halloween 2010
Phew, I'm feeling spent after another great holiday. Trick or treating started at 3 today and at 4 Sammie was still napping, we thought she was going to miss the whole dang thing! But once she woke up I threw on her G costume and out we went. On second thought, her extended nap was a blessing since there was a Michael Myers sighting in my parents' area and when he was in the house she was none too pleased. Aside from that, she had a great time! About half way through as soon as she said thank you she would turn to me with a finger up and say "more!" Dylan held up the entire hour in the stroller in his monkey suit. And there was a wonderful meal waiting for us prepared by G&G Bolt once we got back, sweet.
ladies who lunch (w/out the lunch)
I took Samantha to Oakbrook for the first time today! I wasn't confident enough to venture out alone with her like that when it was nice in the fall. I needed to go to Crate and Barrel and thought it was a good temperature so off we went this morning. After 30 minutes in the car seat she let me know she was not having any of the stroller business I planned so I wandered around C&B holding her and pushing the stroller. It worked out I suppose since I used her stroller as my shopping cart. But since I had more to do after C&B I tried to put her in and luckily she complied. We were there early enough before the lunch hour so it was pretty empty. Just other women with their babies and some old people. I thought back to when I used to walk the mall during lunch at APL and I was so envoius of those ladies who lunch women. I personally am still far off from a lady who lunches, but it was fun to pretend today. And clearly anyone who actually goes out with a huge stain on their shirt is not a lady who lunches. Only once we got home did I happen to see catastrophe that was my outfit. Oh well. I hope people who saw me just chalked it up to the congested little baby I had on my hands.
What a day!
We had a great day! Of course we were off to a questionable start because Samantha woke up later than planned. But we managed to get her fed, bathed, walk Brody, get gas, and be on our way only 40 minutes late. Eek. You'd think we'd miss it, lol. We got there in great time and because she decided not to nap on the way there I didn't have to feed her before we walked to the river. We found a spot around dearborn and wacker right before 10:45 and Michelle, Josh, and Michelle's friend Laura met up with us. We thought we were golden. HA. About 40 minutes later we were still standing there and the river was still it's regular green. Finally I decided we'd had enough of just standing in the cold so after a few minutes of wandering around looking for other friends, we decided that the three of us were going to see if we could catch the parade. First we walked up the river a little further and tada, neon green river awaited us. To our surprise Samantha had fallen asleep in the stroller! Butch and I walked a bit and thought we found a great spot for the parade. It was about 20 minutes before we realized we were not even close to the parade. That's what yout get for following the crowd. It was getting late so we decided to get some lunch and then go home. Samantha only woke up after the second El went by on the way to lunch. She hung out with is in Cosi while we ate. Overall we had a wonderful time in the city even though nothing went like it was supposed to. That's life. The day made me more excited for the spring and summer than I already am. Samantha was great with the unexpected and I'd say that I did pretty well with it too. For the first time I breastfed in the public (I know, I know, only 6 months later)during lunch at Cosi and with no changing table in sight did with changing her diaper on a small area next to a sink. I'm so proud of how well she did.
We were only home for an hour before it was off to Chrissy's for Gungi and Grandpa's 50 Anniversary party!!! Another fun party, Samantha was a little crabby at this time. But wouldn't you know that by the time we got home she was all smiles. She's a stinker like that.
This is from her 1/2 birthday a few days ago on March 11
New Adventures
I feel like we just registered again! We are (95%) going to watch the river dyed green tomorrow so we are making sure everything's ready to go on Samantha's big girl stroller. We've adjusted the straps, played with the foot rest, practiced putting on the rain guard which we are hoping will act as a wind guard, and have it sitting waiting to go. I can't wait to start using it! It's the exact same feeling that I had after our shower. Pure bliss at the thought of using the baby goodies we had been gifted for our daughter. Ha, I told Adam that she'll probably hate being strapped in and after all our playing around one of us will end up carrying her the whole time. Oh well, it'll be ready to go when it warms up and we walk to the park! And go to the zoo! And go to Starved Rock! And go on family walks at night! And...you get the idea. Tomorrow is only the beginning.
It got super late but we really wanted to give Samantha some sweet potatoes. I think it's safe to say she really liked them. She was tired but her mouth was open waiting for each spoonful. And she ate her peas this morning! Success with two solid meals today.
The blog - or blurb or blag as my dad calls it sometimes 
- is getting around to more and more people. I have two choices. Continue to be honest about all my feelings and not leave anything out as we go forward raising Samantha. Or pull a typical Kathy and get embarrassed and make the blog less personal. For a few reasons I choose option A. First and foremost, this is my journal. I'm not writing down anywhere else all of the things Samantha does on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. I want to remember these times as thoroughly as possible including how it felt to watch Samantha hit all of her milestones as well as every day life. And lord help Adam if somehow this gets lost in cyberworld somewhere. Also because it's not as easy to get in contact with busy family and friends so the blog can keep those up to date that want to when they can. Another reason is I'm trying to be a more open person. How more open can I get letting family, friends, anyone who stumbles across this online to read about our lives unfiltered?