A few nights ago we were settling down for bed and Sami wanted to cuddle with Richard and I for a little bit. Richard and I were watching "Americas Funniest Videos", which both our kids love to watch. There was a segment on silly animals and we were engrossed in each clip. In a montage they had created there was a man milking a cow and each time he squeezed the udder he pointed it toward the nearby kitten that jumped with it's mouth wide open to catch the stream of milk. Sami never hesitates to put her two cents into anything and she quickly in disgust said, "Ewwwwww, that kitty is drinking the cows pee!" Richard and I giggled and proceeded to explain to her that it was milk. Sami is fascinated with boobs and nipples at her young age and asks almost on a daily basis when she might get some of her own. So with the little knowledge she has we told her that the udders are the cows nipples and that cows feed their babies just like I fed her when she was a baby. Of course we went a little more in depth than that but it was pretty short and sweet. I couldn't bare for her to go on thinking that the kitty was drinking pee for heavens sake! Sami is soaking up all the information and nodding her head to let us know she understands what we are telling her. I look at Sami and ask her, "Do you understand, Sami?" and Sami looks at me wide-eyed and proclaims, "Yep...when I was a baby you fed me when you were a cow, Mommy!"
Hee hee. Oh boy...we have a long way to go!
My kids have grown so much in the past year that I decided to do a quick little photo shoot of them. Seth has grown another inch and a half since February and Sami is growing out of the toddler years. Since I haven't kept up on my blog very well I put together a slideshow to let you see for yourself just how big they are these days.
I am getting really pathetic here guys. So much has happened and I know I have forgotten half of it. So here is a start...
Sami turned 3 years old back on April 30th. I can't keep up! I swear I was just pregnant with her...where did the time go?
What in the world do I say about Sami? She is all...GIRL. It is truly amazing how different my two kids are. Seth is the sweet, sensitive and loving type and Sami is...the opposite. That's not all true really. She can be sweet...after she's thrown the rock at you. She can be sensitive...with that puppy dog eye look after she has used the whole tube of Desitin as "lotion". She can even be loving...you just never know if maybe you might get a little pinch when she gives you a hug. I am exaggerating of course but boy does this girl have some sass in her.
Sami has changed so much in her short little life. We used to worry about her having speech problems because she didn't start talking until quite a lot later than most. Now we can't seem to find the off button. She is a talker! She will go on and on talking about pretty much nothing and every sentence ends in "either". She hardly ever gets the context right. Don't ask me where she got this particular word from but she definitely loves it. She even pronounces it "eater". For example she will say something like: "I like this apple...eater." I have come to the point where I just ignore it.
Speaking of "eater" she is number one in when it comes to eating. She eats better and more than Seth. I have stated even since she was just a baby that she is a bottomless pit and that I truly don't think she gets a full sensation. She used to eat until she threw up. Now I have to monitor her eating and cut her off. I am not talking garbage food...either. She devours salad and fruit and most vegetables. Very healthy eater.
Sami is a lot of fun. I wouldn't trade her for the world. Like most kids she has her devilish, naughty side but for the most part she is a bright, happy and sweet little girl. I am really proud to be her Mom and look forward to watching her grow up and become a beautiful woman. The way the time is getting away from me I'm afraid that is tomorrow.
I can't resist but to write a little blog on Sami.
As we all know we do need translations for toddlers speech because not all words come out like they should. When an adult is around any toddler other than their own they usually have to look at the parent for some help in recognizing what the little mite is trying to tell you. Every night I give Sami a bath before bed. When she gets in, no matter what the temperature of the water, she shouts, "HOT!". And every night I touch it just to make sure and it is never hot so I reply, "It's not hot baby" and she'll look at me every time with big eyes and say, "Worm?". The English translation from Sami's toddler talk would be "warm". At this point in the bathing process Sami sits down in the "worm" water as I gather all the necessities to get the job done quickly. To get her wet I take the bath cup and pour water over her shoulders and back. She tends to giggle as the water trickles down her back and she may argue a few more times that the water is hot but most every time she gets a chill. Well I don't know what the average person calls a chill but in my family we have little sayings for most anything. I presume these little catch phrases and sayings sprouted from my Gramps who was full of them. So when Sami gets a chill I say, "Oh you got a shiver brr!" Night after night I would pour the water down her back and she would get a shiver brr. Well about two weeks ago we were doing the bath routine and everything was going like every other night except this night when I poured the water down her back, Sami looked at me and giggled, "Mommy, SHITTER BIRD!" How can anyone resist the cute little ways our little ones try and repeat us? Gramps would have got a kick out of that one.
