Thanksgiving Day!

In the pictures above: Sammy and his great grandpa Allen (Sammy's middle name) and below that is a picture of him and his great grandma Barbra (Sam was named after her father). These are Trav's grandparents, but lucky me, by marriage they are my grandparents too. Also, in the last picture is Trav's first cousin, Amanda (holding her niece). Trav's cousin's girlfriend is in the middle and I am of course on the right, holding Sammy. Jadon is not pictured, but is Amanda's new son. He was also in the room, but sleeping in his car seat. Anyways, that was just a glimpse of our Thanksgiving day. We went over to my mom's house at noon for a little Thanksgiving lunch and then headed over to Rocklin for Thanksgiving at his Uncle Jim and Aunt Julie's house. There were about 20 people there. Sammy spent a lot of quality time with his great grandparents. They have been here for a couple weeks and then they are heading back to Oregon. It will be their 50th Wedding Anniversary this January! What a busy but wonderful Thanksgiving day!

The night of Thanksgiving, Sammy woke up a lot. I had planned to get up at four and go to Walmart to get Trav's present, but since I was already up at 3, I figured, why not get some house cleaning done and then head over there. I thought by arriving 45 minutes early that certainly there would be hardly anyone there. But silly me, it is Walmart and "Black Tuesday" as well. There were people camped out and a line that wrapped around to the back. I brought a book with me and the wait was not so bad. I could not believe the chaos that ensued once inside. And now, upon reflection, I think I can safely say that we have lost the true meaning of Christmas. It was every man for himself in there. I grabbed Trav's presents and got the heck out of there. That was enough shopping for me.

I have asked a couple people and no one seems to be certain of why they call it "Black Friday." Can anyone tell me why?

Well, today Trav is doing a paramedic shift. He has a couple job interviews soon with hospitals, so please keep him in your prayers.

In other news, I am so excited because my cousin Wendy and family are driving up this weekend from AZ, to...move back here!!! They moved to AZ over a year ago and have been trying to get back ever since (Home is Where the Heart is, after all). God has provided Wendy with a job here. Travis and I are just so excited! And Sammy finally gets to meet his Auntie Wendy and Uncle Daryl!!

We got the Christmas stuff down from he attic and hopefully will be setting up Christmas in here soon!

Monterey Baby

We took Sam to Monterey for a couple days. It was kinda a mini-honeymoon since we did not get to go on one yet and won't be able to for a couple/few years because Travis will be busy going through school and working part-time. I'm not ready to leave Sam with anyone else for an extended period, so we took him with us. I'm not going to lie to you, it was hard because he's teething and crying all the time. Regardless, he's going to be crying if we're home or in a beautiful place like Monterey so we might as well be in a nice location. This was also his very first time at the beach! We also went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Carmel-by-the-Sea. It was just nice to getaway for a bit.

Sammy is Eating Solids!!

Sam had his 4 month checkup on the 5th and his stats are: weighs 16 lbs. 15 oz. (in the 85th percentile), 2' 2'' long (93rd percentile), and his head...17.52 inches (95th percentile!!). Yes, our boy is going to be a big guy, it appears. But doctor said he is looking great! We also started him on solids that same day and Sam is still partial to his bottle. He wasn't sure what to think about the rice. Definitely made for some funny pictures!

Sam's First Halloween

On Halloween we went over to my Aunt Jeani's house. Travis had to work but we definitely still had fun (but missed him dearly). Sammy just loves his Great Aunt Jeani and was telling her all about his first trick-or-treating experience (in baby language of course). He talks up a storm! He had a bee costume but the weather really wasn't cold enough for him to wear such a warm outfit. But I did put it on him for pictures. We went trick-or-treating with my aunt, cousin, his girlfriend and their kids. I was a good girl and only had a few pieces of candy, but if they were passing out mozzarella sticks or pizza, then I'd be in trouble -- hehe. ; ) The picture of him as an angry bee was actually taken about a month ago. Is it absolutely horrible that I think it's adorable when he gets angry/upset because his mouth forms a pout and his brows furrow. I think he gets the pouty lip from me -- I had to perfect that manipulation being the youngest of four. ; )