"DEE-GEE" and My Little Monkey

Sam loves looking at pictures of Jesus ("Dee-Gee") and especially searching through the Ensign and the Friend for pictures. The other morning, I stumbled upon Sam lying on my bed like this...



I just love my little monkey.


Lastly, a very MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!
Our nativity - hand-carved out of bull horn from Chile.

Coming home with our tree

Matt's self-portrait in one of our ornaments

Sam approaching the fully decorated and lit tree after his nap. "Theeee Liiiiiiiiights"

This one's my favorite... Sam trying to tell us that these are BALLS, not ornaments... So far so good, but I'm just waiting for him to take one off and throw it.

SNOW, Snow and more snow

I took these pictures on Thursday of last week when we got about a foot of snow and Sam and I decided to go for a walk around the block. Since then, we had another foot-ish on Sunday (which resulted in canceled church... SO nice to have a break sometimes!) and it's currently snowing putting another couple of inches already on the ground. I might have to update this post after today...



Our front steps after Thursday... Much worse (and more slippery... just ask Jared) now!


Sam LOVES walking around in the snow as long as it's not too cold outside. Most of all, he LOVES wearing his boots. (Although he'd much rather wear his green frog rain boots). And he loves to "help" shovel...

No! Nay Nay!

(Nate after Sam piled every toy he could find and some other things on top of him one morning)


Whenever I pick up the telephone to answer a call OR to place a call, Sam asks if it's "Nay Nay". If I say it's anyone else, he responds, "NO! Nay Nay!"

Sam LOVES his Uncle Nate. It's a good thing we have free long distance, because we've been calling Uncle Nay Nay several times a day every day since we've been home. In fact, I often know Nate's work schedule each day just so I know whether or not calling him is an option or if I have to work on some distraction techniques for Sam. Here is some photo documentation as to why this is...

Nate let Sam "wrestle" with him and pretty much clobber him all the time. Sam would stand up and then fall on top of Natey, sit on top of his head, jump on top of him, and everything else! Nate was a good sport...

Sam's Enemy is the Sun

Sam HATES having the sun in his eyes. He is so good natured and rarely throws fits, but on the way to Costco this morning, you would have thought he was in mortal pain. Nope. The sun was just in his eyes. Wish I had a pic to post, but he ended up wearing MY sunglasses the rest of the way (which cover about 2/3 of his face).

He was as content as can be.

This pic from CA... his typical hair and eye ornamentation whenever outside - his sunglasses and one of Nate's or Jake's old baseball hats.

Blogging Apology

I've been ever so bad at blogging lately. I just can't seem to find the time! And OH THE PRESSURE after you haven't blogged for a while. It just has to be oh so good with some fabulous pics, right???? (Or lots of back posts to make up for your absense like Oliver or pretty much the best video ever by Adge and Steve or the funniest photo-only-no-text-required-post by Emily or some awesome sports photojournalist post like Les and Trev or have several good excuses like Shauna , or or or....)

Well, this won't be that post, but you can look forward to it soon. :) Some things we've been up to over here...

- traveling to CA and back, and still adjusting to east coast time. (Matt wishes his wife and son would wake up before 9am...)
- Christmas madness - planning neighbor treats, making Christmas cards, Christmas present shopping, wrapping those presents, etc.
- car trouble - my car didn't start after I returned home. Luckily it just needed a jump. (Thanks to B for Matt's ride to work that Monday!). Then, a piece of my undercarriage came loose and was scraping on the snow everywhere I drove. A cheap repair though and I'm back on the road once again. Phfew.
- Fatigue. Can I blame this on pregnancy? I fell asleep sitting in the rocker in Sam's room this morning while he piled all his shoes, socks, books, blankets, stuffed animals, and cars on top of me. Imagine my surprise when I woke up 20 minutes later under a mountain of STUFF. (How did I sleep through that???)

... and more. Now, what's a post without a pic? I'll throw in a few as a teaser, but the rest will come later!

This pic was taken right before I "got decked" by my lovely sibs. Notice that they are following the "decking rules" and giving me the sign first (see Jake).

Nate at Jake's bball game - where Jake scored something like 30 points.

Leese and Soph at our family photo session - AFTER the bow came out of her hair.

We spent a lot of time soaking up the warm weather at the park. Here's Sam trying to play baseball with his uncles, dad, and grandpa.

Soph on the swings.



Lastly, a shout out to my cuz Ev and his fabulous wife Whit. How is it possible that I made his highlight cousin list when I can't shoot hoops, am not NEARLY as funny or hip as those carliles, and am a Red Sox, Angels, AND Lakers fan. ??? Who knows, but QUITE the honor. :) Here's to you Ev. You and Whit just NEED to take a vaca back east, don't you think???

Announcing...

I realize I have much more to post and it's been forever, but thought this should DEFINITELY be the first thing since we just found out today! Sam's going to have a little brother!

Gore Place and Sam the Monkey

These pics are a couple weeks old, but I'm FINALLY getting around to posting them. :) We had so much fun with Emily & co at Gore Place. Sam loved seeing the animals, crunching in the leaves, and especially pointing out any airplane that flew overhead.
Thanks "Lala, Babby, and Aaaaack" for a fun afternoon!

Sam and Lila with the chickens.

Sam pointing out yet another airplane.

