and then there were TWO

Salem-

Two months. You have two months of life under your belt. And if I was taking measurements of your belt, I would say it more than doubled in size in the past 8 weeks. You have almost doubled your birth weight. Remember, you like to eat? You are still eating pretty consistently around the clock. Although, you have done several 5 hour stretches lately. Your mommy thanks you. You still sleep in the moses basket...errr...our bed, most nights. I'm not ready to part with having you near me. Your crib seems so far a way, as if it's down the street! So you won't be in there for awhile. Well, if I have any say in it! Daddy doesn't sleep well with you in the bed. He is worried he might roll over on you! Good argument! ; ) But I keep assuring him, he won't. So you end up sleeping REALLY CLOSE to me! Which, of course, I love. Especially since your constant companion is my boob. You spend lots of time "drinking" your milk. And by the looks of you, there is no denying that! Your chub is magnificent. We have lots of little rolls to clean now when you get your bath.

You smiled for the first time a couple weeks ago. You smiled and we melted. Daddy got the camera and I took video. We are so silly with all of our electronic equipment. We don't want to miss a thing. I love to dress you up in cute outfits and headbands. I know I said I'd never put those obnoxious hair bows on you, but it's just too tempting. Forgive me, ok? : )

Daddy went to Japan and had to leave you for the first time. He had a really hard time. We skyped and emailed and sent pictures and tried to make him feel as "close" as possible. Auntie Nawni came to stay with us. I forgot how nice it is to have an uninterrupted shower! She made that possible every day. Thanks Auntie Nawni, we love you!


You are such a strong little girl. You hold your head up so well. You are not the biggest fan of tummy time. We have been having to "double diaper" you the last six weeks. The doctors thought there might be something going on with your hips. We have another ultrasound at the end of this month. It doesn't help your overly emotional Mama. I don't want you to have to go through any unnecessary pain. The thought of you being in a brace to correct hip dysplasia is bringing me to tears. I know we will deal with whatever is brought our way. And I also know you will never remember going through any of this. For that I am grateful. Daddy and I want to protect you from everything! And knowing this is out of hands, is hard. Please know we would take this from you if we could.

Mimi came back this month. That woman can't stay away! She loves you, Salem. I had all these ideas in my head while I was pregnant of what my mommy would be like with my baby. I have to say, her love for you has exceeded everything I thought. I think she might love you more than me and all your aunties combined! haha ; ) I'm going to let her spoil you. Let her take you places, feed you junk, let you stay up late, buy you things. And anything else that comes from a "mimi" : ) You have her heart.

We love our chubby baby. We have all taken to calling you Punketies, Punks, Goosers, Lil Pooks, and Beluga! We never say Salem! HA! I hope you don't get confused as to what your real name is.

Punketies, you are incredible. Thanks for making the past 8 weeks out of this world, amazing. We love you.

only one

one month old

we're going to take pics with this puppy each month : )

my beauty

Salem-


You are one month old today. One month of a whirlwind of emotions. I can't believe you've been here for a month already. I waited so long for you to be here and now I don't remember what it was like before you arrived. You fit in so perfectly with us. With me and Daddy. With the rest of the family. So many people have come over to share in our joy and meet you. You've done amazing with being passed around and loved on by everyone. Your grandparents came from Oregon. Your Mimi came to see and watch you enter the world. And she will be back again next week! Your aunties were here. Auntie Tawni comes over most days to snuggle you and shower you with kisses.

I'm still getting the hang of my new role. Give me a little time, ok? : ) I'm learning that you like to eat...and eat and eat and eat. You pretty much eat every 2-3 hours. I'm functioning well considering my lack of deep sleep. Sometimes we snuggle and take naps together during the day. But you know what? I'd rather not sleep and just stare at you. Stare at every little face you make, listen to every noise and coo. I don't want to miss a minute of it. I've been on a roller coaster ride these past four weeks. Ups and downs, highs and lows. But mainly, I've been in complete, utter, bliss. I'm in love. I'm in love with your little 7.5 pounds of pure yumminess. I love the way your skin wrinkles around your knees and arms, almost as if they are waiting for the chub to show up. I'm in love with the little hairs on your head. Your deep blue eyes (which I know will eventually change). I'm in love with the way you put your hands up by your face to sleep. The way you tuck your little twiggy legs up by your tummy. Could I go on? Yep, pretty much. I'm in love with everything. You are amazing.

I promise to try and be the best mommy I know how. I promise to be your biggest fan and support you in your life. I want you to always feel safe with me. To know you can come to me about anything. I promise I'll (try to) listen. You have my heart Salem Sophia. Welcome to my life...and thank you for letting me be your mommy these past 4 weeks. I'm in love with you.

**I'm posting the letters I wrote to Salem before I started blogging again. This blog is becoming her baby book so I want to make sure it's all on here**

Madeline

I enjoy reading other people's blogs. Especially other "mommy blogs." I find such a comradery with these women whom I've never met. They say things in a way that I wish I could. They put their mommy feelings and frustrations into such raw emotions. I wish I could write like these other women. Some days, I probably could, but the language I would use wouldn't be very good; )

I fell in love with a little girl that I have never and will never meet, Madeline. I have followed her mom as she has posted pictures, updates, stories, and the journey of their little girl. A year ago they lost Maddie, and I have hurt for them so much. I have cried with her, pleaded with God, and wondered why, so many times. A woman I have never met, and a little girl whose smile, use to brighten my day, has truly changed the way I mother my daughter. Heather has challenged me to love harder, pay attention to every little detail, to remember it all, because no matter what, life with a baby does go by so much faster. I can't imagine her heartache this past year. Her words have pierced my heart, taken my breath away, and made me sob.

My heart aches for them. I know they are missing their Maddie always, but especially right now. I know we don't "know" each other, but I have grown to love this family from afar. They are an inspiration to everyone. But Heather, is an inspiration to me. And I wanted to share their story with you. I hope it will challenge you to never take life for granted. I hope it will make you hold your babies tighter. And I hope it will inspire you to love a little harder.

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Every "first" with a baby is amazing. We took Salem to her first egg hunt.

She enjoyed it. Chad and I both had tears in our eyes when we ran out onto the field to find eggs with her. We took her to the zoo for the hunt. We didn't make it to the 2 and under egg hunt so we joined some very rambunctious three year olds out on the field. She didn't even seem to be phased. In fact, she loves big kids, so it made it better. She looked so intently at each egg, studying them. A baby's curiosity is one of the most amazing things about them. And we love watching her learn about the world.

We didn't go to church. (GASP!) Some of our best friends, Jim and Abby, went into labor this morning and I headed to the hospital. Between Salem's nap schedule and making sure she eats on time, it's hard to plan for a service that starts at 9:45 (nap time) or 11 (just waking up!). So we had our own little family and reflection time. We sat outside, played in the grass, drank our coffee, and truly thanked God for all our blessings.

We are so thankful that we have our girl to celebrate special days with. Very thankful.

TEN

Salem-

You're ten months old. Double digits, my love. If you would have told me 10 months ago when we brought you home, a tiny little helpless baby, that we'd be here, 10 months later, I wouldn't have believed it! You are at such a fun stage right now. Your Daddy and I could watch you all day long. Your little wheels are turning and you are starting to figure things out. You wave to every one and every thing. Hoping they will wave back. Most of the time the people do, but the trees and the aisles of clothes at Target don't, and I think you are wondering why. You give the most delicious big open mouth kisses. Every night before bed, you kiss your Daddy and wave "night night" to him.


waving. you will not put your baby down. Thanks Mimi ; )


this is your kiss face

We sold our house, Salem. And at first I was so sad. Sad at the fact that this is where we brought you home, to live, to begin our new life as a family. Sad that I worked so hard on getting your room just right for you, and in a few weeks it will be in boxes. You know your house. You're comfortable here. But Daddy and I feel like you need a better space. You need to be able to get down on the floor and play and crawl and get into things. We can't let you just roam, because of the stairs, hardwood floors, and cables! But I promise to re-create your room. To make it the same with a little bit more extra specialness than your first room. Hopefully you'll be comfortable in our new house. (We don't know where that's going to be, yet!:) And we hope that it has a space that's perfect for you.

You will only eat what we are eating. You are OVER baby food. You scrunch up your face and close your eyes to tell us when you don't want something. And you flap your arms. You love anything we put in front of you. You are a great eater. If you look at the floor around your highchair and the food on your lap, you would think nothing made it into your mouth! It's a mess. You still love to nurse. In fact, we have to work on lessening your nursing excursions. You're ten months old, remember? We have cut out most of the nighttime feedings. Usually, you go to bed at 7, wake up to eat around 6, and then we all snuggle in bed and sleep until 8:30! It is bliss. Can you please keep doing this?


this is your "scrunch up, all done eating" face

There are four pacifiers in your bed. Each night when we lay you down, we hand you your night night blankie, put a paci in your mouth, one in each hand, and one somewhere in your crib. Somehow you still manage to throw them all out and keep one in your mouth. But before they end up on the floor, you have to "try" them all. You put each one in your mouth to find the one that works best for you. And then you snuggle up with your night night, turn on your side and go to sleep. Sometimes you cry, sometimes you don't fight it...

You are obsessed with dogs. Any kind of dog. You want to look at them, touch them, pet them, kiss them, scream and squeal at them. We take you to the park to swing and see the dogs that are walking by. On the way home from NC, I saw an incredible pet shop and pulled over to take you there. We played with puppies for an hour and you were so content. You smiled and laughed. When a dog barks, look out, you start uncontrollably belly laughing! I sometimes say to Daddy, "We should get her a dog to grow up with." But then we figure not having to take care of a dog and just going to see one, definitely has its perks.

I took pictures yesterday of you playing in your toy box. You creep up onto your tippiest of toes, and lean over far. Your little leg kept coming off the floor because you were leaning in so much. I wanted to remember the time when you had to get up on your toes to get your toys. I have a feeling pretty soon, you won't need to do that. You'll be so big. You've changed so much in the past 10 months. You were a little under seven pounds when we brought you home and now you are a tall, chubby, almost 22 pounder! Mama gets her workouts carrying you around. Sometimes I wish we could pause time. I think it goes by so much faster when you have a baby. I love everyday with you. I want to remember it all. The other day you bit me. Not just, take a bite out of my hand, you bit me.....while you were nursing. And I screamed SO LOUD. You thought it was funny. Started laughing, looked up at me and waved. I called your Mimi to tell her and she immediately said, "Don't forget to write that down." And I thought...oh yeah..I want to remember everything. Even the uncomfortable bites! : )*





I haven't slept in about a month. You have been wanting to sleep with me and nurse ALL NIGHT LONG. We fell into some bad habits while Daddy was gone and we were traveling. We've been changing back to our normal routine and for the past few nights you've been sleeping great. And you know what, I miss you. I miss you being next to me in bed. I miss waking up and watching you sleep. Sometimes I would hold you, just because I could. And some nights I wanted to SCREAM because I was so sleepy and you wanted to "talk." Maybe when Daddy leaves we can make this our little plan and you can sleep with Mama. Shhh, it'll be our secret. : )

There's going to be lots of things changing this month, Baby Girl. We'll be in a new place, you'll be in a new room, and so many more things. I am so thankful to have you a long for this journey. I'm so thankful for these past 10 months with you. Learning what makes you, you, has been the best full time "job" I've ever had. I love knowing all your little quirks and what makes you tick. Thank you for making me such a proud, Mama.

You're my little sidekick.
I love you Punketies.
Love,
Mommy

Double Digits

why do I always take pictures with this bear?





her little hair is growing ; )


Today Salem is 10 months old. This has been such a fun time. She's exploring and learning and soaking in so much. She's an amazing little girl that I GET to spend every day with.

Here are some Salem highlights:

- Waves "hi" and "bye-bye" to every thing!
- Lets us know when she wants to go somewhere. She starts saying "bye-bye, bye-bye" and waving towards the door
- walks about 5 steps max, plops down, and then tries again. She hasn't taken off yet...
- Super fast crawler and gets to where she wants to be
- Over the baby food and wants "real" food. So she pretty much will eat whatever we are having.
- We bought her her first meal off the kids menu at a restaurant. And she actually ate a good portion
- LOVES going to the park, the zoo, the mall to play, being around "big" kids.
- Still takes 2 naps, and sleeps about 12 hours at night. Although lately she's been getting up to nurse.
- Won't lay still to have her diaper changed. So we do lots of singing and dancing to distract her! : )
- Gives big, open mouth kisses when you ask for one.
- Still attached to her mama but definitely becoming more of a Daddy's girl. Although, Mama is still the only one that can put her to sleep! We're working on that! : )



We are so blessed to be her parents. I can't believe it's already been 10 months! Her first birthday party plans are in full swing! :)

Tubes

My child got tubes. Again. She had tubes done in November 09, and then we found out that the one in her left ear wasn't working properly. So she had to get it redone today. We arrived bright and early at 6AM. They do this surgery so early so the babies won't have to go long without food. They aren't suppose to eat or drink anything after midnight. Thankfully, since Mommy is still nursing and since breast milk digests a lot faster, she was able to eat until 3:30AM. Which meant she only went about 5 hours without food. For Salem, this was a win. She doesn't eat throughout the night anyway, but when she wakes up (no matter when), she expects to eat. Especially nurse. So to make sure she had a super full tummy, I went and scooped her up at 3 and she nursed for about 20 minutes while she was asleep. I get paranoid with my chubby baby going too long without food! : )

She did great today. Woke up "mad as hell" as Chad put it but once she was in my arms and eating, all was well in her world. She came home and slept off the anesthesia for about 3 hours. Man, was that the Longest.Nap.Ever. And has been such a trooper today.

She started splashing like crazy tonight. She knows how to splash, but has never really gone crazy in the bath with it. Of course, tonight, the night where she can't get water in her ears, she went out of control crazy with the splashing. She was laughing and having a blast. I think it was her way of telling us, "I'm ok guys, really, I'm going to be just fine."

I really hope the Salem Chapin Ear Saga is behind us. I am so done with seeing my baby in pain. Over and over. And over again. I think she's paid her dues, Universe. I think it's time you let her sleep well and be pain free in her ears, forever. Thank you.