artsy fartsy bumbo

So Thad and I came up with this idea for a different way to hang something artsy in the dinning room. We used to have two small van Gogh prints on this one wall, but replaced it with this one bigger print, that we cut up and mounted on wood and then hung. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but it's pretty big. I love it!
Excuse the glare.

Sammy seems to be growing so fast. He has gotten the hang of the bumbo chair now and loves to sit on/at the table with us at dinner time.


Now that his cast is only knee high he will stand if you hold him up, which is something he couldn't do before. He's not as strong as Andi was at this stage, but like I said, the cast was hindering him before. He has also transitioned himself to an earlier bedtime these last two weeks. I didn't even try to make it happen, he just started crashing at 8 pm and waking up at 7 am. Life is good ;)

Photo Shoot

We borrowed Thad's Dads sweet new camera this weekend and had a photo shoot with the kids in the yard and around the house. It is amazing how much difference a good camera makes in the pictures. We took about 500 picture in less than an hour, here are some of the highlights.


I really can't believe how grown up she is getting. Right now she loves to color, paint, play dress up, shoot nerf guns with daddy, help mommy in the kitchen, play on the computer, ride her bike, sing, watch anything with music and dancing, and play with Sammy. She knows all her letters and number to 10 and talks like such a little grown up.


Okay, so that last one obviously was not part of the shoot, but it is a perfect example of who he is these days. He is just so happy all the time. He is only unhappy if he is left out of the action and loves to sit with Daddy and check everything out. At 3 months he is 15.5 lbs and growing so fast.

One of these days we will get a real family shot done, but for now these pictures were a lot of fun.

Friends

Lately Andi seems to have a renewed interest in Sammy. She thought he was cool when we first brought him home and asked to hold him every time he woke up, but after a week that wore off. Then she pretty much didn't care if her was around unless he was stopping me from doing something with her and then she wanted him back in bed. But this last week or so she wants to sit on the couch and hold him by herself.


And this one is just the best morning face, I had to post it ;)


She really likes him these days. In fact, some of you might know that she is super cranky if you have to wake her from a nap instead of letting her wake up on her own. But I had to last week to get some errands run, and I discovered the trick to waking he up and having her happy is to lay Sammy on the pillow next to her. She hears him and just rolls over and smiles and kisses him. He seems to like her to and always gives her a big smile when she gets in his face.
On a totally unrelated note Thad and I have an ongoing argument on a nightly basis just about. I won't tell you the opinions on the matter cos we want your un-biased input. First question is, do you have assigned sides of the bed? and if so, is trading sides an option?
Next question, Do you kick and flail to un-tuck the covers at the foot of the bed because it restricts your feet, or do you leave the covers tucked in?
I'm fairly certain the comments will back up my opinion on the matter, but we'll see ;)

Andi's Birthday

Saturday was Andi's first real birthday party. I say real because it's the first time we sent out invites to her friends. She is into Tinkerbell these days so we made Tinkerbell invitations and had little fairy wands in the goodie bags. Andi has been talking about her party for weeks and inviting everyone she saw. " You come to my party? I almost 3." Here are a few pictures from the party.

playing pin the tail on the donkey

playing in the tunnel with Nicholas and Caidence

blowing out the candle on her cupcakes that she kept calling pancakes

we really thought cupcakes would be easier/less messy than doing cake and ice cream, but she proved us wrong.

All in all she had a wonderful day and loved all her presents. Especially the Tinkerbell doll and jewelry box. Thanks to everyone who came and made her feel so special!

I told you I've been taking pictures!

Andi looking so grown up on her first day in Sunbeams!

Wearing mommy's "boops"

This is what happens when Thad helps her with the dress up clothes. I know it looks like she's doing the triple snap, but Thad was telling her to growl and that's what happened.

More playtime with Daddy.

Dude on his playmat

I finally pulled the swing out of the shed and he loves it.

But his favorite place is the changing table. He could be crying at the top of his lungs and then you lay him on the table and he's all smiles.

I feel like a slacker for not posting any pictures but this post is basically just my excuses as to why I haven't posted. I have been better about taking pictures of the kids but the cord to connect the camera is on Thads desk at work. I have also been getting things ready for Andi's first real birthday party that will be happening Saturday, the big 3. And taking care of a very sick Sammy, who we found out this afternoon has RSV. Poor little guy is miserable, but hopefully now that we have the breathing treatments started he'll start to improve. I promise a more detailed, entertaining, picture filled post next week.