Sammy 19 Months

It has been amazing to see how much Sammy has grown in the past month.  And I don't mean physically - I mean as a little person.  

It seems like every day he learns a new word.  He's added please, tree, juice, orange, that, treat, to his vocabulary.

He's also even started saying very short sentences.  Within a half hour one day he said, "I want that" and "orange juice please."  It was adorable!  

In fact, his favorite thing to do now is bring me fruit snacks, hold them up to me, and say please over and over again.  It's so hard to say no!  

He also found himself a lovey this month and you'll never guess what it is.  Not a stuffed animal, and not a blanket - a golf ball.  Yep.  Give the kid a golf ball when he's headed to bed and he'll snuggle right up with it.  Makes it super handy, as we have a whole bucket of them in the garage so we don't ever have to worry about losing his lovey.  

Another cute thing he's started to do is make kissy sounds until you look at him and then he'll lean in a plant one on you.  Can you tell I adore this little man? :)

Lucy 3 1/2 Years

Lucy is 3 1/2! This is quite exciting for her as her next birthday is now closer than her last one.  She's already started the birthday list. :)

She is a lesson of extremes at this age.  One moment she is the grumpiest little creature in the world - "I'm not playing with you ever again!."  The next, she's giving you hugs and kisses and telling you she loves you.

One moment she doesn't want to be anywhere near a brush or clothes for that matter.  The next, she's piling on the princess dresses and wanting five bows on each pigtail (see picture :).  

We're doing Joy School with 5 other moms and their kids in the neighborhood this year and she loves it!  She is a really good student too.  She sits and listens and really learns what she's taught.  She even learned (from someone? from watching me? I don't know!) how to write her name all by herself.  I was super proud of her the first time she did that.  The next day we went out to eat as a family and while we were waiting for our food, she practiced on the paper place mat.  Then she wanted to learn how to write Sammy's name, so I taught her how to write Sam and she practiced that too.  

She loves to draw and play dress up and do all things girly.  She is drawing our family in this cute picture.

And finally, she loves to dance and sing and move.  Her first dance recital is in a couple of weeks.  Spencer and I got to watch her dance class the day before Thanksgiving and it was so cute.  She is growing up so fast, yet she'll always be my "baby girl."

Deckin' the Halls!

Lucy was so excited when Thanksgiving finally arrived because it meant that we could put up Christmas decorations! She even got a practice run at my grandma's house as the family put up her tree after Thanksgiving dinner.

Sammy was all for it too - you mean new toys?!

She loves putting ornaments on the tree.

 In fact, I think the bottom half of our tree has been redecorated five times already!

Sammy's favorite part was the "balls."  This kids loves just about everything 'boy' - cars, trains, balls, you name it!

Lucy was having so much fun, we let her put the angel on top too.

Sammy 18 Months

Sammy at 18 months... unfortunately I waited until he is almost 19 months to write this is it's kind of hard to remember already!

But this much I do know - he has learned new words and gained two new teeth.  He learned 'please' and 'choo-choo.'  And his top inscisors came in.  That was not a fun few nights. 

He loves to play with balls and trains and cars and Lucy's kitchen.  He loves to "help" mop and sweep the floor and he loves to go outside. 

He has gotten better about being with other people - he hardly ever cries when left with a babysitter.  But he is always excited to see Mommy again.  :) 

Stay turned.  He'll be 19 months before you know it! ;)

Family Photos 2011 Edition

We had new family photos taken last month and I love the way they turned out!

 I'm having a hard time picking between the first and second photos for which should be our family photo on the wall. Thoughts?

 My friend Lauren took them again this year and she did great! Thanks Lauren!

I was a little worried about Sammy because the kid never stops moving but we got some good shots.

 Spencer and I :)

Love this one! This was outside a building but it looks like a studio shot.  I have the cutest little girl ever!

Such a handsome little man!

 The girls.

 The boys.

 Sammy and Mommy.

Lucy and Daddy.

And I had to put this one in. :)

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess named Cinderella.

She lived in a house with her friend (brother), Gus-Gus the mouse. 

Prince Charming and the Fairy Godmother lived with them and took care of their every need.   

This year Lucy actually had an opinion about what to be for Halloween and of course, she picked a princess! Every year we've had kids, we've coordinated so that's just what we did!

My mom made the kids' costumes and did a fabulous job.  The mouse costume was so soft and adorable and the Cinderella costume got so many great compliments. I made mine and Spencer's costumes. 

We had lots of opportunities to wear them too - story time at the library, dance class, ward Halloween party, and, of course, Halloween.

The kids loved Halloween and were so excited to wear their costumes.  Lucy knew exactly what to do this year and taught Sammy along the way.  He was so cute to watch as he figured out what was going on.  "You mean they give me candy? Just for being on their porch? Ok, I'll wear the ears."

Before dinner, we decided to carve some pumpkins too.  Lucy helped decide what shapes to make all the eyes, noses, etc...

And Spencer did the carving.  I love the look of concentration on Sammy's face in this picture!

Here are our finished masterpieces.  :)

Pumpkin Patch

Last week for Joy School, we went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch. 

We went to a farm nearby and had so much fun!

They had goats the kids could feed and pet, although I think they liked climbing the pen the most.

Isn't he handsome? :) 

There was also a little mini-corn maze.  Going through it with the kids was like herding cats.  We mostly just let them run around in the corn.

After that we went for a hayride around the farm.  The kids loved it - so much so, that it was impossible to get a photo of both of them looking at the camera.

Sammy's eyes were bigger than his muscles while picking out his pumpkin.

Lucy looked long and hard trying to find her pumpkin.

She finally settled on this fun bumpy one with a super cool stem. She's pretty happy with it. :)

After picking out pumpkins, the kiddos played on some tractors.

Sammy loved them! He was hard to pull away from these fun toys!

"Alright guys, I'm ready to go!"

Here is our whole group in front of one of the tractors.  The farm let every kid pick out a pumpkin to take home for free.  We had a great time!