Samantha Claus

I haven't been able to get a good picture of her yet, but she loves wearing this Santa hat! It's so cute. Her hat from last year is way to small so she's wearing the adult size hat this year, and she thinks she's just so cool with it on, lol. She dances around and I sing "Sami Claus is coming to town" She's in the Christmas spirit, despite her rough month or so.


Sami has been sick for over a month now!! It's down right ridiculous! She started off with a little fever and what seemed mostly like a sinus infection. When we went to the Dr. they said she had an ear infection. So, we get a 10 day supply of antibiotics, that were so awful tasting no child should ever have to endure that for 10 days!
Back to the doctor to re-check the ear..infection still there. This round did however, cure the sinus infection so not all was wasted. So home we go with round 2 of 10 antibiotics...this time it's Amoxicill*n, aka the yummy pink stuff.
Two weeks later it's back to the doctor for her 18 month appt and a re-check of the ears again.
Infection still there....take another antibiotic for another 10 days and we will see you in a month...that was Friday.
Monday night after being on the meds 3.5 days She starts a low grade fever.
Tuesday, still a minor fever, and a little diarrhea. Give her some Motr*n and off to day care.
Wednesday...Velcro baby! 101.7 fever, and climbing. Diarrhea. No interest in eatting. Fussy beyond belief and can not be left alone or put down. I decide to call in and stay home with her to save the day care from a very long exhausting day...not that Sami was going to let me go anywhere with out her on my hip, anyway.
This morning, fever's at 102, but she seems to be acting better, so loaded with Motr*n, off to day care we go.
10am I get a phone call from day care, Sami has had diarrhea twice, but seems to be otherwise acting ok, just a little fussy.
I decide to call the doctor from work to see what else we should be doing for her...leave a message with the nurse.
Call back at 12:30, the doctor wants to see her at 3pm.
Call daycare, she had diarrhea one more time and is now napping.
1:15, pick Sami up from day care. She had one little spot by her eyebrow, but I thought nothing of it.
Drive toward home and stop at the store to waste some time before her appointment, and grab some more Pedialite.
Back in the car I notice another few spots on her neck and cheek...look like some sort of bite.
Get to the doctors and I explain the fever, endless antibiotics, and diarrrhea to the nurse. As the nurse walks out, I lift Sami up, holding her in front of the mirror, I lifted the back of her shirt to find that her whole back was covered in a rash! Lay her down on the table, change her diaper, her whole BODY is covered in a rash!!
The doctor comes in and I'm like she Just broke out in a rash!! I mean like JUST! like she was fine when I picked her up from day care, now she's COVERED!!

2 doctors later, she may or may not have the Chicken Pox! She was vaccinated for the Chicken pox, but apparently she needs 2 doses and they have only given her one. Doctors say that if it is the chicken pox it should not be this bad since she had one dose of the vaccine. They are thinking it may be an allergic reaction to the antibiotics. So no more antibiotics, only tylen*l and Motr*n, and we'll see how she does over the weekend. She goes back on Monday, unless it's worse tomorrow or over the weekend, then we go back immediately.

So for now we sit and wait. She's so uncomfortable, but such a trooper. she wouldn't even move until the motr*n kicked in. It hurt to stand or walk. Some of the spots on her look like big welts and are swollen, the others look like bug bites.
I don't know what else to do for her :( She's been sick for so long now and each week it seems to be something different.

The good news....her ear infection is finally gone.

Christmas tree lighting...

Name Game

I know we still have plenty of time, but I don't think this baby is ever going to get a name. I have literally looked at thousands of names and can not find anything that we agree on. Every day Ian and I are texting names back and forth, trying to think about what to name this little girl and we have nothing! We go to bed at night discussing names, we wake up discussing names. This is so hard! Sami's name was so easy for us and came so natural. All the names I want are taken by close family members, or are too over used. We liked Samantha because it was classic and pretty and not overly used.
The names I have today, but are certain to change tomorrow, lol...are
Nora Grace
and
Jessica Mary
I also started liking Victoria the other day too. I had always said no to this one before, but the other day out of no where I decided I liked it. But Ian and I are big on nicknames and neither of us like Vicki or Tori, so Victoria is out :(
Ian likes...
Jennifer
Kelli
and
Keiran
I think I'm having the toughest time cause I want it to just flow right with our last name, so the K and C names give me too much of a kah sound together with the last name and anything that ends in en, an, or in, are also too much with the last name.

