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

A fun day!

We celebrated Sam's birthday today along with Mother's Day. Although, both Carly and Sam came down with Conjunctivitis (in other words their eyes were full of goop and red and puffy) We decided to celebrate anyway (I'm praying that we disinfected their hands enough that they didn't pass it along to anyone else) We had a great Mother's day lunch followed by birthday cake and presents! Sam didn't really know what was going on other than he got to eat cake and open presents. I saw this idea of a cake in a magazine and thought it would be so fun to make! I am so glad Sam decided to surprise our family, he definitely adds so much personality and fun! We sure love him!

lots O pictures....

D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G!!!

This is the underneath of the spider. The picture of the top of him didn't turn out that great.

Today, I was enjoying my time outside while my kids played in a little kiddie pool, when out of the corner of my eye I saw something move (it was about 6 feet away) I walked a little closer because I was curious about what it was. To my absolute HORROR I saw this creature. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Now, I have seen big spiders before. Tarantula's. It's been years and tarantula's are suppose to be big so you are somewhat prepared, but this...this was just a normal looking spider only HUGE!! If you know me, you know I HATE spiders of any kind. I can't even kill small spiders without having an anxiety attack. I have no clue where this fear came from. I've never been bitten. Anyway....I sort of froze. I didn't let my kids out of the pool until I thought of some way to get rid of this thing. I then remembered we had wasp spray in our laundry room. The can says it can spray from up to 16 feet away. It was the perfect solution. I ran inside (all the while I was telling the kids to stay in the pool). I grabbed the can and started to spray. It started running for it's life but I was not going to let him get free just so he could come back and get revenge! I spray him the whole 10 feet he ran. I sprayed until he eventually stopped and then died. I do not feel bad about killing this thing. The world is now with one less spider and I couldn't be happier (I'm not looking forward to my dreams tonight) but I am happier he is now passed on.

p.s. I about threw up when chad decided to pick up the dead thing just so we could get a picture.

Inspired

This is so inspiring and makes me want to be a better mother.

early morning thoughts....

Just some thoughts maily for myself but wanted to share......for any who's interested. :)

Recently I have been reminded of the importance of keeping the spirit with me throughout the day (all day) I had been struggling with loosing my patience with the kids (don't we all) getting frustrated, being tired and basically being idle. My sister-in-law was here for a couple weeks awaiting the birth of her new baby and we had the chance to chat a few times. She really reminded me and is a great example to me and keeping the spirit with you through out your day and finding time to bring it into your life. For a while, a long while I was lazy about the gospel. I had young babies and I used them as an excuse. Now, my baby is almost two. I no longer have the excuse that a baby is taking all my time. The older my kids are getting, especially Carly who is now almost 4, the more I realize that this is the time to really teach them and help them understand the basic principles of the gospel. You would think that after being raised in the church it would be a natural thing to know that, but like I said before I forgot or didn't want to face that my kids are getting older and to a point where they can understand. I was being lazy (which I think is my biggest weakness, there's a confession for ya!)
One of my new years resolutions this year was the read the scriptures daily. I did great at first but then started to slack off until a couple weeks ago when I realized that why would the Lord bless me with the desires of my heart when I am not willing to give of my time to him and the gospel?? Maybe that's the wrong way to look at it because I know the Lord loves me and wouldn't punish me but if that thought is what changed my attitude about reading the scriptures then I'll take it! I was reading yesterday and came upon a scripture in Mosiah 23:21 it says "The lord seeth fit to chasten his people: yea, he trieth their patience and their faith." I never really thought of that, I knew the Lord gave us trials to make us stronger but it hit me when it said he "trieth their patience and their faith" That is one of my biggest struggles. Patience. I am not a patient person, when I want something I want it now. Much like all of society today. It hit me big time. Certain things in life don't come when you want it. You need patience, your faith needs to be tested. I look back at my marriage. We have never really struggled with much, physically or temporally. I am grateful for this, everyday I am grateful for that! (we basically had our needs met and beyond temporally and physically but I was lacking spiritually) I kept wondering, why am I so blessed when I am so apathetic towards the gospel and living the gospel. Why would the Lord reward me for doing nothing?? I then realized that maybe that was my challenge. To be grateful for what I have. A lot of times when things are going great we forget that Lord has his hands in things. Maybe my challenge was to show the Lord that I am aware of his work in my life and to show my gratitude for all of the many little things and big things that I have been blessed with. Show him by actually doing what I am suppose to be doing, reading the scriptures, praying daily (all day sometimes!) full filling my calling, teaching my children the gospel, attending the temple. I needed to be doing all those things to show him that I am grateful!! What an eye opener! I have now made a few new goals and hoping that the adversary doesn't get the better of me. One thing that is small but can really make a huge difference is music. I love music, call me silly but my favorite part of General Conference is when the choir sings. It brings me to tears almost every time they sing. It's so powerful and uplifting ( and I'll be honest, it reminds me of Utah, they always show views of temple square during the song) I then thought, if it affects me so much during conference why not bring that spirit to my home any day of the week. I have recently just started having music playing during the day. When I feel my nerves coming to end end I'll pop in some primary songs, or piano music or some other church music and it totally helps. Plus, the fact that Carly loves to sing a long to the songs she knows. It really has been a great help in bringing the spirit into my home, which is the ultimate goal right??
Anyway....I have gone all over the place with this post but really, I wrote it for me. So I can be reminded of what I need to do. (plus it's 6:00 in the morning and I can't sleep so I figured now is a good time to jot this down)

The Zoo

So, I don't know what it is about our luck but we always choose the worst days to go places. We got to the zoo only to see a ton of school buses pulling in. Of all the days we chose a school day! It actually turned out to be not as bad as what I thought. Carly and Sam didn't really notice the crowd. I think they enjoyed it. Carly liked the giraffes and the orangutans. Sam just liked being outside I think. It was a fun day!

Taking a cotton candy break.

After to zoo it was still pretty warm out so we decided to let the kids play around in the water. It's times like this when I really miss our pool! :(

Love THIS

coulda woulda shoulda

I don't know what it is about Spring this year but it has really got me reminiscing about my Grandpa (passed away last summer) I guess maybe it's because I bought flowers the other day to plant in our front flower bed and I couldn't' help but think about those many times when we could go out to his greenhouse and pick any flower I wanted to take home with me. (Of course, It didn't stay alive very long.) I can't help but be sad at how much I could have learned from him about gardening and flowers. All my life I can remember his greenhouse full of flowers. I loved going out there and feel the warmth of the greenhouse, feeling like I was somewhere tropical. I loved looking forward to those times where we could eat fresh cucumbers, green peppers and peas straight from his garden. I feel optimistic that maybe someday I can have a garden as great as his was and maybe, just maybe grow flowers like he did. Until then, I have these pictures to enjoy!

let's go fly a kite.....

and take lots of cute pictures amongst the blue bonnets....
We had a fun outing today with my sister-in-laws. We drove to Chappel Hill (a cute little town that I love and I wish I could live just because it's so cute!) We ate lunch and then drove to this fabulous field full of blue bonnets. Alycia and her boys brought kites that were a big hit because they actually flew!! Carly and Sam (and I) had so much fun, we may take another trip out there!

Sam and Myreel (they're about a week apart in age) so much fun!

pictures from my phone

new toy

We got this little 4-wheeler a while ago and the kids absolutely LOVE it! WE have a tons of wooded area behind our house so the past 2 weekends Chad has been working on learing trails through it and the kids LOVE riding back there. This past weekend Chad started to let Carly drive it by herself. SHe is a natural! She loves it and would ride it all day long if we'd let her. *there is always someone riding with her

strawberry pickin'

We went and picked strawberries today at Kings Orchard. It was the perfect day to go, it was still a little chilly outside so the strawberries weren't baking in the sun and heat. The kids had fun and there were so many strawberries to choose from that we picked 5 pounds of strawberries in about 20 minutes. It was great and the kids LOVED it too!

* You're not suppose to eat the strawberries while your picking but have you ever tried to tell an almost 2 year old he can't eat those red, delicious strawberries that are right at his fingertips? I gave up after telling him no the 5th time.

Carly did a pretty good job at picking the reddest, biggest strawberries she could find and she only snuck eating one or two.

Easter

We had fun this year! On Saturday we had an Easter egg hunt at Mimi and PeePaw's house. There was a lot of kids so it was really fun! It's always great to get the whole family together! There was a ton of good food and a birthday party! Carly and Sam had fun hunting for eggs. Carly loaded up her basket full of eggs. Sam got the idea of it pretty quick!

On Sunday we watched conference and had some friends and family over for a really great lunch, again, lots of good food! I love this time of year!

sleeping and possums

So, the past couple weeks (ever since he's mastered climbing out of his crib) at night when we check on Sam we usually have to pick him up from the floor in front of his door (there are times where we can't even open the door because he's fallen asleep right in front of it) and put him back in his crib. The other night Chad when to check on him. He opened the door and Sam wasn't on the floor, he wasn't in his bed. Chad finally realized he'd upgraded and fallen asleep on his rocking chair. It's so funny to us because Carly never did stuff like this. She would always stay in her bed. He is one funny guy even in his sleep!

One of our nightly visitors. Skipper thinks he's so tough!