Back at home

And Daddy made me pose with this:




What is this daddy? (A rugby ball)



Samara working on her small motor skills.



She is so happy in her pink outfit!

Where have we been?

MN, that's where. I took Samara back home for the week to hang with the fam and relax while Trav went to Madison and Chicago for work. Since I have only two more weeks left with Samara at home before I return to work, I thought I would take advantage of the time when Trav is gone to get in some Grandma and Grandpa time.

We visited with Samara's great grandma Lilly, grandpa and grandma Vickerman, and grandpa and grandma Swanson, aunt Shelle and cousins Kenny and Michael at their cabin up north. Everyone was amazed at how big she is getting and how interactive she is now.



Great grandma Lilly, amazed at Samara's little fingers!



Samara acting quite cool!



Such big eyes!!

Grandpa Jerry is blowing at Samara's wispy hair and she loves it!

Trav hard at work

Trav wanted me to put on these pics from him working in Germany on the 70 meter pump, the largest pump in the industry. I think he looks rather handsome in that hard hat!

The 70 meter!! OOHH, AAHH!

The pump hard at work in Deutschland.

That's my husband!!

Peek-a-boo

Samara wanted to play hide-n-seek today when Trav came home. Can you find her?

She also wanted to take a picture in Daddy's office chair in her cute summer dress. So we emailed that to Trav to brighten up his day!

Travis in Chicago

Trav had to go to Chi-town today for work and took these amazing pictures from up top on Trump Tower (under construction) in downtown (floor 86 with no fencing!).



Looking south towards Navy Pier and Adler Planitarium.




Sears Tower, looking northwest.



Hancock Center, looking southeast.



This pic is going up in our house!!



Trump Tower

Just another day...

...Samara slept through the night again and continues to breastfeed like a champ. You have no idea the stress that is relieved just by her breastfeeding!!!

Here are some pictures from yesterday and today. We just loved the outfit with the hat, even though the hat barely fit (yellow outfit).



I am posing for you!



Look at me!



Oh, don't you just love my hat!



Sleep, at long last!



Such a little person in such a big bed!

Finally!

Samara slept right through the night! Trav put her down at 9:30p and she didn't wake up till 5:30a, and I had to wake her up to eat then! She was knocked out again until 9a when I woke her up again to get ready to go out. Seems like the shots exhausted her! Anyway, she was fine until this evening, when she got crabby and spiked a slight fever (100.5). But she is breastfeeding really well today, best ever, so we are very proud of her. Needless to say my car is down and out again- We were lucky to get it home today! One good thing, one bad thing...

Vitals: Samara is now 9lbs. 10 oz., 21 1/2 inches. She continues on the 25th% for weight and height and jumped to the 30% for head circumference. Mommy has a large head, also!

So we are having date night Friday and what a great idea I had: a drive-in! She can sleep the whole time, feed without interruption (even breast feed), I can pump without interruption, and we can still have some quality time together! I can't wait!

SHOTS FIRED!

Samara had her 2-month check-up today and it sucked! She had three shots and I have never heard her cry so hard that she couldn't cry anymore! Thankfully Trav was there, because I was a bucket of mess. She slept quite a bit for the rest of the day and hasn't seemed to spike a fever yet. But I have to say that was almost as difficult as when she was in the ER and getting poked for an IV! I HATE SHOTS!

Our trip to downtown Racine

Samara and I accompanied Trav to downtown yesterday. I really needed to get out of the house! We went exploring while Trav worked out at the Y and here is what we found:

Here is a beautiful church we found.

Samara enjoying the fountain and occasional spray.

The fountain near the lakefront.

Samara's First Hiking Trip

For Father's Day today we took Mara on her first hiking trip. Granted it was only 2 miles (because of rain), but we came out of it with ticks on us; now that is real hiking!



Samara in her hiking gear and Daddy shirt, ready to go!




Samara and Daddy ready to hit the trail.



Samara and Trav in the wild.



Samara after a long day of hiking! 'I am so tired, Daddy!'

Happy Father's Day!

Samara wanted to send along wishes to her grandpa's, Archie, Jerry and Jim. So we took some video of her wishing you all a great Father's Day! She also wanted to have a 'so serious' picture taken of herself =)

Twins Win

Samara is all ready for another Twins Win at Miller Park today against the Brew Crew, thanks to Grandpa Archie. Trav convinced me that she is a tad but small to tote to the park to watch the game, so we are parking in front of the TV tonight to watch Mauer and Morneau beat up Fielder and Braun!

I am Two Months Old!

Yeah! Trav made it home safely from Germany with a new elephant, Ellie, for Samara and a wicked cold. Samara and I had fun entertaining our friends Grant and Beth and their children Allie, Tony, Ryan and Melody until Trav flew in. We also celebrated Samara's two month birthday! She is now starting to actually fit in her 0-3 month onesies!

Birthday Wishes and Crazy Mornings!

