September 6, 2010

This picture was taken one year ago. Sam wasn't quite sitting up yet.

This is a picture a year later with the same football as last year.

I simply cannot believe how big our little Sam is getting. He is 17 months old and weighing in around 23 lbs. It has been a joy watching him grow and show his own unique personality. He is a funny little guy. He makes a lot of adorable faces and makes some noises that I can't  duplicate.  He is saying some words. Right now some of his favorite words are: gone-gone, Daaaady, Papaw, dog, Nonna, and Mama.  He says other things like ball, bye, hey, bite, no-no.  He is trying really hard to walk. He can take 5-6 steps without falling but he will not just take off and go. He still enjoys eating. He loves his egg and cheese sandwich he has most mornings for breakfast. Ice cream cones are at the top of the list. Of course the usual hot dogs, hamburgers, and french fries are always a hit. Here lately Sam figured out that he can just suck the ketchup off of the fries. That is always funny to watch.
I just love watching him grow a little everyday. It is easy to forget how far he has come when watching him busily playing in his own little world. But I am quick to remind my self of what a miracle and blessing he is.  Each day is a new day to give God praise for all He has done and still continues to do in our lives.

This is Sam now. He is really good at balancing forever so that he doesn't have to take a step.

May 29, 2010

These pics are from Mother's Day and Baby Dedication.

I can't believe how fast this little man of mine is growing up! Sam is all over the place now and gets there very quickly! He wants to be walking really bad. He will push his toys everywhere and walk taking really high steps. I don't think it will be very long before he is walking.

Sam is eating very well now. The little guy has 4 teeth on the top and 4 teeth on the bottom. Table food has made him pretty happy. His mama is very thankful that he is NOTHING like her when it comes to what he will eat (maybe more like her in the quantity). He will try just about anything you put in front of him. Okra and squash are some favs and last night at the Red Elephant he ate broccoli and loved it. YAY!! He likes green stuff! He's not too big on pieces of fruit, I think they are still a little funny in texture to him. He did eat some peach slices the other night and I was very entertained as they slid all over the place as he tried to tackle them with those sweet little hands.

Sam weighed close to 21 pounds at our last drs visit. We have had a little run at the drs office lately. Sam had viral bronchitis about 3 weeks ago and some type of eye infection going on a couple of weeks ago, so we are looking forward to being all better again soon hopefully. Right now we are being visited by Mr. Snot and Cough. They seem to be regular guests around Folkes Lane even though we have tried everything to ban them.

Sam loves water!! I'm sure you remember all of the bath videos and pics from even NICU days. He still loves a good bath, but now.....he has seen brighter days when it comes to water. Mammaw bought Sam and his cousin Elizabeth a small pool about a month ago. We pulled Sam's out last weekend. He wasn't so sure about it at first but warmed up quickly. Although I will say that he was more intrigued by the blades of grass he was trying to eat while playing in his pool. Yesterday afternoon his Aunt Cori sat him on the steps of the big pool and he splashed his little heart away! I do believe that the pool will be a hit with this little guy.

I am so happy to say that school is out for the summer and I am looking forward to playing with my sweet little boy. I'm sure there will be a lot of pics taken in the next couple of months. I will try my best to update a little more often. A couple of other things that have taken place since Sam's birthday post would be the Baby Dedication that we were thrilled in being able to participate in this year on Mother's Day and he had his 1 year pics done at the studio and oh how sweet he was during that process.

I am so thankful for this precious little guy!

Happy Birthday Sam!

Oh my goodness, I can't believe that my precious little boy is 1 year old! When I went to get him out of his bed this morning, I began to think about everything that was going on one year ago. Actually throughout the day I thought about how our lives were changing ever so quickly last March 31st. This could get long....I'm sorry.
I thought about how scary the ambulance ride was and not knowing what was going to happen with me not going back to work..because at that time I just thought they would put me on bedrest in the hospital for a while. Boy was I in shock when they rolled me into the E.R. at Baptist East and I met my consulting dr there and he said "we will probably have a baby in the next several days"! I can't explain all of the feelings and thoughts I had at that precise moment. Then that dr stopped and prayed with Jeff and me. I knew right then that I was where God intended me to be at that exact time in my life and pregnancy. As things became more serious with each passing day and I watched my family and friends try to keep themselves composed around me, I tried to stay strong and positive even though I was terrified of what the outcome could be but had an unmeasurable peace that God was still in control. March 30th the drs said that my 2oo something over 100 something ( I can't remember the exact numbers..I know my mama can tell you within secs) was getting very dangerous for Sam and me and that they wanted me to try to have the baby. The process began and around noon on the 31st they said a c-section needed to be done immediately. At 12:28pm my precious son was born into this world. I remember just praying that I could hear him make a sound, just one sound even though I had my doubts - but he did have a little cry when he came out. I saw him for about 5 secs before they rushed out with him.
I can't explain the happiness that came over me, just to know that I was a mom! The love I had for him just seeing him those short seconds was overwhelming. I waited for 3 days before I could see him again. You know you see all of these movies with these crazy people in the hospital who are really sick and they are mad about being there, so they rip all of the machines and ivs out and get up barely able to walk and push all the people down and escape the hospital. Deep down inside, I think I was secretly planning an escape route to the NICU. Since I was so drugged that I couldn't lift my legs and I had been laying in the bed for 5 days straight....I settled for some pics and videos of my sweet boy.
I could probably take you day by day through our 42 days in the NICU and minute by minute of our trip home, but I'll spare you the pain...just reread the older posts if you want to re-live those days with me. (: What I will tell you is the joy that it has been being the Mama of this wonderful little fella. He is so incredible sweet. He can be very serious at times but overall he is happy as can be and getting big! From 2 lbs 12 oz to 20 lbs! That's quite a bit of work! He is kinda crawling - maybe more of a scoot at this point. He tries to sing when music is playing (or his mama is trying to practice the Easter music in the car - he might be screaming at me to hush but we will call it trying to sing with me for now). We are trying some 3rd stage foods but the texture isn't the best thing to him right now. We are practicing on our sippy cup! Sam is wearing 12m, 12-18m clothes but his foot is still a little small and legs short...maybe a little like his mama on that part. Overall.....I think he has done just fine.
I cherish each moment of everyday that the Lord as given me with him. I love his laugh, smile, dipples, big blue eyes, the way he screams at things when he gets excited (mainly dogs), his tongue that he turns sideways, his little hands that he reaches with, and the way he jumps with excitement when I walk in to pick him up from daycare. I know that it sounds like this little boy has my heart wrapped....this is true. I can't wait to see what he will do next that amazes me.
Heavenly Father, thank you for such a precious gift that you have trusted us with. I know that Sam is yours and I am grateful that I was chosen to be his mom and see him grow from such a tiny little baby. I pray that Sam will grow up to love and seek You daily knowing that your hand has been on his life since the day he was conceived. I pray that he knows that you have a specific purpose for his life here on earth.
Thank you to all of you that have prayed, cried, encouraged, and rejoiced with us throughout this past year.

February 28, 2010

Waiting calmly for the ekg to be done.

The long awaited cardiologist appoint for Sam was this past Friday. As most of you recall, Sam was born with a heart murmur that we were told would correct on its own when he was a little bigger. Well, we are going to be 1 yr old March 31st! Can you believe it? One whole entire year. It seems like just yesterday I was fussing with the dr about my blood pressure and I was fine just let me go home and give me some meds...I didn't need to go to Montgomery. Anyway, Sam's heart murmur has been 'unchanged', which is why the pediatrician wanted to just "get a look at it". This past Monday we went for the "look". The drs come from B'ham so we have been waiting for months. Of course as always, I was very nervous about the whole thing. Sam was a champ. It was funny how comfortable he seemed in the hospital room with all the equipment. They did an EKG and an Echo cardiogram. The echo showed that Sam has 2 possibly 3 holes in his atrium wall. (the wall that separates the right and left side of his heart, I believe) The dr said it is called ASD, atrial septal defect. This kinda caught me off guard because so many people have heart murmurs, I just wasn't expecting it I guess. They said taht he doesn't need any special meds or any restrictions at this time. The dr will see him again when he is 2yrs old. Then before Sam starts school (4 or 5) we will go to B'ham and they will do a little procedure to fix the holes that will allow the tissue to grow and form the wall completely.

It was a big blow at first for this mama but God quickly started reminding me how far He has brought us and this to is in His hands. Sunday, before the appointment, I was cleaning out some stuff at home and found a chart that I made when we brought our 4lb baby home from Montgomery. As I reviewed the information like, how much Sam was drinking and using the bathroom, a huge smile came over me. I guess you just forget things that you go through when new phases begin. We were working to get 30 ccs in at a feeding when we came home. Boy and girls - that is only 1 oz. I found some of his first diapers that had his footprints on them and this first bottle with the date on it. Which was Apr. 21st. He was almost a month old before he had his first bottle! We have seen our little man come so far. He is so fun and loving. His smile just melts my heart. I know that the asd is a scary thing for me, but I have been continuously reminded the entire past week of how strong Sam is and the strength that our Lord has provided for Jeff and me over the past year. I know that He will continue to watch over us and carry us throughout Sam's life whatever it might bring our way. The dr said there was a very minimal chance that the holes would close on their own, but hey, Sam could be that minimal chance. Nothing is impossible. It certainly wouldn't be the first time God fixed a human heart. (; We are praying that He will allow those holes to close, but if He chooses not to, then we are still trusting in Him to guide the drs for the best treatment for Sam. We are so thankful and praise our Lord for everything He has done for us and the blessings that He pours out on us.

A Snow Day in Dothan

Wow, after doubting Conner Vernon and DCS for closing down for snowy weather, I can honestly say that I enjoyed being off work for a snow day. We had so much fun playing in the snow. We would be the 4 adults at the house today, not the 10 month old that just stared at it falling. Sam might not ever see snow in his front yard again like it was today. I took tons of pictures to tell him about it one day soon. Hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful blanket of snow like we did on Folkes Lane.