Sammy and G

Brothers/friends

2011-07-11T22:22:00.002-04:00

Two boys painting

2011-07-11T22:10:00.002-04:00

Happy Belated Easter!

2011-05-07T23:24:00.005-04:00

Seems like we're a holiday behind...

G really enjoyed dying eggs this year. He was focused, particular and really careful. What a sweet guy.
He could've spent hours "watching" the eggs afterward, but they had to get back in the fridge before they sweat off all their color!

Pre-church hunt in the backyard:

"Found one!"

Yummy! Jelly bean. Sammy was hilarious. He was quite satisfied with the one egg he found and didn't feel the need to find anymore. Meanwhile, Guthrie was happy to find and eat all the goodies. Bri had the smart idea of filling most of them with cereal- we couldn't help but snicker when G exclaimed, "Oh look Mama! Cheerios!" like it was the best thing ever to find in an egg. That probably won't work for too long....

Big boy

2011-03-31T22:34:00.002-04:00

Sammy's quite a big boy these days. He's gotten his first big haircut (which looks super cute, if I may say), and is chatting up a storm.

Oh yeah, Sammy's officially a walker too!

Considering potty training

2011-03-31T22:21:00.002-04:00

Maybe he'll try, "tomorrow." Oh yes, classic Guthrie. Whenever we ask him when he would like to go pee in the potty he responds, "tomorrow" in a dramatic voice. G also wants to ride a jet ski, 4-wheeler, double-decker bus, have a cookie, or eat soup...tomorrow. He is awfully good at sit and sit and sit and sit and sit and sitting on the pot. Hey, it's a start.

So, here's to a great seat on which to read the comics and trying again...tomorrow.

Just some pics...since it's been so long and these boys are growing up!

2011-03-31T22:05:00.003-04:00

There must be somethin' in the water...

2011-02-10T11:40:00.002-05:00

Thanks, Terry, for the hilarious cups!
Proof that I should never grow a mustache....ew.

Puzzles

2011-02-08T20:32:00.005-05:00

Guthrie has loved puzzles for some time now. For Christmas, he got several special sets. He can't get enough. This guy asks to do each of these every day (sometimes a few times) and can do them all by himself!

Guthrie's hilarious: now that he's familiar with all the states, he will often point it out when he hears the name of one with a giggle, almost like someone's made some kind of joke and he's in the know. Case and point...we had on the Sunday morning news last week, a story about California was mentioned and G said, "California?!" in a voice like it was the most absurd thing he'd ever heard.
The body puzzle is made of 4 different layers featuring different systems of the body. Guthrie and Dad have named each of them and reference the layers every time: organs, muscles, naked boy (!) and clothes. Guthrie laughs at the "naked boy each time!"

ps- Guthrie has a new hairdo...he's channeling some MacGruber!

pps- G picked that outfit out himself

For Scott and Laynie....

2011-01-15T16:31:00.002-05:00

Yep.

A recent winter afternoon outside

2011-01-11T21:48:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday Sammers!

2011-01-10T14:29:00.003-05:00

What better way to celebrate our sweet bug than an overload of Sammy pictures!?! Goodness, our peanut is one year old. When did he grow up?!

Sammy is quite a pleasant little man who is often "busy" entertaining himself with toys and non-toys alike. He likes to crawl around pushing cars, walk with push toys, play with instruments, chew on anything he can get his hands on (especially books), lovingly aggravate his big brother, and will (amazingly) always find the one thing in the room that is borderline dangerous to fiddle around with.

In public, Sammy is an observant little fella- often won't smile at someone until he's checked them over for quite some time. He gives this cute little, "I'm not going to smile at you" face, that is a funny smirk, and then cheeses it out. Many people who don't see him in action at home don't believe that he's a little rotten egg (or a baker's dozen of rotten eggs, as we sometimes call him!)- getting into all sorts of stuff, but he's just so so darn cute we don't often believe it either!

Enjoying some birthday cake at a celebration we had for him while home visiting family in Ohio.
Sammy's favorite foods are blueberries, avocado, cheese, blueberries, crackers, and blueberries. And the boy loves loves loves drinking water from a cup. Very dramatically.
Sammy LOVES Guthrie. He follows G around sometimes, wanting to play what he's playing. Likewise, Guthrie loves Sammy. G will often direct Sammy to play with him in his room saying, "Sammy, you come play with the blocks," and so on.
Chasing after big brother. This day, Sammy so wanted to push the lawn mower around, but couldn't seem to balance it and go forward. While Sammy has been cruising around on furniture and push toys for almost 4 months now, he doesn't seem to have much interest in walking on his own. He's an incredibly fast crawler and gets around quite well like that, thank you...
Sammy is pretty much a fearless guy. He climbs without a care of consequence, love slides (even the biggies!) and has always been able to hang with the "big kids."

I think he ate that leaf he was holding...

Our favorite Sammy position- playing on his knees. It's so cute to see his little body all scrunched up while engaged in play.

Over the past month Sammy has started playing mimicing games. Usually he will shout a little or say "hi," we'll respond, repeat repeat repeat. Tonight he mixed it up and started the game by closing his eyes with a huge grin and waiting for us to do the same with great anticipation. These fun games usually take place towards the end of dinner or lunch time. So sweet, so cute!

Look, a crayon!
Yep, by the end of our little art session, there were multiple holes in the paper- he's quite an expressive (or hungry?) little guy...

This little Linus loves his blanket, although he doesn't have a single favorite. Sammy sucks his thumb only while holding something soft- like a blanket, shirt collar, towel, etc.

We had a fun surprise: snow on Sammy's birthday! He loved it and wasn't afraid one bit to crawl around in the cold, puffy stuff. By the end of our time outside, Sammy was soaked with melted snow!
Sammy loves baths. He is a complete maniac in the tub: diving into the water, splashing, scooting around on his belly. Bri gave him a special birthday bath with no washing- only play time.

Cozy post-bath.
Singing happy birthday with a special cookie (that he didn't eat, but mom and dad sacrificed and took care of it).

