A year ago TODAY, we moved to Calgary, Canada. What a year it has been.
Since moving here, I have experienced PREGNANCY, living with in-laws, buying a house, furnishing a house with all its ups and downs, boredom, immigration, giving birth, making friends, starting a home business, traveling, figuring out life as (first) a stay-at-home childless woman to (now) stay-at-home mom, and everything else in between.
It's been quite a year. Quite. A. Year.
I'm loving every minute of it so here's to year 2 in Calgary!
We Are Fami-Lee
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
A Girl and Her Elephant--5 months
I really need to get back on track with this thing so I'm not always playing "catch-up." But, here are baby Samantha's 5 month pictures. She'll be 6 months in a little over 2 weeks. Crazy talk!
I had my first "real" Mother's Day this year, although I was about 5 weeks pregnant with baby Samantha last year. I must say, I kind of like Mother's Day. For how hard it has been in the past, it was that much better this year. And Derek sure made it special! I really appreciated it.
I also felt for my friends who are still dealing with their infertility issues. My heart goes out to them as I know how difficult it is. I don't know why God makes some wait longer than others, but I do know that it changes the person you become. It has definitely changed the mother that I am. I am so much more grateful than I think I would have been. And Mother's Day is so much more meaningful to me. Here are a few pictures of Samantha and me on Mother's Day:
I had my first "real" Mother's Day this year, although I was about 5 weeks pregnant with baby Samantha last year. I must say, I kind of like Mother's Day. For how hard it has been in the past, it was that much better this year. And Derek sure made it special! I really appreciated it.
I also felt for my friends who are still dealing with their infertility issues. My heart goes out to them as I know how difficult it is. I don't know why God makes some wait longer than others, but I do know that it changes the person you become. It has definitely changed the mother that I am. I am so much more grateful than I think I would have been. And Mother's Day is so much more meaningful to me. Here are a few pictures of Samantha and me on Mother's Day:
She looked so precious, don't you think?
Samantha finally got to meet her Auntie Carolyn, Uncle Jeff and cousin Elizabeth! They came to visit us in Canada and we got to do some fun things! We went to the park, the zoo, swimming, and then we finished off their trip by traveling to Kelowna, B.C. where we got to do more fun things (unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures because other people had cameras and got them all, but hopefully I can get my hands on them soon!) Here's a few pictures from our swim trip to Southland Leisure Center (or Centre if you're Canadian ;)
Baby girl also got a cold for the first time this month. It was sad, but it also wasn't that bad. For the first day or so she had red, tired eyes and a runny nose. She never got a fever, but that runny nose/stuffy nose lasted for about 1 1/2 weeks. We got her some saline drops so she could still eat and we put the humidifier on in her room and she did really well. She was a bit fussier that first day or so but that's to be expected. It made me sad that she was so sick and I couldn't do much to help her. Glad that's over!
We've still got the sweetest little baby alive! She's been having a harder time sleeping (it's really been since we got back from Utah (2 months ago...) but recently it's gotten a bit better. Hopefully soon she'll let us get some much-needed sleep!
I'm going to try and post some videos (from the time she was born because I still haven't figured out how to upload them yet...not like I've tried that hard though) and some of the pictures from the photo shoot we just took yesterday! Keep coming back for more! I really should change the name of this blog to have something to do with Samantha because that's all I seem to talk about! She must be pretty important! :)
Monday, June 4, 2012
A Girl and Her Elephant--4 Months
Yes, yes, I know. Samantha is almost 5 months old now, but I took pictures with her and the elephant on her 4 month birthday, and I've been keeping a journal for her, so I think I can update her 4th month pretty easily. And then we'll update it again in a week or so!
Baby girl is getting big. At her 4 month appointment, she weighed in at 12 lbs 2 oz. When the nurse told us the weight, we made her do it again because we couldn't believe it. That was only 12 ounces bigger than last month and we thought she had grown SO BIG!!! I thought for sure she was at least 13-14 pounds. Nope, she's still a little thing, but healthy which is all I could ask for. She's 25th percentile in weight and 75th in height. Her weight/height ratio is still about 3rd percentile. So, she's super tall and skinny. Where did she get that? Not from me, that's for sure! :) Must be Lee gene!
We took a trip to Utah and Las Vegas in April. Judi was nice enough to drive down with me. We blessed the baby in my mom's ward (blessing pictures are coming, I promise!) and we also went down to Las Vegas for an Arbonne conference.
I can't believe how well she did. She rolled with the punches and it was amazing. I mean, she slept during the night shows and concerts at the Arbonne conference. What a good baby! But, with all that traveling, her schedule did get a bit out of whack. Sharing hotel rooms and living with my parents for a couple weeks meant that I fed her every time she made a peep during the night. Which also meant that she got a little dependent on that. So she was wanting to eat even when she wasn't hungry. It made for some pretty sleepless nights for the both of us.
Another milestone: she learned how to roll to her stomach. The day we got to Utah, Matt and I videotaped her for about 15 minutes wanting to capture her first rollover! The second I put the camera away, she did it! We got it on tape, I think on her 3rd go around and now she's a pro! Unfortunately, she has since forgotten how to roll back so she'll often get very frustrated when she's been on her stomach for too long and can't roll back!
She also started loving toys way more. She can now grab them, hold them, study them and put them in her mouth. She loves it.
Love this girl!
Baby girl is getting big. At her 4 month appointment, she weighed in at 12 lbs 2 oz. When the nurse told us the weight, we made her do it again because we couldn't believe it. That was only 12 ounces bigger than last month and we thought she had grown SO BIG!!! I thought for sure she was at least 13-14 pounds. Nope, she's still a little thing, but healthy which is all I could ask for. She's 25th percentile in weight and 75th in height. Her weight/height ratio is still about 3rd percentile. So, she's super tall and skinny. Where did she get that? Not from me, that's for sure! :) Must be Lee gene!
We took a trip to Utah and Las Vegas in April. Judi was nice enough to drive down with me. We blessed the baby in my mom's ward (blessing pictures are coming, I promise!) and we also went down to Las Vegas for an Arbonne conference.
Another milestone: she learned how to roll to her stomach. The day we got to Utah, Matt and I videotaped her for about 15 minutes wanting to capture her first rollover! The second I put the camera away, she did it! We got it on tape, I think on her 3rd go around and now she's a pro! Unfortunately, she has since forgotten how to roll back so she'll often get very frustrated when she's been on her stomach for too long and can't roll back!
She also started loving toys way more. She can now grab them, hold them, study them and put them in her mouth. She loves it.
Love this girl!
We finally got a stretching picture! What a drama-queen!
Cutest outfit EVER!
She HATES sitting in her bumbo!
Getting ready for church with daddy!
Monday, April 9, 2012
A Girl and Her Elephant--3 Months!
Be prepared for a picture-filled blog post! We've got lots!
She's getting so big! I can't believe that she is already 3 months old. It has gone by so fast, and I know it will just go faster and faster. Why hasn't anyone found a way to slow down time?
At her 3 month check-up this morning, Sam weighed in at 11 lbs 6 oz. She wasn't measured, but by the way those pants are fitting in the pictures above, I'd say she's grown in both directions!
It's crazy how fast she is learning and growing. I feel like every month I could write a novel. That's why I've decided to start a journal for Samantha. My goal is to write in it every day, or nearly every day because it seems so much can happen even in that short amount of time. Plus, it gets really hard to remember everything when I come update this blog every month. So far, I've been doing her journal for a week. I am hopeful I can keep it up!
1) Samantha is smiling and cooing more than ever now. Often, she can be in any type of mood and I can usually get a smile out of her. Love it! In fact, one time she was crying because she was overly tired. I looked down at her and smiled and she stopped crying to smile back. It didn't last long, but I loved it!
2) We've also heard her giggle about 3 times now. It's usually very surprising to all of us!
3) She's doing so well with her sleeping. For the last 4 nights, she has slept 8 hours! And last night, I didn't even have to get up to give her the soother. She really slept through the night! She's always been a great sleeper and I don't know what I'll do if we ever have a baby that doesn't sleep well. She's definitely spoiled us!
4) Since she was 2 months, she could roll over from her tummy to her back. She can still do that, but recently, she started rolling onto her side from her back. Yesterday, she was trying to reach her soother and ALMOST rolled over from her back to her stomach! That dang arm of hers got in the way. It could still be awhile before she does it, but I thought a close encounter required some reporting! :)
5) About the time she started rolling to her side, she discovered her feet. She LOVES grabbing at them!
6) She also loves studying her hands. She'll put them in front of her face and go all cross-eyed looking at them.
7) She's still the best baby in the world. We were able to go see Hunger Games with her and she was an angel throughout. It wasn't the most stress-free movie I've ever seen, but I enjoyed it and she was really good. I might not do it for every movie I want to see, but this one seemed to be an exception.
We love our baby! Enjoy the pictures!
Standing up! She's so strong!
I looked away for a minute and when I looked back, she had this hoola-hooped this around her arm! Clever girl!
Smiley baby!
Typical
C'mon now. Cutest baby EVER? I think so!
With her 2nd cousin Ava who was born exactly 1 month after Sam. So cute!
Rolling to her side.
The Easter bunny brought her a basket. He brought her an Easter dress and 2 stuffed animals! Actually the Eeyore was from Grandma Lee but it got stuffed in there with everything else.
Samantha in her Easter dress! Isn't she adorable?
Full ensemble. Tights and an Easter headband .
Sleepy girl!
Grandma Lee bought her this duck costume! So cute!
Quack! Quack!
Love her to pieces!
Happy Easter (yesterday) everyone.
Happy 3 month birthday to my baby girl!
Happy birthday to my sister-in-law Chelsea.
And...
Happy BIRTHday to my new nephew...no-named (yet) Farr born this morning. Can't wait to meet you!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Time
Even as I write this, I can't stop thinking to myself: Samantha's asleep, I could/should be doing this, this, this or this. But, I'm writing a blog post.
Time has come to mean something very different to me since Sammie was born. In fact, the last year has been quite interesting when it comes to time.
When we moved to Canada, I was forbidden to work or go to school. I had all of the time in the world, and nothing to do with it. I tried to stay busy; I did a lot of my favorite hobbies, but I found that when all you do is your hobbies, they don't feel like hobbies anymore. To be honest, I am not really sure how I spent my 6 months of complete and utter time. I found that when I have so much time but nothing to do with it, it can be difficult to stay happy. I think I did an okay job with it, but it was hard.
Now I have the opposite problem. For a long time, Samantha would not be put down, even when she was asleep. She would wake up the minute I put her down, and if she did sleep without being held, it was only for like 15-20 minutes. She's better now; in fact, she can be put down before she's asleep and can fall asleep somewhat on her own. She still only sleeps for 30 minutes to an hour at a time. (She's had a couple of days where her afternoon nap is like 2-3 hours which has been nice). Anyway, what I'm saying is I don't have all that much time in the day! And when it's interrupted so very often, it makes it difficult to do anything at all. (Sometimes, my shower/getting ready time is spanned over 2 naps, which is like a 2-3 hour period...)
I'm not going to lie, it does stress me out a bunch. I've got a lot of things that HAVE to get done. My immigration papers, Samantha's U.S. citizenship, her passport (which we did end up getting done, thank goodness), taxes, etc., etc. These things can't get done in a 30 minute nap so often, it takes me all day to get just a little bit of one thing done. I mean, I've been working on my immigration stuff since she was about 6 weeks old. And, it's still not done. It's certainly stressful. And, it can be difficult to stay happy.
I just have to remember how precious she is to me. I have to remember how much I yearned for her to be here in my life. I have to remember that if you had asked me a year ago, I would have given anything to be exactly where I am right now. I am lucky, I am blessed, I am extremely grateful.
Stressed? Yes! Not able to get much done in a day? Definitely Yes! But happy, blessed and humbled? A thousand times YES!!!
I wouldn't trade any of it for the world!
Time has come to mean something very different to me since Sammie was born. In fact, the last year has been quite interesting when it comes to time.
When we moved to Canada, I was forbidden to work or go to school. I had all of the time in the world, and nothing to do with it. I tried to stay busy; I did a lot of my favorite hobbies, but I found that when all you do is your hobbies, they don't feel like hobbies anymore. To be honest, I am not really sure how I spent my 6 months of complete and utter time. I found that when I have so much time but nothing to do with it, it can be difficult to stay happy. I think I did an okay job with it, but it was hard.
Now I have the opposite problem. For a long time, Samantha would not be put down, even when she was asleep. She would wake up the minute I put her down, and if she did sleep without being held, it was only for like 15-20 minutes. She's better now; in fact, she can be put down before she's asleep and can fall asleep somewhat on her own. She still only sleeps for 30 minutes to an hour at a time. (She's had a couple of days where her afternoon nap is like 2-3 hours which has been nice). Anyway, what I'm saying is I don't have all that much time in the day! And when it's interrupted so very often, it makes it difficult to do anything at all. (Sometimes, my shower/getting ready time is spanned over 2 naps, which is like a 2-3 hour period...)
I'm not going to lie, it does stress me out a bunch. I've got a lot of things that HAVE to get done. My immigration papers, Samantha's U.S. citizenship, her passport (which we did end up getting done, thank goodness), taxes, etc., etc. These things can't get done in a 30 minute nap so often, it takes me all day to get just a little bit of one thing done. I mean, I've been working on my immigration stuff since she was about 6 weeks old. And, it's still not done. It's certainly stressful. And, it can be difficult to stay happy.
I just have to remember how precious she is to me. I have to remember how much I yearned for her to be here in my life. I have to remember that if you had asked me a year ago, I would have given anything to be exactly where I am right now. I am lucky, I am blessed, I am extremely grateful.
Stressed? Yes! Not able to get much done in a day? Definitely Yes! But happy, blessed and humbled? A thousand times YES!!!
I wouldn't trade any of it for the world!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
A Girl and Her Elephant--2 Months
Sorry I'm a little slow on the posting this time around. She's almost 2 1/2 months by now...whoops!
Not only did I take a few pictures of Samantha on her 2 month birthday, but we went to Grandma Lee's house and did a much better photo shoot with Grandma's good camera and excellent talent! Thanks Grandma Lee!
Samantha continues to be the joy of our lives! She is such a blessing and we don't go a day without thanking God for putting her here with us! We're so lucky and she is so special!
A couple of things about Sammie this month!
1) She continues to smile and smile. She'll do it a lot more often now and sometimes even unprovoked. For example, after a somewhat stressful 3rd hour at church, having to leave my meeting 3-4 times, I was changing her diaper and looked down and there she was smiling up at me like she knew I was stressed. It made it all better, that's for sure!
2) At her 2 month immunization appointment, she weighed 10 lbs 2 oz and measured 22.75" She was like 76th percentile in height and 30 something in weight. For the weight/height ratio, she was only 3rd percentile...the nurse wasn't worried because she wasn't off the charts yet, but if she does go below the charts, she said she'd be worried. I'm not worried. If you look at her, she's perfectly healthy. She's got some rolls in all the right places, her cheeks are super chunky and she's super happy!
3) Samantha has always been very strong but as a braggy mom, I have to say that she started rolling over. From her stomach to her back! And it's very much on purpose! I'm a proud mama!
4) I have heard her giggle twice. I'm not yet convinced that she knew what she was doing. We were having a little conversation and she was smiling and talking with me, and it just came out! I'm hoping to hear more of those little gems soon!
5) She's getting better at being put down. Especially since she is awake more, I'll put her down to play on her mat so I think she's getting used to it.
6) As of last week, she could sleep 8 hours (with me getting up every hour or two to put her soother back in her mouth...). The last 3 nights or so, however, she's been getting up every 2 hours. Sometimes less. And her soother won't soothe her... She's always been a great sleeper (her first night she had a four hour stretch and has had at least that since) so I'm thinking she must be having some sort of growth spurt. Needing that extra food!
7) She's learning how to use her lungs more! She's still not a cry baby :) but she'll cry more often. She'll cry when she's tired and can't get to sleep without some help. She'll cry when she's hungry. She'll even cry when I'm not paying attention to her like she wants me to. That's my favorite! Because all I have to do is look at her and play with her and she's all smiles! Sometimes, but not very often, she'll cry just because she wants to cry.
8) She likes to play a lot more. She will stare and stare at the little star on her play mat and kick her legs and bat her arms at all the toys hanging down from it!
9) She LOVES standing up. When she's fussy and it's none of the normal "hungry, poopy diaper, tired" things, just stand her up, face her out so she can see everything around her, and she's great! She especially loves to do this with her daddy. He's even learned to literally run around the house to keep her happy. She loves the movement and the standing up! It's pretty cute!
10) We love, love, love our girl. She is perfect in every way. Sometimes, I have to remind myself how important it is to take the time to appreciate her at this stage. I know it will go way too fast; it already has. So, sometimes, I just need to slow down and play with my little girl! Love her!
Not only did I take a few pictures of Samantha on her 2 month birthday, but we went to Grandma Lee's house and did a much better photo shoot with Grandma's good camera and excellent talent! Thanks Grandma Lee!
Samantha continues to be the joy of our lives! She is such a blessing and we don't go a day without thanking God for putting her here with us! We're so lucky and she is so special!
A couple of things about Sammie this month!
1) She continues to smile and smile. She'll do it a lot more often now and sometimes even unprovoked. For example, after a somewhat stressful 3rd hour at church, having to leave my meeting 3-4 times, I was changing her diaper and looked down and there she was smiling up at me like she knew I was stressed. It made it all better, that's for sure!
2) At her 2 month immunization appointment, she weighed 10 lbs 2 oz and measured 22.75" She was like 76th percentile in height and 30 something in weight. For the weight/height ratio, she was only 3rd percentile...the nurse wasn't worried because she wasn't off the charts yet, but if she does go below the charts, she said she'd be worried. I'm not worried. If you look at her, she's perfectly healthy. She's got some rolls in all the right places, her cheeks are super chunky and she's super happy!
3) Samantha has always been very strong but as a braggy mom, I have to say that she started rolling over. From her stomach to her back! And it's very much on purpose! I'm a proud mama!
4) I have heard her giggle twice. I'm not yet convinced that she knew what she was doing. We were having a little conversation and she was smiling and talking with me, and it just came out! I'm hoping to hear more of those little gems soon!
5) She's getting better at being put down. Especially since she is awake more, I'll put her down to play on her mat so I think she's getting used to it.
6) As of last week, she could sleep 8 hours (with me getting up every hour or two to put her soother back in her mouth...). The last 3 nights or so, however, she's been getting up every 2 hours. Sometimes less. And her soother won't soothe her... She's always been a great sleeper (her first night she had a four hour stretch and has had at least that since) so I'm thinking she must be having some sort of growth spurt. Needing that extra food!
7) She's learning how to use her lungs more! She's still not a cry baby :) but she'll cry more often. She'll cry when she's tired and can't get to sleep without some help. She'll cry when she's hungry. She'll even cry when I'm not paying attention to her like she wants me to. That's my favorite! Because all I have to do is look at her and play with her and she's all smiles! Sometimes, but not very often, she'll cry just because she wants to cry.
8) She likes to play a lot more. She will stare and stare at the little star on her play mat and kick her legs and bat her arms at all the toys hanging down from it!
9) She LOVES standing up. When she's fussy and it's none of the normal "hungry, poopy diaper, tired" things, just stand her up, face her out so she can see everything around her, and she's great! She especially loves to do this with her daddy. He's even learned to literally run around the house to keep her happy. She loves the movement and the standing up! It's pretty cute!
10) We love, love, love our girl. She is perfect in every way. Sometimes, I have to remind myself how important it is to take the time to appreciate her at this stage. I know it will go way too fast; it already has. So, sometimes, I just need to slow down and play with my little girl! Love her!
Calm after her bath!
Already loves the Flames!
This one will be framed! Love it!
This one too! My precious girl!
No one has to tell me how beautiful she is!
This is a typical face. I'm not sure if she's confused or what. I like it though!
Looking straight at the camera. This one is definitely frame worthy as well!
Again, thank you Judi for these photos! They are beautiful!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
6 Weeks
Samantha is 6 weeks old (well, 7 tomorrow, but 6 is more of a milestone!)
She has learned to do a lot since I last posted!
Her legs are really strong. She can practically stand up! Her head is getting stronger too! We hardly have to hold it up for her ever! Clever girl!
She started smiling! Wahoo! So much fun.
She also started cooing. We've had some pretty good conversations, she and I! I have tried multiple times to get it on video, but she stops almost immediately upon the arrival of the camcorder!
She is getting cuter and cuter every day. She weighs 9 lbs 8 oz., 21" long. I look at pictures of her from 6 weeks ago, and can't believe how much she's grown already. It makes me a little sad, but then she smiles at me, and everything's okay!
We love our girl!
She's a thinker!
She is definitely chubbier than she used to be. When we took her home from the hospital, there was so much room in that hood! Now we can barely zip it up!
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