Busy, Busy Day

Yesterday was a very busy day! Samuel decided that he wanted to play when he woke up at 3:30 AM so David was up with him for a couple of hours. Samuel just wanted to smile and jabber. Then we all got up again at 7:00 AM so that we could get ready to go to Samuel's pre-op appointment. I was feeling pretty well rested, but Samuel and David not so much. Luckily they are both morning people!

Before we left for the appointment David fed Samuel and they sat and played together for a few minutes. Samuel's bib says, "I love my dad", and I must say that Samuel really does love David. He is a daddy's boy and loves to be with David. Samuel will look for David when he hears his voice and if David is in the room Samuel will watch him and smile.

Samuel also really likes going to his doctor appointments! I think he likes the crinkle of the paper when he is laid down on the exam table. The exam paper was also really handy yesterday. The surgeon drew us some pictures of what Samuel's insides look like and what he is going to do during the surgery. There will be 2 surgeons in the surgery and it sounds like the surgery will take about 4 hours. Because 2 surgeons need to be scheduled, the surgery will not be as soon as we thought it would be - it is scheduled to take place on October 7th!

The first thing that will happen with the surgery is that the doctor will try to stimulate some muscle to see how much has developed and see if there is a place where the anus should be constructed. There is a possibility that Samuel doesn't have the muscle needed in order to create the anus and if that is the case then everything will stop there. The doctor said that he could have an MRI done to check for any muscle tissue, but Samuel would need to be put under for the MRI too and so he feels that it is just best to put Samuel under one time, plan to do the surgery so that Samuel doesn't have to be put under twice.

After the appointment with the surgeon, we went to breakfast at Johnson Diner in Orlando! This was lots of fun. We had seen a show on the Travel Channel and this diner was featured so David and I decided that it would be the perfect time to go. As we were leaving a lady started talking to us and told us that there were some basketball players from the Orlando Magic eating in there too (David and I had no idea!). Apparently lots of famous people like to eat at this diner. However, the prices are great. We both had breakfast for $11! Next time we need to try lunch because the menu looked really good and the prices really are excellent.

Our last adventure was going to the mall. This was Samuel's first trip to the mall and I think he really had a good time. He likes to ride in his stroller and look around. He is such a good baby!

A Job

Samantha got a job! Hooray! The office that I will be working in is really close to our apartment - it takes about 5 minutes to get there if the traffic light is red and traffic is heavy. I am excited about this job and look forward to starting.

Fay!

The title changes but right now she is a tropical storm. It is anticipated that she will be hurricane by the time she hits southern Florida. It is looking like it will not hit us here in though, but just in case we did go get some supplies (well, we bought extra formula and lots of water) to be prepared. The biggest impact this has had on us, is the insanity we met with when we went to WalMart yesterday...ugh! The lines were all very, very long. We walked in and then turned around and walked right back out because it was just so not worth it.
Another thing that is interesting, we have done some price shopping on formula and we have found that it is $5 cheaper to buy it at Babies R Us...actually, we have checked on other items as well (such as Baby Tylenol) and Babies R Us is cheaper on most things for us. Isn't that crazy? I mean I just assumed that they would be more expensive.
Anyway, just wanted to assure everyone that we will likely be quite safe. If Fay gets up to a size 3 hurricane then it could cause some tornadoes in our area, but that is very unlikely seeing as it is probably going to be a 1 when it hits south FL and then it will lose strength as it goes north.

The Celebration

On Friday David sent me a lovely plant. I really do love it. He is so thoughtful and great. Then that evening we went to Chevys for dinner. It was delicious. They sang to me and gave me a wonderful sombrero! I think I look silly in the pictures so I am not going to share those.
While getting ready to go to dinner I was talking to Samuel and he was so full of smiles and giggles and he had so much to say so I snapped a few pictures of him. He is such a happy little guy.





Then this morning we went to Gatorland. Boy is it hot out there! But we had a lot of fun and got to put our season passes to use.

The Big 3-0!

Wow! Today I turned 30 years old! So, because I'm 30, I thought I would write a little list of things I am grateful for or have learned thus far!

