Pizza Thursday

So last year, my parents starting having their children and grandchildren over every Thursday night for pizza dinner.  It's a win-win for everyone, I love the fact that I don't have to think about making dinner that night and it's awesome that Poppy (and now Sam) gets to play with her cousins so often.  We all really look forward to it every week.  During the summer, all of our pizza Thursdays were spent outside with the kids running around the yard or swimming in the pool.  But as the weather gets cooler, we head back inside my parents house and things tend to get a little nutty, having so many kids in one little house.  Check out the following videos for a little taste of "Pizza Thursday".

Ok, this first one is just plain cuteness.  This is Poppy and Tucker hanging out in "her room" at my parents house...



And this next one just speaks for itself.  It's pretty long (I'm just too lazy to edit these things) but it's pretty funny to watch it to the end...



Apparently, Poppy is quite musically talent (as our her cousins).  Coming up next, a peek into our "Playdate Mondays"...

Back to school feast 2010

Inspired by one of my favorite blogs, I decided to prepare a "back to school feast" for Poppy, NieNie style.  Unfortunately, our feast didn't quite look as fancy and cute as NieNie's, but it was still really fun and Poppy really loved it.

Tablecloths, fine china and champagne glasses.  Poppy has never seen any of this on our table, so when she woke up from her nap and saw the table, she said "Oh no mom!  Look what happened in here!"  I explained to her that in honor of her first day of school tomorrow, we were going to have a celebration!

Of course, she was super impressed with her glittery crown.

Don't ask why this cake looks so pathetic.  It's what happens when you try to cram a days worth of baking and cooking into a 2 hour naptime while you have a fussy newborn that wants to be held 24/7.  And it was smoking hot that day so I think the frosting was curdled and melting, or something.  But it still tasted good.

Pretending to be all fancy with a champagne glass...I loved the look on her face when we poured the sparkling cherry juice and she actually got to drink out of the "fancy" glasses.

A toast to the start of a new school year!  And our "theme" of this school year is: to be a good listener.

Even Samuel joined in the festivities.  Well, kind of.

After our delicious dinner of homemade Korean mandu and bulgogi, we gave Poppy her new big girl backpack that Uma bought for her.  It was so cute to see how excited she got over a backpack!

Our girl can multitask!  Calling Uma to thank her for the backpack, drinking her "champagne", and testing out her school supplies.

Looking so cute on her first day of school, I could just eat her up!!!

And here she is on her 2nd day (she only goes 2 days a week) looking like a seasoned pro.  (she was annoyed that I was taking too much time with pictures - she just wanted to get to her classroom already!)

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And let's not forget about this little stinker...

Oh yeah, we busted out the cloth diapers last week.  Poppy was kind enough to pass down her pink diapers to her little brother (and don't worry, he also has boy color diapers too!).

I love myself a nice clean baby, fresh out of the tub!

I was so just waiting for the spit-up to start flying while I was taking this pic.

"Woof!"

Not too much going on around here lately.  We've been having a lot of stay-in-your-pj's-all-day-long types of days lately.  I'm trying to figure out this whole "having a newborn baby" thing out.  Oh, and the breastfeeding thing.  As soon as I typed the words that nursing him has been going pretty good in my last post, we took a drastic downward spiral.  After seeing a lactation consultant last week, I think we're headed in a better direction, but man, it's definitely a lot harder than I thought it would be.  Sam and I spend A LOT of time together in the nursery.  We put the same ipod we used to listen to when Poppy came home in Sam's room and I listen to it every night while I nurse him.  We haven't updated it since Poppy has been home, so I listen to a lot of the same music that I listened to over and over and over when I used to struggle with getting Poppy to sleep.  We have a couple different "Rockabye Baby" albums on there and Coldplay is the one I listened to the most with Poppy, so when I've been listening to it now with Sam it is bringing back such intense memories of Poppy's first couple of months in our lives.  I can close my eyes and see the exact little onesie that she was wearing, I can remember the smell of the Korean formula she used to drink, I can see the box of tissues that were always on hand (to wipe away both of our tears).  And I can remember saying the lyrics in my head whenever "The Scientist" song came on, the part that says "No one said it would be easy.  No one ever said it would be this hard." and I would be thinking to myself how true that was for me at that moment.  And now with having Sam, the same lyrics are ringing just as true for me.  It's hard, but in a much different way.  With Poppy, it was soooo emotional.  Emotionally and physically draining.  With Sam, it's exhausting.  Even though he is actually a really good sleeper at night and I usually only need to get up once to nurse him, I'm still exhausted.  It's more exhausting to try to figure out what his different cries mean, whether or not he's gassy, maybe it's because of something I ate (like figuring out the hard way that having curry veggie burgers while you're nursing isn't a good idea), etc.  But no matter how exhausting or emotionally draining either of these experiences have been, there isn't anything I would trade in the world for a minute spent with Sam or Poppy.  And no matter how exhausted I am, I always know that I'm the luckiest mama in the world.

