Happy Halloween!

My little dragon

I traced Sam's hands for the pumpkin eyes! Saw the idea here!

Don't think, just run!

This week marks a huge week for us!

After one failed year, months of training, too many early mornings, Rob is finally getting to run the New York City Marathon! Rob was supposed to run it last year, but well...y'all know what happened. I'm so excited for him, it's a dream come true for Rob to run in his home state and run one of the most popular races in one of the biggest cities.

me and my first 5k in 2010

And for me!! This week I start training for the Charleston, SC half marathon that's on Jan. 18th, 2014!!

Saturday, I was putting Sam down for a nap and Rob runs into the room. "I know we decided that I would take a break from running marathons, but what if YOU ran the Charleston half marathon??" Apparently our friends were asking Rob about Charleston because before Rob said he'd run it and we could all rent a beach house. He first said no because he promised me a break from races and that's when he had the brilliant idea of getting me to run. So when he asked me, I was caught off guard and half awake (hello nap time) and I was like, "Uh uh uh.....yes?"

And there we go. I agreed to run a half marathon! I'm super excited and super nervous. It was always a goal to run a half marathon and well, why makes excuses and just do it? It'll be tough, there will be tears, but Rob will be there the whole way encouraging me. We've got our friends too, who are all great inspirations!

The timing is perfect too. The race is 12 weeks away and the Hal Higdon Novice 1 training program is 12 weeks. Basically the training is short runs 3 days a week and a long run on the weekend. There's a day for stretching/resting and a cross training day which will probably be my post natal bootcamp DVD. I'm also canceling my gym membership, it just wasn't working out and it proved more difficult to go to classes in the evening and taking care of Sam for bedtime. With running, I don't have a set time, which is good. And this will totally help get me in shape because running burns so many calories and all this training is during the holiday time, so I will be less likely to overindulge.

What we've been up to...

It's been a crazy couple of weeks here at our house! My parents and my brother and his family came to visit us last weekend for Sam's baptism. So we've been getting the house ready, then they were here, then they left and we've been recooping.

But it was very nice seeing my family! I wish they could've been here longer and I wish I could've shown them more of North Carolina. Do you know we actually took them to a mexican restaurant? Mexican! They are from Arizona!! What were we thinking? I mean it's in a cool area of Charlotte and we walked around and looked and art and shops, but still....mexican, tsk tsk.

Sam also got baptized this past Sunday. It was a lovely little ceremony that brought tears to my eyes. Nothing like seeing the beauty of life and God in your child.

my brother and sister-in-law are Sam's godparents.

We had fun times with my niece Lily. We went to the pumpkin patch together.

And since last Friday, Sam has been sleeping in his own room! That's so huge! It was the perfect time to move him into his room because while my family was here, Rob and I slept in Sam room. Then on Monday, he was all by himself. I think I had a harder time adjusting. Our room seems so big now. But Sam sleeps great it his room.

To My Husband:

Happy Anniversary Rob.

we get to celebrate as a family!

I knew I married an awesome person, but I didn't realize how truly amazing Rob is until we had Sam. He helps me so much and works so hard and never really asks for much(other than a jeep and training for marathons..and beer). And no matter what's going on, we still make each other laugh. And, well shucks, I just love him!

Sam & Suzy: This Week

This week was all about food!

Daycare told us that Sam was just fussy and hungry a lot. Most days he eats about every 2.5 -3 hours. Lately he's also been crying when he sees the other babies get solids. Which is funny because at home, Sam is happy eating about every 4 hours with veggies at dinner time. 

"Why don't you give him cereal? We have food here!" I didn't want to really start solid food with Sam so early...just ease him into it, but if he's crying at daycare for food, I don't want him hungry. My head was spinning. I think the main thing is that he sees the other kids and he's like, "Oh hey! I could go for some too."Thankfully, he had his 6 month check up coming up and we could talk to his doctor about the food situation.

Sam's doctor told us that it's ok to give him more food. We can work him up to 3 times a day. She said we don't need to give him cereal just yet, that the veggies we give him is fine. That made me feel better! So, right now Sam gets a veggie at daycare along with his bottles. We also are giving him a small bottle in the morning again. Already we see a big improvement! Sam doesn't need to eat right away at daycare and can wait about 3-4 hours between bottles. (although hello poops!)

And I know daycare provides baby food, but we'd like to make our own. I know Sam may not always be able to eat organic, but if it's easy for us to provide it, then why not? We enjoy making his baby food and I know that it'll help us eat more veggies. It's also much cheaper right now than buying jars and such. (again thank you Sendi for getting us the baby bullet!!)

Sam: 

Hello little tooth! Yep, one of Sam's bottom teeth finally broke through! I can't wait for it to be totally out and see it when he smiles. It's funny to see Sam play with his tooth. His little tongue rubbing against it, chewing on his lip and fingers.

Suzy:
Ok, I know I have a sensitive stomach. I watch what I eat, I stay away from certain foods and I eat smaller portions. Lately though, it's been so grumbly! I think it may be hormones if that makes sense. It's also my pants, because even though they fit, when I sit, it's presses tight right on my lower tummy. But what can I do? I'm tired of wearing maternity pants that I have hold up with the belly band because they are too big otherwise. Being in this inbetween is kind of annoying.

