Overall, I'd say we had a great week. I thought it was going to be a very busy one but it wasn't bad.

We went to the zoo on Wednesday. Samantha absolutely loved it and she can't wait until we go back. The Chattanooga zoo has recently opened a carousel which she got to ride. She talks about going round and round in circles, the music and how she got to ride a polar bear. I'm surprised at how much she's talked about it because about the third time around she said she was done. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all. We enjoyed spending the time with Alex and Ian and their parents Donny and Kim. Thanks for letting us tag along.

Friday was a great day! Trav told me to go take off Friday afternoon and he'd watch the kids. I volunteered to take Blake with me on my errands so dad and Samantha got to spend a special afternoon together. He really treated her! They ran to Starbucks (she got her special milk!) and then ran to Imagination Station for several hours. She loved the special time with dad.

I ran lots of errands and took advantage of the few hours I had. It's much easier to run errands with one child, especially since he's in a car seat all of the time.

Sabbath included some great family time as we took a walk on the nearby greenway.

This week Samantha woke up one morning and told me that she had slept for hours. I thought it was so adorable!

We've been working on colors with Samantha and she can identify most of them. We try to incorporate it in our every day-to-day living.

Blake has really loved playing under his toy again. He's still practicing picking up those legs and playing with his toys that way too.

It seems Blake would often rather put himself to sleep rather than us rock him. I'll start to rock him and he will start to cry and fuss so I'll lay him down and he'll be fine and fall asleep very soon. That's fine by me.

Our little guy has also started to wrap his has around his bottle and if it's nearly empty can hold onto it himself for a little bit.

I can hardly believe that Blake will be four months old next week! He's getting so big.

Samantha has started to sleep with her stuffed animals. She often sleeps with her monkey and froggy...

All ready for the zoo (she picked out her outfit again)...

Tummy time...

Sabbath on the Greenway...

Reading together...

Who can resist this smile?

Lifting those legs...

Rollin', Rollin'

Blake seems to be growing and growing. This week we noticed that he's really started to pay attention to his toys. It's so fun to see him focus in on them try to grab them. When we lay him on his back to play underneath some hanging toys he gets all excited and starts to move his legs and arms.

Our little guy has also started to wrap his fingers around his bottle when we feed him. Speaking of fingers, they are constantly in his mouth!!! He seems to gnawing away at them a lot of the time. I think I need to find some teething rings for him to chew on instead.

This morning I had put him on the floor under his toy while got a few things done. When I went past him I noticed that he had pulled his legs up a bit and was on his side. I was so excited to see him make such a progression. Later on I put him in the middle of Samantha's toddler bed while I changed her diaper. I did that and stepped out of the room to throw it away and all of a sudden we heard a scream. Our little guy was on the floor which only meant one thing--he had rolled!!! We were excited that he had rolled over but so sad to see that he had landed on the floor. Thankfully it was only from a toddler bed and not from our bed.

Blake got his pictures taken again his week. He slept on the way there and I woke him up once we got to the mall and he did great this time. We got lots of smiles!

Last weekend was a very busy one, especially Saturday. By Sunday night poor Blake was exhausted. He slept for a full 9 hours and went 12 hours without eating! He hasn't done that again but will often go 6-7 hours without eating at night.

Samantha's memory never ceases to simply amaze me. The other day we were headed to the post office. She started to talk about soda being there. I had no idea what she was talking about because there isn't a soda machine there and we never have any at the house. When we got there and opened up the mailbox she said it again. I then remembered that one of the times we had been there she had heard someone putting money in a soda machine and getting a soda. You can also see the boxes of soda from our mailbox.

I thought we saw a turtle on the road the other day and we talked about how her friend Alex had found a turtle. Now every time we go on that road when we come to the place where we saw the turtle she talks about Alex's turtle.

This week she talked about going to the new mall where there was an airplane. Well, we haven't been anywhere new since we got home from my parents so I wasn't sure what she was talking about. Finally this week she added that the place had a turtle. It finally dawned on me that she was talking about the mall near my parents place that she played at for about 10 minutes.

