updates

So my mom reminded me that I had posted that we WENT to the doctor but then never came back to give a report. She is sick. She had a cold and an ear infection which the doc said was very red and obvious. So she has been on meds for four days now and is feeling better. Although I am pretty sure she is cutting a tooth so it still seems like she is sick (crankiness, not sleeping well, runny nose, etc.). She weighs 20 lbs 7 oz and otherwise the doc said she looked great.
In other news...she can crawl. I wouldn't go so far to say that she is "crawling" to the point that she makes it across a room, or even more than a few feet, without falling back down to her belly for more army crawling/worm type movement. But she can get up on her knees and make the motion of crawling. And Aunt Jojo even caught it on camera.



I love that video because you can hear my dad in the background, Aunt Jojo, Chris A., Chris E. and Bailey; we were all just hanging out. Such a great moment.

Here are a few more pictures from our long weekend in St. Louis.



I love that I got so many pictures of my sister. She is so often the one holding the camera that there are never any pictures of her. Glad I was able to capture her this time.



So this is Grayson eating baby food. I spent a good portion of the weekend making homemade baby food for him. My sister should be stocked up now for quite a while! It felt really good to be able to do something for her that would help make her life just a little bit easier. And it was also good that he actually ate it!!
Thanks family for a great weekend! See you all again in just a few short weeks!

One Life.

One life...

became a beautiful daughter who was the pride and joy of her parents.
became a wife who made a promise over 25 years ago to love no matter what and has kept that promise.
became an owner/VP/office manager/accountant/errand girl for a construction company that has built and rebuilt places for families to live, that has grown and prospered for generations and even built a church.
became a mother of two daughters that challenge her at every turn but in the end have turned out pretty good (hehehe).
became a woman of such great faith that she has been a deputy, chair, president, committee member, coordinator, volunteer, cook and every other title you can think of for her church and for the entire Missouri Episcopal Diocese.
became a grandmother passing on all the wonderful traditions and memories of the previous generations.
became the matriarch of a family that is growing so fast that we can barely keep up.

One life has been lived to the fullest and changes the lives of everyone she meets.

Happy Birthday Mom! Thank you for the previous (insert number of years here!) years that you have lived with such amazing heart. I am blessed to be a small part.

Hope you had a great birthday!!!
Love you.

off to the doctor

You knew it was coming right? I mean we would be morons to think that we weren't going to get sick. Chris and I have been downing the Zicam and Airborne to try and prevent us from getting sick, but poor Sam has been defenseless. So she woke up this morning super fussy and very congested. I immediately called the doctor and we are headed there in a little bit. I am hoping that we will be able to get her some meds, get her better (or at least make her not contagious quickly) and still be able to see the Enlund side of our family.


On a better note, I have started going through all the videos and pictures from our St. Louis weekend and this video is just too cute, so I had to share.
I love that we caught the cousins "playing" and Bailey is at SUCH a cute stage right now. Well, just watch...you'll see.

surrounded by love and sickness

Not sure if I mentioned that Chris, Samantha and I were headed to St. Louis for the weekend but we did and are actually still down here. We (Chris and I) took the whole week off this week and started out down here for the weekend seeing my family.
It has been great hanging out with the family, seeing my nieces and nephew, playing cards (getting KILLED in hearts by my husband was not so fun!), and just being "home". We head back to WI tomorrow morning and then on Wednesday we are going to Viroqua, WI to have Thanksgiving with Chris's family.
So anyway, we are loving being surrounded by family this week. However, right now we are also surrounded by sick people which is not so fun. My nieces, Parker and Bailey, have strep throat. My dad is just getting over Strep throat (which is probably how B and P got it). And my nephew, Grayson, has an ear infection! We are doing our best to keep the kids apart but that is very difficult. They didn't really show any signs of being sick until we were already down here and had been around each other for a day; not that if we had known we wouldn't have come. We can handle a little sickness it just stinks to be sick on vacation! So keep your fingers crossed that Sam, Chris and I stay strep throat and ear infection FREE!
I can't find our camera cord right now but I am dying to share some of the awesome photos and videos that we have gotten this weekend so come back later for those!!

FREE CROCS!!

Need a new pair of comfy crocs for FREE!! Go here and try to win a pair. She will send them to you, any size, even kids sizes!!! Seriously, go HERE!!

quick pictures

Sam and I got up and went to church on Sunday. I thought she looked so cute I just had to get a quick picture. Love this hand-me-down dress! Thanks Aunt Jojo!!
Here is Sam after her hair cut yesterday. I cut all my hair off and decided that Sam could use a trim as well. I was disappointed that she didn't get to sit in the little booster seat, I actually had to hold her which meant that I didn't get to take pictures while she was getting her hair cut. But I set her in the chair after she was done for a quick photo. She squirmed a ton which made it very difficult to cut her hair but her bangs look much better now!

