What a morning...

Samuel had basically been awake off and on since 5am this morning when he had finally woken up for good around 7:20. I heard him exercising his lungs from his bedroom and obediently dragged myself out of bed on this rainy morning to take care of the little tyke. I noticed his pajamas were a little wet which naturally leads to an extremely wet diaper. I, of course, had a moment of guilt, realizing I probably should have changed his diaper at 5am, but in my defense the only way I could keep my eyes open long enough to feed him was to blink them rapidly. I naturally wasn't thinking all that straight that early in the morning and when he had fallen back to sleep while eating I gratefully put him back in his crib and sought the warmth of my bed. So, it was now 7:20 and he had wet pajamas and a rather full diaper. I positioned him on the changing table and prepared the clean diaper and wipes. Then it happened.

If I had paid attention to the desperate look on his face I may have paused a moment, saving myself from the disaster that was about to follow. Unfortunately, I dived right in undoing the diaper. It was a messy diaper to say the least. I lifted his legs and began to remove the dirty diaper when an explosion, I imagine close to a nuclear bomb, came flying from his bottom. I didn't stand a chance. I desperately tried to replace the diaper to catch the majority of the contents now flying haphazardly through the air. This only smeared said contents all over him and the changing table. When the rumbling finally stopped, (and I swear it felt like an eternity although this all happened in a matter of seconds) I timidly started to remove the ineffective diaper. The damage was quite extensive and there was only one solution - a bath.

Fortunately Samuel has really started to enjoy his baths and smiled up at me very content and warm as I scrubbed him from head to foot. I wrapped him tightly in his towel and took him back to the battle ground. The changing table was a complete disaster and now useless so I placed him in his crib. So, here he is, warm and wrapped in his towel, lying in his crib with a smile on his face when I turn around to grab a clean diaper. In the half second it takes for me to do the half turn to grab a diaper and turn back to the crib, Samuel had kicked the towel from his body and decided to entertain Mom with a water show. Yes, that's right, we now have a fountain of pee shooting all over the crib and the fresh-out-of-the-bath Samuel. I wipe him down with a washcloth and finally get a clean diaper on him.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I set him in his swing in clean clothes with a warm blanket and went back to the room to start the process of clean-up. The damage was more extensive than I had first noticed. The contents of the explosion had splattered the wall and floor surrounding the changing table. I had to stand on my tip-toes to clean the walls and use a carpet-stain remover to clean the floors. All linens and water-proof liners were quickly removed and put in the laundry. The whole process took me almost 20 minutes, all of which Samuel screamed and cried from his swing because I was somehow neglecting him!

At 7:50am it was all done. I picked up the screaming Samuel and fed him and cuddled him. The little stinker quickly fell asleep... after all, he had had a rough morning.

Happy 4th of July!

I love America. Which is probably why I love this Holiday so much - we get to celebrate America. The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. A beautiful country with so much diversity. I remarked to Carlin once that I could spend my whole life exploring what America has to offer let alone what the world has to offer.

Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley in his book Stand for Something said what I feel but could not put into words. He said, "I love America for its great and brawny strength, the products of its vital factories, and the science of its laboratories. I love it for the great intellectual capacity of its people, for their generous hearts and helping hands. I love America's tremendous spiritual heritage and strengths."

Happy Independence Day!

"We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Consituttion for the United States of America."

No Dairy...

We have recently discovered that dairy does not settle well with Samuel. This was confirmed after going on a no-dairy diet for about a week and then accidentally eating eating some cheese fries with ranch dressing. The following day gave one fussy kid and a very tired, stressed mother. Yes, this means I am not eating dairy. This includes such favorites as ice cream (and Sonic just had to start their 99 cent shakes promo), cheese, ranch dressing, and anything with cream such as Alfredo. Sigh. It is all worth it if it means that Samuel sleeps better and is a happier baby overall.

Every cloud has a silver lining. For instance, I get to indulge myself in as many sno-cones as I want. Not only are they cheap, but there is a sno-cone place right next to Sonic - so Carlin can get a shake and I can get a sno-cone. I also got a sno-cone maker for my birthday and can make sno-cones for myself for free. Another thing I recently discovered while hanging out with a couple of my friends is that Hastings offers a soy milk option for my oh so favorite Frozen Hot Chocolates! MMM-mmmmm. I can still have my favorite drink just substitute soy milk for regular milk. Woohoo!

I am also hoping that this diet will mean weight-loss for me!

1 Month Old

Samuel is 1 month old today! He is getting so big. He is the cutest little boy ever (yes, I might be a little biased) and so much fun. We blessed him this past Sunday in church and he thankfully did not cry. He slept through the entire thing content as a bug in a rug. Now if he would only sleep through the night!

Here are some pics:

Carlin, Samuel and I outside the new Stake center
Walser Family

For some reason we don't have any pictures of my family on our camera...

Happy Birthday Carlin

Carlin's birthday was Saturday, June 14. We celebrated by going to his parent's house for the day. I made him a strawberry pie which - if I might take a minute to brag - turned out freakin' fabulous! I was nervous at first but he loved it and that's all that matters. He received Transformers, money, and the new iphone. Yes that's right, I'm getting Carlin a new iphone when it is released July 11. I know I spoil him. But he really does deserve it.

Here is a picture of Carlin and Samuel. Before anyone freaks out we don't let Samuel sleep with us. I just had put him in the bed that morning while I went to take care of a few things and when I came back into the bedroom the two of them were cuddled together.

The Sacred Girl's Night

Last night I had a lovely, refreshing evening with my bestest friend Whitney. Thanks gorgeous for the girl time. I came home happy and full of energy - and just in time, for Samuel had started to get hungry and Carlin was desperately pacing the floor trying to keep him quiet. However, it got me thinking. Why is life almost impossible without our girlfriends? I am an introvert. I like spending time by myself or with family and a few close friends. But even I need that girl time. Here are some of my ideas:

1. Only women really understand the joys and sorrows of motherhood.
2. Every girl understands that shoes never reject you while boys and pants do...
3. Everything is game to talk about from sex to our feelings to the movies and books we've recently acquired.
4. Girls understand chick flicks and we still love to watch them even if we have found our knights in shining armor.

I love my husband he is understanding, caring and patient - and most importantly he knows how much my girl time means to me and readily encourages my outings. So here is to all of my girlfriends - if you have any other reasons for girl time please do share!

This and That

Just thought I would write to write. Samuel is 17 days old and becoming quite the handsome little boy. He loves to cuddle and is currently sleeping on my chest while I try to type around him. Besides the dirty diapers and the spit-up, parenthood is great. I love seeing his facial expressions. He is absolutely adorable when he sleeps and even cuter when he is awake. I'm getting lots of rest and recovering quite well from the c-section. I can't wait until I get the okay to go swimming and take bubble baths.

We recently moved into our new apartment - in fact we are still moving stuff over from our old apartment. We decided to take it easy and moved all big stuff over with the necessities on Saturday and are slowly moving over the rest of the stuff (as well as cleaning out the junk). Our apartment is so nice and big. 2 bedrooms! I'm so excited and closets - yes that's right, I officially have closet space for my vacuum. We also get to enjoy a lot of amenities - we have free golf membership, a nice swimming pool and hot tub, a gym (yay - I can work off this baby fat!), and tanning beds. I don't really do tanning beds but they are there if any of my friends want to use them!

Carlin works most of the day - including traveling time he is gone 11 hours of the day. That's kind of hard to adjust to when we used to have lunches together and see each other periodically throughout the day - but that's okay. We still have our evenings and weekends.

Well, that's it for my ramblings today. Stay tune for more!