Our Weekend

We had a great, relaxing weekend. Since Mike is pretty well finished with his trimester and the next one doesn't start until next week there was nothing that we HAD to do. We spent some time preparing for next trimester, lots of time playing together and time planning for baby number two's arrival. Saturday afternoon we headed down to Green Lake. Annie, Jenn and Samuel took the nice 3 mile walk around the lake while Mike sat at the local coffee shop to get started on some reading for summer classes. Afterwards we played in the park for awhile before meeting up with Jon for dinner.

Sunday afternoon we ran some errands around town. We hit up Babies R Us to look into the car seat and double stroller we will be needing soon. We also made a trip to Best Buy and looked around at a few fun toys. All in all it was a great weekend with family!

Gas Prices

Mike took this picture as we were driving home last night. Unbelievable huh?

Baby Shower

This past Sunday, we had the privilege of throwing a couples baby shower for our good friends, David and Jessi. They are expecting their first, a little boy , at the end of May. We are so excited for them and look forward to watching them enter parenthood.

Everyone seemed to have a great time. Good food, good games, lots of great presents and fun baby talk. I think the majority of the women there were all expecting!

Samuel loved playing with the balloons afterwards. He would run into them, get all tangled and laugh. It was pretty cute. He also thought it was great that they kept going up in the sky! He did have some disappointment when they lost their helium and now lay on the floor! I guess that is one of the hard lessons of life!

Our Little Escape Artist

Saturday afternoon Mike and I had the biggest scare since our entrance into parenthood. We were both in the process of getting ready to leave for the MHGS Spring Banquet (yes, we were running a bit late). Samuel had been playing really well in his room while Mike and I were getting dressed, packing bags and grabbing the final things we needed.

I came out of the bedroom and peeked in Samuel's room...he wasn't there. I asked Mike if he was with him and got the response of "no...I thought he was playing." I did a quick scan of the living room, listened for any noises and determined..."he's gone!" Samuel has discovered the ability to undo the deadbolt of the door, open it and apparently take off.

Mike took off down the back stairs while I did a look through the typical hiding spots in the house. As Mike was rounding the last set of stairs along the back of the apartment he saw the flash of Samuel run around the front of the building...laughing...thinking it was a great adventure. Mike took off after him since he was headed toward the parking lot and caught him halfway down the drive.

Samuel was panting and had probably had the biggest adrenaline rush he has ever had. To recap...he undid the deadbolt, opened the door, went down three flights of stairs and took off across the parking lot in less than three minutes. Meanwhile, I was still searching the apartment, beginning to panic as the ideas of what might have happened started to go through my head.

Oh...the joys...
We are calling our apartment complex about installing a chain!

Fun in the Park

The other day we all needed a little break so we headed out to the park. The weather here has been pretty nice lately so the outdoors has become much more intriguing.

This is a little park that is right near our current apartments. It is really pretty nice. They have a kids play area, a huge field and a pavilion with a great grill. We are thinking this will be the location of Samuel's 2nd birthday party!

Samuel loves slides, but a still a bit hesitant about heading down them. It is actually nice to know that he does have a little bit of fear since we are use to him throwing his body all over without a care in the world that the cement might be hard or that someone might not be there to catch him!

We also had to grab blizzards on the way. Dreaming toward those nice summer days!

Story Time with Buba

The other day I was drying my hair in the bathroom, looked out into the bedroom and this is the scene I saw. Samuel usually will sit outside the door and "read" this book while I get ready. Lately has been showing and increase in his love for Bailey. Apparently he felt that she would also enjoy the story so he climbed up to share it with her.

Let's all hope he loves his sibling this much!

Fun in the Tub

Samuel continues to love his bath time. His latest has been laying down on either his stomach or his back. He thinks he is so funny when he puts his ears, chin or nose in the water. He doesn't seem to mind a bit of water in his eyes unless we happen to do so when washing his hair. We snapped a few "decent" pictures the other night so I thought I would share. Yes, we are fully aware that one day he will hate us for these and yes we will pay for his counseling to deal with it!

Helping Mommy

This morning Daddy had his last weekend of class for the trimester. Mommy was feeling a bit "under the weather" so I thought I would make everyone some banana bread and banana muffins. Mommy helped me get the recipe down and all the ingredients out and I went to work!

My favorite part was using the blender! I loved the noise and thought it was hilarious to watch the ingredients mix together. I think I might have been so excited I may have over mixed a bit! Oh well. Mommy even let me scoop the batter into the muffin tin!

It was so much fun. Don't worry, she wouldn't let me put it in the oven even though I was sure I could have done it all by myself!

Happy Easter

We had a great, relaxing Easter this year. Samuel was up at 4:00am (still on EST) so the Easter bunny didn't make his appearance until after nap time. Samuel was so excited about finding eggs and his presents. It was a lot of fun to watch.

He went searching for the eggs around the apartment as was very excited when he got to open them. He loved the candy and the money!

The Easter bunny also brought a few new Bob the Builder videos, Bob the Builder toys, a new memory game and a Sesame Street puzzle. Of course we had to open all of it right away!

Spring Break

As many of you know, Samuel and I just returned from a nine day trip to Florida with Nana and Papa. This was the last year that Uncle Mike would be playing baseball so we all suffered through the sun and warmth to be there. It was a great trip complete with a day at the Magic Kingdom. Samuel loved it and it was a ton of fun to watch his excitement over the smallest of things. Here is a recap of our trip through a few pictures.

Here comes the parade!

Samuel liked the characters as long as they were fake!

Riding on the carousal with Papa!

Pluto was one of Samuel's favorite. He even got to pinch his nose!

Playing in the water was a ton of fun. It was also a great way to cool off!

Samuel and Nana watching the parade together.

Building a Mr. Potato Head .

Mommy and Samuel outside the castle.

Planting flowers in memory of Grandma Donna.

Showing everyone how he is already learning to drive.

Uncle Mike hit his first home run of the season and guess who got the ball!

Playing in the sun!

Keeping cool down by the pool!

All the girls were jealous!

Lego Land would have been daddy's favorite. We look lots of pictures for him.

Nana, Papa and Samuel during our last night out!