5 Years

Today marks five years since Brian and I went on our first date and four years since we got engaged. 

I found a card that says the things I wanted to say more eloquently than I could say them myself:

I love you.  Not just for everything you do as a husband and a father, but for the way you do it...your humor and patience, your commitment to our home and family show such caring and love...I can't imagine sharing my life and raising a family with anyone else but you.  

Thank you, Hallmark!  Er (actually) Carlton Cards.  Tonight, we get to celebrate with monkey bread dessert and Saturday is date night!  Woot! 

Baby P #2

We had our first glimpse of this little one, today.

Isn't he or she just so beautiful?  Even though we knew he/she existed, there is something so awesome about seeing the images, listening to the heartbeat and watching all the little wiggles that are going on inside my belly.

After measuring the babe, they bumped my due date up by a few days.  The new official due date is March 13, 2013.  Since he or she will arrive by C-section, the actual arrival date will probably be about a week before that...only about two weeks after Sam's 2nd birthday.

We are so excited to have a new little person in our family - a new little person to love and snuggle and get to know.  It is hard to imagine a baby that isn't Sam, but I remember how hard it was to imagine him before he got here and then he arrived and he was just fabulous.  I'm expecting that this whole experience will be similar and now we will have the added pleasure of watching Sam grow into being a big brother.

We love you Baby P! 

18 Months!

Somehow, Sam is 18 months old today.  I'm not sure how that happened.

 At 18 months, Sam:

•  loves spending time outside.  We walk circles around the house each day and Sam spends a lot of time exploring Mabel's doggy door and wishing that his parents would let him crawl through.  He still likes going for walks in his stroller, but also likes to walk around on his own and go visit/pet the dog statue that lives up the street in our neighbor's driveway.  
• loves animals of all kinds.  We have made LOTS of trips to the zoo this summer and he is proficient at making all of the various animal sounds.  He still calls Mabel "good girl" a lot of the time, but also calls her "Beeee" sometimes, too.  I'm not really sure where that came from, but he says it in the same tone of voice that we say "Mabe." 
• is very affectionate.  Sammer is a snuggler and hugger and has started to give kisses, too.  
• loves his books and spends lots of time each day reading with Mama and Dad and also flipping through books on his own.  
• can say about 20 words, although some of them require interpretation. 
• goes through phases of laughing at strange things.  For example, a couple weeks ago, he would laugh every time we would say, "A baby cow is called a calf."  
• is working on giving up his binky.  We've just recently started using it for nap and bed times only.  
• is a  healthy boy.  He's only been slightly sick a few times and has yet to need any antibiotics. 
• loves to brush his teeth.  
• loves his cousins. 
• likes to spend time rearranging the refrigerator and cupboards.  
• eats really well and almost anything. 
• is a big boy.  He is 35" tall (98th percentile), 27 pounds (80th-85th percentile) and his head is 20" around (>98th percentile).   
• usually sleeps about 10 hours each night and two to three hours each afternoon.  
• really loves his stuffed monkey.  
• is so, so loved!  

Sunken Gardens

Who Needs a Step Stool?

Mabe

Love this pup!  And so does Sam, who calls her "good girl," although it sounds more like "guh gull."  Hmmm.  Maybe he is actually trying to say "google" and we've just been misinterpreting him. 

Sam The Man

Thought it was about time to share a few photos of our little man.  Isn't he a handsome devil?