Moments in the Life of Sami...

Here are some of the latest pictures of Samantha. Poor girl always has Mama flashing a camera in her face. How adorable is she, though -- I know, I may be biased, but that is my right as a Mama! :)

Mallory and Logan's Graduation

Keith, Samantha and I went to WV this weekend to celebrate his niece, Mallory, and his nephew, Logan's, graduation. We had a great and crazy weekend. We got into town Thursday evening and just got home today. Between catching up with Keith's family, going to a graduation and celebration dinner Friday and Saturday, having a picnic (and corn hole competition) at Tami's house, and the drive to and from Parkersburg - we were on the go the whole weekend, but it was a lot of fun.

It made Keith and I sad though, to see Mallory and Logan graduating. Keith is incredibly close to Mallory and Logan, having grown up with them his whole life - they were always more like siblings. I have known them since they were 6! It was hard to see them so grown-up and it made us feel SO OLD!! But, it has been an honor seeing them grow up into such amazing adults -- what an honor to have them in our lives and to have such great people for my daughter to look up to! Though, it did make me realize how quickly time goes by and how one day I will be there with Samantha crying my eyes out.

Mallory graduated from Warren High School on Friday night. She is going to Wheeling Jesuit scholarship and is planning on doing Sports Medicine or being a PA, plus she is playing basketball for the school.

Mackenzie (above) and Vicki (below) loving on Samantha. They seriously fight over who can hold her next. In fact Mallory's first picture after graduation was even with Sami -- she is well loved!


Logan graduated from Parkersburg High School (our old stomping ground) on Saturday night. He is going to Marshall in the Fall. Here the Brooks take time for their photo op. :)

Of course, we had to have pictures with both graduates -- we were so proud of both of them!

(Below) Logan is pictured with his family. I was proud of his Mom, Vicki, she held up well without too many tears. I know it must be hard to see your first born leave the nest. Heck, I cry with joy (and sadness) every time Samantha does something new (yes, I am pathetic). ;)

Samantha did well for both graduations, even though they made for long days for her. Here she is sporting her new baseball hat. However, as you can see below, they did wear her out a little bit. She had a busy weekend for such a little girl.
To celebrate Logan's graduation we all went to Outback Saturday night. Friday night we also had a great meal at Da Vinci's, but Samantha was fighting sleep so much there that I didn't get pictures -- oh well, she is only 5 months old. ;)

Overall, it was a great weekend.

Congrats again Logan and Mallory - we are SO proud of you!!

Sarah's Baby Shower

A dear friend of mine, Sarah, is pregnant with a boy and I had the privileged of throwing her a baby shower at my old stomping ground, Herron High School. A friend and co-worker, Dahnya, helped me with the planning and prep. Despite the craziness of Samantha and I prepping during school hours and amongst students I hadn't seen in so long (I realize how much I miss them all when I see them), it went off without a hitch and most importantly, Sarah seemed to have a great time! :)

In fact, here she is grinning from ear to ear. I made her wear a "New Mom" tiarra and we adorned her guest of honor chair. It was great seeing her in that moment -- I remember how much I loved being pregnant and the excitement and reality that the showers brought with them. :)
Sarah had a great turn-out of students and faculty. It was great for me to also see and catch-up with old faculty there. Plus, I am learning that I have started a baby-boom at Herron - 4 of the teachers are now either pregnant or their spouses are. Though, it seems the girl trend has so far stopped with me. That is okay though, because it was neat seeing Sarah's shower -- one immersed in blue and not pink.

After being lugged around in a Baby Bjourn and in my arms for about 1 1/2 hours of decorating, she pooped out for some of the shower. It gave me some much needed time to pass out gifts, enjoy the party and dig into the food.

