Valentine's, Tootle Movie Night & the Rodeo

Happy Valentine's Day!!! We've had a good, and VERY busy February. Enjoy the pics of my boys!!!!

I let Ryan go through his Valentine's bag from school. He must have gotten 30 lollipops. And, I let him open every one of them.

Here's our little Sam at the end of January. So, he was about 2.5 months here. Have I mentioned how sweet he is?!?

Samuel's first bath with Ryan. He loved soaking in the warm water. I've been giving him sink baths. Time for the upgrade.

After their first brotherly bath, we had our first movie night. I LOVED every minute of it!!!

Can't get over this! I LOVE these pig face pictures!

Tired?

Ryan's first FRIED ice cream!!!

Samuel - Three Months

Holy guacamole, the kid is three months old. (And, now I'm craving guacamole). Focus on your little nugget, Jessica. He really couldn't be a sweeter baby. Yes, all babies are sweet, but there is a sweet, little disposition he has about himself. A sensitive, sweet side. I LOVE IT! He may end up being my ultimate mama's boy.

On top of all his sweetness, he is such a good baby. He took to Babywise like a champ! He wins a gold in my eyes! Samuel started sleeping through the night at eight weeks. Now, he's sleeping a full nine hours a night, consistently!!! We're on week three of nine hour stretches. I'm a new woman!

He's eating 4.5 to 5.0 ounce bottles at school, but I truly doubt he's eating that much off of me. I'm still pumping at work which allows me to have enough food for a day at school, plus one extra bottle to store. That's really helped me store up for when I have to go out of town for work, or Rod and I decide to slip away for vacation. No worries, Ryan knows where to find Sam's food. We're good.

As far as nicknames, here's what we got: Samuelson (said like Mr. Miagi on Karate Kid), little Toot, little nugget, tootie-tooterton.

Now, on top of the toot being so sweet, he also can bat those eyes. Whoooo, girl! Makes Mama's day! Love you Sweet Samuel!

Wanna Play?

Guess who is who? (Ryan or Samuel)

If you guess Ryan for all of them, you are right! Samuel is looking more and more like Ryan did, but with his own features. I go back and forth thinking he does and then doesn't look like Ryan did as a baby. I need to get new pics of Samuel. The header picture above was taking almost two weeks ago. I swear....he's changed his look. Got some big ole cheeks.

Morning's Conversation with Ryan

Mom: Let's get dressed.
Ryan: We're going to Nama's house (always said with excitment, and a hint of "I've got a good idea").
Mom: No. No Nama's house.
Ryan: Mimi's house???
Mom: No Mimi's house. You're going to la escuela. ("school" in Spanish).
Ryan: Yeah, okay. Escuela's house. We're going to Escuela's house.

These are a few pics I took outside my friend Ashley's house. She has AMAZING landscaping to snap great shots. Family pics may be taken there!!!

Silly string in the pond.

Such a boy!

TWO MONTHS OLD!!!!

Go Samuel! We had our two month appointment today! Here are Samuel's stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 14 ozs
Height: 22 inches
Perfection Level: (on a scale of 1 to 10, based on Mom's opinion) 10+

Samuel is growing, cooing, smiling, sleeping and eating like a champ. We're still on the Zantac for his reflux, which truly seems to help. So, we'll keep going with it!

Get this...the little Toot is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! He's done this three nights in a row, with no "crying it out". So, just in time for me to head back to work. Thank you Samuel!!!

He had three shots today, requiring two bandaids. But, Samuel's sporting three, well actually four. I clipped the heck out of his skin on his thumb, requiring the other two bandaids. Blood every where, and right before his appointment. Good grief. I had everything timed out perfectly, then this. Oh well.

Tomorrow I head to the office. Please pray for my family and I. Needing smooth transition back to work, good work environment, home life adaptable to longer work hours, etc.

Been a wonderful and fun maternity leave!!! Thank you Mimi and Nama for all the help!!! We truly couldn't do this without you two!

Samuel is SEVEN Weeks Old

I THINK he's two-weeks old in this pic. Maybe three.

Samuel - Christmas Day

For real?!?! I cannot get over this. I cannot believe this child has been in our lives for seven weeks already. Quick note: Samuel's friend Samantha is here!!! She's five days old, and beautiful! Welcome Samantha Pierce!

