8 months old!

Happy 8 months Samantha! I look at you and I wonder where the time has gone. I also look at you and see the joy and happiness that you have brought your daddy and I. We love you with all our heart and I honestly don't know what our lives would be like if you had not come into it.

Thank you for being you - you always seem to know how to put a smile on everyone face! We love you unconditionally and I promise that will never change (even when you start to question it later on when the discipline kicks in)

Ear tubes - April 15th

Samantha had ear tubes put in on the 15th and this was a day that I was both happy about and dreading. Samantha had been dealing with one long ear infecting since the 1st of Feb. and it had never gone away, but being the trooper that she is, she never really fussed (except for when the infection flared up) and she stayed the happy baby she has always been.

Gregg took her to the ear dr and he said she needed tubes asap, not something I was wanting to hear. But, we knew we had to do what was best for Sammie and we scheduled surgery for the following week on the 15th. Well, morning of the surgery came and I was a nervous wreck... the last place I wanted to take our little girl again was to the hospital - even if it was for a 10 minute procedure. However, I put on my brave face and toughed it out with Sammie (I figured if she could do it, I could do it). Surgery went great and she has been doing great with the tubes ever since.

just waking up after surgery

more misc. pictures :)

I have become addicted to hats for my child... this is one of the latest that I have purchased for her :) She needed a summer hat - what can I say? :)

Sammie is also now big enough to wear the robe that my aunt and cousin got her... she was modeling it this particular night

The other baby trying to figure out why I am not cuddling up in bed with him... poor thing is sooo neglected - HA

We are so blessed to have such a laid back little girl - she loves to just hang out and relax with us on the weekends... in her pjs of course :)

hanging out at Grandma's house watching her get dressed... there's nothing like watching momma and her mom get ready in the morning to make Samantha feel girly for the day :)

Misc. pictures and updates

Here are just a couple of other cute pictures from Miss Samantha over the past 2 months that I just had to share: Samantha started playing in the jumparoo my parents got her at the baby shower. At first, it was just sit and observe, now it is full on play with everything... now if she can just figure out the 'jumping' aspect to this contraption, she will be set :)

The other 'baby' enjoying the weekend with momma :) we love sleeping in when daddy is working on realestate!

Samantha hanging out with our good friends the Donlin's little girl Ella Rose (who is gonna be a big sister any day now). For some reason, Ella hates smiling in pictures... I think it's because she doesn't realize how pretty she is

GO TIGERS GO!!!!!

Samantha chowing down on her first plate of ribs for the season :) YUMMY!!!!

Memphis Zoo - April 25th

We took Samantha to the Memphis Zoo the Saturday before the Baptism. This was a must for me on our trip back to Memphis as I have such fond memories of the zoo from my childhood. I used to love going to the zoo with my mom & dad and dad sneaking in marshmellows for the bears and making them "dance" for their treat :) I can't wait for Samantha to have some memories like this of her own.

Here are some pictures from her first of many trips to the zoo:

If you know us, you know we just HAD to take a pictures of this guy... to funny to pass up! LOVE the mullet! He was rocking it :)

As you can see, the animals were enjoying the day because it was so beautiful out and Miss Samantha enjoyed herself so much, that she needed several naps that day :) We LOVED that part of the visit.

BIG event - April 26th

The biggest event that has taken up so much of our time since Easter has been planning Samantha's baptism. We traveled to Memphis for this very special occasion for several reasons... 1 - all the family is there and it was much easier for us to travel to them rather than try to make room for all of the family here in Louisville.

2 - and most importantly, my parents church was so supportive to Gregg and I during Samantha's hospitalization her first 6 weeks of life that if felt so right to have it there with them as a "thank you" for all their love and support. Plus, mom and dad have found such wonderful friends in their church and it meant so much to them for it to be held there.

Since the day I told my mother that we were having a girl, she has been planning and working on this baptismal dress with such love and devotion... and IT SHOWED. The dress was beautiful!!!!Everyone raved about it so much that we didn't have any time for pictures before the ceremony :) So, mom is sending the dress up and we will get lots of pictures of the girl.

We had a great time at the baptism getting to meet all the members at my parents church who have come to mean so much to not only my parents, but also to Gregg and I. Finally being able to put faces with names meant the world to us - we have been hearing for almost 8 months about all these wonderful people asking about Samantha and praying for Samantha's health and to come home from the hospital. I was in tears walking into the church Sunday morning and people walking up to us saying "is this Samantha?" and that was the first time they had ever laid eyes on any of us. Just goes to show what a truly special little girl she is.

Daddy showing off the girl in her Baptismal Dress

Heather (godmother) Gregg, me, Darcy (godfather's wife)

Grandparents Kimmer - us - Grandparents Thompson

we are alive... I promise

we have just been super busy lately. for the past 2 months we have been on the go - here and there - rush rush rush. I have been meaning to blog about Miss Samantha and our family adventures for some time, but just have not the time to sit down, download the pictures and write a "story" to go along with the events of the day.

SOOOO, buckle your seatbelts, you are about to get bombarded with pictures and posts