Samantha: 28 Months, Week 3 {Samantha the Princess & First Pictures of Our Growing Baby!}

On Monday this week, I felt like everyone was still recovering from the crazy weekend we had with Ben being admitted to the hospital.  I had an appointment in the morning, and I took Samantha with me so that Ben could rest.  But lately, it's almost seemed like she could tell something was going on with Mommy and Daddy and that things were different.  She has acted out more and thrown more tantrums, taking advantage of the fact that we are tired and distracted with other things.  I even cancelled my piano lessons on Monday afternoon because Ben normally hangs out with Samantha while I give lessons, but he was not up for that.  He spent most of the day sleeping and resting in bed.

Many people have asked us if there is anything they can do to help, and I had just been brushing them off, saying that we were just fine, assuming that I could do it all on my own.  However, Monday afternoon I just broke down.  I don't know if it was because I was exhausted from the weekend or just exhausted from the hectic pace of the last month of our lives, but I finally admitted I needed some help with something.  With Ben still feeling very poorly and needing a lot of rest, with Samantha being a little two year old and also feeling under the weather with a cold, and with me having to handle it all, something had to give.  I decided to contact a mom with our Mom's REST Stop group at church and take up her offer to provide meals for us.  The very same day she sent an email out to all the other moms to set up a schedule of meals to take care of us for the next couple of weeks.  I felt a little silly about it, because I was perfectly capable of planning, shopping for, and making meals, but I was also relieved to have one more thing off my plate, at least for a little while.

Tuesday was October 1st, Uncle Timmy's birthday, so Ben decided to have Samantha record a special birthday message for him.  That's so much better than a birthday card. :)

The rest of Tuesday progressed like normal with watching Sadie and making our weekly trip to the library for story time.  We have gotten into a pretty good schedule with Sadie.  She takes a nap almost right away when she gets here for about an hour.  Then, we all go out together in the morning.  Samantha and Sadie both love story time.  I leave Sadie in the car seat, but bring her down on the floor with me so that she can see the book being read and the story teller.  Samantha has done a much better job paying attention to the books being read, especially getting into the ones told by heart with special props or puppets.  Even Sadie has her eyes glued to the storyteller.  She doesn't make a peep for the whole half an hour.

On Tuesday, Ben tried to lead a normal day, going to work on campus, but ended up having to come home early because he felt so crummy.  He laid down and slept the rest of the afternoon, and we were so glad that someone was bringing us our first meal that night.  The dinner was delicious: BBQ chicken, baked potatoes, and baked carrots.  Man, those bakes potatoes really hit the spot for me.  Samantha wasn't too crazy about the dinner, but she has been a strange little eater lately.  It really is hit or miss with her.  We always try to get her to eat what we eat, and won't make her something different, so sometimes she eats a lot and sometimes she eats hardly anything.  Either way, I don't think she's going hungry or anything.

Since Ben had such a hard day on Tuesday, I told him the only way he could go to campus the next day was if he let me drive him, that way he wouldn't have to walk really far and end up hurting himself more.  Then, I could also come pick him up after BSF was over (and he was done teaching his class), if he needed to come home and rest.  He decided he would be okay staying on campus, so after BSF we just headed home.

For some reason, on Wednesdays when we have BSF in the morning, Samantha boycotts taking naps in the afternoon.  This is the second week in a row now.  Sadie totally conks out every afternoon, but Samantha would rather play and sing in her crib for two hours instead of taking a nap.  Other days of the week we don't have this problem, just Wednesdays lately.  Who knows why?  Sometimes there is no explanation for the behavior of a two year old.

Wednesday evening I usually go to an exercise class at our church, but on this occasion, I decided to stay home.  I wasn't feeling too great, and I didn't want to leave "the girl who doesn't nap" with Ben to have to handle all by himself when he still wasn't feeling the greatest either.  It's sad when Ben and I have discussions about which of us feels worse to determine who is going to deal with doing dishes or putting Samantha to bed.  We are just a great combination lately. :)

We have a friend from Lighthouse, where I used to work, who has a daughter a year older than Samantha, but has clothes in just the right seasons for Samantha.  Well, this friend had just gone through all her fall clothes and had three bags of clothes and one bag of shoes to pass on to Samantha.  On Wednesday night, I decided to get them all out and start going through them to see what we could use for Samantha this fall and winter.  Needless to say, Samantha loves clothes, but especially loves shoes and dresses.  She had to look through the whole bag of shoes, looking for her favorites, but then got distracted by the pretty dresses I was pulling out of the bags.  Of course, she had to try the dresses on right away, leading to a daddy-daughter dance, Samantha being Belle and Daddy being the beast.

