Almost 9 months...

Wow! It's is amazing how fast time flies! Samantha will be 9 months old on the 31st and she's just growing so big and doing so many new things each day. She continues to be a very sweet girl, and her personality is really starting to show through. She's definitely like me, wants what she wants, gets mad when she doesn't get her way, and loves to be around people and talking. She is so funny, dancing to music, waving, and babbling all the time. She rolls all around and definitely gets what she wants. In this past week, she has started to combat crawl and loves kicking the ball all over the place. She moves her feet like a pinball flipper! It's so funny.

A house divided... Sam's on my side!

Dave and Gwen with Sammers

I'm taking this from some of my friend's blogs, but here are some Samantha facts:

loves Puffs and finger feeds herself.

loves water and drinks through a straw!

Loves music and dancing - thinks my singing is great! (glad someone does!)

Weighs about 20 lbs.

Loves being in her stroller

Loves looking at herself in mirrors or any reflective surface! She's so vain.

Loves almost all food - still on pureed food since she has no teeth. HATES yogurt. I keep trying, but she gags and shakes. it's funny too.

Started with a new babysitter today - Sarah. Excited to have her here after several babysitting fiascos.

Loves the computer and pressing buttons. She tends to hang up on people when we try to Skype.

Has been on 12 plane rides! ashame she's a lap sitter or she'd be medallion status.

Loves getting her picture taken and smiles at the camera

That's about it for now. We'll try to be better at posting more often. Life gets the best of us!

Nana with Samantha

Thanks dad!

What a long week. We're finally home in GA and trying to regain some sort of normalcy. This whole experience has been crazy, trying, sad, and just shocking. It was amazing to all of us how many people came to celebrate his life. Thank you all so much for all the love and support. It kept us going through all of the hard times this week.

I didn't get up and say anything at the memorial service because I knew I wouldn't be able to get through it. So here's what i would have said had my emotions held out at the service.

Since my dad's no longer here to pass along all of his insight, I wanted to share with you some things he taught me so you can, too, feel enlightened and a little bit smarter. I can't say I followed all his tips, but they always made sense.

• Always wear comfortable shoes and have several pairs to air them out between wears.
• In hockey, when one team goes on a power play and the other skates short-handed, there is not really a man with short hands. (yes, I was young and naive)
  
• Ice cream tastes better eaten from the carton with a fork.
• Never take a bath or shower in a lightening storm. You could get struck!
• Never turn your wheel while waiting to make a turn - keep your wheel straight so if someone rear-ends you, you won't go flying into traffic.
• Always label a pair of socks with the same letter or number so when you do your laundry you can easily match up socks and can throw out an old pair together.
• Wings should be eaten with only one hand so there's always a clean hand for your beer.
• A favorite quote of his "those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind"
• Peanut M&Ms should be a staple food.
• Hot water unclogs any clogged toilet.
• Peanut butter paired with many foods, makes them better (dates, Oreos, brownies)
• Hand held poker is the best game to play in the tree stand while hunting.
• In Suduko, always go across first, then down, then back across. You'll win every time.
• Always stop by the bathroom before you choose a machine at the casino so you don't have to leave a "hot" machine.
  

If only there was more time to learn more wisdom and insight. I will put that into my mom's hands now. Dad, I love you, will never forget you, and will keep you always in my heart.

Kristi