Samantha - 4 months

Here's our Samantha Marie ... four months old and full of smiles.

She continues to become more interactive with each passing day. We love all the cooing, smiling and giggling. She is most chatty in the evening. Do you think she gets it that she has Dave and I to herself at that time? She's a smart little cookie.

Two fingers has become the "suck" of choice. She still sucks on her hand, fingers, thumb or any combination of those. However, within the past few days I have seen her sucking on just the 2 middle fingers on her right hand many times. She has actually fallen asleep like this too. Most kiddos prefer the thumb. But if this keeps her calm, I won't complain. Well, I might complain a little if she is doing this at Kindergarten round-up.


She doesn't seem to mind tummy time as long as we don't drag it out too long. She is getting stronger every day. She has rolled on to her back a few times and once on to her belly. She has also started standing on our laps.

She continues to LOVE bath time. She coos and smiles through the whole thing. The best part is when I wash her neck. She is super ticklish so the neck scrubbing brings out the giggles. :)

The bumbo has been wonderful. Whether she's watching me fold laundry or her sisters run around, the bumbo props her up giving her a great view of the action.

She has spent many a meal as our oh-so-cute center piece. I got this great idea from my sister-in-law. Don't worry. She is never left unattended. :)

One of my favorite things is seeing Samantha's face light up at the sight of Morgan and Adrienne. When Dave and I talk to Samanthaa we get coos and smiles. However Morgan has a way of talking to her that gets her giggling, the silly sister kind of giggling. I love it! Of course Adrienne is also learning how to care for Samantha. When Adrienne sees her she says, in a sweet, angelic voice, "Hi Baby Hi". She continues to shower "mantha" with hundreds of kisses every day.

We love our Samantha Marie ...

30 minute naps and all. :)

Abbey

A couple of weeks ago we had to send Abbey to heaven.

She had cancer and got really sick, really fast.

She was a good dog.

Not the smartest dog, but a really good dog. :)

Here are some of my favorite pictures of her time with us.

We got Abbey the 1st year that we were married. Dave was working long hours and she kept me company. She was my baby.

When we got Abbey everyone at Dave's work told us that by 2 years we would be moving on to kids. We laughed ... but they were right.

While I was pregnant with Morgan this was Abbey's favorite place to lay.

From the day we brought Morgan home Abbey decided it was her job to look out for her.
She was always by her side.

My favorite was when Abbey acted like we were going to change her diaper too. :)
She was so good with kids. Even as the girls went through their explorations stages, she was so patient.

As soon as Adrienne came home from the hospital Abbey knew she had a new baby to look after.

Abbey loved our walks. The more girls we added to our family, the harder is was to get out the door. But all we had to say was walk and she was there.

She always knew where to be during mealtime. Even when we had friends over. She could always pick out which kid was going to drop the most food.

As dress up became part of our every day naturally Abbey was included in the fun. Of course she was amazingly tolerant, even in the end when she wasn't feeling good.

Samantha was just starting to notice Abbey when she had to go.

We had almost 7 good years with Abbey before we had to say good-bye. Although we still have plenty of action in our house, we are feeling her absence.

Samantha 3 months - a few weeks late

I started this post 12-30-09, the day Samantha was 3 months old. I started it, but I didn't' finish it. That seems to be the on going theme in my life right now.

I worked on it some more last Wednesday. Then I got a phone call that put everything on hold.

My dear friend Shelly and her husband Luke lost Graham, their sweet baby boy.

How could this be true?

Graham was born exactly one week before Samantha. Graham and Shelly came to visit Samantha and I in the hospital. It was different then any other visit because it was unusually calm and quiet in my room. Shelly and I were alone in the room with our babies. We laughed as we looked at our two new little bundles of joy. All three of our kids had been born within 3 months of each other. We couldn't believe we were doing "this" all over again. We wondered if Graham and Samantha would end up being as good of friends as Morgan and James.

Now Graham was gone.

So I have really struggled this week. Struggled as I watched my dear friend experience this living nightmare. Struggled to know how to best support her. And I struggled as I cared for Samantha's every need knowing Shelly would do anything to care for Graham again in that same way.

So here I am.

I have brought myself back to this post...

Samantha is such an easy going little girl. She is pretty good at pouting and complaining, but rarely actually cries. We had a couple of rough weeks around 6 wks when she developed Acid Reflux. But with the right meds she is back to her pleasant self. She is full of smiles and even giggles for us if we tickle her neck. She is sleeping great at night. Most nights she is only waking up 1 time to nurse from 9 to 8. It's wonderful! The only catch is that she often just does cat naps of 30 min. during the day. I'd be lying if I said I never wished for a longer nap. Really though, I would gladly have her eat every 2 hrs, with cat naps during the day if it means I get to sleep at night.

She really likes laying on her play mat. She mostly likes to look at the animals around her, but she has gotten hold of them a few times. Most times she has one of her big sisters next to her keeping her company. They love her so much and it's hard for them to leave her by herself. She has also liked being propped up in the excersaucer and bumbo since it allows her to keep a better eye on her sisters.
I love it when she talks to us. When she's in the right mood she can tell quite a story. It is such a sweet sound to hear her voice. She focuses in on my face and I would just love to know what she is trying to tell me. I guess that time will come before we know it. :)

She especially loves it when we sing to her. Her favorite song seems to be "Building Up The Temple" complete with hand motions. Adrienne loves when we sing this with her and asks for it pounding her fists together saying "help. me... help. me".

Even more then her play mat, her sisters, or her songs, Samantha LOVES her hands. They are always wet from her sucking on them. Sometimes it's a couple of fingers, sometimes it's the fist and there are times where she is working on getting both of her hands in there. She has done this from the beginning. I always thought she was trying to "find" her thumb. I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe one day she will suck her thumb. For now, she just loves sucking on her hands!

I love you little Miss Samantha.

Samantha's 3 month pictures

Darcy came out to our house to capture Samantha at 3 months.

Turns out Samantha was more interested in eating her hands and sticking our her tongue then smiling.

Sorry Darcy.

Of course I still ended up being really happy with what she was able to get.

Here are my favorites.

Please

... pray for my dear friend Shelly, her husband Luke and their family. They are living every parents worst nightmare. They put their 3 1/2 month old baby Graham down for a nap Wednesday

and he didn't wake up.

Pray that they find the strength to face each new day

and all that it brings.

Pray that they know how to support and comfort each other.

Pray that we know how to best show them our love and support.

Although it feels impossible now, also pray that one day they will be able to find some kind of peace.

Christmas