And we're getting there, for every bad day, we usually have a couple of good days...

This is Poppy's "picnic" in her bedroom.  We took her rocking chair and put it in Sam's room, even though that was the one thing she has always said she didn't want to share with him.  So while we were preparing to remove the rocker, I began stocking up on tons of pillows and a few cute blankets and on the day of the big rocker removal, we created this little reading nook covered in pillows.  She took one look at it, dove right into it with a pile of books, and it's been hard to get her to come out of it.  She calls it her "picnic" and she could literally spend all day longing reading with her stuffed animals there.  (and she never once asked or complained about her missing rocking chair)

Every once in a while, I'll find these 2 trying to catch a snooze in the picnic.  :)

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We did manage to get out of the house last week to go peach picking.  Poppy loves the fact that peaches hang so low off the tree that she can pick them herself.

And I found out the hard way that having baskets and baskets of peaches that need to be washed and peeled and frozen or canned, and a newborn and a 3 year old to take care of at the same time, is not a good idea. :(

Poppy loves playing "This little piggy" with Sam.

And Lola's been feeling a little left out lately, so she wanted in on the action too.

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And I'll leave you with a few silly things Poppy has said recently-

Yesterday afternoon she was playing when she heard Sam wake up from his nap and start to cry.  She grabbed my hand and said, "Mom!  Sam is crying, we have to save him!  Do you hear it?!  Follow that sound!  That poor little guy."  (I think she's been watching a little too much Dora lately)

And then today during lunch she was doing something funny and I asked her how she got to be such a silly goose.  Her answer was "Well mom, someone must have learned me how to be silly.  That's how!"

Speaking of learning, we have Poppy's first teacher conference next week, and then the first week of September will be her first day of SCHOOL!  I'm still not sure if she's more excited or nervous.  We'll see!

Last Saturday, Marc and Poppy packed up the car and met their cousins to go camping for the day.  This is the same place we all went camping last year and we're looking forward to being able to go as a family of 4 together next year.  Anyways, as you can see from the following pictures, Poppy had a blast and I'm so glad she was able to go for the day.

[caption id="attachment_1799" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Getting ready to go on a river walk with Tucker."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1801" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption=""Taking a nap" with Carter and Tucker."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1802" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Making s'mores with Amelia. Mmmmm!"][/caption]

Both Marc and Poppy had such a great time.  Poppy has been making pretend campfires all over the house and pretending to roast marshmallows, while she warns me to not get too close to the fire because it's hot.

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And now onto this character, Sam.  He's doing really good.  Night time is slowly getting a little bit easier.  Marc went back to work last week and being home with a newborn and a 3 year old by myself has been, interesting.  Luckily for me, Poppy is doing such a great job being a big sister and she really does help me out all day and is super patient with the fact that most of my day is spent nursing Sammy-boy.

And I'm pretty sure Poppy and Sam are conspiring against me during naptime.  Lately, as soon as I put Poppy down for her nap, Sam needs to nurse.  As soon as he's done, I go to check on Poppy who is usually still not sleeping.  I go in and tell her to go to sleep, Sam starts crying so I go and rock him until he settles down, go check on Poppy who is hopefully sleeping by then, Sam starts crying, as soon as I get him to sleep, Poppy is up asking where her snack is.  Don't they understand that I'm the one who really needs the nap?!

Nursing has been going pretty well, other than the fact that Sam is what we call a "lazy nurser".  He falls asleep as soon as he sees my boob.  And I have to continue to wake him up the entire hour it takes him to nurse.  But the faces he makes while he is nursing makes it all worth it...

[caption id="attachment_1803" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Just look at that face. I could stare at it all day. In fact, I do."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1804" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="This is his way of saying "I'm done mom! I can't do it anymore! I'm just too tired.""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1805" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Zzzzzzz."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1806" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="He looks so content."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1807" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Until he realizes that he forgot to finish eating."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1808" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Now that's a happy baby."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1810" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Chillin' with his daddy."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1811" align="aligncenter" width="477" caption="Napping with his daddy."][/caption]

Does that napping picture look familiar to anyone?  Remember this one from the first few months that Poppy was home?

I'm getting all emotional just looking at that picture.  Just when I thought I was gaining back control of my hormones.

We gave Sam his first bath the other night.  He was screaming most of the time that we were washing him, but was silent and had a look of bliss whenever we showered him with water.

[caption id="attachment_1812" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Tubby time!"][/caption]

This next pic is from last night.  Marc and I are slowly figuring out a few interesting tricks to settle him down when he starts fussing.  Seconds before I took this picture he was screaming.  The only thing I did was gently brushed his hair with a baby brush.  It was instant silence and then he pulled his hands together like that and fell asleep.  My silly little boy.

And notice the baby rat in the background?  It's a gift from his big sis.  And you might be wondering about the color of his crib that is also in the background.  Well, the nursery is finished, and I absolutely love it.  Except for a few things that I didn't measure correctly and need to be exchanged (like a giant light fixture and the world's largest dresser).  And we don't have any artwork on the walls yet either.  So once all the final details are done, I'll post pics!