Oh how I wish that I could remember some of the things she does! I guess that's why we should pump her full of information now.

Last Sunday Samantha and I got to spend a little bit of quality time together. We went out into our front lawn and watched three little bunnies run around. We also laid on the grass looking at the clouds and birds in the sky. Later we walked down to the little bridge and chased each others shadows all the way down. She laughed and laughed as we did so. Now she really pays attention to her shadow.

Samantha seems to be falling a lot more lately. I'm hoping it's because she's going through a growth spurt. She's got scrapes on both legs and on an elbow. It doesn't help though that she is willing to try anything and she more than likely will want to do it by herself.

There have been a couple of commercials on the TV that Samantha has saw advertising theme parks and of course, they show the rides. Samantha says, "me go there." Do we have an adventurer in our house or what???

Asleep in the carseat...


Sleeping on Dad...



Riding in the front carrier...




Sportin' a smile...

Ready for church...

At Samantha's new favorite place to play...

All ready for church including her new shoes from BeBe and Papa she just had to wear...


Helping with pancakes Sunday morning...

Samantha loves corn on the cob...

"Me No Like Sleep"

The other morning Samantha woke up at 5:30 and said, “me no like sleep.” What a huge understatement! I had to laugh inside because it seems that has been Samantha’s theme throughout her short life. She has never been a great sleeper and still to do this day does not sleep through the night. In fact, she’s up more than Blake. We had three straight days of sleeping through the night about 2 weeks ago and I thought maybe we were on a roll but it was not to be. This week she’s been waking up at 6:30, which is too early in my book. Maybe some day she will learn to sleep through the night and appreciate precious sleep.

One day Samantha was working at the table when I asked her if she wanted to do something. She said, “I’m busy.” She’s used it a couple of times since.

Monday we went to the library’s story time. She was excited to go to the library and hear the stories. She did really well there. I was a bit hesitant because it’s really for kids 3-5 but she was able to hold her own. I think it’s a great outing for us AND it’s in air conditioning!

Samantha has given up on her booster chair and her kid plates. Lately she wants to be like mom and dad and use our plates and sit in our chairs. It’s all about being bigger than she really is. She’s always wanting to put on deodorant, mousse in her hair, etc. etc.,

At bedtime we always say prayers right before heading into bed. Just lately I’ve been asking Samantha what she would like to talk to Jesus about. It’s fun to see her little mind work and so interesting to hear the things she comes up with. I had better not forget anything because she is sure to remind me!

Blake continues to grow very fast. He is sleeping through the night so well and most nights goes 5-6 hours between feedings. Last night he was especially tired and went 8 hours! I think he’s somewhat getting himself into a schedule, which helps me know what to expect of things although he only he cries he’s either hungry or sleepy.

We tried to get his 3 month pictures taken on Friday. Of course, the time I thought I had his schedule figured out it was way out of sync that day. The appointment was at 4 and he started to cry at 4:00 for sleep. Luckily they were running behind schedule and he got a short little nap. He wasn’t his happy self so we may go back this week and try it again.

Poor little Blake gets scared easily, especially around his big sister. She has a very loud voice and often he won’t be expecting her to use it. You can see his face start to pucker up and he’ll let out a huge cry!

My mom said she needed pictures of that great smile of Blake's we always talk about. Well, it's hard to capture because the minute you get the camera out his poker face also comes out. He's way to distracted with the camera.

We had a busy Sabbath with a potluck and supper with Scott, Christy and Kathryn. Samantha got to play with a lot of kids throughout the day. Both Samantha and Blake got shorted on their naps and a late bedtime but we feel you have to let it go every once in a while. While at Kathryn’s we took a walk around their neighborhood. Scott pulled a wagon with both girls in it and Samantha loved it.

