Comings and Goings of the Spring

There isn't a lot to report since January.  We've spent a good deal of time being sick since Samuel's birthday.  Samuel and Mommy in particular have picked up nearly every virus known to man, I think.  Samuel has generally bounced back after a day or two...Mommy has picked up everything Samuel had and has taken a week or two to recover from everything.  Hopefully it's just because of the pregnancy and I'll be healthier after baby boy arrives.  That said, baby boy has managed to stay healthy throughout the pregnancy, regardless of my illnesses.

Since we've had so much illness, our comings and goings have been somewhat limited.  We take a few pictures here and there when we get out, but we haven't had any super exciting expeditions to share.  Here are some of the fun things we've done, though...

 Samuel's first time sledding

 "I think this is fun..."

 "This is fun!"

 "This isn't so fun anymore!"

 And then we were done....

A couple weeks later, warm weather, giggling on Grandma's lap

 Grandpa's Little Helper

 Loving the huge sandbox at the children's garden

  Note the even warmer weather!

 Samuel found a "pancorn" (he couldn't quite say "pine cone")

Sweating up a storm at the park

 Daddy's little helper

Little Firefighter in the Firetruck at the park

 Wearing Daddy's hat...yep, they share hats...my son has a large head

(Note that we're dressing for colder weather again...boo!)

 "Pway football, Mommy!"

 Someday we will have to do a Senior photo just like this :P

 More fun at the park

Petting the clydesdale at the zoo

Carousel Ride...Samuel wasn't a big fan...

It's a...

BOY!!!  And here are a couple pictures from the ultrasound to enjoy.  This news isn't exactly new since it's taken me months to post these, but in case some readers hadn't heard yet, I thought we should make it official.  At this point, we will get to meet our second little man in about a month!

Profile 

(Mommy thinks this looks a lot like Samuel's profile)

Showing off his gorgeous little toes

"See ya soon, everyone!"

It's a boy!

Samuel's 2nd Birthday

Right after our return from Arizona, we had to start preparing for little mister's second birthday!  It's a big birthday, after all.  You only turn two once :P  In Samuel's case, we had our first "friend" birthday party.  Our theme was Bubble Guppies, Samuel's favorite TV show at the time (we've since moved on to Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go).  Samuel's cousin Kyla (and Uncle Dan), and his good little buddies Emmett and Chester (and their parents) joined us to celebrate the big T.W.O.  Four Toddlers + Cake + New Toys = Pure Chaos...and GREAT naps later!  It was a lot of fun, though.

 The Calm Before the Storm

 Present Time!

 Three very curious two year olds

 Samuel's version of a thank you hug...or tackle???

 Thank you for the cool train toys, Uncle Dan!

 Two candles (and cake that Samuel barely touched)

 But Chester liked the cake :)

 And so did Kyla

 Three sugared up two year-olds on the move!

We had a small celebration on Samuel's actual birthday, the following Thursday, with just Mommy and Daddy when we opened family presents because we didn't want to completely overwhelm Samuel at his birthday party.

Out of Africa Wildlife Park and other AZ Adventures

After the Christmas rush of activities, we had a little time to relax and just enjoy the rest of our stay in AZ.  We took a day to visit the Out of Africa Wildlife Park with my cousin Roslyn and her family.  We took a safari tour, walked through the big cats section, visited a petting area, and got up close and personal with a couple of unique animals.  Samuel was frightened by the animals at first, which on the safari ride can come right up to the bus (mostly because you're encouraged to feed carrots to the giraffes and camels, so they stick their heads right into the bus).  Roslyn's little boy, Zane, on the other hand, loved having the animals so close.  Samuel warmed up by the time we reached the petting area and enjoyed being so close to the deer.  After the Wildlife Park, we enjoyed a quick stop off at Montezuma Castle, a neat cliff dwelling near the Wildlife Park.  Then we took a two hour round-trip drive to Flagstaff so the boys could sleep in the car...boy were they exhausted!  We really enjoyed the visit with Roslyn's family, who we don't get to see very often.

Though you can't see it well, there is a serious look of concern on Samuel's face...

Compare to the sheer joy on Zane's face...

Cute cousins!

 Two exhausted little boys :)

The next day, we got to spend some family time with my brother Andy's family.  We also don't get to see them as often as we'd like since they live halfway across the country.  We loved seeing Samuel play with his cousins at the wonderful park at the resort.  They all got along so well and it was nice to spend time with my nieces who are growing up so quickly!

 

Our last day in Arizona, we drove down to Phoenix during Samuel's naptime for our early flight home the next day.  We got into the city before dinner and decided to find an outing for the evening.  Turns out that in December, the Phoenix Zoo has Zoolights, a light display at the zoo.  While we didn't see many animals, we saw awesome holiday lights.  It was a fun way to end a really special trip.

Real zebra...light zebra