Reading already

We've read this book a lot lately, apparently to the point that Samuel has it memorized. It's such a cute book! The video doesn't give Samuel's skills justice, but you can get the idea. He has the entire book memorized with little prompting, but was a little squirmy and distracted tonight. I love that his finger is up his nose for half the video :)

So, here's Samuel's reading of Ma! There's Nothing to Do Here! by Barbara park (hope I'm not breaking any copyright laws by posting this...) :)

Fall Leaves Part 1

I love this time of year! Our backyard is gorgeous with the leaves changing and covering the ground. I raked our yard last weekend (trying to induce labor, to no avail :)) and within a few hours the grass was out of sight again, covered in beautiful leaves. So, maybe my raking did no good, but Sam had fun playing in my leaf piles.

There will likely be another fall photo session sometime soon. The leaves on the ground are now reds and yellows instead of just dead and brown. Simply gorgeous! God's creation is incredible!!

Big Boy Bed Part 2

So, the big boy bed wasn't such a big hit this night...

Baby's "room"

Our tentative plan for B2 is for him/her to stay in our room for quite a while before moving in with Sambo. So, setting up baby's "room" means putting the pack-n-play up. I, however, have felt the need to nest and get things ready. So, I created a little nook in the corner of our room for baby. Our room is a U shape, so this corner is almost a separate room and could house baby for quite a while.

Now, I need to pack a bag for the hospital!!! 17 days to go!!

Happy Birthday Papa!

I'm a little late on this post, but we celebrated Bud's birthday last weekend. The big 3-0! Sam and I had a great time spoiling him with gifts and food and trying to make it a special day. We really missed having you all close by to celebrate with us!

Samuel loves his Papa!

Helping make the cake... He thinks that this is the only purpose for the mixer and asks to make cake anytime he sees the mixer on the counter.
That's a lot of candles Papa...

Happy birthday Bud! I love you and look forward to celebrating many more birthdays together!

Samuel's Chores

Samuel is quite the responsible little boy lately. He has the job of filling the dogs food bowl (thanks to Abbey's idea of putting a smaller food container near the bowl)...

He helps Papa cook breakfast... And, he assists in making coffee almost every morning. He requests to "make ooffee" several times a day. He also unloads the dishwasher (hands the dishes to Mommy) and loads/unloads the laundry. He loves to help and actually does help... sometimes.

4 More Weeks!!

***updated*** I added a few more to my list as they came to mind...

This is my 35 week pregnant picture. I can't believe I am now 36 weeks! I am really looking forward to meeting this little one soon!!

Some other things I can't believe... last pregnancy, it was at my 36 week appointment that I had to switch doctors and at my 37 week appointment that I was diagnosed with diabetes. I had no reference point to know how far along I was when all that happened. Crazy!

Instead of focusing on all the things I'm looking forward to after pregnancy, I wanted to write down a few things I will miss about pregnancy...

1. My maternity jeans. They are SO comfortable! I might still be wearing them long after this baby arrives.

2. Feeling baby kick, squirm, and hiccup.

3. My excuse to take it easy... naps, no lifting heavy objects, no strenuous exercise (although I'm really looking forward to getting back into running again... hopefully, eventually), etc.

4. No calorie counting!

5. Free time (Good one Alyssa! :))

6. Time alone with Samuel. I'm really going to miss hanging out with this great kid all the time! But, I'm also looking forward to showing him the joys of big brotherhood.

Sadly, that's all I can think of right now. I better start getting things ready for baby's arrival!

Big Boy Bed

We tried out Samuel on the Queen size bed a few times. He did great!

So, we converted his crib. He immediately crawled up with his coloring book and colored.
He has done great with it so far, but it's only been a week. The first few days he just stayed in bed until we got him. The last few days, he has gotten up when he wakes up, but it was at wake up time so I'm okay with that.

Carving Pumpkins

Samuel got to carve pumpkins twice this year! The one he did with my mom and dad had to be thrown out prior to Halloween, so we carved a couple more. There was mold growing out of the eyes of the pumpkin... it was really scary.

He enjoyed scooping out the gook...

Picking the pumpkin's nose... his words, not mine :)

And coloring it with markers... It was the easiest method for a two year old.

He drew a lot of "trash trucks" (supposedly)...

My pumpkin all lit up..

Samuel's pumpkin all lit up. He wanted a trash truck, but I wasn't sure how to do that, so he settled for a "big rig"...
My little pumpkin...