it didn't go as planned

Sam was sick, tired and crabby which made the normally quick and easy five hour drive to Bloomington, IL a nightmare. She cried because she was over tired but refused to sleep for the whole drive. We got to Bloomington Friday night and had a great dinner but Sam went to bed really early because she didn't nap and did not get to spend much time with her grandparents.
Chris was super excited to play golf on Saturday with his dad but with mid-thirty degree temps, lots of clouds and rain in the forecast golf did not get to happen. Instead of golf we decided to go to the Children's Discovery Museum which was really cool. None of us had ever been before and it was so neat to see it. Of course I did not remember a camera, so there are no pictures of Sam playing in the pretend kitchen, riding a tractor or climbing through a tunnel pretending to be a worm. But most of it was not appropriate for Sam yet and after a little while she fell and bit her lip; she was done. We got her home, had lunch and then she went to bed. But the nap did not last that long and she woke up super fussy. We had dinner that night at an awesome restuarant called Destihl and it actually went pretty well until Sam threw up all over herself, me and the floor. Awesome. And then it snowed! Oh yes, we went south expecting warmer, spring like temperatures and it rained and then snowed the whole time we were there! Sam cried almost the whole way home on Sunday and managed to cough so hard that she threw up all over herself and her blankie.
Needless to say the trip did not go as well as we had planned. I was so excited to head south because the Enlunds have this beautiful big backyard where Polly and their dog love to run and play ball. I was looking forward to watching Sam watch the dogs run and play. I was looking forward to playing outside with Sam for the first time now that she can walk around. And I am so mad at myself for not having the camera out taking photos at the museum or of anything AT ALL from the weekend.
Even though it wasn't as we had thought it was still a great visit with Chris's parents and so much fun to watch them play with Sam, talk to her, and watch her walk around. She grows and changes so fast that we cherish every chance we get to have her see family.

playing catch up

Today we are playing catch up. Sam is catching up on sleep today which I gotta say is WONDERFUL! Great for her and great for me. She slept okay last night; still dealing with a stuffy nose which makes it difficult for her to lay on her back. But then today she took a three hour nap this morning and has been sleeping this afternoon for over an hour.
While she has been doing all this sleeping I have been catching up on laundry. So much fun! I don't know how many loads I have done but it has been intense. Although I have not minded it so much because it hasn't been all clothes. With towels and sheets thrown in I actually don't mind the laundry as much cause I can mix up the loads to make the folding more interesting.
Okay, I'm a huge dork! HA!

On another note...
Yesterday I was out at the Central WI Environmental Station teaching 9th graders about the laws of nature (too complicated to explain here) and it was a blast! I love teaching outside. I love seeing that "I get it" look on the faces of kids that are struggling and I love even more when a kid sees a bird, deer, turkey or something else in nature that they don't expect and they get excited about it. Being outside with kids, teaching or even better designing the programs that other people would be teaching or in my dreams running the facility where all this would happen is what I want to do with my professional life.
One of the teachers that I was working with that came with the students asked if I had ever considered being a classroom teacher full time. I told him that I didn't have my teaching certificate and just don't think I am good enough to be in the classroom. I have the utmost respect for classroom teachers; it takes a certain kind of patience, talent and knowledge to be a GOOD classroom teacher. I am not sure that I have those qualities. This specific teacher disagreed, he really thought I should be in a classroom somewhere. It does intrigue me a bit. I have not been able to find a full time position in environmental education and so it has crossed my mind to go back to school to see if I could be a classroom teacher. But what if I don't like it? Or I go back to school and then at some point I find the full time position that I want, do I then quit school? I want a full time job but should I do something that is not be exact passion just to be working? Would that truly be fair to the students that I would have? So much to think about, so many questions that I don't know how to answer. And this doesn't even include the questions about how I do this AND continue to grow my family!!

it went so fast

Her birthday came and went so fast. We had so much fun and I am really glad that I had a big party and made a big deal out of her first birthday. Even though I did not get to spend as much time as I would have liked relaxing in front of the TV watching March Madness, and I know I probably upset some friends making them come to a one-year-old's birthday party during March Madness games the whole weekend was great. Well, except for sick kids, kids not sleeping, cool weather and SNOW the rest of the weekend was wonderful!
But I failed at capturing most of the weekend on camera...damn it. My sister, Aunt Jojo did get some time to do a photo shoot with Chris, Sam and I, in addition to a cake smashing shoot (which according to my sister was a major flop because the icing on the cake was too hard, the cake was too frozen so she couldn't really smash it at all, and she didn't really even like the taste of it!!) so hopefully she will have some good photos to help me remember this weekend.
But here are some that I did get.

