What were we thinking???

Yep, we took our 6 month old to a golf tournament. And not just a neighborhood outing. An actual professional golf tournament, aired on television, with real money for prizes. This has been a tradition for KC and I since we moved to Dallas. It is such a pretty golf course and it is alot of fun. What doesn't sound good about sitting in the sun/shade, relaxing, and enjoying some adult beverages. We considered the fact that we may be insane for even attempting it. But we decided in spite of the disapproving looks we may get, we would give it a shot. We had tickets to the Champions Club, which is a large air conditioned tent with waitress service where we could spend most of the day.

The reactions ran from looks of disgust to alot of "she's adorable" to a drunk man stumbling over to tell us he had an 8 month old son at home and that he knows how crazy mothers are about people touching babies hands. I'm not quite sure what my reaction should have been to him but I'm pretty sure it was something along the lines of "uh, great...congratulations?...have a good time".

We sat in the grass for a little bit. After rolling onto our tummy we got our hands down in the grass and realized that if we pulled hard enough it came off (and into our mouth it went). The discovery of grass shortened our time outdoors since it was all we could focus on for about five minutes.

Enjoying the view of the 9th hole after the players were finished for the day.

We even managed to squeeze in a nap.

Here we are giving our Uncle Jimmy a big thank you kiss for taking her to her first Colonial.

Overall, it was an exhausting day but we had an unbelievable time. We also thought we may have to skip this next year since she will be mobile and probably all over the place.

House Rule: A 2 Lick Limit

Over the past month Sam has changed quite a bit. We now roll over all the time, including when we are trying to dress her, grab for everything we may be able to get our hands and hopefully into our mouth, and show a suprising amount of interest in the morning news. But most of all we love animals. More than anything else in the house our 2 labs fasinate her. Since they weigh a combined 170 pounds we have always been a little concerned about what would happen when Sam noticed them. So far they are very patient and equally enthralled with her. To Raja and Jake she is a mini person perfect for licking and sniffing. And best of all she likes it! She doesn't say "no, off, down, stop it, RIGHT NOW" so they love her right back.

She hasn't quite mastered how to get them to play with her at her command but she's certainly working on it.2 of Sam's favorite things - the Around We Go & Raja Bell

"Raja, up here. Pay Attention!"

As a first time mom I fell squarely into the camp of "Keep ALL Germs Away from my baby." I had no shame in handing people the bottle of sanitizer when they reached for the kid. This image would have sent me over the edge about a month ago. Her hand in raja's mouth?!? Now, Raja gets a little bit of "Be gentle" and "ok, 2 licks is enough" and a "stay away from the face please" if we catch this in action.

Between 2 dogs and one active baby, even looking away for a second can spell dog slobber all over the place. Besides, how clean can every other thing that she puts in her mouth be? I have put "clean the remote" on my short list of things to do since it's her favorite toy of the moment and I can not remember the last time we cleaned it.

Just to give the grandparents a little piece of mind - we always wipe Sam down after any licking (that we catch).

A long, long time ago...

I actually updated this blog. And now I am going to try again...(but please note I am making NO promises that this will happen on a regular basis)

The obvious did happen. Peanut arrived. 2 weeks early via c section. Mom and baby were great right from the start. I won't bore you with what has happened in the first 5 months and 2 days of her life other than to share the important stuff. We named her Samantha. It took us 2 and a half days to decide on the name. That's 2 and a half days AFTER she arrived. She goes by Sam, Samster, Samberina, Sammy, Munchkin (if you ask me), Lovebug (if you ask KC), and of course Peanut. Aside from some eating issues in the beginning she has been an absolute joy and motherhood is so much better than I ever anticipated.

She has very little hair and what is there is blond. I am hoping she ends up with white blond hair like her dad had as a kid. She has these gorgeous blue eyes. Hopefully she keeps them! She was so bowlegged when she arrived but it has slowly changed. (At least now her knees can touch. Her dad is very excited about this). We think she is going to be left handed (He is actually REALLY excited about this). And she has the chubbiest thighs, which I love. I swear there is skin on her thighs that has never seen the light of day. She also has these little bits of hair on the sides of her ears. Sam is going to kill me for this when she is old enough to read and be embarrassed by her parents. She has had it since the day she was born. I call it her werewolf hair.

