Sammy's 15 Month Check Up

So we had Sammy's 15 month check up and this was a picture of the calm before the storm!  Sammy had to get her shots at this appointment and I guess I've never been there for them, but Johnny gave her a sucker before in anticipation of what was to come :[  

Let's back up.....We came in and got her weighed and measured 1st.....The results are in, and here we go....

Height: 28.5 inches {5th %ile}

Weight: 19lbs 2.5oz {4th %ile}

Head Circum: 18 inches {44th %ile}

After we got through the formalities, Dr Frank came in and did the exam.  She said Sammy is right on track with everything, and she was really excited to hear that Sammy has more words than she did at her last check-up, and was surprised that she didn't have any stranger danger {not in a bad way, just surprised....at this age a lot of kids don't like anyone but their parents}.  

After the exam she gave Joey a sucker and Sammy got one too.  Johnny went ahead and opened them up for the girls.  We both laughed because when Joey was Sam's age, we would not have given her a sucker :]  Anyway, we were preparing for the shots.  Rosa, our nurse, is super fast and great at shots...she came in and got ready and from start to finish it took about 30 seconds.  Sammy proceeded to scream and cry from that time to the time we got home :[  So dramatic!!!  

I love you Sammy, but your sister was a way better shot getter!  She would cry for a second, you'd pick her up and it would be done!  OK, comparison over..sorry Sammer :]

By the time we had left, Sammy got shots and a sucker...Joey, who wasn't even the center of attention, walked away with a sucker, 2 stickers, lip gloss, and a care bear :]  All in all a fair trade...LOL

Sammy's next appointment is when she is 18 months...I think we get shots at that one too...please start praying now :]

11 Months...Ahhhhhh!!!

So Sammy is officially almost a 1 year old!  I just can't believe that I was huge preggo last year, hips hurting, peeing all the time, and uncomfortable as I'll get out!  Our little lady has made great strides in these past eleven months, and we are still madly in love with our little girl!!!

This sweet smile is on her face most of the time, and tells a lot of who Sam's become!  She really only fusses if she's sick or hungry!

Sam is a crazed lady in the tub and it is getting harder and harder to bath this slippery little sucker!  She's fearless in the water and will plop down on her belly  to crawl for toys across the tub...sometimes over sister to do so :]  Water gets in her face...so what, she keeps moving!  She slips and goes under the water for a moment...so what, she pops up ready to move some more!  You cannot turn your eye for a second when Sammy is in the tub!!  Johnny has started calling her "splashy McGee" because if she's not crawling, she's like shamu at sea world...if you are with in a foot of the tub, wear your rain slicker, you are in the splash zone!  Joey can't quite get splashy mcgee out, so she often says things like "splashy degee, stop splasing!!!".  

Sammy is pulling up on everything now and when interested in getting something, can even cruise the furniture!  We have a walking toy that she can now work, but I'm not confident enough to let her go while I get the camera :]  Soon I'll get some video and put it on here :]

Sammy is soothed by song, which Joey was not.  When we sing to her she lights up and grins from ear to ear!  This probably means she's going to be an awful singer, know the words to every song, and want to sing at the top of her lungs in the car all the time....I'm preparing myself people!!

Sammy loves "people" food and has tried graham crackers recently....they are messy but she squeels when I get the box in front of her!  Too Cute :]

While we were gone in Alabama, my mom let us know that Sammy can now climb the stairs :]  She's not solid at it, but that doesn't mean she won't try when you aren't looking, so we have to keep a close watch on our little mover!

Sammy now has 3 teeth :]

We love our sweet girl, and can't wait to celebrate her first year next month!  Here's some pics to wet your whistle :]

10 Months!!!

So I can hardly believe we will be celebrating Sammy's 1st bday in just 2 short months! Our sweet little 10 month old is doing well and eating anything you put in front of her!

