Grin and Barrett: March 2009

I told you I'd post pictures that were still on my camera and I also told you I'd probably forget to write about something really important. So here we go:

Sam's sister Kanani got to meet Sophia for the first time on March 9th! Yay!!! She thought Sophia was so little - imagine what she would've thought when Sophia was just born. Hahah.

Before we get our medical bills in the mail, we always get an "explanation of benefits." This basically explains what was covered and how much we are going to owe. Well, ONE of the EOB's we just got said that the total was >$151,000. Yes you are reading that correctly. It was for over $151,000. What portion do we owe of that you ask? Well, we owe approximately $350. And yes, you're also reading that correctly. Thank goodness for Sam's good insurance coverage. PHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW. We get the EOB's almost nonstop in the mail. Keep in mind that this was just ONE of the many. I thought it was interesting, so I decided to share that little tidbit with you.

I know I posted a picture of our leaking bathroom ceiling last blog, but I can't remember if I ever told the story that goes with it. On February 22nd, I got up at like 6am to feed Sophia. I went to the bathroom, and sleepily sat down. And bam! What the heck! Water was leaking out of our ceiling all over me. Turns out that our neighbors upstairs had water leaking down the wall by their bathtub. So we called our landlord. Our ceiling didn't get repaired until this past Thursday. Talk about speedy huh. I was thoroughly ticked off. The ceiling looks great now. Too bad they couldn't fix our bedroom and living room ceilings too! Our landlord is too much of a cheap a$$ to do that though.

More new news: Yesterday Sophia held her own bottle to eat for the first time :( She's growing up so fast. Hopefully it was just a fluke and she'll wait a little longer to hold her own bottle. Also, Sophia went like a day and a half without pooping and she was VERY uncomfortable. Poor little girl. So I called the pediatrician's office and they said to put 1/2 oz in her milk when I fed her. About an hour later, the apple juice worked....a little too well. She managed to poop all down her leg and it was the most awful smelling diaper I've ever changed. Sooooo, she got a bath and was one happy camper! :)

Ready to leave for Sam's academy class graduation party

At the partay

Chaney, Trinity, me, and Sam

Sam's first morning on the streets!

It snowed! It snowed for Sam's first day of work :)

Daddy time

So darn cute

There are no pictures of us together unless I take them myself :(

Suh-wheat shades!!!!

Like mother, like daughter

Grandma and Sophia

Auntie Kanani and Grandma with Sophia

What a ham. Check out the chin pimple.

Holding her own bottle!

Some tummy time

Well it's been like one month since I've updated my blog. I really stink. Sorry! So much has gone on in the past month that I know I'm going to forget to mention something really important.
Sam graduated from the police academy on February 26th. I was soooo proud of him. Sophia slept through almost the entire ceremony. I was proud of her too lol. She was sleeping in her car seat and everytime people clapped it would scare her. She'd throw her arms up in the air and like shake, then go back to sleep. It was hilarious, I admit I laughed at her....everytime she did it. I should have filmed her. So anyway, Sam started work the following Monday (March 2nd). It snowed that day of course! It didn't snow a lot, but it's exciting when we finally get some because it's been so long since I've been around snow. His first day went well - he was on the 6am - 2pm shift. He didn't get home til about 4:30 though. He really likes his FTI (field training instructor) that he has to ride along with for 12 weeks. Sam's schedule is 5 days on, 2 days off, 5 days on, 3 days off - repeat. He works 6-2 for 2 weeks, then 2-10pm for 2 weeks. Thank goodness he won't have to work the overnight shift during his FTI time. I'm sure he'll have to work it after he's done riding with his FTI. Sam's academy class had a party on February 27th. It was a buffet dinner at a country club in Portsmouth. It was fun to get dressed up and go out with Sam again. I still haven't uploaded the pictures to my computer yet, so I'll post those in the next blog....if I can remember. Otherwise, you'll have to keep an eye out for them on facebook or myspace.

On February 27th, Sophia went to the pediatrician for another weight check up. She was 22" long and 9lbs 1.5oz! Woo hoo. About a week later, the pediatrician's office called to say that they called our insurance to see if they would cover the shot for RSV (a bad respiratory infection that affects premature babies more frequently than term babies). The shot costs between $1600 and $2000! Our insurance covered the synagis shot, so she went in and had that shot on Monday March 9th. She screamed her poor little head off. It was Sam's first time being able to go to the pediatrician with us, so that was exciting. They also weighed her and measured her length. Sophia is 23" and 9lbs 10oz!!!! That's as much as I weighed when I was born! Hahaha. So anyway, she's probably close to 10lbs now. We go back to the pediatrician on April 2nd for her 4 month shots and another weight check up. She's wearing size 1 diapers now. I went and looked at all her old pictures and at how HUGE the PREEMIE diapers were on her. I guess we had gotten so used to how little she was, that we didn't really realize how tiny she was. What a little sweetheart.
Sophia has been changing soooo much! Tonight, she tried to roll over when she was laying on the couch! She made it all the way onto her side. She's been doing much better on her tummy too - holding her head up and being able to look around. She's extremely smiley. She loves to smile back at you and she is starting to scrunch her nose up. It's adorable! She has also started this thing where she makes like a gurgling sound and if you do it back to her, she smiles, does it again, then you do it again, and she thinks it's just hilarious. She smiles and laughs and starts to talk to you. She loves to put her feet on you when she's laying down on the changing table or on the couch next to you - especially when she's barefoot. She tries to watch the tv anytime that it's on and she can see it. I keep telling her that tv is not for little girls! Some more new developments: drooling, blowing spit bubbles, sucking on her bib, putting her hands in her mouth, and putting her hands together. She has been sleeping between 4 and 5 hours for the first stretch of the night, and then she's up eating every 2 hours. She doesn't usually do much napping during the day, but today she napped for about 6 hours total! She must be going through another growth spurt. She will be 4 months old in just under a week!
Sam and I are still househunting, without much luck. We're having a tough time finding a big enough house in the area we want to live. We really want an older house with character - big moldings, hardwood floors, possible a fireplace. We want at least 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths with about 1500 sq feet or more. We want to make sure there's enough room for us to grow because we need to stay in the house long enough for the house market to turn around and also to make the assistance from NRHA pay off.
More big news: I'm coming home!!!!!! Yay! Sophia and I will be riding back to WI with Kristin, Tyler, and Connor. We are leaving April 9th, and should get there on Friday afternoon. We will either be leaving the following Thurs or Friday to drive back to VA. Sam will be flying to WI early Easter Sunday and flying back out Tuesday night. I'm glad his days off fell on Sunday through Tuesday. How lucky for us! We can't wait to see you all!!!