Samantha LOVES to wear dresses.  She woke up Thursday morning, after having an evening of dressing up, begging Daddy to help her put back on her favorite red dress.  She then proceeded to say, "I want to get more dresses so that I can be a princess every day."  To that Daddy thought, "Oh boy, I am in trouble."  I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not, but lately Samantha will say, "When I grow up, I want to be a princess."  And then other days she will say, "I'm growing up, I'll be a princess soon."

Daddy blames her princess obsession on me, and I'm sure I can take some blame for it by letting her check out a few DVDs of princess movies from the library and buying her her first Cinderella Barbie for her Easter basket, but I feel like most of it is her own initiative.  She just loves all things girly.  She loves singing, dancing, and wearing pretty dresses.  Samantha will say, "I will look beautiful in this dress." And Daddy and I make sure we tell her that she is beautiful no matter what she wears, whether she's wearing a beautiful princess dress, pajamas, or nothing but her underwear.  Samantha is beautiful to us simply because she'd our daughter.

On Friday, we had a really exciting morning, something that we have been looking forward to for a long time, and it may come as a surprise to those of you who read my blog because we have not made a public announcement yet.  I had my first ultrasound.  Yes, I am pregnant!  I was 11 weeks and 2 days when I had my ultrasound. 

Ben and I faced this day with mixed emotions.  We could not wait for the day to come, to finally hear the heartbeat and see pictures of the baby growing in my womb.  However, we were also terrified.  As most of you know, I had a miscarriage last March.  I never made it to my ultrasound appointment because I started cramping and bleeding, which ended in a trip to the hospital for an ultrasound, the week before I was to see my doctor for the first ultrasound.  (See this blog post, The Pain of Miscarriage, or this one, Loss of Life, if you missed my blog posts on my miscarriage and are interested.)

We have been holding our breath, hoping and praying that we would get to this point, and that everything would be okay.  I have been having my share of pregnancy symptoms during this first trimester.  Some of you moms out there may have been able to read between the lines in some of my previous blog posts, like when I wasn't able to ride on the carousel anymore with Samantha because I was feeling dizzy or the few times when I wasn't really feeling well.  Well, I had my share of nausea and even threw up one time because of it.  I have been extremely exhausted, like all my energy was zapped out of me.  However, through all those pregnancy symptoms, I was glad that I had them because it was a reassurance that I still had a growing, living baby inside me.

In fact, the due date for Jeremiah (the name we decided for our unborn baby) was September 25th, and it was the night before that that I felt so nauseous and sick and ended up throwing up.  Michelle, my dear friend and Sadie's Mommy, confirmed to me the next morning, that God probably gave me those feelings of nausea to comfort me, to confirm to my spirit the life that was living inside me, particularly on a day that he knew would be hard for me.  God is faithful to take care of us and meet us where we are at.  Nothing, no situation, no feeling, is beyond God's reach and care.

Anyways, back to our ultrasound.  My appointment was at 9:00 in the morning, so we went right back, didn't have to wait at all.  Our ultrasound tech, Claire, is wonderful, so gentle and so reassuring.  She confirmed right away that there was a strong heartbeat which brought a flood of relief over our hearts and minds, along with tears to our eyes.  It wasn't that long ago that the nurse at the hospital searched and searched for a heartbeat, only to find no sign of life in our little Jeremiah.  This new baby, this new life in my womb was alive and thriving.  And God gave us another gift, speaking to the very depths of our spirits, we not only got to see beautiful pictures of our precious child, but we also got to see our baby dance and wiggle, showing that our baby was very well developed and the brain and spinal cord were working together to move all the parts of the body.

This is a picture measuring the fetal heart rate of 174 bpm, which Claire said was perfect.

This is a picture looking at our baby's head and brain, with the hands in front of the face.

This is what Claire called the teddy bear shot, showing the head with the little nose, two arms and two legs.

And here is the video of our baby wiggling and dancing.  Samantha loved this and started dancing right along.  I could watch these videos of our baby dancing all day long.  I can't wait until I can feel the baby move inside my womb.

We decided to celebrate the good news of our morning by taking a family trip to Indianapolis.  We went to the Children's Museum first for a couple of hours.  We spent quite a bit of time in this room, watching Samantha dance around and put the plastic colored tubes into the holes.

However, we then caught this funny interaction on video where Samantha accidentally bonks her head, knocks one of the plastic colored tubes on the floor, watches another girl pick it up when she wants it herself, then eventually walks away quietly, sadly, holding her head.  It's quite the funny progression of events.