I never though this would be so hard. I'm pretty sure I have looked at over 5000, names by now, it's so frustrating. So any and all suggestions are welcome, first and middle names.
Oh, and I'm not a big fan of anything that ends in y or ie, lol. I'm being way too picky!

Here are a few pics from the last few weeks.

Sami and I with Sc00by at the waterpark.

My little belly bump...it's much bigger this week, lol.

Sami girl

Looks like....

Another GIRL!!! Or so we think. It was a little hard to tell due to her position, but best guess is to plan on a little sister for Sami and Scott.
So far she looks just like Sami did. Even had her little feet crossed just like Sami always did and still does.
Everything is measuring right on track...17 weeks 6 days, and a due date sticking with April 25th. She's very active and was dancing all around during the ultrasound today. So cute. We have no clue on any names yet. Ian says he doesn't have to think about that until around April 15th, lol. Something tells me it's all I will think about until then! We had a boys name on the list but nothing for a girl. I think we were both a little shocked. Ian's face was priceless, I wish I had brought my camera to take his picture. He says he knew it was going to be a girl, but the look on his face said otherwise, lol.

How I feel

I'm outta here!

Enough!!

Her expressions totally visualize my feelings today! Still fighting this cold. Just miserable and struggling through the day. Why has my beautiful, perfect little girl become this toddler that has turned on me? How can she be so sweet and helpful one moment and then the exact opposite the very next moment? This is such a difficult age and I'm getting more and more scared about bringing a new baby into this trying time with a toddler. Life is so frustrating as a toddler, and as a mother of a toddler, lol. Some how in the past month Sami has become deaf to the tone of my voice...the sound of my voice...anything that comes out of my mouth really. She doesn't listen to me, but not only does she not listen, it's as though I don't even exist. I'm not really here speaking these words. In her world there is no Mama's voice. Louder, more stern, abrupt, softer, quiet, whispers...none of it works. The child totally blocks me out! UGH!!!
This is our real struggle right now. She's growing too fast and wanting to be so independent. Time outs are not working. She'll do her time. She'll apologize and give kisses. Then she'll go right back 5 minutes later and we start all over.
Our nights have been exhausting. We get home, unload (diaper bag, coats, shoes, purse, lunch bag, dog, baby girl) I start dinner and Sami heads off to the playroom. She embraces her toys, all of whom she longingly missed all day, and all seems right with the world. Once dinners ready it's a whole other night. Dinner is a fight. She wants to do it her self, she's frustrated when she can't. She wants to feed the dog. She will throw food on the floor, for no reason, then ask for more. She's refusing to eat any vegetable other than carrots. All meats are questionable, other than chicken or fish. One or two real bites and she's over the whole dinner time deal. She drops her fork, pushes her food onto the floor and then the plate. Oh, how I long for a meal where I don't have to say the words "no!" and "we don't throw food" and "Patches has her own food, that is Sami's food"
From there the night usually proceeds in the same tone dinner left us in. Don't climb the stairs, don't hit the dog, watch where you're going, you can't jump off the couch, don't throw toys...yada yada yada. Then it's bath time....ahhhhhh. For the most part this is always fun time for both of us, with the exception of the occasional out of control splashing and the fact that she believes the bathtub is secretly an amazing water slide, which results in her slipping and sliding all over the place. After the bath it's round 3 and we fight to get her dryed, diapered, lotioned, and dressed. Then we brush the teeth (she's pretty good there, only fight maybe once a week on this, lol) and of course the hair, she can't go to bed with out brushing her hair. We grab the blankey and head to her room. I turn on the waterfall light show, she leans in and kisses me goodnight..........and my heart melts..... and all is forgotten with the day.
Tomorrow we start again, 6:30am.

It's amazing how that one little kiss at the end of the day can remind you of all the amazing, remarkable things she's done throughout the night that I was able to witness and be a part of and share with her. The smiles, the laughs, the amazement in her eyes when she looks to you because she's discovered something new. I'll cherish it all...always.