Oh Man! What a morning. Besides that Mara didn't make it through the night, only to 4:15am, she pooped all over her changing table, peed on it (but I didn't know this!) and got herself all dirty. And we just took a bath last night! When I lifted her up to get her dressed, she was soaked on the back. She had secretly peed all over the table! So we had fun with another bath!

Anyway, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of friends of mine from high school, Beth and Grant and their kids for the night. Then tomorrow Daddy comes home!! I guess he has a new toy for Mara, an elephant he named 'Ellie.'

So instead of sending out birthday and anniversary cards this month, I will give out wishes here: Happy Birthday Grandma June, Shelle, Kristen (Big 3-0!), Aunt Jane, Rachel, and Kenny. Happy Anniversary to Gary and Angie Hong, Derek and Stephanie Sullivan, Dad and Judy, Robert and Tiffany Crim and Joel and Katie Amidon!

Sleep, wonderful sleep!

Oh the joys of sleep! Samara is fantastic! She slept from 9:30p-5:30a! My goal wsa 6a, so she did great! I massaged her, fed her and put her down at 9:30 then gave her another bottle at 11p, called a 'dream feed' because she doesn't wake up to feed, but her sucking reflex kicks in and she takes the food anyway. I did this to 'tank her up' so she wouldn't wake up hungry at 2a (all Baby Whisperer techniques). Granted, I still had to get up at 2:30a to pump, but it was great to see her sleep so well!

She had a great day hanging out with my work friends at lunch yesterday. Elizabeth was finally able to meet her, but Mara couldn't convince her to have another baby! Here is a pic of my friends, from L-R: Auntie Rachel, Auntie Elizabeth, Auntie Jen.

More for Daddy!

Here are more pics and a video from today. Samara was playing boxing with her butterflies on her activity mat. The pics are my attempt to catch her smiling.

Discipline

So when should I start disciplining Samara? I was thinking today. Let me explain.

She hasn't taken a nap all morning, since she woke up at 6am. She is bright-eyed, cooing like crazy, looking around and having a good ol' time! We went to Wal-Mart, thinking she would fall asleep on the car ride, but that was the only time she was asleep! So we got home, fed, changed and I put her down for some sleep so I could rest and put the groceries away. Well, that didn't work, so I resorted to putting her in her bouncer for a nap. When I was getting her out of her crib to put her in the bouncer, she smiled at me and seemed to almost laugh without making a sound, as if to say 'Ha Ha, got you to pick me up! Sucker!' Now if she was older, she would be in trouble for this, but, honestly, this is so cute, I just laughed at her, which made her smile more!



This is a picture of Samara asleep for about 5 minutes today. Oh Man!.....



And of course, no blog would be complete without another pic of Quakley, Samara's duck. This is for Trav, since we are sure he is missing Quakley!

This one's for you, Dad!

Trav is in Germany this week, so Samara is giving him a 'shout-out' from home with some pictures.

Our weekend has been hectic, only because of the endless storms rolling through. As I am typing, I am watching another storm come in through the office window! Luckily, softball was cancelled today, cause I couldn't play anyway (no one to watch Mara). Friday Samara spent the afternoon hanging in the bathtub while the sirens went off. Saturday we headed to Chicago to drop Trav off and made it home just before the tornado sirens went off in Illinois and the torrential downpours started here. Today we weren't as lucky, as when we got out of church, it was pouring. I have never seen it rain so hard, I couldn't see the streets, curbs or any other cars. Luckily we made it home, it just took a long, long time!! Fun thing, Samara had her first taste of Sunday School today. I really wanted to have some adult time at church today, so Mara went to Children's Church. She slept the entire time!!

Anyway, we miss you so much, Daddy! Come home quick and don't have too much fun without us!

Oh, I am so mad Mommy is making me pose for this picture! This is a shirt the lactation department gave Samara, and she finally can fit in it!

A close-up of said shirt.

Mara playing on her gym mat, working on lifting her head up.

Mara showing us how strong she is!

Mara has fun every morning in front of her mirror while I get ready. It is so fun to see her eyesight get better every day and the new things she can see. This mirror keeps her occupied for almost an hour sometimes!

PS: Wish us luck on trying to get Samara to sleep through the night. I figure this week is a good week to try, since Trav won't be bothered if it doesn't work and I can take lots of naps during the week and not worry about making dinner! I am going to try the 'Baby Whisperer' technique. I'll let you know how it goes!!

PPS: Why are birds so dang greedy! They go through the feeder food in one day, so now I am out again! I think that I will just let them suffer for a few days! I can't keep up with Samara's feeding and the birds! Come On!

Was that a smile?

During breakfast, Trav was playing with Samara and I think she smiled while I was taking some video of her and Trav. You be the judge. She did a great job of mimicking Trav's noises and seemed to be having quite a good time!

We also included a picture of her watching TV, the Brewers game. We were looking for Trav on TV, since he was 6 rows behind home plate!!