Picking Out A Pumpkin...

It's sad, really. I opened Blogger over a week ago and started a blog post about this and then never finished it. So, here I am to try again...

We took Samuel to the closest pumpkin patch to town on the 14th and had an absolute blast! I can't tell you how much joy it brings me (and James) to be able to do little things like this with the Sam-man. To be able to do things as a family, to create memories with the handsome little man...it's priceless. Absolutely priceless.

While there, we did a hayride, checked out the animals (and Samuel tried feeding them), picked pumpkins, and according to Sam, had the time of our lives at the slide! I wish I could've gotten a better recording of the nonstop laughter coming from that boy as he would go down the slide. It's music to my ears -- best sound EVER. It was such a memorable day and with James now in the field for 5 weeks (minus one weekend in between), I'm glad we were able to squeeze it in before the season was over.

After taking Samuel to Georgia's version of a pumpkin patch last year -- where pumpkins are just on pallets shipped in from who knows where -- it was nice to go back to a place where you pick one out of the field! While it will never compare to places like Lattin's Cider Mill in Olympia, WA, it was close enough considering we're in the desert! I have fond memories of going to Lattin's while pregnant with Olivia...okay...I suppose they're really more like bittersweet memories, but still...Either way, props to New Mexico for providing a great pumpkin patch!

After paying the admission fees, we faced this. It made me slightly laugh. Welcome to the desert, right? Oh, how I miss leaves, grass, etc.

We, of course, decided to check out the slide first. Can you tell how much fun it was for Sam?! He kept running back to the tires to climb back up to do it over and over and over again. Sweet boy...

And for a boy that has never seen farm animals, this was pretty amazing...

The perfect opportunity to take a few pics of the boy...

 Run, Sam, Run!

Come on, Dad! Let's go back to the slide!

It's times like this when I realize he's not my baby anymore. No. He's my toddler. My little boy...who pretends to be an airplane when given the chance...

The story of Sam's life. Always on the move...

A boy of many facial expressions...

Oh, Samuel. You and those crazy, long eyelashes...

It's hard to grab a picture where he's sitting still. As you can tell, he was trying to wiggle out of my arms while taking this picture...

And...he's off!

Always so happy...

Love him... 

Since we're both bad about asking others to take a picture for us, here's the typical self-portrait...

So many to choose from! Where do I start?!

Come on, Mom. I'll show you the one I want...

Never mind. I just want to run!

This is awesome!

Some of those weeds weren't very friendly to the touch, yet Samuel was tackling them..

This is THE one!

So proud!

Let's get this one, too, dad...

While waiting for the hayride back to the main area, Samuel kept running away. This was James' method of bringing him back, ha.

I love those two so much...

While we're waiting for the hayride, let's get back to being an airplane! That's way more entertaining than just standing there waiting...

Before we left, we couldn't resist taking Samuel back to his favorite thing...

Samuel with the pumpkins we decided to take home -- One for Sam and one for our 3 angels...

If we're here in El Paso next year -- and I'm sure we will be -- we'll definitely be taking Sam back to this place again! It was most definitely an afternoon full of absolute joy!

A Book About Samuel...

It finally took an expiring coupon code for a free photo book to finally get me in gear and create a book about Samuel's arrival. How has it been 15 months since he was this tiny? It seems like only yesterday...

Click here to view this photo book larger

I'm Baaaaaaaack...

After being off this blog (and many other computer related things) for over a month now, I'm hoping that now that we're settling in, I can get back into the swing of things. I don't even know where to begin with this blog post, as I just now realized that the last time I posted anything was mid-April. Wow!

Well, to put it lightly, things have been a bit crazy around here. We enjoyed visiting with both sets of grandparents while still in GA, then had the movers come, then headed down to FL for an amazing vacation, then headed to our new home in El Paso, TX, and have since been trying to unpack and get settled. For those that know us, you know that with any move, it takes us for-EV-er to unpack and make it feel like home again. So it comes as no surprise that we've been here about 2 1/2 weeks and yet our couch is still covered with framed pictures waiting to be hung up, two rooms have yet to even be touched so they're piled high in unopened boxes, and the rooms that are unpacked are only really semi-unpacked since nothing is hung up in there either. Yeah, I know. We're pokey. We both get so antsy and would rather put that off and explore the area. So sure enough, we've gotten well acquainted with the area and what there is to do in El Paso, but our house looks like the movers came last week -- or 2 days ago.

