Wow, it's been too long since I have updated this page... I will try to get better at it though.  Here's a quick breakdown of what life has been like lately...

In late September, Whitney, Sam and I took a trip to Cincinnati for Tiffany's wedding.  It was CRAZY.  We were so insanely busy and Sam did not want to sleep the first night at all.  He did really great in the car and we had a lot of fun.  Tiffany was beautiful and it was such a blessing to be able to see my girlfriends again.  Also Sydney is such a doll and Naomi makes a great mother! Oh, and I would not have been able to take that trip without Whitney!  She was amazing.  She is the best Aunt ever and Sam knows it!

     

When we got back from Cincinnati we had two days to rest then we headed out to Virginia Beach for our family vacation.  It was a nice break since Cincy was so heck-tic.  Sam did great in the hotel with us after the first night and John, Sam and I got to spend some time together each morning walking down to get hot chocolate from Starbucks and walking back on the boardwalk.  The mornings were so beautiful and quiet.  I love the sound of the ocean just not the sand.  Sam got to play with Grandma and Grandpa in the sand and  he loved it.  I cringed at all that sand in all his little crevices.  At the end of our trip Whit, Dad and Mom built a really great sandcastle.  Also I read two books on my vacation and it was wonderful.  I really wish we had a borders or barnes and noble around here!

    

I have been doing the church newsletter now for four months and I am really getting into the swing of things.  I have also been working on a website that showcases my photography; slowly inching forward to doing it professionally.  The site I have up right now is www.anewpov.net , I really encourage you to take a look and let me know what you think.  be patient as the photo's take a little while to load.  

Last week I had the privilege of taking Sam's 12 month photo's.  They turned out really well.  He is growing so fast and as I've been looking at photographs from a year ago I am amazed at just how different he is.  He's crawling like crazy and can stand on his own but hasn't shown a whole lot of interest in actually walking.  He loves Cherrios, the cats and when you say "bless you" after he sneezes.  He's so laid back and happy.  John and I are incredibly blessed!

      

Now we are getting ready for his 1 yr birthday!  He's going to be going as nemo and I've been letting him wear the costume every day so he'll get used to it.  

Well that's about it.  I hope you enjoy the update and the pictures! 

 

In an effort to "go green" dad has purchased the green shopping bags from the commissary. You can get them everywhere and sometimes they come with little bonuses.  I think if you get the bags at Giant you get $1 off at the register... and hey a buck is a buck.  Anyway, it's a good thing and the bags really aren't very expensive... also they carry more than a regular shopping bag... the only adverse effect that I have seen is that I can never seem to find a plastic bag to put the dirty diapers in anymore... oh well... I think I'll live.  The other great thing we found that these planet saving bags do is keep Sam entertained... He loves crawling around in them and getting picked up.  I took the opportunity to take some pictures outside of him "going green"!

  Also Sam has now cut 4 teeth, 2 bottom and 2 top.  The bottom left came in first then the two top teeth then the other bottom tooth.  He's been a real trooper and I don't think we've even seen much change in his personality which has been great.  He's such a happy baby.  And he's finally crawling!!! He scootched for about a month before he crawled but now there is no stopping him!  Well that about wraps it up.  We are looking forward to the rest of our summer. 

Sam has found his tongue!

Sunday night we got Sam up from his nap and he started making the funniest little faces... John requested that I put some up so you all can take a peek.  He loves to stick his tongue out but I think the funniest ones are when he was readying himself for the camera... check it out

Boy has this kid got it easy... I don't have any pictures of it but Grandma thought her little boy was getting too much sun so she made some shade for him with two kick boards propped up on the float, pampered or what.

And all that floating around in the pool can wear a kid out... check out the little baby lounging chair!

Well that's it for now.  I hope that all our weekends are as fun as this one!

Hi everyone, I know that it's been awhile since we've last posted... things have been crazy around here and summer has just really snuck up on us this year.  Anyway, I thought I would put a couple of pictures of Sam up enjoying his baby pool.  We put him in it for the first time over Memorial day weekend and he seemed to really like it (after the water warmed up a little) He was all set with his little hat and swim shorts... and yes a healthy heap of sunscreen!

Above is Sam lounging in his little pool, not quite sure what this was all about.  He's not used to sitting in water as he gets showers and not baths most of the time.

Here he is eating his little float toy... it's a cute little turtle that wraps around his belly.  He loved it because it had a rattle in it and that just fascinated him... also it looks like it made him a little hungry... 

This is another little pool toy that he got his mouth on.  By this time he was really getting used to being in the water.  I can't believe how much he's grown!