Hop 2 It

We took Sam to Hop 2 It for the first time the other day. Hop 2 It is basically a warehouse with a whole bunch of blow up toys for kids and their parents to go on...they have obstacle courses, a ball pit, slides, jump houses and sporty bounce things! We got there and figured Sam would be scared to death since she's pretty much afraid of everything, but we were wrong...she was still cautious but wasn't scared by any means. After an hour of jumping and going through obstacle courses she had totally worn her dad out but we did stay for a while longer...mommy even jumped a little with her too even though baby brother was comfy on mom's bladder!! ;)

Christmas Day

I had to work Christmas Eve night, so when I got home we opened presents from each other and Santa then webcammed with my in-laws and exchanged our gifts that way. This Christmas was by far the best one!! And I'm sure they're only going to get more and more fun!! Sam definitely understood things a lot better this year! And although it took us 15 minutes to talk her out of her bed and her toy room, when she came out to the living room and saw her kitchen and stocking from Santa her eyes just lit up as a perma-grin appeared across her face! She did much better with opening presents as she instructed mommy to "pull pull" on all the wrapping paper to help her get it opened :) We still had some trouble keeping her on track with opening all of her presents as she got so excited with each present she didn't want to open another. But, we eventually got through them all and she couldn't decide which one to play with, although her favorites appear to be her kitchen, her "Sweet Pea" doll, the Veggie Tales movie, Pistachio, Mr. Potato Head and her Dora book with all the little figurines in the back. After presents we put the ham in the oven and all laid down so Mommy could take a nap while Sam watched Pistachio three or four times over :)

Christmas in Spokane

Due to the nature of Michael and my jobs, we unfortunately end up working over most holidays. So we went back to Spokane a few weeks early to celebrate Christmas with my family and pick up gifts from Michael's family to open Christmas morning over the webcam. While we were there we also went on a lights cruise across lake Coeur d'alene.

Sam showing off her stickers to Grandma that she got in her stocking...

Peeking at the present before she got it all the way open

Watching the water as the boat cruised across the lake...

The wind blowing in our faces on the lake cruise

Getting ready to start the lake cruise...Sam was more intrigued with the water hitting the boat than she was with the thousands of lights...

Decorating for Christmas

Christmas this year has already been so much more fun than previous years! Samantha is way more involved with everything from decorating to going to see the lights! She loved helping put up and decorate the tree! Although she could not get the ornaments on the tree very well, she did enjoy putting the candy canes on...and later taking them off to eat! Watching her face as we drive by decorative houses and hearing the "ooohhh", "wow", "lights" and "flash" from the back seat has been sooo much fun!!

IT SNOWED!!! YAY!!!

Well we got our first big snow last night and Sam was just in awe at the little white flakes falling from the sky! It was sooo cool to watch her face as she looked up in the sky then down at the ground and back up at the sky again...lol. One of God's mysteries lil' girl...just enjoy it :o)
So this morning we woke up and I pulled out the snow suit I had bought two sizes bigger at the end of last season...well should've just gone with one size bigger :o( It was WAY too big! So off to Target we went...and the girl managed to spend way to much of my money way too quickly! But we left with a new coat, boots, snow pants and gloves!
We came home, got all dressed up and headed outside...the little princess that I have decided she didn't want to touch the snow AT ALL. But she'd walk through it and tell me to throw it :o) She plopped down on the sled and wasn't entirely sure what to think when I pulled her around so we left it stationary and basically mom just threw snow at her the whole time- which she loved! I don't know how it's possible but man I love this girl more and more everyday! What a princess!!

