Samuel's 2 yr check up

Today was Samuel's 2 yr check up.  We use Dr Martin at All for Kids.  We love her!!

Casey and I were talking about his "stats" and I got inspired to go look up his old ones. 

I've told you before, I was not great with the baby book keeping, so I'm missing some of them. 

Date                      Height   %            Weight    %            Head      %

2/24/09                21           50           9.5          50           14           25

3/23/09                22 ¼       50           11           50           16           35

8/10/09                26 ¼       30           16           20           17 ½       60

10/21/09              27 ¼       25           18           25           17 ¾       50

2/1/10                   29 ¾       50           21.4        15           18 ½       75

4/28/10                31           50           22           25           ?              70

1/31/11                35 ¾       82           30           73           19           50

He finally grew into that big ole' head.  :)

Learning about Jesus-even at his age.

This was in Samuel's diaper bag today from Sunday School. I feel so blessed that God has taken me to a church that starts teaching our little ones God's word at this age.  There's no simple babysitting going on at Immanuel. No siree, just good Bible lessons.   



When Did I Become THAT Mom?

Remember all the things you said you'd NEVER do when you were a parent?  Yeah, me too.  They are all slowly coming to me. 

I remember sitting and watching people at restaurants letting their kids watch their iPhones and swearing I would never do that. How awful that they couldn't entertain their child or keep him/her quiet with good discipline. 

Look at the following pics to see if you would like to eat some of the crow pie I've been enjoying.  

My Little Music Man

Samuel is a musical little dude. Shannah and I first noticed it when she was spending the week with us. She brought her Glee DVDs and whenever a song would come on, Samuel would stop and just stand and watch, trancelike. 

He has gotten some new musical instruments for Christmas and his birthday.  Here are some fun videos of him.  

He called me Mommy!

Since Samuel has been talking, he called Casey, Daddy.  He called me, Momma.  I love it! 

When I come to daycare to pick him up, he says, "Hi Momma!" and runs over to me.  If I am out somewhere and come home, he runs from the office or living room and says, "Hi Momma!"  If I look at him in the rearview mirror at him he'll always smile at me and say, "Hi Momma!"

But I must confess, I have always dreamed of being called Mommy.  I always refer to myself as Mommy when we talk about anything or I show him how to do things. 

Well, today when I got to Rockefeller, he was on the big red cart touring the building.  When he saw me, he yelled, "MOMMY!"  I nearly melted right there.  I'm sure Ms. Jahta thinks I'm nuts for having tears in my eyes over that. 

I've been testing him all evening to make sure it wasn't a fluke.  He's still saying it!  I wonder how long it will last?

More Birthday Weekend Traditions-The Big Buck Classic

In keeping with January traditions, we headed to the Big Buck Classic on Sunday. 

No, we didn't go the year Samuel was born, but certainly not because Casey didn't want to.  I simply wasn't able to walk that much.  But last year and this year, we (Casey, Grant, Samuel and I) headed out. 

I dressed Samuel appropriately-John Deere clothing and cowboy boots.  

Before we left, he did a little drum performance.   He's super talented, of course.  :)

He's so good in his stroller.  He just rides around looking at everyone.  Waving, saying Hi! and Bye! when we pass people. 

Every year, they have these horrible rattle snakes.  There are men just sitting in lawn chairs inside this cage WITH them!  They are, clearly, NUTS!

After we had our fill of camo and caged animals, we headed to lunch at Shorty Smalls.  We were all craving a good hamburger. 

As long as we don't offer options, Samuel will sit in a high chair and just entertain himself.  He played with his two cups and his cars. 

Shorty Small's Kids' Meals come with a fudgesicle as dessert.  Yummy! 

What a wonderful weekend! 

Samuel's 2nd Birthday

Welcome to Samuel's Vroom Vroom Party.  Here are a few of the decorations I used.  I scurried around all morning getting stuff hung up and keeping him entertained.  

This pennant went FOREVER!  I wrapped it all the way around the dining room and living room and then still had enough to go all the way up the hallway. 

Here's all the food.  It's sort of hard to tell, but the Rice Krispie treats have M & Ms to look like stop lights, the chocolate donuts have white icing in the middle to make them look like tires, the sausage balls and cheese cubes have little racing flags. 