Samuel's growing as babies typically grow. I weighed myself (no comment), and then weighed me again with Samuel in my arms. He's at 10.4 lbs. He's out of the newborn clothes, and fits well in the 0-3 mos clothing. I think he looks like Rod. But, as he's been putting weight on, he's looking like a Rod-Ryan. Which isn't a bad combination at all! :) Samuel has dark eyebrows, dark eyes and nice skin coloring. So, it's looking like Ryan and I will be slathered in 50+ spf, while Rod and Samuel enjoy their natural golden tans.

Samuel's been smiling more and more. And, the coo'ing. I can't get over it. I could hear a baby coo all day long. Hands down one of the sweetest sounds.

He's been on Zantac for the past three weeks, and sleeping in his nap nanny at night. I think both have helped his reflux. We're trying to figure out why he's so finicky (is that the word) while I'm feeding him. He just seems so agitated. I've got the goods, and he just seems agitated. I think this has something to do with his reflux, but I'll find out for sure on his TWO MONTH appointment on the 18th.

I head back to work on the 19th. I'm part ready, and part not ready at all to head back. I'm honored to say that I just got a promotion....which also means longer work days, and more responsibility. You're now reading the words of the new Director of Quality Services. Huge honor! The biggest anxiety that I have is getting all the kids gear together, out the door, into the car, out of the car, gear out of the car, in the daycare, and both kids in their appropriate classrooms in time to get myself to Starbucks for my coffee, and in my office by 8:30am. I've told my boss to go easy on me the first few weeks. My plan is to get up earlier (maybe 6:30am), get myself completely ready, and then get the kids up and ready. Fortunately, daycare feeds breakfast (if you get your kids there before 8:30am), so I won't have to stress about feeding them in the mornings.

Yes, life with two kids is a lot of work. But, I love having two kids, calling them "the boys", loving on two sweet faces, watching Ryan love on his brother....just a massive blessing beyond any words I could ever put together.

Christmas pics next. I promise. Just needed to give Samuel some blog-time. :)

Skipping Over Christmas to Bring You....

...my date with Ryan!!! We actually went on a double-date with Matthew and his mommy, Courtney. Sea World has Breakfast with Cookie Monster and Friends. I cannot tell you how much we enjoyed our date!! Breakfast was delicious (Ryan's new word), and the company couldn't have been better. Bert and Ernie tried to infringe on our double-date, but Matthew and Ryan stayed true to their dates, and left with us. :)

I found myself in disbelief that I was actually looking at Cookie Monster. He's way bigger than you think. Oh, and Zoie and Abby Caddabie's hair is sooooo cool! Let's talk about Bert's face. Do you remember it having such a scared look????

Abbie-caddabie greeted us at the door. (sorry, out of order)

After we fed ourselves, we decided to feed the dolphins. The boys loved it as us moms tried to put a brave face on while holding nasty, dead fish.

Then, we headed to the massive playgym set thing. I think it's a pirate ship. Can't remember.

Ryan was determined to climb up this monstrous net that goes soooo high. Matthew ran up, down, sideways....all in his boots. If you all could see Ryan's sweet face with pure determination, and dedication to the task at hand...climbing to the top. We didn't quite make it. He was happy to stop about 3/4 the way up.

Matthew was amazing on this contraption. Oh, and he ran up this in boots! Nice work!

I have many more pics of this date, but for some reason it won't let me add anymore. GRRR. Also, I'll post Christmas pics soon.

Kickin' it with the Family

I LOVE, LOVE being with family. I actually don't care whose family it is, I just love to be around families. My family, the beautiful and hilarious one it is, celebrated Christmas on Sunday.

Samuel, really?! What's to ponder? I promise this is a sane family.



Look who got a new iPhone!!!! She was so surprised. Love Christmas surprises.

Stacy loves her some Samuel. He loves his Auntie Stacy.

Ryan's favorite cousins. Mattie Sue is so sweet with Samuel.

Somebody got into Nama's jewelry. Oops. It was just too quiet for too long.

My Love Bugs and a Pezzant

While I hesitate a bit, I absolutely LOVE when Ryan asks to hold Samuel. Ryan likes to pat Samuel's head, stuff the poochie in his mouth, tell him to "WAKE-UP", place toys on him while he's swinging, and sit next to him while watching cartoons. He's been a sweet big brother...but don't get me wrong. We've had our moments.

