Been A Long Time Coming

Yes, I am aware it has been FOREVER since I have posted on Samantha's blog. A lot has happened since September!
Samantha is learning a lot in school and starting to spell words like Story, Mama, Daddy, Nate, Love, Dog, Bed, Cat, etc and her pictures of horses are adorable. I especially love when she comes home from school with  a family portrait!

October: Samantha turned 4 years old and we celebrated at the horse ranch. She is so infatuated with horses. PaPa started volunteering at OMW and she has gone riding a few times. We were so excited to get their approval to host Sam's party. All the kids had a blast and I received texts for weeks about how much fun it was. Samantha and her friends rode her favorite horse Patches and there was a petting zoo as well. It's such a beautiful ranch!

November: We welcomed Baby Story to our family (11-19-14)! I plan on starting her blog so her story will be there. Samantha was so excited to meet her baby sister and can't stop giving her kisses. She is also such a big help!... and also so curious.

December: We welcomed Cousin Baby Thad to our family.
Samantha got sick right before her school Christmas performance with allergies? sinus infection?  Honestly, no one really knows-She would cough so much that she would vomit, but only at night- and it took a while for the antibiotic to kick in. Needless to say, she and Daddy had to stay at Grandma's so she wouldn't get the baby sick. It was heartbreaking, but once she was better my heart was happy to have her back!
For Christmas, Samantha asked Santa for a real horse and a baby toy for Story and guess what?!? Santa got her horse riding lessons with Patches and Ms. Debbie at the ranch! She's so excited about them!

January: We rang in the New Year quite quietly, with the new baby and all. We had some poppers and sparklers and she enjoyed lighting them with Daddy, but it sure was cold and foggy and misty. Yuck!
Samantha also started her horse riding lessons and is thankful for them every night.

First Day of MDO 4

Time to get back on track! It was the first day of school for our toddler who played hooky the first week, by running off to New Orleans. She was very prepared and totally excited this morning! She barely even told me goodbye when I dropped her off. But when I picked her up, I had mothers and teachers telling me how sweet she was: Preston's mom brought cupcakes for his birthday and Samantha insisted she save some for Mama (her last two bites to be exact). Her asst. teacher told her no to eat it and they would save me a whole cupcake. Which is why there was a cupcake sitting on the snack table waiting for ME. Yes, she is a sweet heart. I won't deny that one bit!
As far as how her day went... she mentioned there were a few new kids in her class. She said she didn't learn anything, she played tea party with a couple of the other girls, and at bedtime mentioned that Cameron tried to kiss her on the cheek and she didn't want him to. I asked if she pushed him down, but she said "No, that would be mean." >.< We'll toughen her up with those naughty boys!

Nothing unusual with dinner, but we are still having a power struggle getting her to eat dinner. Tonight she helped prepare dinner- She shucked the corn and boiled it and made mac&cheese- and we actually didn't have to fight her! So we've come to realize: 1- she gets to help prepare dinner and she'll eat or 2- don't feed her all day and she'll be hungry ha ha ha... We'll find a happy medium.

Another Visit to NOLA

September 2 - September 6, 2014

We had tourist-y fun once again. Samantha visited the cockpit of the plane and told the pilots "hello", we played with Cousin Abigail, ate Reginelli's Pizza and Snowballs with Donna and played in City Park, visited Fairview State Park with GrandmaRia and Cousin Marcella from Costa Rica, rode the St. Charles Street Car (her favorite!), and had dinner with our amazing friends! Although we missed our returning flight to Texas (Booo!), we had a chance to gobble up some Cafe Du Monde beignets with Uncle Brian- Yummm!

...and The Summer Comes to an End...

We had a great summer and boy was it busy! Weekly Symphony Children's Day concerts, 4 weeks of swim lessons, 5 weeks of gymnastics and hip hop (Sam slept through the last class~ bummer), multiple play dates, pool dates and endless movies (Harry Potter collection and Star Wars). Samantha has improved her artistic skills (see previous post), learned her letter recognition and also started writing her letters; she's great with birthday cards and names! She excited to become a big sister this Thanksgiving and has even learned to write her sister's name. Everyday she talks to and hugs Mama's tummy and learns new ways to care for baby... And she enjoys watching Mama's belly grow bigger and bigger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We attended Open House for her school last night and although her teacher mentioned that they will be learning their ABC recognition (which we let her know that Sam is already writing them), she said that by the end of the school year they will be doing some math and some kids will even learn to read! We are so excited to see how this school year goes and watch Samantha grow even more amazingly intelligent!.... But not before we visit Grandma Ria, Uncle Brian, Abigail and friends next week!

Artsie Fartsie & Harry Potter

Samantha has gotten AH-MAZING with her drawing skills, especially compared to how she was during the school year: she wouldn't pick up a crayon to color. Here are a few things she's been doodling around...

Hiccup & Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon

 Dragon (she even signed her name)

 Pegasus

 Daddy

 Doggy (again, she signed her name)

 Bird painted on towel

Daddy wanted to start reading the Harry Potter collection to Sam although I don't think she would sit still to concentrate, so they started watching the movies instead. She loves her some HP!

Staying Busy with Friends!

 4th Of July Celebration:

Hanging with Christian while Grans' are out of town and Mama's at work. Ms. Wendi took them to the library to see the Hey Lollies! Sam really likes them :)

Winding Down & Catching Up

Samantha started Dolphins2, which is over in just a couple more days! She loves jumping in the water, doing her bobs, and swimming short distance. Although she is doing an awesome job in practice, I wish they would focus more on them swimming instead of the bobs and games they play! Everyday after class we head over to the kiddie pool and Sam gets to practice her moves with a couple of her swim-mate friends. They are so funny jumping in and swimming. Although it's been fun, it's getting hot and I'll be happy to take a break from the daily sun.
But next week we will start gymnastics and back to hip hop! I'm excited for our new schedule to begin!... and I'm sure Sam is too.

Hip Hop

 

Today was Children's Day. Samantha was face painted by one of the best artists out there! Kiwi. We had her put her skillz to the test! Samantha requested a  "horsey butterfly" and she did an amazing job!












 
Afterwards, we finally got to meet up with Daddy for lunch! Yay! It was special, but Samantha was bummed that she didn't get to see his office or meet his friends.