He is such a boy.

Back in July, Leo (Christy's boy) had a birthday party and Sam was invited. :) For his birthday, Leo got a Cars Racetrack that zooms around a little car in a figure eight. Leo was so excited to get it running that he convinced his mom to put batteries in it and set it up. All the kids gathered around to watch it work...Sam included.

Sam was incredibly amused! He was just this little 7 month old baby and started cracking up laughing at the car going around - he even stuck his hand in the track to stop it!

When we reported this to Mita and Mito, Mita insisted that we get Sam this race track so we could watch him laugh. He did!

The toy has taken a break - it's been out of sight, out of mind. But yesterday I pulled it out for him and decided to try and catch the moment. Forgive my movie making skills...I will work on that.

But I think this will make you smile.

Recently...

<---Erin, Shawna and Claudia at the shower

Remember my friend Shawna? Well, she is almost due and we had a shower for her last week. It was fun to meet her husband and all of the people in her life that she talks about. Her baby boy, Cameron is due the week of Thanksgiving - isn't that neat?

Well, for Shawna's shower I made a fuzzy lovey blanket - same as the one I made for Sam a while back. In my scurry to get everything together I missed a step in my sewing and used Velcro instead of a snap for the pacifier holder. I try not to let those missteps get to me...but sometimes they do. That's why I sit and talk about it a week later!

Anyway, I finally have something new to share that is not Sam related - woo hoo! There is more going on than that little guy.

Go'in back to Indiana...Indiana here I come

Do you know that Jackson 5 tune?

We went to Indiana this weekend to meet Marissa and Ben for Taylor's Homecoming weekend...it was a good time with plenty of adventure! Did some of that adventure involve Sam? Of course it did. He runs the show...

Visiting Indiana was great, though. So nice to see flat open fields of land of corn and soybean. I am not being funny! There is something beautiful about it and the sky is just so big!

We stayed at The Loft Inn, a local B&B in Fairmount, Indiana - the proud home of James Dean and Jim Davis, Garfield's creator. Interesting, huh?

Here's some pics from the weekend - I hope yours was great too!

Is there a banana on my face?

Considering that Sam is now 9 months old, I thought I would take the plunge and give him finger foods...I know. I am late.

I decided to give him some cut up bananas after his smooshed banana and oatmeal breakfast. At first he didn't quite know what to think of it, but then he figured it out. When I looked over at him after a couple of bites this is what I saw. It was screaming cute. I had to share!

By the way, I think I have sufficiently made up for my lack of Samuel pictures. I just might start showing you some other tidbits of my life, lest you think he consumes me. He kind of does...

Cheerios

Happy Friday!

I am so glad the weekend is here...aren't you? The Fall has finally arrived and I love the cool mornings and the sunny days. It's my FAVORITE time of year. The best!

Samuel has just finished eating some Cheerios and has gone back to sleep - babies just love Cheerios and it's so cute to see them picking them up with their little fingers and putting them in their mouths. Of course Sam likes to take them by the handful and shove them in his face, but it's still cute. :) Here he is taking a break from eating Cheerios...do you see the one down on his shirt?

Today we are preparing for a garage sale. Wish us luck! I have been gathering and cleaning out closets this week in preparation for the sale. I have put some clothes on consignment and even had some eBay sales! I guess instead of spring cleaning it's cleaning out for the winter.

Either way it's been good to get rid of extra stuff around the house... One man's junk is another man's treasure!

Catch you soon,
ariana

Go Vols! and What did you have for Lunch?

It has been a bit since I have updated and, honestly, I have been lagging with the Sambo pictures. I do, however, have a picture that I took of my boy on a recent Saturday in Big Orange Country. Never mind that the photo was taken on the day we had an embarrassing loss to Florida. No, think of this past Saturday when we whooped on Georgia, OK?

What about lunch? Do you sometimes get on a kick and just eat the same thing for breakfast or lunch all the time? I do. I fluctuate with dinner, though. The weird thing is that this new lunch fascination is not something I would have ever eaten until Sam came into the picture.

You see, I never liked peanut butter growing up - EXCEPT for when it was with chocolate. I hated peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, something to which my Titi Cucha can testify and reminds me of all the time (I used to throw my uneaten PB&J lunches under the bed).

Then I got pregnant. One day my good friend and coworker Julie was eating her usual peanut butter on bread for lunch when I just had to have some. WHY? I never liked it even when I tried. Yet somehow being preggo changed that. I had peanut butter on lightly toasted bread for lunch very often while pregnant and still continue to this day...

Except for one thing. Now it's with Lay's chips. And let me clarify. It's Jif Creamy (not chunky, low-fat, natural, etc...) on Pepperidge Farms Natural Whole Wheat bread and Plain Lays (not flavored, baked, natural, etc...). Occasionally with a Sprite Zero (not regular).












Am I weird? Yes. Never claimed to be normal.

What did you have for lunch? Makes you think, doesn't it?

Come and get me!

Phew. I think we are moving along with creating more computer storage space at our place. We got an external hard drive from Sam's Club on Sunday so we could back up and create space for Samuel's pictures.

In addition to creating more technical space, Matt has done an excellent job creating more play space for Sam! When we bought this place we were excited that there were two extra storage areas in the house...one of them right off of my creating room.

As of Sunday morning that space was filled with seasonal clothes, a drying rack and some other random things. Then came Sunday evening....while I was gone stamping at Jen's house I came home to a cleaned out room! The space is awesome for a little person...there are lights, a window, a heating/cooling vent and plenty of room to move around.

You see, Sam has become quite mobile. He is fast. Turn around and try to do something and he is making a bee line to the dog food bowl (his favorite) or right out of the room you are sitting in. Long gone are the days of sitting him down around his toys and leaving him there for a moment!

I took Sam up to the room yesterday to see what he thought. He loved it!! He crawled around and expected me to chase him. Then he crawled over to the book shelf that had books that he could touch! Check out his excitement. Sam's going to have a play room - and I will be able to contain him when necessary. :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!