And of course, we had to ride the carousel, but I just let Daddy take her on that because for some reason now that I'm pregnant anything moving makes me feel very dizzy and lightheaded.  After playing in several other areas throughout the museum, it was getting to be time for lunch, so we decided to leave the museum and go eat lunch at Wendy's.  Samantha must have been really hungry because she gobbled up her chicken nuggets in no time, ate all her apples, and even ate most of my fries.  We then let her decide what she wanted to do next: go back to the Children's Museum or go to the zoo.  She decided to go to the zoo.  We thought, well, we have a membership to both paces, so we might as well!

The most interesting thing at the zoo today was the tiger that was pacing back and forth in front of the glass.  Samantha liked to stand close to the glass to watch it, but every once in a while she would get scared when it came right at her, making her take a step back from the glass.  Also, Samantha called it a lion, and another girl said "No, it's not a lion, it's a tiger."  But Samantha insisted it was a lion until she came back to us, asking us if it was a lion or a tiger.  Once we told her it was, in fact, a tiger, Samantha went back up to the glass and announced to everyone, "It's a tiger, not a lion."  We thought that little exchange was pretty funny.  

After a couple of hours at the zoo, we decided to go home and let Samantha take a nap in the car.  She had such a long, full, fun day going to BOTH the Children's Museum and the Indianapolis Zoo, that she fell right asleep.  Hopefully she doesn't expect to go both places every time now!

After our very eventful Friday, Saturday and Sunday were full of rain.  We were just about ready to head out to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning when it started raining outside.  It really did continue all weekend long, but it was kind of a blessing in disguise because it forced us to stay home and relax more this weekend, getting things done around the house, and just spending time playing together at home.

We did take one outing on Saturday to campus because Daddy had to get some things from his office, and we decided to make it a family trip.  Since it was raining, we dressed Samantha up in her raincoat and boots, and she held her Hello Kitty umbrella so she would be ready to play in the puddles.

She was the cutest little girl on campus today.

Samantha: 28 Months, Week 2 {My Parents Come to Visit & Adventures at the ER}

With our camping weekend ending with Ben feeling pain again from diverticulitis, we weren't sure what this week would hold for us.  Luckily, it seemed like we got the antibiotics for Ben in enough time that it didn't get any worse.  In fact, he was able to get back to his normal work pretty quickly during the week.  With how busy our weekends have been, I have been using Mondays as a sort of catch up day to get things done around the house and to go grocery shopping.  Other than that, it was just a normal week of giving piano lessons, watching Sadie on Tuesday and Wednesday, making our trip to story time at the library, going to BSF on Wednesday, and Mom's REST Stop at church on Thursday.

It's nice to be able to get out of the house in the mornings and have some time for myself at the Bible study and at our mom's group at church.  It's refreshing to be around other women and moms who are going through the same thing as you. This is something I feel like I missed out on when I was working.  I was a mom just like everyone else, but since I was working, I wasn't able to attend any of the mom groups, making me feel sort of left out from the other women at church.  I am so glad that they started a working mom's Sunday School class at church because I feel like that is an area of great need for working moms.  They also need an opportunity to get together with other moms who are in a similar position to them, sharing their struggles and successes with balancing work and family.

The weekend was approaching and once again, we had a busy one.  My parents were planning on coming in town for a visit.  Ben had a political science social event for bowling on Friday night, and I had plans to attend a Harvest Party for the families of our Mom's REST Stop group.  However, even the most well laid out plans, don't always come to fruition.  

Samantha took a really good nap on Friday afternoon, giving my parents and us a long time to talk.  Ben and I finally had to go in and wake her up because we had to leave for our bowling night, and we didn't want her to wake up surprised that we weren't there.  My parents agreed to let us have a date night, so Ben and I used that to go bowling with his political science group and then out for coffee afterwards.  Samantha had a good time with Cago Ema Papa (as she calls them).  They played with her for awhile, took her to Wendy's for dinner, and then to a park with Dolly.  She was having a good old time playing and didn't want to leave the park, even though it was getting dark.

Throughout that night, Ben started to have a lot of pain in his stomach again.  He tried to get up in the morning, but couldn't even drink his coffee before having to go lie down.  He said the pain was worse than any pain he had felt before, which made me really concerned.  I tired to convince him that we needed to go to the hospital, but he wanted to rest in bed for a little while to see if he would start to feel any better.  Well, after lunch with my parents and putting Samantha down for her nap, Ben finally decided that it would be a good idea to go to the ER.

I drove him there and apparently they were the busiest they ever had been on a weekend, so it took us forever to get seen by anyone.  Luckily, they took Ben back to a room to get him hooked up to an IV of fluids, pain and nausea medicine.  We waited in that room for quite awhile, and after he was feeling a bit better he was explaining to the nurse about the Affordable Care Act and how to apply for the insurance online.  I was glad to see him with a little more life in him.

