations at once. Hopefully we'll be fine. We have lots of events for the wedding of our friends Tara and Jimmy to go to over the next few days.

Her next doctor's visit isn't until 4 months.

A visit from Syracuse

2010-08-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Samantha had a very special visitor this weekend! My friend Jennifer who lives in Syracuse, NY came to visit us Friday thru Sunday. Jenny (I still call her Jenny even though she hasn't gone by that in about 10+ years - old habits are hard to break!) and I met in 7th grade when I lived in Manlius, NY. We met in the tall girl section of the choir. When I moved after my freshman year of high school, we still called and talked and visited regularly. With us both having children now (hers much more active than my Samantha!) we don't talk as much but it still is good to get together and catch up!

Unfortunately when Jenny landed, I had to pick her up and go straight to the hospital. Rick had been in a car accident on Friday afternoon. He and three of his friends were driving back from the golf course when a 17 year old boy pulled out from a stop sign into moving traffic and hit our Honda Pilot in the driver side door, spun the SUV and flipped it a couple of times. Rick was fine except for some scrapes, bruises and probably a minor concussion. He went to the ER to get checked out and all signs were okay. Unfortunately our friend, Jason, who was sitting behind Rick was thrown from the vehicle. He had some internal bleeding in his pancreas and spleen as well as five broken ribs - one of which punctured his lung. It was scary times over the weekend. Jason is now mending well and is off all of the tubes they had inserted into him. However he is still in a lot of pain. Hopefully he will be able to come home soon. We keep praying every day for him.

Two Months

2010-07-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Samantha is a whole two months old today! (see her one month photo here) I can't believe its already been two months and at the same time I can't believe its only been two months. It seems like I have loved her forever.

MILESTONES: She is a joy to our lives and we see her learn more and more every day. You can tell there is so much more going on behind her eyes now. She sees us and smiles a lot. I love this smiling milestone. It just melts your heart. A couple of nights ago she didn't necessarily want to go back to sleep after she ate at 3:30am and I was a little exasperated. But there she was looking at the ceiling fan and just smiling and smiling. How can you be upset with that? Samantha LOVES a good ceiling fan! She will also follow our movements with her eyes which was a fun milestone to hit as well. She is super strong and can hold her head up for long stretches of time. Her little legs and arms are working working working all the time.

GENERAL: She eats very well. We are getting feedings in about every 2.5-4hrs except at night of course when we stretch it a bit further. However, she is also very good at spitting up. It can even be hours after she ate and she will spit up a good amount (sigh). I hear she comes by it honestly, that I was a good spitter upper myself. I also think it has something to do with her lazy flap in her esophagus. It lets things up more easily. Hopefully we will grow out of this soon! She had some good cradle cap and peeling after the baby acne went away. It almost all gone which is good. I would pick at her and that sure didn't make her happy!

SLEEP: We are still sleeping about the same as we were at the one month update. She falls asleep usually around 9:30/10:00pm and she will sleep until 3:00 or 4:00am. We'll be up for about a half hour and then she will wake up again somewhere around 7:00am. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later. I am getting at least 8 hours of sleep which is better than before she came along! The only difference is having the interruption in sleep which does make a difference.

EXERCISE: I have gotten into running again, but it is hard! My friends are nice enough to slow down for me a bit and I got to run with Fred a couple of times at our annual beach vacation. He was happy enough to walk with me when I needed it. Otherwise Samantha, Murphy and I go for a walk or a walk/run almost every day. I will go into the neighborhood behind us and run down one street and then walk up the next street with the hill then repeat a few times. I suppose its like interval training a bit. I am going to try to get myself to the YMCA more for some swimming and I think I might be ready to get back on a bike here soon. I have a stretch goal to do a triathlon this fall.