Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a lovely thanksgiving. Grandma and Pappy, Granny and Grandpa, Aunt Jenny with Klondike, and us celebrated at our house. Dinner went off pretty well, although I'm not convinced the Turkey was done, it was delicious. And the pies were yummy and then the turkey sandwich was yummy yummy yummy! Once Sammi went to bed we played cards for a few hours. Grandpa and Granny taught us how to play Cheeseball.

On Friday morning Aunt Jen, Daddy, and I got up at 4:30 in the morning to go to Walmart, yes we were one of those people. It was actually kind of fun. We got a real cheap TV with a DVD player. The crowds were insane and parking was a challenge!

On Saturday we took Samantha to see Santa. There was no line and Samantha did really well. She clinged to me as I took her to Santa but once she got there she just sat on his lap. She didn't cry at all but she did look concerned! Santa wasn't in the best mood. He didn't really talk to her and he didn't smile for the picture. I'll be sure to leave him a note on Christmas Eve that he has to smile next year!

Having the dog at our house was fun but of course there were a couple of minor incidents. Klondike got ahold of Rosie once, but it was Daddy's fault for letting them get close to each other. Rosie spent the rest of the weekend limping around and hiding under the bed. Then yesterday Klondike nipped Sammi a little bit. She was fine but it scared her a lot.

Once everyone left on Sunday we decided to go ahead and put up our Christmas tree. Of course it is only decorated on the top half...between our little curious girl and our curious kitties....we thought it was best. It looks so different than it did in our apartments, it just looks so cozy in our new home.

Giving Thanks

This has been such a rollercoaster of a year for our family. From the thrills and amazement of Samantha's growing and development to the loss of her Uncle Stevie. While sometimes I wonder how the world works, how God could take Steve while he was so young, why my sister has to go through such a difficult time, why there is crime, and hatred...I know I'm grateful for what I do have. I have a beautiful little girl, an amazing husband, an awesome family, a good job, a new home, two kitties, lots of friends, etc. I understand that God works in mysterious ways and I hope one day to understand why the world isn't perfect. In the meantime I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and wish you health and happiness in the years to come.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

SAM's First Wedding

Samantha attended her first wedding on Saturday. Samantha's Aunt Kelli and Uncle Matt made it official tying the knot in grande fashion. The festivities for us kicked off on Thursday night when we arrived at Grandma and Pappy's house up in Hershey and continued on Friday when Mommy got her nails done, we all went out to lunch with Aunt Kelli and finally, the rehersal. Samantha was a little angel, she was so good! Friday night she spent time with her Aunt Jenny S. and family while we rehearsed and then she had lots of fun coloring and visiting at the rehersal dinner. Then she went to the hotel with Daddy and had a great night sleep. On Saturday she got all dressed up and took pictures with everyone. She looked so beautiful and her daddy was so handsome.

Granny, Grandpa and Aunt Jenny took with her during the ceremony. As I walked down the isle the view of my little girl brought a tear to my eye. She was so good, just looking around at everyone in the back of the church. I heard her talking as I walked by. Only once during the ceremony did I even hear a peep. Then during the reception little Sammi partied hard! She danced a lot and finally crashed with about 15 minutes left at the end of the night. She had a blast!!

Congratulations to Aunt Kelli and Uncle Matt. Wishing you many years of happiness and love. And here's to a lot of little cousins!

My Perfect Child

This may come off a little selfish, and well, it is. I've decided that I have the perfect child. Now, I've always known she was awesome since she is cute, smart, fun, happy, sleeps well, eats well etc. But that's not what made me decalre her perfectness. Last night, my beautiful daughter started scratching my back. I absolutely LOVE having my back scratched. That's the point when I realized exactly how perfect she is, perfect for me anyway! She's a keeper.

SAM's First Haircut

Samantha's first haircut went surprisingly well! Of course her mommy was worried from the beginning! I thought she would fall out of the chair before we even started. But I was proven wrong! Sammi cried a little when the Miss Jeanine came started to wet down her hair and when started cutting. She just seemed a little frightened. Then she just had a tear in her eye and played with her toy and watched Shrek 2. She reached up for me to pick her up a couple of times, but she didn't even cry when I told her I couldn't pick her up yet. Her hair is really short and she looks so different now. Instead of it looking like a mess, it actually has some style to it!

We went to Cartoon Cuts in Lakeforest mall. They did great. Miss Jeanine was very quick and good with Samantha. I definately would recommend them. We even got a certificate for her first haircut and a little lock of her hair to keep. Definatley something for her baby book! Then Miss Jeanine even put a pretty little flower barrette in Samantha's hair, it was super cute!

She is such a pretty little girl with her nice new haircut! Now Samantha is all set for Aunt Kelli's wedding. She has a new dress, new shoes, a new barrette, and a new haircut! She can't wait to be all girled-up on Saturday!

What Child Doesn't Like Chocolate Milk?

That would be my child. I can't believe it but my girl doesn't like chocolate milk. I thought I'd give her a treat and put some chocolate syrup in her milk...she hated it! She shook her head back and forth just like she did when we first gave her milk. Oh well, its not the worst thing if she doesn't like it!

We had a great weekend! We took Samantha shopping at the Hagerstown outlets on Saturday. The weather was great which made it a lot of fun. Samantha got the giggles when the wind started blowing through her hair! It was so cute that strangers even remarked how cute she was. Samantha even got some ideas to tell Santa about for Christmas.

Samantha then threw her first public temper tantrum yesterday! Fortunately, it was just outside our house, but still, it was very public. I put her down on the sidewalk so she could walk towards the car, but apparantly she didn't want to hold my hand. She kept trying to release me, finally she was fighting me too much that I picked her up to walk the rest of the way. Well that set her off. She arched her back and started screaming. Then the tears came. And the cry with no sounds. I felt awful, but just held on tight as she threw her whole body back and forth in my arms. My little Miss Independent!

Samantha has five teeth now, I think the new one is really bugging her. She slept 12 hours straight last night. We didn't hear her at all (of course, it could have been that as we discovered this morning...we didn't have the volume up on her monitor...).

We have a busy week ahead of us! Samantha is getting her first big girl haircut today, we are going to dinner at friends' house tomorrow, Thursday we are off to Pennslyvania, Friday is Aunt Kelli's Rehersal, and Saturday is the big Wedding!

Where does the time go?

We've been so busy lately both at home and at work that I haven't had a chance to write! The last few weeks have been a lot of fun for us. We've spent the last four weekends with Samantha's Aunt Jen. Its been lots of fun, especially this last weekend when we celebrated Jen's birthday. We went shopping at the mall and saw Santa Claus (he was parading around) and we spent lots of time playing outside! Then, Granny and Grandpa got back from their cruise and told us all about it. Samantha responded with her monkey sounds, she puts her hands up to her armpits and goes "eee, eee, eee" and pretends she's a monkey. It was a little something her Granny taught her. She also likes to walk around with anyone's purse (see the picture to the left) and she says "Biye, Biye." She knows that putting a purse around her arm or putting a coat on is the time to say goodbye. It is super adorable!

Samantha went to her first Bachlorette Party last weekend. Well, don't worry too much, she just went to the Luncheon. It was for her Aunt Kelli who is getting married next Saturday! Sammi is very excited about going to the Wedding, that's why we went shopping last weekend. We got her a very pretty dress! After the luncheon, Samantha spent some quality time with her Grandma. They played a lot!

Samantha had so much fun on halloween. She was a clown! She looked absolutely adorable and had a blast at her daycare party (see the picture to the right). We didn't take her out trick or treating and we didn't get any trick or treaters at our condo...probaby because we live in a construction zone.

Samantha is doing so many adorable things these days. She still not talking in sentences, but rather babbling in complete, somehow understandable, "sentences." She babbles all the time, and she's loud too! I picked her up from day care yesterday and her and her best friend were babbling to eachother at the top of their lungs. With 10 kids there I'm sure that's the only way they can be heard!

Rosie, our beloved rotten cat, was walking around Sammi a couple of weeks ago, so I started singing "Ring around the Rosie" to Samantha for the first time. Well, darnit if the kiddo didn't start walking around in circles. Clearly, she's practiced this before! I do love her day care! I told her best friend's mommy and she went home and sang it to Lauren, and darnnit if Lauren didn't do the same thing!

Samantha's favorite game has been hide and seek. She loves it when we hide and she comes running to get us. That game has been fun for several months now, but a new one she loves is for her to hide! Her Daddy was playing this with her the other night. Apparantly Daddy can't hide very well and Samantha hides super well. Daddy couldn't find her anywhere. She wasn't in Mommy's shoe, or under the chair, or under the sofa pillows. Eventually she made her presence known by laughing just a little too hard. Its awfully cute too when she hides beside the recliner and her little head peeks up above the recliner. She gets such a kick out of it.

Samantha has four teeth now. These two new ones on the top look like they hurt! But she's a trooper. She's also all set for flu season. She had to get two flu shots this year, but she handled them well. Of course we saw the sad lip and tons of tears, but that only lasted for about a minute! We're all still settling into the new condo. There's still so much to do! But we need to get it cleaned up in time for Turkey Day!

Samantha wants to give a shout out to Aunt Jen to wish her a happy birthday! She wanted me to post this picture (to the right) of her in Klondike's bed for Aunt Jen. She thought Aunt Jen would smile because she knows how well Samantha and Klondike get along now. I'm sure Klondike misses Samantha's gentle pets (or some may call slaps) and Aunt Jillie's walks.