Drumroll please....!!

Congratulations to #11, Shauntel!  She is going to have a great time selecting a Christmas card for her adorable son's very first Christmas!  So happy to be able to provide you with a $50 Tiny Prints Gift Certificate.  

Yes, I had to google how to do a screen shot on a mac (apple key + Shift + 3) if anyone is interested!

Thanks for everyone who played along.  I wish I had a prize for each of you.  If you have a blog of your own, write Tiny Prints, they are always really happy to help spread their name through social media giveaways.  There are a ton of coupons right now and if you follow them on facebook they giveaway a lot of cards fairly often.

I loved all the responses to the tiny prints giveaway.  I'm glad you guys decided to play along!  It was neat to see all of your choices for cards.  It was awesome reminiscing about the things I also loved so much about Christmas.  Siblings, smells, food, music, grandparents, presents (esp when we were little).  It's exciting now that as a parent I get to help and watch Sammy as he builds these memories.

Hopefully you don't judge me, but here is the response that made me laugh the most (I mean, I laughed A LOT, I even caught myself laughing to myself when I was nursing Sam in the darkness of his room before he went to bed for the night).

Yes, I  know I have no shame and I have a serious problem.   You see, I love people falling (as long as no one is hurt).  I used to tivo America's funniest home videos so I could go back and watch the falls.  There would be tears by the time I was done watching.

Here is Katy's hilarious Christmas time Fail:

• Katy said "My Christmasfail was when I was about 12 years old - we had just opened all our presents when I realized we hadn't yet seen the stockings. So I yelled STOCKINGS and got up to run to see them, and promptly slipped and fell on my face on the linoleum floor. And yes, the moment was captured on video!" 

Hope this helped get everyone started to a fun Christmas season. 

Stay Dry, Humble and Win Some Free Tiny Prints!

Today is the last day to enter the tiny prints giveaway.  Even if you don't send out Christmas cards, you could use the gift certificate for birthday cards, thank you cards, or other fun stuff on the tiny prints website.  Plus since only 4 people have entered, odds are really good!

I hope everyone is safe and dry today on the east coast.  We are all hunkered down enjoying the stillness of the storm.  I'm so thankful all our lines are buried and we live across the street from Wegmans.

This really puts things into perspective.  Not just for the servicemen who are cold and wet and in danger, but for the sacrifice of those who have served and given so much that there would be members of our armed services whose duty it is to watch over their grave 24/7 365 even when it puts their own lives in danger.  So incredibly thankful that our problems have always been microscopic in comparison.

Here's what we are up to today!

Good luck to everybody.  Stay dry and safe!

Christmas Card Time, A Tiny Prints Giveaway!

What an exciting time of year.  The leaves are starting to blaze away with their fiery reds and radiant oranges.  The day skies are crystal clear and blue, the sun is perfectly warm and the nights are giving way to brilliant stars and a crisp cool air whispering that winter and Christmas is coming! I adore this time of year.  I love the stillness that you know will disappear too soon, replaced by the storm of travelers and shoppers and kids needing to go see Santa.

I realize this is a bit early to be talking about Christmas cards, but if you are indecisive with pictures and cards like me, it helps to get a head start.  

I'm excited to be able to help you get in the mood for fall and the 2012 Christmas season by giving one lucky follower a tiny prints gift certificate worth $50.  It can go towards anything except shipping, and cannot be combined with any other promos.

The winner of the Tiny Prints giveaway will be chosen on October 29, 2012 using http://www.random.org/

To be eligible you will need to:

• Follow my blog
• Comment on this post with your favorite Christmas memory
• For extra entries:
• Leave a comment telling me your favorite thing about this time of year.
• Link your favorite tiny prints 2012 Christmas card
• Leave a comment telling me your biggest Christmastime fail (did you fall into the fountain when trying to run from Santa?!)

Last year was my first year using tiny prints.  I splurged after seeing on someone's blog the perfect first Christmas card for us as brand new parents.  I knew exactly the picture I was going to use from Sammy's newborn shoot.  Had he been due a few weeks later, I would have probably made these are birth announcements too.  The extra money spent was well worth it.  I absolutely love tiny prints.  They have the best quality and excellent customer service and they proof all your cards for free (totally awesome considering my abnormal ability to have brain farts).

They also have a really great selection that includes Christmas cards with pictures, pet Christmas cards (you know we are the type to have chosen those pre Sammy), Christmas card birth announcements, even cards with space to write about your family's year.
 
Here are a few of my favorites from the Tiny Prints 2012 collection.  If you follow them on facebook, you will also be the first to get freebies and specials.  Last year I was able to get a personalized valentine's day card for free!  If you aren't on facebook, tiny prints has a special offers page.  Very cool!  They also have great pinterest boards with lots of party and crafting ideas.

* I have been compensated by Tiny Prints to review their 2012 Christmas Cards, however my opinion on their products is solely my own.

10.11.12: One Year with Sammy!!!

This has been the best, and most speedy year of my life.  I have done everything I can to enjoy each and everyday with you over the past 12 months, doing my best to live with a true intent.  How I praise God for the gift of this wonderful life changing year.

A year and a day ago I never could have imagined a love like this.  I had no clue about so much of this world and how true it is that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  In just one breath you taught me so much and I will always love you and thank you for this wonderful gift of making me a Mom, Sammy.  You are truly the most special part of my soul.  I've always thought when celebrating birthdays that we should also think of what our mothers were doing that day.  It's hard to believe I was becoming a mom through so much hard work and pain a year ago.  I can't imagine my life before.  It's hard to describe the before and after of a first time parent.  I think that is why when you are pregnant and people ask is this your first.  They always have this air of excitement for you as they know, the best is yet to come.  This saying my friend pinned says it all. 

As I look into your eyes today, it doesn't seem possible that a whole year has past.  It seems like just yesterday we saw each other for the first time and yet, I have seen you, held you, breathed you in everyday of your life and it seems like no time has passed at all.  I hope that all the years of your life are this magical and yet, I pray that they all don't go by so quickly.

 To think that when I was 16 and told your Daddy, that I couldn't wait for the day we would be parents together, knowing he would be the perfect Dad, I am amazed at God's faithfulness.  That my first love, got to be my last and that through so many storms (some felt like a cat 5 hurricane), we have weathered them and the dream we had so long ago as kids is far better than either of us ever could have imagined.  I think of the devastation of what was in December of 2010, a miscarriage and a cancer diagnosis all on the same day and how just 22 months later almost to the day that all seems so far away.

I will never forget, Sammy.  Every good and perfect thing is from above James 1:17

Today, October 15 is the first anniversary of your due date.  On Oct 11, 2011 you made your debut.  You were born blue, your umbilical cord wrapped so tightly around your little neck.  I have never prayed so fast in my entire  life.  My heart stopped as I shot up looking all over the room for my baby that had grown from a prayer, to a poppy seed, to what looked like a firefly as we saw you for the first time on a tv screen as we learned your tiny heart was flickering creating a beautiful glow inside your body.  You've lived a year of life my love.  A huge miracle that so many babies never get to.  I will praise God always for you. 
 

For this Child I Have Prayed 1 Samuel 1:27

You have gone from a beautiful 8 lb baby who loved to eat and lift your sleepy head onto your pillow (my breast) .  You're a thriving toddler now and I yearn to hug and kiss and hold close forever.

Happy Birthday Sammy!  We love you "to the moon and back"

Twelve Months with Sammy!

What a fun month Sammy!  I can't believe you just finished off the first year of your life and celebrated your very first birthday.  It is amazing how much love you have brought into our lives and those of our friends and family.  You truly are a joy and the best part of my soul.  I love you so much Sammy.

This month, you left your sticker alone, but refused to smile.

I think you may have broken the cuteness meter this month.  Seeing you in fall clothes looking like a little man was melting my heart.  Baby clothes are cute, but toddler boy clothes, o m g.  You also are cutting teeth right and left which is funny because for the last 5 months you've only had two.  I think you are up to 4 through the gums and 4 more right on the edge of breaking through.  The first top tooth caused some pain for all, but the other ones were so quiet, I didn't even realize they were coming (hopefully that's a trend).

This month was really fun.  The weather was perfect and you were lighting up our days with something new all the time.  You had some really big milestones happen this month which included walking and your first words!  On 9/23 you took a ton of steps for the first time.  You then continued to do it again and again amazing us with how you needed to just let go of your fears and go for it.  I took you to little gym for the first time and you were the youngest in the class.  It was awesome to watch you see the other toddlers running around.  By the time we left you were walking all over the place.  I filmed you by the end and you were walking for over a minute straight!