After quite a while, a room finally opened up for him, but it was just in a small section where each room was only closed off by a curtain, so it was pretty loud, making it difficult for Ben to get any rest.  It took us forever to be able to talk to anyone and the nurses we talked to were not very friendly or helpful.  We had my parents bring Samantha by to say good night before she went to bed because we knew it would be a long night at the hospital.  We were glad my parents were there to watch Samantha for us during the day, feed her dinner, and put her to bed at night.  They got to have a lot of one on one time with her, and we were not worried about who would take care of her while we were gone.

Ben finally got seen late that night.  They did another x-ray to check for air in his abdomen which would then signify a perforation in his colon.  It then took a long time to get the results back from the x-ray.  We realized that they were busy tonight, but it just seemed ridiculous to us to keep waiting with no end in sight and no idea of what was going to happen next.  When we finally got the results back from the x-ray showing that there was no air in his abdomen, we got to speak to a doctor who said they wanted to admit Ben to the hospital and that the next day he would be seen by a GI doctor.  I waited with him until he got taken to his permanent room, got comfortable, and got everything he needed before I went back home.  It was around 1:00 am by the time I finally arrived home.

I did not hear any updates from Ben throughout the night and was glad to hear that he got pretty good sleep that night when I talked to him again around 8 am.  As soon as I got ready, got Samantha ready, and ate breakfast, I went to the hospital to be with Ben, expecting to be able to talk to a doctor at any time.  Again, it took quite awhile to see anyone.  The nurses didn't even come in on a regular basis.  

Since there was still no progress, I decided to go out to lunch with my parents and Samantha after church.  We went to this great local place, Sweet Claire's, that was recommended by a friend, and I'm so glad we tried it.  Their Eggs Benedict was delicious and so was the strawberry chocolate dutch pancake.  I definitely need to go back to this restaurant for Sunday brunch again, this time taking my husband with me.

After lunch I went back to the hospital to check on Ben, and he still hadn't seen any doctor.  He was getting a little tired of waiting with no further information, so I went out and talked to the nurse to see where our progress was.  She said the doctor had procedures all morning (which she probably knew before but never told us), but that she would page him to see when he may be able to come by.  A few minutes later, there was a knock at the hospital room door and one of our pastors, John Mangrum, came in because he had heard from a friend at church about Ben being in the hospital and wanted to come by and check on us, to see if we needed anything.  It was really sweet of him to stop by.  I know I really appreciated that, and I appreciated his prayer before he left.

Shortly after that, Ben's parents arrived at the hospital.  They decided to come down in case we needed them that evening after my parents left to go back to Chicago.  Then, just minutes after they arrived, the GI doctor finally came in to talk to Ben.  He explained that all the tests and blood work they did came back negative, so he said this actually was not another diverticulitis attack.  He said that Ben's colon was probably still very sensitive from his prior attacks and that something must have irritated it, causing him that severe pain.  He prescribed him more medicine to help his colon and for pain and nausea.  The doctor wanted to take him off the IV and have him try eating some low fiber food to see how his stomach would handle that.  If it went well, the doctor would allow him to go home that night.  I ended up going back home to visit with my parents while Ben's parents stayed with him in the hospital.  He ate his food slowly over the next hour and a half, and although he did not feel one hundred percent, he kept his food down and was ready to get home and relax there.

It took quite awhile for them to get the discharge paperwork ready and then more time to get the wheelchair transportation.  My parents left, Ben's parents came over to make dinner and hang out with Samantha, and I went back to the hospital to pick up Ben.  We probably finally left the hospital around 6:45, tried to stop by Kroger to fill his prescriptions only to find that they were closed, and then were home by around 7:15.  I ate some reheated food while Ben filled his parents in on more details before they took off.  I got Samantha to bed and then Ben and I both crashed on the couch.  We had had a long couple of days with not much sleep and lots of crazy situations and lots of waiting.  After this weekend, we felt like we needed another weekend.  I know I've mentioned this before, but hopefully our life will slow down at some point.  Hopefully everyone can stay healthy and our life can get back to normal soon.

Samantha: 28 Months, Week 1 {Camping at McCormick's Creek with Uncle Matt and Aunt Christy}

This week was really just a normal week for us.  Ben was feeling much better, and we were getting back to our normal schedules and routine.  I watched Sadie, we went to story time at the library and BSF.  On Thursday, it was just Samantha and I at home, so we had a good time having a more relaxed day.  We even went on a leisurely family walk in the evening, allowing Samantha to stop and look at the trees and bushes with red berries on them.  She always wants to pick the berries off like they are cherries or raspberries, like in Grandma's garden.  In order for her to not pick the berries and try to eat them, we say that she needs to leave them there for the deer to eat.

