Joshua is 2!

Joshua had a wonderful B-day today!  He woke up to Steve and I serenading him with the Happy B-day song.  He was so excited to see his Sesame Street decorations around the house.  We had a small party for him with our church group.  Joshua loved playing with his friends and we all had pizza and cupcakes.  Noah slept through most of the party:)  I think Joshua really understood today was his birthday since we had prepped him all week for it.  He also got numerous calls from Ammachi, Appachan, Uncle Suno, Austin, and he even got to watch a video of his cousins Ethan and Mia singing the birthday song.  He wanted to watch it several times. 

Here are some pics:

Time is flying by!

Noah is now 8 weeks old and getting bigger and bigger.  He's over 10 lbs 11 oz now and looks more like Steve everyday.  Last week he started to smile when we smile and is interacting with us a lot.  He locks his gaze for longer and is able to focus more easily.  He has the biggest eyes and loves to watch his brother play.  He still prefers his right side but I am trying my best to counteract that.  He slept through the night at 7 weeks for two straight nights and I loved every second.  He's done that a couple of times now.  I'll take what I can get :)  He didn't like to be swaddled early on but I realized last week that now he does better with it.   He still has reflux but the Prilosec seems to be helping which he's been on for a month now.  He doesn't spit up that much, just occasional dribbles but nothing like Joshua.  No signs of eczema yet either.

Joshua still loves to kiss his feet and wherever Mommy and Daddy will let him.  He loves to hover around Noah when he's crying and tell him, "It's OK, Baby Noah, it's OK."  Probably because he's heard us say it so many times.  Joshua himself has done better with his sleep pattern more due to Daddy's 2 way video monitor in which Daddy talks Joshua back to sleep.  It's been 2 weeks since Steve has had to sleep with Joshua on the couch.
Joshua has also enrolled in Kindermusik and he attends with Granny and Grandpa.  He listens to his CDs a lot and his two passions are golf and music.  He is amazing with a golf club and can hit a ball better than Steve :)
We finally stopped using his high chair last week and he sits in his booster seat at the table.  He now "brushes" his teeth and I'll have to get a step stool for him to rinse.  He's also been in physical therapy for a month for his off again on again toe walking.  We've been working on strengthening his postural muscles on the exercise ball and sensory activities with the bristle brush.  He enjoys PT and I enjoy relearning pediatric techniques.

I only have 4 weeks left on my maternity leave and I am already starting to feel sad about having to go back.  But I am going to everything I can to enjoy the rest of my leave, because it literally could be my last maternity leave.  This one has been so different from the first and part of it is that I knew what to expect and Noah didn't have the same issues.  I also am getting out a lot more with Noah.

Here are some pics:

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's been 4 weeks since I gave birth to our little Noah.  He had his first smile one week in while I was burping him and he was in his "milk coma." Since then, I look forward to seeing his smiles after he has milk and is half asleep.  I've even seen him chuckle a couple of times. 

He still sleeps most of the day and I have been trying my best to keep him up more during the day.  He is pretty stubborn though and even a wet washcloth won't sway him to stay awake.

I completely forgot how little sleep you get with a newborn.  Every three hour feedings with burp time, change time, and holding time to prevent spit-up turns into around 2 hours of sleep at a time.  Its amazing how God helps you forget all that as your kids get older. 
He is still wearing Newborn diapers and is still in Newborn clothes, though today I put him in 3 month clothes and he somewhat fits in them.  Its funny how you think you won't need that many of those tiny diapers but then Joshua and now Noah will need them for over a month. 

I had my first outing with just Noah and I last Fri for the MOPS meeting.  He did great - I was able to stay for the entire 3 hour meeting.  I did cheat by giving him the pacifier when he started to cry.  Funny how you say you won't use a pacifier on the 2nd child and how easily that goes out the window :)

Steve has already given our little Noah a "haircut" at 2 weeks old.  He had so much hair that it started to cover his ears. 

We took both Joshua and Noah to Sears to take pictures on Fri and that was a disaster.  Joshua who was dressed so cute wouldn't take any pictures after he heard the pop noise of the flash.  He would try to run out of the room each time we asked him to stand or sit next to Noah.  At least we got some newborn pics of Noah.

For Valentine's Day, I received my customary chocolate covered strawberries (I've already finished half the box) and I had Joshua give Daddy a card from him and Noah and a box of chocolates.  Joshua also "made" a card for Grandma and Grandpa.

 

3 days old

6 days old

11 days old

18 days old

LOVE my boys!  (2/8/12)

2/12/12

Introducing Noah Jax Samuel!

Please join us in welcoming our newest addition to the Samuel clan:  Noah Jax Samuel - born on Jan. 15, 2012 at 12:04 pm.  He weighed in at 7 lbs 7 oz. and was 20 in. in length.  He is such a beautiful baby and we are enjoying every second with him.  Its been 11 days since we had him and he is slowly gaining his birth weight back and getting rid of his jaundice.  He left the hosp. at 6 lbs 13 oz.  and 9 days later is at 7 lbs 1 oz. 