Here are the four amigos - Dahnya, Sarah, Samantha and myself. What a great afternoon! I am so excited to be a part of this new chapter of Sarah's life - she has been such a dear friend and will be an amazing mother. Plus, she will bring Samantha a new playmate here soon. :)

Children's Museum Outing

Samantha and I went to the Children's Museum with my friends Stephanie and Charity and their children. It was our first time there and we all had so much fun! I can't wait until Samantha can crawl and walk around the exhibits - esp. the toddler area. Nonetheless, she was excited to take in everything. She fought me every time I tried to put her back in the stroller -- she was mesmerized by the dinosaur room (and changing colored ceiling), the fish, the playmates, and watching the bigger kids play around.
In the above two pics she is in the 2 years and under area in the Toddler Zone. You can tell that she is still working on this sitting thing. Though, she loved playing around with the toys.

Samantha also gets some photo time with my friend Charity and her son Wesley. Wesley is so good with Samantha -- he entertained Samantha in the car ride there and back. Thanks Wesley!

Crazy, Wonderful Week

So, the past week has been crazy but wonderful! After Kris left us, we got back into our normal routine (somewhat). The Moms group that I just started for my church had two events - Toddler Time and a luncheon at the mall. Both events were fun, despite smaller turnouts. Nonetheless I got to meet with and talk to some amazing women, and my girlfriend Heather and her adorable kids got to even join us on Friday for lunch at the mall. Heather also helped me find an adorable bathing suit for Samantha at the mall, for our upcoming Disney trip. It was perfect! And, it will proudly highlight her adorable Michelin Man legs. ;)

I also got to join my girlfriend Maria for our weekly breakfast. Her daughter Merrell is a sweetie and is totally smitten with "Baby Sami" as well, despite the fact that she can't join Merrell in playing -- soon enough she will, though.

Keith finally got two much needed days off from work. I hate these months of nights, but I relish in his days off when we have him to ourselves. :) We tried to let him rest up some, but we also wrangled him into some window shopping, a nice lunch outing, snuggling up in front of a movie (Benjamin Button -- AMAZING BTW!!), and tons of walks.

On Sunday, we joined a new Bible Study with our church. It is another group, in addition to our Wednesday night Life Together Group. Our friends Maria and Brian from church decided to start it up, and we were so excited to join them. So, on Sunday they cooked out for all of us and discussed how everything would run. We also got to meet some new faces - which is always fun. We are beginning with ACTS and are jumping into official discussions next weekend, which I am looking forward to. Now, I have NO excuse not read the Bible!

Lastly, we have been prepping for a rotation Keith has in DC next year. We are renting a place with some other residents for his rotation there. So, all of those plans were in the works.

Therefore, needless to say, it had been a CRAZY, but WONDERFUL week! I do feel so blessed though, to be surrounded by so many wonderful people - they make it all so much fun!

What is an Exersaucer?

It is a whole lot of fun, isn't it Sam?! (her new favorite toy!!) :)

My First Mothers Day

I had a wonderful First Mother's Day! I got to share in this Mother's Day with not only Keith and Sami, but also my friend Kristina.

For Mother's Day, Keith surprised me with a bouquet of flowers, an incredibly sweet card and a beautiful plaque. Samantha also wrote me a card -- it is amazing how well she can write -- she is a savant (ok, I know it was Keith -- but that is one of the many reasons I love my hubby). ;) However, she did wake me up around 5 am in the morning -- she must have been just too excited to sleep in. ;)
Kristina also surprised me with a book that I am SO excited to read. I am hoping I can learn some great tips from it, and (as appropriately titled) a Take 5 candy bar (one of my favorites). Of course, she also had an amazing card!

Mom and my sisters sent cards -- they are amazing! Tia even sent a special surprise in the mail, that I just got today. I will post on that later, since it is also a special gift for Samantha's room. I also got some great phone calls and emails from loved ones.

Also, I almost forgot to mention that Keith took me to Olive Garden -- and if you know me well, you know that this was the clincher to a truly perfect day.

I truly feel so blessed to be a mother! This is the most amazing time of my life. I thank God for my amazing family and friends every day.

I hope that all of you Mothers had a special day and that you felt enveloped with love!

