Photo shoot

The best is yet to come
This past Saturday, new friend & photographer John Gaughn came by our home to take some family photos. I have this vision in my mind of photos that capture Sam & Eva's personalities - the laughter and smiles we see every day. It didn't quite work out that way, as Sam was more interested in playing with John and his cameras and Eva gradually lost patience as hunger pains gave way. But odds are John will find some gems, perhaps a random shot when we weren't paying attention. Those are often the best ones. Unfortunately John's computer crashed later in the weekend, so we're patiently awaiting its rebirth. He sent us this one photo prior to the crash. Stay tuned for more! In the meantime, check out John's galleries here and here.

Dressed in yellow, she said Hello
A few hours prior to the photo shoot, Aunt Tara and baby Isaac came by to visit. Isaac is due to arrive around June 12th (Tara's birthday!) and Eva can't wait to meet him.


There's that smile
Miss Eva lights up our lives.
She'll be 7 months old on Saturday.


Fingerpaint!
Michele recently whipped up a batch of homemade fingerpaints and introduced Sam to one of life's best combinations - making artwork while making a mess! Special thanks to our friend Janene, who shared this recipe in the TimberRidge cookbook.

Truck, truck!
We're borrowing my dad's truck for a few weeks, using it to pick up a load of mulch to spruce up our yard. Sam is obsessed with it. Wherever we go, he cries when we get there because he doesn't want to get out. Must be a guy thing, this love of trucks. We're taking joy rides whenever we can!

Shiner

You should see the other guy.
Or at least the gas meter. Yes, Sam and the neighbor's gas meter got to know each other. A little too well. The gas meter is not your friend. (Or maybe Sam was just giving it a piece of his mind -literally- after seeing some of our winter utility bills.)

Roy?
No Sam, that's Quigley. But he's a likeable dog too.
Quigley is my parents' dog. Sam got to know him at Easter.
Sam is working on saying Quigley - comes out "Quigey".


Speaking of Easter
Here's our latest attempt at a family photo.
Taken Easter Sunday... after church... in desperate need of naps.
I'm surprised it turned out this well!

Isn't she the cutest baby ever?
You know it's the truth.
(This is one of the dresses Michele found at the garage sale a few weeks ago.)

She's a happy baby too
And she's got a tooth! Michele just discovered it yesterday. And today Michele discovered that a second tooth is on its way! And Sam is working on some molars. Ah, tooth pain... it's no fun.

For more Easter photos, check out my sister's blog.

Lots more photos that are blog-worthy (Aunt Sarah's visit, our trip to the Zoo, Sam riding a go-kart at Uncle Forrest's home, the Easter Egg Hunt at my parents' home, our visit to Purina Farms, the list goes on.) Hope to post those soon!

See Sam Dance

Video courtesy of Aunt Annie & soon-to-be Uncle Matt.
Thanks guys!

The music didn't seem to upload,
but he's dancing to Hank Williams (I think).

You can also view it (with better sound quality) here.

Top of the mornin' to ya

It reads "Wee bit o Irish"
Courtesy of Aunt Annie - Thanks Annie!


An early conversation.


That's my boy.


And that's my girl.


Someday this'll be your car...

Yard sales rock

Last Saturday was Kid Mania. It's an indoor garage sale held at the local high school. The cafeteria and gymnasium were packed with vendors. The amount of stuff for sale overwhelmed me. Thankfully Michele navigated the waters like a pro.

Strategically, we arrived an hour before it ended. Well, maybe not exactly strategically... but it worked in our favor. At that point, the sellers just want to unload the stuff.

Cool toy for Sam = $1
Michele was iffy on this one, but she scrubbed it and now it looks better than new. It's a Little People garage, complete with 3 cars and the Michael character. Sam loves it.

Clifford the Dog long-sleeve shirt = 25 cents
I was scoping a table with Sam and he spotted this like a trained professional. "Dog! Dog!"

Baby sling = Free
The gal selling it told Michele to take whatever she wanted. The sling instructions note it can hold babies from newborn to 24 months. Seriously? 24 months? So Michele tried it out with Sam... and he probably enjoys it more than Eva.

Michele also scored some snazzy dresses for Eva for just a few bucks each. Stay tuned for photos of those.

Didn't find these chairs at a garage sale, but we're excited nonetheless. We've been hunting for kitchen chairs for months. The table is an old one that my dad refinished. It looks great, but the old chairs we have don't match and we only have two. We finally found these new chairs online at Target. They have an antique look that fits great with the table. And I put 'em together myself. Which isn't exactly difficult, but felt rewarding anyway.

And with the new kitchen chairs in place, Miss Eva has graduated to the high chair! She's pretty excited about it. Now she's at eye level with us during mealtime, which is fun. Except now with 2 ladies at the table, Sam & I really have to watch our manners.

Row, Row, Row

Our latest adventures...

Rowing the boat

I've worked up my own version of this timeless classic. You can play the whole song in one chord (G). But what fun is one chord played ad nauseam? So I mix it up with a few wild chords (D and C) and throw in some thumb picking on the bass notes. Then we ad lib the words a little. And before you know it, Sam is swinging his arms to the beat and Eva is staring at us like we're nuts.
She's very perceptive, that Eva.

And she sure is cute.


Like father, like son

When we aren't making music, Sam and I are getting in shape for the summer months. We love to lift weights together. It's important to pump iron like you mean it. Growling is key. Especially when you're lifting an entire pound in each hand.


Eva is sticking to low-contact sports for now.


And she requires lots of snuggling with Mom,
often in the early morning hours.

Life is good.

Love Is...

...Hugging your sister

...Sharing cards

...Surprising Dad with cookies

...Surprising Mom with a necklace

...Wishing the kids took longer naps