New Braunfels!!

We spent most of this week in New Braunfels, TX. It's such a fun place and now that my baby is not really a baby anymore we were able to do a lot and have a lot of fun! We rented a house and shared it with Chad's sister and bro-in-law. Chad's parents had driven up there the day before we arrived. The two pictures below were taken in Gruene (green) TX. We spent most our days there playing in the river (although the water was freezing) Sam LOVED it, Carly liked staying close to shore looking for fish and seashells.

All the pictures below were from playing in the river. It was so relaxing and fun! I can't wait to go back!

We also went to the drive through zoo. The kids had so much fun! Sam wasn't so sure about getting close to them but Carly of course loved it!

We had so many funny videos to choose from. I tried to put them in order but I don't think they are. The one of Sam crying was after he got scared by the ostrich and he was telling Chad about it! The one with the Zebra is awesome, we couldn't have planned it any better!

Here are some videos from Carly's birthday. The last one cracks me up! Carly and Adam love each other so much! It is so great now that they actually play nice together! It is so fun to hear the things that they say to each other. ( don't mind the background conversation!)

"I'm not free anymore i'm fo-or!" -Carly

Funny Faces!
Carly and her butterfly cake
(she did want an alligator, eating a balloon, under a rainbow cake. I'm glad she changed her mind to a butterfly)

We had a pinata. The kids always have fun bashing it open!

Here is another little dress I made. Her black shirt had a hole in it so I cut it short and added material for the skirt. I got the idea from here.

Happy Birthday Carly!!

Well, we made it to 4! I can't believe I have a four year old. That seems so old to me! Carly has definitely kept us on our toes and has baffled us many times but we are so glad she is in our family! Here are some fun things we love about her...

*She loves to dance and sing and will perform for ANYONE! Especially if it's over the webcam to my family!

* She loves to tease Sam and make him scream.

*She is playing pretend more.

*She talks NON-STOP. Especially in the car. I don't know where she gets that from.

*She prays for courage almost every night so she won't get scared.

*She gets excited when she has new clothes to wear.

*She has two "best friends" at school. Sophia and Meredith. And her teachers.

*Her two favorite pretend names are "Carlia and Carlay"

*She not afraid of much except the dark and being alone.

*she'll pick up almost any bug except for ants.

*She is terrible to shop with.

*She LOVES pre-school

*Loves her cousin Adam. They are best friends.

*Always asks to go to "Grandma's and Rae Rae's and Brittany's house, but they're to far away" (she asks this almost every day)

*Has a Texas accent.

says "Drank" for Drink

*Loves the color green

*Loves to color

*loves to help feed the pets

*Loves to go on walks.

*Can learn a song after only hearing it a couple times.

*Loves our little 4-wheeler and is great at driving it!

*She loves to go fast and always asks why my car doesn't go fast.

*Still talks about our "old blue house"

*Tells me my car is old and we need a new one.

*Will talk to ANYONE! She strikes up a conversation with people at the grocery store. Sam is watching and learning.

*She is so smart it scares me.

*She loves to collect toys in a bucket and carry it around the house for the day.

*she wants to read so bad!

* She recognizes every letter in the alphabet, can spell her name and almost write every letter in the alphabet.

*She loves a routine.

*She loves to help clean when I let her.

I am so happy that I get to be her mother and I am grateful for all that she is teaching me about myself! We love her!

Couple hours old

couple days old

four or five months old

1st Birthday!

August 2007

April 2008

May 2008

Big Sister!

July 2008

Oct. 2008

February 2009

July 2009

January 2010

April 2010

(Carly and Esther)

Las Vegas!

In no particular order....

The two pictures above are of the hotel. We stayed at The Vdara. It just opened last winter. We weren't really sure what to expect but it turned out to be way nice! The Vdara has no casino so when you walk in you don't have all the people, noise and smoke smell. It was great! The architecture of the new City Center was awesome! I didn't get pictures so I stole these two from the Internet.

These two pictures were at the Bellagio. We ate dinner there the first night and this was a cool flower garden they had. It smelled so great and the flowers were amazing. The giant ants and snail were also pretty cool!

I took this because I thought the canoe sculpture thing was cool. Right after I snapped this picture a limo pulled up with a girl hanging out the winder with puke all down the outside of the limo. It was pretty disgusting and funny at the same time. Gotta love Vegas.

These flowers were made of chocolate!

A chocolate fountain. Pretty cool!

My parents and brother and sis-in-law drove down on Saturday to spend the day with us. I am so glad they came, it was a lot of fun!

Another picture inside the flower garden.

The view from our room. We had the perfect view to watch the fountains at the Bellagio. It was so cool and we were so mesmerized by it every time. Not sure why it was so mesmerizing but it was! We also had a great view of Donny and Marie. Don't be jealous.

We walked the whole time we were there. I don't even know how much we walked but we got enough exercise to last us for a while. Our feet and legs hurt. I felt like I was 80 years old. We went to The Bodies exhibit on Friday (which always amazes me to look and learn about the human body) On Saturday night after my parents left we had tickets to go see a Cirqu Du Soleil show. It was at Treasure Island. It was a late show so I was dead tired but it was a really great show. The people in it are amazing at what they do!

We missed the kids like crazy and we were glad to get home but we had so much fun!

Happy Birthday Sambo Man!

Sam turns TWO!!

May 12, 2008

I still can't believe that my baby is two! Time has definitely gone by way too fast the second time around. I don't like it but I suppose that is what life is all about. Sam has definitely brought loads of joy into our home (and maybe some deafness in my left ear) We love his sweet, playful, stubborn personality! Now, some fun facts about Sambo Man....

*He loves to play fight, he is definitely all boy!

*He has to be the one to shut any kind of door.

*He likes to throw things, especially from the top of the stairs

*He calls guns "boom booms" and cars "vroom vrooms"

*When we want to kiss him good-bye he makes us kiss the back of both hands and then we get to kiss his mouth. Not sure where that came from?

* He is so so so addicted to his binky.

*He is fascinated with anything with a motor, just like his dad.

*He loves to pretend to drive our car.

*He loves the cats and skipper

*He screams like a girl. I'm not joking.

*He copies everything Carly does and says. Word for word.

*At dinner one night Chad jokingly told Sam he needs to eat more meat because he's scrawny. Well, Sam climbed down from his chair went over to Chad, hit Chad and then climbed back on his chair, like he knew that Chad just insulted him.

*He is a good eater, most days.

*He throws a major fit if I give him water instead of juice.

*Loves to sing and dance.

*Loves quiet time in his room. He's always been that way. He'll play in there for a good while without wanting to come out. I think he gets that from me.

*Found out I keep the marshmellows in a low cupboard. For a while he would sneak in there and grab as many marshmellows as he could.

*He hated nursery at church, but all of a sudden one week he decided that it wasn't too bad.

*Always falls asleep in front of his door at night, so every night we have to pick him up and put him in his bed.

*LOVES to be outside, riding his tricycle.

There you have it....I am so glad Sam chose to be a part of this family. He has been and will continue to be a bright spot in my life. I hope he knows how much I love him and I am so grateful for all that he teaches me (the good and the bad!)

Still baking....

A couple hours old

Sam's blessing day

A couple days old

2 months old

Five months old

Eight Months old

May 2009

Sam's First Birthday!

November 2009

February 2010

April 2010