Time To Reunite With a Dear Friend

One of my dearest friends, whom I have known since High School, flew from DC to visit us this past weekend. Kris and I have remained like sisters over these past 12 years, despite the many moves and miles between us. It was great having her here to meet Samantha for the first time and to just get to talk with her in person. We spent the weekend going on lots of walks (as you see above), shopping, having lots of girl talk (I think we could talk people into deafness), and playing with Samantha. As if she needed to be spoiled any more than she already is, Kristina just kept spoiling her with hugs, kisses, and outfits for our upcoming Disney trip.
Here we finally got an updated picture of us. Sadly, we usually forget to take pictures when we are together or one of us threatens the other that it can never be shown (as most women, we hate all pics taken of ourselves). ;) This time, it included our new addition -- Samantha! As you can tell, Samantha hates the camera. :)
Kris and Samantha had some one-on-one time, too. While I don't think Kris ran home with her biological clock ticking, I do know she relished in being Auntie Kris! :) Samantha also ate up the attention.

I have more pictures that I will update later, but I wanted to put a post up to celebrate our time together. It was a wonderful weekend and a great reminder of how much love we have in our lives. Kris has been a part of so many of my greatest memories and has always been a support system for me, that it is so nice to see her sharing in the life of my daughter as well. Samantha will grow up knowing and loving her crazy and fun Auntie Kris. I will be so boring in comparison! :)

Priceless

While I was making dinner Keith was suppose to watch Samantha. Within just a few minutes this is how I found them on the couch. They were both snozing away like they just passed out! I don't know how he got Samantha to sleep in that position -- unless she was so bored from the hockey he was watching -- that is my guess!

Grandmother's Funeral

This past week I went to NC for my Grandmother's funeral from Tuesday to Friday. Sadly, it was a much quicker trip than I would have liked and it was an extremely sad occasion. However, I was so happy to be able to be there to show my love for my Grandmother and to be with my family, esp. my mother. I was given the great honor, along with my sisters and mother, to be able to speak at the funeral. Normally I am a good off-the-cuff type of speaker, but am I ever glad that I decided to write down my thoughts. After listening to my mother speak and then my two sisters, I was an absolute wreck and could barely make it through my talk. Thankfully, both God and Grandmother were looking down on us and blessing us, because Samantha didn't make a peep even though she was wide awake. As always, Samantha was wonderful! :)

The blessing of a funeral is that it brings together family you haven't seen in awhile. It is sad that it sometimes takes such occasions to do so, but I did get to see a lot of my extended family and share in some great memories of Grandmother. There was a lot of laughter and smiles amongst the tears. I think Grandmother would like that. She lived a grand life and even though we were all sad, we celebrated that as well as mourned it.

Tia came in that week with me as well and brought her 4 year old Maddie - who just turned 4 today by the way -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE!! My other sister lives there near my Mom with her 3 kids - Danielle, Grace and Allyson - so, we got to spend some quality time together and introduce all the children who had yet to meet Samantha. Maddie esp. took to Samantha and before long, was her entertainment committee and her caretaker - constantly, taking care of her "leaking" (as she liked to call it) with the burp cloth.

I got to spend some great time with my Mother and father. I cherish those moments so much. It does make me realize even more though, how much I miss everyone!!! It was definitely hard to leave on Friday!

Nonetheless, we still managed to squeeze in some pictures from my time there -- see below! I might post more later, but here are some glimpses of our time together.

Devon and Andy's Visit

Our friends from college, Devon and Andy, came to visit this weekend. In fact, Andy came with Keith to pick me up from the airport upon arriving from NC (post on that trip to come).

We had a great time catching up with them. It had been a long time since we had seen each other, and this was their first time getting to meet Samantha. Thankfully, it was also a beautiful weekend, so we got a chance to get out and take a walk at Ritchey Woods. The dogs - our Sadie and their Carmen - were so excited to be able to get out with us.

