Happy Birthday Samuel!!!

We celebrated Samuel's first birthday with a small party in our home.  Grandma and Grandpa drove in from Missouri for the occasion and the Boyle and Nicolosi families also came to celebrate the big ONE!  We served Alessio's pizza and watermelon, Samuel's favorite foods, along with cake made by Mommy and homemade ice cream made by Daddy.  Sam was not a fan of his first taste of cake but he did have fun playing with everyone and just being the center of attention.  It was a happy day!

"oh this is cute.."

"what am I supposed to do with this?"

"OK, I'm done...."

He was really interested in the gift opening and seemed to know just what to do

His buddy Kristine....who loves him just a bit too much sometimes....

Happy Birthday Darling!

Samuel is ONE!!!

Our little pumpkin is ONE year old!!!

Dear Samuel,

Happy First Birthday sweetheart!  Thank you for blessing us with your sweet smiles and loving snuggles this year.  Your first year has been a busy and joyful one.  You've added so much joy to our family, in some ways it seems we cannot remember life before you and in other ways it seems the year has flown by.  You are growing well, now at 20 lbs and 28 inches tall, you are around the 25th percentile.  Since birth you have been a very active baby and remain that way.  It's rare that you sit in one place very long but instead love to crawl and cruise about the house, climb on anything you can, and just generally explore.  You still love to empty any cabinet, drawer or basket you come upon but now you have started putting things back in and like to play the "in and out" game.  You have started pointing to things you want or when we ask you where your ball is, you will either point it out to us or go crawl over and get it for us.  Playing with a ball is still your favorite toy, though riding in your red car outside comes in a close second these days.  Each time we go into the garage, you start saying "vroom,"  trying to get us to push you in the car and if we don't, you sometimes get upset.  The Fisher Price "house" is also one of your favorite things to play with and you have now learned how to do every activity on it by yourself.  You like to play peek a boo with your hands or blankets and never tire of the game.  For the past couple months you like to regularly make growling kind of sounds.  It's funny, you seem to be experimenting with your voice, though it ends up sounding like a bear or dinosaur a lot of the time.  Daddy has dubbed you "Sam-o-saurus."  You also still have your big squeal when you are excited which is super cute!  The three real words that you say regularly are "mommy", "daddy" and "uh-oh."  You continue to love music and seem to find it soothing when you are upset.  You especially love the children's bible music CD.  You like to look at books, especially touch and feel or flap books, but don't sit long to listen to more than 1 or 2 short ones.  You are regularly walking 3-4 steps at a time on your own but aren't quite steady enough to go much further yet.  You have 3 teeth which show often as you are a smiley little guy.  You go with the flow and along with all your sibling's schedules quite well, as you always have, and actually still nap better in the car than at home which isn't surprising since most of your naps these days are car naps.  You continue to love to give kisses and now this month have started giving great big hugs whenever we ask or sometimes even spontaneously.  Ooh, we just love those sweet snuggles from our sweet Sam!!  We love you with our heart and wish you a very happy, healthy birthday and year ahead!!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Spending time at brother and sister's soccer games

He loves to climb up and jump on the trampoline

MMM...

Those eyes......

Pumpkins!!!

We took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch the weekend before Samuel's birthday.  As always, the kids had fun just running around, climbing on the tractor and searching for just the right pumpkin.  It was a fun family fall day!

Looking at the cows

We were unable to get a picture with everyone (or anyone!) looking this year :-(

Grace Is 5 Years Old!!!

Dear Grace,

Happy 5th birthday sweetheart!  We are so proud of the young little lady you are becoming.  At this age, you are loving, thoughtful of others, helpful, and a great friend and sister.  This year we have really seen you become much more independent.  You are now taking showers by yourself, putting away your own laundry, get dressed and make your bed every day, and watching you baby brother a lot for us.  You even learned how to ride your bike without training wheels last fall and are quite the little speed demon now in our cul-de-sac.  You are a tremendous helper at home especially with Samuel and are also great at just recognizing when something needs to be done and doing it without even being told.  You play great with your brothers and particularly love to play Legos and dress up games with them.  You do still like to stir up trouble and push their buttons at times though.  You are super loving and playful with "Sammie" as you call him and care for him like a little mommy.  At school you play well with all the kids and love to learn.  You have started sounding out 3 letter words and learning a few site words.  You can count to 40, know your address and phone number, can rhyme and recite numerous nursery rhymes, and can write all your letters fairly well.  You continue to love your gymnastics and dance classes and this fall are even playing soccer and baseball for the first time.  You love all things Frozen, dancing, riding your bike and scooter, coloring/drawing, playing with your dolls and dollhouse, and playing puzzles or board games.  We feel blessed to be your parents and are so thankful for you!  May you be blessed with another year of health and happiness!

With Love,

Mommy and Daddy

GRACE'S FAVORITES AT AGE 5:

Stuffed Anima/Doll - Baby Caroline

Food - rice krispy treats

Movie/Show - Frozen

Clothes to Wear - Elsa shirt with orange and yellow skirt

Game - Candy Land

Snack - pretzels

Animal - cheetah

Song - Let It Go

Book - Strawberry Shortcake Ballet book

Friends - Anna, McKenna, Kate, Jack

Drink - lemonade

Outside Activity - ride my bike and scooter in the cul de sac

Park Activity - play Frozen with my friends

Inside Activity - play castle/princesses with Mommy

Place to go - park

Fruit - bananas

Vegetable - carrots

What do want to be when you grow up?  A mommy

Happy Birthday Grace!

We celebrated Grace's 5th birthday with a big party including all her friends.  We had planned for it to be at a park pavilion however the rain did not cooperate so we relocated to our home.  About 12 of her friends along with several siblings and parents all joined in the fun.  Grace chose a Frozen theme, no surprise!  The kids "built a snowman" out of marshmallows, etc., dressed up and played Frozen all around the house, colored Anna, Elsa and Olaf pictures, played Pin The Nose On Olaf, and even broke open a piñata!  Happy Birthday Gracie!  "Some people are worth melting for..."  and YOU are one of them sweetheart!  We love you pieces!!

Nicholas made this Elsa picture for Grace :-)