Santa's Munchkin

A couple of weeks ago we ventured out to the mall so that Samuel could have his first experience visiting with Santa. I was expecting bawling and desperate attempts of reaching out for me while Sam was in Santa's lap, but instead there was silence. Samuel waved to Santa as I sat him down on his lap and Sam just stared. Santa's Elves were snapping pictures trying to get one of Sam smiling; however there were only nervous stares coming back their way. Then I saw the perfect moment, Samuel was gazing up at Santa and Santa was shooting Samuel a smile back letting him know everything was alright. This wasn't a cheap looking Santa but one who looked like the real deal, the one all children dream about. He had a real long white beard, glasses, and the warmest most friendliest face. It was so cute so I wanted to share that picture with everyone.

Buddies & other stuff

Samuel and I really enjoyed having Becca and Normy over for a play date. I was surprised to see that they hit it off right away. Sam was a little confused at why some other kid started playing with his toys immediately, but sharing wasn't really an issue. Instead the boys loved running through the vertical blinds and starting to play with the pillows on the couch. Giggles were loud and long. It is so nice that the boys are finally old enough to play together.



Here are some photos of Sam trying to pick out a good Christmas tree.




We can't wait for the holidays this year and there is hardly any waiting left. I've already started doing holiday goodies and all my Christmas shopping is done. The house is put together in holiday decorations and our tree looks beautiful all lit up with the gifts snug under the tree. And besides all the hustle and bustle we are still waiting for our newest addition to our family that isn't supposed to arrive until Jan 22nd, but I have a feeling Isaac may come earlier than expected. What a new year it will be!

Dancin' Fool

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1st Birthday

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Okay this is just me messing around with Becca trying to figure out how to do drop box videos on the blog; hence the reason I'm just now getting this short video of Samuel's first birthday on here. Oh well! Enjoy!

Scarecrow Night

I must say that Samuel is the cutest scarecrow that I have ever seen. Even with his makeup somewhat askew and his spiky hair in lieu of a hat (because he won't wear one) he did such a good job. Here I thought that there was going to be a major battle to get him to participate, but the toughest part was just getting his shoes tied. Who would of thought?





Our first house was at Uncle Keith and Aunt Kathy's house, where he was still just a newbie. When Uncle Keith tried to put candy in Sam's pail, Sam quickly dropped the pail on the ground with his hands held out to receive the candy. Oh well. We got it all figured out by the next house. Off to Grandma and Grandpa Kellen's house! Here there was already a premade goodie bag for him filled with treats and Crayola ToDoodles. Laughs were shared about how cute he was, and we were trying to keep all of his stuffing in place.

House number three was off to Grandma and Grandpa Ledom's house. Here Sam held out his Halloween tub accepted the treats until he saw the BIG bowl of treats sitting on the ottoman in the living room. Once that was spotted Sam helped himself to the candy, taking one big handful at a time and placing it into his tub until it was overflowing....smart kid!

From there we ventured out to a couple other houses where Sam accepted more candy and then tried to help himself inside the nice lady's house, and for the next one he wanted inside to pet the doggie. Good grief. Either way this Halloween was so much fun and I can't wait for next year where he should really get into it, and not to mention his new side kick that will be 9 months old. Oh goodness.

I hope everyone had a wonderful night. Happy Halloween!

What's New?

Well folks I'm not sure what to tell you about Sam right now, because I have been finishing up school and now I am very proud to announce that I am finally a college graduate! I do have some pictures that I want to share, so enjoy.



These pictures are before our nightly walk after dinner. Samuel loves his mittens and his new stocking cap; which makes things much easier for me...there is no fighting to get these items on! Yea!

This year's trip to the Shaake's pumpkin patch was a success. Samuel enjoyed the open space to search for his perfect pumpkin. He tried to pick up a few, but needed Daddy's assitance. Our yearly pumpkin carving will happen this weekend.





Sam also has started to take a personal liking to baby powder after each changing. These pictures show what can happen when Daddy forgets to close the baby powder. Oops!


We also ventured out to the Maple Leaf festival in Baldwin Kansas where Great Auntie Kathy and Great Uncie Al had a gathering. There were pony rides and Sam loved his pony!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

I may be little but I'm a BIG Jayhawk fan!

Filling Daddy's Shoes

Samuel is crazy about shoes. He goes to the shoe basket every single day and drags EVERY shoe through the hall, into the living room, and maybe if I'm lucky he drags them all the way back to the shoe basket.


