Happy Birthday Baby!

Dear Sammie,

Lovebug, Sam, Sammie Pants, Baby, Ladybaby, Boo Boo...and Samantha (on occasion, if I'm mad at you). You are gorgeous and daring. In fact, you just arranged all the pillows on the floor so you'd have a softer fall when you leap from the couch. And the entire time you kept telling me "one minute, one minute". You want to do it all whether you are tall enough or have the language skills too or have the strength to...you try it regardless.

Your talking has taken off. You are one of those babies who went from nothing to sentences. Your favorite phrase and one of the first recognizable was "I want to do it!". You are easy to please and your favorite pastime is reading. Did I mention that you are gorgeous? You have this frizzy, curly, cute hair that everyone comments on. You like wearing bows this year, for a little while, anyway. You like to pick your own clothes, which is tricky as matching isn't yet a priority for you. You like to dance to the Vacation Bible School music and you are up for just about anything that entails going...you are begging to go if we aren't on our way before 9 or so. You don't however like being dropped off. You have to be handed over to a worker (i.e. at the YMCA or at church nursery, etc.); then you just hold on for a good ten minutes before you get in the swing of things. And most memorable...you can outlast the best of them with your pouting. You pout for almost any reason and it is unfortunately pretty cute. You turn your head down and stick your lips out. There is no moving you either...nothing can deter you when mid-pout.

I hope that you will take all your smarts, good looks, and persistence to the moon. I want you to do it all and be whatever you were meant to be in God's plan. I want you to know who you are. I want you to be kind when no one else is; I want you to be capable of empathy; I want you to be a great judge of character and vulnerable at the same time. I want you to have fun and be able to handle sadness. I want you to be comfortable and accomplished all by God's definition. I want you to know what you want. And I want you to know that you are loved, loved, loved.

Favorite food and drink: fruit, bananas, mac and cheese, bananas, mashed potatoes, bananas, goldfish, bananas, milk, strawberry oatmeal, bananas, cinnamon toast

Favorite show: Sesame Street

Favorite toys: your blanket, your Husky puppy, your wolf, other people's shoes, hats, the doodle pro, your stroller, your Madame Alexander baby doll, and the kitchen

Favorite books: anything Pookie, Little Bear Little Bear What do you See?, anything Olivia, and just about anything else someone is willing to read you (you read about 20 books a day!)

Trips: AL before Christmas, Omaha for Christmas, Dad's friend Brad's house

Least favorites: vegetables of any sort, cereal

Size: 18-24 months and 5 shoes

The world around you: BP oil spill, Obama is president, big Governor election in WY this year, Fayette City voted to go wet, 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, huge Earthquake in Haiti, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq ongoing, Tiger Woods divorcing, and Lebron James is going to play for Miami...of more significance: you moved from the nursery to the 2/3 class in Sunday school are are doing great and you completed your first swim class session (your favorite part is jumping in)!

Surviving and Loving March

Sammie's first shiner. Amazingly Sammie's first black eye was self-inflicted, as opposed to by her brother. She fell with a hand full of toys and apparently held on to the bitter end as they all ended up in her face. She had little cuts and bruises all over, but it didn't slow her down. She is also a professional climber. I was hoping we wouldn't have one of those...but we do. She spends most of her day stacking whatever she can find to climb to new heights. Yesterday she stacked diaper packs to get on top of the table and the day before she moved the small piano to climb it up to the big piano. Maybe Mt Everest is in her future...if she survives that long without serious injury.

No story, just cute.

The baby feeding the baby. Although I don't know whether she has the qualifications from the looks of her attire...looks like she didn't get much of her own lunch in her own mouth.

Easter basket. The bunny didn't stop here until after nap time. Good thing he didn't stay...Sammie quickly got out the two toys she liked and refused to even look at the rest. The bunny would have gotten his feelings hurt.

The hand-me down watering can is a bath time pleaser. Luke wants to plant a garden really bad. All winter I told him we had to wait until Spring and now that it is Spring I'm not sure how to explain the snow still on the ground. Hoping he won't lose interest by May 18th when it is officially planting time around this part of the tundra.

Did you know the bunny could easily carry not only baskets, but little white rocking chairs? Well, he can.

Super excited...all for a jelly bean or two. Oh, to be three again (sigh), now anything less than a Cadbury egg is a real disappointment.

Trying them out.

Momentarily corralled before heading to Easter service.

The Easter dance. Luke was posed perfectly. The idea was that his sister would saddle up beside him and the pics would quickly be taken. Nope. he glanced down the hallway, saw Sammie in a dress, and decided that dresses were meant for dancing. And they went into a full swing.

And, they danced, and danced, and danced.

Even a few twirls and dips involved.

Pajama, Pancake Friday (which is what we call any stay at home day)

Yesterday was an all day inside, in our pjs, day thanks to pink eye. Luckily Dad got Luke out a little bit when he got home, just before I killed him.
Snow angels are his favorite snow activity!

Sammie was a little testy too after being confined inside all morning long! But, then again, we get this face even on chock-full-a-fun days.

Gotta love that hair! It does just whatever it pleases.

