Happy First Birthday to Our Special Baby Boy!

Sam turned 1 on February 17. I know I say it every time I post, but I just can't believe that this year has FLOWN by so fast! It seems as though I've blinked and he's already a year old! It makes me so sad, but I've truly enjoyed watching him grow and develop over the year. He is SO sweet and fun, and I love his deep belly laughs! He has 7 teeth and can eat anything. In fact, he loves to eat all the time! He is so busy these days "running" everywhere! He babbles a lot, but the only words we can make out are "mama, dada, tata (thank you), ba (ball)". He loves our dog Oakley and he stands at the back door and "woofs" at him. It is so cute!! He has a favorite animal book, and his favorite thing to pick out is the monkey...he knows exactly what page it's on! He is already loving technology--the iphone, ipad, leap pad, and any other thing that has buttons! He learned to slide my phone on and delete apps, so I ended up having to put a lock on it! It's bad when your 1 year old is smarter on the phone than you are!! He loves to dance when he hears music...it's so funny to watch him do it! 

We went to see Dr. Stone for his 1 year check up today. He weighs 20-6 and is 29 3/4 in tall! 

We had Sam's birthday party on Sunday 2/17/13 at our house. It was a very small party with family and close friends. Since he was getting over ear infections and fever, I wasn't quite sure how he was going to feel, but he ended up doing pretty well. He hated wearing his birthday hat, and he cried so hard when I tried to put it on his head. He liked the cake, though!! Our friends that joined us were the Kahlstorfs, the Beavers, the Colemans, and the Shafers. Mimi even got to come, too!

Precious birthday cake that matched the invitations.

Sam's "smash" cake!

Our sweet family...so blessed!

Mommy and my precious birthday boy!

And here goes the wailing!!! Totally didn't like the hat!

Family picture!

"Happy birthday to you..."

Taste testing the smash cake...Sister sure liked it!

There is that precious smile...loving the icing of the cake!

Oh no!!! Here comes the hat again...tear!

Daddy and Sambo!

Look at that precious face!!

I could eat him up!!

Happy boy!

Opening gifts!

Thanks to Mrs. Rina, Averi, and Rhys for the Mickey Mouse plate set!

Chewing on the bag is SO MUCH FUN!

Beautiful Big Sister!

Giggling with Daddy!

I hate to see my baby sick!

Poor Sam...we have been battling ear infections off and on since November. He had 1 in November, 1 in December, 1 in January with 3 different antibiotics, and he awoke with high fever and green nasal drainage. We took him to the doctor and he had yet another ear infection! Poor baby--he hasn't felt good at all! And of course, it's just 2 days before his birthday!! We are holding out until April to get ear tubes! Come on, April!

Bless my sweet baby...he was so sleepy when I tried to wake him up this morning. We had some sweet snuggle time, though!

Bless him. You can just see the "sick" in his eyes! But he still manages to eat!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to our 2 favorite Valentines!! Kendall got a new Princess Sofia Dress and Sam got a big stuffed monkey and balloons. Mimi and Papa sent them some money and a card, too!

Mommy and Daddy can still have F-U-N!

Yes, Mommy and Daddy can still have fun (when actually get the opportunity)! For Catherine's birthday in December, Brannon got one of the huge Celebrity Coaches Bus and it chartered us to West Point to eat at Anthony's. It was a lot of fun, despite my "bus sickness" on the way there! It was great to finally get to spend some QT with our besties! Here is a crazy picture from the night! 

Chet and I went to Birmingham with Scott and Billy to the Ole Miss bowl game. We actually got to go over and spend the night before the game. We are thankful that Mimi was here to keep the kids. It was fun to get away for a night and to actually see the Ole Miss Rebels pull out a W-I-N! Hotty Toddy!

Welcome to the world, Baby Andrew!

Our newest family member made his entrance into the world on January 16! Baby Andrew James Stovall is here!! He is so precious! I actually got to go visit the weekend after he was born. I didn't get to stay very long, but I sure did enjoy getting to hold and love on  him! Here are a few pics of our sweet baby boy cousin!

Sam is 11 Months Old!

This handsome boy is 11 months old! He is the busiest little boy, but he is so much fun! He's usually pretty happy most all the time! He has 5 teeth now and babbles all the time. He has learned to "clap for Sam" and he waves "bye-bye". He is taking a few steps, but still prefers to mostly crawl! He loves to EAT, and he would eat all day if I would keep the food coming! He still doesn't like to drink or hold a sippy cup, but we are working on it! I love this precious boy so much!

January Fun!

January has been a fun month! We've been very creative in finding things to play and do while we are stuck inside while it's cold. Daddy came up with rigging a diaper box as a "sled" so he could pull the kids around the house. They both absolutely loved it, especially Sam. Daddy would pull him around the house a few times and he almost fell asleep several times! It's been the most entertaining box (and the cheapest toy we have!)!!

Sam taking a spin in the "homemade sled"!

He was just about asleep--very relaxed!

Sam loves taking a bath! He loves to stand up and bang the toys on the side of the bathtub. He also enjoys dumping water outside of the tub--it frustrates me so bad when he does it, but he is just so cute that it's hard to get on to him!! 

More fun play time in the box!

One Saturday morning, we woke up to find Kendall had crawled in bed with Sam to play and started sucking one of his paci's. They thought it was SO funny! She never really liked sucking a pacifier as a baby, but I guess she decided she would see what all the fuss was about since Sam LOVES his paci! 

Kendall had "Cowgirl Day" at school, so we borrowed some things from our friend Ivey Kate. She looked so cute with her hair in braids and her hat on! She loved the boots, too!

Sam has gotten super busy over the last few weeks. One of his favorite things to do is climb in the dishwasher and "help"! Look at that sweet face! 

We finally got a few snow flurries this month! It wasn't enough to play, but we were super excited to at least see some snow on the bushes!

Sam has become the busiest little bee in his class! He loves to crawl under the rocking chair and then he gets stuck and can't get out! This is where I found him when I went to pick him up!

We visited Mrs. Brandi's house one day and Sam loved Carsyn's Minnie Mouse Tricycle. He looks good in pink! :)

 Can we say OBSESSED with pacifiers?? 

We went to eat at D'Casa before heading to Clarksdale one weekend, and Sam got to ride the horse outside the restaurant. 

Kendall loves dressing up in pretty "Princess" dresses, so she found a dress of Lindsey's and some of Mimi's shiny shoes and she modeled for us!

Finally, a little sunshine to enjoy for a nice day at the park!

Brother loves rocking on sister's butterfly rocker!

My 2 sweet babies loving each other! The greatest blessings of our lives!