latest checkup, and plans for next weekend!

On Monday, Sami had her 7-month check-up. She weighs 15 pounds and is 26 inches long. On the chart, she is 20 percent in weight, and 50 percent in height now! The pediatrician said that Sami is doing extremely well, and that looking at her now you'd never know she was such a tiny preemie when she was born. She is sitting up, and she is now holding her own bottle. Steven even lowered her crib this week. I feel like she is growing up already!! Sami can now eat anything in Stage 2 except for dairy products (due to her reflux) or anything I cook if it's able to be mashed or pureed. (Her only rules now for food are no dairy, nothing that ends in the word "berry," and nothing spicy.) Sami is chewing on her fingers, and is a drooling machine, but there is still not a tooth in sight.

We are getting excited for next weekend for Sami's baby naming! We have a lot of family coming into town and we are thrilled to get to see everyone, and for everyone to meet Sami! We are trying to work out how to coordinate our time to be able to spend as much time as possible with everyone.

So far, our tentative plan is:

Thursday night: to drive close to where Steven's parents, brother and sister-in-law and our niece and nephew will be staying to meet them for dinner, if Steven is able to skip his basketball game that night. He is now waiting to hear how many players the team will have that night.

Friday night: we are having a big crowd of about 30 people over for dinner at our house, for pizza, pasta, salad, etc.

Saturday morning and afternoon: the big day--Sami's baby naming! Services start at 9 a.m., and Steven, Sami and I will be called up to open the Ark early in the service. Then a little later in the service we will all be called up again for the baby naming. Services are long on Saturday, ending a little bit before noon, and then we are having a luncheon after temple for our about-40 guests.

Saturday evening: we are planning to meet my sister, brother-in-law and niece for dinner.

Sunday: we still haven't worked out the details, but are hoping to find a way to see everyone that day--perhaps some people during the day and some in the evening.

It's going to be a busy weekend, which I am sure will go by way too quickly.

I am really so excited for Sami to see everyone. I know she will have a fantastic time being the star of the weekend, and watching her smile will be all I need for next weekend to be considered a success to me. Just thinking about her now safe and happy sleeping in her crib literally makes me feel warm inside.

A new milestone!

Sami started sitting up independently today! For some reason, it almost made me cry. Everything she does amazes me, and I could sit and watch her for hours without getting bored.

Today we went to a birthday party in the park. The birthday girl was turning 1 year old, and the party was beautiful. The parents went all out, and I think it was the fanciest party-in-the-park we have ever seen. The only con was how hot it was. But we had a great time, and are planning a night to go out with the birthday girl and her parents. Steven and I really like both of them a lot.

Tomorrow morning Sami is having a check-up, and will most likely be getting shots. Hopefully she won't be too miserable afterward. I hate it when she isn't feeling well. Part of me though is looking forward to her doctor's appointment, so I can find out how she is doing, how much she weighs, etc.

I still can't believe that Sami is 7 months old already. It feels like just yesterday when I sat with her in the hospital, waiting until she was big enough to come home. Those two weeks felt like an eternity, and my heart felt torn every time I had to leave her side. Now, 7 months later, Sami and I are inseparable, and I feel as though everything is just as it should be. :)

7 months old already!

Today Sami celebrated her 7-month birthday in style. She went to her first concert!

En Vogue was giving a free outdoor concert tonight about 30 minutes from our house, so we decided to go. The concert was a lot of fun, and it was packed with people, especially families with young kids, so we fit right in! We even met a couple with a huge dog--half great dane and have mastiff--and Sami had no fear at all. She is growing up in a house that is also home to two dogs and two cats, and she already seems to be completely comfortable around animals.

It's hard to believe that Sami is already 7 months old. I don't know where the time is going. On Monday, she has a doctor's appointment, and I am curious to find out what she now weighs.

On Sunday, we are going to another birthday party for one of Sami's new friends, who is turning 1 year old. The party is in the afternoon in the park. Steven and I are making new friends, too, thanks to Sami. We both really like the birthday girl's parents. They are very sweet and very energetic. Steven calls them the "energy couple." We also know some other families who will be at the party. It should be a really nice afternoon.

Today Sami tried on her new dress that she will be wearing to her baby naming service. It is so cute, and has a couple of crinoline layers, so it really poofs out on the bottom of the dress. It looks so dressy on her, as though she is going to a wedding. I am planning on scheduling us to have family portraits taken, with Sami wearing her new dress. Of course, I need to plan this soon, because who knows how fast it will be before her new dress is already too small. She is growing so quickly!!

I am trying hard to hold on to every memory, and to create photographs in my mind every day. I want to always remember every moment with Sami, as each day brings something new.

The cold that just wont leave

Sami and I are continuing to pass this cold back and forth. I originally took Zicam and was rid of my cold within a couple of days. Or so I thought. One day after I finished taking the Zicam, I got the cold anyway, but it was really mild. I'm convinced that all the Zicam did was put the cold off a few days. Anyone have any experience taking Zicam? By Wednesday it was completely gone. However last night it came back in full force, and I am sneezing, coughing, am very congested and have that "yuck" feeling you get with a bad cold.

Sami, who was finally all better as of Thursday morning, woke up this morning, just one day later, all congested again, too! I guess when you spend 24/7 together you just pass things back and forth between each other! She was supposed to go to the doctor this past Wednesday for a few more shots she still needs, along with a check-up. However, because they won't give her shots if she is sick, I rescheduled it for this coming Monday. Little did I know that she'd get the cold back, too. At this point I am still going to take her to the doctor on Monday though. Either she will be getting her shots, or just be getting a check-up, depending on the doctor's suggestion based on her cold.

With the baby-naming only two weeks away, I hope that all of us are cold-free by then!

This week one of the moms I made friends with from the Mom's Club gave Sami her son's exersaucer. He is almost 2 years old, and she is slowly getting rid of some of his "baby" things. She also gave us a changing table. We already have a white changing table upstairs in Sami's room, but we decided to accept the wood one from Ashley anyway, and we put it downstairs so that we can have a changing station downstairs. And on the extra shelves we now have a place to keep Sami's toys that we keep downstairs. Our house has been taken over by baby items! Downstairs we have a pack-and-play, a swing, an exersaucer, and activity mat, not to mention lots of toys and and books! Sami's bedroom also has lots of toys of stuffed animals, tons of books, and her bouncer chair. Books are big in our house, and I read to Sami every day.

On our one healthy day this week, Sami and I went to a playdate at a place called My Gym. It turned out that Sami was too young to do any of the activities they had there, but she had fun watching all of the other kids play.