Samuel 5 Months Old

It's been another great month with Samuel.  He's been busy getting moving this month.  When laid on his back, he almost always flips to his belly instantly.  He rolls both ways all over and has now started scooting forward with a slow army crawl!!  We can no longer keep him on a blanket on the floor for long because he scoots and rolls right off.  He sleeps on his belly but sometimes wakes and rolls to his back and that upsets him.  In general he's not a great sleeper, particularly at night so we are really working on that right now.  In an effort to help with sleep we started a little baby oatmeal this month though he's not getting much down yet, I guess because he's still a bit young to know how to swallow it.  He loves to play in his stationary entertainer and is now bringing toys to his mouth and chewing on them.  He has even picked up his paci and put it in his mouth on his own a couple times.  He loves his bath still, splashing quite a bit now.   He has been super talkative this month too, just jabbering away when he gets in the mood.  He of course loves to be held and has grown so attached to Mommy already that it is hard for me to leave him with Daddy even for an hour!  But we love him to pieces and just cannot get enough of those Sammy snuggles and great wet kisses!!!

This month Samuel was the guest of honor at a Sip 'N See hosted by my CRHP (Christ Renews His Parish) sisters.  There were about 10-12 ladies who gathered to "see" Samuel, sip some good ole southern sweet tea and visit with one another.  We were showered with gifts and gifts cards as well which was a very nice surprise!  It was a a lovely afternoon celebrating our sweet Samuel with people we love!

Trying baby food for first time.  He was interested but didn't really know what to do with it once it was in his mouth.

Soaking up the attention at the Sip'N See

Spending time with his godfather Chad at Henry's birthday party

Spending time with Grandma and Grandpa when they visited this month

And of course, time with my big brother Henry :-)

A Georgia Winter

This winter we had two snows each totaling 1 inch :-0....not much but enough to make the kids super excited!!!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Henry Turns 3 Years Old

For Henry's 3rd birthday we held a party at home with some of his friends.  He chose a Daniel Tiger theme...about 6 months ago and has been talking about his birthday party ever since!  He was SOOO excited when the day finally came.  He and six of his little friends played with toys and in the cardboard trolley, they decorated a tiger puppet, played Hokey Pokey, and of course ate cake and ice cream.  Grandma and Grandpa had planned to be there but snow prevented them from coming until the following weekend.  What a fun celebration of our fun little Henry boy!!

Grace and Henry colored the letters of his name

I made a trolley out of a wardrobe box and other fun decorations thanks to PBS idea site.

The Daniel Tiger cake...and of course Daddy made homemade ice cream to go with it..mmm!

Sweet little Kristine's handy work (with big sister Emma's help I think :-)

Enjoying some of his new gifts

Henry's FAVORITES at Age 3

Color - red

Stuffed Animal/Doll - Baby David

Food - pancakes

Movie/Show - Daniel Tiger

Clothes to Wear - sporty ones Nana gave me

Game - Feed the Woozle

Snack - goldfish

Animal - bear

Song - Jesus Loves Me

Book - my prayer book

Closest Friend - Mary Flynn

Drink - orange juice

Thing to do outside - yard work with Daddy

Thing to do inside - clean with Mommy

Thing to do at the park - swing on the swing with you (Mommy :-)

Place to go - park

Fruit - grapes

Vegetable - asparagus

What do you want to be when you grow up?  a Daddy

Happy Birthday Henry!!!

Dear Henry,

Wow, we cannot believe you are 3 years old already!  We are so thankful for the joy and happiness you bring into our lives!  Your smile and vibrant personality is captivating to everyone you meet.  You are very social and friendly and rarely ever shy.  You love to tell jokes, make others laugh, and REALLY LOVE TO TALK!  It seems you talk all day long....no exaggeration!  So with all that practice, you have quite a good vocabulary. You are our practical child too, always seeming to have a logical solution to anyones problems, wise beyond your years it seems.  Along with your vibrant personality comes a fiery temper and a loud voice, both of which get you in trouble at home sometimes,  although at school your teacher says you are super, playing with all your friends well and very likable and funny.  You attend preschool two mornings a week and you really love it..you talk about the friends you play with, the crafts you do, etc all the time.

You are a very hard worker, particularly loving to do "yard work" outside or cook inside but you also get very excited for laundry and cleaning days!!  So you tend to tag along with Mommy most of the day, but do also enjoy playing with your brothers and sister.  Your manners are excellent for your age and you are particularly great at remembering to ask about how others are doing, whether it is on a phone conversation or when Daddy comes home from work.  You are an outside boy at heart, still preferring to play in the dirt or rake or use your leaf blower than ride bikes or play ball.

You can jump and do a somersault and really love your gymnastics class.  You potty trained last summer and rarely have accidents any more.  So far, you just know the letter H but you look for it and find it everywhere there are letters.  You can count to 12 and can sing several nursery rhymes.  You know your Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and Guardian Angel prayers all by yourself.

You love to pray and to sing, quite loudly, and usually make up your own "church" songs.  They songs or prayers usually have Moses or David included in them somewhere in addition to Jesus of course.  Every night before dinner you like to have your "prayer book" at the table and you make up your own blessing.  You are so serious about it, we love it!  When playing, you also really like to pretend you are reading from the "gospital"   :-)

In the past three years, you have brought so many smiles to so many faces, we cannot wait to see what the years ahead bring!!  We love you so very much!  Happy 3rd Birthday Henry!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Samuel 4 Months

It's been a fun month with Samuel.  He smiles all the time and is laughing a lot more now.  He has even become ticklish in his thighs and belly.  He very often will squeal with excitement when he sees a person or toy or even if he is just sitting happily chewing on his hands...which he does a lot of now.  He chews on his fists and sucks on his fingers and drools a great deal..maybe working on a tooth??  He enjoys pat a cake and especially likes being startled with peek a boo.  His big milestone this month is rolling over, both ways, back to tummy and tummy to back.  He has also started using his johnny jumper and enjoys that very much.  What makes him happier than anything else though is making eye contact and having a conversation with him one on one, me talking and him cooing away back at me.   He just beams when you do this and his eyes seem to say "you make me feel like the most special person on earth" and it just makes you want to melt with love for him.    We love you and you are super special to us Samuel!!!

Having a "conversation" with me on the changing table

He dangles more than jumps so far, but he likes it :-)

He loves rough play and tickles

Such a little ham!

Mommy's little carpool buddy

A Happy Birthday

As always, Shawn and the kids made me feel super special on my birthday.  Nicholas made breakfast in bed (photo below)  :-) and I was showered all day with hugs and kisses, homemade cards, dinner made by Shawn, and of course carrot cake.  I'm so thankful for another year with my loving family!!!