Happy Summer!

We started off the unofficial start of summer with one of my favorite past times, hanging out at the pool followed by a birthday date night!  The water thanks to the dc area hitting the weather jackpot wasn't really that cold.  Paul and I were a bit skeptical over how Sammy would react to the cold water, but alas the worrying was in vain.  All we got were big glorious smiles!  I love this boy!

I hope everyone enjoyed their memorial day weekend.  We sure did!

Here are some of the products we used for Sam's first pool trip.

Baby Float

Swim Diaper and sun hat by iplay:

Sunscreen check out www.ewg.org for sunscreen reviews:

 How was your memorial day weekend?  What are some fun baby pool products you like?

Some lemons won't ever make lemonade

There isn't really anything I can do to make light of the passing of my sweet baby kitty Autumn.  It would be slightly easier if it hadn't come so unexpectedly or if in some small way I didn't feel like it was preventable.  If only is a terrible way to feel.  If only I hadn't let her out, if only we had always stayed on top of her diabetes, if only she had stayed the night after her xray with the vet on Fri.   

If only she hadn't had diabetes, then maybe she wouldn't have lost her balance, fallen and broken her tail after being chased by the neighborhood bully cat.  Only then, would her intense pain not have prevented her from her favorite activity, eating.  If only she would have been able to eat her diabetes wouldn't have spiraled out of control.  Then, I wouldn't have had to carry her limp, lifeless body into the vet.  I hate death, really hate it.  I saw the look on the vet tech's face when I carried Autumn in on a blanket.  She was so lethargic I was able to pick her and the blanket she was laying on and place her on the front seat of the car.  She was so sick that she had even soiled herself and not moved.  The vet took one look at her and said oh shit.  You know that isn't good.

At first the question was can we afford it and will it work, but within twenty minutes, the vet realized what I already knew, there wasn't really even a glimmer of hope.  She was almost unconscious from the ketones slipping into her blood stream from the uncontrolled diabetes.  I'm grateful that in the end I didn't have to make a choice based on anything aside from was she suffering.  In that at least there is one thing to have praise over.

Autumn was an amazing cat.  My dad found her meowing her tiny little head off (literally, she looked like a bobble head, a loud one) along with her two brothers a VERY hot July 2, 2002.  Autumn was meowing like crazy, midnight had his head stuck in the fence and Don Juan was curled up hiding behind Autumn.  Oh the foreshadowing.  I learned right then and there that personality is 99% nature.  Autumn never stopped meowing (she would perpetually wake Sam up prematurely since he was born at the crack of dawn so she could eat), Midnight has always found himself in some sort of trouble and Donnie the runt passed away of a heart defect in 2004 a month after impregnating Autumn with what now is his clone, Romeo. 


Here are some pictures of her and her son Romeo:
She loved squeezing herself into places, and she loved her catnip:

I'll never forget her giving birth.  It took her 14 hours (marathon for a cat).  We even had to take her to the vet for a potential c-sec.  She was saved by pitocin.  Two of her five kittens died in the process. 

When I became a mother this year, I thought of her sacrfice.  I don't even think I saw her get up to eat or go to the bathroom for the first few days.  I have no idea how she did it.

She loved blankets and snuggling in the winter.

She used to snuggle with me every time I worked from home.

She always came to party.  Many a time we'd have dozens of people in the house and only a few chairs, but no one wanted to make her get up. 
 

I'm devastated to say the least that she won't be here to play with Sam as he grows up.  She loved him SO much.  She and Bailey had also developed quite the bond since his birth.  They commiserated together, begged for food together and snuggled when their parents were too busy to snuggle with them.

She knew how to get her way with men:

If only we could know the future, I'd have a warm cuddly kitty sitting with me, writing about how eight years ago yesterday she gave birth to Romeo.

That's the thing with life though, if we did control what happened in our lives good or bad, we have no idea what we are doing.  Bruce Almighty is right, that is what God is for.

Seven Months With Sammy!

What an incredible month this was with you Sammy.  I expected to have fun as we always do, but didn't expect to have anywhere close to as much fun with you as I did sweet thing!  I seriously can't stop saying how much I love you and am sometimes in awe at how all encompassing my love for you is.  The best part is it's only going to get better.  One of the things that is the greatest about being a new mother is the unexpected compounding of love.  One day, I think I love you more than anything I've ever loved before and then, the next day I'm amazed, I love you even more.

