Year In Review

I thought it would be fun to look back over the year to see how much Sam has grown into a little boy. We had a great year for the most part. There is some sorrow in there, but our family has been truly blessed in so many ways. It's great to look back and thank God for my blessings....especially my two boys! I pray that the coming year brings you many blessings as well!

January

February

March

Easter

May

18 Month Portrait

June

July

August

Disney Cruise-August

Football Time!

October

November-2nd Birthday

2 Year Portrait

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was a bit different for our family this year. We normally spend the Christmas holiday with my grandmother and aunt/uncle/cousins from Indiana. They couldn't join us in person this year, so it was just our family, mom, dad and David. Somehow we still lucked out and Santa made an appearance for Sam.

Sam was pretty sick all Christmas Eve. To eloquently quote my brother....Sam was "hotter than a two dollar pistol and hacking up a lung." (which isn't too far from the truth) I've never seen a little one almost give up opening presents at Christmas. Sam never fully gave up and kept pushing through. Since he was still sick on Christmas Day, Sam and I regrettably had to stay home while Chris headed to to be with his family in Crossville.

Since grandma and the gang couldn't be in Nashville with us, we did the next best thing and invited technology into our world. We were able to Skype with them and say hi. Santa even took a moment to send his greetings to Bedford.

Sam was definitely ready to get into some of his new toys.

I love the fact that my husband and brother are BOTH reading instructions to put Sam's airport together. I have to say they both did a great job....just glad it wasn't left up to me to assemble any of his toys!

Christmas morning....it took a lot of coaxing for Sam even to open his stocking.

All was better when he saw that Santa brought him "McQueen."

Santa made yet another stop at Grandma and Grandpa's house...this kid is pretty lucky I'd say.

Showing grandma all the cars that Santa brought him.

Santa, Please ignore the fingerprints!

We attempted to decorate cookies for Santa one morning. Sam did surprisingly well....if we ignore the fact that every time he got to decorate a cookie, he had to lick the icing off his finger. I'm sure Santa didn't mind too much that there were finger prints all over his cookies.

Gumdrop Tradition

One of my favorite memories is heading to Indiana to spend Christmas with my grandma and rest of the family. Once we were settled in at grandma's house, my brother and I would get out the gumdrop tree and all the gumdrops we could find. We would sit down with grandma and construct this wonderfully delicious tree (only to be consumed in a matter of days). A couple years ago, I got a gumdrop tree of my own. I decided I would TRY this wonderful tradition with my baby boy.

I set the table with all the necessary goodies and Sam's eyes lit up....CANDY. Forget the fact that I'm trying to instill a tradition here. He sees the gumdrops and all hopes of actually putting them on the tree are dashed in a quickness. As soon as I gave him a gumdrop to put on the tree, he shoved it in his mouth quicker than I've seen anything in a long time. I'm sure he knew he wasn't doing what mom planned on him doing.

He did put a few of the gumdrops on the tree...not before consuming who knows how many in the meantime. Maybe next year will be better???? (doubt it....I think ALL kids go for the gumdrops vs. putting together a boring tree)

Let Your Creative Juices Flow

I love doing crafty things...scrapbooking, card making, stamping, etc. The only problem is that I have NO TIME to do the things I love to do. It could have something to do with the fact I have a two year old in tow everywhere I go (not that I mind that at all). I had the opportunity to slip out of the house for a girls night earlier this month. We tried a place called Sip N Strokes. At this place, you start with a blank canvas and the teacher leads you through each step of your painting. Everyone in the class does the same painting, yet they have your own personal "spin" on them. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! I can't wait to go back again and try something else. We had a chance to do a Christmas painting the night we went.

I never have proclaimed to be able to paint. Don't get me wrong, I love to dabble in it, but ever painting anything I would hang in my house....not a chance. This teacher was really good and it was easy to follow along. You just have to get rid of your own doubts throughout the night and know that something good would come from the experience (something very hard for a perfectionist).

All of us showing off our art prowess.

The finished product hung proudly over the mantel. (I don't think it is too bad for my first attempt).

I love my family!

Back before Thanksgiving, we took Sam for his annual Christmas pictures. Chris was a good sport and humored me as we did a couple family shots. All in all, they turned out pretty good. Sam is a character. There were no crying incidents this time and he was generally a happy kid.

So, this pretty much captures my sweet baby boy...

Probably my favorite photo of the day.