we are alive... I promise

we have just been super busy lately. for the past 2 months we have been on the go - here and there - rush rush rush. I have been meaning to blog about Miss Samantha and our family adventures for some time, but just have not the time to sit down, download the pictures and write a "story" to go along with the events of the day.

SOOOO, buckle your seatbelts, you are about to get bombarded with pictures and posts

HAPPY EASTER!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! We had a great one here. As you can see, we were successful with the Easter Bunny this year and got a great shot of the little bear in her Easter outfit. It took us forever to get through the line because everyone kept commenting on her attire! What can I say... we LOVE playing dress up with that little girl :) :)

Samantha got an Easter basket FULL of delicious Stage 1 baby food and a dvd... very exciting stuff. But, she seems impressed and that is all that matters. We spent the day relaxing and finished cleaning the house in preparating for Wednesday (I'll get to that in a minute) .

As most of you know, Samantha turned 7 months on the 7th of this month and she is starting to hit some milestones... she is starting to sit up all on her own for good periods of time; she's starting to roll from back to side and then back again; and she's starting to figure out the whole crawling thing... but not there yet. She's discovered her voice and is babbling away! I think she has said "da-da" a couple of times, but Gregg is in denial as she is "too young" to be forming words. I think he is in denial as he doesn't want her growning up at all! HA

Miss Samantha is starting to get the hang of the whole rice cereal "adventure." And I have to say, she is definately one of those that gets all into her food. Apparently, I can't get the spoonful of food into her mouth quick enough and she needs to help out with her mouth AND hands!!! Needless to say, there is always a bath at the end of each meal :)

Now for the big news that I alluded to earlier. This coming Wednesday, Samantha is having ear tubes put in. Gregg took her to see the top ENT last Tuesday and he said she needed to have the tubes ASAP as her ears were pretty bad. According to the Dr, it was imperrative that Sam have the tubes since she was a preemie because the ear infections might not just be bothering her ears, but also her tummy - as her tummy is not fully developed yet from being so young still. He told Gregg that when she cries, it might not be the pain in her ears, but the pain in her tummy... poor thing!!!

I know that having the tubes is the best thing possible for Samantha, but the thought of having to take her back into a hospital is killing me. I know that the surgery is only going to take an hour tops from the time she leaves us until she is back in our arms... but I can't stand the thought of going back in to a hospital and leaving her side for a second. She's already had to go through so much in such a short span of time... I just wish there was another way to solve the problem. But, I know that as long as I have Gregg by my side Wednesday morning I will find the strength to put on a brave face and not shed a tear and be the "strong momma" that I can be - just like I was when she was in the NICU.

Sorry for rambling... and just for putting up with me tonight - I will leave you with one more picture of Samantha in her Easter attire.

Love and miss you all -

Emily

It's all new

Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing well. Sorry I haven't updated the blog in awhile, but it's been a little hectic around the house lately.
First of all, thanks to everyone for the warm wishes on my first day at the new job! It was very much appreciated and put a very big smile on my face that first day... so THANK YOU ALL. The job is going great. I am still going through training, but learning lots of information and slowly starting to work my own files. I'm getting the hang of it slowly but surely and think that this could be a wonderful opportunity for me and more importantly, for my family!
Second, Miss Samantha is starting to warm up to the whole rice cereal idea! When we first introduced her to the 'foreign' matter a couple of weeks ago, she was NOT happy at all. So, Gregg and I decided to back off for awhile and try again at a later time. Saturday morning Samantha woke up in a happy mood (as usual) so I decided to give the evil rice monster another try... so I strapped her into the highchair and give it a whirl. She liked it and ate all the rice cereal that I had prepared and had been on a roll ever since! We are so proud of her :) Last night, she started grabbing for the spoon and shoving it into her mouth (like I couldn't feed her fast enough!) I think we will be moving on to Stage 1 foods before we know it.
Now, as some of you know, Samantha has been battling ear infections since the beginning of February. Well, it's not getting any better and in fact, it never has really gone away. The poor thing has been such a trooper and never cries except for the day that it "starts" up. We get her started on antibotics and she is her happy self again. However, since this have been going on for awhile now and hasn't resolved and she's now had 2 single ear infections and 1 double ear infection, the dr's office has decided it's time to send her over to and ENT to discuss ear tubes. So, she will go for her first "consult" on the 7th and we will see what needs to be done at that point.

Other than that, we are just trucking right along and getting ready for the little one's baptism at the end of April

I will leave you with this picture of Sammie trying out her first plate of "solid foods" - Southern style (I got Gregg to make ribs one night and they were wonderful) :)

Button Batteries

Several months ago, I got informed about a lady who was in the mist of a crisis with her daughter over a BUTTON BATTERY!!!! Their story has been so shocking to all that have heard about it that the local tv station picked up the story and it just recently aired.

PLEASE check out the story and pass it along to all that you know so that the danger of these tiny little batteries can get out there to all parents.

http://cbs3.com/video/?id=76522@kyw.dayport.com

It's the weekend!!!!

My how you've grown!

Well, it's a sleepless night for me for some reason so I decided to go back and look back at our blog. I started with the day Samantha was born and read up until her 6 month post and I was in total "Lifetime Movie Network" - tears flowing like Niagra Falls- break down! Samantha amazes me more and more each and every day with her strength. The way she fought through her battles in the hosptial in order to come home shows such courage. I hope she never has to fight like that again, but if she does, I know she has the strength to get through it... and MORE!

We took Samantha to the Dr. tonight for her 6 month check-up tonight and she was tipping the scales at 14 lbs!!!! She is learning to sit up on her own (with very little assistance) and she is standing up 'on her own' (aka putting weight on her legs)... all very good signs. The funny thing is that our daughter has decided to bypass the whole rolling thing and go straight to the sitting and standing tasks. I guess she decided since she was 'behind the curve' given her adjusted age, she needed to make up some ground and she could just forgoe the rolling aspect of life :)

The Dr. also gave us the go ahead to try Samantha on rice cereal... this should be fun! I say this because I know that once we start rice cereal we will soon be starting to introduce other fun foods... GOOD TIMES!!!!!!!!! All I have to say is that when this gets messy, Daddy is taking over bath time :) :)

Happy 6 months Samantha!

Samantha turned 6 months on Saturday! Gregg and I can hardly believe it. That small little 3lb 13oz baby in the hosptial is now almost 14lbs!!!! She has discovered her foot and is now figured out how to insert same into her mouth... finaly entertainment for the girl that doesn't cost mommy and daddy an arm and a leg :) :)

We went Saturday and had pictures taken in honor of Samantha's 6 month birthday - here's some of the 'better' ones - although all of them were too cute