Hello Blog...its us...we're back

Well...I thought about saying, "with the new year upon us, we are back to updating our blog more regularly", but honestly, it's over a month in to the new year and we still have not updated the blog...until now.

First off...Kristi and I wanted to apologize to everyone who follows us as we know how much everyone loves to keep track of everything that Samantha is doing. Honestly, we have been selfish in that we have dedicated all of our free time to playing with Samantha versus sharing our experiences with all of you.

Today, I'm not going to spend too much time highlighting everything that has been going on, but instead will remind everyone of the link to our picasa site where you can see all of the pictures we have taken over the past few months. Click here to see our pictures. There are a lot of great pictures and great videos.

For the record, today, Samantha took her first steps all by herself.
More to come, we promise to stay on top of the blogs in the future. Be sure to check out the picutres.

Nick, Kristi & Samantha

Link to pictures from our beach trip

Here is the link to some pictures that we posted from our beach trip. Back to the grind...all work, no more play. Can't wait until next year...i'm already counting down the days!

Click here for Florida Picutres

Wow... so much to report....

Hello everyone. I can't believe over a month has gone by and i haven't had a second to report on life in the Estes household. I guess it's been a little crazier that i realized, although most people can relate to how busy life gets and there's really no way around it. We are actually at the beach this week, and tonight is our last night.... i'm so sad to have to return to reality. it's been a great week, although chilly here in Santa Rosa Beach Fl (next to Destin). We had this trip planned for Labor Day week, although our plans were sadly changed. The nice people who we rented from gave us a credit to use for another week. We were so happy to be able to get a break. Even though it was a little chilly here in Fl, it has kind of forced us to relax and do nothing.

My mom and Mrs. Levins were here with us on this trip. It was a mixture of some sun and some rain, some shopping, and lots of eating! Raw oysters! yum. Samantha was not the fondest of the sand at first but don't you worry...she'll be a rockstar by next summer. She only was able to spend probably 3 short hours on the beach!

We had a great fall and an awesome first Halloween. Our little strawberry trick or treated in Seaside (well, us adults got our candy fix!) She looked so cute and the weather was awesome.

To report all that is new....
Samantha is crawling all over the place. She's starting to pull to stand and loves to walk with a little help! She eats anything and everything. Some of her favorites are avocado, cheese, prunes, nutri-grain bars, puffs (thank god for puffs!).... today she ate mushrooms, tomatoes, and roasted red peppers... she ate fish on our beach trip... there's really nothing she doesn't like.

only challenge i've been stressing about is that she won't drink formula. if anyone can help me in this area, let me know. it's been worrysome for me. She pushes it away and refuses. Stinker.

She talks up a storm although no real words yet. We think she says "Bailey" as Bailey and her are best friends right now, esp since she likes to feed Bailey her food from the high chair.

Nick and I are doing well. Our new babysitter is awesome so that has been a relief. i've been working a bunch but honestly, i love what i do, so it's not really work for me. nick has been travelling on and off, but not too bad thankfully.

Here are some recent pics. I know there's so much more to report, although i have to go pack and get ready to head back to Atl tomorrow. Oh sadness...

Until next time....
Kristi

Almost 9 months...

Wow! It's is amazing how fast time flies! Samantha will be 9 months old on the 31st and she's just growing so big and doing so many new things each day. She continues to be a very sweet girl, and her personality is really starting to show through. She's definitely like me, wants what she wants, gets mad when she doesn't get her way, and loves to be around people and talking. She is so funny, dancing to music, waving, and babbling all the time. She rolls all around and definitely gets what she wants. In this past week, she has started to combat crawl and loves kicking the ball all over the place. She moves her feet like a pinball flipper! It's so funny.

A house divided... Sam's on my side!

Dave and Gwen with Sammers

I'm taking this from some of my friend's blogs, but here are some Samantha facts:

loves Puffs and finger feeds herself.

loves water and drinks through a straw!

Loves music and dancing - thinks my singing is great! (glad someone does!)

Weighs about 20 lbs.

Loves being in her stroller

Loves looking at herself in mirrors or any reflective surface! She's so vain.

Loves almost all food - still on pureed food since she has no teeth. HATES yogurt. I keep trying, but she gags and shakes. it's funny too.

Started with a new babysitter today - Sarah. Excited to have her here after several babysitting fiascos.

Loves the computer and pressing buttons. She tends to hang up on people when we try to Skype.

Has been on 12 plane rides! ashame she's a lap sitter or she'd be medallion status.

Loves getting her picture taken and smiles at the camera

That's about it for now. We'll try to be better at posting more often. Life gets the best of us!

Nana with Samantha

Thanks dad!

What a long week. We're finally home in GA and trying to regain some sort of normalcy. This whole experience has been crazy, trying, sad, and just shocking. It was amazing to all of us how many people came to celebrate his life. Thank you all so much for all the love and support. It kept us going through all of the hard times this week.

I didn't get up and say anything at the memorial service because I knew I wouldn't be able to get through it. So here's what i would have said had my emotions held out at the service.

Since my dad's no longer here to pass along all of his insight, I wanted to share with you some things he taught me so you can, too, feel enlightened and a little bit smarter. I can't say I followed all his tips, but they always made sense.

• Always wear comfortable shoes and have several pairs to air them out between wears.
• In hockey, when one team goes on a power play and the other skates short-handed, there is not really a man with short hands. (yes, I was young and naive)
  
• Ice cream tastes better eaten from the carton with a fork.
• Never take a bath or shower in a lightening storm. You could get struck!
• Never turn your wheel while waiting to make a turn - keep your wheel straight so if someone rear-ends you, you won't go flying into traffic.
• Always label a pair of socks with the same letter or number so when you do your laundry you can easily match up socks and can throw out an old pair together.
• Wings should be eaten with only one hand so there's always a clean hand for your beer.
• A favorite quote of his "those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind"
• Peanut M&Ms should be a staple food.
• Hot water unclogs any clogged toilet.
• Peanut butter paired with many foods, makes them better (dates, Oreos, brownies)
• Hand held poker is the best game to play in the tree stand while hunting.
• In Suduko, always go across first, then down, then back across. You'll win every time.
• Always stop by the bathroom before you choose a machine at the casino so you don't have to leave a "hot" machine.
  

If only there was more time to learn more wisdom and insight. I will put that into my mom's hands now. Dad, I love you, will never forget you, and will keep you always in my heart.

Kristi

Donations

Thanks to everyone who has asked....
if you would like to do something in lieu of flowers, my father always supported the cause
Doctors Without Borders
www.doctorswithoutborders.org

By phone:
Call our toll-free number at 1-888-392-0392 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-392-0392 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
24 hours a day, 7 days a week

By mail:
Doctors Without Borders USA
PO Box 5030
Hagerstown, MD 21741

We appreciate all of your thoughts.

Kristi

An amazing man, never to be forgotten

I think most of you know the news by now, but my dad passed away this morning around 1am. It has been a crazy rollercoaster of ups and downs and finally, after pneumonia attacked his lungs, his body gave up. We knew he didn't want to live like that anymore, he made that perfectly clear. But none of us were ready to say goodbye quite yet. We are having an autopsy done so we'll have some closure and hopefully know what really happened.

it happened very suddenly - nick, me and Samantha were driving to Florida for our yearly vacation (one that my parents treated us and was supposed to be the whole family, and couldn't come). My dad had been stable so we were going to aim for some R & R and take it one day at a time to see how he was doing. We got a call 3 hrs into our trip that he stopped breathing on his own, was on a respirator, and we needed to get home. We drove back to the airport, repacked, handed bailey off to great friends lauren and Kyle and boarded a plane. Samantha must have sensed our tension as she didn't sleep one wink!

upon arrival, we learned that my dad was staying alive, waiting for me to see him. nick and I arrived at his bedside, with him on a respirator and lots of IV fluids to keep him comfortable. I assured him it was okay to let go. All of his organs were failing and he couldn't do it anymore. My mom's friend Lynda sat by his bedside the entire time and he finally let go early in the morning. It was so painful to watch. We know he's in a better place free of doctors, needle sticks, IVs, and poor medical care.

There has been an outpouring of people who have called, emailed, and facebooked. it's unbelievable all the people who care. I knew what an amazing man my father was and see now how much he truly impacted other people. My dad was a genuine man who always put others first, always had a story to share, a smile on his face, and a word of wisdom to share. He'd write things in his black book to remember the little things that would make a person's day. He was an inspiring father and husband to my mom, a great travel companion, and a loving grandpop to his only granddaughter, Samantha. He loved his family more than life.

There's so much more to say, but we are all so sleep deprived that my pillow is calling. We've had vistors all day helping us get through these hard times. We have enough food to keep our bellys full for a few days!

my mom's ok at this moment... she's still in funeral planning mode and i don't think it's quite hit any of us for real.

We're having a memorial service on Thursday -
10-11 visitation
11-12 memorial service
These will be held at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
61 E Route 70
Marlton, NJ 08053-1749

After, we will have a luncheon at Marco's at Indian Spring Country Club at
115 South Elmwood Rd., Marlton, NJ 08053

Thanks for everyone's prayers and well wishes. We know he heard them all and knows how much he will be missed.

We love you dad and will never forget you.

Kristi