She is crawling all over the place and is into everything!  Johnny and I often say that we either don't remember Joey being this active because it was just her and we could pay attention to her better or we just don't remember how active Joey was :]  We will be playing with Jo and look over to find Sammy with a lamp cord in her mouth {true story}.  I'm not bragging, and please don't revoke our nomination for Parent of the year based on this one incident :]

Anywho, Sammy can also pull up to her knees on just about anything.  She can even get one of her feet kicked out to the side, but she can't quite stand from that position yet, and sometimes she gets stuck on her knees and doesn't quite know how to get down :]

As you can see from the picture above, her tongue is still out a lot of the time.  She pulls it in when she eats and our doctor has confirmed that it's not too big for her mouth, she just likes to stick her tongue out I guess.  Have you ever tried to just sit there with your tongue out....it takes work....oh well, it's her thing :]

She loves cheerios, bananas, mum mum rice crackers, mac n cheese, chicken tetrazini, rolls, mashed potatos, blueberries, and more!  She feeds herself like a champ and will stuff hand fulls of whatever is on her tray into her mouth at a time!  Check out the roll on her wrists....the food is fattening her up :]

We love our sweet Sammy and she loves us too!  WE can tell when we walk into a room and she squeals and smiles, and also when she gives us big slobbery kisses!  She also reaches for us and talks to us often!

Sam is such a sweetheart, and although she's a bit fussier than her sister was, we love her and are enjoying watching her become a little person {if that make's any sense}.  Until next month.....

9 Months Old :]

{There's a video in this post, so facebookers, click on the original post}

So I'm only 8 days late, but Sammy is 9 months old already and I can't believe it!!!  We are 3 months away from a first birthday!  Holy Schmoly :]

{Booyah, I'm 9 months old now!}

Here are Sammy's stats!  Not sure why they are sideways, but I can't get it changed so tilt your head and check it out!  She's still tiny but growing on her own curve! I love our tiny girls, and they are certainly following in their momma's footsteps!

So Sammy's up to a lot these days!  She's all over the place and into everything!  She's still not crawling but she's rolling super fast and she can maneuver her body whichever what she wants to get the things she wants!  Sammy is talking up a storm and she can say dada, lala, da ma la, mmmmmm, and that's kind of it!  Sam will sit as you read short books to her, and she can play with toys and entertain herself if needed.  Sam's pulling up to her knees, eating like crazy, pulling everything down that she can reach, getting into her sister's things, and this week we started her on real food!  She's had bananas, mashed potatos and peas.  We tried to get a video, but of course it turned into the Joey show....

  I can't wait till she can eat our food all the time!  It makes things so much easier!  

She's really getting the hang of her Jenny Jumper too....Here's a video...please ignore her sister in the background :]

Well, I think that's it for now!  Sam did great at her doc appointment by the way, she doesn't need anymore breathing treatments, and her ears are looking better!  We love you Sammy and can't wait to see how much you change this month :]

8 Months Old :]

can you believe that Sammy is already 8 months old??  She's so fun and I can't imagine life without this little lady!!

She loves to sit up and she chews up on everything!  She's a little snotty at this time hence the drippy eye and the under nose snot :]  She's till cute though right??

Like I sad, she loves to sit up and she is chewing on everything!  We are hoping and praying that her teeth will start popping through at any moment, but we've been waiting on that since she was 4 months, so we aren't holding our breath or anything :]

Her main mode of transportation is rolling, and man is she on the move!  She rolls all over and finds lots of stuff to get into!  Her favorite thing to get into is anything that is Joey's....and her favorite finds are the crayons.  When sitting up she usually lunges forward to her tummy to roll.

She loves her Jenny Jump Up, and is finally getting the hang of how to bounce it up and down!

Look at that sweet face :]  This picture reminds her of me...not really sure why, but it does!

