the beginning...

so, our story of how sam came into this world is a little wild so i decided to share it... it's going to be a 2 or 3 part series because it'll take a little while... and to keep all my many readers (hah) in suspense.

as i posted previously, we moved on september 11.
wednesday, september 15 i came home from working on the cape. i came home to boxes upon boxes. our apartment was chaos. i remember thinking, ugh, i just want to be organized before this child arrives and causes MORE chaos...

From top left: living room; kitchen; kitchen; Bedroom 1; Bedroom 1; Bedroom 1; Bedroom 2; Bedroom 2; Living Room; Center: view from living room into kitchen w/a VERY preggo Sara

i pulled his carseat out of the box to make sure all the parts were there and everything looked good and showed it to caleb. i joked about how our apartment is going to have many baby things. caleb refers to this as my "nesting phase", pulling the carseat out of the box. i wanted to wring his neck when he makes comments like this. he laughs and does it on purpose because i get annoyed. lol. i strongly dislike HATE when people make comments to me about "nesting". i am not a bird... just because i moved into a new apartment and want things organized does not mean i'm nesting. that is just human sara to want things organized and a place for everything...

wednesday, september 15, 2010
anyway, i crawl into bed that night thinking about:

• all the tasks yet to complete for work BEFORE baby alpine is born
• comcast is incompetent because it has been almost a WEEK since i requested a transfer from ipswich to hamilton and they still haven't completed the transfer
• all the boxes to unpack and organize - preferably before alpine is born

thursday, september 16, 2010
i didn't sleep well and chalked it up to pregnancy insomnia. i couldn't sleep past 5am. i decided to make use of my bathtub and soak in it before work. i roll out of bed, a difficult task at this stage of pregnancy, pad down the hall to the bathroom and fill the tub with water and bath salts. i slide into the tub to relax. heaven. well, almost. for a moment i forget i'm pregnant. caleb knocks on the door and asks if everything's alright... of course it is, i'm just relaxing in the tub. he tells me it's almost 8 o'clock. shoot. i have to go to work.

i drag myself out of the tub and get ready for work. i set up my computer and organize my desk in my home office. i contact comcast to ensure they are coming today to set up my work phone and internet. they are set to arrive at 12 noon. a friend of mine lets me borrow her wireless internet connection until comcast arrives so i can work. my brother peter calls from sweden (on skype) so i skype with him for a few minutes so he can see my belly (he's been traveling since june and won't be home until the end of december). his comment "wow. you are for sure pregnant." i hang up with him; get caught up on emails and continue working through my "to do" list. around 11:30 comcast calls to say they'll be their shortly and it will take 3 hours to set up. i tell them i have an appointment at 1:20pm and will have to leave by 1pm. they say it's better to reschedule and they will come over at 3pm. i relent still upset over the whole comcast process.

37 weeks - picture taken 3 days earlier

i have lunch and head to my appointment with the midwife. i ask her if she wants to check me to see if i'm dilated or effaced. she says she won't put me through that and we will wait until next week's appointment. we listen to baby alpine's heartbeat and i proceed to ask her many questions about labor & delivery, the hospital, etc. she said since it's my first baby i'll probably go late... but she answers my questions.

37 weeks pregnant

i leave the ob/gyn office and run a quick errand to target and go home to meet the comcast guys. i get back to the apartment and comcast shows up shortly thereafter. i have to rearrange a few cords and computer stuff under the desk - quite the task for a pregnant woman... as i'm crouched under my desk i feel a strange feelling... i stand up and it feels like i wet my pants! now i'm 37 weeks 3 days pregnant and didn't think i would be going into labor anytime soon...

