Declaring Independence

It hadn't really occurred how independent Sam has always been until I had Marie. Now that she's getting older (all of 4 months now) I can see a huge difference between the two. Sam has always been fine without me. He knows I'll be back and while I'm gone he has his own agenda, things he wants to do. This was really nice when I ended up in the hospital because he was such an easy baby that I never had to worry about him. He took the bottle nicely and when I was able to nurse again he switched back patiently. He was fine with who ever had him and never complained.
Now he just flat out wants to do things his OWN way. He wants to hold Marie without any help and if help is offered then say goodbye to Sam. He wants to feed himself and doesn't want help. He likes to put on his shoes without help usually which means they often go on the wrong foot. He also likes to wear my shoes.
He basically has reached a point where most of the time he doesn't want my help at all. Daddy on the other hand can help sometimes better than I can. Daddy is cooler... or something. Yesterday we went to the park and Sam declared his independence loud and clear. He did NOT want my help with ANYTHING except getting on and off the swing and getting a good push while he was on it. He is always saying yes to everything so when he says no he means NO. I got a lot of "No, No", pushing my hand (or me) away, and general stubbornness when I tried to help at the park. He wanted to do it all on his own.
Marie on the other hand seems to be very clingy to me. She screamed, and I mean blood curdling, when I turned her over to the Dr today and chased Sam. She didn't calm down until she had my full attention again and so the appointment was a little exciting. I'm finding she does that fairly frequently when I've been gone for a bit or if she just decides she wants me to hold her. She's still the cutest girl on the planet but boy does she get upset sometimes if she doesn't get her mommy.

One Enchanted Evening

It's so much fun to have Arnold around. We always miss him when he's not here. For his 30th birthday and 1 year with Clifford Chance celebration we wanted to go to Paris and be there for a week since he served his mission there. My health and a few other things changed our minds at the last minute and we decided to stay here instead. I have to admit I was a little disappointed since I've wanted to see his mission for a long time. I mean who wouldn't want to go to Paris? All disappointment passed with the close of last Tuesday (the 7th) Now I don't have any pictures from that day which is kind of sad but I hope I never forget it. These pictures are of another day, almost as good but definitely a bit colder since no one needed a jacket Tuesday.

This is a picture of the beautiful sunsets we get here. They are almost always full of color and bright with only a few exceptions.
This is my new toy that allows me to get around all by myself easily and makes for fun family bike rides. I highly recommend it to any one with two small children!
This, of course, is the most amazing man in the world!!! and me. He makes me the happiest I've ever been and takes such good care of me that I'll always be in his debt. When I think of the words unconditional love, he is the first thing I think of. He loves me no matter what with all my crazy health problems and my over abundance of flaws. I'm still not sure why and I'll never understand how I ended up with the best man in the world at my side, but I'm so grateful for him and all he does for me. Happy 30th Birthday!!!

Sorry about that, I guess I got off track from the story there... So to finish, Tuesday was one of those days that felt like this picture. It was like riding off into a perfect sunset. We had a great morning and afternoon taking care of some things and just hanging around. Later in the afternoon we decided to go on a bike ride with the new toy pictured above. So for the first time we hooked it up to Arnold's bike and headed out into the beautiful afternoon. Nothing amazing happened, although Arnold and I did get a bit of a workout. It was just a perfectly beautiful, sunny afternoon and it was just the 4 of us and no one else. We went out on the path till we reached a big round swing. Arnold and Sam beat Marie and I to it but we got there eventually and after a few minutes of all of us on the swing Sam decided it was time to play a bit. He got off and ran around but actually stayed near us for a while. Arnold eventually got off and pushed Marie and I and then he played with Sam a bit and gave Sam some water from his bottle on the bike. They then sat on the bench for a bit and looked so cute together. Arnold gave us another push or two and then Sam decided to run off through the field. It was really cute watching him run off. He has this funny way of bouncing when he runs that's just so fun to watch. He thought it was the best and you could see the delight in his eyes. We walked after him and just let him run about. It was perfect. Eventually we headed back and had a great end to our perfect little day. I know there will be many, many more to come with such a wonderful husband and children, but I hope I can cherish each one and never forget the perfect little moments in my life.

Happy Spring!

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy spring! I looked out the window the other day and found this...No one told me it was officially spring yet and overnight everything bloomed! It's so pretty but makes me feel like I walked into the wrong outside after the winter. I keep feeling like I'm in the wrong place but I love it!

Our happy little girl... Smiles and Giggles :)

Oops! So I got the title started and didn't realize that it got posted probably by Sam before I put anything in it so now I'm finishing it. Here are the promised videos from before.

This first video is Marie waking up in the morning. She's the cutest thing even though in the video she is a little distracted by the camera and keeps trying to sit up. She is so full of smiles just like Sam and I couldn't wish for anything better than my family to wake up to in the morning :)



Marie LOVES bath time and has so much fun in the tub. My favorite part, although I love watching her splash and play, is getting her ready for the bath. She is so ticklish that she giggles the whole time I'm getting her clothes off and if I tickle her neck just a little bit I get a whole hearted laugh. It's the best way to finish off the day with both babies playing happily in the tub. Of course it's easier the few nights Arnold is around to help but it's tons of fun with a bit of chaos when he's not. Marie is always distracted by the camera no matter what I've tried but this is about as close as I've gotten to getting her to laugh with it on. Just a small glimpse of what you are missing.

Marie is 3 months...

Ok, so 3 months and a few days old since she was born on the 15th. Either way I decided to dedicate a whole post to her since it's hard to do that when I always have so many insanely cute pictures of both of them.
I love these little cougar fan pictures because she looks like she's laughing in both! She was full of smiles that day but would not perform for the camera so these are the only two I got where she actually smiled almost.
This next one is just cute because she had been holding up her head for forever and then just laid down and stared. She was laying there so peacefully that I had to get a picture of it. I don't think either of my kids will hold still much but she is a bit more peaceful than Sam and I cherish the few moments when there is quiet and peace here before I have 2 tornadoes running around tearing everything apart with complete joy written across their faces at their new discoveries.
Sleeping babies! Yay! What more can I say...
If this doesn't show a bit of personality then I'm not sure what does. I love the little smiles she makes all the time. They lift my spirit when the day has been way too long.
So I wanted to post some cute videos but those aren't working for some reason so I'll have to do it later...Sorry.

Arnold's official now!

Ok, so I know it's been a while since it actually happened but it's still exciting! Our friends Sam and Erin came up to see us and we got to hang out the night before for a bit. It was so good to see them and chat.
Above is Erin holding Marie and below is Sam.
This is our little family just after the swearing in...YAY for Arnold!!!!
And since our Sam was asleep the night before we got some pictures of the two Sams together. This is just one.

And finally the most important part of the day. This is the actual swearing in if you feel like you want to watch. The rest of the hour was taken up by speeches and the reading off of 700 and something names but I didn't get all of that. It's crazy to think how many attorneys were set loose on the unknowing public that day.

Oh, and Arnold can be seen just above the sign in the middle leftish. Sorry it's so wiggly. I guess that's what happens when you are holding a baby and trying to keep it happy while filming.

Hugs and kisses for Marie

Sam loves and adores his little sister! It's so much fun until he tries to do something with her when I'm across the room. When there is someone there to help it's really cute. :) Here are some pictures of him in action with a little help from Daddy. What else are you suppose to do when you are in a hotel room and it's below freezing outside. Brrrr....
Marie has gotten lots and lots of kisses from the boys in her life. I love her face in these pictures! :) Sam is great too. It's almost as if he's saying, "Are you watching me?"
Just more cuteness. :)