6 month stats

Sam gained another 2 lbs! That's just crazy. He also grew an inch as well.
-He mostly wears 6 - 9 month clothes.
-He wears a size 3 diaper.
-He has one bottom tooth that just started to pop out and another looming underneath.
-He can sit up on his own, but is still wobbly.
-He eats about 3 - 4 7oz bottles with 2 veggies a day.
-He sleeps from around 8pm - 5:45am.

Happy Birthday Rob!!

Happy Birthday to the most awesome guy in my world!!

Breast feeding 6 months later

my sign at work

With Sam being 6 months now, I've been thinking a lot about my breast feeding situation. In case you didn't know, I have low supply and have had to supplement with formula since the beginning. I would breast feed as often as I could and pump at work. And even though there's the rough nights where Sam only wants me, I love love love to breast feed with him.

If I could, I would breast feed Sam for as long as I can. Although, as Sam grows more and needs more, I can barely give him enough all together. Usually in the mornings, I'll breastfeed him around 6 and he'll be fine till 8:30-9. Sunday, he needed a bottle at 7:30. And at work, I'm lucky if I pump 4 oz in one day. Sometimes it takes me almost a week to make enough for one bottle. While I know my boss is cool with me pumping, I just feel like I'm wasting time when I pump so little. I think I'm past the point of power pumping weekends and herbal supplements.

Starting this week I'm going to cut down to one work pump and then when I can, stop pumping at work all together. That'll leave me with breast feeding Sam as soon as I get home, at bed time (with a bottle) and then in the morning. Then on the weekends continue with feeding him before every bottle.

It doesn't make me happy, but it's not worth the stress and frustration to keep pumping at work. And maybe it's my body telling me that we're at the end here. I did my best and I probably stuck longer than most girls in my situation. And also, who knows...I could still be breast feeding as much as I can when Sam's a year old!

Sam: 1 - 6 months

My sweet boy. He's changed so much!

6 months

holy 6 months batman!

Here's some of my fav photos from the past month:

yum, paper

yum, foot

trying to fit Sam in Rob's baptism outfit

Sam loves Faith

yum, turtle

Sam and Mommy selfie

walking on the greenway

oh this boy, oh my heart

sam & suzy: 26 weeks

i can hold my bottle!

It's October! One of our favorite months of the year! Where it's ok to over indulge in anything pumpkin (beer, coffee, muffins...) and start wearing comfy long sleeves again.

We have Rob's birthday coming up, then my brother's, then my family is coming and we are baptizing Sam, then our anniversary and then Halloween. Throw in some crunchy leaves, pumpkin carving, candy and fun day trips and well...how can we not love this month?

Sam:
Man, babies sure do grow fast! (i know, duh) Seriously, Sam barely has anything to wear because he's practically outgrown all his current clothes. What makes it harder is that we're in between seasons, so mornings are cold and the afternoons are still hot. I'm hitting up Good Will and a consignment store this weekend for some clothes.

Mommy tip I wish I knew before: buy bigger and only buy what you need at the time. I have outfits that he never wore (which I took off tags and washed) because the weather was still too hot and he grew bigger than what these so called clothes says he should fit in. And get familiar with different brand sizes. Old Navy and Gymboree runs big. Carters true to size.

Suzy:
I don't know if it's the weather, or the month, or getting out more or whatever, but I've been feeling awesome. I'm also very used to our routine now. I still go to be around 9 each night. I'm scared to go any later in case we have a rough night. I'm feeling great about my body even though I have a long way to go. So yay!

The zoo and the haircut

We went to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC with our friends this past weekend. We were so excited to bring Sam to the zoo for the first time! He's still a bit too young for the zoo, but he did have a good time. He noticed some of the animals, but he mostly people watched. Next year is going to be even better!

The zoo itself is a great. Rob and I love going to zoos. We actually had our honeymoon in San Diego and it was a must to go to the zoo. ( i had to see the panadas!) My fav animal at the Columbia zoo was the koala bears and some of the snakes. As an added bonus, there is a botanical garden next to the zoo that you can visit. One of my favorite part about the garden was this paved trail that brought you back to the zoo. It was super steep and a bit tricky with the stroller, but it was so lovely being in the woods.


To end the day of fun, Sam had his first haircut! Our friend is a hair stylist so I asked if she could Sam's hair when we met up with them at the zoo. Now, I really really did not want to cut Sam's hair! I mean really, he's not even a year old! But he started to look pretty messy. So as we were leaving the restaurant after the zoo, I asked our friend if she cared for cutting Sam's hair right there since we were all so tired and just needed to go home (we were almost 2 hours away from home).

We took the bumbo and plopped it right on the trunk of their car, on the side of the street on a major road! We were all laughing pretty hard. But what a great story to tell Sam! He did pretty good too. Probably distracting enough than being inside at a salon. And Sam looks so much better now! We didn't get too much cut off, just along the neck and some on the top.