Two smiling children sitting on Santa's lap? Yeah, it happened! Sam is so excited for Christmas this year. He can't wait for Santa to visit. Whenever he is asked what he would like for Christmas, his reply is always the same: "The biggest dinosaur ever!" After much searching, Santa will be able to acquiesce this request (thank you Target sale)!

Sam has been playing T-ball, and L O V E S it. Every Saturday morning we drag ourselves out of bed way too early so that we can take Sam to his T-ball practice, and then to his game. We usually have to wake up Princess Ruby from her peaceful slumber in order to make it to baseball on time, and I have a feeling that this is the beginning of a long road ahead of taking little sister along to various sporting events of Sam's.

Ruby is such a doll! I can't believe how blessed we are with such a sweet tempered baby! She is so sweet and happy ALL of the time. She wakes up only once at night to eat, and she goes right to sleep afterwards. She has never cried at night, and she rarely cries during the day. We are so grateful for this beautiful little baby! She just had her two month check-up, and she is about in the 80th percentile across the board. She is ~23 inches long and 11.4 lbs. It is so fun to see her smile and start to laugh.

Sam adores his little sister. He asks to hold her all the time, and tries to be so gentle with her. He kisses her forehead about a thousand times a day! We are so thankful for our two beautiful children.

Baby Blessing

Sweet little Ruby was blessed today in church, and some of the Rasmussen clan came into town to be there for it.

We have been driving in the car a lot lately on various outings with the Rasmussen's, and it has made for some interesting adventures with Ruby and Sam. Here are some funny things I want to remember:

(Ruby bursts out crying)

Me: Sam, why is Ruby crying?

Sam: Um...because I poked her eyeball.

(Another bout of crying from Ruby)

Sam: Mommy, Ruby is feeling sad.

Me: (Looking back to see Sam's hand in her carseat) Sam, are you rubbing her head?

Sam: (Smiling sweetly) I'm plugging her.

Sam tries really hard to be a sweet brother, and he cracks me up with his 3-year old logic.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lots of Pictures!

Ruby Jean Rasmussen

(pictures by Beth Wild Photography)

Ruby is two weeks and and two days old today. She is such a sweet baby, and has been a wonderful addition to our family. Sam adores his little sister, and gives her kisses every chance he can. We were worried about how he would react to a new baby, but he has been perfect. He always asks to hold her, and constantly declares his love for his little sister.

We have received lots of help from our Mom and Mother-in-law, as well as friends and neighbors, and we have really appreciated it. Life is starting to settle down, and we are trying to get back to a routine. We are happily enjoying every moment of this newborn phase.

Beautiful Ruby

Our darling daughter, Ruby, was born at 4:56am October 11th. Everything went well, and we are so blessed to have her in our family. Aaron helped with the delivery and it was a really neat experience for him to do that. Our bundle of joy was 7 lbs and 12 oz, and 20.5 inches long. She has the prettiest strawberry blond hair. Sam is so excited to be a big brother, and he is so sweet and gentle with her. We love our children!

Birthday Extravaganza

Happy Birthday to our little Man! Sam turned 3 years old yesterday.

We had a big party with all of our friends, and it was a blast.

Here is Sam blowing out candles:

Peanut butter/chocolate cupcakes

Okay, this is one of my favorite pictures of Sam. Check out his stance as he prepares to hit the baseball pinata...he is serious about baseball!

Opening presents

Sam has always been great at smiling on command when we take pictures of him, but last night, he discovered that it was way more fun to make a silly face instead of smiling. So try as we might, most of the pictures were like this:

And this

Aaron snapped one of me and the birthday boy, and I begged Sam to smile nicely instead of making a silly face. This is the best one we were able to get. Imagine what the others looked like!

We love our Sam. He is such a fun and happy boy, and we are lucky to be his parents.

We're still here

It has been awhile since we have put up any pictures, but we are still here. We have been without a camera for a few months, so it has been tricky trying to document the life of our cute little guy.

But, we are all doing great. Sam is turning three in a little over a week, and he has been so excited for months. Seriously. He knows his birthday is in September, so for months he has been asking if it is September yet. He would get so frustrated at how long each month seemed to last, so he decided to put them each on time-out if they were taking too long. At last his long awaited birthday is on the horizon, and it is a BIG deal to our Sam Man. :)

Our newest addition will be making her debut in about a month and a half, and we are so excited! We can't wait to meet her!