Sam has tried to walk in my flip flops and today he tried to step into my heals; but what I find most adorable is Sam wanting to wear his Daddy's shoes. The size 12 shoe only allows him to wear one at a time, and even then he is grabbing for objects to help him along with his walk; as Joel and I will with him in his journey of growing up. Sam stands in his Daddy's shoes and I wonder what he'll be when he grows up, and then I think that one day Sam will put on his Dad's shoes wonder if he could possibly be just like his Daddy. I couldn't wish for anything better for him. Joel and I have been through a lot together and I can attest to him being a fantastic man; and I have been lucky enough to call him mine. I have enjoyed our journey thus far and can only imagine the memories that are yet to come. I love you Joel, and wouldn't change anything for the world because we wouldn't have the relationship we do now without the good and the bad times. It is all worth while with you by my side.

Boy #2

Joel and I had our first sonogram yesterday afternoon and found out that we have been blessed with another baby boy! Yup, Samuel will have his sidekick this January. Now we are stuck trying to pick out the perfect name for Sam's little brother; and it took us forever to come up with Samuel's name. Errr...we have already sought help from a baby name book and have started to come up with some possible name variations. I am so excited at this point. I can feel the baby moving around like crazy, and soon we will have a name for the baby boy waiting to see us.

Now when I go to the store I can think of all the things that we will need for this second child. I can oooh and ahhh over soft blankies, snuggly baby clothes, and a much needed bassinet. I am thankful that we shouldn't have to purchase to many items, however Samuel was born in the late spring while this baby is going to be born in the dead of winter. So it looks like winter clothes are in store for us to seek out. I can't wait! My bundle of joy will be here soon and Sam will be blessed to know what it is like to have companionship with a brother. They will surely make quite a pair to see.

Change of Weather

The older I get the more I enjoy the fall season. Christmas is 3 months away but I am already feeling the Christmas spirit. I'm excited to be in comfy hoodie sweatshirts and to wait for that next little kick or roll from my developing baby. I also have my first sonogram to look forward to at the end of this month. We are dying to see what sex we will be blessed with for this birth. I also will graduate with a bachelor of science with a concentration in business healthcare administration the end of October. As you can see there are all sorts of milestones to look forward to this fall. But until then we will enjoy daily walks, which will now be refreshing, and I can fix my Mom's homemade baked potato soup with bread bowls, MY FAVORITE! Hot chocolate indulgences will now feel right at any time of the day, and so will baking some of my favorite goodies. Yes, fall is knocking at my front door.


I look at Sam and can't believe how much he has grown and how quickly time passes. Recently he has been fighting the aches and pains of new teeth coming in, and believe me, he has made up for only having 2 teeth up until he was one. We now have 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom. He can finally take bites of food instead of gumming it to death. Sam can also say a few words: Blue, Dog, Bird, Hot, Gus, More, but mostly he likes to make a 'Gung Gung' sound and point at what he wants. I suppose he will talk when he is good and ready. We have also started making attempts at sitting on the potty; which I realize is early but I'm determined to have him potty trained by the time baby number two comes along. He looks so cute sitting on the big boy potty! We sit in between diaper changes and I figured it couldn't hurt. If he happens to go, we will try and make a big ordeal out of it so that maybe he'll understand what he is doing.


The holidays will be so much fun this year. The pumpkin patch he'll enjoy walking around on his own and being active in the festivities. At Christmas time Sam's expressions will be priceless, and I don't want to forget the arrival of our next bundle of joy after the new year! The time really will fly away.

Familiar Places

As I mentioned in my last posting we went to see our good friends Meeghan and Raymond Giles get married; along the way we stopped to do some of our favorite things in our old area. I thought that I would share some pictures. We love to go to the horse races at Arlington Park and we were able to stay for 6 out of 10 races before it was time for Sam to nap.







This is Sam pooped out from seeing the horses.

And sadly this is the only picture that came out decent of Meeghan and I. I'm sure there were other opportunities to get all of us in one picture but I guess I'll continue to wait for one of those.

On another free day we went and walked down town Libertyville and went into my favorite store Someone's In The Kitchen. Here is a few of what Libertyville looks like.





Finally, because of the sizzling heat I bought Samuel a little pool to put on our back patio. As you can tell there isn't much water in it, but he didn't need a lot of water to have fun. The fun lasted all of 15 minutes before the +100 degree heat was just too much.





I also swung by my old work on base to say hi to all of my friends working for the government. Sadly, not everyone was there, so here is a shout out to Corrine and Ryan whom I didn't get to hug that day. I miss you guys!