My First Halloween

Hey peop's. Haven't been keeping up with the blog as much as I would like, but to be expected with my return to work. I have NOT however, neglected my photography sessions with my sweet little pumpkin head. I had alot of fun playing dress up with him on our first little Halloween together, however, this that was not much different than any other day it's just the clothes were alot cuter. Sam went as a little froggy this year. It was the warmest thing I could find. We hung out at home and just handed out candy for the last time. Next year we are hitting the pavement for some serious door to door candy snatching.

We've also gone to get his 3 month pic's taken last week but I'm too lazy to get the cd to upload. Sorry will post at a later date. Sam is somewhere around 16 or 17 lbs now; I haven't weighed him for a few days. His next check up will be the end of this month. He's doing amazing though. Ever since my return to work he's turned on the smiles and has been such an amazing little dude. He's rolling over and smiling and talking up a storm. I have yet to get this boy to laugh and I've been working very hard it every day for over a month now. Sometimes he'll smile so big I think his head will explode but he just refuses to laugh. So I have videos and all that jazz too but need to upload those as well and just not doing it today, sorry to dissapoint.

Little man's baptism is tomorrow so I'll get those on the next blog. He spent the night and Geema Pam's last night so Brant and I could do a little R&R and get the house clean etc. This was the first full night's sleep i've had since he's been born and it was amazing. That little fart, however, scratched his face every where; perfect timing. It's so bad that I think people may question my parenting............Rats!

Pumpkin Patch and The Inevitable...... WORK

Hey folks,

Again I've been trying to find the time and the right mind frame to be in to sit and type some wonderfully humerous blog, however, I'm limited on both subjects. Trying to eat dinner, catch up on Modern Family, and type a new blog update so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors. From the top:

Two weeks ago we ventured out with my family to the ole' Pumpkin Patch. We tried a new site this year, Pumkins Galore in Foristell and was very pleased with the outcome. Once again I took several adorable pic's so I'm leaving the link for any viewers, and below are the highlights. Little Samuel slept through just about the whole entire day. I guess the children playing and sound of the Bluegrass tunes in the background were the perfect mixture of a sweet lullaby. J took his first pony ride which he loved and Ky and Chloe did all they could to squeeze in every activity before the end of the day.
http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5785432013/a=91451742/

Sleepy baby

Grandma and Grandkids

Jamie, Sis, and fam

Then there was the dreaded return to work. Those closest to me know that I may have.....ok I totally had a mental breakdown that began Wednesday morning and continued through the Friday morning drop off. As I sat in the parking lot I wiped the tears from my face, took a deep breath, and begin the walk to our front entrance. I stepped into the lobby was hit with the familiar smell that often reminds me of my dentist office. Then turned the corner and was immediatly hit with the flourescent lighting that leads me to the cube farm where I spend a disturbing amount of my life. Still managing to hold myself together it took one look from my coworker (who I refer to as "work-mom") to turn on the waterworks. At this point I wasn't sure how I was going to manage. So after telling a few stories of how proud I am of my little boy I begin digging into my emails which seemed to quickly take my mind off the situation. The next thing I know it was 11:00 and almost time for lunch. I of course call "Miss Val" ( and continue to do so every day) to check on my little man. Once she assures me that he is doing well I can go on about my business and before you know it the work day is over. I chose to go back on a Friday which was probably the best decision I've made since Sam was born. Now that I have Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday under my belt I am confident that I have made the right choice in being a working mom. I never thought I'd say it, but I've learned I just do not fit the bill of a stay at home mommy. Some may think that's selfish and others selfless, all I know is that it works for me. So now the challenge will be to try and find the time to update blogs and capture every little moment of Sammy B but a few more weeks and I should have this down pat.

Operation: "Night Cap"

We're two days away from my return to work and sleep is still a major concern (or lack there of). So I turned my my trusty book "What To Expect The First Year". In the section on sleep it talks about putting your baby down for the night when they are ready and then waking them up when you turn in for the night for a light feeding or a "nightcap" to get them to sleep longer. It goes on about not jumping to wake them at their first whimper, shushing, and rubbing their backs to fall asleep, etc. So I choose this as my plan of attack. Last night was the second night and let me tell you, it is AWFUL and still not making a difference. If anything, it's gotten worse.