Aaron is doing great. He turned the big 3-0 a couple of weeks ago and is adjusting nicely to what he feels is "old age." :)

Hopefully we will have a camera by Sam's big day to post some pictures, so stay tuned!

Happy 4th!

Happy Fourth of July!

Sam enjoyed sparklers for the first time last night, and he loved every second of it.

We are all doing great. Sam is as active as ever, Aaron is really enjoying his job, and I am getting more pregnant by the minute. We've been enjoying the summer so much, and a lot of that has to do with our new outdoor living space. We have been hard at work making our back patio a nice place to relax in the evenings, and it has been a success. Aaron got a grill for Father's Day, and so we love to grill dinner and eat it outside together. The best part is the after-dinner entertainment. We have a really pretty small lake/large pond right behind our home, and a family of baby ducks makes a regular appearance after dinner. We come prepared with bread slices, and Sam loves to feed those baby ducks every night.

Living on the coast here in Florida has been such a fun cultural experience for us. Aaron has learned some new hobbies, and his favorite new thing to do is go spear fishing. He is getting really good at fishing, and he especially likes spear fishing. Essentially, he snorkels out in the ocean near some reefs, and throws a spear at a fish while he swims. It has been fun to see him enjoy new hobbies, and it has been delicious to taste the fresh fish he brings home!

Hope you enjoyed your 4th of July!

Potty Training? Check.

I have heard many mothers tell horror stories about their potty training experiences with their children, so I have been dreading potty training Sam. Many years ago, I was a nanny to a brood of young boys. I was in charge of potty training the two-year-old boy, and after reading a book about it, he was potty trained in 3 hours. Having this experience, I knew that expecting the same results out of my own two-year-old would be too good to be true. So, my mantra has been to wait until Sam is ready. I knew that he would let me know when he was ready. Okay, are you ready to hear Sam's miraculous story?

3 days ago, Sam woke up from his nap, and the first words out of his mouth were, "Mommy, I want to wear big boy underwear." And ladies and gentlemen, that was that. There really wasn't any training involved, it was a decision he made, and he hasn't looked back since. I immediately said, "Okay Sam, lets go put on your big boy underwear." He goes in the toilet every time. He had one accident the first day, and that was all it took. He is even dry overnight and at nap time. I didn't think it was possible, but Sam was easier and quicker to potty train than the boy I nannied! He literally woke up one day and decided he was a big boy. We are so proud of him!

We got this trampoline for Sam, and we are so glad we did! It has mesh walls around it, so that when he does his crazy jumps he won't go crashing over the edge. It is an excellent way for him to burn some energy before bedtime! (If jumping on a trampoline isn't a true test of potty training, I don't know what is!)

I am 5 months preggo and am finally feeling great. I think I am officially over the morning sickness now. Its been a long time coming! I haven't really had any serious cravings this pregnancy until this week. P E A C H E S. YUM! I could eat them all day long, and in fact, I have been! :) Fresh peaches, peach cobbler, oh my word, they are heavenly. I have actually hated peaches my entire life, until this week, that is.

Well, that is us. Aaron and I have been so proud of Sam's bathroom success, and Aaron and Sam have been good sports about having peaches at every meal!

Happy Memorial Day!

We're seeing PINK!

Baby #2 is a GIRL!!!

We are so excited! When the ultrasound lady told us, we were completely shocked. I kept asking her to check again, and finally she said, "Look, I've checked 9 times. It is absolutely a girl."

We are so excited, but of course a bit nervous because we are venturing into unknown territory. Our whole world is all about trucks, trains, baseball, pirates, etc. Sam is a boy's boy, and so to now think about pink, and dolls, and dresses is totally foreign to us...but I'm looking forward to learning my way around the little girl section at target!

We just got back from an amazing vacation with the Rasmussen clan (minus Jen, Kurtis, and Cannon, who were sorely missed) and had a wonderful time. It was a Disney cruise, so Sam got to see all of his favorite characters while on board, including his unexplainable hero, Captain Hook. Sam had with him at the time, his pirate hook, pirate telescope, and pirate gun (he carried those things EVERYWHERE) so they gave each other hook high fives. It was pretty awesome.

Sam wasn't feeling well the last few days of the trip, and while were at lunch with everybody towards the end of the trip, he threw up all over himself and his lunch. He then looked at me and said, "Mommy, I have a baby in my tummy. I'm sick!" The poor kidddo equates being sick with having a baby in your tummy!