Samuel's still a sweet and snugly baby. He's always ready to eat after two and a half to three hours. I've been able to pump quite a bit to build up my stock for when I head back to work. Speaking of pumping, this morning's pump, I swear it was saying, "Wonder Pets. Wonder Pets....." over and over. He's taking the bottle well, which is helpful during this holiday shopping season. Samuel's a great shopper. He particularly loves Target. He told me.

Now, on to me. I'm doing well. :) Recovery is nearing the end! Phew. This recovery was a bit more difficult than the first. I heard the following comments from my dear family and friends, "I've never seen you so tired in all my life", "You look kind of ashy-gray colored", "Make sure you rest".... Group, I'm feelin' good! And, really enjoying this time off with Samuel.

So, yesterday, I wrapped Christmas presents while Ryan napped. Well, he awoke a bit early and stumbled upon my wrapping-mayhem He got his little paws on every wrapped gift in hopes to tear apart the paper. In efforts to shift his focus, and shift my frustration, I started going through each gift and telling him who they belong to. "This is Mattie Sue's present. This is Malyn's. This is Grandpa and Sharon's." So, we did that several times, until that got old, and mom became a bore. In desperation, I had Rod get all the gifts and put them out of sight. Well, that didn't go over too well for Ryan. So, again in an attempt to shift the focus, I offered to wrap one of his cars. Tears stopped. Car wrapped.

I had no idea it would bring so much joy. And, by "it" I mean the idea of a wrapped present. Not the idea of tearing apart wrapping paper to find a present.

The wrapped car has gone everywhere with him. It was with him through the whole "scared you" movie, placed on the night stand when he went to bed, awoke with him in the morning, followed him into the kitchen for breakfast.... So, of course I couldn't help but snap pictures of him with his "pezzant".
Note a different shirt...different day.



Samuel was even show-cased the pezzant.

Buddies

The Sturms came over the other night to visit. (I've not packed up the family yet for an evening out). Thanks for coming over Sturms. Ryan had a BLAST with Hudson. (If you can't tell from the above pictures). Love the joy on their faces!

Samuel's buddy was born one week after Ryan. Meet Coen Ellis. You'll be seeing him more and more on the blog. He's Holden's brother (below)...the cutie pie with the adorable glasses. Holden is Ryan's other buddy. Need to get these two together soon!!

Soccer team in the making!

Tootle Family at Two Weeks

Life as a Tootle??? Well, so far...GREAT! Everyone is doing well, and adjusting to the new addition. Samuel is such a sweet, snuggly baby! I prayed to have another snuggler like Ryan! I got him! :)

Samuel had his two week appointment today! He's now 7 lbs, 2 ozs. He's in the 10th percentile for both weight and height. Samuel's a healthy, happy baby. He's not "stellar" with his nights just yet, but we'll get there soon! I'm determined. I started Babywising the little guy this week. Although, Nama and my shopping habit has gotten in the way.

Ryan is a sweet big brother. Samuel doesn't seem to bother him at all. When he comes home from school, he's excited to see Samuel. But, that's about it. Then, he's off to play with his cars.

We got our Christmas tree up!!! It's so pretty. Ryan helped decorate as well. At the base of the tree, you'll find red balls all bunched up on three branches. I love it! So, I'll keep it that way.

Love being home during the holiday season! Just need to get a little shut-eye!

A Few Shots of Samuel's Life

Be sure to check out Nama and Poppy's blog. She got some great pics of our sweet and tiny Samuel. Here are a few of mine. We're soooo in love with him. He's been a pretty easy baby so far. My milk has come in so hopefully we'll go longer stretches in the night. Here's to hoping!

I see a HINT of Stacy in this picture of Samuel (above pic).

Samuel and I've been hanging out in bed the last few days. I sleep when he sleeps. Rod's been amazing. He's cooked me meals, kept the house straightened up, and really taken care of Ryan fully.

Ryan is sweet to Samuel, but for 20 seconds top, then it's off to his toys. Overall, the Tootles are doing better than expected. I've had lots of anxiety about coming home to two kids. I owe so much to Rod, my mom and Jenny. Yummy dinners have satisfied our bellies....THANK YOU!!!!

More to come! Thank you all to those who have loved, prayed and taken care of us during this restless time. And, a huge thank you to Millie and Russell for taking care of Ryan while we were in the hospital. That is a lot of "Ryan-time". :)