Here she is wearing the hat that Mom-mom knitted for her to come home from the hospital in. The day she came home from the hospital it was 80 degrees out (December 7th) and her mean mom made her wear it anyway. I spent too much time picking out a coming home outfit to let the weather ruin it! My first of many, many Mother of the Year moments.

At about 3 months old. Now that I look at it again she kind of looks like a boy here. Sorry Sam!


The past five months have been pretty busy. We have had Mom-mom (my mom) visit for a total of 9 weeks. 6 after her arrival and 3 in March to take care of Peanut when I first went back to work. We are lucky enough to have found a wonderful woman to watch her for most of the day and then Grandma (KC's mom) picks her up and takes care of her for a few hours. Peanut has already had one plane trip, back to Philly for a visit to Yardley. She has had quite a few house guests - the Palsky's in Feb, Pop (KC's Dad) almost every month, Auntie Kara from Houston, and Auntie Ande at Christmas. So now we have had 2 visits with our future hubby Chase. The most recent went well. He lent Sam his Around We Go for a little bit, played a little grabby face, and then Sam, being the sweetheart that she is, shared her first cold with him. Sorry Christina!

She gives these coy little smiles that almost always end up in a big, open mouth grin. She hasn't developed a belly laugh yet but she does have this quiet laugh that is infectious. Whenever we discover a new thing that makes her laugh we will repeat it endlessly. Until we drive the other person absolutely crazy with kissy noises, or feet tickles, or whatever else it may be. Her favorite thing is to blow raspberries. We have found that this means she is frustrated or well on her way.

She had to have one flaw and it is the unbelievable amounts of spit up that she can create. She is still gaining weight perfectly and is happy so the doctor has told us not to worry just do lots of laundry. We are completely unfazed by the spit up now. I think we only realize how bad it is when we are spending time with new people (people without babies that puke everywhere) and we see the look of terror on their faces. Sam doesn't make a sound when she spits up. It just kind of falls out of her mouth - onto the floor, your shirt, the table, the couch. You name it Sam has thrown up on it. Unfortunately for Dad she even got it in his mouth once. Punishment for playing airplane with a baby already prone to spit up immediately after a meal. Thankfully we are still nursing so the stains have been kept to a minimum.

Before I end my first entry post Sam I have to redeem myself with a picture of my daughter where she doesn't look like a boy.

All dressed up for Mother's Day

Yes, that is spit up

(See we're so used to it that it doesn't even faze me to post a picture of her spitting up - again a Mother of the Year moment.)

One more note - Mother's Day rocks! It is like getting another birthday. I told KC if he had given me a sneak peek at Mother's Day I might have gotten knocked up earlier.

Weeks 29-31

Wow, a LOT has happened since I posted last time. Peanut's future husband has arrived and is currently educating his parents on what to do with a newborn so Christina can try to keep me sane in just a few months. I do have to mention that Peanut has a very, very handsome future hubby. He is so cute. Welcome Chase! We were so excited to meet you and can't wait to see you in February! We went home (Yardley) for a few days to visit Chase, celebrate Kirk and Devon's engagement with a big party at KC's parents house and to eat some really good food (and of course to visit all of the family who has yet to cave and move to Texas). 2 very big things happened while we were up north - 1.) We had a 3D ultrasound done 2.) I had a surprise shower! Since i want to include all of the fun things that happened in the last two weeks I thought I would list the 3D ultrasound and shower in separate posts.

We also started our childbirth classes - which we both are enjoying. Our teacher keeps things very interesting and everyone involved. It's one of the first classes that I have seen KC actively involved in. The first week we did an exercise where we had to list the mom's favorite and least favorite things about being pregnant and the dad's biggest fear about the pregnancy. Here how we did:
1.) My favorite thing: Feeling her move and seeing KC when he felt her move for the first time
2.) My least favorite thing: Not being able to do things for myself (putting something away on a high shelf , because a 7 month pregnant lady should not be on a ladder according to KC)
KC's biggest fear was all of the unknown when it comes to the financial aspect, especially with a girl. He sees clothes, make up, shoes, but most of all a wedding in the years to come.