We love you sweetest boy! Here's to many many more happy years with you!

September trip to Reedy Creek park

2010-12-10T15:38:00.005-05:00

Hooray for clip-ons!

2010-12-08T16:43:00.001-05:00

My grandma Niece had an incredible clip-on earring collection that I excitedly "inherited" when she passed away during my college years. They were well used by some of my college friends and me, but haven't had too much wear since. Well...a certain Mr. G is in dress up heaven when we open the bag of treasures:

Everyone gets in on the action when the magical bag of earrings comes out. Ooo-ooo (Guthrie's dog) especially loves the diamond rhinestone bangles.

What a pretty guy!!!

Catchin' up with Guthrie

2010-12-07T20:31:00.004-05:00

Sharing a cone this summer

2010-12-05T23:04:00.001-05:00

Random fun with blankets

2010-12-04T22:55:00.001-05:00

Super late Sammy 10 month post!!!

2010-11-10T22:25:00.005-05:00

Our sweet Sammers turned 10 months old, ummmmm...almost a month ago! The lazy blogger strikes again. I'm just gonna embrace the fact that Sammy got the 10 month post shaft, just show the pictures that have been uploaded for a month waiting for text and do him right in a couple of days for his 11 month post.

We love you little bug! Enjoy:

The whole Halloween story

2010-11-01T16:01:00.011-04:00

This year our Halloween journey started a couple weeks ago at a local farm just 10 minutes from our house. It's always amazing to think about how fast the Charlotte area can turn rural if you head in the right direction!

The farm had a few animals in prominent view for the kiddos. Guthrie couldn't help but say, "Hello chicken!" to the, well, chickens.

More, "hi chickens!"
We're so thankful that Sammy seems to really like being in a carrier, strapped to one of us. It makes galavanting all over the place so much easier with two hands available to chase down Mr. G.

Sammy enjoying a little snack with Papa.
Sweet boys!
Guthrie found a pumpkin for us- umm...probably too big.
Heading to the pumpkin patch and horses.

Guthrie is completely enamored with animals- especially horses and cows. As his vocabulary is rapidly expanding, G can express his wants and needs rather well. Here, he said, "Guthrie watch the horsies?" He'll often do this with particularly favorite pages in books: he says, "Guthrie watching," as he wants to look at a page for a long time. Too cute.

Sammy watching his brother watching...

More watching...
On to the pumpkins! Pick out a good one...
This is it!

Several days later....onto the carving!
Being a particularly tidy guy...
...Guthrie did NOT want to touch the pumpkin guts. Like a good mom, I had to tease (well, torture) him by dangling the slimy goo in front of his face. Sammy probably wanted to eat it!
Drawing where to cut. When asked what kind of jack-o-lantern Guthrie wanted, he said, "a ghost and a spider!" So that's what G got!
AAAAAAAAA! Scary ghost!
Yikes. Crazy lady with a knife. Hide your children!
Sammy watches intently while eating a little snack.
Checking out the lit spider.
OoooOOoo. Scary ghost- not so much.
Onto the costumes! My friend Kathy had a great cow costume that she made herself (!) for her kids a few years back and offered for G to borrow it. What a hit! But Guthrie was not simply a cow. According to him, when asked what he was going to be dressed as for the holiday, he was a "Halloween Cow." Too cute.
Sammy got a homemade costume by yours truly! He was a "Halloween Monster," according to G. Sammy is such a funny little character- we often call him a monster in every day life because he's just so full-on action all the time, reaching, growling, shouting, into stuff. So it seemed fitting to dress him intentionally as one. None of these pictures turned out too great, but his monster mouth and teeth match Sammy's own: with one giant fang on top!

Cutest monster ever!
Halloween cow. Halloween cow.

Well, there were several attempts to get a mama and costumed sons picture, without a good result. They were just rarin' to go!
As far as trick-or-treating, we had a grand 'ole time. After two fruitless "surprise" stops at friends' houses (maybe surprising wasn't the best idea for friends who are potentially out!), we landed in a neighborhood with lots of decorations and excited candy-givers. Guthrie had practiced the routine in the car: "Knock knock knock, then what?" "TRICK OR TREEEEAT!" He was so cute. The first house the homeowner offered him the bowl and Guthrie took only one piece. When offered again, he said, "one for Mama," and handed it to me. I almost cried it was so sweet. Bri and Sammy tagged along and just added more cuteness. After 3 or 4 houses of pure cuteness, we headed back to the car and over to Uncle Tom and Aunt Tam's house. We hung out there for a short bit and headed home. Guthrie got to pick a piece of candy and chowed down. Two boys played for a quick bit and then headed for bed. It was a simple, pleasant time that made us fall in love with our sweet boys all over again!

Circle

2010-10-27T22:11:00.004-04:00

As "reported" before, Guthrie is quite the little organizer. He loves grouping like items and gets on little trends of play that will be repeated many times until he finds a new one.

A recent trend is putting like toys in a circle- animals this day, it's often cars too. Here's G checking for any missed toys:

Doing final placements. Amazingly, he'll often arrange items by size as well. What a guy!

A couple months ago...

2010-10-27T22:00:00.002-04:00

Here are a few pictures from mid-August. Sammy and G were enjoying tasting, ahem- playing with some instruments. Evidently they needed to be sampled before playing...

I love love love this face that Guthrie makes sometimes when he's concentrating. He's a little fish....

Play that triangle!

An explosion of Sammy pictures for reaching his 9th month!

2010-10-13T21:15:00.013-04:00

Sammy! You are such a crazy little peanut monster- complete with a fang! This guy is full-on, all the time. Cruisin' around, playing hard (independently, often, for long stretches of time), chasing the kitties. Sammy has even developed comic timing and can have Guthrie in stitches.

Nothing can stand in the way of Sammers- he will try creative routes to get what he's after. It helps that this guy's pretty darn tough too...