This weekend, we had plans with Uncle Matt and Aunt Christy to go camping at McCormick's Creek State Park.  We picked this weekend and made reservations well in advance, hoping that we would have no rain and a better experience than when we went camping in Wisconsin in June.  However, as the weekend drew closer, there was a strong chance for thunderstorms most of Friday night, but then the rest of the weekend would be beautiful.  So, we decided to stay home on Friday night and leave for the campground first thing Saturday morning.  We didn't want to chance having our tent out in the rain again, plus, there's not much to do when you're camping and it is pouring outside.  Matt and Christy also just stayed at our place on Friday night.

Saturday morning, after getting ready and dropping off Roscoe at the boarder, we arrived at the campground, made breakfast, and set up our tents.  It was a nice day, just a little chilly.  Our campsites were together with trees separating us from the other campers around us.  Plus, there was a playground right past the trees, which made Samantha a very happy girl.  She couldn't wait to go play on the playground after breakfast was over.  I don't have any pictures of her playing, but Samantha is now an expert at riding the big girl swings.  She will hold on with both hands and sit steadily on the swing while we push her back and forth, fairly high.  She even does a good job of telling us when she wants to get enough so that we can stop the swing, instead of her just jumping or sliding off the moving swing.  I have to admit that sometimes it still makes me a bit nervous when she in on the swing without a back because I am afraid of her falling off and hitting her head on the ground; however, she is fine and is even learning how to pump her feet forward and back to make the swing move by herself.

Once we had everything set up at the campsite, we decided to go walk on a trail.  The trail we picked was a paved one so Samantha could just ride in her stroller, but there were these really pretty white flowers all along the path that Samantha was just fascinated with, so we had to stop and let her get out and touch them, and get her picture taken with them.

After our walk, we cooked out for lunch and then attempted to lay Samantha down for a nap.  There was just too much excitement for her to sleep.  Especially with the playground near by, she could hear all the kids running around and playing.  We still left her in her pack and play for awhile to at least rest and have some time by herself, but after about two hours, we went in and got her up.  (This was, however, her second day in a row without a nap, so we were hoping she would have no trouble going to sleep at night.)

We went over to a trail that led down to the waterfall and the creek below.  Samantha loved seeing the water, seeing kids and dogs splashing around, and of course, wanted to walk in the water herself.  The water was pretty cold, especially after all the rain we had the day before and throughout the night.  However, Uncle Matt and Aunt Christy were willing to take Samantha into the water.  So we rolled up her pant legs, took her socks and shoes off, and let her go off and explore, as long as she head the hand of an adult.  She had a great time wandering around in the rocks (or I guess I should say being carried by someone who was wandering around in the rocks), watching and feeling the waterfall, and observing a crawdad climb up the rocks through the waterfall.

To continue on the next part of the trail, we had to go up the stairs that led down to the waterfalls.  Samantha insisted on walking up the stairs all by herself, so we took a video of her.

After having our fill of playing the water, we continued on our walk on the trail, stopping to look at a little shelter and to throw rocks into the stream.  It's great to spend time outdoors with your family.  I think it's so much more fun camping at a state park than at a private campground.  I feel like it's more family oriented and there are usually many more activities and outdoor experiences at a state park.  (Plus, it's a lot cheaper to reserve a site.)

It was then time for us to go back to our campsite and start cooking dinner before our hayride.  Samantha was REALLY excited about the hayride and couldn't wait for the tractor to get started on our trip.  The ride lasted almost an hour, driving us all around the state park, so it was definitely worth the few dollars that we paid for it.

Towards the end of the hayride, Samantha was getting a little antsy, plus it was getting a little chilly, so Uncle Matt and Aunt Christy kept her occupied by having a straw fight.

After our hayride, we went back to our campsite and started a campfire right away so that Samantha could have a s'more before she went to bed.  (I know that doesn't sound very logical, does it?  Giving your two year old a snack full of sugar and then putting her to bed, probably not the most brilliant idea.  But we weren't thinking it would be too big of a problem since she didn't take a nap that day and was outside playing all day long.)

Samantha did go to bed pretty easily that night, which we were grateful for.  However, it was supposed to get down into the upper 40s that night, so I was concerned about keeping her warm, especially since she doesn't keep her blanket covering her at night like adults do.  I brought special footie fleece pajamas to wear that night, plus a heavier knit blanket to cover her with.  When Ben and I came back into the tent after we had had our fill of s'mores and the campfire, Samantha was actually still covered up with the blanket, and I added an extra fleece blanket on top of that one for some extra warmth.  Sometimes I feel like I get a lot colder than she does, so that's good.  Maybe she has her daddy's genes in that regard.

