go go go
What a weekend. Friday night we took the kids to Lalo's for dinner. Dylan tried to eat my soup, Sammie ate all her rice and quesadilla and then we helped her with the ice cream that came with her meal. And then we remembered why we always say no to ice cream. She was crazy. Saturday we spent an Adam and Kathy day at the Northwestern homecoming game and night with the girls and hubbies while Sammie and D spent the day with their grandparents. Today we took our little giraffe and monkey to Boo! at the zoo w/ the grandmas and Ashley and then dinner at Ash&Vinnie's. My eyes are crossing as I sit here.
backblogged
Phew, it's been a while. Not a whole lot happened until this weekend though so not much missed. Samantha is teething and the little bugger just won't show itself. It's made for some pretty crabby days, messed up nonexistent naps, and awful nights. We all could use a break so hopefully the tooth decides to pop through soon.
But this was a great weekend! Saturday Michelle came over and hung out with the moose and we bbq-ed, yummy! Today we accomplished a lot; breakfast out, the zoo, and a trip to Auntie Ash's! It was really crowded once we got to the zoo but we managed to see a lot (tropic world, living coast, giraffes, kangaroos, aardvarks, bears...) and of course, the dinosaurs! Adam and I really liked the dinosaurs. Samantha was exhausted by this point so she just chilled in the maclaren looking at the other kids. She didn't nap before we got to Ash & Vinnie's but she did ok : ) We were there to meet little Ivy Avila! She's just the most adorable little puppy, a 7 week old shitzu. I don't envy the potty training they will now endure but it's so much fun to add a new little addition to the family.
That basically sums up the last five days...teething, bbq, zoo, new puppy. Oh, and plums. Success with plums.
lions, tigers, and bears oh my
We took Samantha to the zoo today : ) During our walk yesterday afternoon I thought we should take advantage of the weather we were supposed to have and suggested the zoo. It was great. I called Sue this morning to see if they wanted to go so it was us and Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Al. We saw the bears then rounded around to the dolphins and sea lions/seals, through the rain forest, past the tigers and lions, back through the pachyderm house, over to the camels and zebras, the bat house, reptile house, past the baboons on the way out. Samantha never fell asleep and by the reptile house she was getting antsy. As we were walking past the baboons she got pretty fussy so I took her out of the maclaren and strapped her into the baby bjorn for the walk back to Sue and Dave's.
I think she did great! We have a tons of pics of her and the animals. Ha, in the pachyderm house we were looking at the elephant. And by we I mean me and Sue. Samantha was mesmerized by the ceiling fan. Never mind the huge monstrous animal getting his feet cleaned. The ceiling fan was the most fascinating part of the exhibit. Don't get me wrong, Samantha did look at some of the animals around the zoo. Mostly she was happy people watching and playing with her paci. I had fun watching all the kiddos and the different strollers. One day we want a jogging stroller so I was eyeing the ones I saw, even asked a couple about theirs.
It's days like these that make me look to the future. I try to stay in the moment, but watching the friends walk with their babies in strollers made me happy for the days to walk the zoo with my friends and our babies together. The families I saw made me excited to bring Samantha and our future kids to the zoo on days just like today. It was definitely a good day.
Oh, and last night we took Samantha to Chili's with us! We consider it the first real time she was in a restaurant.
St Mary’s Round 2
We went to Jimmy Schwarzenberger's baptism today at St Mary's. The last time Samantha was at St Mary's was her baptism which was a disaster. She cried the entire service. This time, not so much!! She woke up as we were pulling in so I fed her in the car for convenience, we went in and she was good the whole time. She did throw her toys and paci on the floor and talked to us a little but she was so good. I finally found a few churches out here that I want to try and based on her last two times in a church I think we're at the point that we can bring her with. Plus with the weather getting warmer it'll be easier for us to take her out if she gets too fussy.
We stopped by to see Tia very quickly before making our way to Marie and Tim's. There was a ton of families celebrating, it was nice to be around them. There were two little girls that were obsessed with Samantha. Samantha just sat on us looking around at all the kids playing. We stayed for a bit then back home to get ready for the fam to come over. They gave me a great birthday gift...a zoo membership! Between this membership and my parents I think we'll be able to get Samantha's whole family in at the same time : )
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?
Spring Fever
I've never wanted it to be spring so badly. I can't wait to get out of the house with Samantha for walks, afternoons in the park, possibly walking the mall at Oakbrook. I am so over this winter. I've luckily had Samantha to keep my mind off the bitter cold and ridiculous snows, but we're both ready to get out of the house! Explore other places. I can't wait to take her to the zoo! There Is anew dinosaur exhibit at Brookfield Zoo, we'll definitely be there. Things that make me happy about the spring: warmer weather, trees blooming, evening walks with the family around the 'lake', and baby girl Augle!
I'm still not started on my project, it's just hard to find the time. I finally have my car back today, but I pulled a muscle in my neck this morning. The thought of getting Samantha ready to go out, carry around her carseat, bjorn her, shop with her in the bjorn, it's just not worth it. Hopefully next week sometime.