I am a Mom

October 22, 2008

Exactly one year ago today was my due date.
WOW!
I remember how impatient I was to meet her, my daughter, my Sommer.
I just checked her in her crib, all snuggled beneath the MANY layers of blankets, fast asleep.
My angel, my precious daughter, the light of my life.

She has changed me - I am not who I was a year ago.
I am softer, more tender, less harsh.
I pay attention to the small things in life - like the sounds of little feet
I kiss hurts, wipe tears, smile.
I am a Mom.

This past week I have been once again overwhelmed with the fact that my baby is turning ONE. I keep thinking to myself about where the time has gone. I feel as though I did not cherish enough of the small things and did I write enough stuff down to remember later on. People always told me to cherish every moment/memory because before I would know it she would be turning one, well the time is just around the corner and I am on the verge of tears.

Honestly, it seems like yesterday I was writing her a letter begging her to come out! Hard to believe that was a exactly a year ago tomorrow! I can remember so clearly how bad I wanted to see her and find out her personality. Man, does she ever have a personality!

The video above was the first video taken of Sommer about 1 hour after she was born. James and his parents were in the NICU watching Sommer and marveling in how cute she was. James was such a proud Daddy, he just couldn't get over how "cute" she was. One thing that amazes me was her ability to suck at such a young age... I really wish I could have been there in her first few hours to breastfeed her. Hopefully my next baby will have a safe delivery and be able to spend the first hours of their life in my arms.

One another note - Sommer learned to walk last weekend! So much fun :) She had never stood before on her own and we were sitting in James' sister's living room and all of a sudden we looked and Sommer was standing there. I took her and balanced her while James called her - sure enough she took 6 steps to him! By the end of the weekend she was walking from person to person or object to object. This weekend she is getting much better. She has a bit more confidence now and will walk all over the place. Yesterday she figured out how to stand up from the floor all by herself. So here comes trouble :)

We are at James' parents house this weekend in Outlook. We came to get our piano from them and also to attend an alumni Basketball game (which James' is playing in) at his high school. Every October they have a Home Coming weekend for alumni and present students. Tonight there will be fireworks, so I am excited to take Sommer! We will get her all bundled up for the event... she probably won't even care.

Hope you enjoy the cute video!

Ugh - Sasktel

Sasktel - Why do you only do "all day bookings" in White City? I dont want to stay home all day waiting for you to come and hook up the phone! I hope you come on a rainy day....

Birthday, Bobcats, and Big Girl Chair

Yesterday was my birthday - the BIG 2-4! Haha. I can remember when I was 19 I thought that 25 years old would be when I made it to adulthood and you are mature. HA! I am 24 and have been married for 4 years and have a daughter who is almost 1... I think I have made it to adulthood but maturity... that one is debatable and depends on the day (and possibly who you ask). Excuse the horrible birthday picture - ugly!

Baby Brandan Bobcat! James family (some of them since there are 6 kids, Mom and Dad) came down to watch his sister Christie Anne (holding Som's hand in the pic) play in a basket ball tourny at U of R and also celebrate my birthday. Sommer felt so important when she was standing with the team. She even stretched with them - too cute!

Sommer LOVES auntie Christie Anne. Christie Anne has been lucky enough to see Sommer lots this fall, something that doesn't usually happen.

Grandma Cheryl (James' Mom) loves Sommer and teaching her new things! She is the one who gets credit for teaching Sommer to clap and will probably be the one who gets Som to walk! Sommer hates walking for me - why walk when you can crawl as fast as a cheatah? She could totally walk if she wanted to but she is a speed crawler and is too busy for the walking stuff. But I'm not too worried - like her hair, walking will come eventually!

Sommer LOVES uncle Sammy!! She gets the biggest smile on her face when he comes into the room and speed crawls right to him. Uncle Sammy can do no wrong. He is so good with her too - I love seeing their friendship and bond get stronger each day :)

My Grandma (the one who lives next door) is going on a cruise this week (for 3 weeks around Rome, Spain, etc.) and will not be here for Sommer's birthday. She wanted to get Sommer a little leather recliner and searched EVERY WHERE but could not find one. So sad! She did find Som a little chair and Sommer LOVES it! She doesn't know how to get in it yet and get's very upset when she wants to sit in it, so hopefully she will learn soon. This morning she sat in her chair and drank her milk - she is growing up too fast!

Where did the year go??

I just can't stop thinking about how fast this year has gone... it is consuming my mind lately and I just need to write it all out. It honestly seems like yesterday that I was praying for my baby girl to come, although scared of how she would come out, I really wanted to meet her. I wanted to know what she looked like, how she would act, what kind of personality she would have, all those wonderful things that I have now found out. I can remember feeling so grumpy and huge... my belly hurt, my legs hurt, my back hurt... I just wanted to feel normal again. And here I am... almost one year later missing those times. Am I crazy?