Blogging for free Christmas cards :o)

So as many of you know, I usually enjoy a good deal…since being in school finding these good deals has become few and far between (mostly due to time constraints). But a good friend of mine led me onto this deal where if you blog about shutterfly you can get 50 free Christmas cards... Easy enough… I LOVE shutterfly! I have used shutterfly in the past for printing photos, making adorable Valentine’s day cards, a calendar (here’s all their calendar stuff http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/desk-calendars), as well as for making photo books of family vacations! I have never had anything turn out bad from them and have always had a quick turn around in my order!! I actually received a catalog in the mail just a few days ago highlighting this year’s holiday cards (you can access them here http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards) and was so excited when a fellow blogger told me about this deal (if you have a blog of your own you can access info about the deal here http://bit.ly/sfly2010)...especially since money is so tight around the holidays!! So if this holiday season you receive a cute little card with my favorite little girl featured on it, you’ll know it was a frugal find courtesy of shutterfly! :o)

Sam's 2nd Birthday Party in Spokane

My little girl is 2!!!! Here are some pictures of her birthday party back home...as a side note, Sam fell down the concrete stairs at my parent's house just a few hours before her party so you'll notice her face all cut up in a lot of the pictures. Actually the pictures make it look a whole lot better than it did in person. Because of it though, she wasn't in the best mood during her party so she spent much of her own party playing outside with the kids and pretty much nobody really got to see her, but she had fun so I guess that's what was most important :)

All the things she was spoiled with...

Papa and Grandma Chamberlin with the birthday girl...

Papa and Grandma Huffman kissing the birthday girl

Auntie Angie, Sam and the Hopson girls playing with their goody bags

Great Papa and Great Grandma Seely with the birthday girl

Blowin' out the candles

Being bashful while everyone sings happy birthday...

Mommy (and Daddy: he made the frosting smooth :) ) made her "Bob the Tomato" cake!

Reading Veggie Tales with Grandma!

Opening presents....

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She didn't want to open any other presents because all she wanted to do was have someone open her Veggie Tales CD

No owie here...these were taken two days before when she opened her present at Papa & Gma Huffman's

These were taken about 4 days after her owie...looking much better!!

While we were in Spokane, we got to celebrate two major events: My daughter turning 2 and Michael and my 5th wedding anniversary...where does the time go???

I really can't believe my little girl is two already!! Time has gone entirely too quickly and I so wish I could slow it down just to savor some of the precious moments we have with our lil' blessing from God! I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday, that feeling of awe and amazement that this little child is ours...kind of a shocky feeling! We've made it through so many milestones...sitting, crawling, walking (finally), running, talking, tantrums...this child pooped in the bathtub more than I care to remember and her favorite pasttime I'm pretty sure is coloring on my poor walls!! Two years have already brought so much joy to our lives, it has filled a void that you never really know is there until it is fulfilled, it has taught us to love in a completely new way and has brought new meaning to the sacrifice that God made for all of us! She is our pride and joy and we love her sooo much! These first two years have been amazing and we can't wait to see what the rest of the years bring! We love you baby girl! Happy birthday!

Secondly our anniversary...Five years has gone by so fast. Who would've thought back then that we'd end up where we did? I remember the day we got married...I wasn't nervous, I was more certain, I knew Michael was the man that God had laid out for me and was soooo excited to begin our adventures together!! Our first adventure moved us here...500 miles away from family and many friends :( It has been bittersweet...without coming down here we would've missed out on sooo many priceless relationships that we have made!! Michael may not have ever become a cop and I know I would not have been a labor and delivery nurse as quickly! This adventure has taken us through a lot, and I think we are stronger as a couple for it! Our second adventure I think was probably the many miscarriages we experienced, although it is not a happy memory, it is something that we've grown because of! Thirdly, the birth of our little girl and all the joys that have come with learning how to be good parents for her...this has been a constant learning experience for us both and will continue to be probably for forever! It has brought us happy times to savor as well as many irritable times to learn from, but I wouldn't trade any of it for the world! There are so many wonderful things I could say about my husband, he's always there for me, he's sooo incredibly patient, he's loving and an amazing father...through everything we've been through I know he still loves me at the end of the day...Michael I love you and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you!!