Back to normal life

(Very happy at 6:15 am this morning)

(Still smiling 6 hours later while in line at Sam's Club...)

The only good thing that came out of Lauren dislocating her knee was that she was off work for almost 2 weeks. That means we had almost 2 weeks of living life like most families do...together. Last night she returned to work which means she isn't home in the morning when Samantha and I wake up and she is sleeping during the day when Samantha and I are awake.

I really do love spending quality time with my daughter but family time is the best!

Jeff.

Miss Samantha's Photo Shoot

Pebble's Photo Shoot

My Dad is in on the Reading too!!!

Today for lunch Samantha and I met up with my Dad. I told him about trying to read to Samantha more and he got in on the action too! This baby really is going to be smart if we have anything to do with it!

Holding true to my word.

Here I am reading to Samantha last night...as promised! Now I just have to make a routine out of reading and my daughter will be the smartest ever! Look how into it she is!

Here is a picture of Samantha this morning. So let me tell you...I love my daughter I mean REALLY LOVE HER! This morning she slept in until after 6 and since Jeff was already up he offered to feed and change her. He put her back in bed and left for work. He said she was still awake but playing so I figured she would eventually start talking and I would get up with her. But she fell asleep and I did too. We both ended up sleeping until 9:30 AM. When I went in to get her she was kicking one of her toys and thought it was just the funniest thing in the world. So we got up and came downstairs. She played in her jump-a-roo for a little while, had a bottle and she was rubbing her eyes so I put her down for a nap at 10:30! I know that I love sleeping and I come by it honestly since my mom loves to sleep too but this child LOVES to sleep! I think that because she is getting all this beauty sleep she is going to grow up to be a beautiful little girl!

It's been awhile...

I know it's been awhile since I have posted a Samantha picture and I thought it was about time. Here is a picture that Jeff took of Samantha last night. She is growing like a weed these days. I have noticed lately that she is really in tuned to what is going on around her. When I try and hide the empty bottle from her she looks around for it. When something she wants is out of sight she will hunt for it. I think sometimes she is getting so smart so fast and I am not doing enough. So I am resolving to read to her more and spend more enriching time with her! You hear that Samantha? I am making a promise to you to READ to you!!! All the teachers out there would be so proud :)

Her first word...

This past week has been a bit of a blur. I have been sleeping a lot, I mean a whole lot! And with all the medications I am on for my knee "a blur" is the best way to describe this week. But sometime this week Samantha started talking! And her first word was "MAMA". Now, I take a lot of pride in this because I have really worked with her on this word. I know that people who over-heard my "mamamamamamamamama" probably thought I was crazy but I constantly repeated the word to her! I hope to catch it on video soon and will post it as soon as I do. Until then, here is a picture of Samantha at MCL. When I was little I love their high-chairs because they rolled on the tiled floor and made a lot of noise. So I was excited for Samantha to get to try it out too, but I think she is still a little too small for their high-chairs. She did love slamming the tray up and down making lots of noise! Good thing most of the customers at MCL are old and cannot hear! LOL

My Dislocated Patella:

