Michigan Pictures

Fun in the little pool.  Samuel, Jacob and Evan 

Samuel loved getting sprayed with the water

Love this picture.  He looks so happy.

Everyone enjoying Ice Cream Sandwiches.  I can't figure out where I was because I would have eaten a ton of them.

The boys were ganging up on Jules

Slip and Slide

Remote control truck playing

Family picture.  Excuse how ridiculously huge I look.  Melissa, Me, Dave, Joseph, Marleen, Jacob, Samuel and Greg

Big Family Picture. Greg, Ton, Adam, Evan, Uncle Joe, Karin, Jules, Ton's parents, Melissa, Samuel, Leone, Me, Dave, Joseph, Marleen and Jacob

Joseph loves sparkling water.  He couldn't get enough

Joseph missed George so he played with Lucy!

Catch Up

I know I haven't posted in a while. We have been really busy. Samuel, Joseph and I went to visit my family in Kansas City last Saturday and then we headed to Tulsa for the week to spend with my parents. I have lots of updating.

Last Thursday my mom came in town and we relaxed and hung out on Friday and left on Saturday to Kansas City. It was Joseph's first long car ride. He did great at first and then couldn't stand being stuck in his car seat for the second half of the drive. We were planning to stay the entire day and hang out with my grandparents, but I think it was pretty overwhelming for my grandmother. George literally barked the entire time and it was super annoying. It was wonderful for my grandparents, my uncle and aunts to be able to meet Joseph. We ended up leaving after about 4 hours and driving to Tulsa so that we could get home at a reasonable hour. It was a very long day for all of us.

Here are some pictures from Kansas City.

Samuel and Zayde
Uncle Izzy with Joseph
Bube with Joseph

Zayde with Joseph
Aunt Riva with Joseph

The Tulsa portion of the trip was super busy and went by way too quickly. I was able to get together with two of my really close friends from high school and visit with many other family friends. It just seemed like every day just flew by. It is easier to explain what we did by looking at all the pictures below.

Samuel loved shaving with Papa

We went and fed the ducks at the park

Samuel and Joseph hung out with my oldest friend, Emily. We have been friends since freshman year in high school!

Samuel spent countless hours coloring:

We relaxed:

I love this picture. Joseph was sleeping on my mom's shoulder and then Samuel wanted my mom to hold him too, so he got on top of my mom and Joseph. Obviously it woke up Joseph and he loved be squished by Samuel. The look on Joseph's face is adorable.

Samuel spent all day playing outside, here he is doing somersaults in the yard:

Exploring the rocks with Papa:
We also went swimming. It was hotter then hell in Tulsa and it was so nice to know someone with a pool. Samuel had such a great time and has no fear of the water.

Last morning in Tulsa:

Samuel wasn't so happy...

While we were in Tulsa, it seemed like Samuel's vocabulary and language skills exploded. He is talking and repeating everything. I am really going to have to watch my expletives now. Samuel can also count to 11 now on his own.

I had such a wonderful time in Tulsa. It is just nice to have quality time with my parents and be able to relax and hang out with them. I look forward to spending a week with them every year.

Early Christmas

We had a very busy weekend. Oma, Opa, Aunt Melissa and Jacob came in town for the weekend from Michigan. We were celebrating Christmas early so we could all be together.

The beginning of last week was super busy with Samuel being sick and then I baked up a storm. I made pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie, vanilla and chocolate gooey butter cookies, pumpkin bread and fudge. That was all just for the weekend. We ate so much food and had our Christmas dinner on Friday night.

It was really amazing to see how excited Samuel got to open his gifts. We mostly took videos of him opening gifts, however I did get a few pictures. He almost couldn't contain himself he was so excited. It was like he couldn't open the gifts fast enough. He is just now rediscovering all the toys he actually got.

It was a very wonderful family weekend and although we didn't really leave the house much, it sure felt like we were super busy. The house is so quiet today with Samuel in Mother's Day Out and everyone gone. Kind of strange.

We finally got a really good picture of the three of us for our holiday cards, so I will be sending those out today (hopefully).

Also, on Saturday we decided to hit the mall and to see if we could get a picture of Samuel and Jacob with Santa. Based on Samuel's first reaction to Santa I wasn't really expecting him to cooperate. The line was pretty long at the mall, so Samuel was able to walk around and get a lot of looks at Santa before we actually went up to him. Once it was our turn to go up, Dave was holding onto Samuel and he started to freak out, but luckily Dave was patient and eased him from the stool, to the arm on the chair to Santa's lap. Once Samuel was on his lap I think he thought he was sitting on a big huge warm pillow, because he just leaned back and snuggled in. It was really cute. I got a few pictures from the side view, but the picture that they actually took with Santa was great. Maybe I will try to scan it and post it later. (Not really sure how to do that on my printer downstairs, so we will see).