Sam chooses to go to sleep between 7-8pm. I put him down, and wake him up at 10 when I got to bed. He doesn't even open his eyes but I can succesfully get him to take 3 ounces thinking this should buy be at least 2 more hours of sleep.
Day 1- up at 12:30. Shushed him to sleep within 2or3 minutes. Back up at 12:35, more shushing and asleep at 12:45. This lasted all the way until 2:30 am at which I woke up and gave him a bottle. Then up at 4:00am when I brought him in bed with me, then 6:30 and 8:30.

Day 2-On top of all this fun I am having major anxiety about my return to work and having trouble falling asleep. Lastnight it was 12am and I was still tossing and turning know that he would be up soon and getting angry with myself that I am loosing precious hours of sleep. Then at 12:15 he's up. Between the hours of 12:25 and 1:30 I went in his room 5 times to get him back to sleep but he would wake up each time. By 1:30, having not gone to sleep yet, I thought I may rip my hair out and decided to give him a bottle. Fed and back to sleep. Then up at 3:30 and I asked Brant to please get up with him so I could try to get some sleep. He fed and changed him and the little fart was still awake an hour later. Brant finally got him to sleep around 5am. Back up at 6 and I brought him into bed with me again and was able to sleep until 8:30 this morning. So I got about 5 hours of sleep collectively that was sprinkled among my night of fun!

Now the trouble is deciding whether or not I even attempt this again tonight or not. It's making us all miserable! We need help from a professional I think. He slept at my mom's house from 9pm to 4:30am and I still can't figure out how she did it. Where do people get these babies that are sleeping through the night at 8 weeks and why can't mine?????????????

"What If"

Hello peop's. So on a more serious note I was passed along this wonderful video and felt compelled to share this with my friends to support raising awareness of infertility. Brant and I were obviously blessed with our little boy finally, thanks to Dr. Ahlering and the staff at the Sher Insittute.  It was a very long road and challenging chapter in our lives. Brant was nothing but an excellent and supportive husband; along with many of my closest friends and family.

This video is just a quick bit on where women are during this struggle, and unfortunatly this battle is much more common then most think. I've personally spent 4 1/2 years of my life with this group and it's not easy. In opening up about our procedure I've learned just how many others are faced with the same challenge. So enough with the babbling and on with the show.


What IF? A Portrait of Infertility from Keiko Zoll on Vimeo.

10 Weeks

I'm beginning to actually to relate to Michael Jackson when he held his son over the balcony for the papparazzi to admire and take photos. I've never been so proud of something before in my entire life that I would like to share with the whole entire world. Why wouldn't every person on the face of this planet want to see him right? I've recorded him sleeping, pooping, farting, puking, screaming, bouncing, cooing; pretty much done every thing but recreate the movie Lion King and hold him up on top of a mountain for the whole kingdom to see. Michael sort of did the real world version of that. You sort of get caught up in their cuteness and loose touch of what an idiot you may look like or sound like. So maybe he wasn't really such a bad guy after all. He was just a very proud papa (who liked to have a lot of plastic surgery and wear makeup and talk like a female, and let little kids sleep in his bed, but that's a whole other topic).

Little Samsonite is doing well and getting bigger and changing every day. His sleeping on the other hand seems to be regressing in the opposite direction. Somehow we went to sleeping for a 5 or 6 hour block back to 4.5, then 4, and last night 3. What the hell happened! I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but with work literally just around the corner we'll be spending the next week or so doing some serious homework on this subject and trying to get a handle on it.

I myself and having trouble sleeping with the anxiety of going back to work staring me in the face. I actually have dreams at night of finding another profession that would allow me to work and stay at home with "Tons of Fun". For now we're going to give it a whirl. Not much else to blog about now. Really I'm just very sleep deprived and do not feel like thinking of anything funny to write about.

Back to the videos, here's a little clip of Sam's favorite lullaby. Post requested by Papa. This is an oldie but a goodie. A favorite shared by my bestie, Andi, and I since highschool; "Smile" by Jimmy Duranti:


 Baby Einstein Rocks!

