Sam Meets Santa!

A few days ago we took a trip to the mall so that Sam could meet Santa. It was very strange standing in line holding my son so that he could meet Santa since I remember so clearly doing the same thing with my mom and my younger brothers - I guess it just doesn't seem like that long ago (but maybe it was!). Sam was very curious about Santa's beard at first and seemed to be ok in his lap UNTIL I started to back away to take his picture...that's when the fit began! He started crying and tugging at Santa's beard. Poor Santa patiently let us take a few pictures and of course once I picked Sam up off of Santa's lap the crying stopped immediately :-) You can see how happy he was in the car driving home...AWAY from Santa, haha!

3, 4, & 5 are in!

Sam has been very busy cutting teeth these last few weeks! He started cutting his top middle two at the beginning of the month and just a few days ago the top left tooth has also made an appearence in his mouth :-) Teeth really do change a baby's face - he looks like such a big boy now! In these pictures (taken about a week ago) you can only see the top middle teeth...how cute!

Paradise

A few weeks ago Craig and I spent 6 days, 5 nights in beautiful Montego Bay, Jamaica...it was an amazing vacation! We never had the chance to go away on a honeymoon after our wedding three years ago so this was our very belated honeymoon :-) We've been to Jamaica twice before but this time we stayed at one of their Sandals resorts - the food was wonderful and the drinks were delicious!! Our room was on the top floor and had beautiful ocean view! Our resort also had it's own private island that we went to daily. Besides having a gorgeous beach, the island also had it's own pool & swim up bar AND a jerk hut (this would be Craig's favorite spot!). From the very beginning we decided that this vacation was going to be nothing but absolutely relaxing so we opted out of the daily excursions around the island and chose more lazy activities - we layed out on the beach and swam in the ocean, read our books, hung out at the swim up bar sipping on many yummy tropical drinks, sailed over to the resort island, played cards, ate lots of delicious food, and talked about our little Sam! It was so difficult leave Sam but once we arrived we realized how much we needed to get away and just be together again. We knew that he was happy and safe with his grandparents. Five nights was definitely enough and the whole plane ride home we talked about how excited we were to see our little boy and be a family again :-)

Family

We did a lot of fun things while visiting my parents in Florida! Craig and my dad went out golfing, we took Sam to the pool and to the beach, my mom and I went shopping, and the best part was at the very end when we were all together - our family, my parents and my two younger brothers, Chris and David :-)

Christmas in Florida!

Oma and Grandpa spoiled Sam while he spent time with them in Florida...and he loved every minute of it! Since we all won't be together on Christmas day, Sam got to open a present each day he was in Florida (what a tough life!). He got SO many fun toys...too many to fit in the suitcase! Here are some pictures of him opening a few of his presents from his grandparents :-) They gave him a wonderful Christmas in Florida!

Sam's 1st Trip to the Beach!

We just returned from our 2 week vacation to Florida and Jamaica. We had a BLAST!! It was definitely a well needed break and we enjoyed every minute of our time away! We spent time with my family in Sarasota, FL for a few days before and a few days after our Jamaica vacation. Sam stayed behind with his grandparents while mommy and daddy were away - he had so much fun and also got to spend time with his Uncle David and his Uncle Chris - who he met for the first time :-) Here are some pictures of our day trip to the beach on Longboat Key...Sam's first time at the beach! It was so cute watching him look intently at the waves (wondering what the heck they are!) and putting his feet in the sand for the first time!

Christmas Photo Shoot :-)

Sam had a Christmas photo shoot a few days ago for our holiday greeting card. I think he had such a great time because he got to play with some of the ornaments! The sleigh bell seemed to be his favorite this year. I had a great time taking his picture!

Twinkle, Twinkle

We strung lights on the banister going up our stairs a few weeks ago and since all Sam wants to do is sit and watch them twinkle we decided to put up our Christmas tree - LOTS of lights for Sam to look at! My favorite part is watching him stare at the lights...he always has the cuttest look of amazement on his face when they twinkle. So far he has not climbed up the tree or pulled it down but I'll keep you posted! Gus has also found a new place to nap :-)
*These pictures were taken before the ornaments went up*