robbed....

things are sad at our house... someone broke into our house today while we were at work (thank God not while anyone was at home) and they took some things.. most prized possession was my laptop - not because of the $ value, but because all the girls' pictures and my journalling about when they did what (first walk, first word, etc.) - all waiting to be scrapbooked (i'm a bit behind on that) and backed up (hadn't done it since july of 07!!!).... my heart is broken, i have so few pics of sammy's 1st year of life now, and all those memories are gone.

anyway - we are thankful that our home is okay, and most importantly, our family and health!

"Take a SMILE!"

Whenever Stella gets ahold of a camera, she says "take a smile!!!"... same thing when we come at her with the camera, she says, "mommy, I take a smile for you!!!"... too freakin cute. Thought I'd share a couple examples of her "taking a smile". Usually it's a super cheesy just-for-the-photo kind of smile, and other times it's just a genuinely cute and happy smile. either way, she's always taking a SMILE, rather than a PICTURE. Which is just fine by me.

Sammy's 1st Birthday Celebration!!!!

such a good day! I can NOT believe sammy is already one, she's been trying to walk, so that it goes down in her baby book that she walked before her bday, I think! and we had a nice, low key celebration with friends and family at our house. this week the weather has been SOO hot, but today it was just perfect - warm and sunny. we had auntie juli come down from oregon, and auntie lygia and max and karla (and her boyfriend) came too... and of course, grandma and grandpa neuman were here for the weekend. And sweet kathleen & andrew, and david & max came & team landers (christine, patrick, aidan, baby ty), and team frantz (mike, kristen, elsa, julia), and team abu shanab (elias, sarah, and franny). such a lovely time!

sammy ate the HECK out of her cupcake - and the sugar high kicked in about 30 minutes later, just as everyone was getting ready to leave!

sammy loved her presents, and stella & the other girls had a great time bringing them to her (and really opening them FOR her and then checking them out for her!)... thanks to everyone for joining us and your lovely gifts and just being here. and for those of you out of town, we're sorry to have missed you - but know you were with us in spirit (e.g. grandma ginny, grandpa rick, auntie laura, uncle danny, etc.)...

Happy birthday samantha!!!!

Grandma & Grandpa to Visit!!!

Stella and sammy just LOVE it when grandma and grandpa neuman come to visit! They have such fun together! It's quite evident in these pics - just a saturday morning of FUN! Stella and grandma having a tickle fest and grandpa and sammy having a "ride"! We had a great weekend - playing outside nad inside and going to the farmer's market and shopping and having pancakes for breakfast. And then grandma and grandpa babysat on saturday night so mom and dad could go out to dinner with kathleen and andrew. Such a treat!!!

Frequent Flier Miles

Well, we just got back from our last trip (via air) for a while. Stella, sammy and I came back from Vancouver and it was a good flight - sammy explored the undoubtedly clean floor of the aircraft and stella spent a good deal of time checking out the bathroom. As always, good times. But we were lucky - the flight was on time and not too long, and we had a whole row to ourselves, which was quite nice since sammy fell asleep the last hour of the flight and took a little snooze while stella and I practiced our "opposites" with a new travel flashcard deck I picked up in Canada.

For those counting, that's Sammy's 17th flight (in her 1 year of life).. .and for Stella (in her 2.5 years of life) it's her 43rd. Those girls make me and my American Airlines status proud!!!

Sweet sisters share a popcicle

Stella is truly a sweet sister to sammy, and sammy thinks that stella is the BOMB!!!!

If sam cries, Stella says, "it's okay baby sammy!" and gives her a hug.. and right when she wakes up, she says, "i need to see my baby sammy" and then gives her a hug. She also gives her what we call "smother love" which is not realizing that she's considerably bigger than sammy, and that sometimes sammy needs a bit of space. So often we see the stella is on top of sammy and sammy is squirming to breath and get out from under the giant, kind of dynamic. Good times. =)

here's a perfect example of the sweet sisters sharing - sammy was eyeing stella's popcicle and stella offered her a bite, and then decided she should try to get one too or sammy might "eat it all up!"

Amongst the Canucks, eh!?!

Well, the girls got their first stamps on their passports, as mom and the girls are in Vancouver, visiting our friends Suman, Mark, Kieran, and Jaya. We are having a lovely time - the weather is nice, the city is nice, lots of adventures.

Today we went to Stanley Park (aka Central Park of the Pacific NW) and visited the Aquarium. It was great - sharks and stingrays and eels oh my! Sammy really liked to look at the various colors, and stella has a new phrase - "that fish is FAScinating!"... so freakin cute.

Sammy also has decided that while on Canadian soil she should master some new skills, so just in time for her 1st bday (this coming sunday), she's standing on her own for a few seconds and taking a few steps on her own!

We've also gone to art class and granville island and the farmer's market there -- lots of fresh food and fish, which we promptly grilled out last night. And Suman and I went for pedi/mani one afternoon while the kids stayed with nanny Joy. And we also went out for dinner at Vij's - absolutely fantastic indian food in Yaletown or Gastown - not sure which. I think we're also going out tonight for dinner.. .and then we leave tomorrow. Pics to follow when I get home and can get them uploaded.

Already Burning thru those minutes!!!

Seemingly overnight, Stella has become QUITE the little phone talker! She speaks up, is articulate, and seems to have a blast talking on the phone these days! In the mornings on the way to school she sometimes wants to talk to daddy, so she gives him a call and they chat. And sometimes on the weekend when we're out and about she wants to call grandma or grandma and grandpa. Quite a treat for them, I think!

And when the girls and I were doing our June whirlwind travels (dallas, ohio, portland, vancouver), she had to make quite a few calls to daddy! Here are a couple - as you can see, she doesn't quite get the fact that the person on the phone can't SEE what you're pointing at or showing them (as in the case of saying to daddy, "I'm wearing my little miss sunshine panties, daddy.. see!!?". Or "grandma and grandpa are right over there, with Sammy, daddy... can you see?!??!"

but that's okay, cuz it's hilarious how she leans back and crosses her ankles and just talks... first greeting is, "hi, how's it goin'?". I think daddy digs it.

Texas Summer

Well, we got back from visiting Grandma Ginny in Texas - a nice long stay... MAN, I am a wimp, as I'm not used to that heat! I've gotten spoiled living in the Bay Area these past few years. Anyway - the weather is definitely hot, but it's a good excuse to SWIM! And boy did we! The girls had a blast swimming and stella got on a floaty and went out on her own, so brave! She also "dunked" under with mommy and sammy did too! Sammy loved to kick her legs and Stella did many a jump off of the side - good times!

We hung out with Grandma Ginny, and also Grandpa Rick, and uncle danny and auntie laura, and grauntie margie, and kim and elise and jeani and richard, and brandi & hudson and keaton. And mom had a night out for good sushi with high school girlfriends (heidi, brandy, petrie, and melissa) at Steel.

We missed dad, but he was busy at home demolishing the bathroom, cuz he's building a new, bigger, badder one (with a phat bathtub) for us girls!

Sammy's Birthday is Coming Up!!!

Can't believe she's almost a whole year old! As you can see here, she already fancies herself an artIst!!! We are planning an intimate little gathering with friends and family, at our home to celebrate the big day... stella is excited too! she keeps saying "in june, it's sammy's birthday!"