The weekend ended nicely and now a whole new week has started. I can't believe it is the end of December already. I don't really have that much longer to go before this next baby comes. Today we are getting Samuel and the baby room painted. So far it looks great. On the 28th we get the baby furniture delivered. Once the room is set up I will post pictures. I can't wait.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Samuel opening up one of his gifts:

Dave being ridiculous:

I love this picture because it just makes me laugh:

Family photo time:

Last night of Hanukkah. I look like a fat cow in the picture, but whatever:

This is a cute picture of the three of us, but not the one we are using for our holiday card:

Another family picture:

Oma, Opa and the boys:

Side view of Samuel, Jacob and Santa:

My parents were in town for the weekend and we were pretty busy. My mom and I went shopping, we went for a long walk, we went to the St. Louis Wine Tasting Festival (or something like that, in Forest Park) with Jonathan and Laura and we cleaned the house for our open house this past Sunday.

I am trying to figure out dinner for the week, so I can run to the grocery store while Samuel is at Mother's Day out, but I am just not in the cooking mood lately. If anyone has good ideas of quick easy and simple meals, let me know.

I did make homemade Buffalo Chicken Wings, this weekend because Dave had been craving them.

Here is the recipe:

20 chicken wings (or legs or both)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup red pepper sauce

3/4 cup tomato sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Sounds spicy and smells spicy, but it really isn't. Just a little heat at the end.

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Bake wings in preheated oven for 30 minutes

3. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

4. Cover winds with sauce. Shake off excess. Cook in oven 250 for another 15 minutes.

I would suggest broiling the wings for a little bit at the end too, so they turn out a little crispy.

Okay, I am going to go look at recipes online to figure out what to make for dinner.

Here are just a few pictures of Samuel with Savta and Papa.

It is only 1 pm and I am so exhausted. I have been so busy this morning and I only have 2 more hours to myself.

This past weekend, Oma and Opa came in town to visit. It was Opa's 60th Birthday on Sunday (sorry I didn't post a happy birthday yesterday, but I was super lazy in the afternoon). So we were busy all weekend playing and celebrating. Oma and I took Samuel to the St. Louis Magic House. It is a really cool place. It is a hands on educational museum/play centers for kids. There were musical instruments, bubble rooms, water rooms, sand rooms, etc. I could go on forever. It was a really cool place and we wore Samuel out. We also wore us out too. I have pictures below.

This morning was Samuel's second day of Mother's Day out. He was so excited to carry his lunch box again. When we were walking in an older boy was crying a little and holding on to his mom. Samuel pouted a little bit, but I told him it was okay and he stopped right away, which surprised me. When we walked in the door, he started waving as soon as he saw the ladies who take care of his room. I sat him down and he ran right away from me to play. He didn't cry at all, even when I told him bye. I was really surprised. I can't wait to get a report from the teachers to see how he did today. I have to pick him up in 2 and a half hours and I have barely done anything for myself today.

I had to take George to the vet this morning. He had some spots on her body that didn't look normal. They weren't growing any hair and she has never had a problem like that before. Also her left eye was really red and I was worried that she might have scratched it at her doggie day care.

We an hour and a half later, she was diagnosed with an eye infection that may move to the other eye and a skin infection. She has to have drops put in her eye twice and day and she has to take pills twice a day for the skin infection. They aren't sure yet if the skin infection is contagious, so I have to keep Samuel away from her skin for the next two weeks. That is going to be difficult because Samuel loves to give George hugs and kisses. It completely grosses me out to think that she may have a skin infection that we could catch. Hopefully the medication will work and there will be no additional issues.

So, I had plans to run a ton of errands and grocery shop, exercise, shower and write, but I am not going to be getting that much done. Hopefully Samuel will cooperate in the next few days and run all my errands with me.

Here are some pictures:

Samuel looks so ugly in this picture, but he loves to put Dave's swim goggles on. He goes through Dave's gym bag until he finds these goggles and puts them on. It is really funny.

Here are pictures from the Magic House. Samuel is trying his hand at a little fishing:

He loved driving the truck:

He was making some very interesting music on the piano:

Here he is really getting into it:

Some other musical instrument:

The Birthday Boy with Samuel: