Easter Fun!

Happy Easter!

An Egg-citing time was had by my little bunnies when we took them to Eckert's Farm for Easter festivities. Brody hunted for eggs, rode a rocket ship, decorated a cookie, played with the farm animals and went for a swing on the carnival ride. I was shocked that both kids looked at the camera and smiled! Lucky shot!

Springtime Fun

Brody begs to go outside everyday, but he is a social little dude and really prefers if he has someone to play with. Brody's buds from across the street came to play last week. They had a great time and played so well together! Cali also enjoyed swinging in her swing.

School? Go See Friends?

Brody loves going to school. Dad and I have spent the last week scrambling to figure out what Brody will do for summer. I guess I didn't realize that we were going to go 3 months without school or "friends" as Brody would say. Soooo...we enrolled Brody in a couple Summer Camps. Brody will be going to a Dinosaur Summer Camp, which was a wonderful Birthday treat from his Papa & Neena. He is also going to attend 2 mornings a week at the Goddard's Amazing Animals Summer Camp! Fun! The pictures above are from Brody's school's playground.

11 Shots...20 Minutes.....and 4 Batteries later...

they both looked at the camera (at the same time). :)

FINALLY...A Healthy Household

These pictures were taken last month during our 6+ weeks of illnesses. Even sad and sick, my baby boy is beautiful! We are still feeling the pain of his multiple illnesses. Brody was served ANYTHING we could get him to eat while he was sick. He lost 4 pounds and we were thankful for him to eat even cookies or crackers. However, the aftermath of "snacking" is still lingering and getting "meal time" back has been challenging. This week we have seen a surge in Brody's appetite! He's making up for lost time.

Miss Dimples

Hi- meet Miss Dimples. See my tooth?

Our Little Leprechans!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We celebrated with some yummy cornbeef and much to our surprise...Brody actually ate some! Yippee.

Gremlin?

Lately our little girl sounds more like a little monster. Cali has been growling and it is SOOOO funny. She growled at Brody and he acted sort of scared and shocked. Then Brody exclaimed....Sissy's a MONSTER! Too funny...definitely a moment I wish I had on video.

What a Punk!

We have been battling a rough go around with cold viruses, sinus/ear infections, pink eye, etc. So, last night we decided to treat Brody to a night out. It was a gorgeous 83 degrees and we took the kiddos to Northside Dairy. Brody quickly made friends with the two ladies seated next to us. These sweet ladies just giggled as Brody quickly charmed and flirted with them. Boy, what a little ladies man. Did I mention these ladies had ice cream? ha. THEN my (typically polite) little man ripped the nose ring right out of this young lady's nose. I about died! I was shocked!! She was quite good spirited about it and laughed. Unbelievable. I just couldn't get over it and told Rich....this is definitely good material for the journal/blog. LORD!

My Valentine's

Happy 6 Months Baby Girl! February 9, 2011

I'm a BIG kid now!

Big Girl Goings On....

6 month appt.

19.4 Pounds

27" Tall (Brody was the same weight, but 2 inches taller at this age)

Started drinking with her straw sippy cup on Feb. 2/23/2011

Got her first tooth Feb. 25, 2011 (bottom middle) It might be two teeth or just one Big one. :P

Again Again Again PLEASE!

Brody had the time of his life going to see Monster Jam. If you ask Brody what his favorite part was, he'll tell you the TRAIN ride. This kid is now obsessed with trains. Not a day goes by that he doesn't ask to go to the train station. Then comes Neena & Papa to the rescue. They came and took Brody on a ALL day train ride on the Metro. They started in Fairview Heights and went all over St. Louis. They stopped at the Airport (another BIG favorite), went to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner, and then back again. NOW...everyday Brody begs me for Neena and Papa to come get him in Neena's car. He even told me that he wanted a coat, a hat, and go to the store to get a Neena & Papa. Cracked me up.

A big thank you to Papa B & Neena for a much loved Christmas present! And another thank you to Uncle Chris & Papa Beep Beep for joining in on the boy's night out! We should definitely make this a Breitweiser/Sample tradition!

More Christmas Pictures

Christmas Sickies

The only healthy one of the bunch
(She got sick shortly after)

Pictures from Christmas

Historic Times

Our area was predicted to have a historic winter storm, but the weather folks were wrong. We received a few inches of sleet and a little snow, not nearly the 12 - 16 inches talked about.

Although....Today was quite historic for the Sample Household. WOW!

First, our baby boy slept in his big boy bed for the first time! I went to put Brody in his crib for a nap and he cried out that he wanted to sleep in his train bed. I tucked him in and figured I'd be right back upstairs pleading with him to sleep. Two and half hours later....not a peep. I was shocked! I went to get him up and it appeared that he had not moved. AMAZING. I didn't know whether to cry or celebrate. We'll see how tomorrow goes. I won't hold my breath...hehe.

Secondly, little Caroline held her own teething biscuit and chewed away! It just seems like she is too little to be scooting around in her walker and feeding herself! Like I said before....seems like I just 'had' her....crazy!

Oh Miss Cali!

Our baby girl is growing up so fast. It is hard to believe that soon she will be 6 months old. I swear I just had her yesterday. Wow, time flies. Cali is doing so well. She is no longer so stiff and is meeting (and exceeding) her milestones. Cali's latest news....we had a BIG week.

1/10/11 Started sitting up unassisted (very impressive and early...GO Cali Bug)

1/19/11 Rolled over for the second time front to back and back to front

1/21/11 Blew first SUPER CUTE raspberries

1/24/11 All of the sudden started successfully reaching and grabbing toys and getting them to her mouth on a consistent basis!

So proud of my little girl! hehe.

What's Been Going On?

You've Been Told!

You've been "told" when...........

You (Daddy) burps and Brody exclaims EXCUSE YOU, Daddy!

You (Mama & Daddy) get seriously yelled at (scolded) because Brody wants to color a snowman NOW!!!!!!

You (Mama) sets sissy's bumbo seat down and it falls. Brody then screams, "NO, Mommy, we don't throw. TIME OUT 2 MINUTES!"

You (Mama) drop a spoon on the floor and Brody yells, "No, Mama. You make messy. Why you make MESSY?!!!!! CLEAM (clean) UP!!"

Note Worthy News for the New Year

1. Brody will eat anything if covered in Parmesan cheese

2. Cali weighs 16.5 lbs and is 26 inches long at 4 months

3. Brody frequently opens the fridge and announces "I'm thinking _______ (fill in the blank...usually the answer is ICE CREAM or Sip It..otherwise know as Chocolate syrup).

4. Brody weighs 37.5 lbs and is 39.5 inches tall at 30 months

5. Cali's tongue is reminiscent of Gene Simmons

6. Cali graduated to 12 month pjs as of 1/4/11 at a little less than 5 months old

7. Brody gives himself time outs and attempts to put mommy in time out

8. Brody's favorite game is hide and seek (and he's lousy at it; considering he can't stop laughing long enough to hide)

9. Cali's first words are going to be "come on, Mom," because that is Brody's favorite phrase...ugh!

10. Cali had her first "cold" over the holidays and is still congested...poor baby!