First Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone!!

We just celebrated our first Halloween with Samantha. All of these "firsts" are bittersweet - so exciting and wonderful, but they go SO quickly. So, we took lots of pictures - shocking, I know! ;)

The evening was even to eventful for Miss Sadie, who joined us in trick-or-treating, with her pumpkin t-shirt. She was completely worn out. What a sweet doggie!

Even before Trick-or-Treating we had to wear the Halloween outfit and headband Nana got us. I swear this child will wear anything on her head!

It is getting harder to take pictures of Sami, because she tries to get you and the camera. :)

It looks like she is growling, but she is actually giving us a piece of her mind - do you think "bababa" means "get that camera out of my face." Oh well. ;)

No goodies in there Sami, you are too young - this year Daddy gets to eat all the candy.

We only got a few pics of us with Sami at the end of the night - she is so tired. It was just too much excitement for one evening. Of course she had no idea what was going on, but it must have seemed exciting, because after the first several houses she would clap and giggle after we went up to the doors and got candy - coincedence, probably - but precious nonetheless.

Daddy was her buddy this evening - he went up to the door with her. I have to admit that despite how much I wanted to take her around, we both felt a little silly going to the doors when everyone knows she is too young to eat the candy. Oh well - rite of passage - right?!

She was so darn cute in her monkey outfit. Thankfully it was a warm outfit because it was cold outside...brrrrr.

What a wonderful Halloween! Kids really do make all of these moments better. I am so excited for Christmas I can hardly contain myself. Yes, I know that is getting ahead of myself (and sadly blowing right past her first birthday)...but God help those of you that follow this blog - it will be picture overload. What can I say, I am a woman in love....ahhhh. :)

Special Time with Nana

We were all blessed with a special visit from Mom last week. We had a great time together. We did a lot of Christmas shopping, bonded over movies and great food, had impromptu dance jams with Samantha, and shared in a lot of great laughs.

Mom witnessed the crazy changes in Samantha just since she saw her in July. Already she is pulling up on everything and is trying to figure out the stairs. She even broke a top tooth - though it isn't a front, but rather a side top tooth - so she has been named "Snaggle-tooth." Mom believes that my fascination with vampires has yielded me a fanged child. If her next top tooth is on the other side, this might actually be true. ;)

It really was great sharing coffee with Mom in the morning and just having that restorative time together. Nothing compares. Of course, every else thought I dropped off the face of the planet - but such happens when I am around my Mom. I try to just soak up every minute. I truly hope Samantha loves me as much as I love her.

Samantha sends her love and thanks!! We miss you already Mom/Nana. Wish you could have been here too Papa, but we can't wait to see you all in December for an early Christmas. :)

9 Month Old Pics

Our baby girl got her 9 month old pictures done at JCPenny's today. She did so wonderful!

We took pictures in her Halloween costume and in a cute fall outfit. For Halloween, she is going to be a sweet, little Monkey. I know I am ridicously biased, but she looks adorable. I was so proud of these pictures (and slightly surprised how good they came out - I wasn't sure how they could photograph a quick crawling baby).

By the way, she started pulling up on things like crazy this evening. I swear she grows up in a blink of an eye.

Pumpkin Patch Princess

Last weekend we had a great day out at Spencer Farms. We went to the pumpkin patch to let Samantha pick out a pumpkin, get some warm apple cider and caramel apples (yum), and to enjoy a hay ride. It was a wonderful day!

Samantha was so excited in the car ride over (okay, yes I know she had no idea, but pretend with me ;) ).

Enjoying the hay ride and looking like a thug in that hat, half pulled over her eyes. :)

I think her favorite part of the day was playing with the hay on the hay ride. It was all dandy until a stranger interrupted my enjoying the view, with "Miss, I hate to bother you but your child is eating the hay" -- oops. ;)

It was the perfect fall day with my family. Thank God for moments like this.