She slept pretty soundly all night except for one time when she woke up and started crying.  We think that she may have just woken up and not known where she was, which surprised her.  We reassured her by saying, "It's okay.  We're right here.  Go back to sleep, sweetie."  And that seemed to help her calm back down pretty quickly.  However, right when she was about asleep, some people in the campground started laughing and talking really loudly on their way to the bathroom, waking Samantha back up again.  Once that noise died down, we were all able to go back to sleep quickly until the morning light.

Samantha woke up at her normal time, around 7:30, which is much earlier than most people wake up who are camping.  We tried to keep her in the tent for a little while before getting up and going to the bathroom to get dressed.  The sun had not rose high enough to shine on our campsite yet, so it was still pretty cold that morning, even though we were dressed in layers.  Samantha and I spent some time cuddled under a blanket around the fire, trying to warm ourselves up.

Later that morning, after breakfast, Ben finally told me that he wasn't feeling well, that pain in his abdomen started while he was sleeping and was continuing still, pretty strongly.  We decided that I would just take him back home, since home was only twenty minutes away from the state park, so that he could call the doctor and rest.  He ended up talking to the on call doctor who prescribed more antibiotics for him to take, and Ben spent the rest of the day sleeping on the couch at home.  It seemed like he was having another attack of diverticulitis.  I felt so bad for him.  I just wish he could kick this sickness.

After I dropped Ben off at home, I went back to the campground to join the others.  We took Samantha to the stables for a pony ride, went back to the campsite for lunch, and then worked on packing up all our tents and belongings.  We drove back to our place so that I could put Samantha down for a good afternoon nap.  It was really nice to have Matt and Christy with me because they are both so helpful, especially since I was on my own for taking everything down and putting everything away once we got back home.  They helped me get things where they belonged, and greatly reduced the amount of work I had to do on my own, for which I was grateful.

While Samantha was sleeping, Matt, Christy, and I played a game of Ticket to Ride before they left to travel home to Chicago.  We had a great weekend camping together, and even though it rained a lot on Friday night, it worked great going on Saturday morning.  It's a lot more fun going camping with a group of people instead of with just one family, that way you can share in the work of preparing and cleaning up meals, starting and keeping the fire going, and setting up and cleaning up the campsite.  I think Samantha really enjoyed her camping experience.  She still talks about going to McCormick's Creek even today and often talks about all the fun things she can do with Uncle Matt and Aunt Christy.

Samantha: 27 Months, Week 5 {Fun with Friends, Wedding in Indy, and Samantha in Upland}

This week continued to be an action packed week of activities.  Sometime soon our life will slow down, right?

On Monday I watched Jesse for the Brashers while they started cleaning out their storage unit.  He had a really good morning nap.  (Ahh, how I miss those days of morning naps!)  Samantha and I had a really good time playing around the house together.  Then, we all went down to the swings in our apartment complex to play for a little while before lunch.  Both children ate a really good lunch, and then it was off to nap.  Jesse went down really easily for me, which was good, I wasn't sure how he would do with someone he had really just met.  It was my daughter that gave me a hard time napping.  Lately, getting her to fall asleep has been such a chore.  She will talk and sing in bed, or sometimes jump and kick, for at least a half hour, sometimes up to an hour if I would let her.  Even though she is really tired and you can tell she needs a nap, she resists falling asleep so much.  I don't know if she is just so extroverted that it takes her that long to unwind, or if it is just her attempt at avoiding sleep (like if she stops making noise then she will finally cave in to what we want her to do).  Sometimes it's cute and endearing to hear her singing and talking in bed, but most of the time it's frustrating because she is missing out on sleep time.  Then, I have to decide if I go up there and tell her to be quiet and go to sleep or if I just leave her and avoid giving her any social interaction.  Does anybody else have trouble with their two year old and nap time?  Any wise suggestions for me?  We know she is not ready to give up her nap yet, so we will continue enforcing it for the time being, trying different things to possibly help her fall asleep faster.

