Getting Ready for the Holidays

This past Sunday, Allen, Samantha and I had a blast doing our first family "photo shoot" with Laurie Bryant, a wonderful woman who holds a very special place in my heart. We got some great shots and I am really excited to display some of them in our home. It will be hard to pick one to use for our Holiday greeting cards, but hopefully Al and I can agree on one that we both like! We met out at Gavilan College in Gilroy and JoAnn came along to help us keep Samantha happy.

Speaking of Holiday cards, I have to give a shout-out to my friend Tara who recently started a great blog which showcases some really beautiful and creative stuff. She designs holiday cards, birth announcements, wrap-around address labels, you name it! All her designs are sold through Etsy.com--be sure to check out her blog when you have a second. http://www.tarabledesigns.blogspot.com/

And of course, some pictures from last Sunday!

Even though it's only Tuesday, this week has already been quite busy for us! I worked a 1/2 (okay, more like a 3/4) day yesterday and Samantha and I ran a ton of errands today. We have a lot of Thanksgiving day preparations on the agenda for tomorrow and Thursday will be quite busy for us. With the Turkey Trot in the morning and a few Turkey day visits with family, I imagine that Samantha will need to rest up for her first round of Holiday celebration.

Sam is still thisclose to rolling from tummy to back. In addition, she is drooling a ton and sticking everything in her mouth. I'm pretty sure that some teeth are on their way. We're noticing that she is making a lot more fun little noises and she is starting to really develop her own little personality. Allen and I get a kick out of watching/listening to her on the video monitor as she falls asleep and wakes up in the mornings, as she always has us cracking up!

Afternoon Nap on the Go

The last post mentioned that while I was at work last Sunday, Allen and Samantha went to her friend Bradley's first birthday party. Bradley is the son of our good friends Brent and Jen and it has been so fun to share the adventure of parenthood with the two of them.

When I got home from work on Sunday, Allen mentioned that Sam had fallen asleep while he was holding her at the party, but I didn't realize that Jen had managed to get a picture! How cute is this?

5 Months Old

I'm nearly a week behind in posting, but last Wednesday was Samantha's 5 month birthday. It is crazy to think that she is nearly 1/2 a year old and I can't even imagine how the upcoming months will continue to fly by.

Last week was very busy for us--we had Sam's 5 month birthday, our 3 year wedding anniversary and a big first for me--the first night away from Samantha. On Saturday night I had to spend the evening in Monterey to prepare for an event on Sunday. I'm happy to report that I survived, however, it was really tough to be away from the little lady. I don't think she was fazed at all--she and Allen had a great time together and they even made it out to celebrate her friend Bradley's first birthday!

Since our anniversary fell on a Tuesday, we're looking forward to celebrating with a date night very soon!

Sam is doing great! She had a touch of a stomach virus last week, so that was no fun. The doctor said that we needed to let it run it's course, but it was pretty rough, as she developed quite a diaper rash. All in all, she's sleeping well and is on a pretty good schedule with her naps. She has been doing better with her rice cereal and we're thinking about starting her on something new pretty soon. She is rolling over like a champ and is putting everything in her mouth these days. At this point, she is really close to rolling from back to tummy--in fact I think the only thing that stops her is rolling on to her arm and getting stuck! Samantha, JoAnn and I ventured out to Valley Fair last Friday to buy a birthday present, and Sam couldn't stand to miss out on all the action. She was pretty fussy in her stroller, so I put her into the sling and she was a happy camper. The sling is pretty much my favorite invention ever (at least this week)!

And of course, the pictures!

Hanging out with Kermit The Frog....
Finally a smile!
Scout can't handle it if she's not a part of the action!

And finally one of all our "kids"...yes, Peter is wearing his hooded sweatshirt. This colder weather is a bit much for our poor, hairless wonderdog
We're getting really excited about Samantha's first Thanksgiving!

What We Love About Fall...

there are waaaay too many things to list, but I'll try to capture a few!

While the sunny summer months are great, both Allen and I love when the weather turns a bit colder and the fall/winter months are upon us. Our reasons for loving the fall however, are vastly different. For me, it's all about the cute hats, warm jackets, scarves, holiday festivities--and best of all--the cooking! For Allen--the fall means one thing--DUCK HUNTING.

Over the past few months, Allen and his friends have been planning and prepping for hunting season. While I'll never understand the allure of spending the night in a smelly trailer, only to wake up before the sun rises and sit in a cold blind, I am happy to report that I have gotten Al to start taking pictures of his hunting escapades. Though I may not fully understand this hobby, he has such a good time and especially loves to take Scout out with him now!

