Mind of his own

This is what happens when you try to take pictures when Sam isn't in the mood.

Stinker.

Retraction

My son proved us all wrong yesterday and started waving. I am sorry if my last post was disparaging in anyway.

On a side note, we went to the doctor and he was on 21 lbs and 10 oz. He's only in the 33rd percentile. Now maybe my siblings will stop calling him a chunk.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Our little man is one.

I can't believe that a whole year has passed since he joined our little family. For his birthday he got to go hang out with Granny and Grandpa Hanson while mom went to work. This is his favorite activity. He gets undivided attention and never touches the ground. I didn't feel too bad about leaving him. Tonight we had a BBQ at my parents with my family and Granny and Grandpa. Nothing too big but enough to get pictures so we have proof we didn't neglect his birthday. He got lots of fun toys and everything was a hit. He especially loved the little cars he received since they of course have wheels and an alligator xylophone/piano thing.

He's such a big boy.

We're finding that he is SUPER curious and has to check out EVERYTHING and open EVERY cupboard and drawer in the house.

He likes to play in the water, sometimes he tries to climb into the bathtub when there isn't any water in it. He REALLY likes to play in the toilet when no one is watching. GROSS!

He crawls all over the place and likes to find hidey holes to hang out in .

He is OBSESSED with electronics. It drives me crazy.

He won't clap or wave Bye-bye.

He says "Mama" and "Dada" if he's in a good mood. Kisses for everyone when he's in a really good mood.

He is weird about new food and automatically refuses everything at first.

He isn't naughty but you have to watch him constantly because he is so busy.

He likes to rub his face against Dad's face at night and snuggle with Mom in the morning.

He has the cutest face ever but never sits still for pictures theses days.

So these will have to do.

Happy Birthday Buddy! We love you!

No-Where, Nevada

This summer has been full of adventures so when my dad invited us to go on a weekend trip to Ely, NV of course we agreed! The plan was to ride a steam train and go to Lehman caves. That's it. That is all there is to do. Really.

So Saturday we rode the Northern Nevada Railway.

My dad LOVES riding steam trains (it's no coincidence that he works for the railroad). It was super authentic and in beautiful shape. I love the little luggage cart. Here is my old-timey tribute to the train. My dad was dismayed at the yellow rail my photograph. Apparently yellow rail is not authentic.

Sam must not have been very impressed with the train ride because halfway through the ride he threw his bottle out the window. Just chucked it out. It's now out in the middle of the desert by some abandoned mining cars. I hope the coyotes appreciate my Dr. Brown's bottles.

The first half of the ride we tried to keep Sam under control. Let's just say he is more busy than he was when we took our trip with my parents in June. He's a crazy man! The train was kind of empty so the second half we just let him loose. If there is one thing that Sam loves, it's wheels. Once he found his stroller in a hidey-hole he camped out with his beloved wheels. What you can't see is how filthy he is from the train soot, desert dirt, and natural little boy messiness.

The highlight of the entire trip must have been today. We went to Lehman Caves because Ben had never been there. Our ranger tour guide was super corny and told TERRIBLE jokes. Sam loves echos so he jabbered the entire way down to the cave and all through the schpeal in the first room. Ranger Rick apparently didn't like competing with my cute son for attention because he kicked Sam out. That's right, he called for another ranger and had us escorted out. Really.

I have a feeling this will be the first of time of many in which Sam will get us kicked out of public places.

Last week

The wedding is done. It was CRAZY!!! The whole week was crazy. The wedding was lovely but somehow I didn't get many pictures.

I think I wore myself out taking pictures of her.

And her

And them

And them

This week I plan to hang out with him.

Trouble

WANTED

This little criminal is wanted for stealing laptops, cameras and remote controls.

If you see him and he has this look in his eye, hide all electronic devices.

Sass-a-frass

My niece Kate and I had a little photo session while she was here. She's such a nut!

Notice the boots. She loves them. Grandpa got them for her.

Thomas

Tonight I got the chance to take family pictures for my sister-in-law Laurel. Our nephew Thomas is nearly impossible to get pictures of because he either runs away when he see's me with the camera or he make crazy cute faces. Tonight he couldn't run so I just got hilarious looks. I did manage to get some super cutes ones. This is my favorite so far.

Someday . . .

Maybe I will have a little girl someday.

Maybe she will be as cute as my cousin Amber's little girl Makenzie.

I could take pictures of her all day.

The Train

While the big girls were having a shower for Giana, our niece Kate went with Ben, Sam and Grandpa to go ride the train in Farmington. My dad knows the owner of the S&S Shortline so they went up for a visit.

I'm not sure how much Sam really understood what was going on . . .

But Kate had a great time.

She loves going anywhere with Grandpa.

She tolerated Ben and Sam.

Ben says that the trains are very cool and the kids had a great time. They are only open a couple of days a month but it is well worth the visit. We highly recommend checking them out.

Bridal Shower

We are officially less than one week away from Adam and Giana's Wedding! Yesterday, we had Giana's shower.

Since her family is here from Ecuador she wanted to have one big shower.

Lots of fun friends.

Lots of delicious food.

And the easiest bridal shower favor I have ever made.

11 months

Our little stinker is almost 1.

Tonight he posed for some pictures for Kent's school projects and I just had to post this one.

I can't believe how big he is! He is full of little surprises everyday.

He crawls, climbs stairs and says, "Mamamamamamama" all the time.

For some reason, he HATES having his diaper changed and he refuses to eat anything on the first bite. He'll close his eyes and shake his head until you can sneak a bite into his mouth.

Holding him is like holding a sack of cats because he's so busy and never holds still.

He has 6 teeth and is working on 2 more.

So here lies the question. What does one do for a 1 year old's birthday? A party seems a little much but I think I need to do something.

Thoughts anyone?