Dear Luke

Dear Luke,

You are 3! And you are just over 3 feet tall! I have no idea how that happened or why I still carry you on occasion. Maybe cause you will always be my baby boy. You are really getting big these days...which is mostly good. You talk like a crazy man, telling stories, singing, and sassing. The funniest is when you tell a story and forget what you were going to say. You'll stop mid-sentence and look at me for the right next word, which of course I have to make up because I have no idea where the story is headed. You also tell dad about your day every evening at dinner. It is short and sweet..."I went to the park, pushed baby, got a spanking, and then we came home"...is a typical reciting. I have no idea why the other fun stuff isn't included or whether the baby pushing really was the highlight of your day.

You also repeat everything, even if you only heard it once. You routinely repeat adages that I've said to you to baby and your stuffed puppy. It is great to know you are listening, except when on occasion you also repeat them to dad when he is getting on to you for something. Like yesterday, as he was giving you a talking too I heard you mumble, "Listen here mister, I don't intend to listen to that much longer." Luckily he didn't hear you as well!

You are super nice to everybody and very polite. You make friends wherever we go, usually winning them over with your sunglasses or the cap you wore all day today. You are smart as a whip too. We started doing an hour a day of learning fun, called activity hour, and I'm pretty sure you are bored silly. Numbers, colors, letters, and shapes are sooo yesterday. I thought "what goes together" games would be fun, but you just blew through it to get onto something else...I had no idea you already had that concept down pat (the things you learn from Sesame Street!).


This year was a big one. We left San Antonio, which meant leaving Sandra, Nori, school, Mission Church, and Seaworld. We still hear about all of them quite often. We moved for the first time for you to a new house in a new place. You have experienced snow now...lots of it. You are staying at home with mom now, which is an adjustment for you too. There is no school to go to yet and we are still working on friends. But, you are a champ...while it was a rough transition you are back in the swing of things now. One thing that stays the same is your affinity with dinosaurs. You went to see Walking with Dinosaurs this past year with dad and they have since invaded our house in the form of a roaring little boy. We had to make the no dinosaurs in the house rule. Elmo has taken a back burner to Dora the Explorer and Dinosaur Train and you are learning to play with your sister (slightly more gently). Just big changes in such a little boy (who thinks he's Big).

I love, love, love you and look forward to the 3 year old year together. I don't want to rush it, but I do love seeing what changes with you every day! -Mom

Favorite food and drink: Pizza, PB&J, M&M's, Suckers, Spaghetti, CAKE

Favorite shows: Dora the Explorer, Dinosaur Train, Sesame Street, "The Funny Show" with dad (a.k.a. America's Funniest Videos); Monster's Inc. and Disney's Dinosaurs


Favorite toys: puppy (stuffed dalmatian), dinosaurs, dinosaur mountain, not really a toy but you can't live without your blanket

Favorite books: Bedtime Stories. Toddler Bible Stories, Go Dog Go (we read this every single night), all the books from the library (for some reason we read through all 10 or so every single day when the ones we own are rarely touched)

Trips: AL before Xmas; Omaha before Xmas; stop at Dad's friend, Brad's house

Activities: Walking with Dinosaurs, Elmo Live, Seaworld repeatedly, school Thanksgiving performance, Chuck E. Cheese (which is where we went for your birthday), playing the air violin to Mountain Music and Dixieland Delight (AL songs) and clapping to "The Clapping Song" (a.k.a. Days of Elijah)

Least favorites: peas, the thought of going through a car wash

Size: 3T, 7.5 shoes

The world around you: Walter Cronkite, Patrick Swayze & Michael Jackson pass away; two Americans imprisoned in North Korea and eventually released; shooting at Ft Hood; unemployment rate hits double digits; Taylor Swift is entertainer of the year; war in Afghanistan continues, as well as in Iraq; H1N1; first African American President sworn into office; Earthquake in Indonesia; Earthquake in Haiti; Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver

The cape.

You.

You skiing...inspired by the Olympic games.

Helping dad shovel snow...one of your all time favorite things to do.

Birthday breakfast...eggs, bacon, cake.

Presents -- from Sammie, a train track.

Handmade by dad for you -- dinosaur mountain.

From parents, a tractor and book, glow in the dark dinosaur stick-ons. From Hurst Grandparents - skates! From Ma and Pops...who knows...we haven't gotten it yet...so more b'day fun to come.

Vedauwoo

Not even going to try to retrace our steps since Thanksgiving, which is the last time I posted pictures. Instead, we'll start here. Vedauwoo (a.k.a. earthbound) is a rock climbing place about 20 minutes from us. For those too little to rock climb there are areas to walk and just play. The Indians considered it holy ground because of all the unique rock formations, which look like any number of things from people, to frogs, to trees, etc. So, anyway, we defiled the grounds this past Monday by taking the kids sledding out there. It was C-O-L-D cold, but with proper attire you barely noticed or so the rest of the family said. It was about 14 degrees with strong winds, so it felt well below zero in my expert opinion and I noticed. The area and the drive out were beautiful! The pics I took don't do it justice, but gives you a flavor of the snow covered trees, rocks, mountains, and vast open space. Oh, and the west is still wild...we say lots of wildlife, which we couldn't have said in our past city-living years. Probably a place we'll visit often when spring and summer roll around...