Texas 2

We just got back from Texas. It was a marathon trip that included job interviews, house hunting, visiting Martin/Sarah/Seb/Luciana, the Houston Zoo. Here are a few pictures.

Here is Sam enjoying a shake from McDonald's. She still will not drink milk, but shakes are a big hit.

This shot was right before Sam woke up, what a silly pose.

She travels in style.

We went to the zoo and got caught in a downpour, so we ducked into the aviary. Sam was crazy about the birds, pointing them all out. It was cute.

This was actually our flight home. She slept before we left, so we resorted to letting her watch elmo with earphones.

All three at one time. What cuties.

Already driving!

Seb is a huge Star Wars fan, so Nick did an x-wing and star fighter in sidewalk chalk. It was amazing! But I only got pictures of it in process.

Happy Mother's Day, Playdate, and Job update

So to start with, Nick just got back from a job talk at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. They are putting together an offer. We are also going out to Texas to see about a position for him at Texas Transportation Institute. So we may have a decision to make soon. Wish us luck.

We also had a nice playdate with Sam's friend Izzy, who is the daughter of Sally, who is a friend of Angie's from high school. Here are two generations of friends.

Sam hated the swings, but loved the slide. Izzy however, loved the swing.

Sam decided she was way past baby things like exersaucers, but maybe Izzy needed just a little help figuring out how to use everything.

In our effort to find more and more fattening things, we found out Sam is a big fan of sour cream, which Ang hates and Nick loves. At least she takes a few things after him.

I had a great mother's day. Sam and Nick made me a scavenger hunt, which was fun, but hard. Mom, Dad, Nick, Sam, and I went to brunch at La Madeline.

Here are two contrasting sides of Sam...the girl in the pretty dress sniffing the flowers.

And the girl in the pretty dress playing with the ball.

Hope everyone had a great mothers day, if applicable. Hugs to all.

Another Dr. Kelling!

Nick's graduation was this past weekend. His parents came into town and we had a great time. Here are some highlights.

Here are the Doctors Kelling with their genius daughter, Samantha!

Sam had a blast at the dome walking up and down the stairs with Papa, my dad.

Samantha had a blast at the Spaghetti Factory and she ate a great lunch! Here she is in the trolley car.

Here is the newest Dr. Kelling with his proud parents.

Here is Nick and his advisor immediately after Nick got hooded.

Random cuteness

Here are some recent assorted shots. Sam has been asking to be tickled lately. She learned a song in Music Class that goes "Shake, Shake, Shake; Shake Your Hands Now. Shake, Shake, Shake, And tickle your friends!" Her giggle is so cute!

Here is a full shot of her tutu pj's.

She has also learned to say, "Cheese." But ends up with a silly face a lot.

One of her favorite things to do right now is feed dolls. She makes them say, "Milk! Milk!" And then feeds them. She is doing a lot of imaginative play.

Here she is trying to carry an old doll of mine. Almost as big as hers.

She loves being outside. Here is a profile shot.

And she has been loving sniffing flowers as well.

Happy Spring!

15 months!

I am way behind in posting, so here are Sam's 15 month photos. I had them done to make a special photo for Nick for his graduation. So I held them to keep the surprise. Sam was tired and teething, so she did not cooperate much, but the people at Portrait Innovations were very patient and we got some cute shots. Although not any with my sign :)

Also, Sam had her check-up. She was about 31 inches (50-75th), although she was wiggling a lot. She weighed in at 18 pounds 13 ounces (under 5th). So since she fell off the weight chart, we have a month to get her weight up, or she has to have testing done. So we are buttering her bread, cheese on everything. She is doing much better. We decided to cut out her first thing in the morning nursing, so she is more hungry for breakfast and lunch. It seems to help. So wish us luck!

Sam is feeling better

Samantha is feeling better. A rash appeared yesterday and her fever broke last night, so we think she had something like Roseola. She remained prety playful despite not feeling well, but would have moments of being pretty puny. She also has not been eating much. She did better today, but it has been rough. She also backtracked, so now we have to reconquer night feeding and self-soothing issues. But we are so glad she is better. And now have to get her eating well. Above is a picture of her with a toothbrush given to her by Sarah. We thought her gums might be hurting from the teeth coming in, and she loved using this.

She wanted to wear this dress today and then insisted she needed a hat, which she usually will not leave on. Nick thought the combo was too funny, so we snapped a picture.

Here she is in a Florida Gator outfit from my Aunt Julia. When she saw it I asked, "Do you like the alligator?" She said "A!" She loves the Dr. Suess ABC book with Aunt Annie's Alligator.

Here she is drawing a picture. She is quite the artist right now. Line up for the Samantha Kelling originals.

We were glad we still got to see my grandmother and Aunt Eunice while they were here. I took pictures on my mother's camera, so I will upload those later.

Some babies have it, some babies don't (aka, poor Samantha)

What am I refering to, you may wonder. Well, today is it immunity and weight. My poor baby came down with something. Her fever was up to 102.6 yesterday and she obviously felt awful, She just wanted to be held and rest her head on you (asking "rock a bye baby"), which is unusual for my active little peanut. We called the doctor and they told us we should come in. So even though her temperature was down to the 99-100 range and she seemed much more like herself, we went in to see if her ears or throat were affected. It seems it is just a cold or something like that. So, since she is also in the process of getting at least 2 teeth, poor thing, we kept giving her tylenol. But she still did not get much sleep last night or today. She went down early and I hope she will sleep well tonight.

The other news is her weight. We go back in next week for the 15 month check, but in the quick check today she was 18 pounds 11.5 ounces, a mere 1.5 ounces in 3 months. So, not good. We were told to get her through the next few days and then start thinking about ways to get calories in her. So we will be buttering her bread, adding olive oil to veggies, etc. I was pretty shocked since she seems to be eating so much better. But she is so active and tall for her age (29 7/8 inches at 12 months). So we have to cut back on cheerios, rice crispies, crunchies, bread, and fruit; all her favorites. And force more cheese and really work on whole milk. She has been sipping some soy milk, but still does not like whole milk.

But today she seemed more like her self off and on, even though she would not eat. Here she is drawing, a new favorite past time.

We pulled out a train we got from friends when she was born (Thanks Jenny and Ray!). Thought a new toy would be nice on a rough day. Although, most of the day was spent in my lap watching Elmo. I cannot get the song from Elmo's world out of my head! And by the way, she chose the outfit. Even when she feels awful, fashion is important. And I could not talk her into anything I thought would be more comfortable. She really wanted this gold dress.

Hopefully tomorrow will have a happy, healthy peanut.