Sam in her new bathrobe

So the other night Dan was out for the evening and I had Sam all to myself we had a quiet night of doing laundry, playing, dinner, bath, etc...So I was waiting for a big load of her laundry to dry and it wasn't quite ready at her bath time so I didn't have any short/shortsleeve pajamas to put Sam in so I got out her new bathrobe she got from Aunt Sarah/Uncle Erik for Christmas. After her bath i put her in it for a half an hour while the laundry was drying and she loved it..She was strutting up and down the hallway in it ... I happened to get one picture of her in it..Doesn't she look very Hugh Hefnerish...So cute...

Chuck E Cheese....

Last weekend we had my niece Alyson's 3rd birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. I had not been there in almost 25 years...It was very busy and loud and lots of flashing lights..I was on sensory overload but I think Sam got hit hard with sensory overload...I put her in one ride, like a little car that you steer and moves left to right, she proceeded to jump out of it into my arms screaming "I don't like it!!" the minute it started moving...Needless to say she didn't trust me the rest of the night and demanded to be held until almost the end of the party then she got to hold a cup with coins in it and was happy to walk around with that... Poor thing..I think we might have to wait another year til she gets a little older to try it again.

The party was fantastic and the food was actually yummy...It was pizza and a salad bar...I was a bit nervous not knowing how the food would be but trust me I didn't leave hungry.

Here is Alyson standing up being sung to for her birthday....She did such a great job....

Here is Alyson on a ride and she so sweetly put her arm around the character during the ride...I just thought that was so sweet had to run and get a picture of it.

Here is Sam and I right before we left our house for the birthday party. I am all about putting Sam in front of me in pictures these days..It just seems to happen naturally.

Finally turned the corner...

Of not looking just fat or pudgy and now I think I actually look prego...I am 17 1/2 weeks along.

I have gained a total of about 5 pounds....I lost about 6 mid to late first trimester and gained that back and since then have slowly been putting on about a pound a week..I am hoping to keep it around 30 pounds....I gained 45 with Sam.... So we will see..Not stressing out about it too much and totally enjoying eating burritos...

Here is my 16 week picture..I went to try and suck it in and Dan was like "why bother"...It was the principle that I had to at least make every effort to try..heheheh

Wow I don't feel very big but man seeing that picture makes me realize how big I really am...

Easter at our house...

So this year we decided to do a brunch/lunch at our house and it turned into a lot of fun. The whole family made it and we were thrilled. Here are a few pics:

Me with my beautiful new niece Kendall...Isn't she cute!!!!

Sam with her two cousins Aly and Kendall..Sam still isn't quite sure what to do with Kendall so she was trying to move away from her...

Sam and Aly opening all their Easter gifts...They received so many fun things.

It also happened to be my older brother Erik's birthday so we celebrated that as well..What fun to have the whole family together on the actual day of Erik's birthday..

Trying to get a family picture but Sam was so interested in this card she received with stickers on it that I had to hide it from her right when they took the picture...

Here Sam is eating some Easter goodies...

Sam loved her Aunt Sarah's shoes so much that she put them on and paraded around in them. Look at that face...You just had to let her keep going and smile...

A little behind and lots to catch up on...

Well lets go back a bit...The weekend before Easter we had a crazy weekend...

On that Saturday we had Sam's swim lesson and it was like something went off in her head (yes imagine a light bulb) that was like oh yeah I like to swim so now she laughs and giggles and does all activities at swim lessons as opposed to the first 2 weeks of crying and wanting to get out..She just needed to be reminded how fun it is and it helped that Dan and I went and both got in with her each week and let her be with whoever she was feeling closer to that day.

Then we raced home (of course after stopping at my craving place of late and got a bagel for Dan and myself and a blueberry muffin for Sam) and changed and went to the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt..Sam had already had a busy morning with swim and all so all the people, excitement, and noise I think freaked her out a tad and wanted to be held...Then we got all lined up for the Easter Egg Hunt and she wanted down and was ready..

Here are a few pics from the Easter Egg Hunt:

Sam and I getting going at the beginning of the Hunt.

I had to point out the first one but after that she was good to go.

Here Sam is putting an egg in her basket..

Here Sam is post hunt digging through all the eggs..her favorite things to find were stickers...She needless to say did not eat any of the candy..Although I did give her some jelly beans from home later that day and oh my Sam LOVES jelly beans..

Then home after a busy morning for some lunch and a long nap...

Then late afternoon we went over to our dear friends Chuck and Jenny's house for their two little boys cowboy themed birthday party. There was yummy BBQ, fun friends, and a whole backyard for the kids to play in. They did a game were they divided up into teams and used broomstick horses and ran back and forth across the yard to see who would win..Well Sam was too young to play but loves to run and broke out of Dan's hold and started running back and forth with all the kids..It was the cutest thing..Sam had a blast and so did we....