I have repeatedly told KC how much I love being pregnant. And I really do, even though I can no longer tie my shoes and even reaching the bottom of the washing machine to change the laundry has become a challenge, it has been the most amazing experience. Two things have only become apparent in the last week or so. First, that my pregnant time with Peanut is almost over. No longer will i be the only one feeling her kick all the time and it also comes with a whole new host of worries. Right now I have a pretty good idea of how to take care of her and keep her safe (i.e. no climbing on ladders, seat belt tight across the hips, drink lots of water, etc, etc.) So while I am excited to meet her and share her with KC it's a big change.

The other aspect of pregnancy that is making me quite uneasy is that we are entering the period of the unknown. No books can tell me when i will go into labor or what timeline she will be on, or if it will all go smoothly. I have always leaned towards being a type A person and pregnancy has only increased the need for organization, planning, and scheduling. Our calendar is not only complete for the next few months but also color coded. This is the hardest part of pregnancy for me, no control at all over what happens next.....

*The other exciting thing that happened was we worked on the nursery. It took us 14 hours from start to finish to paint and install the install the chair rails for the entire room. We also finished putting her closet organizer in. I promise pictures will be posted as soon as I can take some good ones.

And in the past 4 weeks....(Weeks 24-28)

Wow, we are now officially in the third trimester. It is amazing how fast this has gone. We can't believe that she will be here in just three months! We keep joking that we want to meet her right now and then i get scared and have to tell her at least 9 more weeks until she can join her family.

In the past four weeks....

My OB went on maternity leave to have her own little girl (last time i asked she was going to name her Isabelle). So i have seen her partner who was almost as good as my doctor). I had a glucose test and passed with flying colors. Anyone who knows me is well aware of the anixety i had before taking a test that i could not study or prepare for in any way. Yep, i think i just put the fact that i am a complete dork on a public website! There is a good chance that KC was more relieved than i was with a good result. He didn't think the next three months and me with no carbs - especially french fries - would be fun.

I am not eating as much as i was a few weeks ago and everything i put in my mouth gives me heartburn. As a reslt i finally caved and asked hte doctor for some prescription heartburn meds. THANK GOD!! The only thing that was not giving me heartburn was milk. Cheerios even did it. I keep asking KC if she is giving me this much heartburn before her arrival does that mean she'll be a hell raiser when she gets here?

As I mentioned earlier KC's brother, Kirk, got engaged in July. We threw them an engagement party along with the other siblings and spouses. It also meant we were lucky enough to have out of town family come in for the big party. We ended up with about 45 people this Saturday night at our house. People kept telling me i was crazy at 28 weeks but it was the ultimate motivator. My house is cleaner and more organized than before the party. I think the thought of random people finding my house dirty or disorganized scared me into action. Plus that whole nesting thing didn't hurt....The family in town was KC's Dad (a surprise for his brother) and my 2 sisters. And Peanut cooperated by putting on a nice show of making my stomach move or at least giving a good kick every now and then to get the people excited.

The Ongoing Nursery Saga...

Labor Day weekend we came up with a plan for the nursery and it has been only slightly altered until this week. This week the bottom fell out of the plan. We can't find fabric that we like and the plan for the paint is not gelling for KC. The deadline (our trip to Philly next week) is fast approaching. We'll have to think of something.... We were lucky enough to recieve the first piece of furniture for our nursery - a glider/rocker from George and Di! It is possibly the most comfortable piece of furniture i have ever sat in. I'm already looking forward to reading to Peanut. I think i might have to start now. According to our weekly updates Peanut can hear and recognize voices and blink her little eyes (with her eyelashes, which if they are like KC's are extremely long) I'll have to add that to the list of things i want her to inherit from KC. Just a few things already on the list, his hand eye coordination - only one klutz needed in this house, his toes - mine are pretty square, and I'll save the rest for a later post...

We are anxiously awaiting Chase's arrival (Peanut future husband). He was due to show up last Friday. I think there are some people in PA a little more excited for his arrival, his mother included. If KC is this jittery waiting for Chase December will be quite an interesting month.