I love Halloween! One of my favorite holidays. The wind is blowing, the leaves are falling, the temperature drops and the the feeling is fun. It's not a creepy or scary feeling, it's just...fun! The kids and I took Grandma and Grandpa with us to this great pumpkin patch out in Kuna this year. They are an organic farm that allows customers to come and pick their own pumpkins out of the pumpkin patch. The farm owner gave us a hayride with his tractor out to the pumpkin patch where we got to pick our own pumpkin that was still on the vine. Sami wasn't much for the hayride as you will see in the following photos. She was pretty happy when we got off. We had fun looking for each of our pumpkins and in the midst of it all Seth found these great gourds that were yellow and warted with green, candle wax-like drippings down the sides. I decided we would purchase those with our pumpkins because they were fabulous. After picking our pumpkins the farmer came back to pick us up and load our goodies in the wagon. Sami enjoyed this ride much better. It might have been that she found her own special rock in the pumpkin patch that she could share the ride with. Seth on the other hand, taps my shoulder during the return hayride and says, "Mom, can we get these too?" While he is saying this he pulls another gourd out of his BSU sweatshirt pocket. I kinda smirked and was getting ready to tell him "sure" when I look down and he is continuing to pull out more gourds from his pockets. They just kept coming out! He is giving me the puppy dog eye look with about 6 or 7 gourds on the haybale and says, "But Mom I really like them." They really were pretty cool so I let it go and decided to get them all. They make a wonderful table arrangement so I guess it wasn't all that bad. Once up front they had a baby pig for Sami to giggle at and beautiful Indian corn to add with our gourd collection. It was a great farm. I love being able to contribute to our local farms anyway and may come back in the spring when they let you pick your own fruit and berries. They even raise their own pigs and turkeys that they will prepare (nice word for "butcher" for you sentimental folk) for you for the holidays.
This year we were able to celebrate Halloween with Richard's sister and her family. We had a great time. Seth was off the day before Halloween so we decided to celebrate his 8th Birthday on Friday while family was in town. I don't know why we don't have a picture of him with it but Richard and I got Seth a BMX bike this year. We bought it used and fixed it up. It is a very rare Killer B that the frame sells alone for $400. Richard put new brakes, a seat, fixed the tires a little and polished it up really nice. Richard tried to warn Seth that it is a faster bike and he will have to get used to it. Of course, two days after receiving it he comes in crying with his cousin Hunter looking horrifed, "I'm BLEEDING!", Seth cried. Hunter says, "He crashed into the truck." Oh great! What in the world? I guess he was going a little fast and forgot that he now has a hand brake and ran straight into the side of the truck and got a handle bar in the teeth. Thankfully the teeth are in tact but the truck has a nice new dent with the paint scratched off. Another year has gone by and my son is 8...but what year does he stop injuring himself?
On Halloween we carved pumpkins with all the kids. This was a task with 5 children around and parents that ended up carving 8 pumpkins. In the end, all the pumpkins looked great and we were ready to get the kids ready for trick or treating...my favorite part. We headed to Aunt Karen's to gather all the families and started trick or treating around the block. We were quite the mob in the neighborhood with Richard and I, Seth and Sami, Tracy and Aaron with their three kids Hunter, Drake and Brooklyn, Cousins Amy and Dodds with their two Connor and Carter, and Anna and Hayden who were without Matt, Kara and Jacob this year. We all got together and it was great fun to watch the kids go from house to house running, walking, dragging, crying, laughing, falling and their costumes come apart more and more the farther you go. They look so great when you leave the house but by the time you're done you are holding the props, the wigs, the masks and sometimes even the candy and their face makeup is melting off their faces. Us adults have so much fun chatting and catching up. I absolutely love it! Who wouldn't?
All in all it was a great Halloween and it was extra special to have Tracy, Aaron, Hunter, Drake and Baby Brooklyn join us for the occasion. Get ready for next year!
While we were tide pooling in Oregon (blog below) Richard was walking with Sami along the beach. They were walking on the wet sand which is more firm and packed. Richard decided he would let go of her hand and start running in the sand to see if she would join him. Instead of joining him she became visibly upset. She started whimpering and yelling, "DADDY!". Richard of course stopped short to console her and find out what was wrong. She was pointing to his footprints he had made in the sand. His running had pulled up the sand from the pressure and weight beneath his feet. Richard said, "What's the matter baby?" and she pointed, crying and said, "Daddy...broke." Daddy had broken the sand with his feet and she was not very happy about it. She was pretty devastated over the matter until Richard had her run in the sand with him and she broke it on her own. The broken sand was something to laugh over at that point.
