I seriously love these monkeys.  And they love each other, too.  That might be the best part. 

Bubba J found a new spot to sit.  He seriously sat there so many times the whole day the wagon was out.  He would bring his snacks and drinks with him, a truck or two, maybe a book, and just chill.  Owen has also learned to say “Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!”  I just think he is the cutest little thing.  I love this age.  I love love love this kid.  I couldn’t bear to edit out any of the pictures. 

We’ve been celebrating all week with parties parades and all sorts of candy treats.  Sam is beyond excited for the “real thing” which is today since we live in Utah and nothing happens on Sunday.  Samuel told me last night when he got out of bed for the 3rd time, “I’m going to go to all the houses in the dark with dad and my pumpkin bucket and fill it all the way to the tippy top!” 

Happy Halloween from Fireman Sam and his trusty Dalmation pal!

We got this Exersaucer from T3 before Samuel was born, and I have just been dying to use it! I guess you aren’t supposed to use them until 6 months, but Samuel has been doing such a good job with holding himself up, that I brought it up out of the room in the basement, and gave it a go!


Even though Sam’s feet didn’t reach the bottom, he still had lots of fun exploring his new toy. He figured out how to twist around, he figured out how to play with the little attachments . . .

And of course he figured out how to get some part of it into his mouth . . .

You thought finding Samuel in the middle of the night with both his legs in one pant leg was funny? Wait until you hear this!! Last night Samuel was quite content playing on his gym mat, Erik was doing stuff on his laptop, and I was reading . . . and ok, so maybe we were ignoring Sam a bit, but he was happy as could be! After a little while, I looked over at Sam to find him like this


Samuel had completely wiggled himself right out of his pajamas!! Erik couldn’t believe it, he thought I must not have snapped Sam up all the way the last time I changed him. So I snapped him up again and went into the kitchen to make a smoothie. Not 5 minutes later I came back to find Samuel working on wiggling himself naked again . . .

We got the video camera out and captured it the second time around! What a WIGGLY LITTLE BUG!!

I was showering the other morning while Samuel played happily in his bouncer chair, and I started thinking about how much I loved that chair because it keeps Sam entertained so I can have a few minutes to do what I need to. Pretty much, that bouncer is my lifesaver. Then I started thinking about all the other baby stuff I just absolutely love and could not do without . . .

bouncer/vibration chair – now it keeps Sam happy for good chunks of time, and when he was a fussy little newborn, often times the only thing that would soothe him would be to burrito him up, and place him in the chair while it vibrated.

swing – another lifesaver! Sam is not big on naps, so after trying 3 or 4 times to get him to fall asleep in his crib, I finally cave in and let him sleep in the swing which is almost a surefire way to get Sam to sleep for at least 20 minutes.

nightlight – I love not needing to turn on the light when Samuel wake’s up during the night.
Little Noses saline drops – Samuel hates them, but they work wonders for clearing up a stuffy little nose, and they always make Samuel feel better.
my wonderfully amazing glider and ottoman – I don’t even want to think about life without it!
cute sweats – Sometimes (OFTEN!) it just isn’t worth getting myself all dressed up, but at least I can feel ok about myself if I have a cute little matching sweats on, especially those first few weeks when you still don’t even feel human and jeans just aren’t even an option.
one piece sleepers – Love the cute little matching outfits, but when it comes to practicallity, there is nothing like a great one piece for Samuel, especially while he is still so young.
my BLOG!! – What would I do without it? It’s great having a way to share Samuel with our friends and family who aren’t as close as we would like them.

and of course, the best baby stuff of all . . . warm snuggles, big smiles, adorable giggles, and lots of silly moments!

The days have been soooo nice and warm recently, and we have been getting more and more excited for summer. Samuel, however, had hardly anything to wear in warmer weather. Yesterday I dropped Erik off at work so I could have the car, and Samuel and I hit the mall! We did some damage, but my justification was that NONE of it was for me. We came home with a good load, and Erik was impressed to say the least. He saw all the clothes and said, “Sam, now you have more clothes than me!” He also made some snide comment about “That’s why I don’t let you have the car, it costs too much.”

I used to think I only wanted boys, but then I decided I needed at least one girl so I could play dress up. Well guess what I found out? Dress up is just as fun with boys!




Ok, so Samuel still has some growing to do before summer. But we just can’t wait!