Sam's 1st Birthday Party!

We had Samantha's party today and it was a lot of fun. Both of our families were able to come and it was so good to have everyone there. She loved all of the presents and she is going to be one cute girl with all of the cute clothes that she was given. Thanks everyone for coming and sharing this day with Samantha. It means a lot to us since we won't be able to do birthdays with everyone again for a while. Sam loves the toys and I know she will have a lot of fun with them.

Sam really liked her bear from Great-grandma and grandpa. Getting ready to play with one of her new toys. Yummy cake. Getting ready to blow out the candle.

Sam's birthday cake. I actually made it myself. I don't think it turned out to bad.

Happy Birthday, Samantha!

I can't believe that it has been a year since our sweet Samantha has joined our family. It is amazing how scary it was when she was delivered last year. I never want to go through something like that again. But she made a great recovery and has since been such a healthy little girl. It has been a crazy year full of ups and downs, but she has definitely blessed our family. She has the sweetest personality and loves to be with her big sister. She is a tall, skinny thing but eats more than she looks like she does. She is crawling everywhere, starting to stand on her own. She loves to explore her world and her mommy. These pictures are of her through her first year of life. I can't believe how cute she is and how strong her personality is. She is stubborn and likes things done her way. I love her so much and can't imagine our family without her.

Scary!

So as most of you know, Samantha has been going to see an opthamologist on a regular basis since she was born. Her left eye does not open quite as wide as the other and we and the doctors have been concerned about her vision. Since we are moving in 5 months, we wanted to see if she was going to need surgery before we left. Well, today we took her to the surgeon. It was really good to talk to him about her eye and get the answers that we feel have been lacking from her eye doctor. He told us that it will be better to the the surgery now instead of waiting. I'm so grateful to have someone agree with what I have been thinking, i.e. that we shouldn't wait until her vision is being impaired. So in April, my little girl is going in to have her eyelid lifted so that she can see. Unfortunately, she will still have to have another one after she is 4, but at least we can start fixing the problem now. Hopefully everything will go well, and we will keep you updated.

Temple Open House

On Monday, since it was Presidents' day and Earl had the day off, we thought that we would take the girls to the Draper Temple open house. It was a beautiful temple, but after 2 1/2 hours of waiting to get on the bus, it was a long day. In all it took us 4 1/2 hours to finally get home. The girls were absolutely wonderful. I don't know how they lasted. Thank goodness for Earl's family. They really saved the day for us. I loved the endowment rooms and the murals on the walls. It really was a gorgeous temple and I'm glad we took Nadya to see it but next time we will go on a day that most people will be at work.

Picture update.

So these are pictures from Nadya's birthday. She had a lot of fun and had lots of presents to open. She got to go to Jungle Jim's for her friends birthday, which is the day after hers. Both of the girls loved it there. Nadya wanted a princess cake for her birthday. Grandma helped me make it and it turned out pretty well for a beginning cake. She loved it which is all that matters. It was fun to celebrate it with her, and I can't believe that she is already 4. She is already looking forward to her 5th birthday.

Earl took the girls for a horsey ride. It was fun to watch them together. He is so good with the girls and Nadya loves being with her sister.

This video is of Sam and her new crawl. When she is naked or on hard floors, she has adopted the Mowgli crawl. I thought it was pretty cute.

Happy Birthday, Earl!

I just wanted to let Earl know how much I love him. I hope that he knows how wonderful he really is. Here are a few things that I love about him:
He treats me like a queen.
He is a wonderful father, who loves spending time with the girls.
He is supportive in whatever I do, like letting me play basketball.
He helps clean the house when I am feeling overwhelmed.
He is willing to get up in the middle of the night with the girls.
He works so hard for our family so that I can stay home with the girls.
He is a worthy priesthood holder and is willing to give blessings whenever any of us needs them. Like when Nadya wants one to help her not have bad dreams.
These are only a few of the things that make Earl so wonderful. I don't think that I could possibly list all of them.
I love you Earl and I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Already?

Why is it that kids get big way to fast. I can't believe how fast time is going with both of the girls. Sam has started to stand up on her own. She walks everywhere when is being helped, sometimes holding onto only one hand. She is climbing onto Nadya's bed without any help, however she doesn't know how to get off without getting hurt. It's pretty funny to watch her. She climbs onto the couch with the help of her toys. I am amazed at how much she is doing. It's like it all happens at the same time. She is sleeping better at night. Not perfect, but I am not having to get up every 3 hours to feed her. Yea!
Anyway, for all of you that have kids, you know what I am going through right now. Sometimes, I wish that time could slow down. I am not looking forward to when Sam walks. It's hard enough to keep up with the girls now. I can't imagine how hard it is going to be when she walks.

4 year stats!

I took Nadya to the doctor yesterday for her 4 year check-up. She is doing great and the doctor was very happy with what he saw.
She is 40 3/4 inches tall, 75th percentile.
weight is 37.4 pounds, also 75th percentile.
She was so good for the doctor and was very set on not getting any shots. Thank goodness she didnt' need any this year.