Just Livin' the Dream...

These are a few more photos from Samuel's first Christmas.  We believe that this Christmas was special not only because Samuel had his first, but we also were able to see all of our family and do special things that reminded us that this holiday is the celebration of Jesus' birth.  This is also the first year we really started some family traditions for our little family of three.  ☺

Grammie and PaPa went with our family to the Zoo to see the "Wild Lights" over the weekend.  We had so much fun looking around the Zoo at the lights.  Sammy stayed warm in the stroller with a large blanket over him.  He was pretty content the entire time, and he didn't make a peep. 

He did enjoy getting out of the stroller from time to time in order to walk around and see the lights or look at some penguins in the Penguin Exhibit.

This was a first for our family, and we had such a good time together.

Our family was so excited that Santa actually took time out his busy schedule to pay some good little boys and girls a visit early on December 23rd.  He came bearing gifts and Christmas cheer.  The boys and girls were happy to see him...but they were a little apprehensive when it came to sitting on Santa's lap.  The older boys and girls remembered when Santa used to visit them when they were young!  What a special surprise for us!

I was able to capture a short video of Sammy dancing with his toys for all of those who were wanting to see Sam dance.  I am trying to get a longer video...we'll see if I can get the camera fast enough next time!

Last week, we had the opportunity to travel with Aunt Tammie to see Granddad in Phoenix.  We all had a great time, and Samuel experienced a lot of firsts this trip.  Samuel had his first In-N-Out  burger.  (Side Note- this is my absolute FAVORITE fast food!  I love the concise menu, preservative free and fresh food, and the milk shakes are awesome.)  Sam also experienced PF Changs for the first time too, and he was trying to learn how to use chop sticks.  We all loved visiting the town of Prescott, Arizona for the first time.  This town was full of good shopping in quaint little places, and since it was high in the mountains, it was even snowing there. 

We exchanged gifts with Granddad while we were there, and Christian and Granddad got lots of new DVDs.  We watched some of the DVDs while we were there.  We were hoping to go swimming, but it was raining most days...but we can't complain since it was a lot warmer in Phoenix than it was in our town!  Instead of swimming, we did a lot of one of Mommy's favorite things - shopping!

Overall, we had a great time!  One of the best parts was the fact that Mommy and Daddy got to sleep in each morning while Granddad got up and played with Samuel!  We flew Southwest, and they are so kind to children.  Samuel slept almost the entire time he was on the plane, so that made Mommy and Daddy happy.  We are also glad that Aunt Tammie came too.  She was a big help with Samuel, and I know that Aunt Tammie enjoyed spending some extended time with the family.

Merry Christmas, Granddad!  We had fun!

Samuel is playing with the Granddad when we first got there.  We were waiting for Daddy to arrive with our Dodge Charger rental car... :)

In-N-Out Burger - The first of two times we ate their food. 

Samuel had his own little place at the dining room table.  He also had his own place to sleep in the playpen Granddad bought him. 

Both of the pictures above were taken in Prescott, AZ.

This is Samuel's new smile.  When he sees the red eye light flash on the camera, he smiles because he knows he is getting his picture taken.  :) 

The following is an amusing video I shot last night of Sammy imitating Daddy.  Sammy is getting pretty good at walking around, and now he is trying to multitask as he strolls.  Sometimes he holds a toy and walks around, or other times he may spin around on his foot.  Last night he was holding up his arms acting like Frankenstein and growling as he trotted over to Daddy.  Enjoy!

Cleaning is a daily part of our routine.  Something in our house gets cleaned each day, and I imagine my son waits with bated breath to see if today is swiffer day.  When I take the swiffer out of the closet to clean the wood floors, Sam dances around and tries to take the swiffer out of my hands.  If he can't pry the swiffer from my hands, then he hangs on to the swiffer and enjoys the ride.  :)

One day, I let Sammy have the swiffer to see what he would do with it.  Wow, was this boy in heaven!  All I can say is...I am so glad he inherited something from his Mommy!

It seems like after Halloween, our schedules go into overdrive - especially now that we have a child! Christian and I needed to take a break from our busy schedules, so we secured a babysitter - Tammie and her new fiance, Dave - and we headed out for an evening of fun with other adults!

We went over to our friends house, and we had a party for all the couples involved in Suppers for Six.  (Suppers for Six is a activity through our church where you have dinner with 2 other couples without the kids.  Hence, the name Suppers for Six.)  There was a good size group there, and we had a lot of fun eating the appetizers and desserts each couple brought and chatting with the others.  We always top off our evening with a gift exchange.  Everyone brings a gift that cost them no more than $5, and then we draw numbers.  When your number is called, you can either choose a wrapped gift, or you could "steal" a gift from a person that chose before you.  We had a 2 person steal limit this year.  Anyway, here are some of the more comical pictures from the gift exchange. 

Dave brought that gift!

This is what Christian ended up with.  He named the pig Douglas.  Douglas sings, oinks and squeals.  He also walks.  Sammy loves him!

Everyone was amazed by the pig.

Everyone kept stealing my gifts, and I ended up with the do rag and comb Christian is wearing.  Noone wanted Douglas the pig, so we went home with him too!

Okay, so the title may be a little premature!  But, as a proud husband, I thought everyone would like to read Tracie's review that was posted on BabyCheapSkate, a nationally read blog!  Here's the post.

Last week, we had the opportunity to visit the Magic House for free with our Parents as Teachers group.  (We have such a good Parents as Teachers program!)  It had been several years since I had been to the Magic House, and Christian and Sammy had never been, so we were in for fun times! 

The event lasted from 6-8, and Sammy's bedtime is usually 7pm.  So, the plan was to play from 6-7, and then Sammy would fall asleep in the car on the way home!  Usually, Sammy is fussy from 6-7, so we were hoping he wouldn't groan too much while we were there because he was tired. 

Sammy actually had so much to do and see at the Magic House that was appropriate for his age that we had a hard time pulling him away at 7, so we ended up staying 20 minutes longer.  Sammy did fall asleep in the car on the way home, and he also slept 12 hours that night without waking up because he was tired.  (Woo-hoo for Mommy!)

I thought I would post some pictures from our family night to the Magic House.  We had so much fun that night, and we hope you have as much fun browsing through our photos!

All I could think when I saw this pictures was, "Ewww...germs!"  If any of you knew my Grandma, you would know where I got that from.  :)

Daddy was having just as much fun as Sammy...and then, Daddy discovered the several-story slide they have!  Talk about elation!

Of course, Mommy had to try it too when she saw Daddy having fun.  I had to hurry off the slide before the 7-year-old behind me barreled into us with his flailing feet.  He was too crazy!

Daddy is so strong!

Didn't I have a nightmare about having quadruplets?

"Wash all those germs off in the water table," is what I was thinking!  I was trying to figure out if they had soap too...we found some!