We are home now and settling back in to our normal routine. Thank you Kimball and Shelley for such a wonderful vacation!

Thomas the Train, Disney, and 2nd Trimester

A little while ago, Kimball and Shelley came to visit, and we had a wonderful time. We took Sam to "A day out with Thomas" and we rode an actual, life-size Thomas train. Sam was thrilled :). Below is a picture of Aaron and Sam on the train ride.

We also spent more time at Disney, and Sam was delirious with joy. He NEVER tires of going to Disneyworld. It is almost eerie how well he knows his way around the parks. As we walk around the park, he knows which ride or attraction is up ahead, before we even see it. That child has been to Disney more times than should be allowed (for the parent's sanity) and yet he never wavers in his enthusiasm for good 'ole Mickey Mouse. We forgot our camera so I don't have any pictures to post of our most recent trips, but if you are hankering for some cute Mickey pictures, please refer to the previous post, or any of the countless Disney pictures posted over the last couple of years. :)

(Cute daddy and Sam on Thomas ride)

In other news, I am beginning to enjoy the second trimester. The first trimester was particularly difficult, but things seem to be getting a bit easier each day now. In a couple weeks we will get to find out the baby's gender, and we can't wait! Sam is prepared for either scenario. If it is a boy, he says he will name him "Blue" and if it is a girl, he will name her "pink."

Sometimes Sam will come up to my stomach and tell stories to the baby. He likes to make up stories about knights in shining armor, Captain Hook, etc. He also likes to stack toys on my stomach to share with the baby his favorite toys. I can tell that Sam is going to be an excellent big brother! :)

As cute as it gets...

*Sigh. This picture just melts my heart. We went to Disney with Aaron's family during their visit, and you could not find a child more ecstatic about being at "Disneywordorld" than this cutie-pa-tootie you see pictured above. We waited in lines to meet each of the characters, and each time it was Sam's turn, he would run straight into their arms and give them each the longest hug. Mickey was even privileged to receive a kiss on the cheek!

We had a great time with Kimball, Shelley, Nicole, and Camille. We love to have company visit!

Sam is 2 1/2, and he amazes me with how quickly he learns things. Lately he has been interested in all things space-related: astronauts, rocket ships, etc. He has even learned to identify several planets! Yesterday he was looking at my wedding ring on my finger and said "Daddy gave you that ring? Is it like Saturn's rings?"

Last week Sam had a BIG accomplishment... He learned how to ride a bike! His little legs pedal so fast, he just zooms down the street. The only way to keep up with him is to ride bikes with him, so lately we have all been riding bikes together as a family, and it has been so much fun. That is definitely my favorite part of the day. A couple days ago we thought it would be fun to ride our bikes to the park. It was about a 3 mile round trip ride, and Sam did great! Towards the end he needed a little help from Daddy, but we were sure proud of him!

Knight in Shining Armor

Sam has renamed himself a knight in shining armor. He put this outfit together entirely on his own, and I think its pretty adorable. He has a red bucket for his helmet, a sword, his horse, and cape. All week he wouldn't leave the house without this entire outfit. :) Oh how we love our cutie pie!

Soccer Puppies

Sam finished his first season on his soccer team "Soccer Puppies" this morning. After all of their hard work over the course of the season, those cute kiddos were rewarded with a shiny medal and a cupcake. It was ADORABLE.

Sam loved playing soccer, and we loved watching him play!

Sam is growing up so fast, it is hard to believe how much he has grown and learned in just two years. His favorite thing to do these days is puzzles, and he is getting really good at them (even puzzles meant for much older kids). He also loves to play with the kids in the neighborhood, despite the fact that they are all older. They race up and down our road on bikes and scooters, and it is so fun to see him in action :)

Also, my favorite thing he is saying lately is:

"I am Mommy's wittle baby, but I am Daddy's big boy!"

Oh how we love our little boy!

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa!

Kimball and Shelley came to visit this week, and we had a wonderful time! Sam adores his grandparents, and loved every second he spent with them. Sam is becoming so talented at putting together puzzles, and his sweet Grandma was so patient to sit with Sam while he did puzzle after puzzle after puzzle... Thanks Shelley! Kimball gave Sam some pointers on improving his golf swing, and Sam has been diligently practicing :) We all really enjoyed your visit, and are looking forward to your next visit!