Monday night, after eating dinner by ourselves as a family, we went out to Once Upon a Child to buy a birthday present for Ainsley's party that we were going to the next day.  I let Samantha pick out a pair of pants and a sweater for her.  The sweater was pink with red cherries, and the pants were jeans with a pink sparkly belt.  (I think I notice a trend in fashion from Samantha's point of view. :)  We also picked out a Noah's Ark puzzle for her, but were then distracted by the gigantic tub of Barbies.  I think Samantha could have taken all of them home, but I made her choose one.  This decision took a LONG time.  It's hard to choose between things that are all your favorite.  She finally decided on an Ariel Barbie, and from that moment on, for the entire week, Ariel hardly left Samantha's hand.  We had to take her everywhere.  This also started our week long, and possibly the beginning of a lifelong obsession with everything princess.  More to come on that later.  After buying the present, we went to play at a local park that is surrounded by trees so that Samantha could get some energy out, and we could still stay cool in the shade.

Here is our cool girl wearing her Minnie Mouse sunglasses, except she always puts them on upside down thinking they are the right way.  Oh well, makes it cuter, right?

Tuesday morning was the birthday party for Samantha's friend Ainsley, but it was SO hot outside, it was almost miserable.  Samantha did a really good job playing well by herself and with other kids so that I could take care of Sadie for part of the time.  Even though all the moms were practically melting, the kids could have cared less, and Samantha really enjoyed her doughnut and child-sized water bottle that she could drink out of all by herself.

Since I am staying home now, I have the opportunity to be involved in more things during the day, which is wonderful.  One thing I really wanted to do was be involved in a Bible Study somewhere.  I was debating between doing one at our church or joining a local BSF (Bible Study Fellowship).  I have known a few women over the years who have done BSF and always speak highly of it.  The part that intrigued me the most was that they have a preschool program for Samantha where they learn truths from the Bible, sing hymns, and learn Scripture.  Samantha has been such a sponge lately that I knew she would grow through being exposed to that each week.  I really want to encourage her knowledge of the Bible and of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  How wonderful would it be if she were to ask Jesus into her heart at a young age because of being exposed to the Bible so much at BSF and at church and at home!  So, I decided to join BSF, and Tuesday night they had a welcome night that I attended so that we could get registered for class.  I am really excited to be a part of this, and I am really excited to dedicate myself to studying the Bible every day in a structured, in depth way.

And now, I just have to include a cute picture of Smoky the Bear on the piano with they hymnal open like she's playing.  Samantha put her this way before going to bed for the night, and I thought it was hilarious that she had this set up so realistically.

And here's a cute video of a message that Samantha made for Upland Grandpa and Grandma.

On Wednesday, since it was still so incredibly hot outside, we had a morning outing to the Banneker Center to play.  Learning from our potty accident last time, we took a break in the middle of playing to go use the potty and get Sadie in the Ergo to take a nap.  Samantha always has a great time playing here, and even cleaned up nicely before it was time for us to leave.  It's always nice when we have a pleasant time out with no tantrums and everything goes smoothly.  I think I'm getting the hang out balancing Samantha's activities and Sadie's sleeping schedule.

Right about lunchtime that day, Jesse was dropped off at my house for me to watch this afternoon.  Lunch with Jesse and Samantha went well, but the time after that, getting all three kids down for their afternoon naps was a little crazy.  I had to really think through how I was going to pull that off.  So, I first changed Sadie and laid her down in the pack and play in my bedroom.  Then, I told Samantha she had a special chance to play quietly in her room while I gave Jesse his bottle and laid him down in his pack and play in the second bedroom.  Then, it was Samantha's turn.  Everyone went to sleep pretty well, and all the kids were so tired, that everyone had a really great nap that afternoon.  I was grateful that they were all asleep at the same time so that I could have a little time to myself.

Wednesday night, since it was the Brashers last night in Bloomington, so we had a girl's coffee night get together.  Michelle came over with Sadie, Andrea came over, and we even got to Skype with Gennie in Florida!  It felt almost like old times, except for the fact that people are slowly moving away and there are more kids in the picture.  We had a great time hanging out, eating pizza together, and chatting about our futures.

Thursday morning was our first Mom's REST Stop meeting at our church.  I am so excited to be a part of this group this year.  I haven't ever been able to go before since I taught full time.  It was great to go and hear Melanie talk more about how God is leading them overseas and how to let go of our children, giving them over to God.  It was an emotional morning for me, and I was really sad to see Melanie and her family leave.  We both cried as we said good-bye to each other at church.  Luckily, I think our friendship is close enough and our families are close enough, that we will keep in touch over the years through emails and prayers.

On Friday we had a wedding to go to in downtown Indianapolis, so we had plans to meet Ben's mom in Muncie to drop off Samantha for the night so we could go to the wedding by ourselves.  Since we were going through Indy, and also to maximize Samantha's opportunity for a nap in the car, we decided to take a family trip to the Children's Museum.  It is so wonderful having a family pass to the Children's Museum.  Samantha calls it the "musicizam" and talks about it all the time.  She particularly loves the carousel.  They have a new kid's play area for ages five and under, so we were anxious to try that when we got there.

