Enjoying game room....

So over the weekend while playing in the game room I remembered to bring my camera up and try and catch a few pictures of Sam in action....

Here she is coming through the tunnels we have set up..She likes to get in and crack herself up then crawl through while laughing... We have also started throwing Chewy's toys in there and the two of them go in together...Really cute...

Here she is on the slide her Grandma and Grandpa gave her for her birthday...She likes to push herself on the slide..she doesn't like to be helped down... (And yes she is running around in a shirt and diaper, she had spilled water all over her shorts and we were just having too much fun to go downstairs and get another pair...look how happy she is!!)

First baseball game and first dippin dots ice cream...

So last night our neighborhood social committee put together tickets for a Rough Riders baseball game at the the newish (we had never been) arena.... We thought what better way to go to Sam's first baseball game. We met up with our friends down the street Laura and Scott and their kiddos (their little girl is pretty close in age to Sam like 2 weeks difference) and had a relaxing dinner at the stadium. Yes I say relaxing as they had this area that was shaded by trees and fenced in so we shut the gate let the kids run around while we ate..It was nice.... Then we walked around the stadium a little bit and then headed for our seats...Yes they were shaded by the time we sat down..and we took up a whole row with the two families with three seats blocked in by the adults on either side so the kids could have a place to stand and play as there was no way they were sitting through the game...Dan loved seeing a live baseball game, I enjoyed chatting with the neighbors and spending time with my family and Sam well she liked the drinks holders..yes...how funny is that..she liked moving her sippy cup up and down the row in all the cup holders (kind of like the first time when I was a child my parents took me into NYC and what do I get fascinated with? not all the tall buildings or fountains, etc..I love the pigeons because that is what I could see...so maybe that is the same thing for Sam).... Then there was a little excitement a foul ball came withing 6 seats of us and I covered Sam while I bet Dan tried to catch it..hahahah Seriously happened so fast have no idea who did what... Then as the kids got a tad restless later in the evening the husbands went and got ice cream..Well Sam saw Scott hand the ice cream to Laura for the kids and they were all leaning over Laura legs with their mouths open for some so Sam joined in leaning on Laura's legs with her mouth open anticipating food..So cute.... So I had to show her we had some too so she came over to me and we gave her lots of bites of vanilla dip and dots ice cream..She loved it...she had not been a big fan the first time we gave her ice cream at our nieces birthday but loved this..So all in all it was a great experience and we would definitely go back for another game...

Here are a few pictures from the game...

The family pic...and see Sam loves her sippy cup...We were trying to make sure she was super hydrated so she kept that sippy cup close all night.

Cheering with mommy....The bull pen was right behind us so had to cheer loud...yeah!!!

Sam loves sunglasses so she had taken these from Dan while he wasn't looking..should have known she had gotten something and that is why she was sitting so nicely..The rest of the time she was up walking around..Thank goodness we had the whole row to ourselves..

Sam first swim lesson

So Samantha went to her first swim lesson this weekend..Thank goodness we picked a place that has an indoor, not chlorinated pool...It was hot and it is the best for Sam's skin (as she has bad eczema)....

The morning started off great as we got to the lesson a little early in order to see Uncle Erik and cousin Alyson as her swim lesson is 15 minutes before Sam's...She is in the next class and gets to get in the pool by herself..Such a big girl...She is growing up so fast and so beautiful.... Gosh we love our niece...

Then it was Sam's turn..It was a little crazy with the entire pool changing classes and lots of parents going in to get their kids and then trying to get out and lots of other parents trying to get in for their lessons just starting...So after all that we finally got into the pool which was so nice and warm and they let Dan and I both go in the first time as quite honestly we just weren't sure how she would do and who she would want with her.... But she was fine and loved it..Lots of splashing going on and lots of fun activities..She seemed to be a daddy's girl during the lesson so I jumped out and dried off but she saw me and pointed at me and smiled and kept on going..That's my girl...The instructor did not put her under the water the first time as she said they are usually in sensory overload the first day but next week she would go under water..yeah... She loves the water so we are excited to start swim lessons..To end the lesson they get to each go down a little slide into the water..Sam of course loved that...She loves all slides so this one was no different...

Sorry everyone we were so just getting used to getting in and out of the lessons and where to leave stuff that we did not even attempt to bring the camera for pictures but maybe next time..

Sams one year stats

So yes I am a complete slacker but wanted to make sure I posted about Samantha's statistics from her one year check up...(even though it was almost a month ago...)



The check up went well I went in armed with my list of questions which our wonderful pediatrician knows and expects...I know I know way to planned and organized but I just tend to not be able to remember all my questions if I don't so I write them down as I think of them...



She is doing great, growing like a weed and doing great developmentally....



Height 30.8 inches which is 97th percentile

Weight 25.9 pounds which is 97th percentile

Head circumference 18.2 which is 90th percentile

The only advice we got from Dr G. when packing up to leave was when the tantrums started to just ignore them. I am of course thinking to myself that isn't supposed to start until the terrible twos? right??? and easier said then done!!...and of course then he is out the door..Gotta love when they give you these words of wisdom and then they are off to see their next patient....

Sams play room

So one of the things we really wanted to do was make our upstairs open room into Sam's play room.. We have to give ourselves deadlines or we just procrastinate..So we made the deadline by Sam's birthday and we made the deadline so we considered it a birthday present and Sam loves it.. Just thought I would share a few before, during and after pictures..

Well prior to having kids we made this into a game room but for us..So we had a ping pong table in there which was a lot of fun... and we still have it just folded up and put away for now..We will be dragging it out for holidays and gatherings as still so much fun..