The boys hanging out watching basketball.

Early morning playtime for the girls.
Grandpa taking care of the little ones just before the party got started.

This is how people were greeted at the door. So cute! Aunt Jojo made this for Sam.

We had the most amazing decorations for the party. Originally I told my sister that I wanted to stick with the traditional crepe paper and balloons kind of party...she took that idea to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL!

These were the party favors that I made. Little Chinese take-out cartons with chocolate covered pretzels inside.
My dad spent a ton of time wrapping the crepe paper on the railings; it looked so great. My sister took a photo of Sam and blew it up HUGE for us. It looks more amazing than I was even expecting. She also made the bright colorful word plaques that are next to them; they say "skip", "run", "climb" and "jump". So fun. And the balls that were in between then were these crepe paper balls that my sister made and brought up with her.

More bright crepe paper balls and ribbon hanging in the window.

Here is the amazing cake that Chris baked and my sister decorated.

Sam was actually being so shy for a good portion of the party which is so not like her. She was clinging to certain people and of course Andrea who runs the daycare where Sam is during the week was one of the people that she clung to.

Thank you so much to all of the family and friends that took time out of their busy lives to be with us on Sam's big day. It meant a lot to Chris and I.

Sam now has a cold, isn't sleeping through the night and is super fussy. It is going to be a long week with our BIG GIRL!

One year ago

In just a few hours I will start feeling something that I will have to call my sister to be sure that they are contractions. The feelings will get worse as I make dinner for Chris but I am still not sure that they are the "real" thing. One. Year. Ago.
While I lay on the couch that night watching TV my family had convinced me to time and write down the "contractions". The more relaxed I got the more spaced out and soft they got. We went to bed at a regular time and I figured it was just a fluke. At about 2:00am I woke up because the bed was a little wet (gross!). I said Chris's name, told him what I was feeling and I have never seen him move from a sound sleep to being up and dressed so fast. We called the hospital, threw a few things together and went to the hospital. BUT not before we stopped at my work so I could drop off a massive mailing that I had been working on that week to be sure that it got in the mail the next day (the letters were dated and I did not want my temp to have to start all over again!).
When we got to the hospital they got us checked in and into a room. I was checked by a doctor who said that it was very early. They encouraged me to walk around. Chris went to sleep in the hospital room and I started doing laps around the hospital wing. They checked me again two hours later and said that I had not progressed so they had to send me home. They told me I was in pre-labor which could last weeks. I felt horrible that we spent over two hours in the hospital for nothing. We were home for maybe a half an hour when the contractions started really kicking in. I was laying in bed, not dealing with the pain well and decided to call my sister. I was so confused. Was this really going to last weeks like this? Was I just being a huge wimp? She told me to try and sit in the a warm bath. That didn't help. I called her again. While I was on the phone this time I had a contraction and when she heard my breathing and voice change she told me to call the hospital again. We went back to the hospital. This time they said I had progressed and would be staying at the hospital.
We called both families to let them know that it was indeed the real thing.
So then we waited. Luckily it was the first day of March Madness (I had been saying for weeks that I was going to have her during March Madness opening weekend so that I would have good tv to watch in the hospital!!) so there was all the basketball we could want on TV. It was really awesome.
The nurses and doctors came and went that day checking on me. I remember the contractions getting pretty bad and that I just kept asking when I was going to get the epidural. Once I got the drugs I just lay there enjoying the basketball and waiting. Finally, the doctor came in, checked me and said okay it is time to get started. There were two nurses and the doctor in the room. I looked around and said "Are there more people coming?" That was all they needed he said. Chris would help by holding my right leg and doing just as the nurse did. He was going to have to be involved!!? I was still convinced that he was going to pass out at some point; who was going to hold my leg then? (He passed out when I got my wisdom teeth pulled and he saw the blood!)
I started pushing. The epidural was pretty strong and sometimes I couldn't even feel the contractions when they came. The nurse would just tell me I was having one and that I needed to push. After a little bit the doctor told us that she was not advancing very well and I was going to have to REALLY push or there was a chance they would have to do a c-section. I got scared and knew that I just needed to push harder. They did have to use the vaccuum on her and the doctor warned me that she would have an oddly shaped head when she came out. And boy did she! I pushed and pushed. Chris watched some but mostly just held my leg and said "PUSH!".
At 2:02pm Samantha Jane Enlund was born. I was so tired I don't really remember very much from those first moments. The doctor worked on me and the nurses and Chris worked on Sam. When they finally gave her to me she was beautiful except for her extremely pronounced cone-head! But they assured me that it would go away in a few days.
The days in the hospital were filled with family, friends and feeding. We actually had a party one night in the hospital room with about 10 people and lots of pizza. We didn't think beer was appropriate! We learned how to swaddle, feed, change diapers and watch Sam sleep.
We had done it and couldn't be happier.
A year has passed and she is amazing. She has a great smile, a cute laugh, gives great hugs and kisses, says hi to everyone, is stubborn, has her mother's attitude and pretty much her daddy's everything else.
I never could have imagined how much this one little person would change our lives; would change ME.
I LOVE HER!!
Tomorrow Samantha will turn one and I cannot believe a year has gone by already.
We have family coming to town tonight and I know tomorrow will be crazy so I wanted to write Sam's birthday story today.
SO, to my little girl -
You are the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me and I CANNOT wait to see what you will do this next year. Happy Birthday Sweety. WE LOVE YOU!