I can remember jumping at every twinge I felt in last couple of weeks of my pregnancy... maybe this is labour! People would tell me, "Oh, You'll know labour" and I when I finally went into labour 3 days late I thought, "OHHHH!! THIS IS LABOUR!!" I can remember driving to the hospital while having contractions, getting set up in Rm 1, and what the whole labour was like. So scary and exciting at the same time. What I remember most is when Sommer finally came - that last push when they said, "It's a girl!" Instant Love! I looked at that squished little face, squinty eyes and thought "Gosh, she is so small!" 6 lbs 5 oz... perfect size. I remember her being in NICU and just dying to have her in my arms. Thinking that a mother needs her newborn with her and how hard it was for her to be down the hall from me. The first night together was long - but a bonding time. WOW... all these memories... precious moments that I will cherish forever.

Hard to believe that Sommer has so many firsts in her little life. I remember each one: first smile, first laugh, first roll, first crawl, first time nursing, first bottle, first baby food, first table food, first word, first time standing... so many. I have a wonderful book by my favorite author, Karen Kingsbury, called "Let Me Hold You A Little Longer" where she doesn't talk about all the firsts, rather she talks about all the lasts. It made me think last night when I was reading it... what about all the lasts Sommer and I have had. The last time she slept in a bassinet, the last time she swang in her swing, the last time she rode in a bucket carseat, the last time she nursed, the last time she was swaddled. WOW! I can honestly remember each 'last' we had... just shows how much she is growing up.

Sommer is a blessing to us and each day I thank God for her. We love our angel :)

Looking Forward To The Weekend!

For some reason today felt EXTREMELY long. My morning started off with waking up at 8 am when I got up, I woke up Som at 9 am and headed out to the church at 9:45 for our first Moms group! My playdate friends had been meeting at houses and in the park but today we met at Living Hope Alliance Church where there is TONS of room for us to bring friends, etc. It was awesome - 13 of us Moms and 15 kids! Such a great way to spend my Friday mornings :)

This afternoon was pretty low key with Som napping 2x and me cleaning up the house... I feel like I am always doing house work now that we have moved into a bigger house. I couldn't keep my 12oo sqft house clean, what made me think I could keep a 2000 sqft house clean???? Oh well, I feel so much better and can function clearer when I have a clean house. I also made 3 suppers this week!!! That's probably the most I have EVER made in 1 week. For those of you who know me you understand that is a VERY big accomplishment because cooking is a weakness of mine and something I have been trying to work on. I wish I could get some cooking lessons... just some tips on making family friendly meals that are quick 'n' easy!!

Lately I have been more tired than I have never been! Even more tired than when Som wasn't sleeping through the night or even more tired than when I first brought her home from the hospital. Maybe 11 months is harder than a newborn - man, can an 11 month old move fast!

Sommer learned the stairs yesterday. She can motor up them no problem! We have also taught her how to come down the stairs on her tummy! It's too cute to watch! She is really good at going up them but going down she sometimes forgets she is on the stairs and get's a little over confident but I have always been right by her so she hasnt fallen yet. This evening I was in the upstairs bonus room area and James was suppose to be watching Sommer and the football game. As I am putting toys in the box I see this little (and beautiful) face peek around the banister... she had escaped from her Dad's watch and climbed all the stairs on her own to come and visit me... needless to say, we will be purchasing a baby gate ASAP!

Well, I feel as though I am rambling... better sign off and head to bed! Good night friends!

11 months and growing!

` Sommer and I started Starfish swimming lessons at the Lawson! She hated every minute of it. The water was so cold in the kid pool so I am sure that the water temp didnt help. The past 2 classes she has had a bad cold so we put swimming on hold but we will return to the water on Monday night! Hopefully the heater will be turned back on!

Sommer has discovered the toilet paper and she thinks it is such a fun game to unravel and play with the roll. I am sure that it is fun to make such a mess... now if she could only learn to clean up after herself.

We got new side tables for the basement. Sommer loved the little wrench that came with it and wanted to help her Daddy put it together. She is really good about not putting things in her mouth so she would bring me all the screws that James had put on the floor. If you notice in the above picture she is holding the wrench and was turning it on the screw - A girl after her dad's own heart!

Again, a bare bum little Sommer helping Daddy put together the bookshelf in the basement!

Sleepy Sommer

Sleepy Sommer... she is still sleeping! The past week she has decided that she will sleep until 10:30 -11:00 am, and that's after going to bed at 8:30 pm! Who is the teenager?? So you probably think that I too am sleeping in, nope! I am getting stuff done before my little angel wakes up. I think it's a good thing that she is sleeping so long because she is sick. She has a never ending runny nose, which has been with us for as long as I can remember (teething??), battling the tailend of a cold, and now has Thrush! UGH! I am so glad that we are no longer breastfeeding because I hear that thrush is painful while breastfeeding. The other day I looked in Som's mouth and it looked like she had milk all over her tounge. I didn't think anything of it because honestly I didnt think you could get thrush when you were "older". Yesterday her milky tounge was still there so I took her to the doctors, knowing in my head it was thrush, and yup, we were told it was indeed thrush. So here's to antibiotics 4x a day and plenty of probiotics like Yogurt. Well, I hear my angel calling "Mama!" from her room. Best get her ready for the day... at 10:45... and give her round 1 of her meds....

