family night

for family home evening we can almost always be found at the park. 

pizza, diet coke and letting sam roam around the grass is our thing. 

these are from a few weeks ago but i just love these pictures of our little family. 

sam was not into the swings at first but warmed up quickly!

the day my baby said his first word

yesterday i was the proudest i have ever been. 

and maybe the the most bittersweet i have felt as well. 

sam has been saying "mama" and "dada" for a while now and blurts out an occasional word that sort of sounds like something in english but not enough to truly count as his first word. 

until last night. 

ben and i were sitting on the couch looking something up when sam crawled over to bens foot and started stroking his toes while saying "tiddle tiddle". 

it took us a second to realize what he was doing. 

he kept doing it and soon his little voice became clearer as he said "tickle tickle tickle" while tickling bens foot. 

WE DIED! 

i don't know what is more exciting to me. the fact that he said tickle or the fact that he actually associated it with the correct action. 

it blows my mind what this little guy is able to pick up on. 

also, "tickle"?

not "ball". not "hi". but "tickle". 

i guess we do tickle him a lot and always say "tickle tickle" while doing it but i just didn't realize that he was old enough to pick up on that. 

once he started saying it over and over again i whipped out my phone as fast as i could and started recording. you have to be sly with sam because wants he see's that there is phone within his reach everything goes out the window. 

the video is way too long so i cut it down to the very end where he says it again.

other new milestones:

- will lift up his shirt and point to his tummy when we ask him "where's your belly?"
- claps for everyone and everything
- will reach his hands up towards the when we tell him to "reach" or "touch the sky"
- is officially all done with baby food as of yesterday. only wants to feed himself. 

10 months

ten months. TEN MONTHS! 

i can't believe it. 

the months are just flying by. i am currently planning your first birthday party but can only do it in small increments because i start to get so incredibly sad that you are almost not a baby anymore. 

where has the time gone?

you are so full of personality and charm right now. 

our favorite part about this age is literally watching your thought process play out on your face. 

it is the cutest thing in the world, watching your wheels turn. 

and you are one smart little man. you have figured OUT so many things this past month. 

i really do have to stay on my toes and make sure that our house is always spotless because you will put anything into your mouth these days. 

you catch on to everything ben and i do. we love being able to teach you new things. 

we just adore you, bubba. 

sam at 10 months:

- has three teeth with one ready to break the skin any day now. has the bottom two and the top left canine (random). ben and i get a kick out of his grin with that random tooth on top. leave to to sam to go about teething the non-traditional route. 

- says dada A LOT and will throw in a mama every once in a while (usually when hungry/fussy/tired). 

- scared of loud noises. 

- is clapping, waving "hello", blowing kisses and melting my heart all at the same time. at one point we were working on clapping so much that i found him clapping in his sleep. it the funniest thing i have ever witnessed. he will now clap anything he hears someone say "good job" or "yay".

- still loves to read books and has started to turn the pages for me. (stop it, sam. just stop growing up.)

- chewing on everything in sight. and in the past week has started to bite a little bit. we're working on it. obviously, he doesn't realize it hurt ben and i when he does it. i think her poor little teeth are just causing him so much pain. but we"re trying to teach him not to. 

- is a charmer. loves to find someone in church, at the store, etc. that he can make smile and then will zero in on the person and ham it up. 

- is using anything he can get his hands on to try to walk. i'm actually excited for him to start walking so his poor little knees won't always be red. 

- diaper changes are a struggle. end of story. 

- has been extra cuddly the past couple weeks. i'm gonna chalk that one up to teething but we are loving it. 

- still taking two naps a day and sleeps 8:30 to 7:30. 

- wearing 6-12 and 12-18 month clothing. 

- eating three meals a day and transitioning into more finger foods and away from baby food. loves feeding himself and LOVES pretend feeding mom. he will always offer me his food. current favorite foods are blueberries, avacado, grilled cheese bites, string cheese, mini pancakes, and sliced bananas. 

- talks and talks and talks. all day long. he will chat with anyone and has discovered that he can fluctuate the tone of his voice. which i love. i listen to him "sing" to me all day long.

little dare devil

sam surprises me every day with the things that he likes/dislikes. 

for example, he FREAKS out at the sound of the vacuum but apparently doesn't mind being tossed six feet in the air. 

i don't understand. 

but i do love watching the look on his face as ben throws him up in the air. 

my heart stops. but he loves it. 

just giving the boy what he wants. 

and introducing my favorite picture of ALL TIME. 

i don't know if it's the wind in his fluffy hair, his chubby hand on ben's cheek or that gummy grin. but i can't get enough of this picture. 

framer for sure. 

grandma & grandpa's visit

my parent's just left last night and we are all feeling a little blue around here. i always have such a hard time when they leave. this visit was especially fun because of the stage that sam is in right now. that little boy has grandma and grandpa wrapped around his chubby little finger. 

he was loving playing games with grandpa and grandpa and wanted to be held/crawl all over them 24/7. 

we had so much fun having them around all week. 

and i got to sleep in every. single day. 

i woke up at eight and sam was fed, bathed and ready for the day all before i was awake. 

it was glorious. 

while my parents were here were made a visit to the idaho falls zoo (which was surprisingly bigger than i thought it would be). ben got this day off so it was especially nice having my mom and dad AND ben all to ourselves for the day. 

after the zoo we headed to five guys and picked up some cupcakes from the cocoa bean to take home (naturally). 

we also took mom and dad into rexburg for some snow cones and to take sam to the park but of course sam conked out after snow cones so we had to scratch the park. but the weather was perfect so we just took our time and enjoyed out snow cones outside for a while. 

 (this picture seriously kills me. he was CLEARLY loving this.)

 a while back i inherited my mom's old sewing machine when she upgraded to a new one. i have been wanting to learn how to sew for a while now but just haven't found the time. while she was here we took my sewing machine into a sewing store and my mom had them give it a tune up so she could start teaching me how to sew. she spent so much of her time here teaching me how to sew and i am SO grateful. seriously though, i think my mind was in sewing overdrive. the first night they were here i seriously could not sleep because i was having dreams about bobbins and pressure feet. she was so patient with my while i was learning and we spent lots of time perfecting the perfect bow tie pattern. i now have our guest bedroom set up as a sewing room. i can't wait:)

while they were here we also ate lots of yummy food, enjoyed many trips to target, and loved going into idaho falls with sammy boy to visit dad in his new office. 

i love my parent's more than anything and sam loves them even more than that. i hate that he doesn't have anyone to entertain him in the backseat now:( 

we had so much fun with them and can't wait till the whole family is back in september for sam's first birthday!

i'm already planning his party.