This guy's got quite a soft side too: everywhere and anywhere that Sammy can find something soft (blanket, shirt, kitty tail, etc) he grabs it and pops in this thumb. But no other time (not when bored or even upset)- thumb sucking is always directly correlated to holding something and it's so darn cute.

As evidence shows above, Sammy likes to taste almost everything. He loves being outside, crawling in the grass, but it's hard to allow him to explore much because he'll get his week's worth of fiber in about 3 minutes of eating leaves and grass...
This particular day, Sammy coughed up a sizable leaf once we were inside. It wasn't until I downloaded the pictures later that I realized that below was probably the moment of ingestion! MmmmMMmm. Maple leaves taste sweet!

While Sammy's not a particularly cuddly little fella, he's quite the lover boy. Sammy likes to reach up and touch/stroke my cheek while he's nursing or taking a bottle. He'll often greet us with a sloppy, wet kiss when picked up after a nap. Sammy takes notice when Bri or I enter the room when he's playing- he'll book it across the room and climb up a leg to be picked up, greeted and hugged, then wants down again to get back to the task at hand.

Crazy banana-hair kid!
Nothing like catching a good butt-sniffin' (accidentally) on camera.
Sweet boys.
Guthrie has really become interested in playing with Sammy lately. He'll often seek Sammy out and try to include him or they'll simply be occupied with different activities in very close proximity in the playroom. Too sweet. We're excited for them to be friends too.
Beautiful boy.

Checking himself out in the mirror.
Guthrie reaching out to say good morning.

Following in big brother's footsteps as a cat lover.
Our friend Jess's genius idea- two boys+one swing= big times!

Sammy, you are such a cute bird, sweet pie! We love you!

Loooooooooong overdue birthday party pictures

2010-10-07T14:43:00.009-04:00

There's obviously much to catch up on...what, for not posting for almost a month (la-zy mama!), so I thought I'd reach a ways back and finally upload a bunch of pictures from Guthrie's 2 year old birthday party!

It was a lovely day- G started the afternoon right with a ride on this new (to him, at least!) pony in his special hat.

Not being one who's super big on decorations myself, although I totally love when other people do them, I decided that G deserved some streamers and balloons to ring in his big day.
It hadn't rained for almost 3 weeks before the party, so wet weather didn't even come to mind when we were planning a pool party/cookout. Oops- it started to literally downpour in buckets about 15 minutes after everyone arrived. So much for the decorations....the kids didn't seem to mind- they actually loved the rain while in the pool.

We decided to join them in the pool since we were soaked already anyway.

"Happy birthday to you!"

Cupcakes are delish!!!!

I love the cute look on Aydin's face (in the right corner of the picture), gazing at the cupcakes- take one cutie!

Cuties.
Mmmm...those cupcakes must be heavenly for Jeanene!
Back in the pool- what a great way to wash off the remaining icing.
Three generations of Galuski women!

Some menfolk watching a game of cornhole. Yes, Matthew's that tall that he's further from the camera than Brian, yet still appears to be taller.
Ladyfolk talkin' on the studio porch.
Tammy and sweet Luca: the neighborhood's own Winnie Cooper!

Matthew and Cadence perform circus tricks for the crowd...

And the day was finished with a Guthrie burrito!
Happy day for this little guy!

Sweet (?) boys playing...

2010-09-16T22:36:00.003-04:00

Aw. Two boys, sweetly playing. Many days look/start like this...(I like how they're laying the same way). Birds are singing, mamas are smiling, there is the smell of cinnamon in the air...

Contemplating life, and puzzle pieces, together...
More shimmying and discovering....
and THEN....
(hear monster truck advertisement voice!) "Power power Power! I will come sit on your head and you will LIKE IT little brother!!!"

There's not a picture of the actual sitting on head (which is an almost daily occurrence). Gotta love the irony of the pork chop shirt. Someday Sammy will give Guthrie one!

Sammy @ 8 months

2010-09-12T22:27:00.002-04:00

Oh sweetest boy. You are just too cute for words. Fast as lightning, you can cross the room in seconds while army crawling like a pro. You charm all who come in contact with you with your slow-forming, big smile (showing off your forever snaggle-tooth that finally has a partner). While you like Mama best, you feel comfortable with most people and are easy going. We love when you reach out, grab a cheek to pull in for a slobbery kiss. You are already pulling yourself to a standing position and don't mind (too much) when Guthrie places you back on the floor. Sammy, you're our lovely peanut and we think you're great!

Following in his brother's footsteps, Sammy is quite the cat chaser. He delights in both Parker and Posey, although Parker's the only one who will let Sammy catch him!
Brother bottoms...
Sammy is a maniac in the bathtub. The first time he transitioned from the kiddie bath to the big bath Sammy sat nicely while getting washed. Every time after that he's been a fish: swimming around, splashing like crazy and boldly moving around the whole tub.

Good lookin' like Dad.
Sammy didn't spend too much time in the sand during our trip to the beach- he ate too much of it! He did get to enjoy being in the ocean a bunch...

Playing at the music table. Of course Guthrie loves playing here too, so it's fun to see them both on either side, pushing buttons and singing along.
Standing is just too much fun.

Reading, I mean eating, his books...
One final little story: we sometimes play a little game where Bri or I are "sleeping" and Guthrie wakes us up with a kiss as we declare, "I love kisses!" Yesterday Sammy got in on the action by climbing on top of me and planting a big slobbery, open-mouthed kiss (?) on my cheek! It was so fun to know that he totally knew what the game involved and that he could play too.

We love you little guy!

Stretch

2010-08-31T23:45:00.003-04:00

I've been doing a good bit of running as of late and oftentimes one or both of the boys will come along with me (don't worry, if I only have one it means that Parker or Posey is watching the other).

Anyway, Guthrie has really gotten into the whole ritual of running: he will ask to wear his "running shoes" (many of his shoes are now categorized), this day he wore a headband similar to one I often wear and he loves to stretch and say the word, "stretch" with every letter annunciated. This day he was already in the stroller when the stretching began, but that didn't stop this guy!