Other things that Sammy is doing these days.... She's eating 3 meals a day with 2 snacks in between, she's rolling all over, she's sitting and doesn't fall anymore, she's working on standing and can do it when she holds onto something, she can pull up when holding onto hands but hasn't really gotten the hang of it on regular things yet!  Sam talks all the time and can now say dada, and lala and AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!  She loves being loud and likes to out talk the entire room with her loud volume :]  Let's just say she's not allowed in Big Church :]  Hmmmm, what else is she doing??  Oh yeah, she's holding her own bottle so that's good!!  She laughs all the time, and chews on her hands a lot.  I'm sure there's more, but those are the good for now!

We love her :]

7 Months Old!!!

Sammy is 7 months already!!  She's a happy and healthy baby, and we just love her more and more each day!  I can't believe she is closer to turning 1 than she is old!

Sammy loves her sister and Joey loves Sammy :]

She's finally rolling all over the place!  We put her on a blanket and she's in the kitchen in no time :]  We lay her on her play mat and she rolls to the front door.  Sammy can also turn a full circle while on her belly.kinda like a helocoptor :]

Sammy can sit up now all by her self!!

She still sticks that tongue out :]

And her nose is turning orange from all the carrots and sweet potatoes!!

She's eating 3 meals a day...fruit and oatmeal in the morning, a bottle for snack, a veggie and oatmeal for lunch,  a bottle for snack, a meat and oatmeal dish for dinner and a bottle before bed.  Needless to say, she's getting some rolls on her tiny legs that I will picture post as soon as I snap a shot of them :]

Sam is talking up a storm, laughing all the time, reaching for everything, putting anything she gets a hold of in her mouth, and drooling a lot!  She still doesn't have teeth, but I feel like they have to be coming with all the drool!

One thing that I've noticed about Sammy that's different from her sister is that she smiles and calms down when I sing to her!  Maybe she will be my little singer???  Joey sings now but didn't really care for it when she was Sammy's age :]

Other things Sam is doing or has done this past month.....

• puts herself to sleep
• celebrated her 1st Christmas
• celebrated her 1st New Year
• has 3 friend younger than her already :]
• she now plays with her friend Violet instead of just hanging out
• she can bring things to her mouth on purpose and hold them there
• she flaps her ams up and down super quick when she gets excited

I feel like this really isn't much, but I can't think of anything else right now :[

Sammy, we love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our family!  Your smile is infectious and you are such a sweet little girl!  I can't believe you are almost 1!!!  Your bday will be her before we know it!!!

6 Months Old Already!!!

Hi...I'm Sammy, and I'm a happy 6 month old :] I've been 6 months old for 5 days now, but my mommy is a little slow to the punch on these things :] 

 In other news, I am eating like a pro these days!  My big old tongue used to get in the way but my mommy and daddy used a tip that auntie Tonya gave them and they pushed my tongue down with the spoon...now I know how to use that thing instead of it working against me!  I like all the food they give me, but I LOVE sweet potatoes, and all the fruits!!!  

I am talking a lot, and love to be the loudest one in the room!  

My sister can make me laugh just about any time of the day, and her favorite way to get me to laugh is to use my tummy as a pillow :]  Joey is so silly!!!  She calls me her "Sammy pillow"!  

My mommy and daddy are also trying to get me to roll over from my back to my tummy.  The thing is is that I don't really like to be on my tummy, and they haven't really found anything to entice me to roll over onto it willingly! I'm still great at rolling from my tummy to my back, and  I love rolling to my side and it's funny to watch mommy and daddy put toys in front of me to try to get me on my tummy!  I WILL DO IT WHEN I WANT TO :]

Well, here's mommy with my stats...whatever that means :]