I can say that leading up to this milestone was hard for you and conversely for me too.  I think you were extremely frustrated wanting to walk but being afraid to let go or not having quite mastered the concept in your mind.  Your sleep was disrupted and Oscar the grouch could have been your twin.  I hate to say it, but there was a definitely a day in there when I swore we would both be better off if I went back to work.  Fortunately, once you started walking it was back in business for sweet baby Sammy.

With the change of weather and your new upright mobility, it was time to fork over the exorbatant amount of money for your first pair of shoes.  Seriously, I don't spend this much on my own shoes which will last me more than 2-3 months and are a good 5x bigger than yours.  Come on stride rite, have a sale already!  You've got some big feet kiddo!  5.5 wide!

We got you some lunch first (good rule of thumb, never take a hungry baby shopping) and you have started making it a point to take over our food too.  Here you are enjoying Daddy's sandwich!

Your very first word that wasn't mama, dada, baba which I think we apply meaning to rather than you knowing what you are saying was "UP"  You clearly said it with hands outstretched for me when I was in the kitchen with you.  It totally took me by surprise and you better believe I picked you right up!  The funny thing is now when we are driving I hear you screaming Up, Up, Up, Up!  Sorry dude, but you mean out and also sorry but you're stuck.  Ever since you became mobile you have grown an increasing dislike for being tied down.  The stroller and the car are now two torture devices. 

Some other fun milestones:

You learned how to throw and understand when I saw throw the ball to Bailey!  You even initiate playing fetch on your own.  Bailey and I love playing with you.  Seeing you beam with pride after Bailey retrieves the ball you've thrown is really awesome.

You dance!  At first I thought you were having a seizure but then I realized you were boobing your head to the song on one of your toys.  Now you dance when you are standing and it is really freaking cute!  I can even say dance Sammy dance and you do it.  Pretty awesome to watch you connecting so many words to actions. 

Your fearlessness and desire to get into everything is also increasing.  I've turned my head several times and had to raise my jaw off the ground when I see what you've gotten yourself into in a matter of seconds.  You are finding your way into everything now by climbing.  Your rocking chair, the dishwasher, the kitchen drawers.  You are keeping me on my toys little man!

This month's edition of it got too quiet:

We also lowered your crib before you figured your way out of it and got hurt.  You are getting SO tall!  Here you are helping Daddy.  I hope you learn how to be a handyman like him.

You also really started reading on your own, you love it!  It cracks me up because you are thumbing through books to look at the pictures.  You really love the colors and images from Daddy's berstein bear collection.  You also adore touch and feel books as well as any type of peek a boo books.  Though, you keep destroying them which is really annoying.

 You are giving the best hugs.  They are so wonderful.  First thing in the morning or after naps, or sometimes just because we've come to pick you up or you are in the mood to snuggle.  They are so deliberate and provide such a wonderful sense of a job well done.  I love that you love to be loved and that you adore showing affection.

We also did a lot of fun fall activities.  We took you to the pumpkin patch for hte first time.  To the fall festival in our neighborhood and out for lots of walks.  It is amazing to reflect back on this time of year last year and remember all the things we did leading up to your arrival, to bring you home to those first sleepless weeks.  I have a whole new reason to love fall.

Happy 12 months Sammy!

Guest Blogging Today at the Domestic Wannabe

Come join me over at the Domestic Wannabe as I share a day in my life with Sammy! 

Ashley has a great blog about her life with her daughter and husband.  She's got some wonderful parties to oogle after and one of the things I love the most is that she reminds me to get in front of the camera, not just behind. 


Enjoy!

Marco Island, Florida: Our first family Vacation!

We traveled to Marco Island Florida, the week of labor day.  Aside from the threat of hurricane season, this was a great time to visit.  Tickets were a decent price ($100/each way non stop from DCA to RSW).  The water temperature was perfect, the beaches and airport security line were nice and empty!  I've never gone through security so fast, there was not a soul in line.

Marco island can be summed up very easily.  A beautiful and quiet retirement community with SO many shells.

Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen so many beautiful shells in my life.  I came back with at least 20 beautiful conch shells all with a unique story imbedded on their swirls.  Sanibel Island which is a neighboring island to Marco, was one of the places Paul and I thought about going a few years ago because of my love for collecting sea shells while at the beach.  So when my Mother in law told us she was throwing herself and her kids a 60th birthday celebration in Marco Island, I knew exactly how I wanted to spend my time!  I don't know about you, but I love letting my mind wander as my eyes focus downwards and my ears hear the beautiful sound of the crashing waves.  I can't think of a better way to enjoy the peacefulness of the simple things in life.

Someone else is following in my footsteps, but for a different reason.  Maybe, he was tasting a salty seafood lunch?!  I kidd, I kidd.  Needless to say, my love of mindlessly wandering looking for shells was put on hold to make sure my child didn't kill himself with his love for putting all things into his mouth (when does this fun little part of babyhood end?). 

Marco, was a great place to take a young baby.  There were no rowdy party goers, the beaches were CLEAN, I mean the cleanest I've probably ever seen, and because it is on the gulf coast you didn't have to worry about standing in the water with your baby and being knocked over by an unexpectedly big wave.  It is also awesome that the sun sets right over the ocean.  As an east coast girl, this was an quite the treat. 

Is there a better way to enjoy breakfast?!

We stayed in a really nice, newly renovated hilton grand vacation club property called Sunset Cove Resorts.  It was stunning.  I was in awe of the interior designer who put the condos together.  The layouts, textiles, furnishings and finishes were amazing.  The shower in the master suite was probably the size of our entire powder room.  I wish I had taken more pictures of the condos, but alas the only thing I managed to take a picture of was the dual toned paint colors which I'm considering doing a rendition of in our family room.  Do you like it?

The only thing I would change about the hotel is the location.  It is part of a marina, which isn't walkable to the beach, so we had to drive there.  The marina is really great if you are there to do boating.  It still provides a great view.  We were able to see a double rainbow, dolphins and beautiful sunsets and an awesome lighting storm from the screen in porch.  There is a free shuttle to the beach, but with a baby and a carseat, you had to drive yourself and pay the $8 a day to park at the public beach entrance which was a few blocks from the surf.  The HGV club on the beach was already booked up in Marco as were all the HGV clubs in Sanibel so since there isn't really a whole lot to do in Marco aside from going to the beach, I think if we had been able to stay right on the beach our opinion of Marco and our trip would probably be very different.  The outer banks still stands as my all time favorite place to go for a family vacation with or without kids.

 Being so far from the beach did make it feel like we weren't actually at the beach.  We ended spending a lot of time at the pool since going downstairs to the hotel's terrace was a lot easier to manage between naps and meals then getting everyone out the door and in the car.  The pool was pretty cool.  I've heard about walk in pools being the new style and they are fantastic!  So easy to get into.  Especially with a baby or young child who is just learning to be comfortable in the water.  The pool was small and got crowded during peak times, but we really enjoyed it.  It has a fantastic view of the marina.  The beach chairs were also really nice and new.  Sammy practically owned them as you can see below.

There was a beautiful new shopping center with a starbucks who be still my heart, gave my first pumpkin spice latte of the season a few days early.  The shopping center also had wonderful restaurants, a marina with some rockin boats and cute shops within a 2 minute walk as well as a grocery store right next door.  Since the main point of the trip was a family reunion, being in condos with our siblings and parents worked out perfectly.

On a dock behind a Marco Island Restaurant

I've written about my love for the beach many times before and even designed Sammy's nursery in a beach theme (read about our beach trips, here, here, here and here!) Needless to say, I was more than elated to finally get some sand on Sammy's baby toes.  What a wonderful experience!  Sammy took to the beach like he was made for it.  Not surprising since he did visit the beach 4 times during my pregnancy!

Hard to believe 10.5 months later, here we are.  Does any first time mother really ever grasp the gift they are about to receive when they become pregnant?!  I certainly never could have imagined that my very happy life was so incomplete before.

I'll trade mindlessly wandering looking for shells to playing in the sand with Sammy anyday. 

 

And before you get to thinking he is a complete mama's boy, here are some pics with his second favorite person in the world.

Where did your summer travels take you this year?  What are your favorite kid friendly vacation spots?