Oh those skinny little legs are like rubberbands.

All ready to go! Yeah, not quite sure what he's wearing either......

Oh yeah, G's also sportin' his new hairdo- Bri likes to call it the short, tousled handsome look. He's awfully cute....

Spinning piano

2010-08-20T16:41:00.002-04:00

Sammy has been enjoying playing this little piano that has these spinning disks to play the notes. Guthrie was laying sweetly beside him until I got the camera out, then he wanted to look in the viewfinder at Sammy....

....that is, until he wanted a picture of himself too.

Two boys playing

2010-08-19T22:46:00.005-04:00

A while back, we converted our sunroom into a playroom for the boys (well, originally for Guthrie because Sammy wasn't here yet!). Guthrie has always enjoyed playing out there and now Sammy has started wandering in there to join him- the small step down doesn't seem to even remotely deter this little squirmer....

They will play independently for a while, but always seem to end up near each other and begin to play together. This usually entails Guthrie either offering Sammy an overabundance of toys, Sammy being "King Kong" by basically blasting through whatever Guthrie's playing with or simply two boys sharing just a couple toys sweetly. It's enough to make a mama melt.

The animals seem to be enjoying the sit-n-spin...

Funnily enough, Sammy happened to pick (or it was strategically placed in his hands by some other sneaky little hands...) the one little person that Guthrie doesn't seem to like and never plays with- it worked out perfectly: two happy boys!

Sammy got his first tooth!

2010-08-12T23:29:00.003-04:00

Yup. It's true. The little bugger poked through on the bottom left side.

This is not a picture of Sammy's new tooth (we don't have any yet)- just a darn cute one that needed to be shared. How can one little boy be so pretty?

Playing in the rain

2010-08-11T16:11:00.004-04:00

We have many pictures "backlogged" that haven't been shared on the blog, so my goal is to post some of these even though they're not exactly recent.

The following pictures are from late May. We were gearing up to take a trip to one of the many "spraygrounds" in town when it started to downpour- one of those perfect warm summer rains. Bri and Guthrie decided to take advantage of this and played in the driveway puddles instead.

Post play snack: watermelon, hot chocolate, and banana bread. Can't do much better than that to warm the bones after being soaked!

Time for some playdough. Guthrie can't get enough of the stuff. He has a total blast playing with it, but also takes it very seriously (hence the concentrated looks).

When I originally viewed this picture below, I couldn't help but think that something had shifted with Guthrie. He was turning into a little boy, less a toddler or baby. Obviously it's even more true now, but that's for a later post....

I just love the collection of orange hearts on the blue fishy tablecloth. He planned that.

Sammy @ 7 months

2010-08-10T22:33:00.007-04:00

Oh sweet boy, how can we count the ways we love you? You are just so darn delightful, it's not possible!

Once again, Bri and I feel like giant cliches and can't help but say that we can't believe that Sammy's already 7 months old. Its just too fast. We blinked and he could sit up completely by himself. He's moving around the house like an old pro- turn your head and he's in another room finding the one exact thing that you wouldn't want him to put in his mouth! He's babbling a good bit, this time around our littlest is saying, "Mamamamamama!" much to my delight! (Bri had his turn with G- "Dadadadada" was a constant for some time)

This guy has us smiling constantly, shaking our heads about how we got so lucky to have such a happy guy for a son?!

Guthrie and Sammy are starting to play together a little bit- we're so proud of G for trying to include Sammy in play. It doesn't usually last too long, but hey, we'll take what we can get and enjoy watching them interact.
We have a good bit of photos of Sammy cleavage. He scoots around on his tummy so fast that often his shirts get pulled down at the neck. He's our little built-in swiffer these days.
Lovin' on Daddy.
Oh that little smile gets us every time. If he keeps this up, we'll be mush in his hands by the time he's a teenager!
"Come here big brother!"

Too much lovin'?

Guthrie and Sammy had their first bath together the other night (no good pictures, sorry) and Sammy was over the moon. He splashed almost the entire time and the two of them ran/scooted around naked a good bit afterward. It was so funny to see them in cahoots, giggling at their nakedness.

As many many children do, Sammy loves to swing. One of our friends recently put G and Sam back to back in a swing at the park and they both thought it was hilarious. We now do this every time we're at the park. (will get a picture of that soon too!)

Sammy and Parker have become good pals recently. Sammy can't get enough of him or Posey- he kicks and squeals whenever either of them come into the room.

Oh Sammy- stop growing up so fast! There's not enough time in the day to give you all the hugs and kisses that you deserve! Thank you for being such a luscious sweet pie- we love you so much!

Where'd they go?

2010-08-03T17:40:00.003-04:00

We're still here and have a lot of catching up to do blog-wise!

Sammy's sixth

2010-07-13T22:36:00.006-04:00

It's so hard to believe that Sammy's already 6 months old! I really can't emphasize enough of how sweet this little guy is: he makes sugar taste bitter by comparison. Brian and I just can't help but conclude that Sammy simply must be an angel in baby boy form.

Sammy continues to be very observant and intent on looking you in the eye, especially when holding him close- I think he could win just about any staring contest. I have to admit that Sammy helps my self-esteem: he looks at me (well, really everyone...but I like to think it's just me!) like I'm the dreamiest person he's ever seen!

We have a fun little "routine" while he's nursing: Sammy often "pops" off and smiles and coos mid-feeding. Almost every time he's finished, Sammy reaches his hand up to my face and holds it there until I kiss it a bunch of times.

Sammy loves his big brother. Guthrie could practically be sitting on his head and he'd be excited to have him close.

He still loves his thumb!

Now that Sammy's mobile, he's started to get into more and more of Guthrie's toys, so we've been working on sharing a lot lately. Sammy mostly just tries to eat everything- no toy is too big!

MMMMMmmmMmm. Avocados and bananas.
My favorite little smile:

Little old man:

Sammy, you bring endless amounts of joy to our lives! We're so glad you're our little guy- we love you!

Supercheese!