Well, hello everyone!  Sammy pretty much summed it up, so here are the stats from her 6 month doc appointment today!  Her weight is 13.4lbs (5th %ile), her height is 24 inches (4th %ile), and her head circumference is 16 1/2 inches (31st %ile :]).  The doc said she is doing great and is growing right along on her own curve.  She staying consistent with herself and compared to her sister!  Now I don't know who is reading this and who isn't, so I'll give you the full meal deal.  When you go to the doc, the first thing you do is strip your kid down to their diaper to get them measured, weighed, and temp taken.  Then they go through all these questions...is she doing this, is she doing so and so, how much is she eating, how much is she sleeping? and the list goes on.  One of the questions our Nurse Rosa asked was if Sam was rolling from back to tummy, and it was the first time we had to say "no" on a milestone question :[  Our little girl is on her own time, and I guess that's OK. Our doc said since all her other milestones were on track that she's not worried about rolling over and that Sammy will pick it up soon enough!!  We just love her and feel so blessed to be a family of 4!  I can't wait to see what God has in store for our little family in the upcoming months as our girls grow and continue to learn!

5 Months!!!!

So Sam is already 5 months old, and as each month goes by, Johnny and I praise God that she is still breathing :]  She's so cute and such a joy to the family!  Here's a pic...

That little tongue is out all the time, and has proven problematic during solid food feeding time!  We have been consistent and just push it down with the spoon during feeding and she is getting better! She has eaten every veggie that Gerber makes and only turned her nose up at green beans, but she finished them and by the 3rd day I think she kinda liked it!

Sam is such a good baby!  Tuesday and Thursday mornings {Joey's school days} our routine goes something like this....Johnny and I wake up to the alarm, hit snooze for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour before actually getting out of bed :]  Once out of bed, Johnny heads to work and I get Sam going on her breakfast.  After feeding her, I lay her on the ground to play with some toys while I get her sister out of bed.  This process can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 20, and the whole time I am handling Joey, Sam just plays and plays!  When Jo isn't crying because she doesn't want to get up, I can hear Sam just talking and moving and shaking her toys around in the other room!  When we get downstairs, I get Jo's breakfast ready, get Sam ready for the day, then starts the loading of the car :]  She never cries {knock on wood}, and just lets me do what needs to get done in the morning!  Love that!!

Sam has also been smiling a ton and even giggling a bunch too!  She thinks it's funny when you make loud kissing noises while kissing her tummy, cheeks, you name it!  I love making her laugh, and tear up pretty much anytime it happens!!

Sammy loves sitting up now and often sits in her little seat!  We just set her in front of her play mat and she goes to town!

I love those little feet!!!

In the pic above, you see Sammy is sporting a bib.  This is becoming quite the trend since she is drooling a lot!  She's got some white spots on her gums and I'm expecting to see some teeth any day now!

Well folks, I think that's it for now!  Sam doesn't have another Doc appointment until December, so for her 6 month update, I'll include all her stats!

4 Months :)

Sammy is officially 4 months old and doing great!  She has some allergies like her momma {even though the doc says she's too young for allergies, I know in my heart of hearts that's what it is}, but other than that, she's awesome!

We took Sam to the doctor today for her checkup and shots, and our doctor was actually sick so we had to see the Nurse Practitioner :(  We were bummed because we wanted to hear Dr Frank's take on Sam's test results being negative for Noonan's.  Oh well....here's the stats.....

Weight - 10lbs 14ozs {4th %ile, down from 16th %ile}}

Length - 23inches {11th %ile, down from 23rd %ile}

Head Circumference - 15 1/2 inches {11th %ile, same as before}

The nurse said that she wasn't worried about the drop in percentage, so I guess we won't worry about it either!  She said she could hear Sam's heart murmur and asked if we were aware of it :)  We sure are, thanks for checking!! :)  She also told us since Sammy is really good at holding her head up, we can start her on cereal!!  We are going to start her with her night time feeding and see how she handles that.  If she does OK, we will add a morning feeding.  She's growing up so fast! Who knew our little NICU baby would be right on track??

Sad fact...Sam had to get shots today :(  She got over it super quick, but just look at those sweet little legs :(

Sam is doing lots of cool things these days....here are a few....

 grabbing for things

smiling a ton

giggling

rolling from belly to back both directions

sleeping through the night

trying to hold her bottles

loves when I sing to her {she kicks and coos...my heart melts :]}

loves her sister

takes naps in her crib

I feel like there are more, I just can't remember them right now!  

Sammy, you are a complete joy to our family!  We love how you smile for no reason, and how you are so good natured!  God has truly blessed us, and I can't imagine life without you!

3 Months Old :)

"I'm 3 months old....na na na na boo boo!"

So Sammy is officially 3 months old and is doing great!  She loves to lay on her back and smile up at whoever will make googley faces at her!  She smiles, she kicks a lot, and she's talking.  We've been using her Bumbo seat to help her strengthen her neck muscles while she also works on sitting up.  It's fun, but it really tires her out.  How about the rolling over??  Well, for some reason she's decided she doesn't want to do that anymore, and she hasn't for a couple of weeks now??  Not sure why, maybe she's stubborn like her daddy and me??  Oh well, we will see......One HUGE thing Sam's been up to is sleeping through the night!!!! She's been doing this for about 3 weeks now and it's really nice to go to bed and not have to wake up in the middle of the night!  I was going to post something about it earlier, but I didn't want to jinx it!

I know everyone has been waiting to find out the results from Sam's genetic testing, and so have we!  Well, yesterday we were getting ready for my grandfather's funeral {this is another post all together} and we got a call from Sam's pediatrician.  Sam does NOT have Noonan's Disease!  Great news on a not so great day!  

No doctor's appointment till month 4, so I think that's it....I'll leave you with some pictures of her trying to stay sitting....

Have a good one :]

2 Months Old!!!

Here we are and Sam is already 2 months old!  I can hardly believe it!  She had her check up today and the doc said for a kid who got a wimpy start, Sam is really taking off!  I was at work, so Johnny took both girls to the doctor with him and they both did well. Here's a pic Johnny took of Sam's stats so I could get the inside scoop while at the gym!  Here you go....

The doc said everything is great and she's moving right along!  I asked Johnny if she was super stoked that Sam was rolling over {as a proud mother, I wanted her to freak out and maybe make an announcement over the intercom about of something like that}, and he said that she just said something like "great job......blah".  Not the fan fare I was hoping for, but she did tell him that usually they don't have to be doing that till the next appointment at 4 months which is in October, so that's good!!  To end her appointment, Sam had to get shots which Johnny said she took like a champ!  Right now she's taking a nap on the couch like me last night!!

What Sam can do at 2 months....

-Roll from tummy to back over right and left shoulder

-Bat at things with both hands

-Hold onto things with both hands

-Track objects with her eyes

-Smile :)

-Coo

Maybe there's more, but I can't think of them right now :)  It's been a great 2 months, and I can't wait to see how she grows over then next few months!  We will find out at her next appointment in October!

1 Month Already!!

Can you believe that just 1 short month ago, I looked like this??  I had all those crazy tubes in me, and my lungs weren't quite right!

Here we are a month later and I look like this :) Much better huh??

Here I am having some "tummy time"

Here I am in my swing...which by the way my sister hated when she was my age!!!

An here I am playing with my big sister Joey!

I can't do much, but I sure can eat, sleep and poop like a champion!  Now here's my mommy to give you the real scoop!!

Thanks for the intro Sam :)  Anywho, this month has flown by!  Since Sam was in the NICU for 9 days, I feel like we were jipped on some prime play time and learning time for her :)  I'm sure it won't set her back, it has just really made the month go by all that much quicker!  

Like she said above, Sam is sleeping, eating and pooping like a champion.  I feel like that's really all she does, and all we do is put her down for naps, feed her and change diapers all day and all night long :)  She still has her nights and days mixed up and is sometimes up from 1a-4a despite our best efforts of rocking her, patting her back, and anything else you can think of to soothe a baby.  