The dog in this picture isn't Scout...I think his name is Sutter

The guys are especially proud of their duck hunting trailer. They all pooled their money during high school to purchase this beauty...While I have never had the opportunity to spend an evening inside this abode, Allen claims that it is quite "homey"

Al decided to take the weekend off from hunting in Los Banos, which worked out quite well as I had to work in the morning. Samantha and Allen spent much of Saturday together and made it out to the farmers market in downtown Morgan Hill. They were even so kind as to think of me and bring home some flowers. :)Today, I decided to make butternut squash soup. Now that we are a family of 3 (5 counting the dogs), I love having Samantha as my sidekick in the kitchen. Since her head and torso control are getting better, she is able to sit on the counter in her "sit up" seat! She was quite the helper...She picked a beautiful organic squash at Whole Foods...and after roasting it with sage and garlic, she helped me get everything ready to be pureedand I have to say that the finished product was quite good! Sammy Jo is quite the little chef!

After all our hard work, she needed some time to lay low in the play gym

And of course some time watching football with dadHappy November!

Samantha and Scout - BFF Part 2

Whenever Samantha is in a grumpy mood, our new surefire way to make her happy is to get her playing with Scout. She loves that crazy black dog!

If you listen closely, you can hear classical music playing in the background. That's another new trick for keeping Miss Samantha happy. Maybe we have a future musician on our hands???

Mmmm...Rice Cereal

For a little while now, Al and I have been thinking about trying Samantha on rice cereal, and while I have been trying to put it off, we decided that today would be the day. That's right--here's one for the baby book--November 1st, 2009--Samantha had her first taste of rice cereal.

We decided to try this after her first morning feeding, and all in all, I guess it was a success. I made the rice cereal, and I have to say that it didn't look very appetizing...

We must start with a picture of Sam pre-rice cereal!

And so began the feeding....

Hmmm...not so sure about thisWell maybe...Actually, no...

By the time we were done, it looked as though there was more rice cereal ON Samantha, but I am pretty sure that it was a good introduction of what is to come!Full and happy!And we decided to burn off all those extra calories by going for a walk! :)

Halloween Fun

We had a great Halloween weekend packed with a lot of fun activities. To start, I had Friday off of work, so Samantha and I spent the morning together--getting ready for her very first Halloween Party. After a good nap, we packed up and headed to Shelley's mom's house for a special afternoon with all of Sammy's good friends. The party included moms from prenatal yoga, baby boot camp and other assorted friends. All of the babies had costumes and there were some really creative ones out there. Besides the great snacks, witches' brew punch, and fun activities for all the little ones, it was especially fun to catch up with all the moms from my prenatal yoga group. We even had a chance to take an updated version of our original picture from our BBQ in May!


From left to right: Shelley and Dominic (dressed as a crab), Sara and Payton (dressed as a hot dog), Sam and I (dressed as a monkey), Carla and Kaylee (dressed as a ladybug) and Marianne and Addison (dressed as a Tootsie Roll). When we took our first picture, Dominic was the only baby who had joined us, so it is so fun to have all the little ones together for their first holiday! Dominic will be quite the ladies' man with all these girls as his playmates!



As usual, Shelley was an amazing hostess and Sam and I had a great time. We hope to continue with fun traditions like this as we head into the holiday season!


Sara and Miss Payton--loved her "Frankenfish" onesie!



Marianne and Addision--one month old and so adorable!



Shelley and Dominic--even though he isn't super thrilled about his costume in this picture, I LOVE this one of the two of them!


and Sam and I (pre-melt down)

Included in the Halloween festivities was a visit with Amy and Caitlin. Samantha hadn't seen the two of them since late summertime, so it was a lot of fun to meet up with them in the afternoon.

Samantha decided to surprise us with a 5:30am wake up call on Halloween morning. Though it was a bit earlier than we would have liked on a Saturday, the three of us had a lot of fun playing and catching up as a family. After a quick morning nap, we headed over to the Farmer's Market and Samantha even got her very first pumpkin. We attempted to venture out to Useugi Farms (AWESOME pumpkin patch in Morgan Hill) last weekend, but the crowds were too much to brave. I feel awful that Samantha didn't get an "official" pumpkin patch trip this year, but we will definitely make it up to her when it is time to get our Christmas tree!

On Halloween night, we were lucky to have a surprise visit from Uncle Brian, Aunt Allison and cousin Emily (Kayla had a rough afternoon and was hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa). Unfortunately, Sam was eating during their visit, so we didn't get a picture of the cousins in their Halloween costumes, but Emmy looked SO cute dressed up as a Saint Bernard!

We even made it out for a delicious dinner with friends...





Here's a picture of Allison and Samantha



and one of Addison with her Auntie Julie

and yet one more picture of Sammy in her costume...and since it is officially November 1st--HOLIDAY SEASON HAS BEGUN!!!! :) I'm going to go and watch a Christmas movie to kick things off in the proper fashion!