Growing Up

My little Sam has grown up this past month.  

Between months 8 and 9 we've seen some serious changes.

He's become a Texan

He says, "mom"

He can go from lying down to sitting up like a pro

He crawls everywhere and gets into everything

He pulls himself up and cruises

He drinks from a sippy cup

He went swimming for his first time

He cut five teeth, making the grand total seven

He claps his hands

And he's only gotten cuter

What a big boy we have!

Mama

This little guy said "mama" right in time for Mothers' Day.  

What more could I ask for?

Catch-Up

Phew!  It sure has been a loooong couple of weeks.  We have been busy.  Here is a brief overview...

Ammon (and Camille) graduated!!!!!  

We went to the zoo to celebrate.

Sam just loved the elephants, but not as much as the monkeys.  He could have watched them all day.

I promise he loved the zoo, despite the look on his face.

After our trip to the zoo, we started to get ready for our big move.  We packed, and cleaned, and packed, and cleaned, and Sam felt pretty neglected by the time we were done.  

We then made our 16 hour trip to Texas.  Boy, are we glad that is over.  Sam hated the sight of his car seat for days after making that trip.  

A few days after arriving, Sam started moaning all day.  I thought he was just overwhelmed with all that's been happening (although he probably still is).  Later that night he threw up all over his bed, and again all over me.  After a few days of being really sick, he's back to his normal self.  Well, sort of normal self.  He's cutting two teeth so he's a little grumpy.

We are now busy unpacking and making our new apartment feel like home.  There will be pictures to come once we're a bit more settled.

Family Photos

A friend of ours took family photos for us.  If you want to see some of them, check out her blog.

Why I love being a mom...

Just look at this guy.  That should be reason enough.  

But I will give you even more because there are so many.

Sam loves me.  He always tries to crawl into my lap when I sit down to play with him.  

He is happier playing in my lap than just sitting on his own.

He thinks I'm funny.  That's a big deal.  I know I'm not very funny, but Sam thinks so.

He reaches for me when other people hold him.

I know exactly what he needs (most of the time).

I get to see his "firsts"--smiling, laughing, rolling, sitting, crawling.  I love it.

When he cries, all he needs is a mom cuddle and he's better.

I get to see him explore the world around him.  He is just in awe of everything new.  I love it.

He is such a boy.  He loves being outside, watching cars drive by, playing with balls, 

wearing as little clothing as possible, eating, and making impolite noises.  So cute.

Being a mom is the best.

Lately

So, we've had some great things happen lately...

My mom and dad came for General Conference.  It was so good to see them.  

And Conference was really great too.

Sam, has found a new love for food.  

He's always loved eating, but now he loves painting himself with it too.

We decided to let him explore his artistic side with some finger paints.  

He made some art work for Sparky for his birthday.  

And Sam also decided to paint our bath tub while we cleaned him up afterwards.

I wish wish wish I had a picture of this... Sam sat up in the grocery cart like a big boy this week.  I put the gallon of milk right next to him because that seemed like a good place for it.  Sam immediately put his arm around the jug like it was his best friend and rode around the store that way.  Isn't he just a friendly guy?

And, we got rid of Sam's nasty comb over.  Here it is.  

Yes, he got his very first haircut.  And here is his cute, new, big boy hair.

Oh boy!

After going through 5 outfits in under 24 hours, I've decided Sam will spend the rest of the day like this:

and he's happy as a clam.

I wish he'd find an easier (and less messy) way to tell me what he wants.