Move Part 2

We transitioned to our second home away from home last Friday. We are now in Nashville at my parents house dog/house sitting while they are visiting sister big in Kenya. I'm so excited to get to see them before and after their trip to get all the scoop!!

The, what once was, 9 hour trip took us 11 hours, but not because of the two kids in the back seat. It took us two hours to get through Memphis because of construction, a bad wreck, and weather. Samuel was a trooper! He did great on the drive and really didn't watch too many DVD's :) Clara on the other hand...

A moment of rest in the back seat...
It got really quiet today, and this is what I found... He was seriously typing away and jabbering in the process :)

Sam is loving the fish (all Nemo of course) and being outside...

New Poll

There is a debate going on in our house about finding out the sex of B2. So, what do you think? Vote in the poll on the right side of the page!

Blueberry Picking

We went blueberry picking last week. Sam enjoyed running around with the big kids and eating blueberries (ripe or not) straight from the bush. He didn't quite get the hang of putting them in the bucket... maybe next year.

The whole gang...

Heading out...

More interested in playing with sticks... Ethan, showing off his loot...

Owen, ready to go...

Chaucer, learning which ones to pick...

Sam and Mommy's date

Papa was out of town last week (in Vegas for a college friend's wedding... I was very jealous!), so Sam and I lived it up! We went out at least once every day and on Saturday, we went out on a morning date (my favorite)! He took me to Mimi's for brunch, then he let me buy him some adorable shoes from a fancy children's boutique (3 Monkey's... originally $54, down to $13!!), and a Nemo toy from the toy store next door. We then went downtown to the Bentonville Artfest where we heard his babysitter sing (or the last 30 seconds of her singing... oops) and looked at all the art while eating a snow cone (which he really didn't care for... I was shocked). A great date with a sweet young man!!

Pool Party

Our friends' Nana had us over to swim last week. She really spoiled the kids (and us) with lunch, dessert, and swimming! We all had a blast!! Thanks Patti!

Drew and Ellie enjoying their "dirt cups"...
Ethan, Xander, Sam, and Chaucer enjoying their dessert. You can see how mesmerized Sam is with Chaucer. Chaucer entertains and gets Sam to laugh at him and Sam copies whatever Chaucer is doing. It's so cute!

No, he didn't like it at all... :)

One happy boy! A tractor and six inches of water is all he needs...

P.S. They enjoyed the big pool as well, but I never had a free hand to get pictures of them.

Church Picnic

Every year our church has a church picnic at this local park. There are caves to explore, games to play, food to eat, and most importantly a very cold creek to play in. Sam and Kellen enjoyed throwing rocks into the creek together...

This is my favorite... Sam would hand Kellen a rock and Kellen would throw it :)

I just looked back at the pictures from last year's church picnic. Sam and Kellen playing in the water... look how cute!!

22 Month Pics

I said that Sam's 22 month pictures would be posted later, but I have yet to get any good ones! So, here are the rejects...

He has been way too busy lately to pause for a picture :)

Random Pictures

Babysitting baby Sarah...

Sam was very curious... for about 15 seconds :)
I'm very sad these are so blurry. I think I had the flash turned off for some reason. He was very serious this day.
Taking Clara for a walk through the house... She's so confussed :)

Using the camera cord as head phones...

This is the bear end table I referenced in a previous post...

B2

Baby Lutz #2 (aka B2) will make an appearance sometime around Dec. 4, 2010!

Samuel is excited to be a big brother! He points to my belly when asked where the baby is and gives the baby kisses (I just need to remember to not ask him to give baby a kiss after he has eaten chocolate... especially when wearing white :))! He's going to be a great big brother!!

22 Months Old

Can't believe we are already thinking about Sam's 2 year old birthday!! He is so much fun to be around (as long as he's in a good mood)! I love this age! Here are some new things he's been doing this month...

**pictures coming soon... someone is not cooperating**

- He is continuing to add words to his vocabulary! I tried to count how many words he knows, but I lost track after 25.

- He "sings." His favorite songs are "La La La" from Elmo and "Tractor Tractor" from Andrew Peterson (Thanks Abbey!).

- He runs everywhere and it's actually getting to the point that his run is faster than his walk.

- He pretend plays. He puts his toys "Nigh Night" by covering them with a blanket (or napkin... whatever is nearby) and pretends to feed stuffed animals and the bear end table we have in our rental home.

- He and Clara are best friends right now! He loves to grab her collar (her "belt") and drag her around the house. He tells her to get in her "house" before we go bye-bye and he brings her food bowl to me when its empty. He always wants to share his snacks or dinner with her, though he's usually not allowed to do so. He also gives her kisses before going to bed and gives her a blanket to cover up with when he thinks she needs to sleep. Clara is a good sport!!

- He knows a few more letters (O and H), though we've spent more time working on colors lately. Right now everything is "ellow" (yellow) first, then "bue" (blue), then "ee" (green), and sometimes "oge" (orange) and "ed" (red). He at least recognizes these words as colors :). He also learned the number 8. He recognizes an 8, but also labels any number as 8 at first.

- My favorite "trick" is for him to show us his muscles. He grunts and flexes in the cutest way ever!!

- We've been working on swimming lately as well. He's not scared of the water at all (that's scary for me!!). He loves to blow bubbles, jump/slide in off the side, and go back and forth between papa and I (or Gigi and I). He can move his arms and kick his legs in swimming motions, but forgets to do so when he's under water. He holds his breath under water really well! I've been trying to get him to float on his back, but he hates it. He can do it, but screams the whole time. I'm just glad he loves the pool so much because I want to go a lot this summer!!