Lydia at 2 months old

Lydia is already 2 months old! I'm amazed at how fast time goes. She is starting to smile a lot every day. A week ago she started spitting up a lot and 2 days in a row she pooped about 6 or 7 times. After the 2nd day of this I noticed a little bit of blood in her diaper. The next morning I noticed a little bit of blood again so I called the doctor and took her in. She had an ultrasound of her stomach and an x-ray of her abdomen. She also had some lab work done. I fed her right before we left for the doctor but they couldn't get her in for an ultrasound until 3:30 and I wasn't allowed to feed her until after it was done. It was a looong afternoon for her. Steve left work as soon as he was done with his kids so he could stay at home with Grace and Sam so they wouldn't have to go to the hospital. Once we were done with all of the tests at the hospital we went back to the doctor. Luckily everything came back normal. He believes it is probably viral but I am not convinced. I asked him if it could be an allergy or sensitivity to milk. He said that if she didn't seem better by the end of the week that it could be a possibility. To be on the safe side I have stopped eating anything with milk in it. The last couple of days have been kind of a roller coaster. Today has been totally normal for her. She's been happy and taken good naps. Yesterday you could tell she felt unsettled and she didn't nap well. I'm hoping we're on the right track to figuring out what's going on with her little belly. I haven't had anything with milk for a week so by the end of this week it should hopefully be completely out of my system and out of her system and we'll see how she's doing. Besides this past week when she's had a couple of rough moments she's been a happy girl. She loves her bath time and loves to be talked to. She is getting to the age where she is not a huge fan of her car seat. She will often fall asleep but if I don't get the timing right then she's usually mad instead. :) She is such a sweet girl and in 2 short months I can't remember what our family was like without her!

Sambam is 2!

Samuel at birth

Samuel at age 1

Samuel at age 2

Things I want to remember about Samuel at age 2:

• He runs EVERYWHERE and jumps all over the place. He will run until he is out of breath and I have to force him to sit still because he is almost wheezing. I swear he has asthma.
• He always, always, always has a matchbox car in his hand (including in the bathtub and bed).
• He wants to do everything by himself. "I do it self!"
• He loves to eat. Anything. He's not picky.
• I hear "look at me, look at me mommy" numerous times every day.
• Every time he sees me he says "Hi Mommy, hi!"
• He calls Lydia "Li-ee-uh girl".
• He loves his stomp rocket (thank you Kio family).
• He throws everything and that is often the cause of his timeouts.
• He loves books and to be read to.
• He blames Maggie for everything. For example: I will ask him where his socks are and his response is "Maggie has it." Poor dog.
• He doesn't want any help using the toilet and will hawk you while you go so he can flush it when you're done.
• He puts his shoes on by himself and attempts to dress himself but often needs help.
• He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins.
• He does not stop talking.
• He loves trains, airplanes, tractors and combines and gets so excited when he sees them.
• Whenever he hears something and he doesn't know what it is he says "What'sa sound Mommy?"
• He loves running errands and being out of the house.
• He usually takes a 3 hour nap every afternoon and sleeps from 7:30 pm-6:30 am.
• Whenever he's watching a movie or show or reading a book and someone does something bad in his mind (i.e. the kitty in the book Bad Kitty bites Grandma) he says "not nice! Oh no mommy, not nice!"
• At night he always needs his blanket and water cup and usually wraps the blanket around his head which kind of freaks me out quite frankly.
• He calls Lydia sweetie and honey and talks to her in the sweetest voice you've ever heard. If she's crying he always says "I know Li-ee-uh, I know."
• He loves playing with Grace, favorites being trains, coloring, play-doh, reading books and anything upstairs.
• It is almost impossible to get a good picture of him because he automatically closes his eyes when he sees a camera (see picture below). :)

• He runs to the door everyday when Steve gets home yelling "daddy, daddy's home!"
• He plays like such a boy...running, tackling, jumping off of things and knocking things over without even realizing it.
• Calls my dad "pampa Chupp" and thinks he's hilarious.
• He is obsessed with taking walks and will walk for over a mile with me.
• Cries when he's holding Lydia and I have to take her away often bawling "hold Li-ee-uh!" This meltdown is another cause of a lot of timeouts. Don't misunderstand...I find it endearing that he wants to hold his sister that badly however when he gets so mad that he throws something the endearing factor goes out the window. :)
• He is truly one of the sweetest, most hilarious little kids I've ever known. He makes me laugh many many times on a daily basis. We love you Sam-bam!

What's privacy again?

I found myself shaking my head in amazement while I was showering a couple of nights ago (and no it wasn't from looking at my lovely naked body). :) Here's how my bathroom experience went:

I was on the toilet when Samuel walked in and came right over to me, tried to peek in the toilet and said "Ew mommy, you pooped, pew!" Before I could even respond he said "You done mommy, I flush it?" and leaned all the way across me trying to flush the toilet. He continued to hound me until I was done and he could flush it. He then ran off to do who knows what...bug someone else I suppose. :) I then hopped in the shower and within 30 seconds heard Grace plopping up on the stool in front of the mirror and rummaging around the drawer getting a hairband out. She then spent the next several minutes (or at least most of my shower) doing her hair and singing her own variation of Camptown Races. Her first verse was: I see dirty laundry doo-dah, doo-dah, I see dirty laundry oh doo-dah-day. She sang about 6 additional verses including:

I see my eyebrows...

I see my nose...

I see my forehead...

I see my neck...

I see my nostrils (yes I'm serious)...

I see my chin...

After that she apparently was satisfied with her hair and left. By that time I was already rinsing off and pretty much done with my shower. This is my life. There is no such thing as privacy. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I get annoyed every year that it seems to get overlooked. It seems like stores go straight from Halloween to Christmas. Not in our house! I think it is so important to take time to eat with family and friends and take the time to actually sit and think about what you are thankful for in your life and how God has blessed you over the past year.

Tonight Grace and I made turkeys and pilgrim hats for Thanksgiving tomorrow. She was so proud and wanted me to take a picture before she went to bed. The classic "cheeeeeeese" pose with crazy hair to boot. :)

Happy 28th Birthday

Happy birthday daddy...we love you! Side note: Sorry Steve. I didn't realize your eyes were closed or I would've taken another picture. :)

The latest

The past month has flown and been so fun! I always forget how much fun it is to have a baby at home and be on maternity leave with the kids. :) Our weeks are pretty much the same around here. On Mondays we usually stay home and that tends to be my catch up on cleaning day. Tuesdays are story time at the library. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Grace has preschool and at least 1 of those days we run errands...groceries, post office etc. We have been taking advantage of Playland in Archbold 1 day a week too. Usually on rainy days or days where the kids just need out. The kids have done amazingly well transitioning to having a new sibling. We've had no issues with behavior or anything like that thankfully. They love their sister and are always wanting to give her a kiss and a hug and hold her. Lydia is such an easy baby. She eats well and sleeps well. She's been going down for the night around 8:30 or 9 and sleeps until 1:30 or 2 and then is up to eat. After that she's up every 3 hours to eat. I think she's literally fussed 30 minutes or less total since we've been home. It is always when she's hungry or tired or once in a while during her bath. :)

I can't get enough of this little girl.

Last weekend Grace and Steve went to a father daughter dance. Grace hasn't stopped talking about it since. They looked so cute! She was so excited because several of her friends from preschool ended up being there as well. One of her biggest accomplishments of the week...she can now spell and write Lydia's name by herself. She can now write Grace, Sam, Lydia, mom and dad. She's working on being able to spell her aunts, uncles and cousins names...and of course grandma and grandpa. I'm constantly being asked "Mom, how do you spell____?"

My little sidekick. We've gotten to spend a ton of time together since Grace is at preschool 3 mornings a week. He loves to sit and color or draw. Playdoh is also a huge hit. I started letting him play upstairs with Grace this week (I trust him to not fall down the stairs about 90% now) and he thinks he's big stuff. :) He's also been obsessed with taking walks. He walked over a mile with me 1 night this week.

Reading library books before bedtime. One of their favorite traditions of the day. Every week we get new books at the library - also a favorite pastime.

Tough job. :)

Lydia Joy

We have another beautiful girl in our family! Lydia was born Monday, October 3rd at 8:43 a.m. She weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 21 inches long. No wonder I felt like I had little toes wrapped around my ribs for the last month or so. :) Although they thought she was 3 weeks early they decided my due date must have been wrong after seeing how she did on all of the newborn tests they do. The doctors and nurses said she scored more like a 40 week old! I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions for months but on Saturday evening they started to come regularly and became increasingly intense. By 4:30 Sunday morning they were 6 minutes apart and what I can only call "make you moan" contractions. I went in and they decided to try to stop my labor because they thought I was barely 37 weeks along. They wanted me to try to last a few more days. Around 11:30 Sunday morning they felt comfortable that they had stopped my labor and sent me home with a prescription for Procardia to try to hold off labor for a few days. I had my doubts because by 9:00 Sunday night I was feeling uncomfortable again. I started having strong contractions although they were irregular. At 11:45 that night I started having regular, "make you moan" contractions again. By 4:00 Steve was starting to panic and made me call in again. :) I was having contractions every 5 minutes apart and by the time we got to the hospital they were 4 minutes apart and I was 4 cm dilated. They scheduled a c-section for later that morning. I went back to surgery around 8:00 and she was here within the hour! They must've forgotten that we didn't know what we were having because nobody said anything for probably 30 seconds after she was out (it felt like hours) and one of the nurses finally said..."ahh...did anybody tell you what the baby is?!" :) Lydia is doing great - she is such a little sweetie and cuddle bug. She is nursing well, sleeping well and pooping well! :) I feel fantastic. I've never felt this good after surgery before. I'm just a little sore but not in any actual pain. The incision already looks great and I feel very blessed to be recovering so quickly!

I love watching them together.

Grace and Samuel are in love. They can't get enough Lydia. They hate having to leave the hospital without her.

We should get to go home tomorrow sometime. I'm ready to have our family together in 1 place and start figuring out our new normal. :)