The gorgeous fall leaves. Everyone should experience Fall in Boston once in their life. Nothing quite compares!

Checking out the goats and llamas... and another airplane

Sweet Sam

Sam the monkey. This is the best Halloween pic I have! Turns out that when your hubby works late, it's so difficult convincing your toddler to keep his monkey hood on for the photo! Here Sam and Matt are showing me "what a monkey says".
(And yes... we realize that his costume could be a teddy bear, mouse, etc. We got these comments so many times that we just started aggreeing with everyone. "Sure! He's a rabbit! Yep, isn't he so cute???")

For the Love of Norm Abrams...

My FABULOUS old roomie, Reagan, called me today. While we were saying our goodbyes, Sam ran into the living room and turned on the TV. Ten minutes later he was still in there and totally absorbed.

I wandered in thinking that it must be Sesame Street or Curious George or SuperWhy to have held Sam's attention so well.

Nope.

It was New Yankee Workshop - one of Matt's favorite woodworking shows. Sam watches it with him sometimes, but I had no idea Sam loved it so much!

Matt's so proud. Norm would be too.

Frog Rain Boots

Sam tried out his new rain boots on Saturday for the first time. He LOVED splashing in the puddles and going for a wet walk with Dad. I loved not having to dry out his shoes afterwards.

Here he is trying them out for the first time... pretty unsure of himself walking.


And back from his walk - LOVING it.


This pic cracks me up. Sam was trying really hard not to smile...

Daylight Savings BLARG!

So, here I am up to get ready for a meeting at 8am. I come to check my email, and see that the computer says it's 6:30am - not 7:30am. After some investigation, I realize it's DAYLIGHT SAVINGS! SIGH. I'm going back to bed for an hour...

Mom's Little Helper and more

Sam loves to help me do whatever it is I'm doing - sweep the floor (especially under any piece of furniture he can reach with his broom), wash dishes, bake anything, etc. Here he is helping me make pumpkin bread.


Sam also LOVES his sunglasses and hat lately. He wanted to wear his hat to bed the other night, and he watched most of a World Series game with Matt and me with his sunglasses on. (Sam LOVES baseball. Whenever we turn it on, he climbs up on the couch and sits right in between Matt and me to watch. He loves doing the "strike!", "you're out!" and "round the bases" signs...)




And lastly, THANKS to Matt for arranging a MUY FUN birthday celebration at none other than Chuck E Cheese! It was fun to be with friends, play skeeball, etc and of course... sing happy birthday with Chuck E himself!




(Sam LOVED playing this game with Matt. They probably played at least 15 games together... with Sam "helping" Matt by hitting random buttons.)

Twins...

Didn't this card turn out oh-so-cute for a friend's twin babies shower? I love my cricut... Now on to the Wreathmaking invites and then my Christmas cards! I'm going to put that thing to use!

Bust a Move

Quotes of the Day

Yes, plural. I couldn't decide which was better. Both quotes from my laurels class today:


"Challenges are like vegetables. They're not as tasty as dessert, but they're good for you and make you stronger."

"Marci - I would say that your life is a success and I want to be like you."
Me, laughing, "Well, thanks."
Her - "So, since I want MY life to be a success too... did you take AP Bio?"


(PS - Just waiting to see who will win this nail-biter game! GO RED SOX!)

Thai Lettuce Wraps

Mmmmm. If your mouth is watering right now, you know JUST what I'm talking about.

For part of my birthday celebrations, Matt and I went out to the Cheesecake Factory last night (and to swap out my birthday present new silver ipod nano for a RED one - it's totally AWESOME). I ordered thai lettuce wraps - which is technically an appetizer, but is OH SO dreamy good.

Just read THIS: THAI LETTUCE WRAPS Satay Chicken Strips, Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Coconut Curry Noodles and Lettuce Leaves with Three Delicious Spicy Thai Sauces — Peanut, Sweet Red Chili and Tamarind-Cashew.

Mmmmm. I've had thai lettuce wraps for dinner last night, lunch today, and probably lunch tomorrow. I would seriously eat these at least once a week. Wish I could figure out their recipe for the chicken, noodles, and sauces!

Now I'm off to figure out itunes. Yes... make fun if you want to... I've never ventured to itunes before now!

Under Construction...

Little Peanut (aka Baby Romney #2) is "UNDER CONSTRUCTION"!

Expected completion date: April 27, 2008.

So far, so good over here! We're excited to find out what we're having on Dec 3.

PS - HAPPY BIRTHDAY LESLEY JEAN!
PPS - A big CONGRATS to Kate and Chris, new proud parents of an adorable baby girl. She's beautiful! Les and I are a little upset that she couldn't wait until the 19th..., but oh well!

Buzz Boy

After screaming and crying as if I were beating the lad, Sam now has a buzz. For someone whose hair grows so quickly and is so WILD, it's incredible how very much he hates scissors, combs, clippers, buzzers, etc.

So, we pinned him down and did our work. I think he forgave us afterwards...

Here he is playing outside... eating rocks of course. :)

Like Mother Like Son

Sam found my box of Lucky Charms yesterday afternoon. I love love love Lucky Charms. It's my favorite cereal. Long ago, Matt told me he was never again sharing a box of Lucky Charms with me because I pick out all the marshmallows. :)

Well, Sam did the same thing yesterday - with no prompting from me!