Happy Birthday Aunt Cari!

Today, July 29th is a very special day. It is Aunt Cari's 28th birthday! Sam had a very busy day, but she made a special point to celebrate the occasion in honor of Auntie Cari, who is currently living in France. After a trip to Stanford, we stopped at Sprinkles Cupcakes (don't worry Aunt Cari, we ate one for you!) and when we got home, Sam insisted on making a special present. Allen and I had to help a little bit, and I apologize for the poor camera work!

We love you and miss you very much and can't wait to see you again!!!!

XOXO

-Allen, Becky & Samantha

(Peter and Scout too)

Out And About

Sam is nearly 7 weeks old and we have been having a lot of fun. Last week was busy for us with visits to the breastfeeding group (Sam weighed in at nearly 10lbs!), the doctor and the Morgan Hill Farmer's Market. We had a visit from my friends Kristin and Jen last Sunday and Sam got to meet Jen's son, Aiden for the first time. Though Sam isn't the best playmate quite yet, I'm sure that they will have a lot of fun together in years to come.

This past weekend, Grandma and Grandpa Ishibashi came from Nevada to see Samantha. It was a lot of fun to spend a couple of days with them and we are looking forward to seeing them again soon. Sam also met two of her cousins, Kayla and Emily for the first time last Friday morning. She had quite the busy weekend, so we stayed home on Monday to rest up for another big week.

We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and will be running a couple of errands (depending on Sam's schedule). This Friday, we are looking forward to a visit to Carla's to meet her new baby, Miss Kaylee. Carla is one of my yoga friends and her little one is just about a week old. I know Sam is excited to have a new girlfriend to play with and we are very excited to meet her.

I just uploaded some pictures and thought I would share some of our favorites. We are working on getting birth announcements out--it is hard to choose just one photo to use!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Getting ready for bed...Sam's been doing better with the nighttime sleeping. She is going for about 5 1/2 to 6 hour stretches in the evenings!

Sam is more alert and she likes to hang out in the play gym. She is even starting to "hit" the dangling animals. She especially likes the musical monkey that dangles in the middle!

She is starting to grow into her clothes!

And she now likes her swing! As I type, she is napping in the swing :)

Trying to Beat the Heat

We've had some pretty hot weather lately. On one of the really hot days, we took the following video of Samantha--pretty hilarious!!!

More Samantha Pictures

I couldn't resist!

Keeping Busy

Sam has been quite the busy girl over the past few days. This past week, we had a fun visit with Shelley and Dominic and the four of us took a walk and had lunch together. Samantha was less than thrilled with the hot weather and got a bit cranky toward the end of the afternoon. I can't believe that I didn't take any pictures from that day! I guess we'll just have to plan another playdate with Shelley and Dom!

This week, we visited both the breastfeeding and new moms groups at Good Sam. It is a fun opportunity to meet new people and get out of the house together. With the weather being so hot, it is a challenge to keep Sam comfortable, so we crank the air conditioner and try to keep her as cool as possible.

We also had another visit over at AJ & Uncle Steve's house and had a lot of fun. We spent the afternoon inside the cool house and had a great time with AJ and the girls. Sam was a bit fussy because she was having some stomach issues, but we have switched her formula and are hoping that it helps.

On Friday, we took a trip to Nana's house (my grandma) and had a really nice visit. We also went shopping for a birthday gift in Willow Glen. Sam was doing great until we hit the second store and she decided to have a meltdown. After finding the perfect gift for her friend Braden, I couldn't resist buying a couple of goodies for Sam--check out the toy giraffe and the pink headband in the pictures below.

Despite some really really really hot weather in our area yesterday, we made it out to Braden's first birthday party for a little while. It was neat to see a lot of our friends and it is absolutely crazy to think that Sam will be as big as him next summer! We are getting ready for the week and hoping that things cool down just a bit. Sam is sleeping better at night (sometimes) and we are thinking about graduating her to the crib sometime this week--fingers crossed for a good long stretch of sleep tonight!!!!

Samantha is starting to smile at us and it is so fun. It is hard to catch on camera, but this is the best I could do!

She likes to stick her tongue out and will sometimes imitate us!

First visit to Nana's house!

Checking out the Tour de France coverage online. It was a rough day for Sam's favorite team (Team Astana), so naturally she was a bit upset.

Getting ready to leave for Braden's birthday party

One Month Already?

Happy Summer Everyone!

Today Samantha is one month old and it is really remarkable how the time has been flying by! We celebrated by taking our first trip as a family to the Morgan Hill Farmer's Market. Sam was a bit grumpy when we arrived, but once we strolled all the vendors she started to calm down a bit. She was so calm that we were able to walk down to the bagel store and have breakfast outside!

Allen went back to work last week and I am happy to report that Sam and I survived the week. We had visits from family which were both helpful and fun, and Samantha and I even ventured out a bit on our own.

Here are some of our favorite pictures from the past few weeks!

Sam likes riding in the Baby Bjorn--Al wears it when he vacuums and waters the plants

Though we had a low key 4th of July, Sam was dressed appropriately!

She really loves hanging out and napping in her pink chair

Sam and I went to Santa Cruz for the first time on Thursday. Check out her "Lifeguard" onesie!

And of course, the "official" one month photo. Stay tuned for similar comparison photos in future blog postings!

3 Weeks Old

Sam is 3 weeks old as of yesterday! While the past weeks have flown by, we have really managed to pack a lot into the days. Samantha has had a few trips to the doctor, we have attended the breastfeeding group at Good Sam, there has been a visit to Grandma Aiko's house and we have spent a few afternoons/evening's at Nona JoAnn's house. Allen and I try to take Sam out for evening walks when it's not too hot and Peter usually gets to accompany the three of us.

Allen goes back to work on Monday and I am really bummed. It has been so wonderful to have him around, and he is so good at calming Samantha during a meltdown. The past three weeks have been such a special time and I know that the coming weeks will be a great opportunity for Sam and I to have some one-on-one time.

Here are some of our favorite pictures from the past week!

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July!

First "Real" Bath

This has been another busy week for us! Sam had her weight check with the doctor (8lbs 3oz) and she had her very first shot. The doctor is pleased with her weight gain and seems to think that everything is back on track. We are still supplementing with formula and she seems to be tolerating the combination well thus far (knock on wood!).

After spending a few minutes with the doctor, Samantha seemed to know what was coming. She started crying before she even got her shot! Though she let out a pretty severe scream when she got the shot, I do think that it was more traumatic for Allen and I than it was for her! After receiving a bright silver band-aid, she pretty much passed out in the carseat and slept for the bulk of the afternoon.

Now that Sam's bellybutton is healed, we gave her the first "real" bath. While she HATED the sponge baths from previous weeks, she did pretty well in her bathtub. Here are a few pictures and a video that I took. Please bear with me as I am still working on my video skills!