18 month Stats..

So last week I took Sam in for her 18 month well child check up...

She did great..She wasn't supposed to get any shots but they did want to run a test to see if she was anemic..That involved a blood prick which she didn't mind at all..She was very curious about the band aid they wrapped around her finger..It was Dora the explorer..In fact she was so curious and interested in it she didn't even seem to mind when they gave her her H1N1 shot...She seriously did not even cry..Just looked pissed at the nurse for a second then went back to touching the band aid...

Here are her Stats:

Weight - 30 pounds 1 ounce
Height - 33.8 inches
Head - 19.3

She is in the 97th percentile now...(She had been over 100percent aka off the charts)...She is finally starting to slim down a tad...

We also started using a new kind of lotion on Sams eczema Eucerin Plus and it has totally made a difference in Sams skin...

Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday!!

Christmas parade part two

So after the parade we all went in to warm up a bit and have some lunch.

Here is Dan and Grandma and Sam just hanging out while the pizza was baking..

Then we went up to the clubhouse to have a picture with Santa.... Well at least it was free is all I can say...

Sam was not happy about Santa at all and would not let me leave her side hence me being in the pictures..oh well maybe next year.

So after Santa we went back to my in laws house and put Sam down for a nap and they kept her for the night so Dan and I could go to his company Christmas party. It was a lot of fun....

Here is a picture from that party...

Christmas Parade at PArents house part one

Well as most of you know Dan and I are very lucky that our parents live in the same neighborhood (it makes it very convenient for visiting). So this past weekend they had their annual Christmas parade..It is a big deal...I swear the whole town comes out for it... So we packed up the family (including Chewy) and went over for the day.

So here we are getting ready to go outside...Luckily the parade goes right in front of my parents house so we make that home base..

My mom (GG) and Sam playing with the Chihuahua puppies my parents have..Sam did not want to let those go...She loves them...

Sam and I just getting her coat on...Such a cute coat but she fusses every time we put it on...

Thought this was a really cute one of Dan and I so thought I would include. Yes I know looking a little Pippy Longstocking-ish but we all slept in until 9 that day and so we had to pull it together quickly to get out the door by 9:30....But sleep was sooo nice...

Sam enjoyed sitting in the golf cart with GG and Chewy. Also notice her squeakers shoes in leopard print.. They were a hit...

She enjoyed hanging with Daddy to get a closer look at the fire engines and horses and the marching band....

Too continue on next post...

Lounging in her new chair...

So Sam got a new chair for Christmas from her Grandma and Grandpa and she loves it..They decided to give it to her early since really she does not know the difference. She loves to drink her milk in the chair and lounge in it when we let her watch her favorite show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. So last night after dinner I was trying to clean up so I let her watch 15 minutes of Mickey Mouse and I noticed she was sitting funny. She usually sits up straight and tall..Not last night she was all lounging in it so had to get a picture to remember the moment.

I snuck around the corner and caught her by suprise...

Then she started cracking up.....

Gosh we love this kid..She is a total blessing....

Sam is well on her way to building Noahs ark.....

So when Dan and I came back from NY a few weeks ago we brought home Sam a large pink puppy stuffed animal. She had the smaller one and it is her favorite thing she sleeps with it etc. So when we saw the exact same one in FAO Schwarz just larger version we knew we had to get it. Well needless to say Sam loves it and likes to carry it around the house along with the smaller version. She also loves to sleep with them. The bigger one is her size mind you. So when Sam goes to bed every night she has the two puppies, a sheep (baaa), a small and a large bear (again with the Noahs Ark she likes things in two's) that is dressed up in a bunny costume, 2 blankets and 2 binkies..Seriously her crib gets a little crowded sometimes but she has to have it all and if you try and take the bigger puppy out during the night she will sleep on top of it to make it impossible to take it out..So we just let her have it..

So last night I went in to check on her and thought it was so cute that she fell asleep hugging her big puppy and I have been wanting to take a picture with all the animals in her bed with her so here you go...