blah

This word seems so simple but today it describes not only the weather but my mood, Sam's mood/behavior and everything else about this day. See we (Sam and I) are without Chris today, he is at a ping pong tournament (I know kind of weird and could there be anything worse than being a ping pong widow? I mean I am okay with being a golf widow, but PING PONG!), so we had a lazy day at home. She took a great morning nap and I was still feeling a bit motivated then and got some laundry started (yes I said started...it has not gotten very far) and other chores done. But after lunch it has been a different story. We have been laying around the lilving room being cozy and lazy. While being lazy I have accomplished over a month of entries into Sam's baby journal; adding pictures, stories and even some scrapbooking embelishments! Okay so maybe that isn't lazy but the house is pretty messy with mopping, dusting, vacuuming and other chores that could be done so in light of all that I feel like I have been pretty lazy. While I was "working" on Sam's book and Sam was playing in the living room I decided we deserved a cozy fire and some candles. I went a bit overboard considering it was just the two of us but I say if you have them enjoy them; what else are they there for?


And here is Sam today. She is due for a hair cut. I have an appointment for both of us at the salon on Tuesday. She is going to get her haircut by a professional!!
And check out the pigtails! I dare say I AM GETTING GOOD!! HAHAHA

Happy Saturday everyone!

teeth!

Chris discovered a second tooth today! Sam doesn't have a cold she is cutting a second tooth. She started acting fussy and sick yesterday and woke up this morning with a really runny nose. I have not been feeling that great so I assumed it was a cold coming on. But I guess I was wrong. She was cutting a second tooth. She now has two partial lower front teeth!
So we have been trying crackers and bit of toast and she is doing great. She loves crackers. But what other healthy finger food options are there? If I want to continue to "cook" my own baby food what things should I be giving her now? I know that Gerber makes other finger foods but are there regular foods that she can have now as well? So much change and I am just not sure what is safe or healthy for her at this point. Moms out there, any advice?

oh the places she will go

Chris got the first real footage of Sam scooting. He used his wedding ring to entice her to move; maybe not the safest thing for her to be playing with but he never really let her have it.



It may look like she moves pretty slow and can't go very far but when she is motivated it is impressive how she can move. We have one big baby gate up already and are looking at getting one more.
Look out world... HERE COMES SAM!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

While in St. Louis the last time my mom, aunt Jojo and I (with Sam, Bailey, Parker and Grayson!) made a trip to Target and WHAT A TRIP THAT WAS TOO! You have no idea how slowly you move through Target when you have that many kids with you. Anyway, we kept finding great deals and fun stuff for the kids. I had been wanting and looking for a fun climbing/slide type thing for our playroom and, of course, the St. Louis Target had it! So mom got the castle below for Sam for a Christmas present. She is still a little bit little for it but I know that very soon she will be climbing and sliding all the time. So MERRY CHRISTMAS to Sam...a little early! But there was no way that we were going to get it back to Stevens Point if we had waited to bring it in December (my mom loves Christmas and our car is always bursting at the seams with great gifts).

Thanks Grandma and PawPaw the castle fits PERFECT in the playroom and I know that Sam will love it soon!

And...the other day we had our first snow. Now I know that this is nothing when it comes to WI snow, but I was still excited for Sam to see it and touch the snow. You can't really tell in the picture but it is snowing at the time and she kept watching the flakes fall down.
Chris even made a little snow ball for her to touch...she was not as interested as I had hoped...maybe still alittle young!!
My sister and I have been talking, dreaming and planning for Christmas for several months now. It really is my family's FAVORITE time of the year. There are so many traditions, parties, fun food and family; we just love it all, including my moms 200+ santas that she uses to decorate the house (I use to count them every year when I was little!). It gets more exciting each year as we keep adding kids (this MAY slow down at some point!); which of course adds to the presents and chaos of all those parties!
Anyway, all the present talk, the cold temperatures and recent snow is making me even more anxious for the holidays to be here!!

mountain dew

Do you read my sister's blog? If not, you should. My sister is addicted to mountain dew and writes about it frequently on her blog (not the being addicted part, but the needing one, or hasn't had one, or had one delivered kind of stuff). She drinks so much mountain dew that she will actually call the local pizza place and order an entire pizza, that she doesn't want, just to get them to deliver her a mountain dew. May sound weird until you know that she doesn't drink mountain dew out of a can or bottle just the fountain stuff. Anyway, I have never really gotten the whole mountain dew thing (or coke or pepsi since I know plenty of people addicted to those as well)...UNTIL TODAY!
We are not soda drinkers, unless it is mixed with something else (something of the alcohol variety) we really don't drink soda. But for some reason we have a two liter bottle of mountain dew in the house. I saw it today and this morning decided it sounded good. I poured a hefty glass with lots of ice and IT WAS GOOD. But I have been the energizer bunny all day!
The amount that I have gotten done today ranks right up there with the amount of stuff my sister can get done in a day and those that read her blog know that NO ONE should be able to do that much in one day (seriously read her blog!). Don't believe me...here is the list so far:
- four louds of laundry; washed, dried, folded and put away!
- used new carpet cleaning machine (thank you Chris I LOVE IT!) to clean all of Sam's room, stairway landing, and stairs
- vacuumed areas of carpet that I had cleaned plus three other rooms
- shook out rugs
- fed Sam two meals and four bottles (I have only had one meal; too busy I guess to remember to eat breakfast!!)
- raked/blew all the garden areas of our yard
- swept the driveway (it was drizzling but the leaves in the driveway were bothering me!)
- straightened up bedroom and family room
- played and wrestled with Sam
- did dishes and cleaned up kitchen
- swept entry way floor
- did weeks worth of paperwork filing
- and of course checked email, facebook, and read several blogs!
So that is a crazy amount of stuff for me! I swear this mountain dew is like CRACK!
Stay away people stay away!

my brain is on

Well it is 4:09 a.m. and my brain has turned itself on and won't be turned off. This is something that I inherited from my mother, a skill that I would not wish on my worst enemy. Once Sam had woken me up at 2:15 a.m. and kept me up for over an hour my brain began to work. I began to think about the friend that Chris and I had to say goodbye to tonight. A friend of ours was in a fatal one car accident on Halloween night. Losing someone is never easy but to lose a friend who has just begun their life under such horrible circumstances is just not fair. Chris was much closer to him than I was so this has been harder on him but tonight was not easy for anyone. He was an amazing person and after the accident as the news began to spread it was incredible to see how many people in our lives were friends with him, knew him and were connected to him in some way; frequently without us even realizing it. It has been a sad couple of days for quite a few people in Stevens Point.
So tonight, in the middle of the night, the sadness crept in. To try to suppress it and hopefully help myself get back to sleep I decided instead to think about other things. I began thinking about my future, my career, the growth of our family and even ways that I can spice up the spaghetti and meatballs that I am planning on making for dinner tonight (Wednesday night). The brain gets going and cannot be stopped. I started attempting to make decisions about my future and even at one point got so interested in what I was thinking about I actually contemplated waking Chris up to talk to him about it. Thankfully I realized how moronic that was and instead came downstairs to play on the computer for a while. Of course I turned on the TV to see that Obama had won!! Congrats to the democrats. It is a historical night in this country. But this meant that I had CNN to watch, to see who had won what seats in the House and Senate, to hear Obama's speech and listen to the commentary. This prolonged my staying awake. Now, I am fully awake and probably up for the day, which sucks!
Hopefully all of your nights are going better (or went better considering most of you will read this sometime on Wednesday or after which means your night has passed...does that make sense?).
Happy Wednesday.

did you do your civic duty?

Thanks Jodified Designs for the cool graphic.

home sweet home

The crazy, stressful, and exhausting week is over. Chris got through his exam and we will know sometime late December (usually right before Christmas) how we did. My environmental educators conference in Milwaukee went well and I didn't totally lose my mind. Sam seemed to have a great time at her Grandpa and Nana's house and while I think they were ready for her to go back to WI I think they loved spending time with her.
So, no pictures of the exam and the ones of the conference are not all that interesting so how about some pictures of Sam's week!
This is Sam playing peekaboo with Grandpa during lunch!
An adorable food/milk comma. So cute.


Nana took Sam to the pumpkin patch to pick out a few pumpkins. Sam got one just her size.
It was cold so they didn't get to stay out too long, but Sam got to sick amongst the pumpkins. I love that they look bigger than her.
Just a great playing picture in their living room. They moved around their furniture to give her more room for toys and to move around.
Nana did Sam's hair a lot which I think is so cute! Her pigtails and ponytails look much better than the ones that I am able to do. This is one of my favorite pictures because I think it is so funny how totally surrounded by toys Sam is. I also love that she looks so old in this picture with the bow, shoes and the way it looks like she is crawling. On Halloween Chris, Nana and Sam went to Grandpa's work to trick or treat. I see a future business executive in the making!! She seems very comfortable in that chair. And of course there was candy.
It sounds like Sam was quite a hit in the office.

And then that evening they took Sam trick or treating. She didn't have much of a nap that day so she was a bit crabby but they went to four houses and took lots of pictures for me!A whole week in one post! That is a lot of Sam to take in. I am so thankful to Grandpa and Nana for keeping Sam the whole week for us. I really don't know how we would have made it through that stressful time without them. And I am SO greatful that they took pictures of her week and of the Halloween festivities. I hate that I could not be there with them but the pictures are the next best thing.
Luckily for me she did not have any really major milestones occur while she was away. She is cutting her first tooth; it is her bottom front tooth. But I did not miss crawling or sitting up on her own.
The reunion on Saturday night was so cute. She had the biggest smile and was so happy to see me. I was so excited that of course I cried. It just felt so good to be home.

Okay, longest post ever.
Hope you all had a great Halloween!!