A little scary...

1,000 pounds going downhill on wheels is just a little scary. The hot tub arrived yesterday, the electrical was all installed and hooked up today. It is heating up as I type. Cody's long awaited dream of having a hot tub has been fulfilled. We are both really excited, between his twisted up back from work and my years of abuse to my legs and back (waiting tables in wedged boots) it will be well used.

Testing 1-2-3

I have been working on figuring out the video upload to my computer, from my old Canon camera. It is the only upside to my Nikon being in the shop. I was always too lazy to work it all out before. I am just not that computer savvy, and I am easily frustrated. This is an old one of Sam learning to crawl, please don't laugh at my silly baby talk voice in the background.

Cheers!

Rock your Vote

Halloween

We had a very fun Halloween this year! It started out with the neighborhood parade and picnic. It is always fun to see all the children in the neighborhood dressed up, their were lots of great costumes: we saw a whole family dressed as the cast to "Wizard of Oz", spiders, penguins, and even a few kids got political. I saw a "Joe the Pumbler" and "John McCain", no Sarahs, Bidens or Obamas however. Here is "Joe" playing baseball with his plunger. Sammy went as a scarecrow. He's with a few of his ladies, Maggie and Evelyn.

Getting ready to march in the parade.

We saw a little black cat at home in our garden, Sammy had to stop and love on her. Pretty spooky!

The fireman let Sammy drive the engine. He was quite pleased with himself, maybe next year he can goes as a fireman.

The best shot I could get of him in his costume, he is a mover. And my old camera is slow to take a picture.

It was a late start to the trick or treaters. Usually our neighborhood is swarming with children from all over High Point by 5:30. We didn't see many kids until well onto 7:30. We were a little disapointed by the slow starters. We did manage to run out of candy by 8:30.

Spooky

The cold weather is upon us, and we are so ready for the Halloween season. Sam wants to be outside all the time exploring. He likes to talk about the trees, clouds, the lawnmowers, leaves, pumpkins and airplanes. He is a bit obsessed with the airplanes right now. Oh and he also likes "sticks"...when he talks it sounds like the Slouth from Ice Age.

Sam with a few of his buddies, he sometime carries Ratatouille around in his mouth. Gross, I know.

I got all Martha and decorated the mantel and house. Here's a pictures of the spooky spider.

And my scarecrow, which we call the Pumpkin Man.

More San Diego

A few more pictures from our trip:

Hot tubbin' at Oma and Grandpa's house. Sammy enjoyed "da pool" very much, we just heated up the hot tub to a nice warm temperature. He was like a little prune when we finally got him out. Cheers to Oma!
Sailing with Mike
All the boys!
Sam loves to sing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and has most of the hand motions down. He'll have you sing it over and over again. He also likes "Where is Thumbkin?" and "Paw-Paw Patch". Peek-a-boo was also a big hit on vacation, except he covers his ears instead of his eyes. I am not sure why he does this.

Christy and Mike's Wedding Day, Oct 11th

Christy and Mike's wedding day was absolutely beautiful. We were blessed with a cool, crisp day while all dressed up and taking pictures in the California sunshine. I loved this picture of the boys standing and watching the skaters. Sam was totally into it. A close up of the those baby blues.
Sadly, the only picture I got of the wedded couple. I was too busy chasing around a little boy in really high heels. Bad idea. We stood around for hours waiting our turn for pictures and then the bus that was going to pick us up from Balboa Park was an hour and half late. Lucky for Christy and Mike, they only ran 20 minutes behind schedule and the guests didn't have to wait to long. We were going to run Sam home to a baby sitter between pictures and ceremony, but the late bus driver made that impossible. We took Sam to the ceremony, however, he was way to DONE to even think about watching the vows. Instead we explored the roof top views of 6th Avenue and the bay and listened over the loud speaker to the ceremony.

Another happy couple.
She looked totally stunning. I know alot of people say that the bride "looks like a model", but seriously, she really did look like a model.
The best shot of the family I have!
Mom and Bride
The reception was a blast, everyone danced and drank. It was such a good time! I can't remember when I have had such a fun night. It was so good to catch up with the family and see a couple so destined for happiness. Best wishes Christy and Mike, I know this one is meant to last.

Outside and Inside

We have the deck completed, but it still needs to be stained. We were told to wait 6 months until the wood "dries" out completely. It looks pretty good. The hot tub should arrive in about a month. Cody and I are sooooooo excited. We are both "bath people" but our bathroom only has a shower, and Sam's tub is, well, Sam's tub. He's one. He isn't potty trained. 'Nough said. It is going to be great for Cody's back and great for my nerves. I can't wait. Party at the Fielden's, come on over! With the yard all completed, it will finally be my turn to move onto the inside of the house. We are having all the practical stuff done first, this 82 year old house needs some window help. I think we are going to replace a few, and have storm windows made for the others. The house is an old arts & crafts style, the windows are big and plentiful, 24 in all. We also desperately need to get on the insulation for the attic and basement. The old girl is just freezing in the winter months.
Oh! I threw in these pictures of Sam's new trick. He can now open the "child locked" pantry and climb to the second shelf. As he scales the shelves, he looks back at me and smiles with a pleading for "cookieeeee, paweeezeee!". Being that I am a big believer in the old A-B-C (antecedent, behavior, consequence), I just watched.
This is what happened. I know, terrible mother, aren't I? But, he hasn't climbed the shelves since. And, he didn't even shed a tear.

Daddy's new best friend

Sam has been an awfully big help to his daddy these days, he doesn't want him to do or go anywhere without his assistance. Cody needs a bumper sticker that says, "Sam is my co-pilot". Here is Cody fixing the tub, and Sam "helping". The boys headed out this evening to the car show downtown. I wasn't there, but Cody said that Sam was extremely excited and happy the whole time. A nice car buff let Sam drive the truck, a '35 Chevy.
Sam really likes the hotrods, I guess it is just in the blood, both of his grandpa's (Fielden and Pignolo) and Pop-pop are car nuts.
Not the best shot, because of the sun and my lens is shot----- Sam took his very first ride in Daddy's car riding shotgun. I think it was the best moment of his 14 month old life. Seriously. Cody reports a huge smile and cheer for the peelout.
In other news, Christy's wedding is just around the corner and everyone is really looking foward to the big event. We can't wait to have some time with family and the friends we miss so much. We also been working to get the outside spaces done here at home, we are almost complete with the deck addition and spa. I'll post some pictures soon.

Happy 1st Birthday Joe Bear!

Our little Joe Bear turns one today! Happy Birthday little man, enjoy your first bite of cake!

We love you!

A night on the town

We got all dressed up for the annual hospital gala. I was in a bit better of mood than last year. For starters, I wasn't sleep deprived and two I wasn't all crazy, post pardom. Cody looked quite dashing in his tux and Chuck Taylors, which stirred the old south society perfectly. You can take the boy out of California, but you can't take the California out of the boy.

High Rock Lake, NC

We went to High Rock Lake on Sunday with our friends the Yow's. They have a little house there and a pontoon boat. We cruised around the lake, it was very quiet and so beautiful. The landscape was still very natural in spite of all the development in the area, I would have loved to see it in the fall with all the foliage changing.
Sam really, really enjoyed his first boat ride and took the job of steering very serious. We had a fantastic weekend together as a family. We took Sam to his first little 'fair' on Saturday. I forgot my camera, unfortunately, because it was so fun and cute watching him take it all in. He rode on the carousel, had his first train ride, bounced in a kiddie bouncy house and jammed out to a marching band. It was hilarious! Everyone was cracking up that walked by. We didn't even make it out of the parking lot before he konked out cold into a dead sleep.

A few cute ones!

Sam has taken to carrying around his friends with him, which include: Diego (the Sock Monkey), Jack-dog lovee, and Ratatouille. He hugs them and kisses them and loves them. He also thinks the dogs are his best friends, little does he know that they only love him because he always shares his snacks with them. However, they always let him cuddle them, even grumpy old Flower.
Loving Ratatouille.
Every afternoon after nap and snack we go on a walking expedition. It is one of his favorite things to do. I must say that many people told me walking was a nightmare, I am actually loving Sam walking. He is so much happier now that he can do so much on his own. The whine factor has decreased a ton, and the only drawback is he wants to walk everywhere, which makes speedy errands and grocery shopping a chore but whatever.
14 months has been good to me, he is walking talking, eating and sleeping so good! I am having a blast with him...now I almost am ready for #2, almost. I want to get the holidays over with and maybe get to my 30th sans morning sickness. We shall see.

Socks

Not the most interesting post today, but I was rather proud of my boy. I was getting dressed yesterday, and Sam sat in front of me watching as I put on my socks and shoes. I narrate what I am doing almost constantly to him, I am not sure how much he follows what I am saying...until he came walking into the hallway with one of my sweat socks, pulled from the laundry basket. He plunked down and continued to struggle and try to put on the socks too. It was so cute! I snapped some quick pictures, but the hallway was kinda dark and he kept blinking these were the best shots I got:

Gone Visitin'

We spent Labor Day up with my folks in Pennsylvania. The weather was really lovely, it was so much cooler than at home. And, no bugs! Sam had a really good time with Pop-pop. He followed him all over the house and yard the whole weekend. Poor Nana, she didn't get much cuddle time. Sam is really enjoying watermelon these days!
And cookies with milk... he LOVES his milk.
We brought out the bathrobe he got as a gift when he was born. It is a little big, but he looks so funny walking around in it, just like a litte Hef. It has his monogram on the chest pocket, it really is a hoot.
And Cody and I celebrated 4 years this week! Amazing how quickly it goes by, we celebrated with a night on the town in Philly. We stayed at nice hotel, shopped, went out with friends, had a fantastic dinner and slept in. It was a perfect way to spend our anniversary. The actual day of was during the week, so we put Sam to bed early and had a lovely dinner in peace of Cornish Game Hens, Cornbread Stuffing and Green Beans. I even made dessert, a treat in and of itself. I never make dessert. I never make dessert because we LOVE to eat dessert.