This is a video from Samantha's first time in the community pool.

Happy 8 Month Birthday Samantha

Samantha turned 8 months old yesterday! She has grown so much... she's weighing in around 19 lbs now! Remember when we were so worried about her getting back to birth weight - how time flies! She is still in the scooting backwards phase - I swear she is going to crawl any second now. No hurry baby girl - we still haven't put the gates up! She is "talking" with more syllables now - "ga", "goo", "la", and "ba" have been added to the already popular "da" and "ma" - I will give one guess as to why she says those two so much :)

She definitely keeps us entertained! We put up a swing in the back yard and she likes it, but isn't 100% sure about it, so we put her in it for short times. We also got her a little kiddie pool that she loves to splash around in. We are planning on taking her to the neighborhood pool this weekend. We also want to hit the beach sometime soon to see how she likes to play in the sand. Her hair is getting longer now too...it's definitely coming in as reddish blond. It is so cute - it sticks straight up in all directions. Her second tooth also came in about two weeks ago - her smile is so cute with her two little teeth!

So Happy Birthday Samantha! Here are her 6 month professional pictures we had taken by Kat's Photography. Better late than never!

I kinda wanted to keep this post about Samantha, but I thought I should add a little update on me. Unfortunately, I had to have my gallbladder removed last week. All through my pregnancy and after I have been dealing with what I thought was really bad heartburn. My doctor said that it should have gone away a few months after having Sam, but it didn't. So I finally went to the doctor again because I was in some serious pain - all the time with severe attacks every week or two (really bad sharp pain radiating up my back and chest causing me to throw up, have the chills, and basically not be able to move for 4 - 6 hours). After describing the attacks in detail my doctor had me get an ultrasound of my gallbladder - where they found gallstones. The stones were high enough in number and size that they recommended removing it. After talking it out with my doctor and a surgeon, I decided to have it removed. The alternative was cutting fat completely out of my diet - which I tried and is nearly impossible to do - everything has a little fat in it. Even then, it wouldn't have been guaranteed that I wouldn't have an attack again because I already had the stones and if my gallbladder flexed (which it does to release bile) it would really, really hurt. So I had the surgery on the 19th. It was a laproscopic surgery so they only made four small incisions. The recovery hasn't been too bad, I was really sore for the first few days and my digestive system is still getting used to it. So far my stomach feels much better! I didn't realize how uncomfortable it was making me. Plus it turns out that not only did I have gallstones, my gallbladder was severely infected and I had crystals forming on the walls - so eventually, I would have gotten really sick and would have probably ended up in the hospital to have it removed in an emergency situation. So in the end, it is a good thing - I will have to report back on how it feels when I am fully healed and have a chance to adjust to eating food again. But that's the scoop...the worst part about it was not being able to pick Samantha up for a week (I totally cheated).

Fun Samantha Video

Samantha has a tooth!

Samantha in a blue bonnet field - it's Texas tradition to take pictures with blue bonnets every spring.

On Thursday, April 30, Samantha's first tooth came in. She had been a little cranky and now we know why! She is handling it very well given how much it must hurt. It's her lower left center tooth. We think the lower center right tooth is not far behind! I can't believe she already has a tooth! Now all we need to get her to do is eat! She still isn't into eating baby food, but we keep trying (any of you parents out there have advice on getting her to eat?). She is also on the verge of crawling - she gets up on her hands and knees and rocks, but ends up scooting backwards. Lenny and I really need to get those baby gates up!

This week our regular babysitter (Jess) has family in town so we are having a bunch of friends watch her this week. On Monday she spent the day with Fred and Lily, today she spent the day with Ami and Reese, and for the rest of the week she will be with Lindsay and Helen. She is doing so well for being hauled all over and staying with different people every day. I think she is having fun actually - I was little worried, but she seems to be adjusting just fine. We do have a big decision about day care make coming up soon too. We need figure out if we would accept a spot at the day care at my work this summer (we've been on a waiting list from the minute I knew I was pregnant) or if we want to keep taking her to Jess. A lot to think about and talk to Jess about - if we keep her out this summer, we would most likely have to wait another year. We don't know if we even have a spot, but if it comes up and we say no, we lose our place on the waiting list. If we move our no earlier than date, we keep out priority on the list, but wait a year. Not quite sure what we are going to do.

Well a lot has happened in the last month so here are a lot of pictures. My parents visited for a week, which was a ton of fun. My Mom taught Samantha how to blow kisses and it's the cutest thing ever! It was nice to have Sam home with them during the day.

Here are some pictures!

Happy Easter!

Samantha's first trip to the zoo on Good Friday.

Sam with Grandma and Grandpa!