Charlie and Sam Share Their First Male Bonding Moment

On Saturday I had a brief glimpse of what life is going to be like being the only girl in a house with four boys. I was holding Sam on my lap on the floor, and Charlie was sitting right next to us, and he was holding Sam's hands (Charlie loves to give him hugs, kisses, you name it). All of a sudden Sam (who can burp and fart like the rudest biggest truck driver you can imagaine) let out a HUMONGOUS toot. Charlie looked at Sam, and then he completely CRACKED UP. He laughed so hard he had tears coming out the corners of his eyes. Sam actually smiled back at him. The testosterone based sense of humor must start right after birth.

Hilarious Harlan High

I was talking with Jeff last night (which was actually quite nice...it was the first time since Sam was born that all the kids were down for the count by 9:00 and we actually had "us" time) and he was telling me about this hilarious tidbit of information....in high school his principal was named Mr. Klinkefuss, and get this-the assistant principal was named Miss Kumm! With names like those, I would have strayed far from the education field. I laughed for about 5 minutes!

Charlie is a Big Boy

Charlie celebrated his 1st birthday on Wednesday. He brought chocolate chip cookies to school to share with his friends, who sang him happy birthday. He got to pick out the activity for the day, and he didn't have to pick up toys (he's not real great at this anyway). At home, we had his favorites for dinner (hot dogs, tater tots, and carrots). Jeff even made it home a little after 7 to spend some time with him on his birthday, which was nice. I can't believe it has been a year already! He is really taking off with walking. It is so strange to see him toddling across the floor. You can tell he is really proud of himself about it!


Charlie went in to the doctor yet again yesterday for another sinus infection. We talked for a bit with an ENT who suggested he have his adenoids out at 2 years, but until then there isn't much to do besides antibiotics and riding out the infections.


In Sam news, he has slept through the night for the past THREE nights! (He sleeps from 9 at night to about 5:00 in the morning). I have no idea why he is doing this...I wish I could pinpoint something I am doing to make sure he keeps it up! It has been a lot easier going to work with more sleep this week.

Crazy, Crazy, Craziness

I don't know if I will ever recover from going back to work on Thursday. My job is such an active one where I am on my feet and moving all day long that I am absolutely pooped by the time 3:00 roles around. And then after that I still have to clean up my room and head down to daycare where I have the insurmountable task of dressing Sam and Charlie like Eskimos and carting all three boys out of school. (Thank God for my baby product for the week...it's called a Bundle Me and it attaches to infant car seats so that they don't have to wear a traditional coat.) We have a double stroller now so at least I don't have to carry both of them at the same time, but it's still quite the experience. I also made the stupid decision to have Sam's Baptism and Charlie's First Birthday party today, when I really just wanted to veg (I should have had it next weekend, or even when I was still on maternity leave). We kept it really small with just grandparents and aunts and uncles, no decorations or anything, and just food prepared all by Sam's and not by me (thank God!). It ended up being nice and pretty stress free, but even so, it was very tiring. Everything seems to require 20x the energy lately. I thought back this morning to Evan's first party and how bananas I went on it. We had TONS of people over, a HUGE dinner including expensive polish sausage from Stoysich, decorations everywhere, the works. I feel bad sometimes for Sam especially that he kind of gets the dregs of things, but maybe kids don't need all of that hoopla anyway. Charlie still had fun smashing cake all over himself, and playing with new toys. Someday they both may hate me for combining the two events and not giving them separate celebrations, or for not going all out on things, but I guess I have to do what I can with the energy/time/funds that I have to work with at the time.

In Charlie news, he really started taking off walking today. He took his first steps on the 22nd of December, but he waited until today to really start getting confidence and going everywhere. He is so cute to watch! He is also teething his one year molars which makes him pretty unbearable sometimes. I am a little discouraged about his sinuses. He has been off of antibiotics for 7 days, and like clockwork, he is getting sick again with a cough and goopy nose and eyes. I cannot keep him healthy! Looks like we will be back to the doctor next week.

6 Week Check

I went in for my 6 week check, and I had some happy news...I have lost 31 pounds since Sam was born. Okay, so most of that was baby stuff I guess, but still, how many times does someone tell you that you've lost 31 pounds in 6 weeks!! I only have 5 more to go before I am back to my pre-Charlie weight. Not bad for someone who has had 2 ten pound babies in a year!! Of course, I am not anywhere near my pre-Charlie shape, but who knows if I'll ever see that again. I have to take the good news where I can get it.

It is back to the real world/normal life (if I even have one any more) tomorrow. I am so nervous that Sam won't sleep tonight and I will be a zombie tomorrow!!! I did something this morning I swore I would never do...I put cereal in Sam's bottle. I know you aren't supposed to yet at this age, but he wants to eat CONSTANTLY and this is part of his problem at night. Everyone over 50 and one girl our age that Jeff works with keep telling me they did it, it helped, and to try it. So, I broke down and did it. He has been remarkably calm today. We'll see if it helps tonight. That's all I'm hoping for, especially since Charlie is working on getting in his one year molars and is an absolute beast.

Warning...Girl Stuff Ahead...

I am so PUMPED! And I never EVER thought I would say this, but I got my period last week and I was SO EXCITED! After two years of being preggo, this is a major accomplishment for me. I have never been so glad to have this week in my life. I just felt so "normal" me again. With my crazy cycles, I hadn't had one in 22 months. Anyway, just had to share! Sorry Adam...


In other news, I go back to work on Thursday. I am actually kind of excited to get dressed up in the morning (instead of never changing out of my pajamas) and have a normal schedule again. I was going through my closet today seeing what I fit into again, and it was almost like going shopping! I haven't worn this stuff in so long I don't even remember it. The only thing I am worried about is being a zombie, since Sam is the worst sleeper ever. Prayers in this direction would be greatly appreciated!!!