It's Been Awhile

Well, it most definitely has been awhile. I can't even really remember the last time I blogged, which is bad because blogging is good for the soul - at least for me anyways.  So what has August been like for us.  Let's see.

Samantha received her 4 month shots at the very beginning of the month.  The health plan that she was on at the time didn't cover immunizations or if it did it was after our $2,000 deductible.  After I had received a $500 plus bill for shots I decided to take her to the health department.  Those same shots 2 months later cost me $27.  That's a no-brainer if you ask me.  She did really good.  The two girls that gave her the shots talked to her before and had her all smiley and then hit her with them and kept talking with her.  It was a GREAT strategy b/c she only cried for less than a minute.  They gave her a little pink turtle to play with in the bath tub. 
The Friday night before we went to Montauk we attended the Jasper County NWTF banquet.  It was a good time.  Samantha and I headed home around 9 or so b/c she just couldn't sleep with all the noise.  She tried, but just couldn't quite do it.  She did REALLY REALLY well.  She also got to meet up with her cousin Lexie Ghast.  All Samantha wanted to do was touch her and all Lexie wanted to do was stare.  It was pretty cute!
We spent the Sunday through Thursday before school started down in Montauk State Park in Southern Missouri.  It was an "ok" time.  It was just so miserabley hot that it with, well, miserable.  I was able to fish a little bit.  One day we all headed over to Springfield, MO (about an hour and a half drive) to eat at Lambert's and go to the big Bass Pro shop.  This was the 1st time we had actually taken our camper camping and it was great.  That camper is one of the best things we've ever purchased.
School started the 16th.. yuck.  I was SO not ready but the first week is over and it wasn't too bad.  Monday was pretty rough on me though.  It was that 1st day back from maternity leave all over again.  Thank God for Aunt Joy.  I love knowing that she is in GREAT hands.  Somebody is going to ooo and ahh over her just as much as I do.  Joy has found the American Girls doll Samantha.  She was discontinued so Joy found her and also got an entire wardrobe for her.  Samee and her Aunt Joy are going to have a blast with dolls!

Samantha's recent milestones:
She can pass a toy from one hand to another. 
She can't stand not to see what is going on. 
Her sleep patterns are horrendous.  She did great when we were camping and then was horrible for the 1st few days of school.  Then evened out and was going down at 7, up at 12, up at 4 and then up for good at 6 or 7.  Then Saturday night it was back to the craziness. Last night I was able to sleep around 4 1/2 hours and not in a row.  Talk about being tired.  However, she did just "fuss it out" in her crib.  Man is that little girl going to be able to through one HECK of a temper-tantrum when she is older.  I was laying on the couch and all I heard was this "thump thump thump thump".  At first I couldn't figure out what it was and then it dawned on me... it was her little feet kicking the mattress.  She would cry for a little bit, then it would be quiet except of the feet kicking, and then crying again.  She fell asleep and I felt like it was a small victory. (She had been up for 2 hours).  Than at 4:25 (20 minutes after falling asleep).  She was up again.  AAAAHHHH.   I have decied that sleep is to Samantha as holy water is to the devil. 
She can roll over, but she's been doing that for awhile.  Except now she willingly rolls over to her belly and doesn't get mad that she accidently went to far and ended up on her belly. 
Her back half wants to crawl but she hasn't quite gotten the front 1/2 figured out yet. She just rubs her little nose in the blanket the entire time.
She LOVES her little jumper that hangs from the doorway.  She will bounce around in that thing for about an hour each evening.  The more she bounces in it, the better she seems to sleep.  Or at least it worked that way for 2 nights. 
She has figured out how to wiggle her way off the little butt shelf in her baby tub.  Which is scary, b/c when she does that her head goes in the water up to her ears.  The first time it freaked her out a little bit, but then it became something fun.  great...
She's doing great with Aunt Joy and the bottle. However, I think she purposely tries to get Aunt Joy covered in peaches or whatever she's eating that day. 
She LOVES sweet potatoes, prunes, peaches, and bananas.  Squash is growing on her.  Carrots are a no go.  I am going to start trying the green veggies this week. 
She hasn't been a huge fan of cereal. I mix my milk in with it, thinking that will make her like it more.  Well, we've decided to start mixing formula in with my milk in her bottle, starting sometime soon.  So tonight, I decided to mix the cereal with some formula.  We had this formula that was already pre-mixed with liquid.   You were supposed to just attach the nipple and give it to them.  I mixed it in with her cereal and she ate like a little pig! She ate more cereal than what she normally does in three meals.  She also ate a ton of peaches.  Hopefully she doesn't have a belly ache tonight.

That's really all I can think of right now.  I knew I had better post or else I would just keep putting it off b/c it had been so long and I wasn't sure how I was going to write the update. I think I hit the high points and I'm going to be much better. I missed blogging!