Preparing Wyatt

Tonight Wyatt had his first of, I am sure, many lessons. As I was working in the kitchen I overheard Nathan tell Lauren she was his pretty baby. Soon after the sweet Daddy-Daughter moment, I heard the following lesson. "Wyatt, one day when you grow up, you are going to have to help Daddy keep the boys away from Lauren". It continued some more and then ended with them practicing - "No, you are not going to date my sister" followed by a big growl. He practiced lots with Nathan. I had to get it on film, but he wouldn't quite do it the same once I got the camera out. This gives you a snapshot though. I feel sorry little Lauren when she grows up. Or do I?? I had a dad and four older brothers - I survived!!! Oh, and sorry the picture is sideways. I can't get my videos to rotate. I'll try to correct it once I chat with my friend Molly - she's my expert!!

First Bath Together

Wyatt and Lauren's first bath together! I'm sure there are many more to come - they both loved it!!

In Her Words - 4 months

Every birthday month, I had hoped to do a little update of Lauren since she changes so much each month. As I mentioned before, the reason I am doing this blog is to (a) share pictures and updates with friends/family and (b) to have something to print out for Wyatt and Lauren. Well, since we were in Scottish Rite for Lauren's 4 month birthday, I forgot her monthly update. And since they have both been sick since then (again).....I've been too busy or exhausted to blog.




From Lauren's eyes.....

Hello. From the time period of turning 3 months and 4 months, I have changed alot. I continue to be a happy baby. If I can just catch someone's attention, I flash a great big smile. It must be contagious because even those who look unhappy at first always seem to smile right back. In fact, they usually come talk to me. If I laugh, you better watch out because my laugh is definitely contagious too. Even my brother will laugh back in the middle of one of his two moments. My mommy calls them terrible two moments. I just think he is trying get what he wants and I am watching closely and taking notes.

My daddy calls me Smiles or Smiley. My mommy calls me her sweet, beautiful baby or ladybug. On the weekends, I love to nap in my daddy's arms. I wish I could see him more during the week, but I sleep until 9 or 10 AM (yes, you read that correctly) and I go to bed at 7ish. When he walks in the door at night, I'm often on my way to bed.

I'm jealous of my cousin Wade. He has all of this long, thick hair. I have all of these cute bows, but can't wear them. One day. Wade's birthday is coming up. Maybe I will let him borrow them for his party! :) I love to sit up and if you try to lean me back, I will strain my neck to try to sit up. If I am awake, I want to be looking around. How much longer do I have to wait until I can sit up on my own without this blue chair? I ask my mommy that often by looking her in the eyes with this certain expression. It's amazing how I can talk to her without even talking.

I hate winter. I'm ready to go outside again, and I am sick of being sick. I have bronchiolitis again and my mommy makes me sleep in her room because she is afraid of my breathing at night. I found my toes this month and hold onto them all of the time. I seem to be getting chubbier and chubbier. My mommy and daddy love it and often massage my little, well big, thighs. I love to watch big kids and I am gaining a huge interest in toys on my jumper and bouncer. Well, that's me. I'll be back in a few when I turn 5 months!!

MLK Weekend

It's that time of year for our annual ski trip. Only this year, I didn't go. Due to Lauren being so little and Jessica (our friends that we always travel with) being pregnant; the girls stayed home this year and the boys went on a ski trip to Colorado. I think a total of 6 guys hit the slopes in Vail. Nathan seems to be having a blast, but he has missed his little ones terribly. I think he missed me too! Next year, we hope to go as a family. Nathan thinks that by next year, Wyatt would love ski school. I may have to join him. Below are some pics of our last years trip. Yes, I'm just day dreaming about being there!!!





Since Nathan went on a boys trip, I decided to head to SSI to visit my family. My brother and his two daughters also made the trip, so Wyatt has had a BLAST playing with all of his cousins. Since the day we left, Wyatt has had another runny nose. Unfortunately, Lauren is now starting to get one. Are we going to have one day this winter without someone sick?? I sure hope so!!

Here is the crew:



All we want for Christmas are our two front teeth:



Samantha and baby Lauren:

We are HOME

We are home! We are home!! Thank God we are home. After several nights at Scottish Rite, we finally got the approval to come home. Lauren, Wyatt, Nathan and I could not be more excited.


Here is a pic right after Lauren was told she was going home:


And our trip from our room to the car:






Our adventure to Scottish Rite was a reminder of just how lucky we are for our health. Although Lauren was sick, I knew it was temporary and that we would be home as soon as she fought off the virus. As you walk the halls at Scottish Rite, you see families and children that may not be as lucky. It's just so sad to see a sick child. If you have spare money or time, I recommend you explore donating to this amazing hospital.

The day didn't get much better....