Sam can now track toys with her eyes when you pass them in front of her.  She coos all the time, but her main form of communication is grunting.  We actually moved her to her own room about a week ago because she even grunts in her sleep and we can't sleep while she's grunting :)

We just started putting her on her play mat, and she seems to like it.  Well lets put it this way...she doesn't hate it!! It's hard to tell what she likes right now since she still smiles on accident and can't talk to us anything yet!

We have her heart appointment on Tuesday July 6th to see how her heart is developing.  If you didn't know, they diagnosed her in the hospital with pulmonary valve steno-sis and atrial septal disorder.  Not sure I spelled those right :)  Anywho, they are going to do an EKG and possibly a sonogram to check on her progress.

As far as her genetic tests, we called the hospital today to see if they had the results yet since her NICU doctor was the one who ordered the tests and they said that her blood was at it's 3rd lab for testing.  When they have to send it out to a 3rd lab the results can take anywhere from 5-6 weeks from original order date.  So we may not know for a while.  Cheryl didn't know why it was sent to another lab, she just knew it had been sent.

People keep asking how Joey is doing with Sam and the answer is...GREAT!  She's so loving toward her little sister and loves to give her kisses, and help with diaper changes!  She doesn't even get jealous when I have to feed Sam {which I was nervous about}!  Here's a pic of the typical scene with these sisters...

1st you have to check her out and make sure she's OK...

Then you climb right on up and sit with her to ensure she stays OK!!

I feel like God has truly blessed us with 2 sweet angels, and I can't wait to see how their relationship blossoms as they both get older!

How are Johnny and I adjusting??  Well, if Sam could get this whole night and day thing figured out, we would be doing better, but other than that, we are doing great!  We really appreciate all the prayers we have been on the receiving end of these days, and are feeling God's presence each day when we look into our beautiful girls' eyes!! Stay tuned this week for tons of updates...I'm just a tad behind :)

Bare With Me, I'm a Few Posts Behind...

So we took Joey to her 18 month doctor's appointment, and by we I mean Johnny, about 2 months ago :)  Here is the update on how our little pumpkin is a growin'...........

Weight = 22.2 lbs (15th %ile)

Height = 30 inches (6th %ile and also more than half my size!)

Head Circumference = 18 1/4 inches (40th %ile)

So as you can see, this little lady is destined to be a shortie like her mommy!  They say that their head will grow then her height and weight will catch up...let's hope so or she's gonna be way  disproportioned   :)  I will love her anyway!

Joey is 14 months old!!

So now that Joey is 14 months old, she can do tons of fun stuff! She can walk, and loves to sit on the bottom stair to get a head start! She can say daddy, mommy, baby, hi, bye bye, thank you, and more! She's just growing up so fast :( Here are a few recent pics of our cutie patootie!

This is a pic of her morning hair :)

Joey loves all fruit, but she is especially loving the berries that we are giving her lately! They are messy, but she loves them!

This is Joey's pony tail....it's all the hair that will fit :)

She's walking!!

This is a cute bikini that her Nonny bought for her today! Super cute!

On a side note, Johnny took her to the heart doc on Monday and they said she is doing great! Her heart continues to heal! Praise God! On another note, she was apparently awful during the whole exam and screamed like people were trying to murder her. I guess I am glad I wasn't there?!?

Update-o-la

Hi Everyone, please bare with me, I am in the process of changing to a wordpress blog! I will let you know when it's ready :) Here are a few pics to hold you over!

Here's Joey in her big girl car seat! She looks so sweet sleeping!

Aunt Becky gave Joey her first Tattoo :)

Joey is quite the model :) It's not like this, it's like this!

This is at Aunt Amy's rehearsal! Now she is married :) We love you Aunt Amy and Uncle Stewie :)

She looks a little dazed in this picture, but Joey had the best time with this envelope! It's as if she's asking if you would like fries with that in this pic!