Little update

Whew!  This last week has been quite a whirlwind!  Sam is already growing and developing right before my eyes.  Poppy is doing a great job of adjusting to being a big sister.  Marc and I are both pretty much sleep deprived and have gotten into the habit of sleeping whenever Poppy and Sam are sleeping (which means it has become the norm to go to bed at 8pm).  And we've had tons of visitors stopping by to meet this newest addition.  Between all of that, the blog has definitely been put on the back burner, but just like when Poppy came home, it is really important to me to have all of these little things documented.  So be patient with me as I try to catch up here...

[caption id="attachment_1780" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Very first picture."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1781" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Getting ready to go home from the hospital."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1782" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Poppy's new favorite thing to do."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1783" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="What he does all day long."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1784" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="My "two amigos" have turned into my "3 peas in a pod"."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1785" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Trust me, this isn't the same pic as the one above.   Seriously, all day long, he sleeps like this with his arms up."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1786" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Did I mention that she loves to hold her baby brother?"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1787" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Can you tell that he's a little peanut? He barely fits into any of the clothes we have for him!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1788" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Poppy has been loving all the visitors lately, especially her cousins."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1789" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="And she loves having someone new to play with her."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1790" align="aligncenter" width="717" caption="Poppy calls pacifiers "baby feeders". When Sam really wants his baby feeder, he will hold onto it with both of his hands so that it doesn't fall out."][/caption]

And here are some of the random things I wanted to have documented...

Labor and delivery:  definitely did not go as planned or expected.  Last Tuesday I was at my doctor's office for my weekly appointment (with 2 weeks to go before my due date).  Just before the doctor was about to begin my exam, I felt a little trickle down there and got super embarrassed because I thought I peed a little bit (these things happen when you're 9 months pregnant).  My doctor told me to lay back for my exam and I felt an even bigger trickle.  Super embarrassing.  My doctor looks up at me with a shocked look on her face and I turn bright red and said "I'm so sorry, I think I just peed a little bit."  She said, "Um, no, your water just broke."  Luckily, I wasn't having contractions yet, so I was able to drive home and meet Marc before we both headed to the hospital.  We arrived at about noon and within minutes we were checked in and hooked up to a monitor that measured my contractions and the baby's heartbeat.  When I saw on the monitor that I was having contractions, I kept bragging to everyone that they didn't even hurt and that I didn't think I would even need an epidural.  Well, they ended inducing my labor by giving me pitocin and within a few hours I definitely changed my tune about the pain level with the contractions and was asking how quickly they could get me an epidural.  Thank God for that epidural.  Anyways, within a few hours things were really progressing.  I had the best L & D nurse, and Marc and my mom were there with me the entire time.  By 4:00 I had dialated to 5 cm. and by 7:00 I was at 10 cm.  The nurse gave me a quick tutorial on how to push (seeing as we never quite got around to taking those birthing classes) and this was what I was a little nervous about.  For the past couple of months I had been joking that during delivery, the baby was just going to jump out.  Well, basially, he did!  He was out within half an hour and only a few pushes at 7:40pm.  The doctor was shocked at how quickly the day progressed for me, and I was just relieved that it was over.  We were all on pins and needles waiting to see how much the baby weighed (big babies run in my family) and I was so excited that he ended up being a little peanut weighing only 7.2 lbs.

The name: oh the drama we caused by waiting a whole 24 hours before we named this poor kid!  I was scolded by numerous nurses and hospital workers trying to complete my paperwork, as well as hounded non-stop by friends and family.  So we've had a ton of people asking if Samuel is a family name.  Nope.  In June, I read East of Eden by John Steinbeck and fell in love with one of the main characters, Samuel Hamilton.  There were a few other contenders - I really liked Gus and Finn, Marc loved Luca (which I thought was a little too Italian for me) and then at the last minute I threw in Levi after reading about Matthew McConaughey's son in UsWeekly. :)  So the day after he was born, when Marc and Poppy came up to the hospital to have dinner with me, we gave all those names to Poppy and told her to pick one.  She picked Sam.  And my dad's name is Robert.  And that's how Mr. Sam Robert Marrano got his name.

Big sister:  Poppy is doing so great with this huge adjustment in her life.  She is so gentle with him and just loves to help take care of him in any way she can.  She also pleads with us to not share him with anyone as soon as the doorbell rings.  "Daddy, can you just hold him?  I don't want to share him with anyone.  I want to keep him all day!"  And here are just a few of my favorite things she has said in the past week:

"Babies eat baby milk from their mommy's booby-boob's".

When she was looking for him because he wasn't in his bassinet, "Where's my Sammy-boy?"  (we've never called him anything other than Sam or Samuel)

When waking up in the morning to snuggle with Sam in our bed, "Hi cutie-cutie!  Oh, mom, he's soooo cute!"

Where does she come up with this stuff?

So I promise to make an effort to do better blog posts and take some cuter pictures of Sam this week.  Good night!