Valentine's Blog Swap Gift

Well, I was lucky enough to have Mrs. Denise Logan "draw" my name. I was so excited to get my package this afternoon. When I started ripping the box open, this is what I saw and I literally said, "Ooo, la, la": Denise gave me this cool red lip gloss in the lip shaped container. I immediately tried some on and loved it. Samuel had big red lips marked on his cheek soon after. I also received the gift that keeps on giving....a $15 gift card to Victoria's Secret. Just in time to shop for something spicy for Valentine's day (sorry if you are reading this Dad V). Denise, I LOVED my gift - thank you so MUCH!

Road Trip to Dolly's

What a fun past few days Samuel and I had at the Seckman home! We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and stayed until Friday. We had a nice dinner with Leland's sweet grandparents on Thursday night and then came home to put the boys to bed. Well, my boy was wired from all the excitement as you can tell in the below video shot around 9:30 pm (he finally fell asleep at 10:15pm!). On Thursday Dolly and I went to some really cute boutiques and treated the kiddos to some clothes for the fall (all on sale!). Next we had lunch at Magnolia's which is always a treat. From there we headed back home and I made dinner for Leland and Dolly since I wasn't in town to bring one over when Michael was first born. Leland kept the boys for the tired moms to see a late movie (bride wars) and it was really cute.

On Friday we did some more bargain shopping before Samuel and I packed up and headed home. We had a great time and Samuel adores his Auntie Dolly. He started saying her name within the first few hours we arrived and he is still asking for her! Thanks for the good times, Dolly! You are always a wonderful hostess!


Here is my wired boy on video (he was eating oatmeal so excuse the dirty face; I grabbed my camera mid-feed):





I could not WAIT to get a hold of this little love bug - what a doll! He loves to cuddle and has plenty of takers.



Dolly and her sweet boy. She is obviously so in love and how could she not be! This baby loves his mama! Notice the hint of auburn in his hair - cute.
On Thursday, Leland was nice enough to babysit for us to go see a 9:50 pm showing of Bride Wars. The boys were in bed, so this was the extent of his duty for the night (monitor gazing). Still, we definitely appreciated it and had a fun night out. Thanks Leland! The funny thing is we were late to the movie so Dolly went in to get seats while I hit the restroom. I told her just to wave to me so I could find her in the theatre - hahahaha. We were literally the only two people in the movie.

This wood carving looks like an old wise man with a long flowing beard/mustache. For some reason, Samuel thought it favored Brian because he'd touch it and say "Daddy"...

Here are the two buddies. Samuel is in position to go in for a kiss. He loved baby Michael and said "baby" about a hundred times during our stay.Samuel sharing some love....
And last but not least, here we are getting a self portrait since we forgot to get any pictures of the two of us (notice Dolly's little admirer in the corner). It was such a fun get away making memories with each other and our boys. Many more to come I'm sure!

Viva Las Vegas

Brian and I just returned from his sales meeting in Vegas. I had never been and I really loved it! Lots of fun things to do and great people watching - holy cow there are some interesting people in Vegas. The highlight of the trip was that Brian won Rep of the Year and was honored for all his hard work. He definitely earned it and I was so proud of him. Here are some pictures from the trip:

This was the view from our window. It was so beautiful and quiet (we were 30 min outside of the city).
This is when Brian had to give his speech after winning his award. Bless his heart, he couldn't get through it because he choked up thanking me! It was very touching! (Thanks to the V's for my Christmas present - purple dress)

Again, getting his speech out...

After the ceremony we drove into Vegas. Here is the largest chocolate fountain (it started in the ceiling). I really wanted to taste it, but the line was too long.

This was during the water show outside of the Bialogio (sp?) hotel. It was really cool!

More of the water show...

I had to beg and plead to get the group on this roller coaster with me and it worked! The girls went first and then Brian and the guys hopped on with me. It was definitely a thrill. It even went through part of the New York, New York hotel.

More of the sights...

There was so much to see I could have taken a million pictures, but I had to stop somewhere. It was a great trip, but we were so happy to get home and see sweet Samuel! A special thank you to Mimi and Papa for taking such wonderful care of our boy!

Thirsty Bear

Christmas Recap

Here is a recap in pictures starting with Christmas Eve. We had a wonderful Christmas and kept very busy visiting family and hosting get togethers. Of course Samuel made it extra special - the magic of Christmas through a child's eyes is something I look forward to experiencing every year!

Here is Samuel on our drive to Advance, NC for a Christmas Eve celebration with a lot of my relatives (mom's side).

We stopped for lunch to visit with more family and introduce them to Samuel. It was nice to see everyone one again (Aunt Carol, Ralph and Carrol).Here here we are with my mom and grandmother. Samuel wanted to PLAY, not take pictures.Here are just a few of my family. There are about 35 of us (or more) and it always makes for FUN reunions. Although this year is bittersweet without my grandfather who passed away in June. We all miss him!
Christmas morning - our little guy fresh from the crib checking out the goods.He loved his ball and kept pointing to it saying, "ball, ball ball"... He also loved the cool chair Mum mum and Pup pup gave him! Thank you guys.

Here he is testing out the chair. He loves climbing in and out of it and sitting in it when we are in the recliner.

Story time in his new chair...

Henry and Samuel enjoyed the great weather on Christmas day. They played with bubbles, balls and opened more gifts.

After a busy day and warm bath, Samuel took a load off...all he needs now is a remote:).

Friday we had my mom, step-dad, brother and his girlfriend over for dinner. We had a nice visit.

Samuel loved his new rocking horse from Mimi and Papa - as you can tell by his expression!

Christmas Update

Wow, I think this has been the busiest December we've ever had! Christmas parties to attend and host, family functions, playgroup celebrations and so much food everywhere! This past weekend we had a great time joining all the other last minute people in the shopping frenzy. The mall was packed and the people were more like a colorful blur as they sped in every direction loaded up with bags.
On Sunday my dad and stepmom came over for lunch and we had a nice visit. Of course Samuel had lots of attention and loved doing his "tricks" for everyone and getting lots of claps and praise. It was too short, but we enjoyed the time we had.


On Sunday night we decide to bundle up and head to Meadows for the train/lights! It was about an hour drive, but well worth it. A lot of people had the same idea because we had to wait in traffic just to park for about 40 minutes. Then we had another line for the train, but it went fairly quick and in the meantime we sipped hot chocolate and looked at the amazing lights. It was SO FUN to watch Samuel take everything in on the train ride. He was truly in AWE as you can see in the pictures. It almost made me tear up just seeing the wonder and amazement on his little face. Although we didn't make it home until 10pm, it was a blast!

Here is a picture of some of the lights - I think this was a jack in the box.
Samuel's mouth is literally opened in awe as he is staring at the lights!!

He did not want to turn and look at the camera here - just let him see the lights people!
Papa and Mimi joined us in the fun since they live only 15 minutes from the show. They had as much fun as Samuel.
This is just a random picture of Samuel doing one of his new favorite things - scribbling! I am not the type of mom who wants her frig free of clutter and magnets - I already have his first "drawing" hung with pride.

More pics from Samuel's 1 year picture session

Here are a few more pics from Samuel's 1 year photo session. We picked out 25, but these were some of our favorites...