 I see you are giving me fair warning that you're about to move

 Off you go!

 You're into kissing everyone, Bailey included!

 Oh and you found his ears

'

All of this for a lousy cookie

This month, you did so many new things.  The biggest was you started eating solid food!  What a joy it has been to get into messes with you and watching you learn to feed yourself.  You are VERY independent! 

Part of the reason this month was so fun with you was we got to spend so much time outside.  You started going for walks without your car seat like a little boy!  This makes me a little sad as we can't face each other, but you do seem to enjoy yourself and I still check on you a lot.

 

Look at the difference six full months makes!  Fall into spring, newborn into little baby boy!

With the warm weather and your ability to sit up all on your own we broke out the yard sale swing I purchased when we first started trying to get pregnant in 2010.

 

You went for your first playdate and had such a wonderful time with your friend Natalie.  I can't wait to see what kind of fun you two have together as you grow up.  Thanks for hosting and for the cute pictures Steph!

 Sitting up to play!  Tummy time is getting harder to do with you since you know how to roll so well.  You did finally go back to tummy which was SO exciting!  It happened when I was losing my mind trying to get you down for a nap.  I left you blowing spit bubbles for a minute and when I came back to see why there was silence, boom there you were waiting to be rescued unsure of what had just happened and how you ended up on your belly.  Silly boy!

 You hit one of my favorite baby milestones, you LOVE to play peek a boo now.  I love this game and now you do too!  It's great.

You went back to the place you were born.  Unfortunately, Daddy was sick.  Your cuddles were great therapy for him.  Hopefully next time we go back it will be to meet your little brother or sister (in a few years...)

 You get to sit in the cart when we go shopping! (which isn't that often Daddy, don't worry)

We packed away most of your clothes, which was oh so bittersweet. You are so wiggly, the box was the best place for you.  You didn't seem to mind.

 You started playing with all your bath toys, which is so cute!

I started off the month feeling slightly defeated by your sleeping (or lack there of) but boy did you get with it!  After reading close to 2,000 pages of baby sleep and baby care books I finally understood what had happened to your magnificent self developed sleep habits.  They had essentially been washed away by sleep deprivation.  The less you slept, the harder it was for you to sleep.  Sleep begets sleep and sleeplessness begets sleeplessness.  As soon as your nighttime sleep improved, your naps albeit still short became so much better than before.  Even a five minute improvement is improvement enough for me to congratulate you on.  Amongst other things, I pray every night for you to sleep well.  Not just for me, but so that you get the rest your little body needs to grow and remain healthy. I also started to pray over you before your naps and night time sleep instead of counting to 100 to keep my patience with the situation.  What a better use of both of our times.  I love this peaceful time, knowing that the holy spirit is burning alive in me keeping the fruits of the spirit I need the most (patience, compassion) in the foreground.

Just in time for your seven month birthday, you are on the verge of crawling!  It's amazing.  I put you down for a sec, expecting you to be in the same place when I check and boom you've moved.  You Wiggle, scoot, roll, topple and now semi crawl? to get what you want.  Normally it isn't what you are supposed to be into, which hopefully doesn't foreshadow anything.

I love you Sammy!  I can't wait for next month.  Thank you for making me a mommy and teaching me so much about life and love in just 7 months.

Your favorite products this month:
Ergo carrier: You LOVE going everywhere in this.  Great for grocery shopping or the flower market.  I think it keeps you relaxed and lets you take in the sights at an adult level.

Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Star Stacker:
You received this as a christmas present from your Aunt Amy and Uncle John, at first it was great for tummy time entertainment, now it's just great all the time.  You love the lights, the music, the stacking.  Great, affordable toy

Sassy Snap and Squirt Sea Creatures
Great simple bath toys and great teethers!

Little Tikes 2 in 1 snug n secure swing (saw this at costco for $15!)
What simple fun, especially for $2!.  Can't wait to continue enjoying our outdoor patio time with you

Infantino Shopping Cart Cover (found it at marshalls on clearance for $12)
Keeps you safe and entertained with the toy clip and fits on to restaurant high chairs.