1. I am so thankful for my testimony of the gospel! My life is so blessed because of the gospel and I am grateful that I have it in my life.
2. I have a wonderful husband. David is amazing! I have had a really happy and blessed life before meeting David, but since meeting him I think I have become the luckiest girl ever! He is a wonderful man and the best husband a girl could have. He is also an incredible father.
3. I have a wonderful son. Who knew that motherhood would be this incredible!?! Honestly, sometimes at night I just go in to Samuel's room to watch him sleep, and it is so hard for me to not wake him up because I just want to pick him up and tell him how grateful I am to have him. I love being his mom.
4. I have wonderful parents - all 5 of them are so important to me (Sam, Shari, Charlene, Mike & Cate). They are great examples and wonderful supports. Of course, they each have wonderful parents and I am very grateful for my grandparents.
5. I have had the opportunity to be around so many wonderful women...honestly, we talk about the strength of pioneer women, but in my life I have been surrounded by women of strength (i.e. Anona, Charlene, Shari, Judy, Shaunell, Shelley, Connie, Tammy, Jane, Cate, Kimberlee, Jo, Katie, Melaina, and the list could go on and on)
6. My education - I have had the opportunity to attend great schools and also meet people who have taught me so much
7. The opportunity to travel. I love going places and seeing new things! I have already been blessed to visit many of the States and I really hope in the future that we will continue to travel to different places.
8. Music - I am thankful for music. I love to listen to all sorts of music and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to learn to read music and play an instrument.
9. Family - this may be a bit repetitive, but I am thankful for my immediate and extended family. They are great fun and I am pretty sure that I get my wonderful sense of humor from them!
10. Being debt free! I love that we have been blessed to never have to go into debt.
11. Disney - okay so the pay is not great, but at least it has provided us with work experience and great co-workers, plus, the opportunity to go to the parks for free so we have cheap entertainment!
12. Cheese - I really like cheese.
13. Cooking - I really like cooking. I don't do it too much here because its too hot!
14. Giving Samuel a bath. He loves bath time and it just cracks me up how excited he gets when I put him in the water.
15. Laughter - I have always enjoyed laughing and now Samuel is starting to laugh so that is really fun.
16. Reading - I really enjoy reading! I especially like biographies. Some of my favorite biographies have been about Benjamin Franklin, Gordon B Hinckley, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln
17. Clean sheets - I love getting into bed when the linens have just been changed.
18. Lizards - I love the lizards here. I don't want to touch them or anything, but I love that they eat bugs and I also think it is fun to watch them run around.
19. Finding a really good deal - I have a sister that is better at this than anyone else that I know, but I love it! It is great when you find something of value for a great price - I love it so much that I love to hear when other people find great deals.
20. Public speaking - I love speaking in front of large groups of people or even small groups of people.
21. Popcorn - I know it sometimes gets stuck in my teeth which can be bothersome, but I still think it is delicious!
22. Watching the Olympics - the althetes are amazing!
23. Medicine - I am amazed at the advancement of medical technology and so grateful for everything that can be done now. It is humbling to know that 10 years ago my baby likely would not have survived, but now they know what to do and with surgery he will live a full and "normal" life!
24. Computers
25. Cell phones
26. Pictures - I love to look at pictures!
27. Cookies - I really love cookies, perhaps a little too much!
28. Knowing that everything will be okay - maybe my idea of okay and His idea of okay are diferent, but I do know that He will make everything okay and I just need to relax a little bit
29. Clothing - I don't so much like to wear socks (and I especially don't like pantyhose) but I do like clothing.
30. I like me....I didn't always like myself, but I do now and I am thankful that I am me because I a very blessed!

Thanks for reading and a big happy birthday to me, and also to Katie because it is her birthday too!

Still Searching

Well, it has been over a month that I have been unemployed. Honestly, there are some parts of not having a job that I have enjoyed somewhat. I like being at home, but I do miss Samuel and David during the day. (Samuel still goes to daycare because there is a 7-month waiting list and if we take him out and I get a job then there will be no where for us to take him.) However, it has been nice because there have been nights that Samuel hasn't slept too well...like the night that he just wanted me to hold him and wouldn't sleep unless I was holding him so I didn't get to go to bed until 2 AM...and then David takes him to daycare and I got to catch up on some sleep. That was nice, but still, I find myself watching the clock from 3:30 until David and Samuel get home usually around 4:20 with much anticipation. It sure is nice when they get home.
On the job search front I am perhaps a bit discouraged, but I just know that something is going to come up. I know that we are being cared for very well by our Heavenly Father so I'm not worried. Whatever is suppose to happen will happen and we will be happy.

Pink

Pink is a good color, but today we have found one thing that we definitely don't want to be pink...Samuel's eyes! This morning the daycare that Samuel goes to called and said one of us needed to pick him up because it looked like he has pink eye.
So, I picked him up, took him to his doctor, and sure enough he does! Poor little guy. However, other than having pink eye he is doing well. He's smiley and in a pretty good mood. We did go to Wal-Mart after the appointment and that of course has made us both pretty cranky! Luckily we are now home where it is calm and quiet.