I ordered the wall unit for the game room and this is how it came..I literally could not get into our front door..And each box was over like 75 pounds....Tad ridiculous....

Here is the final look from the hallway... all her push toys and walkers and pop up tunnels..I for the first time went through the pop up tunnels last night..I looked pretty hilarious.. at least Sam got a kick out of it..

Here is another after picture of the wall unit we chose..LOVE IT!! It will hold so many toys and games in the future and looks so classic in the room.

all in all the game room for Sam was a success and we go up there and play almost every day...

What is that?????

Well it is those small things in life that really make me appreciate everything....

With that said I have no picture of my next moment to share but man I am not sure I will every forget this moment. It just makes me giggle..

So last night we had spent about an hour after dinner outside running around letting Sam burn some steam and talking to neighbors. So we came in around 7:30 to give Sam a bath and get her to bed. So I get Sam undressed and she takes off for the bathroom (diaper on) as she heard the water running. So we get her diaper off and put her in the tub. I go into the kitchen to unload the dishwasher and I hear these exclamation "What is that? That can't be???" So of course i am curious and I go in tot he bathroom and Dan is moving over all the toys in the tub to see what is in there.. Yes ladies and gentleman Sam pooped in the tub. I had read in books this might happen and well it did. So after Dan got over his initial shock we pulled her our out drained the tub and cleaned it out we started all over again.. My amazing husband doesn't get flustered every often or easily and that my friends I think flustered him....

Also a few night earlier I was wiping Sam's nose for the thousandth time and as I was holding up the kleenex I said "Gheesh I will be so glad when you can blow!!" And on command she blew...so now when a kleenex gets near her nose she blows..I got all excited as this will make a minor cold not as much of a beating as we gave up on the blue plunger thing as Sam is way too strong for us to try that on her anymore.

It is amazing to me how much progress we have made in the past few months....She is growing up so fast....

Day at the Arboretum

So since Aunt Amy (Dan's sister) was in town for the week we decided to take a day and do something fun with the family. So Saturday morning bright and early we met down at the Dallas Arboretum. It is such a fun place to take kids as they can run around and right know there was a cool kid friendly exhibit with play houses all over the property. Very fun (not sure Sam got it but oh well)...

Here are a few pics from the day...

Family pic of the three of us...Sam is clearly not cooperating...

There is this beautiful archway of trees leading up to a fun fountain that all the kids play in so we saved it for right before we were leaving. We let Sam walk up the cool path and she was trying to figure it all out...

We took Sam's shoes off and let her run around in the fountain. She didn't get very far as she was still checking everything out but she enjoyed the misting it was very refreshing...

Happy First Birthday Sam!!!

Wow time sure does fly.

Sam turned one last Wednesday and we had lots planned to celebrate the big event!!

First we had a party for the whole family on Monday (Memorial Day)... We invited everyone over for a BBQ lunch (which Sam was a tad cranky through as she was an hour late eating lunch and almost an hour late on taking a nap)...But once she got some yummy food she was much better. Then her and her cousin Alyson went down for naps. The adults decided to play games and watch baseball. In one room was a serious game of Five Crowns. They were so serious they almost didn't want to take a break for cupcakes...heheh just kidding. Then a not so serious game in the other room of Uno Attack. Very entertaining in my opinion. Then the girls woke up and we did cupcakes and opened presents. Sam really didn't seem all that interested in her cupcake had a few bites and then proceeded to eat grapes with her cousin. Not going to complain that she would rather have grapes then cupcakes. Then we tried to open presents but the girls clearly had no idea and would much rather chase around Chewy..It was the cutest thing the two of them sqealling with delight as they chased her all over the house. So I opened the presents and thanked everyone. We then proceeded to all change into our swimsuits and go swimming in our community pool. It was a nice late afternoon swim. Alyson is so good at swimming and jumping and Sam was still getting the lay of the land as she had never really been swimming before this weekend. Then after an hour or so of swimming we went back and had some pizza for dinner. It was an exhausting but awesome day. Alyson calls Sam "BABY SHAM"...so cute....

Here are a few pics from the party....

The birthday girl all dressed up in her new outfit!! and a bow!!! heheheh trust me the bow lasted about 15 seconds in her hair...

Eating her cupcake at her birthday party. Funny story there last time I made cupcakes the box made 12 so this time I got a different brand and ended up doubling the recipe before reading how many it made (ooopppps too late) so we made 48 cupcakes.... Needless to say we ate cupcakes for a week and gave away as many as possible...






And the theme of Sam's 1st birthday party was DOGS....She is such a fan of any dog so we made that our theme and she loved it...



Then Sam had her official 1st birthday party at school which I was lucky enough to be able to be there to celebrate.... We brought cupcakes for all the kids in her class.. They were super excited..Sam was way more excited this time and ate all the icing off her cupcake like a champ (which caused other problems which I think we will not even go into at this point)...



Look at the cute little chair she is sitting in.

Sam got moved up to her new classroom a few weeks ago a few weeks early. She had a major moment after all her friends moved up to the new classroom with out her. So luckily our awesome school director could tell she was not happy and had her moved up 2 days later. Yeah..Sam took to the new room amazingly well. She went from sleeping in a pack n play to a cot, sitting in an attached cubby chair to her own self standing chair (which sides of course), and getting to go outside daily, music class and art class weekly..She loves it..

I am still amazed that she is already one years old....

Hope you had a great day Sam!! Love Mom, Dad and Chewy!!!