2010-07-13T22:01:00.003-04:00

Yay Sammy!

2010-07-03T22:08:00.005-04:00

Goodness, gracious this little guy is officially on the move! All this week Sammy has been honing his skills scooting across the floor, culminating today with a full-on army crawl on his elbows and knees. I don't want to rush him, but with the quick progress he's made, I think Samster may be actually crawling really soon!

And he's fast! Once Sammy gets an object in sight that he wants (could be a toy, shoe, or mama) he's across the room in no time. While this makes life slightly less predictable for Mama and Dadda, I can't help but be super excited for the little bug. It's so fun to hear him coo with delight when he gets whatever treasure he's seeking into his mouth!

"Ooooo Mama. I see Guthrie's Thomas. I want that!"

Action shot.

Getting closer....
Yes!
Coming to get you mama! (I was having a hard time snapping a photo of him- each time I scooted back and lifted the camera, Sammy was right on top of me!)
(yes, those are bug bites all over his face- Sammy's just too sweet for those darn mosquitos to resist)
Pleased as punch!

Thanks Nance!

2010-07-02T13:59:00.003-04:00

The fish light is very special and Guthrie loves it!

Birthday fun...continued

2010-06-29T22:11:00.007-04:00

After a good nap- Daddy was home! What better way to continue birthday fun than with a good picnic? Our good friend Ellen sent Sammy this super cute quilt/picnic toy just after he was born. It's fully equipped with a basket full of food, ants under the picnic blanket and some flowers to sniff. Guthrie has been enjoying playing with it while Sammy grows big enough to use it himself.

MMMmmmm. Cupcakes. Guthrie is still fully figuring out how to "pretend eat." He gets the concept that you don't try to literally chew and swallow the food and makes the corresponding yummy sounds, but G continues to actually bite the food every time- the plate too! It's too cute.

Offering a strawberry to Sammy.
Yummy! Watermelon!
Sammy can't figure out why there are so many seeds.
In the car, on the way to meet Uncle Tom and Aunt Tam for dinner at Guthrie's (well, our) favorite restaurant- Dish! Guthrie was playing with Sammy, making him giggle.
Mmmmmm. Sweet potatos. Nothing like some modern down-home southern cookin' to make a birthday right!

Next we headed to Tasty Yo for some frozen yogurt dessert with friends. Colin and the entire Masto gang joined us for the fun. Guthrie didn't eat a lick of his treat. Oh well, Mama was happy to sacrifice and eat G's for him....
On the other hand, Sammy would've been happy to chow on some yogurt. Look at him checking out Dad's spoonful.
Colin thought he'd give the carrier a try- these boys are getting so big!
Next it was time to come home and Skype Mawmaw, Pawpaw and Aunt Leslie. We don't do this often enough. Guthrie was fascinated not only with seeing family live in the screen, but also seeing himself.
Goodbye kisses!
We let the birthday boy stay up well past his bedtime so we could go outside and catch some fireflies. This experience was absolutely hilarious. Once he realized what we were looking for, Guthrie kept running around in all directions, but going practically nowhere with his arms out saying, "Where'd they go?"
Oh! There's another one!
I guess because they were so little Guthrie wanted to whisper when we caught one. He learned to hold his hand open and then blow them away. Only a couple got a little squished....oops.
Laying on the grass, looking up into the giant oak tree in the front yard.
What better way to end a whirlwind of birthday fun than with a good book. Something was obviously quite yummy....
We love you so much sweet boy- you are special and wonderful and bring us so much joy! Hope your day was great!

Birthday fun...so far

2010-06-23T14:28:00.007-04:00

We've had quite an adventuresome day already for our special guy! Guthrie seemed to know that there was a little extra excitement in the air, as he woke up almost an hour earlier than usual. I greeted him with a song (sung even more out of tune, I'm sure, after just waking up myself), gave G a big hug and put on his newly made birthday hat.

Yes, the hat is massive. Wasn't really thinking about kiddo proportions much as I was putting it together! I stole the idea from Jessa- if you want one of these for your special little bug, and want it made correctly, you can find one here.

We played with some spools of thread in the dump truck and watched a couple of his favorite short videos online (Feist's 1234 Sesame Street song) until Sammy woke up.

Growing up, my mom would let us choose what we wanted her to make for our birthday breakfast (which was usually waffles or french toast). I want to continue the tradition- Guthrie's special birthday request: rice crispies!
Next, we headed downtown to Imaginon (Charlotte's children's library) for storytime and play. Fun started in the elevator with pushing the buttons. G seems to know what needs to be pushed to arrive at the correct floor these days (when the choice is 'P' or '1').

Even though the reader was very engaging and interactive at storytime, we didn't last through the whole time. There are just too many distractions and fun things to do there. First of all, just outside the wall of windows where we were sitting is a giant crane- G kept exclaiming, "Crane! Crane!" and calling out as dumptrucks, delivery trucks and concrete trucks passed by.
There are magnetic letters on the end of a section of bookshelves that always capture G's attention. He tends to seek out letters he knows- w, x, y, o, a, i, g- collects and rearranges them.

Next in line was checking out the furniture in the little play house.
Guthrie kept stacking the wooden furniture like blocks. It was too funny- a table and chair fit nicely on top of the stove.

Rearranging the stuffed blocks in the performance area.

Driving and hanging out in the wooden car...
Next, we caught the light rail, which is just outside the library, to go to lunch. It's been super hot here, so we were happy to get on the air-conditioned train to travel to our destination!
Our lunch stop was several stations away, so we were able to travel for a good bit of time. At each stop, Guthrie would look up at me with hope in his eyes and say, "more train? More more train?" I realized that it would be essential to count down the stops so he wasn't disappointed when the ride was over.
Whoa, train!
Oh yes, our lunch destination was none other than Chick-fil-A! G sported his hat for a bit again while eating his chicken and fruit.
Meanwhile, Sammy happily played in the stroller.
All done with the hat.
Sammy was hungry so he thought he'd just eat the stroller. This guy is probably also going to be a blankie kid- he seems to find some kind of cloth to chew on anywhere.
Off to enjoy the play area in the restaurant. Here's G getting bullied by a bigger kid...but he still had fun!
Heading up to the slide...
Now we're home and everyone's happily napping, gearing up for more birthday fun!

Ode to Guthrie in silly and sweet pictures before the big 0-2

2010-06-22T22:03:00.012-04:00

Doesn't everyone need a balloon, beads, and book when getting his diaper changed?

Yup, Guthrie got a big boy haircut last week! Gosh, in a matter of minutes, it was as if he changed from a toddler to a little boy.

Sammy's five months old?!!

2010-06-11T21:16:00.005-04:00

Oh Sammy, we love you so! This boy is all cream and sugar and the cherry on the top! Seriously, Brian and I ask each other daily if he could be any sweeter or cuter (I feel like I've said that before...).

Sammy is quite an observant/engaging little dude. He will look you right in the eye and hold your gaze for the longest time, all the while grinning a huge smile.

Sammy has become a vocal little bug over the past few days- especially in the morning, which is yummy for a mama who is not a morning person. How could you not wake up cheerful to a little guy who is cooing and happily squealing?
We often find ourselves saying that Sammy is having a "love fest" with one of us, which basically means he's pulled himself really close to our face, loudly sighs and coos, and just stares lovingly at us. I swear this guy makes me feel like I'm the dreamiest person alive!
This little bird has become really engaged with his toys lately as well. He's started to show some preferences and will choose what he wants to play with. Sammy doesn't spend much time on his back playing- he will quickly roll over and go to town.

Sammy LOVES Guthrie. It's like they have some secret code or joke sometimes: they just start giggling at each other. This often takes place at the dinner table or in the car when they are close to eye level. It's too cute.

We love you Samster! Stop growing up so fast!

Pool party

2010-06-07T22:17:00.005-04:00

Several days ago we had some friends over to hang out and frolic in the pool. Here's Gavin, Colin and Guthrie chummin' it up. Our little friend Gray was late, and my camera batteries ran out, so he didn't make any of the pictures, but we sure did have fun (as you'll see below)!

Evidently G and G think it's pretty funny to throw water on Colin...

Colin thinks it's funny to throw water on Colin...
It's funny for Gavin to pour water on himself...

Guthrie obviously thinks it's hilarious when his friends throw water on themselves, yet he himself is dry above the knees...how exactly he avoided getting wet is a mystery.

A (young) man and his trucks

2010-06-03T22:28:00.002-04:00

Like father, like son

2010-06-03T22:03:00.000-04:00

Day at the Columbia Riverside Zoo

2010-05-31T22:25:00.007-04:00

Saturday we trekked to Columbia, SC to visit the Riverside Zoo. We had visited the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, NC earlier this year, so it was fun to compare the two. Seeing animals live is always a big winner in this family!

Must say that I do like our new camera! It has a great zoom function.

This zoo has a small farm-like petting zoo with llamas, cows, chickens and goats. This goofy-looking guy was loving all the attention Guthrie was pouring over him.

Behind the fence was a big-ole cow. This was Guthrie's favorite spot; we hung here for over 15 minutes. Lesson: for the time being, a farm is just as exciting as the zoo!

G's second favorite spot- the aquarium. His little nose was pressed against the glass as he squealed over the sight of the fish.

Fun day!

Just too cute, and just because I can...

2010-05-29T23:49:00.004-04:00

The great thing about digital cameras is that you can take a bunch of pictures of almost the same shot while hardly blinking. The "downside" is that you end up with a bunch of pictures that are almost the same shot. But gosh, when the subject is so darn cute, who can help but shoot away? So here's a bunch of sweet Mr. Sammers:

Together

2010-05-28T22:23:00.005-04:00

This afternoon I laid Sammy down on the floor to play a little bit, left the room and came back to this:

Sammy had rolled over to play on his tummy and G decided to join in the fun by grabbing a rattle to chew on himself.

Two brothers are too cute playing side by side!

Oh the drama!

2010-05-20T13:27:00.003-04:00

Yesterday afternoon Guthrie tripped outside on the sidewalk and skinned his knees. He responded with, "Ooo," as he usually does when he somehow hurts himself. Bri could immediately tell that it was a bit of a flesh wound, so he went inside for the major reinforcements: peroxide (to clean), bandaids (to protect) and stickers (to keep him from tearing off his bandaids and using them like stickers). Obviously the balance of stickers to bandaid ratio was pretty big. Most of the stickers ended up being re-stuck to the sidewalk, but at least the bandaids remained on!

Oooo. I hurt this knee.

Oh. This one too.

Where'd they go?

Wait, I'm actually totally ok.

Did you remember that I hurt my knees? I have these cool bandaids as a reminder.

Pure genius!

2010-05-20T11:53:00.003-04:00

I've been meaning to post this for sooooooooooome time now and have been such a slacker! A while back, blogger and potter-turned-ridiculously-amazing-sewer friend Jessa (mama to adorable Amos and Eli) sent us a sweet package in the mail: two pairs of her wonderful handmade cords! amongst other goodies. We are so delighted to have them- they fit the boys perfectly. The pants also have a cute owl appliqued on each butt. So basically, even though it's already summer-like down here in NC, whenever the temperature dips below 70 these suckers are on the boys!

If you would like a Jessa creation of your own, check out her Etsy site here. Thanks Jessa!

Washing and brushing with dad

2010-05-19T11:01:00.001-04:00

Future first date blackmail?

2010-05-19T10:11:00.003-04:00

Where are you goin' cruising G?

Oh these boys sure do melt my heart!

2010-05-17T22:59:00.005-04:00

How I know he's made of sugar and spice and everything nice

2010-05-11T16:54:00.007-04:00

...meaning he's super sweet (not that he's a girl!):

One of Guthrie's favorite outside activities is to pick flowers. Fistfuls of them. Clover, dandelions and jasmine are his favorites. This often leads to the making and wearing of flower jewelry, which is fitting because G loves to wear his beads.