Happy 30th Anniversary

Mom & Dad

30 years

what a milestone



Dad & Sam w/the ducks; John Hancock Tower; Mormor, Mom, Sara & Sam; Dad & Sam in Boston Common; Mom, Dad & Sam; Mom & Sam; a view of Boston; Mom & Dad

 THIRTY years ago today my parents were newly-weds.

 they have been such an inspiration and role model to me - both as a child and now as an adult.

let me share a little bit about my parents and how they met. please note: this is the cliff notes version. :)

my dad spent his junior year of college in sweden as an exchange student. he met my mom in one of his classes. they became friends (my mom had recently returned from studying in the states and wanted to keep up her english, so she befriended the american lad). they spent a lot of time together at school, hanging out, playing sports, and enjoying sweden. my mom invited him home to her family and he was able to experience the swedish culture even more. they backpacked europe together and then worked for one summer in sweden. my dad came back to the states and realized he met the woman of his dreams. he decided to go to sweden over christmas break of his senior year and ask my mom to marry him. when over there, he did propose and my mom said yes. they decided to get married the following year. my dad came back to the states and graduated college, my mom came to the states in july and they were married in october. there's much more to the story, but we don't have time today...

it's hard work to get everyone happy and looking at the camera

sam's at least not crying here...

a few memories...

growing up my parents would exercise by running together in the mornings and then we would take family walks around the neighborhood in the evenings.

sunday was family day - we would go to church, come home, have a big family dinner and hang out together: go for a walk, go to the beach, go biking or swimming, watch football, play games, relax, watch movies, basically spend time together. growing up, i didn't think it was anything special, but as i got older, i began to appreciate our sunday family day.

my parents made sure we ate together every night at 6pm. of course sports, school activities, work and other events interferred occasionally, but we could always count on dinner at 6pm. we would let mom know in advance if we weren't going to be home for dinner. "mom, i won't be home for dinner, but can you save me some?" was a request in response to missing dinner. friends would joke about eating dinner at the macdonald's house - apparently it was something akin to a comedy act, maybe it still is...

these days, family dinner is farther and fewer between, i'm married living away from home, one brother is out and about doing his thing, the next brother is gallavanting around the world and the youngest is in college in florida... needless to say, looking forward to christmas when EVERYONE will be together (my world travelling brother comes in a few days before christmas)

i have digressed from the original topic...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my wonderful fabulous kind loving caring parents!!!!

you worked hard to take care of us kids AND keep your marriage in tact. there is something to be said about spending 30 years with the same person. thank you for being you, for being great role models, for supporting us, for loving jesus, for providing us with memories for many many years. i love you both and can only pray caleb and i will be able to have a similar partnership in marriage as you have.

sam hanging w/Grandpa and the baby duck

sam enjoying a sunday in boston

a crowd was gathering to see the little baby on the baby duck :)

yesterday we celebrated my parents anniversary at Toscano in Boston. it came highly recommended and we weren't disappointed. my mom and dad, mormor, grandmother, uncle tim, caleb, sam and i were all there. my dad had a great time showing sam around boston. (earlier in the week, sam spent time w/my mom and mormor - more on that later - so sam spent most of the day in my dad's arms)

mom and sam

she loves her grandson

dad and his grandson sam

"i can't wait" -sam giguere

so we moved AND had a baby in the same week!!

i have not had time to breath blog until now...

there's so much to catch up on...

we moved into a bigger apartment on september 11 - we had friends and family help us move which was incredible. i took monday off from work to start to unpack our apartment and then headed to the cape tuesday and wednesday for work. wednesday i came back to the north shore... and decided to open the box which had our carseat in it (it had arrived in the mail a few days earlier, but i didn't unpack it until AFTER we moved).

little precious sam was born the next day.

first family photo minutes after little sam was born

mommy and sam

proud daddy sharing the news that's he a dad

Samuel Henry Giguere was born two and a half weeks early on Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 8:03pm - so we have ourselves a summer baby instead of a fall baby...

