Bye-bye Grandma Mary

Samuel has learned how to say "bye-bye" to people and things lately and really seems to understand the concept.  We are sad that we had to say "bye-bye" to Great Grandma Mary this week when she went to Heaven.  She was a very special lady and we feel so grateful that Samuel got to meet her last fall.  And, certainly, Mike and I are grateful for the woman she was to us and to everyone whose life she touched.  We will miss you Grandma Mary.

He loves his dirt!

Samuel has shown quite an affinity for dirt lately.  He likes to get his hands dirty with Mommy and Daddy when we are gardening.  This morning, Samuel went with Mommy to the church's garden and he proved to be quite the helper.  He dug holes with a plastic spoon he found, he dug up part of a tomato plant that Mommy then had to replant, and he helped water the plants.  But Mommy couldn't help but laugh when he decided to dive right into the soil.

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently, too much dirt makes Samuel a tired boy.

16 months

I can't believe my baby will be 16 months in 4 days!  He's so big now, and so "boy."  He is talking more and becoming more independent, but he still loves a good hug sometimes.  His words include doddie (doggie), daddy, mama, hyes (yes), hi, buh bye, ba (ball) and I'm pretty sure I've started recognizing "my."  There are other words that make random appearance, but those are his most common.  He has 14 teeth and he loves to play with kitchen items.  He is pretty mischevious and knows when he's doing something he's not supposed to do.  He is constantly on the go and is usually very happy, but has begun to have some king-sized temper tantrums.  All in all, he's a happy, healthy little boy and we love him so very much!

When we were out in the yard today, I snapped some photos of him that I think really show his little personality shining through.

Happy Mommy's Day!

And, that's exactly what it was.  A happy Mommy's day!  Samuel gave me a brand new jewelry box with a lock on the front so he will stop getting into all my jewelry.  Wasn't that nice of him?  We enjoyed church in the morning, yard work in the afternoon, and dinner at my parents' house, thanks to Chef Dad.

When we were outside enjoying the beautiful day, Samuel and I got some fun pictures.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there who are important parts of our lives.  Today, we're sending love out to Great Granny I, Great Grandma P, Grandma M, Grandma T, Aunt Kerry, Aunt Andrea, and Samuel's Godmother, Natalie.  We love you all very much!

Easter Morning

Samuel knew exactly what to do with his Easter basket on Easter morning.  He tipped it over to see what was in it!

Then we got all dressed up and went to church.  Samuel was so busy that we didn't a really good picture of him dressed in his cute little polo, but I did get a couple of snaps of him playing later in the day.

After church, we enjoyed a nice lunch with my parents.  That afternoon, Dad and Mike started taking a chunk of the kitchen apart...but don't worry, it was only a "two Lowes trips" kind of project, and it looks great now!  It was a happy Easter!

Easter Egg Hunt

Two weeks ago was Easter and on Easter Saturday, we had special visitors come for an Easter Egg Hunt.  Cousins James and Kyla (and Uncle Dan and Aunt Andrea) came for a visit.  We actually had two Easter Egg Hunts, for obvious reasons...one for James, who is almost 11 and one for the little ones.  It was a bit cold outside, but we set up outside anyway.  James did a great job finding eggs in super secret locations, while the little ones had a bit more trouble gathering all the eggs scattered in plain sight.  I think the bigger issue was that they didn't "get it."  But, they picked up eggs when they were interested and eventually collected them all.  Kyla did most of the gathering, but she was nice enough to put them all in Samuel's basket.  Samuel was busy thinking about the meaning of all this bizarre behavior.

When all the toddlers' eggs had been found, we celebrated with a couple of runs down the slide...and we asked James to help Kyla to help tip him off on one of the last eggs in his hunt ;)

It was a very fun morning and so nice to see Dan's family!  Pretty soon, they will be a family of 5, so it was fun to have one last visit with their family of 4!