These days, Guthrie loves to pray, or as he says it, "Day, day!" At every meal that we sit down together, at night before bed and sometimes just randomly, Guthrie insists that we pray. He holds out his hands to be held, squeezes his eyes shut and shouts, "all done!" after someone says amen. Oftentimes we'll say multiple prayers at dinner upon his insistence.

G likes to "back in" to our laps when getting ready to read. He'll fetch a book, turn around and back into us from as far as five or six feet away. It's too funny- sometimes almost find ourselves beeping like a big truck in reverse when he's in the act.

Guthrie likes to hold hands. He'll sometimes grab one of ours when walking outside or from one room to another in the house.

Lately, at night, he can't get enough kisses before bed. This delights both Bri and I because he was a late bloomer on kissing (he would offer his forehead when asked for a kiss). Now G wants numerous kisses on the lips and wants to kiss our cheeks and have his kissed before he gets in bed.

G really enjoys playing with Sammy recently. When Sammy is playing on the floor, Guthrie will gently sit next to him and say, "bye bye Mama" because he wants me to leave the room and let them play alone.

Oh yeah. He's also made of worms, snails and puppy dog tails!

Big 4 for the little man

2010-05-10T21:18:00.006-04:00

Oh my goodness, Sammy, you are such a sweet boy. You are calm, cuddly, smiley and observant. You enjoy playing standing up- whether in the doorway jumper, exersaucer, or on a lap. You are a little squirmy scooter- always in the opposite end of the crib when you wake up. You enjoy being close to your brother, even when he is "loving" on you a little roughly. Your mama's favorite time spent with you is just after nursing, when you flash up a lazy smile that must mean, "mama, you know just what I need!"

A bit of a bummer

2010-05-06T13:40:00.004-04:00

So, our house got broken into yesterday mid-morning. Dang! Not much was taken- our house would be disappointing for any burglar as most of our belongings only hold a high value sentimentally! I'm not sharing this for sympathy, but rather as a cautionary tale. Among the stolen items was our laptop which housed ALL of our pictures...over 5,000 in the last 2 years. While we do have a hard drive back-up, we haven't used it in almost a year. So, that means that our pictures, aside from what have been uploaded to the blog, are now gone. It's especially heartbreaking to me that much of Sammy's first days aren't recorded now (we were so desperately trying to avoid that 2nd child syndrome of very few baby pictures!!). On this note, once we replace the computer and our camera, we will be uploading all pictures to an online storage site and backing up on our hard drive. I know many people do this already, but let this be an encouragement to do it that much more often!

It's more difficult than it seems...

2010-04-27T19:43:00.003-04:00

Quite possibly the coolest picture ever!

2010-04-27T19:38:00.002-04:00

Not to be outdone by this one....
Thanks Lauren!

Boys outside

2010-04-23T23:08:00.003-04:00

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...

G still fits in his swing- who cares if his feet hit the forsythia below each time he goes up and down? Time to do some pruning.

Brothers

2010-04-23T23:02:00.004-04:00

Oftentimes, after his nap in the afternoon, Guthrie will climb up onto the couch and ask to "hold" Sammy. He'll enthusiastically hold his arms out and say, "eese, eese" (translation: please, please) until I hand the little guy over.

Once G has the Samster in his arms the following progression usually takes place:
1. G will wait with a smile until I grab the camera
2. Sammy starts sliding down G's lap progressively faster
3. Guthrie proclaims, "all done! All done!" once Sammy is practically horizontal.

All for a photo shoot. And love, too, of course!

Just some juicy Sammy pics

2010-04-15T23:15:00.003-04:00

Sammy may not have the chunks that Guthrie had, but he sure is just as luscious and squeezable!

New naptime and morning ritual

2010-04-15T22:59:00.003-04:00

I'm always amazed about how fast new rituals and habits form with kids. A lot of time I don't realize that patterns are being established until the same actions have been occurring for days or even weeks at a time. For a while now, Guthrie has been requesting books to read in his crib when he wakes up from his nap, and now he's wanting them in the morning too. Often he'll want books from our "special" stash that aren't available all the time (you know, the pretty ones with paper pages...) and many of them at once. Today I counted 15 as I emptied his bed before nighttime. G will spend upwards of 45 minutes post nap reading alone- he makes it very clear that he wants to read on his own. Once I hand over a few books he says, "Bye bye Mama" until I leave the room! I'll often lurk outside for a bit to hear him jabber out loud to his stuffed animal friends about what's in the book, recognizing a few words here and there. When he's ready he'll shout, "all done!" and I'll come retrieve him in the form of a hug because he's simply irresistible!

These are two sleepy-faced pictures from this morning. He still has bed head and squinty eyes, but the reading must go on!

Oh brothers

2010-04-15T22:50:00.002-04:00

This morning I left the room for a split second and came back to Guthrie laying on top of Sammy, hugging him. By the time I grabbed the camera, he was sitting up. I think G was almost a little embarrassed to have been "caught" loving on his little brother! All the while Sammy pleasantly played and smiled at his big bro. These guys are too cute.

Just enjoying some post-bath fun in Sammy's bed just before nighttime.

Sweet 3

2010-04-12T20:02:00.004-04:00

Our little Sam celebrated a life of three months a couple days ago. He's become so active and interactive over the past couple weeks. Sammy is very aware of when his big brother is close and responds excitedly.

Sammy has started performing baby circus tricks for such a wiry little guy like pulling himself to a standing position on my lap and stomping his feet (yikes! Is this guy going to walk at 6 months or something?!! Slow down buddy!). He's rolling over and scooting all over his crib.

Most of all, we're enjoying how responsive Sammy is to our touch, eye contact and conversation. He makes such sweet sounds that melt our hearts! We love you little bear!

Should G have been called Sam?

2010-04-12T19:53:00.004-04:00

Our own little Samson lost his power today: yup, G got a haircut. Those gorgeous locks were getting to be too hot for our little man and the curls unruly. Although it completely broke my heart to do it, we gave him a chop!

