Valentine's Day Fun

This year Samantha is much more aware of Holiday's. At the babysitters they had been talking about Valentine's Day and making little Valentine's Day crafts, so she had multiple days of celebrating. The above picture was taken on actual V-Day. And she was so excited to wear her special outfit, (Thanks Gram!)

Jim and Libby made Samantha a V-Day bag of goodies and Samantha loved digging right in. She especially loved the heart necklace and heart bracelet.

"Reading" her card from Mawmaw and Pawpaw.

Ripping open her V-Day card!

Not shy at all about digging right in to her bag of goodies! She LOVES surprises!

The day before V-Day Samantha and I had gone to Hallmark to get Jeff cards from us and some cards for Samantha to share with her friends at the babysitter. I have to interject, when we were at Hallmark, she would pick up a card...open it...and say, "Mommy Loves Daddy" or "Daddy Loves Mommy". It was super cute. And as soon as Daddy got home from work she ran and told him we got him cards and there for we celebrated a day early. When Samantha and I got back from gymnastics's Daddy surprised us with flowers and Samantha got a balloon too.

She was very excited to have flowers of her very own just like Mommy!

The week before V-day Gram sent Samantha (and baby girl #2) a box of V-day goodies. The above picture is the aftermath after Samantha pulled everything out. She is one spoiled little girl. At least she is very grateful for all the surprises she gets.

She loved her Dora hat and gloves!

So excited!!!

Checking out her new dress with matching leggings.

Opening up the box and being so excited for the "what could it be inside"!

It has gotten to be a lot more fun for Jeff and I too b/c Samantha is so much more interactive now. She loves to tell us stories about her day and things she likes and dislikes. She has an opinion on EVERYTHING, and is not afraid to share it! And she is really loving...she gives lots of hugs and kisses and please and thank yous. She is a joy to our lives and we cannot wait to bring this new little joy into our lives as well!

Ultrasound Today!!!

Today, Jeff and I went to Riverside for another ultrasound. (Just to triple check her kidney's.) And her kidney's still look pretty much the same as last time but we will still take her to the Pediatric Urologist when she is 2 weeks old just to be sure. We were able to get some really good pictures for her being so big now. In the above picture her left foot is up by her mouth. And wouldn't you swear she has a dimple in her left cheek? I know her Daddy hopes she has his dimples just like Big Sister Samantha.

After they measured everything the computer calculated that she is currently 7.1 lbs. But they say that they could be off by 1.1 lbs. So that really means she is anywhere from 6 lbs to 8.2 lbs. The tech also mentioned that she has really long legs. And her head is already measuring at 40w3d! Let's hope this little girl comes sooner rather than later! I know Jeff, Samantha and I are all so excited to meet her!

Her foot is up by her mouth still in this one with her left hand behind her foot. And I think it is her other foot up by her right eye.

Pretty close to the same as the one above.

More of the same...

Again... (I will mention that the ultrasound tech said she could see just a little bit of hair on her head but she said not a whole head full like we described that Samantha had.)

Foot up by her head in 3 D.

Foot up by her head again in 3 D.

A short video of her opening and closing her mouth.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 's New Room

Wednesday night we had a little scare w/ Lauren having pretty frequent contractions. During the couple hours at home before we went to the hospital I realized we were in no way prepared for our new baby girl to join us yet. I promised Lauren that if this baby didn't come, I would be a maniac this weekend and try to get prepared. And that is exactly what we did. First, Lauren was an amazing help getting things done. Thanks to my parents for watching Samantha for a few hours Saturday, we were able to get baby girl's room painted a nice shade of pink. Samantha helped me today install a ceiling fan and decorate the room. As of now, this new baby's room is 99% finished. We even brought up a ton of baby stuff up from the basement and made room for things and will spend the week getting it all cleaned and ready.
Moving forward, please keep Lauren in your prayers. She has had some really good days and really bad days. We are praying this baby stays in as long as she needs to come out healthy and happy.
P.S. Don't try too hard to guess baby girl's name, I may or may not have exaggerated the number of characters in her name...

Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Aunt Sandy texted me this picture to me the other day. It is on a bench in downtown Englewood, Florida. It could not describe my little Samantha any better! Although, I just asked her if she is a "curly, dimpled lunatic" and she said; "No, I am a big kid." So there you have it.

Englewood, Florida holds such a special place in my heart. My Mamaw and Papaw had a house there when I was little so we got to go spend a lot of time down there when I was a kid. It is still the place that my sweet Great-Aunt / Uncle, Mary-Lou and Dick, still live. Every time I go down to visit my mom (in Siesta Key) was always make the 45 minute drive down to Englewood.

Snow Fun (Videos)

Snow Fun!

The last couple of days we have received an inch or two of snow. Samantha is now old enough to enjoy the snow and know that she likes it. These pictures are all from Friday and Saturday. Enjoy...

Wine & Canvas

Tonight, Mandy, Amanda Copeland, Katie Lacy and I all went to Wine and Canvas Columbus. It was hosted at On the Border restaurant at Easton and was really nice. They have all the stuff set up for you and the theme of the night was "Birch Tree". Above is our finished product!

Budding artist!

Taking this whole painting thing very seriously.

Our little group.