Home sweet home!

We are done! On Friday we finally moved into the new house after 2 years in the making. I could hardly believe I was sleeping in the master bedroom. Slowly we are starting to feel more at home and the boxes are making their way into the garage. When I look around I am not overwhelmed with what's left to do but there are still little things that can be done. There are no pictures of decor items out so it does feel kind of cold. Hopefully I can find some energy to start putting things in their new places.

We ordered our new furniture in May so that there would be nothing backordered or missing. When it came in June they told us that our bedroom suite was damaged so they had to return it - no big deal, we weren't needing it for another 3 months. On Friday, 10 mins before they were to deliever it, we got a phone call saying that the bedroom suite was damaged AGAIN, in fact they used the word "smashed". How can a bedroom suite be "smashed"?? So they delivered our bedroom suite, minus our headboard, footboard, side rails, and armour and our new leather couch & loveseat. After inspecting our loveseat I notice that there are scratches on it... ugh! So another 6-8 weeks until the furniture is all in the house.

We have Lexis back with us now that we have moved into our house. It's great to have our dog back and we did miss her. We decided that she has to wear dog slippers in the house so she doesn't scratch the hardwood like she did at our old house. At first she pretended that she didn't know how to walk, haha, but after realizing that we were not taking them off she "learned how to walk" and has accepted them. She looks soo cute!!

I will post some pictures once everything is set up :) Feel free to stop bye anytime!!

Introducing Mara Ruth!!

Welcome to the world beautiful Mara Ruth! Our niece has arrived 2 weeks early but the timing could not have been better! I talked with Jen on Thursday evening at 5 pm because I wanted to get the McCullough Family Cook Book emailed to me so I could print it off. Jen said she was having some cramping but nothing out of the ordinary and that she was ready for this baby to come. I said it would be awesome if the baby decided to come over the long weekend as James' parents were already planning on coming for a visit and we could easily hop in the car because we were having a pretty laid back weekend. Jen phoned us at 7 am the next morning to say that the baby girl arrived... I could hardly believe my ears! I kept saying, "Seriously?? No Really?? I just talked to you before I went to bed!!!"

Her water broke at 1 am Friday morning so she had a shower before leaving for the hospital which would be a 40 min drive into Winnipeg. They left for the hospital at 2 am, arrived at 3 am, was pushing by 4 am and had the baby at 4:30 am! What the heck??? How come people are soo blessed with good, uneventful labours?? I would have loved to have that labour instead of my 15 hour labour!

So we went out on Sunday morning, arrived around 3:30 pm and went straight to the hospital. As soon as I got to the room I got to hold my precious niece Mara, and Sommer started bawling! So I went over to her and she wrapped her arms around my neck and cried, "Mama! Mama!" So I ended up giving the baby back, holding Sommer and then taking Sommer to meet her little cousin. In the end she was fine with me holding the baby but it did take a few minutes. Gave me a little insight to how Sommer would react when we bring our next baby home.

Mara was out of the hospital by noon on Monday so we were lucky enough to spend the day with them before driving home around supper time. We thought it would be a good time to leave because we would be at Brandon around 8 pm, grab some supper and stretch, and then put Sommer in her car seat and she would sleep the rest of the way... WRONG! Sommer cried from Brandon to Indian Head! The longest hour and a half of my life. "Mama! MAAAAAMA! Mama mama mama!" I would crawl to the back but that would make her so mad because she just wanted out of the seat. So in the end we drove in complete silence hoping that she would forget we were there and fall asleep. My poor angel!

Well, the baby is adorable. The mom is doing great! And our family can't wait for another baby to arrive!! If I was okay with having children in the spring/summer I would totally try for another but we do too much stuff in the summertime that I dont want to bring a baby along for. So, here's hoping to another fall/winter baby!




Our house had a major mix-up yesterday when the wrong carpet was shipped and installed. I know, BRUTAL! James didnt notice until the were completely done the upstairs which was very unfortunate. I came home and almost cried because I do not like the carpet that was installed. What makes it so bad is that I dont HATE the carpet but I dont LOVE the carpet... I just dont like it... is it liveable, PROBABLY.... I went to the carpet place early this morning to clear everything up. Our carpet (the right stuff) is sitting somewhere in Winnipeg so it will be shipped on Friday and we pray it will be installed on Monday. The Granite Guy hurt is back yesterday so our counters will not be installed until tomorrow, so everything is being pushed back a couple of days. Yes, unfortuantely we will not be in to our house until sometime next week. My sister comes on Wednesday so she may be helping us move into the house instead of helping me decorate. But I figure what's 2 more days.... ugh!

Soon enough we will be back to living in our own house and not living out of boxes in the basement of Garnet & Sharon's house! If only it was this weekend.....