Today at work I dislocated my knee! I really just bumped my knee on a filing cabinet. At first I was really confused. I could not put any weight on my leg but it did not hurt when I bumped it so I had no clue what was wrong. So I reached down and felt my knee cap on the side of my leg. I knew instantly that my knee was dislocated. So I yelled for my co-workers to call 911. I called Jeff to let him know that I was hurt and that an ambulance was coming to pick me up. It seemed like it took them forever to get there but it was probably only about 10 minutes or so. I was in more pain than I ever have been before. The EMT's asked me if it was worse than childbirth and I said YES, I had an epidural for childbirth! The EMT's got me loaded onto a stretcher and had to use the service elevator to take me downstairs. But the service elevator only goes to the 2nd floor so they had to carry me down a flight of stairs. Any movement to my knee was like being stabbed by a thousand knives. By the time they got me into the ambulance my arms were numb from the pain! I called Jeff again to let him know we were headed to Grant Hospital. Since I was at work downtown Grant was the closest hospital. Once we got to the hospital they took me straight into a room and a nurse was there waiting for me. He got me all set up and my IV was already in from the ambulance EMT so they started giving me fluids. I was begging for more pain medicine. At that time all I had was 4 milligrams of morphine which did not even touch the pain. When the Doctor came in he started to put my knee back into place but it was too painful. So they ended up giving me more painkillers through my IV and these painkillers were MUCH better than the morphine. Once that had a few minutes to kick in the Doctor put my knee cap back into place. Even with all the medicine it was still really painful. But is was SO much better than the pain I was in before it was put back in place. The nurse brought me some ice packs and I was able to relax for a little bit while I waited for the x-ray tech's to come in. The x-ray tech's were two younger girls, probably my age, and they were very nice and sympathetic. I had to pee really bad so I called the nurse in and he said that at this point I would have to use a bed pan, so I opted for holding it! Then about 20 minutes later he came back and put my leg in a brace and gave me crutches so that I could go to the bathroom on my own! I was discharged from the hospital with prescriptions for Oxy-Cotin and an Anti-Inflammatory. I have to go meet with an Orthopedic Surgeon on Monday or Tuesday to see if I am going to need surgery or just some sort of physical therapy. Keep my in your prayers as I am still in a lot of pain and am nervous about what the Orthopedic Surgeon is going to say.

Momma's Pancake Breakfast!!!

Here is Samantha this morning before she got all the way dressed! I love to give her a few minutes of naked time because she loves to play/suck on her toes. Since it is winter time she rarely has her feet bare so she really enjoys this time in the morning to explore her toes!

Miss Samantha all dressed up and ready to go to lunch with Mom and Vikki. We had another showing on the house today and I really could not think of a better thing to do than go out and enjoy a Momma's Pancake Breakfast at Cracker Barrel?

After lunch I went to Mandy's to visit with Chase and Grady. Grady was asleep for most of the visit, but Samantha enjoyed checking out her cousin Chase! (See above) Once Grady got up from his nap he loved showing me all the letters in his favorite book "Hop on Pop." It is crazy how quick he is growing.

Bugs Bunny...

Here is a picture of Samantha this morning before Jeff and I had to go to work. She was so stinkin' happy this morning it about killed me to leave her. I hope there comes a day that I do not have to!

Wigwam

Today for lunch, my mom, Aunt Vikki, Samantha and I went to the Wigwam in Canal Winchester. It was one of my Mamaw's favorite places to eat and on the Anniversary of her death we all went to remember her. I could say this a million times, I so wish my Mamaw was her to meet my beautiful daughter. I was telling Samantha this morning that I am positive the my Mamaw would just love her to pieces.

Samantha is 7 months old today!

Mother and Daughter

This morning before church Jeff took this picture of Samantha and I. Could she look any happier? My mom got her this coat and hat for Christmas. Isn't she just the cutest? There is a little saying sewn on the inside of the coat. Something about it being a traveling coat and being passed down to her daughter. I hope that someday she will pass this down to her daughter. I know that I love things that were my Mom's and also my Mamaw's.

Sleepy Girl

Aunt Lisa watched Miss Samantha today for a few hours while Jeff and I were both at work. So I dropped her off over there @ 2:30 PM and Jeff picked her up at 5:15 PM. Lisa told Jeff that she was happy and awake the whole time! So when Jeff got her all bundled up and in the car she fell asleep! Playing with her cousins must have worn her out.

Here is a picture of Samantha I stole from Mandy's Facebook page! It was from Monday when Mandy babysat for us in the morning. Jeff dropped her off at 7 AM and Samantha was down for her morning nap by 9AM. Mandy said she slept until around noon...talk about beauty sleep! Then my mom picked her up and they went to have "lunch" at Hometown Buffet with Ruth. We are on the go so often I think Samantha is really getting use to it! I hope she will grow up to be adaptable to new things/environments.

She loves to shop!

Today Samantha and I met up with my mom and Aunt Vikki for a late lunch at First Watch. Then my mom and I went to Sam's Club to pick up a couple of things. Above is a picture of Samantha in the shopping cart! She loved being able to sit up and watch us shop. But she eventually got tired so we laid her down in the top part of the cart. At Sam's Club everything is big, including the tops of the carts and she fit perfectly! I think she is going to grow up and love our shopping trips. I hope she sees them as daily adventures!