Birthday Party Shots!

We had a party for Sam at City Lake Park on Saturday for his birthday. It was lots of fun, the kids played hard on the playground...took a train ride around the lake and a carousel ride too. We ended the morning with hotdogs, watermelon and chocolate "dirt" cupcakes.

Afterwards, the family headed back to the house to celebrate some more! It was such a great day. We got him a wagon for his third birthday, which he loved.

More exciting news to share! Damien and Karen had their baby on July 8th (no pictures yet). And it is a GIRL! We will have three lovely ladies all in a row.

Jane Carolyn is her name, and she has red locks like her auntie and her cousin. Lucky girl!

Happy 3rd Birthday to my Sammy boy!

There is not a day that goes by that I am not so thankful for my little man. We are very lucky to have him here with us, and everyday is an adventure. He still is and remains my sweet, feisty, top boy.

Birthday! July 10, 2007

Happy 1!

Happy 2!

AND, HAPPY 3!

Big Boy Bed

Sam got his big boy furniture delivered last week, and he is doing super! We discussed it for weeks ahead of time, and he transitioned beautifully. So far, he knows the rules.

NO JUMPING!

Although, we let him jump once (see below)

NO PLAYING WITH THE BED KNOBS!

They are loose, so that if you wanted to put a bunk on.

NO GETTING OUT, ONCE YOU ARE TUCKED IN!

Threatened that he might break and arm or leg therefore rendering incapable of swimming at the pool or beach all summer.
A very happy and well rested boy.

Happy Fourth!

Where liberty dwells, there is my country.

~Benjamin Franklin

Jeff and Cory's wedding weekend

The rehearsal was down on the bay, we had some awesome street tacos, rice and beans. Everyone devoured them! SO tasty! The night was really nice, not to chilly and Sam really enjoyed the location with the beach so easy to play on.Sambo wanted to dance! He enjoyed the live acoustic music just as much as the next guy.

Uncle Ryan and Sam throwing rocks and shells into the water

Family shot, this was the only one with his eyes open!

Sam loves to take pictures too. I think he gets it from watching me with the camera in his face all the time.

Jeff looked really handsome in his white linen suit, cool as a cucumber.

Princess Cory was very composed, and absolutely stunning. She is alot like me, jeans, flips and and t-shirt. So to see her all glamourous had a big effect on the crowd! Beautiful!

The boys

The Kiss

Mario and Sam, best friends for the weekend.

Breaking it down at the reception!

Ryan and Norah having a good time too.

We didn't get home till almost midnight! Sam stayed awake for the whole wedding experience and then flew like the good boy he is the next morning. He slept a little on our flight from Nashville to Raleigh, but for the most part was awake all day and relatively happy. Monday he slept till 10:30. He hasn't ever done that, but I was thankful too for the extra rest. We have been chilling all week, trying to organize the rooms. Sam's big boy furniture arrived on Wednesday. So, we have had lots of adjusting and moving going on around here. He is surprisingly taking to the bed like a champ. No problems thus far! I will post a bit about his new big boy room soon, as soon as I finish organizing it.

Feeding the Sea Lions!

San Diego Fun

BEWARE! Lots of pictures...

The trip out was amazing as I have already said, Sam did wonderful. The question of whether he will adjust to the time change and jet lag is always up in the air, this time he adjusted perfectly.

Aside from all the wedding festivities for Jeff and Cory's wedding weekend, we also packed in lots of fun 'touristy' type adventures to keep us busy. This is probably Cody's only vacation this year, so we wanted to make the most of it.

We loaded up with Grandpa and Oma and we headed for a full day at Sea World. I couldn't believe how amazing that place was, I don't know exactly what I was expecting...but I was more than surprised at the great care, knowledge and love of the animals the staff had. Sam made it the whole day 9-4, he was such a trooper. When we were going to head home at 2, he decided he HAD to see the dolphin show.

Shamu (not really, he had some other name that I can't remember)

"Believe" the killer whale show

Grandpa and Oma

Father's Day Poker Match

Enjoying one of the hundreds of fantastic parks!

At day out in PB, the June gloom was kind enough to clear out for us to have a perfect California beach day. Poor Oma got burned.

Building castles and burying Sam

Thursday night we headed downtown to the Gaslamp District for some "big kid" fun. It involved cowboy hats and bull riding. And, I have decided it is awkward and uncomfortable being 7 months pregnant and out in bars. Last time for me on that one!

More picture to follow of the wedding weekend!

Wave Runner!

Our trip to San Diego was the most fun we have had together yet! Such a great trip filled with much to share, here is a quick clip of Sam throwing seashells and wave running in Pacific Beach.