We had a crazy couple of days leading up to Noah's birth.  I felt abdominal pain on Thu. Jan. 12 and decided to go into work, finish my paperwork, and make it my last day.  Got everything done in 4 hours and decided to eat lunch with Steve at Cheesecake Factory since I got antsy that it would be the last time I get some good food for a while.  Had our 38th week appt on Fri. in which we found out Noah had turned breech, hence the pain on Thu.  We decided to do the manual version where we would check into the hosp. on Sat.  Our Dr. explained that she would probably induce if she turned him.  So we went home and got everything ready and explained to Joshua that he might be a big brother tomorrow.
Long story short, the Dr. turned Noah within 5 seconds but was not able to induce due to hosp. policy saying we had wait until 39 weeks unless it was a med. emerg.   So that's the story of how Noah was born on Sun. Jan. 15 (Martin Luther King's B-day)

Joshua has been sick for 3 1/2 weeks with a heavy cough and congestion so we have to limit how close he can get to Noah.  However, Joshua has been so sweet to him, kissing his feet and letting us know everytime he cries.  He hasn't shown any jealousy signs most likely because his schedule has stayed the same.  He still goes to Grandma and Grandpa's house during the week and so he gets lots of attention.  We have noticed that he is acting out a little more, like going back to throwing food and talking and yelling to get our attention.  Hopefully, that will pass soon.:)

Here are some pics:

One and a half weeks left! (At 38.5 weeks)

It is getting harder and harder to work everyday.  This was the time I had left when Joshua was induced so it feels unreal that I am still carrying this baby.  And its so funny how we are so unprepared for this one but not in the least bit stressed out about it.  And when I say unprepared, I mean we still need to wash bottles and get his changing pad out and swing from the attic.  I guess the rest will just come back to us.  Hopefully.

I meant to put some pictures up of the ultrasound we had at 36 weeks.  He was very active that day and the US tech said he was already breathing so well.  At that point he already weighed 6 lb. 9 oz.  I think this one's going to be a big one :)

I am going through cedar fever right now since the count in Austin is sky high and of course Joshua has been sick for the past week and a half with a bad cough and congestion.  His runny nose is slowly going away.  We really hope he gets better before baby #2 arrives!  Going to be hard to keep Joshua away from his brother!

Enjoy the pics!

Mad about something!

                                                                   He's giving us a good smile!
       

                                                       The tech said he was blowing kisses at us!

Christmas Day 2011

We had a great Christmas day here in Austin!  We all woke up at 8:00 (and that means Joshua woke us up since he ends up in bed with us every night) and slowly started our morning routine.  After breakfast together, Steve read the Christmas story to Joshua and we said a prayer.  Then we let Joshua open presents.  Except he still didn't really grasp the opening presents part so I helped a lot.  He absolutely loved his recorder and school bus and stared in amazement at the tool bench box and race car apparatus that Uncle Scott and Aunty Betsy got him.  He also loved the fast cars that Uncle Ben and Aunty Abby got him.  He definitely liked playing with the wrapping paper and thought it was funny to watch Steve and I open our presents.  Christmas is so different when you see it through a child's eyes.  We had a great time throughout the season singing Christmas songs, turning on the lights every evening, and finally getting to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas Day.

Mom, Dad, and Sunil came in from Dallas around noon and Joshua was entertained the rest of the day.  He had a great time showing everyone his golf moves and playing with toys.  Then we had Mom and Dad from Austin come over and we had a tasty Christmas dinner with a Smokey Mo's turkey.  We were all full by the end of the night.

21 months today with 5 weeks left!

I can't believe that I've neglected this blog for almost 2 months!  Joshua turned 21 months today and he is just so active and verbal these days.  He repeats a lot of what we say (sometimes we have to really watch it :)  and he's connecting 2 words pretty easily now.  For instance he'll say, "Mommy cooking,"  "Daddy vacuuming", "Grandpa putting" - meaning golf.  He is obsessed and I mean obsessed with golf.  We actually bought him real clubs and he will hit golf balls inside and outside the house.  He's got a pretty good swing - much, much better than Steve's :)

We've done so much in the past month or so.  We went to Dallas for Thanksgiving where we had a great meal and had lots of family over.  Subin arrived from Afghanistan the week prior and we were able to spend Thu - Mon with him.  We also hung out with Julie and met her parents for the first time.  Julie and I got up for after Thanksgiving sales on Fri.  

We also were able to catch up with Susan, Ash, Sheba, Johnsly and Shirley.  They had a lot of family over Fri. night for dinner.  Was nice to finally meet Aiden.  He's a cutie. 

We met up with our friends Jason, Shawn, Reena, and Anil on Sunday.  Can't believe the Jacobs finally moved back to Texas.   Great seeing all the kids and also seeing Sigy and Jaya for the first time.

I personally feel like a penguin now - weighing in about 138 pounds.  I didn't even weigh this much when I gave birth to Joshua.  And I still have 5 weeks left!  Looks like I'll be working out pretty hard - especially since my brother's wedding will be in Hawaii in June!  This pregnancy is definitely harder than the first - can hardly bend down, lots of acid reflux, unable to sleep comfortably.  It's also funny how little you prepare for the 2nd one.

Also hard to believe that we have 1 week before Christmas!  And like always, I have procrastinated on gifts.  I think I do it on purpose - just for the rush of trying to fit it all in.

I'll try and do better about updating the blog.
Enjoy the pics!