Happy 1st Birthday Sammy!

Its hard to believe that a year has gone by. I know every parent says it, but I'm going to say it anyway- They grow up so fast. Sam is an amazing little boy. He is happier than any other kid I know and he learns things so quickly. We are totally and completely in love with him!

On Saturday afternoon we held a party for Samuel. The theme was "Green Eggs and Ham, Sam-I-Am."

Sam slept through the first hour of his own party, but it was fun to see his reaction when we brought him downstairs to a bunch of his favorite people. Not to mention, a ton of his favorite foods as well :)

Sam especially loved opening gifts. He would open one and want to play with it, so we had to keep reminding him that there were more to discover. Just when we thought he couldn't be any happier, we brought out the cake. We have never seen him shovel food into his mouth that fast before.

NICU Reunion

Saturday morning we headed into Everett to attend the annual "March of Dimes" walk along with Providence's NICU Reunion in honor of all the babies born into intensive care within the last year. We were so excited to see our Doctor and a few of the nurses that cared for Sam after he was born.

Us with Dr. Neufeild.Sam and Cassandra.Although I wasn't prepared for the emotional aspect of visiting with the people who worked Sam's case, it was so rewarding. Looking around at some of the other babies we realize how lucky we are to have been able to walk out of that hospital with a perfectly healthy baby.

And for some reason that healthy boy is extremely afraid of giant Twinkies. No matter where we were in the park that day, Sam kept an eye on it to make sure it didn't do anything unannounced. For the record: He is also afraid of the Red Robin bird.

Boy meets Chick

Today Sam and I assisted our friend Shannon with the purchase of her 4 new baby chickens. Sam was very entertained with the tiny birds and I was beyond thrilled when Shannon asked me to name them. (I LOVE naming things.)

Here we are with "Teriyaki" and Turk.Here, Sam is meeting "Dijon." Sam liked "Barbecue" the best......and decided that she deserved a hug. (Not pictured is "Alfredo" the white chicken.)

While Shannon and I put together a box for the chicks, I let Sam play in the dirt. It wasn't long before he decided to have a taste. Luckily, he didn't like it at all.

Skagit Valley

Matt agreed to a drive up to the tulip fields on Wednesday and it was a gorgeous day to be out. We ended up at Rosengaard Farm which was a way better experience than the last few years where we spent our time at the "free" fields.

today

I would love to curl up with a good bookwhile Mr. Sam sleeps

but there are so many things to do before I start working again this week. Oops, and blogging is not one of them.

that is SO high school.

I got to meet up with two good high school friends this last weekend and I had a blast catching up. Nathan and I spent tons of time together in and out of school and had a lot to talk and reminisce about. I have the opportunity to shoot he and his fiance at their wedding this October, and I couldn't be more excited. Then I met up with Jenna and her adorable family on Saturday. We took pictures at UW followed by a fun dinner at the Spaghetti Factory on the waterfront. It was a good weekend for me :)

Easter 2010

For some reason this year, Easter totally snuck up on us. We had no plans or traditions in place for Sunday and I feel a little guilty that I didn't even get Sam an Easter basket. But, he wouldn't remember it anyway so I guess it can wait until next year.

We ended up having dinner with Matt's family where we enjoyed the food as always. Sam ate whet ever we gave him and was a very happy boy once his tummy was full.

Due to his lack of table manners and food etiquette, after dinner Sam required a bath and fresh pajamas. He really enjoyed having Grandpa and Aunt Shauna to entertain while he played in the water.

A horse of course

A few weeks ago Sam accompanied me to the barn for a photo shoot. This would be his first time ever seeing a horse and he was very hesitant about it to say the least.

Uncle Tyler helped with Sam while I played around with Shannon and her pony, Decker.

When it was time to leave we fed the horses treats and played around in the barn. At this point Sam was a little less nervous, but still squeezed the person who was holding him. Its so much fun to see him experience things for his first time. I cant wait for him to be able to TELL me what he thinks about stuff like this!