Sammy is 10 months

As you know it's the 23rd so Sammy is now 10 months old. He's growing up so fast - I'm excited but sad at the same time. Now he has 5 teeth, loves solid food and refuses to eat baby food, and is standing alone for a few seconds at a time. He'll pull up, let go and clap for himself. It's so cute. He's saying a few words but his favorite is "MaMa!" He adores Hannah and follows her everywhere she goes and wants to play with whatever she's playing with.
Also, Sammy refuses to go potty on his Baby Bjorn potty. He only goes if I put him on the big potty. Perhaps it's because that what he's seen Hannah doing but who knows?

No More Pull-ups!

As many of you know, Hannah has been using the potty since February of this year. After watching "Potty Time Elmo" over and over and over and over and over.... and seeing Sammy using his potty, she just decided to start going. But until recently she still wore pull-ups to bed. For a while she'd wake up wet and then there were dry spells. Recently I noticed that we were throwing away pull-ups simply because she'd worn them 2 or 3 days in a row. So last Friday Bobby & I made the decision to let her wear underpants to bed. She's doing great and I think she likes it a lot better than those bulky stiff pull-ups. My little baby is a big girl...sniff sniff.
So in closing..."Way to go Hannah and so long pull-ups!!"

What a Zoo!

We began November with a trip to Atlanta ,GA. My best friend Michelle (who I haven't seen in 2 years) lives two hours south of Atlanta so we decided to "meet in the middle" with our families. We went out to eat Saturday night (our hotel was right next to a Cracker Barrel so we just walked over. Yum-o!) After supper all the kids went swimming in the hotel pool while Michelle and I went to buy snacks for the zoo - and to spend some "girl" time together.
Sunday we all went to Zoo Atlanta - which was so much fun. I think I was more excited about going to the zoo than Hannah was! The weather was perfect, the animals were amazing and even Sammy was good the entire day.
Hannah wanted to see all of the animals from 'Madagascar' and was a little disappointed that they didn't have a hippo. But she did enjoy the zebra's, lions, and giraffe's. In the World of Reptiles she saw a yellow eyelash viper that she'd read about in her snake books and she worried that the Komodo Dragon would eat her. We rode the train and the carousel twice. Hannah loved the petting zoo - she brushed every animal in there! And was very excited when we saw a kookaburra. She loves that nursery song and couldn't believe that there was one at the zoo and "it was taking a bath!"
Here are some pictures from the zoo...

Hannah and her "best friend." She cried when I made her get off so we could move along.

Hannah, Will and Wesley. Once again she's the only girl.

Me and "Clucky" (my nickname for Michelle.)

Hannah loved petting the animals. Especially the pig.

Sammy pets a sheep.

Wesley wanted Hannah to ride with him in the stroller. He called her the "pickiest puppy." (After hearing us call her the "pokiest puppy.")

Mei-lan the panda.

Hannah & Bobby pose with a statue of Willie B.

Boy does he look grumpy!

The giraffe's were mine & Hannah's favorite part of the zoo.

Hannah, "And the elephant was eating..."

Hannah, "Phew!!! They're stinky!!" She preceded to pull her shirt over her nose and walk away.

The Tale of Halloween...

This year Hannah wanted to be Spongebob for Halloween. I checked our local stores but did not find the much desired costume. So I turned to the Internet. But all of the costumes I found were either for adults or too pricey for our budget. I was talking to Emily about the trouble I was having and she said that she could make a Spongebob costume and it wouldn't be a problem at all. Boy was she right!! She is very talented and creative (as you can see from the pictures below.) In a little over two weeks she had it ready and Hannah was so excited. She wanted to wear it every day! At first we were planning on Samuel being Plankton but after all of the work Emily put into Spongebob we decided to recycle Hannah's Dalmatian costume.
We always go Trunk or Treatin' at Wal-Mart. Hannah was the only Spongebob and everyone -adults and kids- were constantly pointing at her in awe. One lady even gave her a "prize" for having the best costume!!
Hannah actually understood Halloween this year so she was very excited about her costume and getting candy. She would walk up to the cars and just stare at the people and wait for her candy. It was too cute!

Costume Party

Saturday night we went to a costume party at the Steele's house. It was the first costume party I'd ever been to and it was so much fun!! Bobby & I dressed up as Napoleon Dynamite and his "girlfriend" Deb. We had to improvise a lot with our costume's but I think we did a pretty good job. Samuel was a dalmatian (Hannah's first Halloween costume) and Hannah was Princess Presto from 'Super Why' but she looked more like a fairy princess.
The party was a blast. Josh & Lindsay were dressed like an '80's couple and they did an excellent job (sadly I don't have any pictures of them). There was a ton of food, apple bobbing, dancing (those kids dance better than I do!!), games and a pinata. There were kids everywhere and Hannah was the only girl. I'm not joking! The Steele's have four boys and all of their cousins are boys. She can keep up pretty good though :)

Napoleon & his Dalmatian

Hannah attempts to hit the pinata.

Napoleon & Princess Presto ("With spelling power!")

Hannah is resting after so much fun.

Sammy shed his costume shortly after arriving.

Princess Presto meets Shirley Temple?

Sammy is 9 months

Sammy is now 9 months old! Good grief where have the months gone??!! I took him for his check-up yesterday and he is healthy as a horse and right on schedule as far as milestones are concerned. He weighed 20 lbs 4 oz is 28" long.
Now Sammy can say "Duck", "Cow" and "Quack. Quack." He can also snap his fingers. One night I was trying to feed him & he kept getting distracted. I snapped my fingers to get his attention and he was mesmerized so I kept doing it. He'll rub his thumb & middle finger together. It's too cute.
On his 9 mo. "birthday" we carved our pumpkin for Halloween. Hannah wanted a Spongebob face - big surprise huh? This year she actually stuck her hand inside the pumpkin and helped scoop out the seeds. Last year she wouldn't stick her hand inside at all. So here are all the pictures of us carving the pumpkin & 9 month old Sam.

Hannah wanted an "orange" pumpkin for Halloween.

Daddy & Sammy with the pumpkin.

Sammy watched with interest as Daddy carved the pumpkin.

OK, it looks more like Spongebob in person. This picture doesn't capture it very well.

Oktoberfest Fun

As many of you know the Oktoberfest was this past weekend. Bobby ran in the O. Run Saturday morning and came in third for his age group and ninth place overall. Saturday afternoon I took Hannah & Sammy to O. on Main. The only thing Hannah wanted was a funnel cake and was pretty much ready to go after we quickly inhaled the one we bought. I don't have any pictures of Hannah eating the funnel cake because I was eating it too!
Saturday night my mom came over to watch the kids so Bobby & I could go to the Oktoberfest alone. We mainly go to eat and see everyone that we haven't seen since the last Oktoberfest. We were able to stay and watch the fireworks for once, since we didn't have to rush home with the kids. Altogether a lovely night for a "date" with my handsome hubby.

Hannah is proud of Bobby's medal.

Sam started smiling the minute I pointed the camera at him.
Anxiously waiting for the promised funnel cake.

Hannah gets heart painted on her face.

The big blue sucker Madison bought for her...
I had to have my picture taken with Jenny & Lindsay. It's been forever since I've seen these two.