I also wanted to make an addition to my earlier list of what not to say to a pregnant woman:

"You can't get any bigger!" Really? wanna bet? I can pretty much guarantee that i will be bigger 12 weeks from now. You think that the thought doesn't cross my mind on a regular basis (getting ready in the morning, trying to find a shirt that is long enough,...) I have three months left, show some love for the big pregnant!

And just because I have to have the last word (something I hope Peanut does NOT get from me) I would like for Eric to rescind his comment in July about the Phillie's making the playoffs. Last time I checked they were tied for the wild card and have a legitimate shot making it to the postseason for the first time since 1993.

A long, long time..... (20-24 weeks)

Well, I have been very neglectful of Peanut's blog - Sorry guys! In the four weeks since we found out we were having a girl a lot has happened. She started moving around all the time. Her favorite time seems to be when I sit down at my desk in the morning. Maybe she's a morning person like her mom? KC also felt her movements for the first time. And last night she gave him a good hard kick. We have narrowed the name game down to a final four. I think we will probably go into delivery undecided..we'll see. I also said we weren't going to find out what we were having, you see how well that worked.

We have started the process of finding bedding that I love and in turn decorating a nursery. When we got married 3 years ago the search for bridesmaid dresses almost sent me over the edge. Bedding for Peanuts room is slowing moving in the same direction. At this point we are looking at fabrics so my mom can make the bedding because so far I haven't found anything that I am in love with yet. I didn't think it would be this hard to find something I liked. It seems like there is a lot of pink or blue out there but not too much in between.

We did get the registered for all kinds of fun baby things. Thankfully my mom was here to help me. Baby stores can be quite overwhelming, especially if you are not sure what you need beyond diapers and a stroller. And this is where my new favorite book comes in. At some point in the past 4 weeks it dawned on me that while I love being pregnant, in about 16 weeks this will be coming to an end and I will be responsible for a baby, a real life human being depending on me for everything. And then what happens? So far we are at the part where it is telling you how to hold the baby. It doesn't hurt to learn the basics.

What else has happened.....

Well, KC became an old man of 28 and we took a weekend trip to San Antonio. KC had to spend the week down there and I flew in on Friday night. Peanut was trying to punch her way out on the landing. Our trip in a few weeks, once she is quite a it bigger, will be interesting. I hope she doesn't fight quite as hard on that landing. Since you haven't had a belly picture in a few weeks here is a picture of KC and I from our weekend trip.

San Antonio Weekend, August 25th

Here is a list I am working on becuase it is better to laugh at people's insensetivity than to cry:

Things not to say to a pregnant woman:

1.) "Are you sure you're not having twins?" What do they expect you to say at this point? Gee, have i gotten bigger? And I thought I was having a skinny day.

2.) They ask when I am due, when I say December, they grimace and say "oh, really?" Should my reply be - Nope the doctor was just kidding. I'm going to have her any day now. And did I mention that I'm having twins?

3.) "Wow, she's going to be a big baby, huh?" Um, hello do you think I am unaware that I have a child growing inside me? Do I need some idiot telling me that in 16 short weeks I will be trying to squeeze this, according to them, giant baby out? nope, I can worry about that all on my own.

Suggestions and Additions are welcomed.

A Peanut or A Peanutette?

We went to the doctor today and we are having a perfectly healthy.......



Little Girl!



Although KC has been saying since the day that we found out it was a girl I think we were both a little shocked when the doctor told us. It just started to sink in that we are going to have a daughter. A little girl who will play with dolls, pass notes in class, have her heart broken, go to the prom, and eventually have a wedding. When we got to the wedding is when I saw the fact that we were having a daughter really sink in for KC. She does have a good start on her father. She already has him wrapped around her little finger, all 14 oz. and 9 inches of her.



Onto the name game....we had a few boy names, all of which we would have both loved. The girl names are another story. We have about 5 that we both like but we are not in love with any of them. Tonight we will start back at the drawing board. Going back to all of the girl names we eliminated over the last few months because, of course, we were having a boy! Shows what we know!



Now that we know we are having a girl we have quite a bit of decisions to make - name, bedding, nursery, and so many things that I can't even think about right now because I am still so amazed at the fact that KC and I will have a daughter.



Here is the belly shot that I have neglected to post the last two weeks: