A few cute pictures

Jake and Sam overlooking the setup for the Dogwood Festival in Piedmont Park.

Picture in the sunshine of the house with a pretty flowering cherry tree.

Grandma Weezie and Sam. Jake claimed that Grandma was visiting from Louisiana "weezie-ana"

Sam is now able to pull himself up and nearly cruise with some assistance. Jake is so funny and articulate now. He still likes to run around and play. He has a group of boys on our street that he runs around with. We call them the "scooter gang" for obvious reasons. Jake is the youngest, but the older boys (oldest is 10) are so good with him, very kind and patient. I keep asking their dad how he helped them become so kind. He just shrugs and admits that he has always been that way. We're getting more and more excited to move as daily pictures come from our contractor with updates and progression on the house. We will miss aspects of our time in Atlanta...our neighbors, our church, friends from Scott's work.

Happy 10 months Sam!

Sam is definitely crawling and cruising now that he is 10 months old. He is obviously able to pull himself to standing.

He's eating most foods now including all table foods. His favorites are avocado, bread, and pears.

He is so expressive! He claps and raises his hands when we say hooray. He babbles mama and baba.

Here is Jake with his buddy from down the street, Tyler. They are the oldest and youngest members of the "scooter gang" on our street.

Happy 1o months, Sam!

Happy 9 months Sam!!

Hard to believe he is already 9 months old.  This smile was prompted by the sock-ball game with Mandy.  Not sure how it started but orginally I think Mandy and Jake would hit each other with pairs of socks when doing laundry.  A love of being pelted with socks is something both the boys seem to have in common.  We have the 9 month well baby check coming up soon but I can't remember if it involves shots.

Sam is Crawling

Look out world (especially cats) Sam is officially mobile.  Jake now has to officially lock up his favorite toys.

Homeowners Again

We officially closed on our house today after a seemingly long process.  We had a great realtor who took care of a lot of the work and made everything much easier despite the distance.  To celebrate we had a picnic on the porch despite the cold Atlanta weather and Mandy and I had a glass of champagne.  We are both really excited to move out there in a few months and hopefuly have plenty of family and friends come and visit. 

My artistic side

Mandy and I are fast approaching our 10 year anniversary.  I can't believe how fast the time has gone.  This year because of the new house and all the things we need to buy to go along with it we agreed to do something low key near the house as well as one weekend trip in April to check out the new place.  Heather was in town ad watched the boys while we went out Saturday night.  Right next to a great Italian restuarant a few blocks from our house and right next door is a place called "wired and fired".  I pass the place on my runs around the neighborhood and thought it might be a cool date night at some point.  Basically you sit down and paint pottery and bring your favorite beverages for consumption while doing it.  A few days later you can pick up whatever you made.  Long story short we both had a pretty good time painting a family sign to go in the new house and a cereal bowl for Jake over a few hours and bottle of wine.  His favorite helicopter is a chinook so I put one at the bottom of his bowl.  Maybe he will even eat his way through brussell sprouts to get to it?

On our next trip I have to make a bowl for Sam but at this point I'm not sure what his favorite truck/car/plane/train/helicopter is going to be so send me any suggestions.  Keep in mind I am no Meg or Kate and pretty much maxed out my talent with the bowl.

Happy 8 Months, Sam!

Time continues to pass by quickly...Sam is 8 months old already. I was sick last weekend and through this week and, as a result, everything seems to be behind, including this post. But, here we have some good pics of Jake and Sam together in time for his 8 month birthday. He has his single tooth, he is continuing to say "mum mum" and now has added ba ba ba. He is sleeping really well and the two boys are now able to share a room without too much issue waking each other up. He's sitting and just pushing up on to all fours and sort of shifts back and forth as if he's trying to maybe think about crawling. He's eating all sorts of fruits, veggies, and ground up meats. Bananas and avacados seem to be his faves.