Anyways. Wow. The middle of March. So much has happened! Did I mention that Samuel turns ONE YEAR OLD later this week!??! What?!?! Not only has it been hectic around here, but our little miracle is almost ONE?! Oh, and he's a walker now. It's craziness. I really would like it if things would slow down, if just for a few days. I'm loving it, though. During our time at Walt Disney World, Sam decided that he wanted to start talking a little. He discovered the word, "Yeah" and "Dad" and let everyone around us know that he knew those words. During shows, he would happily say, "Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah," over and over with a grin on his face, ha. Lately, he says "Dad" over and over when he is happy and excited, but says "Mom" over and over when he's sad and lamenting. While trying to unpack, we would typically put him in the pack-n-play so he wouldn't get himself into any trouble and he would hold onto the railing and cry out, "Mommmm mommmm mommmm," over and over reaching out for us. Okay, maybe that's another reason why we've been slow with the unpacking process. How can you let that go on? Those plates can wait...holding this growing boy can't...especially not when he's crying out for me! Ha. Sweet, emotional, Sam...

A lot has happened over the last month and while I would really like to document all of it -- especially Sam-milestones -- I doubt I'll remember it all. So, here are a few things that happened and/or thoughts over the last month...

Sam has decided that pureed foods are for the birds and that he's a big boy now and requires finger foods *only*...

The little man walks and tries to run wherever he goes...

He gives a big cheesin' grin that melts our hearts when he gets really excited and shows his front teeth while huffing and puffing through them -- a lot like his Aunt Deb did as a kid...

Sam knows the words yeah, mom, dad, and okay. Occasionally, we'll hear what sounds like another word, but never in repeat, so I'm sure it's a fluke...

He apparently has a thing for foods that are a tad bit spicy, as he LOVED my enchiladas, bbq baby back ribs, and seasoned chicken breast...

Living in the desert isn't as bad as I had imagined. Sure, there's sand and SCORPIONS (!!!!), but the heat is not bad at all considering how dry it is! You won't even hear me complain about it being miserably hot when it's 95+ out...

Walt Disney World is as magical as they make it out to be...

Oh, and while some may say Samuel is too young to get things like WDW, they're wrong. He totally got it. The look on his face when he met Mickey was PRICELESS!!! Can't say the same about poor Handy Manny, though. Sam completely ignored him and continued on with his meal when HM came to our table, ha!

I feel spoiled by the house we're renting here in TX and feel blessed that we found it...

Surprises come at the best of times. While remembering Jordan's 6th Angelversary on April 21st, I was gifted a beautiful bracelet by my Face2Face girls. It was such a wonderful surprise that made saying goodbye that much harder...

Texas really IS that miserably big when you're driving across it -- it felt like the drive would never end!

Key West, FL was different than I had imagined, but beautiful just the same...

After how horrible this most recent Military move was, I have no interest in doing it again for YEARS to come! Our claim just seems to keep getting larger and larger...

Samuel and I could live on the locally made fresh tortillas. Yum!

Best one yet, Samuel is apparently an adrenaline junkie. He slept through some of roller coasters that he was allowed on and appeared to be absolutely unamused by the carousel. Crazy child!

Okay...I suppose that's enough. While I'd love to bombard you with a ridiculous amount of pictures before I leave, there's no way I could even get through them all. After all, there were over 900 taken over the last month due to our vacation. So...

Here are a few from various events...

Samuel's 11 month chair photo didn't go so well. He wanted nothing to do with it, but since the movers were there that day and about to pack up his room, this is all we got...

Saying goodbye to Ms. Nikki at the church nursery in GA was a little emotional...
(We missed you, Brandi!)

St. Augustine rocked!

Samuel Moore DDS...

By the time we got to Daytona Beach, I felt like we were retracing my 3rd grade vacation -- first, St. Augustine, then Daytona Beach...ahhh, memories...

Upon arriving in the Keys, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant that had high ratings online. Samuel was very into the live band, as the song kept mentioning his name. Every time he heard his name, he'd turn around and stare at them, ha...

Yes, chocolate dipped key lime pie really is that good...

(Thank you, Ali, for the recommendation!)

Our little butterfly...

Self-explanatory...

The poor guy. It was so miserably hot and humid, we left his shirt unbuttoned...

Loved seeing this...

This is that cheesin' grin...

Beautiful...

Walking the 7-mile bridge...

Blurry, but says it all. On our way to Magic Kingdom while on the monorail...

Apparently, the parade singing, "It's the time of your life!" is soothing...

A first for Samuel and his momma...

Nope. Won't even wake up by the Main Street Electrical Parade...

Enjoying our time together...

Who remembers Pete's Dragon?!?! James had never heard of it, but I grew up on that movie!!!

Loved this place!

And so did he. This is Sam at the Nemo exhibit, but it pretty much sums up his time at WDW...

Okay, so I suppose by some standards, that was still a ridiculous display of pictures. Sorry about that -- got a little carried away. Lucky you, that's as far as I've gotten in the uploading process...

It was a great month to say the least. I hope to at some point go in more detail about our time in FL -- more for my own memories than anything else -- but we'll see if that ever happens. We had a lot of priceless moments with sweet Sam over the last month, and I can't describe to you how blessed I continue to feel each and every day that he's here with us. To think that he'll turn one in just a few days is hard to fathom. How have we had him in our arms for that long?!?! It has most certainly been a year of joy with that little man!

With that, I'm finally off to bed. Much love to you all!