The new playscape had a water area where they could pretend to go fishing.  We tried putting the water jacket on because she was getting her shirt all wet, but she wasn't a fan of that so quickly moved on to a different area.

They had another area where they could climb on these platforms that look like leaves.  I went in with her to help her climb, but we didn't get too far up before she wanted to come back down again.  Our little girl isn't the most physically coordinated two year old in the world.  She's fairly cautious when it comes to trying new physical activities.  Hopefully this will change as she gets older and more used to trying these things by herself.  She is definitely stronger verbally than physically at this point in her development.

One of Samantha's favorite places at the museum is ScienceWorks.  There is a fun place with a slide and a tunnel you can climb through as if you were crawling through the ground.  As you crawl through you can see fake animals in little windows on the sides of the tunnel.  There are foxes, snakes, groundhogs, and mice to look at along the way.  There is also something called a Health House, which is what you see in the picture below.  Samantha likes to go in the bathroom and use the gigantic toothbrush to brush the dinosaur's teeth.

And, of course, we have to hit up the carousel.  Since we are members, we get to ride for free.  The first ride I went on with them, but it was making me too dizzy, so I let Daddy take her on the next two rides.  I think she would ride the carousel all day if we let her.

Our last stop before leaving for the day was the train area.  Samantha likes watching the little train go around the track on the ceiling, and she also likes riding in the pretend car.  Someday we need to take this little girl on a real train ride.  I think she would really enjoy that.

We had a full morning/afternoon at the Children's Museum, and it was time to drive up to Muncie to meet Ben's mom and drop off Samantha so that we could get back downtown Indy for the wedding.  Samantha is so good at falling asleep in the car, as long as she has her blankie, blanket, and goes through her normal bedtime routine, she will fall asleep quickly in the car.  We are glad she is such a compliant little girl in situations like this.  It makes it easier to take her places and be out past her nap time.

It was a little hectic getting back to Indy, checked into the hotel, getting changed, and getting to the wedding venue on time.  However, we made it there a little late, but the wedding hadn't started yet.  It was a beautiful day for an outside ceremony, and the reception was very nice.  We were at a table of some Sammy II guys and their wives, so it was good to talk and catch up with each other again.  It was especially nice having a night away from Samantha.  It would not have been fun to have her at that wedding, chasing her around and dealing with her getting sleepy.

Ben and I decided ahead of time to get a hotel room in Indy for the night so that way we wouldn't have to worry about driving to Upland late that night after the wedding.  The hotel was right by the new J.W. Marriott, and it was pretty modern for our taste, but again, it was nice having a night away.  It's amazing how different life feels without Samantha around.  We love her and can't imagine life without her, but it's great to get some time for just Ben and me every once in a while.

We were pretty tired Friday night after the wedding, but Saturday morning we just had a nice, relaxing morning together.  We went swimming in the hotel pool, ate breakfast together, and got ready in a leisurely manner before checking out of the hotel.  We left our luggage at the front desk and went for a walk along the canal.  This is always something I've wanted to do, but we haven't ever done it before as a couple.  It was great to walk and talk about things that have been going on in our lives and dreaming of our future plans together after our time in Bloomington comes to a close.  We also walked down to Monument Circle before getting our car and driving to Upland.

When we arrived in Upland, we were excited to see that Aunt Jeni and Cousin Alaina were still there.  It was great to catch up with Jeni and compare diverticulitis stories (ha ha).  I always love seeing the girls together, observing how much their interactions change from one month to the next.

The other fun thing Samantha discovered at Grandma and Grandpa's house is the bag of dress-up clothes.  It had been there for quite awhile, but Samantha has just recently gotten into dressing up.  Well, these clothes were even more exciting because they were mostly princess dresses.  Samantha is in a huge princess phase right now.  She had to try on every single princess dress in the bag, but the Belle dress was by far her favorite one.  She wore it pretty much the rest of the weekend except for when she ate and slept.  Here are some cute pictures of Samantha in her dress playing outside.

And, you gotta love the silly daddy-daughter pictures.

After Samantha's nap on Sunday afternoon, we drove down to Indianapolis to meet Ben's college friend, Tim, for dinner.  We ate at a local pizza place, with Samantha still in her princess dress, and had a great time catching up with each other again.  We decided that after dinner, we needed to get some Dunkin' Donuts coffee (and doughnuts).  The lady at the store was so nice because Samantha wanted a doughnut with sprinkles, and she was nice enough to take a pink frosted doughnut and put sprinkles on it just for Samantha.  I think seeing Samantha made Timmy's day much better. :)