I'll Have Another Round of Shots Please!

Not the kind we enjoyed in our twenties, but the kind that make me loose sleep at night just thinking about them. Sam and I went for our 2 month check up today and he's doing great and filling out just as expected. Official stats were 12lb, 15 oz (73%), 24" long (81%), and 40.25 head circumference (51%). So he still is a big dude, however, I think it is safe to say he did not inherit the big Rademeyer melon. He has a bit of eczema on his little cheeky but nothing major and other than that he's great right now. He's very strong for his age it seems. He can hold his head up well, and has been standing with all his weight on his two feet since about 6 weeks old. He's recently found his fat little hands and likes to put them in his mouth. The best of all is that he's found his tongue and loves to play a fun game of stick your tongue out at each other. He really thinks it's hilarious and I have to capture it on video soon b/c that is that highlight of every morning here. We also are spending time practicing holding his baba so he can feed himself like a big boy one day.

We had to get the dreaded vaccine shots today. Surprisingly he was a tough little guy and only cried for about 30 seconds. It honestly went much better than I had anticipated considering I was still awake lastnight at 12am just thinking about it. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I do not like to miss a minute of sleep and bedtime starts at 9pm here for mommy and daddy. Sam has also been doing really well with sleeping. He's officially in his crib and goes down every night now at 8:30 and now sleeps until 2:30 and then from about 3 to 6. It's wonderful. Napping during the day has still been a bit of a challenge but that is partially my own fault for not sticking to schedule and usually we're on the go. He will not fall asleep that way anymore b/c he's a nosey little buger.

We had a wonderful weekend with fabulous weather here in STL. Friday night was spent on our patio enjoying the usual Rademeyer bon-fire. I believe our new neighbors are beginning to think we're a bunch of pyromaniacs. Saturday we met Geema & Papa at Chandler Hill winery for lunch. Then Brant and I headed to Klondike park for a little stroll, and then off to our friends for a BBQ. Which was then followed up by a nice little visit from Grandma Denise on Suday afternoon. We're enjoying every second of this fall weather. Officially beginning the countdown until I go back to work on October 15th. I try not to think about the work part and just know that I have 3 more weeks to spend every second with my little man and get as much mommy and Sam time in as I possibly can.

Here's some recent photos. Tootles!

                                       Check out my new trick!

                                          Lunch with Geema Pam and Papa Dan

                                         Chandler Hill Winery view

                                         Klondike Park

                                          Let's Play!

8 Weeks Old, Oh My!

Mr. Sam was 8 weeks old this past Friday the 17th. Wa ha ha ha (that's me crying). He's getting sooooo big already. I mean really big. Accordning to my scale at home he's 13 lbs and to me looks like a 3 month old. I just can't believe it. He's smiling and cooing and smiling some more and I just love every second of it. Between that he's still crying and fussing and screaming but I think I may just be getting used to that now.

He's been doing better with sleeping at night too. A typical night for us is putting him to bed between 8:30 & 9:00 and he'll usually go for about a 5 hour stretch. A really good night he's up at 2am, 4:30, and then up for the day around 6:30 or 7. But those 5 hours are golden and get me through the day! I keep hearing from everyone..... Oh just put some cereal in his bottle and he'll sleep longer, but the pediatrician advises against that until 4 months. So Brant and I discussed it and we decided to give it a whirl with me going back to work in 4 weeks, and only added 1 tbsp to his night time feeding. Boy was that a HUGE mistake! That night he was up at 11:15, 1:30, 3:30, 4:30, 6:30, and then up for the day at 8:30. That is never coming back out of the pantry until he's old enough.

We haven't really been doing anything too exciting on the home front other than spending time together. We're patiently awaiting this Fall season to take over, however, yesterday was 92 and today is supposed to be even warmer. Sam and I did hit the trail yesterday for a little morning jog which was nice. It wasn't too hot yet and it was very peaceful. Sam did a little off-roading in his stroller to check out his first creek. Can't wait to go back with Daddy!