He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 18.5 inches long. We actually didn't name him until Monday, September 20, 2010.

moving...

so, i've been MIA this week...

we're in the process of moving - oh so exciting

can i tell you, it's hard to move while 36.5 weeks pregnant...

i'm due in 3.5 weeks. i feel mostly helpless because i can't lift anything heavy. it's a chore for me to pack.

luckily there is light at the end of the tunnel.

tomorrow we move into a bigger place.

our apartment is almost all boxed up, caleb's finishing up some boxes now, i'm too tired to box up stuff...

i'll tackle more in the morning, when i can't sleep, since i have pregnancy insomnia around 5am most mornings.

my parents, caleb's parents, his sister and friends will help us move.

hopefully it'll all go smoothly & we'll be done by dinnertime :)

good news is we're only moving 10 minutes down the road!

and nick's roast beef is on the menu for lunch.

so, we'll see when i get to posting again since i know i'll be busy UNPACKING all the boxes i packed this week...

with that i leave you with this image...

hopefully we don't look like this tomorrow

image compliments of Google images.

hope you got a good chuckle.

i know i did.

school is here...

i don't have kids yet... but i've been thinking about kids starting school again...

lunchboxes, back to school clothes shopping, school buses, homework, sports, hanging out w/friends after school...

so much excitement with going back to school.

i like this idea: Schultuete School Cones

{image}

 

 

it's a German tradition and i would love to do this when my kids reach school age - even though i have no German in me... although my husband might be part German

note: i take NO credit for this... i stumbled across the above link

sara's kitchen faves - numero cinco

it's summer time...

and with summer comes...

ICE-CREAM!!

so, my one of my kitchen faves and staples is:

{image}

the ice-cream scoop

this is no ordinary scoop, it's a ZEROLL scoop, you know, the kind used by professional ice-cream scoopers.

go ahead, next time you order ice-cream at a little ice-cream shop, check to see what they're using.

i GUARANTEE you will see they have the same scoop.

it rocks. well, actually it scoops and it's easy to use.
i love it. i use it. a lot.
we don't have to go into detail how often i exercise my zeroll scoop.
especially now that it's summer i'm pregnant.
for those of you who know me, i LOVVVVVEEEEEE ice-cream.
for those of you who don't know me, now you know, i LOOOOVVVVVEEEEE ice-cream.
kinda like a fat kid loves cake.
but maybe a little more.

so a professional ice-cream scoop was is a necessity for me.

and maybe one of these days, i'll get invest one of these:

{image}

it's a gelato paddle, for those italian gelato lovers (i'm part of the club)...

and i'm sure it'll come in handy scooping ice-cream too...

but i already have an ice-cream scoop, so i can use this for gelato, when i'm in italy, or dreaming of italy.

one summer, i travelled to italy with some girlfriends

and we consumed gelato on a daily basis

and sometimes more than once

yum!

the end.

{Boston Sunset: Sara}

{Boston by Sunset: Sara}

 Posted the above images because I like them.

I came across the following as a recipe for a long life...

I take NO credit for it, but I can't recall where I found it.

 Health:
    1.       Drink plenty of water.
    2.       Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner
               like a beggar.
    3.       Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less
              food that is manufactured in plants.
    4.       Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
    5.       Make time to pray.
    6.       Play more games.
    7.       Read more books than you did the year before.
    8.       Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
    9.       Sleep for 7 hours.
    10.    Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk,
             smile.

 Personality:
    11.    Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what
              their journey is all about.
    12.    Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control.
             Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
    13.    Don't overdo. Keep your limits.
    14.    Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
    15.    Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
    16.    Dream more while you are awake.
    17.    Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
    18.    Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with
             His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
    19.    Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate
             others.
    20.    Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
    21.    No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
    22.    Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.
              Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away
              like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
    23.    Smile and laugh more.
    24.    You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:
    25.    Call your family often.
    26.    Each day give something good to others.
    27.    Forgive everyone for everything.
    28.    Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of  6
    29.    Try to make at least three people smile each day.
    30.    What other people think of you is none of your business.
    31.    Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your
              friends will. Stay in touch.

  Life:
    32.    Do the right thing!
    33.    Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
    34.    GOD heals everything.
    35.    However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
    36.    No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
    37.    The best is yet to come.
    38.    When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
    39.    Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Hope this post was some positive encouragement for you today :)