Let is snow, let it snow, let it snow...

I was very surprised when I pulled out of the garage one day last week and it was swirling around snow..I was so surprised. I had no idea...I had gotten ready and gotten Sam ready without looking out side until I was ready to back out of the driveway....

I had to take a few pics to make sure I wasn't dreaming...

This is the front of our house which you can barely see as I am backing out. Crazy....


This is the first intersection I came to and thought I have to take a picture of this...

Sam loved seeing it from her window in the car but when we had to actually get out and get into the school she didn't like it very much as it was whipping her in the face with wet and cold....Once safely inside she turned around to look back but was happy to be back inside....
I was excited for her to see snow for the first time..Too bad it was gone before I even got home from work that day...

Thanksgiving

We had an amazing Thanksgiving this year. We all got together for a very relaxing day to spend together. WE had lunch at the club and the girls had a lot of fun playing together. The girls being my daughter Samantha and my niece Aly. Those two together are just giggles all the time. Then we had a nice afternoon of family time with games and laughs and the girls napped and then played in the backyard...It was a perfect day and we have a lot to be very thankful for..

Hope you all had a very blessed Thanksgiving too.

The day after Thanksgiving Sam and I spent with my mom. We went to the park, had a fun lunch and then after Sams naptime we played and went to visit Dans parents..IT was a very busy day for us since Dan had to work. Here is a fun picture of Sam from the park.

Melanies Baby Shower

So this weekend I was honored to help co-host our dear friend Melanie's baby shower. We had 4 of our crew come together to put on this shower. It turned out so pretty and fun. We had delicious food (good job Kristin I swear she is Rachel Ray in the making), fun activity (good job Strange for coming up with the idea to decorate onesies we had some really funny ones), great decorations and gift (Kim was all over that coming up great ideas and it looked awesome) and then me I did drinks (mimosas) and crackers and cheese and fruit and dip.... Well I bet they don't let me do mimosas again as I had never opened a champagne bottle before (hello that is what husbands are for) and I seriously think I scared everyone including myself when the cork shot up and hit the ceiling (I didn't realize it would do that so gave no warning whatsoever) ...(Sorry Kristin)...no mark was left thank goodness...Kim had to pull me aside and show me how to do it correctly with the second bottle...heheheh

Here is Melanie (the soon to be mommy) and her 4 co hosts for the shower...

Here is our last picture right before we all left of our little crew we do things with..I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends.

Adults weekend in NYC

So last weekend Dan and I spent 4 days in NYC. Dan was there for a business trip and I tagged along for some fun quality time with him and to spend some time with friends. First it was a very relaxing trip. So nice.....

We stayed at the W hotel near Bryan Park and it was a happening place.

We did a lot of fun things while there and we ate our way through the city. heheheh Literally

Thursday I had brunch with a new friend Phyllis at a yummy brunch place overlooking Central Park called SaraBeths...I proceeded to order a lot of sides for my brunch. So yummy and fun company. Then Dan was done with his business so we picked him up did a lot of walking. We went to visit Phyllis's husband at his office on the 55th floor with amazing views. Then we tackled FAO Schwarz where we proceeded to get Sam a huge pink puppy..She loves it..More to come on that in another post. Then we hit Dylan Candy Bar and of course bought lots of goodies. Then we had dinner at Carmines (Italian - family style) with friends Phyllis, Kris, Chris, Heather and a friend from high school Cassetty. We had a fun fun dinner and lots of yummy food. It turned into a later night as we waited along time for a table but it was worth it for the food and company.

Friday we had a relaxing morning sleeping in and just doing a whole lot of nothing. We did go get Bagels at a yummy place right down the street. I love NYC bread...so yummy... Then Dan and I did something silly we went to see a movie (Couples retreat) in Times Square....Then did some shopping. Then we had a sandwich at Wichcraft. IT was so yummy....Meatloaf...Seriously I loved it. Then we met some of our friends who used to live in Dallas Kendra and Mike and our other friends I have known since right out college Chris and Heather for a fun night out at Cafe Mogador. Moroccan food...yummy... WE had a super fun dinner. Then we moved on to a martini bar down the street...Then we went to a yummy vegan place for dessert and drinks. I loved my vegan dessert.... I think it was called Pure food and drink company. I can not wait to try a meal there....

Saturday Dan and I walked all over the city..... We had a slice of pizza at a whole in the wall place which then turned into 1 1/2 slices of pizza as it was so yummy. We walked through Central park to the Natural Museum of History. Very fun museum. Loved the dinosaurs....then decided we loved the walk so much we walked back..It was a very long way but we loved every minute.. We then met up with Chris and Heather for dinner at Flor de Sol (Tapas). WE were needless to say almost 40 minutes late...sorry guys...we got off the subway one exit too early and then went the wrong way for a while...It was an adventure...Then had a yummy dinner....It was sad to say goodbye to our dear friends that we only see once a year if we are lucky....

Overall it was an amazing trip and thank you again Grandma and Grandpa for watching Sam....

Here are a few pics.

Here we are at FAO Schwarz. Such a fun store. Can not wait to take Sam there one day.

Dylan's Candy Bar Cafe. Look at all those cupcakes....Surprisingly we skipped those and went for the fudge instead..

We found this little park on accident while walking to dinner one night...Such a pretty waterfall and park right int he middle of a busy street..

Me during our trek through Central Park. It was such a beautiful day and loved walking through the park..

Happy Halloween....BZZZZZZZ

So this year we decided to dress Samantha up as a Bumble Bee...We assume this will be the last year we get to decide as I am sure she will have an opinion next year.

We had a great day we spent the later afternoon at my brothers house with the whole family and another family (my niece's best friend Miles and his folks).... We had a blast playing in the backyard, Sam loved the swing, dinner (yummy lasagna) and then trick or treating with the whole crew. There were many fun moments we will remember forever.

Here are a few pics from our Halloween...

My mom (GG) and me trying to finish getting Sam dressed, we were putting the final touches on and she could not keep her hands off the head band with the antennae.

Ready to go trick or treating. Sam is a bumblee and Aly is Minnie Mouse.
Here Sam is trick or treating and waving at the paparazzi (aka Dan and Grandpa heheh)...

Also one more funny note when I got Sam from school Friday afternoon she had learned something new. She says "No! No!" and points her finger at you...I was cracking up laughing I had to call Dan at work to tell him.... We heard that a lot over the weekend...

I also believe our going out to eat days are getting numbered. We went to a yummy Thai place Friday night and Sam had a moment. I am sure it is the first of more to come... We had heard you will hit an age where going out to eat is just not worth it...So we are bracing ourselves...

Pumpkin Patch

So this weekend we decided to try a pumpkin patch out in Flower Mound...Which first of all is a tad bit of a hike for us but heard it was good...WE got a mile away from it when traffic dead stopped..so when we finally got in it was packed..It was so hard to move and do anything and the lines to do any of the kids stuff were at least 30 minutes long... Which really is hard to do with a little one like ours...So we ran around and took some pics and took off after an hour....

Here we are when we first got there and Sam looks so confused..has no idea what all these people are doing... Here Sam is trying to pick up this huge pumpkin..She in all seriousness looked at it and bent down to pick it up..She seemed to be baffled when she couldn't...

Then she proceeded to push it...hehehe smart kid....

Mommy and Sam...

So Sam can be a Mommy's girl sometimes...Or maybe she just likes to say Mommy....who knows.. However she is adding a few more words to her vocabulary like PaaaPaaa for Grandpa, she already said Momma, Dadda and dog, she know tries to say Chewy but it comes out more Chi, she says more, and Ofeee for her best friend at school Sophie, she can say Emma another friend from school, yellow, purple and poopooo (very important) and she can make all kinds of animal sounds on command, as sheep goes baaabaaaa and dog goes wulf, and duck goes quack...So we are slowly learning more every day...

I went to a fun bunco night at my friend Jenny M's to support her breast cancer 3 day walk she is doing. What a fun night and funny enough we didn't even play bunco we just gabbed...Which I was fine with as I have never played bunco and enjoyed meeting the new girls and catching up with my friends...

I seem to never get a lot of pics of me with Sam as I am usually the one taking pictures but on my way out the door to bunco night I had Dan take a pic of Sam and me....

She is getting so big...Can you believe she is almost 1 1/2...Yes I seem to have stopped talking in months..yeah!!!

A little busy lately.....

Well life has been a tad busy lately so I am way behind on posting pictures and stories etc..

So last week after school one day Sam and I came home and went outside to play. I can't remember which day exactly but it was the one day it wasn't raining...Seriously it has been raining for a month straight which has made our outdoor activities limited...

Just thought these pictures were so cute and so typical Sam...

It is amazing to me how well her teachers at school can get those ponytails in but when I do it it doesn't look near as cute..I guess i need to work on that for when we get some more hair going..

Pump it up take 2

So this weekend we went to our second pump it up birthday party for our dear friends Kristin's daughter Kaitlyn who turned 3.....Seriously so fun.....

Here is a fun video of Sam and I jumping together in the bounce house

A fun picture of Dan and Sam taking a break in the bounce house..

Pigtails.

So when I went to pick up Sam last Friday after school (just let me preface this with it was wear your pjs to school day) I got quite a surprise.....

The somehow got her hair into pigtails...I cracked up....

Also Sam has started car dancing with me...This is her in action..... I love it..

Pump it up....

So we have been super busy the past two weekends with birthday parties, trying new classes with Sam, my brithday, Plano Balloon Festival and family events.....

Last weekend we tried a gymnastics class for Sam..It was the free trial. It was a disaster. Sam was just entirely too young. She couldn't even sit still during the stretching and she clearly didn't understand the concept of waiting in line for her turn so we gave up and let her jump on the trampolines for the remainder of the class and agreed to try again in 6 months.... oh well we live and learn...

Then we went to our first Pump it up party for our dear friend Jenny C's daughter Avery. I decided to take Sam by myself and give Dan some time to himself. We had a blast. She loved it. I was a little scared of some of the slides at first as you have to carry her and use one arm to pull yourself up to the top (which I usually would need both arms) so needless to say Kristin took charge and took sam down the slides and she loved it... I did get braver as time went on and was able to pull her up myself...

Here is Sams first time down the slide with Kristin.... Thanks Kristin..

Then Sunday of last weekend we went to the Plano Balloon Festival with my brother Erik, sister in law Sarah and niece Alyson...It was a tad hot at first but the sun went down and the balloons getting blown up and taking off was super fun for the girls to see...

Here is a super cute pic of the girls sitting on the blanket together sharing snacks...

Here is a great view of the balloons all heading off..It was a gorgeous evening...

Zoo......

So yesterday Dan, Sam and I met my brother, sister in law and niece at the Dallas Zoo...It turned out to be a tad hotter than expected but we still all had a great time...

My favorite moment was when we were in the viewing area for the gorillas and one was about 10-15 feet away so Sam and Alyson walked right up to the glass window being all big girls and Sam even banged on the wall a tad too...The gorilla turned around and started walking towards the window and Sam turned and hightailed it out of there...So cute.... Even got a few pics to commemorate the event...Wish we had that moment on video...

Aly is on the left and Sam is on the right...

Noticeable the window is empty now that the gorilla is closer..Alyson is off to the right...

There I am with Sam trying to show her it is okay to stand where she was..There is Alyson on the right pointing at the big Gorilla..

After the zoo we had lunch at one of our favorite places Chuys...Love that place and nothing has really changed there..Even had a chance to spend some time with Alyson and show her how they still make the tortillas fresh right there in the store..Very mesmerizing....

15 month stats and more inititation into mother hood...

So today Sam had her 15 month dr appt...Here are her stats:

Weight 28.6 pounds and >100 percentile (aka off the charts)
Height 32.3 inches and 97 percentile
Head 18.5 90 percentile

Dr G said she is doing great.... And she got 3 shots including her flu shot..yeah so no more shots until she is 2...yeah!!!

So on Saturday Sam and I spent the afternoon evening with my folks and Dan folks at their neck of the woods..After a long nap for Sam, I went shopping, and then playing in the backyard we decided to go out to dinner (yummy pizza) then afterwards we went to a splash park near their house.... Sam ran around and loved it but got kinda chilly so had to take her home and put her in a nice warm bath...Then Sam and I left and headed back to our house...I gave her her milk and put her to bed..Not even 5 minutes later I don't know what told me but mommy intuition kicked in and I went and checked on Sam and she looked up at me with the saddest eyes..I picked her up and not even a minute later she barfed all over me.... IT was awful....I was very proud of myself I didn't cry or barf myself.... So she is fine needless to say it was a one time thing (no stomach bug thank goodness)..... She is only eating apple sauce now which is not a bad thing....
Poor baby.....

Sunday we took it real easy and stayed home and took lots of naps.... I think she is on the road to recovery....

TEETH!!!

So a few nights ago we were playing with Sam, going over where her body parts are located, as we practice that quite frequently (and she thinks it is a game) and just have some fun all playing on our bed. Not sure why but she loves getting on our bed..She has to get on it once a day...Anyway I digress at the end of this video I got a good picture of her teeth. We have a total of 4 now...whooohooo No more teeth envy here....

Diaper change in the middle of the night...

So one night I had stayed up later and I went to check on Sam before I went to bed and she needed a diaper change but she had been asleep for several hours so wasn't sure how she would handle being woken up..So I picked her up gently and layed her on the changing table and she moved a little but not much. She stayed asleep until I was getting her pajama bottoms back on then she moved a little and as I was leaning over to put the diaper in the Diaper Champ she rolled over and took up the sleeping position...IT was the cutest thing I asked Dan to run and get the camera to get a picture. So here is Sam totally asleep on her changing table..

And just in case you didn't notice that is her "pink puppy's" arm sticking up as she sleeps with a death grip on the stuffed animal every night...So cute...

Running through sprinklers.....

So last night Dan's parents were over and we were having dinner and as we were getting up from the table I saw that the sprinklers were going off in the backyard and I remembered how Sunday evening on our way home from our neighbors house they came on and she ran through them for half an hour and just loved it....So I said you want to see something funny...We opened the back door (first I grabbed a towel and my camera) and let her go...She played in the sprinklers for a while and loved it..She just loves water..She was opening her mouth trying to get a drink... Of course she went right into the bathtub right after I mean she was already wet might as well....

So here are a few pics I was able to get from last nights sprinkler escapade....

This is her first few steps out "whooo that water is hitting me"...Then she starts digging it and running around..

Love this one that you can see the arch of the water and her mouth open trying to get a drink from the spraying water...

This is right before we went in she is tired and ready to get dry....

Circus....

So we took Sam to see her first Circus last weekend and well she did as Dan and I guessed she would do..She lasted exactly one hour..Which was fine with Dan..I think he was over those silly clowns.... She loved all the animals and loved pointing and saying the names of the animals...

We brought our camera but at the last minute left it in the car as the tickets said no camera and there were signs going through the line saying no cameras but everyone seemed to have one..So no pictures from that....

A few pictures to catch up on....

So wanted to share a few pictures I have not had a chance to share yet..

We had dinner with our dear friends Chuck and Jenny and their boys at Shops at Legacy and had a great time. We had a yummy dinner at Fireside Pies and then let the kids run around the lake/pond area to wear them out...We did get a cute new family picture so thought I would share...

Also the night we had our friends Laura, Ryan and Casper over we took a few pics before they arrived of us and darn if Sam doesn't look so cute in her dress so again thought I would share...

And since everyone asks us yes she is pretty much our happy baby 99 percent of the time..Always laughing at something or another..Her favorite source of entertainment is still Chewy..They are best buds....