We want to thank Uncle Paul for sending us Andrew Peterson’s awesome CD called “Slugs, Bugs and Lullabies” (https://store.rabbitroom.com/index.aspx#/details/af62206e-1c8f-48a8-95f7-bb8a76c2f8b9) (or iTunes, of course) He was right, it’s hilarious. I think Samantha loves the beat of the music and I am constantly laughing at the lyrics and can't decide which song is my favorite. We both seem to get a beat in our feet when we listen to it. Thanks Uncle Paul for the great tunes!

Lastly, but certainly not least. Happy Father's Day to Travis. As most father's, he doesn't get the credit he deserves and we appreciate all that he does for us!

Blake in the Bumbo chair.

Showing us a decent smile...

Another pictures in the Bumbo chair. I promise, he doesn't spend that much time in it!

Coloring in her new coloring book she got from Aunt Jan...





Her first experience husking corn...



Signing dad's Father's Day card...

Playing Outside

Oh my, have we spent some time outside this week! I feel I spent half of my days outside despite the hot weather already! Now I've been trying to take the the kids out during the mornings until lunch and then again after supper until bedtime. Samantha simply thrives on being outside and is often a grump inside. Blake just hangs out with mom while Samantha is playing or we leave him inside with the monitor.

We were happy that Kathryn got to come over for a play date. I had brought out one of her tea sets for the sandbox and it was a huge hit. We hadn't seen Kathryn or her mom for a long time so it was fun to get caught up again.

Can you believe Blake is already three months old? The time has simply flown by. This week we learned that he likes to play patty cake--he gets a huge smile every time he does it. He also likes the "exercises" dad is doing with his arms to get his arm strength up.

Mom and Blake...


"Sitting" on dad's lap...


Other cute shots...



Play date with Kathryn...


Swinging just isn't right unless your swinging "way up to the sky" as Samantha says...


Pouring "tea"...

If only we could convince Samantha she should have pig tails all of the time. She doesn't want them anymore...

The highlight of the week was probably a trip to the zoo despite the rain. The night before I told Samantha we were going and she was thrilled beyond belief. After laying in bed a few minutes she sat up and said, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5 hours" and she meant until the zoo. Unfortunately I had to tell her it was a bit longer. She loved the monkeys, red pandas, snow leopards, snakes and turtles. She also enjoyed going with Maddie and Patrick who made the trip much more fun. Blake got to go along too but didn't see much from his car seat in the stroller.

We've been spending several hours outside every day. Samantha still asks to go out constantly. I have found that I need to get my work done in the mornings to keep myself sane and then take the kids out after naps until supper and then again after supper until bath time if possible. Samantha loves jumping on the trampoline or playing in her sandbox. She's going through a phase now where she loves to swing. Please don't ask her if she needs help getting on the swing because she'll say, "me do it.". She asks to be pushed and pushed and loves to go high. Blake enjoys the outside also and tags along with whatever sister is doing.

Sabbath was a special day-we skipped all church services and went for a walk along the river followed by a picnic lunch. Our good friends Tracy and Cheryl joined us for the adventure. We carried both kids in front and backpacks while walking. Samantha did get a bit of a sunburn but hasn't acted like it's affected her one bit. She enjoyed the picnic and of course, the playground.

It seems lately that Blake is more awake one day and then the next day he sleeps a lot, trying to catch up. I am determined to pay more attention to his schedule or lack there of and try to get him on one of sorts or at least notice more when he's sleepy, etc. There have been several nights when he is so sleepy he just doesn't know what to do with himself except scream. He is such a good sleeper at night though I'm not sure how much he actually needs during the day.

Here is a video of Samantha counting. Apparently the number seven isn't important because she always misses it...


We tried Blake in the Bumbo chair this week. He isn't quite ready for it yet without bit of help...


You'd never believe we put him in here straight...


Here he fell asleep right after a bottle and being burped...


Being silly at breakfast...


Feeding the birds...


I "tucked" Samantha in one night and she thought it was great. Now I have to do it every night...



Our Sabbath...