Photo Session

Stephanie Carson, our wedding photographer, came to our house around Thanksgiving to take pictures of us and Sam. Of course, Sam ended up teething with a runny nose and was quite a difficult subject for Stephanie. I was amazed when we saw the pictures and she managed to get some fantastic ones of Sam! Here are a few of them...

Many Thanks on Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We spent the first half of the day at Ben's mom's and the rest of the day at my parents' house. I think we ate our weight in turkey, green beans, pie, and potatoes cooked any possible way. Sam loved every part of it...snoozing on the drives and eating like never before! He really took the eating part of the holiday seriously. He loved the turkey, cranberries, and even ate the oysters at Sue's. His favorite was the taste of Cool-Whip he ate off of Papa Jay's finger, though! Ben and I have so many things to be thankful for: wonderful and supportive family, stable and satisfying careers, and a very delightful little baby. Life is GOOD!

Enjoying some pre-dinner conversation, consisting of screams and fake coughs, with Carrie and Uncle Paul

Grammy Will made quite a spread of food!

Time to eat some oysters!

Open wide!

Thanks, Grammy Will! It was delicious! Gotta run - I have another meal to get to!

Getting some cuddle time in with Papa Jay and Nana before meal #2.

Yet another successful Thanksgiving dinner

Hahaha! Time to unbutton my pants - bring on the pumpkin pie!

Climb Every Mountain!

Sam tried climbing stairs for the first time this week! He had never noticed the stairs before, but once I set him on the first stair, he figured it out right away. I realize showing him the stairs was probably a big mistake, but he sure had fun.

I did it!

Sam's "Great" Grandparents

Sam is lucky to have some super grandparents! We're so happy that Nana, Papa Jay, and Grammy Will all live nearby. Sam even has an uber-hip great-grandma, GGM (Great Grandma Millie) who texts on her i-phone! And we can't wait to tell all the funny stories about Grandpa Will - Ben has many to share with him.

Nana with her boys - Sam and Jackson.

Sam with Papa Jay the morning after he stayed over.

Grammy Will feeding Sam last weekend

Visiting GGM in Tennessee this summer

Sam's First Halloween

Sam's first Halloween was a busy one! Sam was a bat with purple wings - very scary. The excitement started in the morning with a costume parade at daycare. All of the different rooms take turns parading around the center. For the babies in the infant room, wagons serve as parade floats. Ben was able to slip out of work for a while and join the parade. He said that in one of the rooms, a four or five-year-old boy approached Sam and told him, "you're cool!"

Sam was NOT loving his costume, mostly because it was tough for him to move around in. When we put it on at night, though, he seemed to be okay in it. Nana came over since Papa Jay was in L.A. for work and we ate pizza and handed out candy on our front porch. Sam was a trooper - he stayed out with us the whole night! Next year, he'll get to actually eat the candy!

We each had our own pumpkin. The one we got Sam at the pumpkin farm turned out to be completely impenetrable! There was no carving that sucker! So we improvised with a Sharpie.

That's one tired bat!

Saturday at the Farm

Today we visited Hidden Valley Fruit Farm with Paul, Carrie and Sue (a.k.a. Grammy Will). We had perfect fall weather and ate our hearts out with apple cider, hot dogs, and doughnuts...then bought caramel apples, jellies, and other goodies to gorge on later! Sam had his first hay ride and we got to pick out a Sam-sized pumpkin on the way back to the farm.

Carrie and I sippin' some cider

Grammy Will and Sam checking out the big kids

Carrie, Paul, and Sue enjoying the ride

Sam's pretty excited about getting his first pumpkin, but decided later on that chewing on the stem doesn't feel so great.

Posing in the patch

Sam and Grammy Will had a great time together!

Sam and Daddy having a laugh before the car ride home - great way to end a great day.

Wrestling Sam

We enjoyed a nice Sunday off today with Sam. His day started with a wrestling session with his stuffed monkey, Bucky. We think Sam may follow in the tradition of his nephews Zac and Luke with his wrestling skills!



After getting out some aggression (and a bit of a cry after his head-bump on the floor), we got some culture over at the art show in Hyde Park square with Uncle Paul and Carrie. Sam was much more interested in the dogs walking around than the actual art. Here's a picture of Sam in front of some abstract art...
Athlete or artist? Time will tell. For now, I think he'll stick to wrestling stuffed animals and chasing after Ace and Chloe.