26-27 weeks

I'm out now! And, growing by the day.

I am feeling pretty good, just tired. And hot. Of course the mercury is creeping right at about 90 with 80% humidity. This week I see my doctor for the glucose test, hopefully I pass it the first time. When I was with Sam, I had a borderline result and had to go for a three hour torture session. This time I plan on fasting, last time I had Kashi waffles and blueberries. The result: me slurping 8oz. of sugar syrup and giving blood all morning.

Baby girl is moving and grooving all the time, and she is using my bladder as a trampoline. It doesn't matter if I stand, sit or lay down... I always want to go pee. I am gaining now at about a pound a week, last week weigh in had me up 6 pounds. I am trying to be good, but the appetite of this pregnant woman is a lot like that of Piranha. I am still enjoying all things protein, but am starting to be able to get down more and more veggies. Although, honestly, it kind of all tastes like grass (and I LOVE veggies).

He is enjoying Pirate Camp this week. He is coming home exhausted and hungry! They have a little show at the end of the week, so hopefully I can get a few good pictures.

We are enjoying summer and have been doing lots of swimming! Sam thinks he is part fish, and it is near impossible to get him to go home without a full meltdown: enter age three. He is a complete sweetheart, but he is definitely developing a strong sense of purpose and a wee bit of that red head temper. My little feisty Irishman! He is getting taller and leggy, this kid might outgrow his parents! Wouldn't that be something? Sam has also been talking non-stop about his baby sister as if she is already here and he knows her well. He has even been telling the kids at camp and the teachers. I think he is very excited to meet her. Anytime he has an opportunity to get close and personal with a baby, he is all up in their business... it is kind of reassuring to know he is as excited as we are.

The Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Memorial Day was spent doing what we love best, getting out into our beautiful country and exploring new wilderness. Cody and I packed up the car and headed west to Tennessee and claimed a little piece of heaven in the Smoky Mountains for 3 days and nights of hiking, camping, playing and catching a much needed break.

Our first 15 minutes driving in we glimpsed a small herd of Elk, with one buck and two does. It really got us pumped for the weekend!
Then further on our drive to the camp spot, we saw a turkey. The feathers were really beautiful, and the picture doesn't due it justice.Campsite was located on the west end of the park, eight miles from Gaitlenburg, TN. It took us a little over 5 hours to get to our spot. It was a bit longer than we anticipated, but we did hit a bit of traffic heading up and over the mountains on the beautiful, winding roads. The views were incredible, I wish we had had more time to stop and check it out. However, we were on a race with the sunset.

This river was in front of the camp, a nice view every morning. Sammy loved being so close to the water. Top activity for the weekend, was playing "chuck" which was counting to three and throwing rocks in the river while yelling "CHUCK!"
Daddy teaching his boy to fish, he took to it like a natural. He didn't catch anything, but if you ask him he will tell you his version which is, '...I caught a rainbow trout that is this BIG!' It was also his first official "fish tale".Taking to it like an old Fielden pro, his great grandfather Fielden would have been very proud.Our hike on Saturday was very eventful! What was supposed to be a 45 minute jaunt up to see some waterfalls took 2 and a half hours. We had to check out every bug, leaf and tree. This is also the first time we had Sam walk it, and not backpack him. He did pretty good for such small legs...But, he did manage to talk his Dado into some shoulder rides.

Warning!And falling right after warning.

As we rounded the last quarter mile of our hike, guess who stood in our way? Old Yogi was having a snack and taking a leisurely stroll up the trail. This was amazing, he didn't seem the slightest bit concerned by the packs of hikers behind and in front of him that now couldn't move. After about 20 minutes, he decided to graciously climb a tree so the people could get by.

Yogi in the tree, yes, I walked under a wild bear while hiking in the wilderness. Very, very crazy.

We finally made it up to the freezing cold water, and Sam just had to stick his toes in. He was mistaken on the fun of swimming in a waterfall.

Only family shot taken all weekend, it is a terrible picture of me. I look huge.

Enjoying a cup of morning joe, waking up at 6:30 to the birds is nice...but still made me sleepy.

Gaitlenburg had an amazing aquarium, we took Sam one morning. He loved it, of course.

And, our last night we took a sky ride to the top of Gaitlenburg to catch the views before the storms overtook us. The rain stayed away for the most part until early Monday morning. We had to pack up in drizzle and ride back in the pouring deluge of rain. I was definatly ready for my shower when we got in the car.

The views as seen from the top of Gaitlenburg, TN