Three Days 'til Sam's First Christmas

We've had a busy week full of play dates and Christmas preparations. Here is Sam with some of his friends from our Sweet Peas play group. Pictured are Will, Ben, Sam, Macy, and Max - all born in April or May of this year! It's fun to see them actually moving around and interacting with each other now. Sam and Oscar playing at home on Friday
On Friday night we celebrated Christmas with my dad's extended family. I forgot the camera, but Sam got a cute little stuffed monkey/blanket from his Great-Grandparents. Today we woke up to some beautiful snow, and tonight we celebrated Christmas with my mom's extended family.

Grandma Kim and Sam
Jenna (She was the flowergirl in our wedding)
holding Houston (my aunt's new Shih Tzu puppy)
Sarah (Reed's Girlfriend) with Sam
Sam with Crazy Uncle Reed
Candy and Jenn
The kiddos opening gifts
Tomorrow we are going to rent a Christmas movie or two to watch in the afternoon while we enjoy some homemade beef stew. Then we are off to Candy and Jeremy's place to watch the Vikes take on the Redskins. Go Vikes!!!

Too dang cute...

This outfit is way too small on Sam now, but we had to put him in it one more time and take some pictures.

Less than a week now until Sam's first Christmas!

A Relaxing Weekend

School is done for the semester! Yeah!! This weekend I was actually able to relax with Sam and Peter without feeling guilty for not working on homework. It was great. Friday was my Mom's birthday, so Sam and I went out for lunch with Mom and Grandma Betty (who is now on a trip to Vegas!). It was nice for Sam to get to see one of his Great-Grandmas.


Both of our kids got a bath today. The furry one especially needed it!

We had a nice family dinner this past week to celebrate November and December Birthdays (Mom, Dad, Peter, and Luke). Below are Luke and Amy followed by Candy and Jeremy.

Sweet Sam taking a nap in Daddy's arms during football today....

Happy Birthday, Peter!

Sunday was Peter's Birthday!!! My mom and dad watched Sam for awhile so Peter and I could go out for lunch, do a little Christmas shopping, and enjoy some Caribou Coffee to celebrate his big 29. Mom and Dad treated us to a nice homemade dinner when we picked Sam up. A big thank you to them for watching him yesterday.
Here's Sam looking like a big boy sitting on the couch.

On Saturday night, he tried to convince us he was old enough to try Chipotle... ...but we told him not a chance until he can figure out how to put his nuk in right side up!

An attempt at crawling...

Sam is doing his best to crawl, but he doesn't quite get it yet. Here are a few shots of the little guy in his efforts...





Oscar has really been enjoying our snow-filled backyard. As for me, I'm plugging away at two presentations, two resource guides, a research paper, and a take-home linguistics final. All due between now and Thursday. Whew! Then...a break from school for three weeks. Yeah! Tomorrow I'll take a little time off from homework because it is Peter's birthday!!!

Christmas Cookie Extravaganza

I spent last snowy Saturday at my Mom's house baking Christmas cookies with my Mom, Candy, and Amy. We all met there at nine, and didn't leave to brave the slippery roads until after six! We made eight different types of cookies and enjoyed some Christmas music. Sam enjoyed just watching us in the kitchen while wearing his Santa hat. We had a great time, so we decided this was the first year of a new tradition!