Late pics

Better late than never...right? Here are a few pics from Halloween. I couldn't get any good ones of Sami in her costume because she would just not sit still long enough for anything! She was so excited and did so well. She loved going from house to house and being out walking at night...even though she didn't get to eat any of the candy, lol. ( what a mean mommy I am :()

We have an appointment this Friday at the OB. Just a regular pre-natal exam. I felt the baby move last Wednesday for the first time! I think I was around 16-18 weeks when I felt Sami for the first time, this one was just barely 15 weeks!! Crazy. It was so crazy to feel that little flutter again, and I've been feeling it multiple times throughout the day everyday since. The 21st is our big ultrasound!! I'm sure I mentioned that before but I just can't wait!
Sami was sick last week and now I am sick (fever, sore throat, head ache, body aches...the whole nine!) and Ian is getting sick too and the daycare provider is sick as well...UGH! Thank God tomorrow is a bank holiday and I don't have to work because I don't know how I could possibly make it through the day. Pray that this sickness leaves us all tomorrow!!

My poor blog :(

It's so neglected around here. Things have really gotten away from me and life is just so busy that I don't have a moment to think, let alone blog.
Ian got his promotion at work. So he is now traveling a lot and out of town for 2-3 nights a week. I was going to leave my job, due to daycare arrangements (Ian was picking Sami up most nights and with his new job, he can't always be home to pick her up) But....my job changed my schedule to work around the day care schedule so all is right with the world.

So, I'm working full time, Ian is traveling part time, Sami's in day care...and life goes on. We are still trying to get into some type of routine around here to have some kind of order in our lives, but I don't see it happening any time soon. Hahaha.
We still have our house on the market and are still looking to sell, however there is no longer the stress of "needing" to sell the house now. Obviously, the market is not favorable to sell a home right now so needless to say we haven't had any luck in this market. We shall see what the future months bring.

Sami is doing great, growing like crazy and her personality is just exploding. She is SOOO silly and has such a funny personality. She is talking non-stop, but it's all babble and baby non-sense. She loves to try out new words though and repeat you when she can. Tonight she said "Shadow" it's so awesome to hear her try new words and repeat after us when she asks what something is. She loves her animals and will tell you what sound they make. For Halloween she was an adorable little lion and she would "Roooaaaarrr" when asked what the lion says. She LOVED trick-or-treating and was a real trooper going from house to house with her brother, who was her official "Candy Collector" lol. She has no idea that people we actually giving her candy, as she's never had any before. When we got back to the house and her cousins and brother were digging into their loot, Sami was overjoyed with having her good 'ol snack trap of animal crackers, lol. If only she knew...

The pregnancy is going well so far. I've been feeling fine, but don't really have time to even think about being pregnant, since Sami, work and the farm keep me busy at all hours of the day. We are scheduled for our next ultrasound on the 21st!! I can't wait! Hopefully, Ian will be able to make it, which I'm sure he wouldn't miss it for the world. So we're all excited to see our new little baby on the big screen.


So that's it for now, just crazy, crazy, crazy and busy, busy, busy. No time to think. No time to write. And no projections of anything slowing down anytime soon.

Pumpkin carving

Sami's Lil' Jack

Scott's Pumpkin

Looking for the perfect one...

I can't believe how big he is now!! OMG.

Cider donuts!!!

Mmmmm

She LOVED the animals!

Pumpkin picking

9 weeks 4 days

So Wednesday night the spotting returned. Still very light, but I couldn't wait any more. First thing Thursday morning I called and scheduled a sonogram for Friday morning. Friday I woke up to more spotting....much, much more. I was terrified. I thought for sure that it was the end, it was all over. I packed Sami up, got the snacks, cup and toys to keep her busy at the doctors office and off we went. Sitting in the waiting room, surrounded by pregnant women, and a 6 week old new born and new mom, I probably could have lost it, but my little princess kept me too busy to even think about why we were there or what fate was a waiting us, and the smiles and admiration I saw on the other women's faces let me know that I am truly blessed and lucky to have my beautiful little girl and that would pull me through anything.

Finally, they call us in and we get our selves situated in the room and start the show.