No, I didn't come up with all of that by myself.  The internet was SUPER helpful. 

We planned Samuel's party for 3:00. Samuel usually naps from 12-2. 2 hours tops.  Saturday, I had to wake him up at 2:45!  It took him so long to "wake up" and get un-cranky.  He came into the living room and laid down like this. 



Amid all these guests. 

When it came time to open presents, Samuel wanted no part of it. 



So the other kids opened for him. They were so sweet. Reese was in total shock about how it was possible that someone wouldn't want to open presents. 



 Okay, well, maybe these presents aren't so bad...

He got this guitar from Aunt Jess. He LOVED it. He held it and played it while we sang Happy Birthday to him.  He wouldn't put it down even to eat the cake!



Samuel is 2. And No, I can't believe it!

Samuel turned two today.  I am still in shock.  It really does seem like yesterday when I waddled into the hospital to have him. 

I stayed home with him today. I wasn't able to last year--he was sick and my mom was in town and I had just started a new job.  I regretted it all year.  I'm going to stay home with him until he starts kindergarten.  Luckily, his 4th birthday will also be MLK day.  :)

We started the day hanging out at home.  Our mail ran really early and he had some presents from my Aunt's waiting on him.  

I submitted a homemade birthday card to PBS Sprout to see if they'd read it on their Sunny Side Up Show.  They Did!!  Here it is!  He's famous! 

We met up with Sarah and Owen and went to Firefly Pottery to paint their handprints on tiles(we did it last year for Owen's b-day party and I wanted a hand print this year--a tradition I hope to keep up.)

When he woke up from his nap, Aunt JuJu(Julie) came over to give him his birthday present.  It is the coolest car.  He was very excited about it. 

We had pizza for his birthday dinner.  I know.  I'm the laziest mom ever. 

We transitioned his room from a nursery to a toddler room.  He is now sleeping in a Sesame Street museum.  :-)

We let him open our presents tonight, too. There'll be plenty at the party.

Then he played some more before bedtime. 

It was such a wonderful day. 

Samuel is such a happy little guy.  He loves his sleep--YAY!! Loves to play with cars and trucks and anything with wheels.  He can make tons of animal noises.  He's very bossy--always telling us to sit sit or go!  He is perfectly able to communicate his desires.  We love not having to guess about what he wants. We don't love that he's sometimes hard to please. :)

He keeps Casey and me giggling.  He makes fun facial expressions and will someday get in trouble for not guarding those expressions.  I foresee a serious talk about not making ugly faces when someone says something stupid.  The same talk I got as a child. I hope he listens better than I did. 

Samuel, you are the light of our lives and we love you more than anything in the world.

Scrappin Heifers

So I told you about my hesitance about scrapbooking.  Here are the ladies who convinced me otherwise.  This is a wonderful group of Christian ladies from Conway and Central Arkansas. So, not only was I surrounded by fun women, they were Godly women.  We had such a wonderful time of fellowship and fun.  

Here's our door prize exchange time.  I feel so bad for the lady who got my gift.  I was so new, I had no idea what to buy.  I'll take her something special next time. No, seriously, it was that pitiful.  I got the coolest little storage container for all of the brads and eyelets.  I can't wait to fill it!   

We took a group picture for Conway's local magazine, 501.  We used my camera, so I got the picture!  Bonus!

Now for the highlight of my weekend.  I got to meet a wonderful lady, Heather.  I have been reading her blog since August.  I LOVE HER!  She is quite possibly the sweetest lady around. I got so excited when I walked in and saw her!  It took all my self control to not squeal! 

One of the sweetest things about her is her love for her kiddos.  She would call them every day and tell them how much she loved them.  She told Connor once that she loved him more than all the animals at Heifer Ranch and another time more than all the people at their church. I got a little teary eyed everytime she said it.  I can't wait to talk on the phone like that to Samuel. 

Oh Man! I'm hooked!!

Darn it!  It's fun!  Here are the pages I've made. There's a page for every month.  With some extra for Easter and Christmas. 

This one says May, but it's supposed to be June. I changed it after I took this picture and noticed.