The visit flew by, but after our nice walk Devon and I whipped up some oriental cuisine - Kung Pao Chicken, rice and home-made egg rolls -- yum!! :) We also experimented with some apple and cinnamon filled eggrolls coated with powdered sugar -- yes, as sinfully delicious as they sound! The guys also bonded over X-box -- just like old times at WVU! :)

They even got to attend church with us and before they left today, we got some more pictures. Of course, we had to make the guys pose -- men are so difficult. ;) They just don't understand women's needs for pics.

Devon also got some good cuddle time with Samantha. I shared the bicep workout of holding my Chunky Monkey. I loved this cute picture below.
Thank you Devon and Andy for coming this weekend! We loved seeing you guys! :)

May She Be Dancing in Heaven

Grandma and me at a reunion when I was in high school.

Tara, Grace, Mom, Grandma and Great-grandma LeMaire.

Grandpa, Grandma, Great-grandma, Anita and Gene.

Grandma (left) as a young woman, sitting on her father's lap - Mr. LeMaire, Great-grandma LeMair (right), and her sister Anita (back row).

On Sunday morning my Grandmother, Maezelle Beach, passed away from cancer. By the time it was diagnosed, it had consumed most of her body. From diagnosis, she only lasted a few days. Her death brings a great sadness in our lives, esp. to that of her surviving children - my mother, Mitzi, Theo and Eddie. Tomorrow Samantha and I travel to NC to be by their side for the funeral.

Despite the sadness of this loss, I cannot help but be overwhelmed with the loving memories I had of her. She was a vivacious woman. She epitomized the women in my life - she was made of a tougher fiber - of pure grit. She was not the "typical" grandmother or woman of her time, wrapped in an apron and ever present with a warm plate of cookies, or dressed in linen and pearls. She was hard-working, charismatic, gregarious, and a woman who was never limited by her circumstances or time. Barely at 5 feet tall, she was a woman bigger in presence than her mere stature.

She worked until her mid-seventies, only when her eyesight was too bad. She competed in the Senior Olympics as a dancer, leading and choreographing cheerleading, jazz, and country line dancing teams. We even choreographed dances together when I was home for the summer. She was funny, spirited and a great shopping partner. She loved you, no matter the time or distance that separated the visit. She took care of her ailing husband, my dear Grandfather, when he was dying of cancer. And, if you were at my wedding 5 years ago, you saw her dance her butt off and drop lower to the floor than the girls my age. She was in one word - remarkable.

I am proud to have that type of woman running through my veins. I am so blessed to have had her in my life. And, I just know that heaven is more fun because she is there. I know she is dancing in heaven; having already organized the angels into an all out team.

As she use to say, when she coached the dance teams in her seventies -- "those old ladies couldn't do the moves she could." I will always remember her as the woman who defied her age and was blessed with many talents.

We all miss you Grandma -- Love, Dana

Easter Weekend

Keith got off of work last Friday and this Monday, so we went to WV to celebrate Easter with his family and coincidentally my 29th birthday that fell on the same day! We have a great time. We got family pictures done on Saturday and even got Samantha's picture with the Easter Bunny. Samantha also got to meet the rest of Keith's family and was so excited to have so many people entertaining her that she was showing off -- she was big smiles and was talking (albeit in a foreign language ;) ) nonstop. Below are some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy! :)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Big Girl in the BUMBO

My baby is getting SO big!! sniff, sniff. She is a little over 3 months and she can sit up in the BUMBO Aunt Tara got her. It is amazing how quickly they grow, change and learn. She is giggling, interacting so much, and you can see the gears turning as she takes in the world. And, now she is getting such good head control that I know it won't be long before she is sitting up on her own.

3 Month Portraits

Samantha finally got her 3 month portraits done at JCPenny's last weekend. After a meltdown at the last attempt we were SO nervous, but this session went wonderful and we got some amazing pictures! The ladies working with her did great to get those smiles and perfect looks out of her.

We get in the final pictures here soon and will send them out to our family - so no worries. Here are just 3 teaser photos that I loved via the website! After I sort through pictures to send out, I will email the online site with all of the pictures in case anyone wants to order from the full set, or if you want a certain size.

We were so proud of her and no shock to us, she showed off beautifully in these pictures. She is truly our little angel.