Immediately I could see the head of the baby and I sighed my first half-hearted sigh of relief...then the sweet little flicker...another sigh...then the sound, and the measurement....171 bpm...perfect!!! So as we look around and measure the baby I can see the little hands moving and feet kicking and then the smile a mile wide and the tears of relief start coming. I was in complete shock and just out of my mind with happiness. So here's the sneak peak of our little peanut...

So we searched and searched and found nothing...no reason for the bleeding, no explanation, just some amazing little pictures and word that our little peanut is perfect. The baby measures 9 weeks 4 days, which is just about right on from my LMP and due date...on Friday I would have been 10 weeks by my LMP.

The rest of the weekend, I've had nothing. No spotting, no problems. Then Ian left again for LI....and literally minutes after he pulled out of the driveway, it started again! I'm beginning to think I'm losing my mind. Is it emotional spotting? lol...does that exist? What the heck could it be?

It has slowed down again and is very light, and I'm still in no pain or discomfort, so we shall see what the week brings.

Keep us in your prayers.

Day by Day

Sami's tooth still hasn't broke through, but no more fever so that's good. She's been wanting to eat non-stop, which happened before with her top molars coming in.

I've been feeling ok...had a little bit of light spotting for about 3 days, but no cramping. I had the same thing with Sami, around the same time...weird, I wonder what causes it. Dr.'s said last time that it's probably just some blood vessels rupturing and passing, no big deal. Of course this time it happened on the weekend, and I felt fine, so I wasn't going to spend 12 hours in the ER, then Monday when I was going to call the doctor, it stopped. So I'm just taking it easy, and trying not to stress. Been fine ever since.
I've been trying to use the doppler, but no luck yet, it's still really early. I swear I can hear something though. Either I have a really noisy digestive system, or I can hear the baby moving. I hear real quick distant sounds of a heartbeat swoop by, but nothing that you could be certain of.

I don't go back to the doctor until the 8th, so it will be a long wait until then. On the other hand, I start work on Monday and Sami goes to daycare, so I know it will go by fast.

We are finally out of our contract with our real estate agent (Thank you Laurie!!!) and have moved on to what we hope is a much better agent. Hopefully this new agent will be able to help us, and we are hoping to hear news on where Ian's job will lead him in the next few weeks. So we can start to move forward and figure out where to start our future. Then I'm sure I'll be dying to know what we're having so that we can start planning, planning, planning...for this baby. For now, it's just kind of on the back burner, so to speak. It's just one thing we can't really think about right now. Honestly, I don't think it's even really set in that we are going to be having another little one soon. It still just doesn't feel real. It feels like this is something that we should be more stressed about, but honestly we're just not. Not sure why...maybe it's because there are just too many other things to stress about right now, lol.
So for now...we just keep going with the flow. Taking life day by day, and dealing with whatever it decides to throw at us. One thing at a time.

Announcement!!!

Sami POOPED on the POTTY!!!! OMG
Big news people!! Big, BIG news!
We're not really potty training, and I think that it has more to do with her amusement with farting, but still! My 15 month old pooped on the potty!!!! lol
She loves her little potty seat, and we have it in the bathroom right across from the real potty. Daddy put her on the potty a couple weeks ago cause she kept going in there when he would go to go to the bathroom..so he took her diaper off and gave her a chance, but nothing. Well, ever since then, every time I go to the bathroom, she comes running in and takes the cover off her potty and sits on it. So tonight I thought, what the heck, I'll give her a try too. Put her on the pot, and I sat down to do my business and told her to go potty and sure enough...she did!

She's been dramatically amused by her own toots lately, so much so that she will push until she turns red, just to hear the most delightful sound of her own gas. Yep, she's quite a lady.
So honestly, I think she was really looking for a good laugh and got more than she bargained for, but I was impressed!

So, there you have it...poop in the potty...my big announcement! LOL

Well, I tried

I tried to upload a video of Sami dancing to "If you're happy and you know it." But of course blogger won't work. I don't get it...maybe it's me, but the blogger video upload never works! UGH!

So..and update. I am still feeling nauseous, although less so, but it's still there, and now am more fatigued everyday. It stinks being do tired and lethargic on some days.

We finally found a day care for Sami, and as the start date gets closer and closer, I am getting more and more nervous. I love that she will be able to spend her days with other kids and play with them and I know she will learn so much from that interaction, but...I just wish it was under my supervision. I also know that she will benefit from the separation from me and a different routine...but still....no one can love her like me! So throw in the extra pregnancy hormones and there you have it...I'm dreading this!

I know she will be safe and cared for and I have confidence in her day care provider, but it just won't be the same. We got the chance to go yesterday and spend a few hours at daycare so Sam could meet some of the other kids and play for a bit. It was nice, but still a little hard for me to gauge how things work on a daily basis, since the day care provider spent most of the time chatting with me, but her assistant was all about the little ones, so that was nice. I kind of get the feeling that the assistant is the lovey one and she is the rule setter. Anyway, Samantha had fun, and I think she will like it overall.

What else? What else?....well, Ian is going away for 2 weeks for work, but will be home on the weekends :( Normally it would be fine, but this means he will be gone for my first week of work, and Sami's first week of day care :( Hope I make it through the week ok, I'll just have to go to bed at night when Sami goes, lol, cause I know I'm going to be exhausted!

No other word on Ian's job. We are meeting with a new real estate agent on Saturday to hopefully, get this house on track and sold. Hopefully we will hear something soon about Ian's job so we can start figuring out where the heck we're going from here.

The details...

Ok....So as far as we know I am about 6 or 7 weeks preggers. I am going to the Dr. on Wednesday, and my suspected due date is April 24th. While Ian and I were both pretty much in shock for the first week, we are all very happy and excited to have this new baby joining our lives. There has been so much going on and I am so far behind in the blog world.
Ian and I brought the kids (Scott and Sami) to Niagara falls two weeks ago. We had a great time and the weather was beautiful. The kids were very well behaved and it was just and overall great time...well, except for the second day when Sami got up at 3am....for the day! That was a bit rough especially since we're all in one hotel room. The first night she woke up at around 6am and Ian got up with her and took her out for a walk so Scott and I could sleep. The 3am shift was my turn and we went for a 3 hour walk!!! Fun times! LOL.
I have a ton of pics...I'll have to post later.
While in Canada I got a call for a job offer, and will be going back to work on the 29th. Which means Sami will be going to day care, and I have been doing nothing but searching for a good one ever since. While it is killing me to bring her to day care, I really think that it will be better for both of us. Bringing in some money will help our household, and Sami being with other kids will help her socially too.
So, our house is still for sale...our real estate agent is the worst we've ever had and we're stuck with her until December. We have no news on Ian's job and are in the dark about what is to happen next with his company...guess we'll know more on 11/22, lol. Ian has gone back to school and started classes a few weeks ago. He's determined to get all A's and is pretty much addicted to school, lol. He's doing great!
He had Pneumonia this past week and is still recovering, but feeling much better now. I have been having my own battle with nausea all week. I don't remember feeling this sick with Sami, but I was already working at the time and therefore I was a lot busier. Sometimes I think that it might just be because I'm home and have time to think about it. If I stay moving it's not as bad.

Sami is getting more and more defiant, and proving that she is her own entity. She is determined to do things her way. It has been a bit of a struggle, but for the most part she's still a really good baby. She likes to exercise her voice and her opinion. She still eats non stop and LOVES food! Carrots or bananas are her most favorite things. Veggies are harder to get her to eat...other than carrots and peas, and sweet potatoes. She has yet to turn down any kind of fruit, well except Kiwi, but we haven't tried that one in awhile.
She runs all over the place and LOVES to Dance, Dance, Dance! It is the funniest thing to watch. She also loves to stomp her feet. If you're happy and you know it Stomp your feet!...She loves it, lol. She is trying very hard to jump....also very amusing to watch. She tries with all her might, but can only seem to get one foot off the ground at a time, lol. Too cute.

So there you have it...the short version of what's been going on with us. Everything in life is crazy right now and we are just taking things one day at a time....that's all you really can do. We know everything will work out just fine and we have a lot of loving and supporting family to help us through, so there are no worries on that front.

Here are a few pics of the princess outside the other day. She was having a dance party all on her own. I took a few videos I'll try and get them to upload later, when I have more time...right now it's off to call more day cares!

Cheeeeeessse!

All Done!

Guess What!