1 year!!

12 MONTHS!!

Happy 1 year Family!  This is Sam's actual birthday, Sept. 3rd, the day we got back from our Jackson Hole trip

My baby boy is 1 year old?!! ok, by this point he is 1 year and 1 month.. I am a little late on the 12 month post.  :)  This past month, once again, has been busy!! We have been here, there and everywhere.  All fun things (lots of nuptials & bday celebrations!) but I will honestly be glad to be home for a few weekends.  I have lots of house projects swimming around in my head that I need to tackle.  Ok, sam update....Sam is a walking man now!  That bear crawl turned into a walk a couple of weeks before his birthday.  I love being in the kitchen and looking up and seeing him toddling in from the den with a huge smile on his face like he is so proud of himself.  I really love it when that toddle ends up with a dive bomb hug into my legs.  Melt my heart!  I also really LOVE walking in the driveway holding sam's hand while he points at birds, planes, and the early morning moon (calling it a bubble).  Sam really is a sponge right now.  It amazes me when he actually does something that I ask him to  (i.e. take kate's dirty dog toy to her, turn the tv on, and back on, etc.), point to pictures in books, and show me where his head, toes, tummy are (these do get mixed up at times.) He still does not really say mama.. he says dada, ball, dog, BUBBLE (his favorite), and boat, but noooo mama.. I thought he was saying mama until the other day I realized that mum mum is actually food.  Oh well.. i made fun of lewis when he would point at himself saying "da-da, da-da" but i have found myself pulling the mom version of this lately.  Sam LOVES being outside.  We live in our backyard!  It is so nice to have a yard!  I really don't know what we would do if we still live at Park ave. (in regards to no backyard, LOTS of stairs, etc.)  We make a lot of laps around the "baby block" (my neighbor called it the other day) in this push car that his nannie and poppie gave him.  He is laid back kickin and enjoying the ride while mum mum is motoring through the low cut weeds/centipede grass combo.  Sam is getting better at eating real food and he is definitely more accepting of new flavors, but he still loves feeding kate and throwing food!! He also loves laughing at me when I as sternly as I can say, "NO!"  Any advice here?  I don't think we are quite ready for time out but I am pretty sure it is coming in regards to this throwing food business.  Oh, and I must include this VErY important change in our weekly lives.. Sam has just started going to a babysitter 2 days a week while I work.  This is a pretty perfect situation because I really really like Lindsay and they live very close to us.  She has a 4 year old little girl who is so sweet.  It has been a very hard and wonderful transition at the same time.  This step has been looming for a while and I thank the good Lord for guiding us to this decision and situation.  Marsie will be SOOO missed but now marsie can come play with me and sam on a weekly basis.  There are so many things that I am loving at this age that I want to write but I would be here all night.  This is exactly why I have to get better at the impromptu blog post!

This has by far been the best and most challenging year of my life.  I have grown and changed so much in a year and our family has grown and changed so much as well.  We have had lots of wonderful changes and I want to say that the one thing that has remained the same is my deep love for my sweet baby boy and Lewis.  But this isn't true because I love you both more and more every single day!

Family photo booth pic day after the big bash!

I will make a mess but I will NOT eat a bite of this cake!  

What in the world is this all about?  

The prize on an AWESOME fly fishing trip in Jackson Hole

pa, ma, and grand TETONs!!

11 months!!

practicing air guitar

Sam's eleventh month has been busy!!  We had some great topsail time with family and we moved! We are slowly getting settled in our new house and we love it!  I really think Sam likes his new "crib"  I was a little worried about the transition but he has done great!  We will miss Park ave and it was definitely a little emotional leaving just being it was the house that we brought him home in nearly a year ago!! I cannot believe it.  But, it was definitely not condusive to a crawler and little boy trying to learn to walk.  Lots of stairs and different levels here and there.  So glad and feel very blessed to have found this house!  Loving it so far.

This month has been such a blur i am having a hard time thinking of all the different things i want to remember about this month.  We did have our first swim lesson.  It was hilarious!  The babies were so cute and the teacher is great.  Honestly, it was quite a work-out for mua.  Baby in dance position and ringing around the rosy in the pool will do a number on weak mom quads.  But sam loves the water and had fun getting his face in the water and dangling on the side of the pool solo (of course with mom nearby).

Sam is working towards walking but it definitely takes some encouragment.  He is not nearly as motivated to walk as he was to crawl.  He can get where is needs to go way faster on all fours.  But we are working on it.  I also think that we may have left baby food in the dust this month.  He really wants to feed himself and hold the spoon himself.  Therefore, baby food = huge mess and not much food in the tank.  I am hoping that he will start eating more real food. OH I cannot believe that I almost forgot to mention that he has 2 pearly whites!!! He finally got some teeth! After 8 months of teething :) he has one top one and the opposite bottom one.  There are 2 more on the way.  He looks so cute with teeth!  We have had such a great month and are looking forward to getting settled in our new place! 

1st boat ride!

A tooth!!

new house!

10 months!!

10 months!

10 MONThS!!!  just 2 shy of 1 year!! oh my gosh.. i cannot believe it!! We have had a great month!!  It has gone by so fast I am having a hard time collecting my thoughts.  Sam is moving and grooving and constantly learning so much!  He is pushing his walk along and anything else that he can push, including the Tonka and his beloved wagon.  He is "talking" more and more and trying so hard to tell us things.  He really likes to point and say, "Da!"  This could mean, dog, dad, sky, leaf, fan, etc. :)  Sam is also starting to "share", especially with Kate. He gets a big kick out of sharing his cheerios and bread.  And so does Kate.  :)  He can hand me something, if I say, "can I have it?"  Of course he immediately wants it back.  I am also holding out hope that Sam will be more of a reader than his mom as he has really started to like flipping through his books and babbling, babbling (reading of course.) Our trip to costco today reminded me of something new happening this month.  Waving "hey" and "bye bye"  Sam met a few friends today immediately stealing their hearts with a floppy wave and the sweetest smile!  And one last thing, my man has been getting his groove on.  I have not yet captured his moves on video (soon to come) but he has been daAAncin!  When the music comes on, the moves come out.  It is hilarious.  Sometimes he will even wave one hand like he just don't care paired with the cutest bounce ever!  Oh, and one more thing.  How could i forget to mention green baby paci.  Sam found these infant/newborn paci's in his diaper basket and is obsessed with them.  There are not many hours of the day that he does not have one in his mouth.  The green baby even trumps cheerios sometimes.  :)

We spent a wonderful few days in Morehead the latter part of July 4th week and had so much fun!  Sam had his first trip to the Aquarium and loved looking at the fish and otters.  Penguins.. not so much...boring.  I have to say that I am not much of an Aquarium/Museum person but seeing the little ones so excited (sam and logan.. my precious neice) made it much more entertaining.  We also did lots of swimming and sam chilled in his pink pool police float.  K-mart was out of more manly baby floats.  We had so much fun spending some good quality time with the fam! 

4th of July in Morehead!

NC Aquarium with Logan!

sweet cousins

stuck on you

A dear friend reminded me that this is definitely blog material...

let me explain.. :)  I got a little carried away playing with Sam and stuck a suction cup toy to my forehead.. in fact I don't even think it was a toy.  I think it was the bottom of a bottle brush.  You moms out there know what I am talking about.  Anyways, I had a nice forehead hickie for about 5 days.  5 days full of laughs and revlon!  :)

Father's Day!

Lewis has really in truly amazed me these past 9 months that he has been a dad.  He has not only amazed me as a dad but also as a husband to a new mom.  I think SOOO much of being a good parent, is being a good spouse.  Lets be honest, parenting is no joke and Lewis has transitioned into being such an awesome dad while also supporting me and helping be the best mom I can be to Sam.  His patience, committment to his family, and overall demeanor amaze me on a daily basis.  I strive to be more like Lewis and I know that Sam is going to be just like him one day.  Sam is totally smitten with his dad and I love nothing more than to see Sam's face truly light up when Lewis gets home from work.  {Mine lights up too :).  Some days, 5:45 takes a while to roll around :)} The dad's in my life truly deserve a day to be celebrated!  Thank ya'll for everything!! Happy Father's Day!

The loves of my life!!

9 months!

whoa! 9 months! really?!!  Sam you are getting so big my man!  Sam is turning more and more into my little boy vs. my little baby boy day by day!  He is crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything!  He wakes up every morning with an agenda!  I am telling you he is ready to go.  He is getting more and more interactive.  We can really play together now.  The other day, he would chase me in one direction and then stop on a dime and turn around as if he had had a enough of that and was ready for me to chase him again.  It was great!  His is really trying to tell me things too.  His "ba ba" and "da da" are turning into more of a loud BA! paired with a hand/finger point.  He wants to be able to say it so bad!  Sam is also starting to eat real food!  Yep, he can have whatever we are having now as long it is small and soft.  Still no teeth!  We have been trying some new things over the past week but his favorite new thing is yogurt.  He is loving that stuff.  Cooked peas and carrots have not made the list of favorites. 

 I am absolutely loving this age.  Some things I don't want to forget:  they way you look at me with a mischievous grin as if you know I am about to tell you "no", the way you still love when I say, "oh my stars and garters!," the way you smile with pure delight when I get you out of your crib in the morning, the way you are starting to give me little hugs here and there, the way you crack up when i get home from work, the way you shake your fist and shake your head with frustration when you want to be able to do something SO bad!, the way you explore, explore, explore, the way you are really starting to play with kate and tickle her when you try to crawl over her, the way you love outside and your new wagon, the way you dart towards the water crawling on all fours when we are at the beach, the way you are fearless when the waves are splashing around you, the way you are starting to hold both hands up in the air and smile when you are in your highchair, the way you smile and laugh with love when your dad gets home from work... really buddy, I love every single last thing about you.  You are perfect and I love being your mom.  I can't remember myself without you.  These last 9 months have been a true true blessing. 

Beach babies!

This past weekend has been a long time coming!  Sam, mom, dad, matt, steph, viv, kate, & I soaked up some topsail time!  We missed lewis (a lot!..Lewis was on a sailing trip around New England area with his dad and some other guys and dads) I have been looking so forward to having all of my family (well most) together in my favorite place in the world.  We had such a great time watching Sam and Viv interact.  There is a BIG difference between how girls and boys play.  Viv is so sweet and just sits and plays so sweetly with her favorite turtle teether.  Meanwhile, Sam is bulldozing through toys to either gently (sometimes a little more rough than gentle) place the palm of his hand on on viv's forehead and/or take whatever toy she had.  We found out that Sam's favorite toy was the one Viv had at the moment.  They both love the sand and water.  Sam enjoyed the fine cuisine of the coast with his main course being sand served with a side of sand.  Topsail provides a lot of opportunity for exporation and these little ones are only skimming the tip of the iceberg of everything they are going to learn down there.  We had so much and can't wait till next time. 

bath time with cuz!

so sweet!  love this picure!

and we were swinging..

can't have enough of these sunset pics

precious!

DADs!

new floater the guys worked so hard on

Mother's Day & Sam's Baptism

My first mother's day was absolutely wonderful! I really don't think I could have spent this very specail day any better.  Sam was baptized which was so special and all of our dear family was here to share this day with us.  Sam did great during his baptism.  He was hilarious and had the congregation cracking up on several occasions.  Evidently he was flashing his sweet smile when our preacher was walking him down the isle and introducing him to his church family.  The elder that introduced sam was our nextdoor neighbor, Tommy King.  He is a special man and we were honored for him to stand up there with us.  When we got back to the house he said, "Sam has a characteristic that will take him far in life, and that is, that he smiles when he looks at you."  That is true.  Sam is a smiling boy and as I always say, we feel so so blessed and fortunate to have a happy, healthy baby boy.  

Now, that I am a mom, I am a big fan of mother's day. :)  Moms work HARD and deserve to be celebrated!  To my mom, thank you for being there for me through everything, teaching me all you know, and being my example for who I want to be to my children.  My first mother's day was perfect.

double mint, double mint, gum!

4 generations!

 

8 months!

been chilling in my blue pool..

good ol baby gut laugh!

What a fun filled month this has been!  Sam is on the move!  That knee bend leg kick rock quickly emerged to full out crawl!  Sam is speeding from room to room and in our multilevel house, this means lots of exploration combined with lots of hands/eyes on sam time.  Baby proofing is in full effect!  Sam loves to motor through a sea of vibrant colored, noise making, stimulating toys only to arrive at a dirty old, slobbery dog bone or a lonely set of fireplace tools.  Only to provide a few examples of those interesting household items that sam finds absolutely fascinating.  I love watching Sam explore his world and watch him problem solve as he learns that he can put things in and dump them out.  Sam is still working on some teeth but no pearly whites yet.  His precious little blonde hair grows every day.  He is getting a little bubble of blonde hair with the cutest little baby boy peak at the base of his neck.  Sam has also starting doing a lot more talking.  He is making lots of new sounds like baa baa, daa daa (almost Da Da lew), mm, mm (almost ma ma).  With swimming lessons on the horizon, Sam is prepping by spending lots of time in his state of the art blue baby pool.  You can't beat the $7.99 plastic baby pool.  We had to bust out the rash guard that I have been waiting patiently to put on him since my baby shower approximately 1 year ago!!  I absolutely cannot believe that it has been about a year since we were painting a nursery, I was picking out fabric for the crib, and we were starting to accumulate baby goods that I was SO excited to use.  Although I imagined a precious baby boy, I never knew how precious & perfect and I never knew the power and depth of a mother's love.  As Sam grows, he steals my growing heart each day.  His laugh, his smile, his bruised knees, his determination, his curiosity, and basically all the little things about him are each and every one, little blessings from God.  I can't thank you enough.

gilligan! the skipper (kate) too!

growing blonde hair!

white dolphin!

my little BOY!

hammin it up!

7 months!!

In my true bloggin style, I am late on my 7 month update!!  Where do I start!  Ok, i think I know.. sam is sleeping through the night!!!! This really is pure joy and a blessing from the good Lord!! I am serious, lots of prayer has gotten us to this point.  We went to Sam's 6 month appointment and the MD (who really never offers any advice other than "crying it out") insisted that nothing was wrong with Sam (no stomach hurting, teething etc.) other than, simply not knowing how to get himself back to sleep.  He expected to be fed, held or rocked. SO, our sleep had gotten SO bad that we had to do it.  Not that we hadn't tried it in the past but this time it was a little more brutal.  Sure enough, after 3 nights of crying, we all slept about 8 hours that 4th night.  And for the past month we have been sleeping!! Praise the Lord!!  So that is the biggest bit of blog worthy news.  As always, Sam is growin, growing.  He is trying so hard to crawl and he gets better at it everyday.  I went to get him out of his crib the other day and he was sitting up looking at me and smiling like crazy.  He was very proud of himself.  We then immediately lowered the crib.  We also celebrated Sam's first Easter this past month and did the Morehead/Topsail shuffle to visit fam.  Sam has his very own swing both places and he loves it!  He has loved a swing since the day he was born!  I know my mom absolutely cannot wait to get Sam and Viv swinging side by side at Topsail.  Which is only a 1 month away!! woohoo!!  Matt, Steph, and Viv will be in the continental US in just a matter of weeks!  I absolutely cannot wait to see my brother, sister-in-law, and sweet neice!! 

So, this has been an awesome month.  My old friend sleep has come back into my life with very welcomed arms!  Sleeping through the night makes a huge difference!!  For all involved.  Even Kate! Maybe, just maybe I will do some more bloggin in this next month.  Since I can't blame my slackness on lack of sleep anymore, I think I will blame pinterest.

Sunrise on Easter Morning!

Family Easter pic

sam loved his Easter basket!

Whats up Peter Cottontail!