my family is coming!

My parents, sister, brother-in-law, nieces and nephew are all coming to WISCONSIN! They will be here on Friday to visit for the weekend and celebrate with Sam for her big first birthday. I cannot wait to see all of them, it has been since Christmas which is way too long for me.
But my sister coming is also good news for a few lucky families in Wisconsin (I know there are at least a couple of you in WI reading this!)! She is planning to book one (or maybe two!) photo shoots on Saturday March 21st. You can check out her work on her website www.jodified.com and then send her an email letting her know that you are interested. Not sure when she will be back up here so friends you should jump at this opportunity!

Okay, gotta go fill out my March Madness brackets. Hope you all had a great weekend.

randomness

Just some random photos and stuff to share.

A cute photo from today. She just got her hair cut this past week and I love that I can once again see her eyes!

We had a pretty good snow storm not that long ago. Sam loved watching the snow but more than that she loved watching Polly run and play in the snow.
Chris decided she needed to go and feel the snow.
Notice she has no coat on and NO SOCKS! She didn't stay outside for very long.
Since we started changing Sam's schedule she sometimes is in bed for a while before she falls asleep. She will play, talk, yell and throw everything that is in her crib out onto the floor. Everything except her big Bears blanket; if she does throw that out of the crib she then proceeds to scream until we go up there and give her back her blanket. Funny but annoying. During a recent nap-time she was awake for a really long time and when she finally fell asleep I went up to check on her and found this. So funny!

I don't know if I have said it on here yet but Sam is officially walking. She still stumbles, falls and will crawl a lot too but she is starting to prefer to walk which is very interesting. And I love how right now is has such a wobbly way of walking.

Take a look....

book giveaway

What could be better than getting a free kids book? Go here and check out this great book. Leave a comment and you will be entered into the contest for a free book.
Gotta love free stuff!! Thanks Amber for the link and thanks Holly for the giveaway!

the tough questions

Is a board book that went in the toilet cleanable?

Do other mothers ever get sick of picking up the same toys day after day and actually think to themselves "no one is coming over, why should I bother picking them up"?

Is it ridiculous to create errands just to get out of the house when it is raining, cold and you are sick of being stuck inside?

At what age can you start teaching children to pick up their own toys?

At what age do they actually start picking up their own toys?

Do other moms get sick of singing the kiddie songs?

Is it totally crazy to want to spend money on decorations, games, food, take-homes and gifts for a one year old birthday party knowing that she will never remember it?

If I do go crazy on the first birthday party will I regret it afterward and think that it was unnecessary and silly OR will I love that I have the pictures and be happy that I celebrated a major milestone with friends and family?

Is a bike trailer (the kind that the kid rides in behind a bike) an okay first birthday gift even though it is kind of more for the parents than the kid?

After my crazy week last week of working so much today I find myself full of questions, doubt and confusion once again about being a mom. Maybe they aren't really the big, tough questions but it is the stuff on my mind today as I sit here listening to Sam talk and yell in her crib, NOT napping.

Happy Tuesday! What are you thinking about today?

schedule change

So call us crazy but we have decided to really push Sam right now and extend her evening schedule. With day light savings time hitting this weekend we decided that since she was already going to be thrown off why not just throw her off even more. The reason? We are hoping for her to eat dinner a little later and have a later bed time for several reasons. We want her to be able to eat dinner with us, at a normal dinner time and be able to spend a bit more time with Chris when he gets home from work. We are also thinking that the later bed time might help her to take better naps.
So, how is it going? Actually really well! Saturday night she stayed up later and got to see some of our friends when they came over to play cards. She was super cute giving big hugs, showing off her walking and riding on her little bike. Then Sunday she took a later afternoon nap and was able to stay up until 7:30 pm. Today is going really well too. She is napping right now and so far has napped for TWO HOURS!! Could be her longest nap in a while. Chris has volleyball tonight so I am hoping to push her a little tonight again and see if we can go and watch him play.
It's only been a couple of days but I am feeling really positive about the change and hoping that it will mean more productive (or lazy!) days for me and more fun times in the evening with Chris.
Hopefully she will continue to cooperate...that could happen...maybe?

interpreting the nonsense

Sam makes a lot of noise. Most of the time it is just yelling, whining, crying or laughing but occasionally she will look at you and make sounds that seem as if they should be words. She looks at you with this look that only my daughter could make that seems to say "are you listening to me mom?". She has very few words that she says clearly yet; "dada" and "hi". Which means that we have started to become (or at least I have) that parent that interprets the mumbling into words for other people.
But this morning her mumbling was PRICELESS! As Chris was getting ready to leave for work he picked up Sam to say goodbye. He proceeded to give her several kisses on the face. As she was leaning back away from the last kiss a mumble came out of her. Chris and I immediately looked at each other and started laughing. Did she really just say JESUS? No kidding it was as if she was a teenager pissed off that she was being made to do something she didn't want to and had so much attitude when that little word came out of her mouth. Now, neither Chris or I use that word in that manner so I am sure that it was just a coincidence and she really didn't know what she was saying, but man oh man was it hillarious.

flower child

Target had these great flower head bands in the dollar section. I thought it would make the cutest pictures! The funniest part is that she actually liked wearing it and when it fell off at one point she wanted to try and put it back on herself. She has tried to put it on several times now since we bought it and it always ends up around her neck. But it is so fun to watch her try and figure out how to put it on.

She speaks!

We have been working on "all done" for when she is finished eating instead of the throwing food and whining that she has been doing. Normally we only say it to her at times when she would be all done with something (food, bath, etc.) but when she actually started saying it the other night back to Chris he kept her going so that we could get it on video. He surprised me with it last night because I had never heard her say it.

So, here are two videos for your listening and viewing pleasure.






Okay, so maybe its not perfect speech but its close!!

the week ahead

For a "stay-at-home-mom" I have a VERY busy week ahead; at least busy for me. I taught all day today (7:00am - 3:30) outside in the cold (side note - I lost my first students today while teaching a class on GPS! Love the irony of that! Don't worry we did eventually find them). I have a meeting all day tomorrow (8:00 - 2:30) and then have to put some hours in at the WAEE office. Wednesday I am back to teaching. GPS course again, I think my goal will have to be to NOT lose any students! Thursday and Friday I am in the office in the morning. Whew! What a week.
Okay, so maybe its not that much...but I think the part that is hard is that because I don't technically work full time I still feel like all the household stuff and daily Sam stuff is my responsibility. When I come home from teaching all day I just have no energy to do laundry, cook, vaccum and do all the other stuff to keep this house in order. That is the part that frustrates me. But I love teaching and want to do that WAY MORE than almost anything else.
Enough about me...Sam had another mini birthday celebration this weekend. We went to Viroqua to visit some extended family with no intention of celebrating Sam we just wanted to see everybody. But Grandma Hill made a wonderful cake and the aunts had presents.
These next two pictures are the true representation of how she felt about the sweet icing. The cake was delicious but she really wanted nothing to do with it.
It was wonderful to see extended family including Zach our newest member of the family. This is Sam getting to know Zach; too funny. Sam also became a fan of basketball! She played with her first full sized basketball while we were there and so when we got home we got out one of our basketballs. She's a natural born athlete!
Hope you all had a happy Monday. More fun pictures to share tomorrow.
Good night WISCONSIN!