Well, my Tuesday didn't get much better after I posted my last blog. In fact, if I could go back and have days full of my dog eating Wyatt's poo, vomit everywhere, missing shredded wheat, no showers and carrying two babies around on each hip; I would. Tuesday night, in the middle of the night, I had to take Baby Lauren to the Scottish Rite Emergency Room. She appeared to have a difficult time breathing and that was confirmed when I arrived in the ER. Even with medication, her breathing didn't improve so we found ourselves a new home on the 4th floor. We have been here ever since. Lauren has maintained a smile every day despite how bad she has felt. In fact, when the admitting doctor came into our room, Lauren flashed him a great big smile. He replied, "Am I in the right room? There is no way this is the baby that is running a fever, has RSV and has oxygen levels in the low 80s." They want the oxygen levels to be above 93-95. Well, that's my Lauren. For those who know her, she is just a calm, happy baby. I'm so blessed. Every day, Lauren has made progress. I think she should be home by Sunday, if not tomorrow. I will keep you posted. Unfortunately, Lauren had to spend her 4 month birthday in the hospital. I took the below picture of her on her birthday. This was after she got her oxygen removed -thank goodness. She was not a fan of having the oxygen attached to her face. As you can see, she is waving to the camera with her IV arm. She is going to miss having that permanent toy attached to her arm. She loves banging it against the crib and watching the wires move all around. Today they removed the fluid from the IV. I'm hoping she will make progress with her nursing so that they don't have to hook it back up.

Wyatt has come to visit Lauren and to view her boo boo. Thankfully we are blessed to have an amazing family. My brother kept Wyatt one day, and Nonna and GG have had him ever since. Wyatt LOVES his Nonna and GG, so that really helps to relieve any stress. I miss my buddy but feel a peace because he is with them. My mom may head up tomorrow morning to stay with him for the remainder of the weekend, if Lauren needs to stay longer. THANKS to everyone for your kind comments and prayers!!

The day I found myself daydreaming about going back to work....

Yesterday was a day that I wish I could erase. Every event seemed comical when it was over, but I still ask myself....did all of that really happen?
Wyatt got sick, so of course, Lauren got it too!!
We woke up yesterday morning and she sounded terrible, despite the fact that she seemed so much better on Sunday in comparison to Saturday. With that said, I decided to take her to the doctor. Dr. Knox said she had RSV, did a breathing treatment and sent us on our way with a prescription in hand. He says it may take a few weeks for her to get completely better and gave me a list of things to look out for.
We got home and my baby that usually goes with the flow, wanted to be held all day long. Not only did she want to be held, but she wanted me to be standing and walking at all times. I didn't mind, I just wished she could get better. I hate to see my babies sick. With my hands tied, my day proceeded with this:
I came downstairs, and Wyatt was holding a Shredded Wheat bag. He says, "Puppy likes this one mommy." He repeated it over and over. I thought to myself, oh he gave her a few pieces. I soon found out that no, he poured out the remainder of the bag. Everywhere I walk on the hardwoods, particles of shredded wheat stick to my feet. In a few areas, the floors are sticky. It must be where Macy tried to lick up all pieces.
I got puked on 3 times yesterday due to Lauren getting gagged while coughing. Wyatt also gagged to the point that he puked, but that barely missed my foot and instead went on our bedroom carpet. Fun!!
Wyatt is officially potty trained when you let him be naked. If I am home, I let him run all over the house naked and he uses the potty as needed. Usually he announces every time he does it and we do this PeePee in the Potty dance. Yesterday, however, he did not formally announce. Wyatt decided to help me with my laundry. (he is a great helper). I threw the clothes on the floor for us to fold and he jumped on them. I asked him to get off and he quickly responded. As he moved, however, I noticed a little poopoo on the clothes. So, yes, I had to re-wash all of the clothes. I wasn't sure what that came from until I went downstairs to see that Wyatt, my big boy, went poo poo in the potty. Due to my hands being full, I didn't clean it right away. BIG mistake because my dog decided to start the job for me. Yes, she ate one of the turds. As Wyatt said, "that's a big one mommy."
You know the shredded wheat that was eaten by my beautiful dog and the turd she ate?? Well, that must not have agreed with her tummy, because there are 4 separate puke marks on a rug that I had planned to sell. It was in Wyatt's original nursery and was in perfect condition. I had temporarily brought it out for GeoTown. I guess it will now be a permanent part of GeoTown. That was real fun cleaning. I'm still working on it today!!

Poor Nathan. After a stressful day at work, he come home to a wife that looked like she had been through a tornado. The house resembled a tornado too!! Obviously, I could not take any pics of the day. So, just imagine this.....I never brushed my hair, never brushed my teeth, I was wearning an over sized t-shirt (I went though all of mine yesterday and the others were in the wash for a second time that day), no socks (it's much easier to clean throw up off of bare feet) and a child attached to both hips. There is more I could share about my day, but I've already started to repress it in my memory. Whew....lets hope today goes smoother.

One day I won't be afraid of Santa

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. We have been extremely busy (one or more parties every weekend) this past month. We have had a great month, but are ready for things to calm down. We spent Christmas Eve with Nathan's family at his mom's house. Christmas day was an adventure. First we woke up VERY early (thanks Wyatt) to find wonderful gifts under our tree. Even though Wyatt accidently hit Santa in his privates (yes, his privates); he still surprised him with a minature GeoTown. Wyatt was so excited. So excited that we had to encourage him to open more gifts. He just wanted to play with his new GeoTrax. Santa brought Nathan a Wii which has been fun for us all. My shoulder and arm were sore - yes, I am that out of shape. After enjoying our gifts from Santa, we headed over to Nathan's dads house to say Merry Christmas and then on to his mom's house for breakfast and more gifts. We stayed there until it was time to be back at my house to host dinner for my family. Whew-it was busy. Unfortunately my parents have the camera with all of the photos from Christmas. I will have to post those later. I will, however, leave you with Santa pics. As you can see, nothing has changed much. Wyatt is just a little older. Although Wyatt is all about Santa before getting to Santa, he freaks when it's his turn to say hello.

2007:


2008: