five months

mister sam, 

as much as i miss your teeny, tiny, delicate little newborn self, i have to say, this is by far my favorite stage thus far!

you are so much fun right now and it seems like you are doing something new every single day. please keep piling on those rolls because we just love kissing them every day. 

at five months you are:

- wearing 3-6 and some 6-12 month clothes. 

- still sleeping like a dream. you sleep from 9pm to 8am and we are oh so grateful. 

- have a handful of mama's hair at all times. 

- love to give big, wet, slobbery kisses to mom and dad. 

- teething. enough said. you aren't too grump but you chomp on your fists like there is no tomorrow (despite my efforts to prevent that) and are a drooling machine. 

- love reading time and bath time. you somehow position yourself in the corner of your tub each time and hang your arm over the side like you're in a hot tub. it's hilarious. 

- hate your carseat. so that's super fun. 

- had your first ear infection and got sick for a couple of weeks. so SO sad. i hated every single day of those two weeks. 

- love playing on your tummy while watching mom work out. it makes working out a little bit more enjoyable. 

- had your first taste of baby oatmeal! you now have oatmeal once a day for dinner. we love feeding you and laugh the whole time. you nose dive for the spoon and can't get it into your mouth fast enough. we can't wait to start you on fruits and vegetables. 

- loves going to dad's basketball games and "oohs and ahhs" the whole time.

- you belly laugh. all. the. time. it kills us. 

four months

mr. sam, 

you are still proving to be a complete angel baby. we have the sweetest personality and are so happy all the time. you are currently sick with the flu and just had your four month immunizations and yet still managed to smile and coo at the nurse throughout your whole appointment. you have brought the sweetest spirit into our home and never fail to make us laugh. you are growing like a weed and seem to do something new every day. i love showing you off when we are out and about or at church. you love your dad. you are so happy when he comes home and love snuggling up on his chest and falling asleep. you had your first christmas this last month and were spoiled rotten. it's true, having you around made christmas so much more magical. we love you little man. stay this small forever, will you?

stats at four months:

- weight: 13 lbs 12.5 oz. 

- height: 24.5 inches

- wearing 3-6 mo clothes and some 6-9 mo

- LOVE to eat eat eat 

- loves reading books before going to bed. 

-still sleeping like a champ. 10 pm to 8:30 am. thank youuuuu.

- you have the sweetest laugh right now and will giggle when we tickle your toes or sides of your back. 

- love performing your balancing act with dad. 

- rolled over from belly to back on christmas day.

- you have started to hate your car seat. and you'll let us know when you want out. your dad and i place bets in the car as to when you'll start fussing to get out of your car seat. 

-still love to be swaddled at night and for naps. 

- you have established a good routine throughout the day with two solid naps at the same time and an occasional cat nap here and there. it has made life so much easier now that your schedule is predicable. 

- now loves tummy time and has great neck strength.

family pictures

i just realized i haven't blogged about thanksgiving. 

i will be doing that soon. 

but my family was able to come up and spend thankgiving with us and get in some quality sam snuggle time. 

have i mentioned he is the best smuggler? because he is. 

anyways, while they were here we took family pictures. 

because we haven't in like, forever. 

so, here they are. 

my extremely talented friend rachel took them. 

check out her photography website here. 

judging by the look on sam's face in most of these, he apparently had better places to be. 

and i had to include this one because it makes me laugh every time. poor guy was so over pictures. 

meeting santa

last saturday we went to our ward christmas party. i don't know why i didn't get any pictures of all of us but ally and dan were in town so they were able to come with us. 

i was so excited to have sam sit on santa's lap for the first time but sam was so uninterested. 

he wouldn't even look at santa. it was hilarious. 

this kid is so not impressed by much.

disclaimer: the coordinating outfits were not planned. 

baby must-haves

when i was pregnant i read every one of these lists i could possibly find. i loved researching the best products for our little guy. 

obviously, i still don't have much experience but i thought i would put together a list of things we couldn't live without.

hopefully it will come in handy to someone else expecting their first little one. 

             

         

1. carters onesies: seriously the BEST. they don't lose their shape, they don't shrink and they're thick. don't waste your time with the gerber ones. 

2. butt paste: this stuff is magic. sam doesn't get diaper rashes a lot, but when he does this stuff does the trick. 

3. solly baby wrap: i love this wrap! it was one of the first baby purchases we made. not sure why. but i love it. it helps me to get stuff done around the house without taking my eye off sam. he loves it, too. 

4. lamb dream swing: we love this swing! online it has mixed reviews but sam seems to love it. we started out with this swing but sam didn't like it at all so we switched and have never looked back. he usually naps in this during the day. 

5. pampers swaddlers: the best diapers. we tried huggies for a while but they didn't mask the odor at all. 

6. chicco cortina travel system: we decided to go with a travel system because it was easy and we love this travel system! i like that it is gender neutral and it glides so smoothly. ben loves that it fold in one motion and is easy to get into the back of the car. we love the car seat as well!

7. aden + anais swaddle blankets: soft, breathable and stretchy. sam sleeps with one every night. can't have too many. 

8. gerber cloth diapers: we use these for burp clothes and they are great! super thick and absorbent. yeah they're kind of boring but my mom sewed a cute fabric panel down each one to make them a little more colorful. 

9. little tummys gas relief drops: takes care of a belly ache in minutes. plus sam seems to like how they taste. 

10. nose frida: ok, this totally freaked me out at first! but it had great reviews and when your baby can't breath because of a stuffy nose you will do ANYTHING. it works wonders. 

11. petunia pickle bottom diaper bag: i love this bag. it has lots of compartments to keep your diaper bag organized and the outside is wipeable and stain resistant. 

12. huggies natural care wipes: the thickest wipes i have found. 

13. medela pump in style advanced: this thing has saved my life. i'll admit, i originally received one that kept having problems so medela sent me a new one and i haven't had problems since. i hate nursing while i am out so this is such a lifesaver because i can pump before we leave and take a bottle with me. 

14. avent bottles: we have tried a couple other brands that constantly leaked but we haven't had any problems with avent and love them!

15. boon grass drying rack: i LOVE this. i'm a bit ocd and hand wash all of sams bottles so this is nice to dry them on. plus it's not an eye sore sitting on our counter. 

16. blue dawn soap: i bought this after a friend suggested it and love it. use it with hot water and a scrubber to get out any clothing stain (there are lots). 

17. hand sanitizer: absolutely could not live without hand sanitizer. when we brought sam home and was running around sanitizing everything in sight and had one at the front door for people coming to visit sam. we have one around every corner, in both our cars and in the diaper bag. 

18. aveeno baby shampoo and wash: we originally started out using johnsons lavender shampoo and wash and, while i loved the smell, it made sam's skin so dry and caused him to break out. so we switched to aveeno after our ped recommended it and it got rid of his dry skin right away. we use this shampoo, this wash, and this lotion for his face. 

19. baby aquaphor: this stuff was great for when we brought sam home and couln't really use any lotions or washes on him quite yet. this helped with his dry skin. we also apply some over his diaper cream to help it stick to his little bum. 

20. soothies: sam loves him. it's the only pacifier he will take. 

21. johnsons face wipes: carry these in my diaper bag if his hands or face get dirty. clean well and smell so good. 

22. california baby calming lotion: again, sam has really sensitive skin so this works as a good body lotion. plus a TINY bit goes a long way so the bottle will last you a loooong time. 

three months

december 10, 2012

sammy boy how are you already three months old???

it seems like yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital. 

you are growing at an insane rate and although i love watching you enter this fun new stage, i also get so sad knowing that with each  passing day you are getting bigger and bigger. 

slow down, will you?

stats at three months:

-smiles are getting bigger and bigger. we love our smiley boy. 

-started using his bumbo seat. kind of indifferent about it but you do so great in it!

-getting better and better at tummy time. still grunts at us the whole time though. 

-wearing 0-3 and 3-6 month clothes. 

-hate hate hate to be burped. what happened? you freak out when we take your food away to burp you. it's kind of hilarious. 

-starting to look more and more like dad. we found a 3 month baby picture of ben at his parents house the other day and he looks JUST LIKE SAM. crazy what dna will do. 

-loves book! mom's favorite thing to do is read to you. 

- still such a snuggler. we love it. 

-still sleeping through the night. you go to bed at 10:30. wake up to eat at about 6 and then go back to bed till nine. happy mama. 

-you have started to be much more alert on car rides. before you would fall right to sleep in the car. but now you like to watch out the window and coo. i love seeing you in my rear view mirror. 

- you got to spend a whole week with grandma and grandpa over thanksgiving break and the whole hansen side. you were LOVING all the attention. and they couldn't get enough of you. 

- you have started to hold our swaddle blanket by your face when you sleep. kind of like a security blanket. it's the cutest thing. 
- you love going to surprise dad at work. all smiles. 
- nick names: sammy boy, sam-i-am, bubba, love bug, samsonite, sweet boy. 

seriously, little man, i am not sure how your dad and i got so lucky. you are the sweetest, most good-natured little baby and we couldn't love you more.