16 Weeks!

We made our first trip to NJ last weekend. Yes, this involved getting on to a plane twice! Samantha ended up doing very well on the plane. On the way up to NJ...Kristi had to fly by herself. She went up Wed afternoon (and I flew up Friday evening after work). The good news is that Kristi and Samahta got a row all to themselves in the back of the plane...but the bad news was that Samantha had 2 blowouts on the plane (one requiring Kristi to change her clothes). Everything was fine, except Kristi tried to use the airplane bathroom to change Samantha, but b/c it was so loud in there...it freaked her out. Samantha doesn't cry much, except when she gets scared which happens randomly. I don't think she was traumatized, but it certainly scared Kristi.

Our trip to NJ had 2 purposes: 1) go home to see family and friends and 2) go to a Erica Maurer's wedding.

There were lots of visitors in just a few days. We were able to capture this picture below...there are 4 generations in one shot. I guess Samantha didn't get the memo...where's your red shirt???


Samantha got to attend her first wedding. The original plan was that I was going to stay home for the wedding ceremony and then I would only go to the reception. We ended up changing those plans and fortunately Samantha had received a dress as a gift, so we dressed her up and headed off to the wedding. On Saturday night, we ended up getting a babysitter (Mrs. Hampton, who was Kristi's middle school teacher) and went to center city Philly for Erica's wedding reception.

As you can see below, both Kristi and Samantha got dressed up for the wedding. Samantha was so well behaved during the ceremony. I held her in my arms the entire time and she was so cute that the wedding photographer ended up snapping a bunch of pictures of her!


Flying back home to Atlanta, went very well. Samantha ended up resting on my lap, snuggled in her boppy and eventually fell asleep as we were heading towards the runway. She slept the ENTIRE flight home without making a noise. I started to wonder if the flight attendants might think that we drugged her...but we did not. Somehow all of the stars and moons were aligned and our flight time coincided with Samantha's afternoon nap schedule...miracle.

Below are a couple of pictures we took while waiting to take off to Atlanta:



Our next trip will be in about 4 weeks when we travel to Ft Myers for my Mom's wedding. Should be a good time. We'll get to see my Mom's side of the family and hang out on the beach for a few days...a much needed break from work.

Enough about travelling...here are some general updates on Samantha:

• Samantha has great head / neck strength. She'll keep her head up very well when lying on her stomach and loves to sit up in our laps
• Her new trick is that she's starting to find her feet. When we're changing her, she constantly bending her hips and lifting her feet up to her head and hands, although she's not fully grabbing them yet
• Samantha is starting to grab for things. In her car seat we have attached a bunch of hanging toys which keeps her entertained. She also loves to hold your finger when she's sitting in your lap
• Samantha continues to sport the cow lick, I'm still not ready to try hair gel to keep her hair under control...

Thanks for following...talk to you sooner rather than later!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

Samantha, Kristi and I had a wonderful weekend and a wonderful Easter surrounded by great friends (bummer we didn't have any family, but maybe next year). The weather could not have been better this weekend. With temps well into the 80s...the three of us ended up spending a lot of time outside soaking up the sun.

Saturday afternoon started with a visit from our friend Jeanne who drove up to the country to see Samantha. We ended up grabbing lunch out at our favorite restaurant, Taco Mac. For dinner, we met up with our friend Robbie & Daphne and went to our second favorite restaurant, The Iron Horse Bar & Grill. At both restaurants, Samantha was so well behaved! She slept for most of the time and woke up towards the end as we getting ready to leave. The trick to a successful dining out experience is to take advantage of the car ride. In both instances, Samantha would fall asleep as soon as we left our neighborhood and then would sleep through dinner. We've really lucked out through 3 months as Samantha has been such a sweet baby.

For Easter, we went over to our friends Bill, Natalie & Billy's house. Mark, Lynn, Claire and Laura joined us for a brunch (you can see an Easter weekend theme of eating going on here). We were able to get some family photos below (also available on our Picasa page link):















I've got to say that Samantha and Kristi take some great pictures!

Here is a picture of Samantha (13 weeks) and Laura (7 weeks). Samantha has a head start, but Laura isn't too far behind. They are already close friends and it appears that they are inseparable...as indicated by them grabbing each other's clothes:

Finally...we got to take some candids around the house this weekend. Samantha loves to laugh and giggle. Whether it be playing in the bathtub, getting changed or just lounging around...she's always smiling and making us laugh.

At the same time, she can be pretty serious and attentive. We've been working on putting her on her stomach and spending a little bit of time in her bumbo seat to work her neck muscles. Below...we caught her staring at me (and no...i don't have gray hair...its just the flash from the camera). Samantha is so precious and I love to stare back at her. She has the prettiest blue-gray eyes, which we hope stay that color (even though both Kristi and I have brown eyes)...















Happy Easter everyone! Welcome spring!