A few pictures to honor the old Guthrie...

Oh, the hair blowing in the breeze!

He's a new man! After 10 minutes of hearing, "All done! All done, all done!" a big boy emerged.

The new 'do.

You are still darn cute as can be sweet bear!

Oh my goodness

2010-04-09T07:56:00.003-04:00

Sammy is truly one smiley guy. He often will stop in the middle of a feeding to flash a milky smile. He loves to stand on our laps so he's eye level and will bounce up and down grinning and cooing.

Sammy had his first full-on belly laugh last night. We were lucky enough to have a camera close by to catch a few sweet moments.

Sammy is one big ole squirmy worm too. This guy can "run" a horizontal mile in about two minutes flat. Sheesh. It wears us out just watching!

Mother of boys

2010-03-27T22:56:00.003-04:00

I think I said this in an earlier post, but just after Guthrie was born I had told Brian that I felt that I would be a mother of boys (even though I was totally convinced that Sammy was a girl during his pregnancy- initial instincts are best!). Gosh, I'm so happy that these boys are ours- they are so special and sweet beyond belief. Sometimes I almost can't stand just how much I love them both!

Quite possibly the cutest thing I've seen in my entire life

2010-03-27T20:59:00.006-04:00

Guthrie loves the Easter bunny. LOVES him (or her, whatever the heck it is). If G were to make a list of his favorite people on the face of the earth it would probably be Mama, Dadda, Sammy and Easter Bunny tied, and Uncle Woo and Addie tied.

Today there was an egg hunt at our neighborhood park hosted by a local church. They had a balloon sculptor, music, treats, and.....the EASTER BUNNY (EB)! Words and pictures cannot convey how enamored Guthrie was with this creature. Upon arrival, G got out of the stroller and proceeded to follow the EB for over an hour straight. He must have gotten about 30 hugs from EB. He barged in on photo ops with other kids. He hovered around while EB was hugging other kids. I gotta hand it to the youth paster (who was inside that wondrous suit), he was super kind and patient with sweet G.

Before the kids were allowed to hunt for their eggs, there was an egg race: you know, the kind where you balance an egg on a spoon and run towards a target far away. Well, imagine 1.5 and 2 year olds grasping this concept, let alone successfully navigating across a small field to the finish. Too funny. G opted to try to eat his egg...

After the egg race, the kids lined up along an area full of colorful eggs- the paster said "Go!" All the kids scampered about, quickly placing eggs in their baskets. All the kids, except Guthrie- he was booking it straight to the EB, practically tripping over all the eggs in the process. What a sweet guy!

Once I got over my strong rush of love for Mr. G, I tried to get a video of him chasing after the EB. I got literally one second filmed before the batteries ran out on the camera. Guess we'll just have to relive this event in our memory!

Brothers

2010-03-23T10:15:00.002-04:00

These guys truly are sweet on each other...

Oliver Twist?

2010-03-21T15:16:00.002-04:00

Pleasant face

2010-03-21T14:53:00.005-04:00

That's what we often find ourselves calling Sammy. He's just such a sweet little guy- he's really settled into being quite a laid-back fellow, and super smiley to boot.

This first picture is the quintessential "pleasant face"- a small smirk with little upper lip dimples.

One of Sammy's favorite pastimes (besides gazing at mama, of course) is laying on the changing table- his extra favorite if he's naked too! It's just the right height for Sammy to check out what's going on around him. Often we'll exchange many smiles and coo at each other.

We just may have a thumbsucker on our hands....

Dare I say it? For the past week Sammy has been sleeping 8 and 9 hours at night! Wow, what a guy!

March Madness?

2010-03-21T14:39:00.003-04:00

Guthrie has pretty much been obsessed with basketball lately- or as he calls it, "BA-ball!" First thing in the morning, once he's awake and going, Guthrie starts pointing to the door saying he wants to go outside to play some ball. Thank goodness the weather's been amazing lately so we can indeed play.

Here's Guthrie checking out Dada's sweet moves- but the question is: is he laughing with him or at him?

Big 'ole cute face

2010-03-21T14:12:00.001-04:00

I wish I was a little bit taller, wish I was a baller..

2010-03-14T20:51:00.001-04:00

Check out that goose neck follow-through!

Sammy @ 2 months...

2010-03-14T10:26:00.003-04:00

Happy 2 months (a bit late!) little sweet Sammy!

This guy continues to be super cuddly and has started to smile up a storm. He loves having his big brother around- they're such a sweet pair.

We can't help but think that Mysterio had it all wrong. How in the world could this guy be a criminal mastermind?!!

We love you special guy!

Family

2010-03-06T12:14:00.005-05:00

Cousins

2010-03-06T12:09:00.003-05:00

This weekend we've been having fun with family visiting: Mawmaw, April, Leslie and Addie are in town! Guthrie has been smitten with his big cousin Addie- following her around and playing. Too cute.

Sammy D

2010-02-26T14:57:00.003-05:00

These days, Sammy enjoys hanging out in his crib, watching his mobile, as well as checking himself out in his mirror. Happy boy!

This is not the most action-packed video, but Sammy's pretty darn sweet- cooing at himself in the mirror:

True Confessions

2010-02-24T10:29:00.007-05:00

We own a minivan. Ok, that's actually not even the confession; here it is: I love it!

Ok, so I admit that I went kicking and screaming into the Toyota dealership. Meanwhile, Brian gently took my hand and convinced me that we were, "just going for a test drive." About an hour later we were pulling out onto the road in a 2006 Sienna. Yup, just a test alright....I was convinced that I would immediately have to dye my hair pink or blue just to counter the dramatic hit I had just taken to my already practically non-existent aura of cool.

Obviously, I've come around and my hair is still just dark blonde and needing a washing. There is hope for all you doubters: click below for a perfect example of my new impression of me as a minivan owner (minus the dual dvd players, of course!):

Hot mama!