Samantha: 18 Months, Week 5

The problem with writing posts behind schedule is that I don't remember as many of the little details that happen throughout the week.  This week did not hold very many exciting happenings, which lately, has been nice with how busy this semester has been for us.  Ben was busy finishing off his last week of the semester, I was busy with many things happening at school, and Samantha enjoyed time at home and time with her friend Ainsley at the babysitter's house.

We had a cooler from Ben's parents that we were storing in the trunk, but had to bring it inside for a while and Samantha took it as an opportunity to climb in and ask for a ride.  It also gave us a chance to get some pretty cute pictures.

Lately, she has been using anything as an opportunity to get in and climb on.  She liked getting inside and sitting on top of this cooler.  She loves to climb into laundry baskets and suitcases, and lately she has been using her little pink laundry basket as a place to keep her little farm animals and the snowman decorations that I keep on the side table in the living room.  She is definitely in the putting in and dumping out stage of toddler-hood.

One thing we did do this past week is participate in a mini-photo shoot with a friend from church so that we could get some professional looking pictures to put on our Christmas card.  We had to wait for a nice enough day so that we could do pictures outside and Samantha wouldn't get too cold in her pretty, new Christmas dress.  Here are some of the best shots:

This weekend we did some Christmas shopping and made some Christmas cookies in preparation for Christmas, which is coming much quicker than we'd like at this point.  We ordered most of our presents, mostly from Amazon because it's just much cheaper and easier than going to a store (especially with a toddler in tow).  We are excited about giving Samantha her presents this year.  We got her a Melissa and Doug Fill and Spill Purse, a Fisher Price School Bus, a doll stroller, some play horses and dinosaurs, and I also took an old music/jewelry box and re-purposed it as a jewelry box for Samantha by putting a picture of her on the front and filling it with necklaces and bracelets that I bought at the dollar store.  I think she will really like playing with these things.  They represent many of her favorite things from 2012.  I know I went a little overboard, but she is my little girl and I thought of so many good ideas for her this year now that I know her personality and likes a lot more.

We also have been trying to talk to her a lot more about baby Jesus and what Christmas is really about.  She knows who Santa is by seeing him in books and on TV and other random places, but we haven't put too much emphasis on him as of yet.  We have a cute pop-up Christmas Story book that tells about the birth of Jesus, and I have tried to read that to her a lot lately so that she becomes familiar with the story.  We're still not quite sure how we are going to handle the Santa Clause thing.  We don't want to avoid it, but at the same time, we don't want to emphasize it too much.  Ben and I both grew up differently in this regard.  His older brother was eight years older than him, so he never really believed that Santa was real.  My family, on the other hand, believed in Santa, and at some point we knew he wasn't real, but still pretended that he was by putting out cookies for him on Christmas Eve and opening presents that were "From Santa."  Do any of you have certain ways you handle Santa with your kids?  Any suggestions on how we incorporate Santa, but make sure not to take away from the true reason we celebrate Christmas?

Samantha: 18 Months, Week 4

Well, since I left off my last post with talking about putting up the Christmas tree, I'll start this one in the same way.  The next day, when Samantha came downstairs, she was so excited to see the tree, and even more excited when she realized that lights on the tree turned on.  After that, it was always the first thing she wanted to do when she came downstairs in the morning or came home at the end of the day.

This week, on Thursday, we took a family trip to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis because they had a Target Free Family Night from 4-8 p.m.  I picked Samantha up from the babysitter's and we headed right there.  Samantha went last year, but of course, she doesn't remember anything about that.  We saw the dinosaurs, which she especially liked.  She also got to play with many other fun things.  She really enjoyed the Jolly Days area for small children and preschool area that both had hands on activities for younger children.

 The best part of the whole evening for Samantha was riding on the carousel.  As soon as we walked into that area of the museum and she saw the horses, she had to ride on the carousel.  Luckily, we had some dollar bills with us so we could pay for the tokens to ride.  Samantha LOVED riding on the horse up and down and around and around.  It's funny because when she really likes something, she gets really serious and doesn't smile much, but really, she is having a great time.  When our ride on the carousel was done and we had to get off, Samantha got so upset and started crying.  She really loved riding on her horse and did not want to get off.

Well, once it was getting closer to 8:00, we decided to head home.  We changed Samantha into her pajamas so that she could fall asleep in the car on the way home.  It took her awhile to calm down, but she eventually fell asleep.

We had several late nights in a row this week, with the Children's Museum, a school Christmas party, and a games night with friends.  Our school Christmas party was on Friday night, and we decided to go since they were providing child care.  Samantha did really well with the other children, playing and eating pizza.  However, we stayed there until almost 9:00, so we had a very tired girl on our hands afterwards.  The next day, we just hung out at home in the morning, went grocery shopping, and Samantha took a nice, long nap.  After her nap, we headed over to the Brashers's house for a last get together before they move to Germany.  The boys and girls had a good time playing together, we shared a meal together, and then after we put Samantha down in the pack and play upstairs for the night, we had our last games night.  It was really great to get all the kids back together again one last time.  We are really going to miss these dear friends of ours.  Bloomington won't be the same without them.

Samantha: 18 Months, Week 3

This week was pretty uneventful as Ben was doing last minute preparations for his Methods exam on Friday.  This was his last test to pass, his last official test ever, so there was much anxiety about it.  We were just getting back into our work week after a nice, long break for Thanksgiving which made it that much more difficult.  I was trying to give Ben as much time to study as possible, taking care of Samantha and everything else around the house.

However, it is pretty difficult for Ben to resist his little girl.  Samantha discovered she likes using her Dad as a horsey.  Oh my, I just love her little laugh.

Over the weekend our schedule got a little busier.  We decided to go up to Upland on Friday night after Ben was finished with his exam, even though it was later than normal since Ben's test went until 5:00.  Aunt Jeni, Uncle Andrew, Cousin Alaina, and the new member of the family, Jon, were planning on coming down and we didn't want to miss an opportunity to hang out with them.  We like to get Samantha and Alaina together as much as possible.  Even though we got to Upland pretty late, we let Samantha play and get acquainted to the house for a little while.  Samantha was acting pretty shy when she got there.  It had been a while since she had been here and seen Grandpa and Grandma.  It was quickly bedtime, and then Mommy and Daddy had the chance to go out Ivanhoe's with Jeni, Andrew, and Jon.

The next day was full of playing, with lots of quality time for the girls to be together.  Here are some cute pictures of the girls playing together:

The above picture was clearly after nap time based on the state of Samantha's hair!

These two girls are going to get into a lot of trouble together as they grow up.  I know Samantha loves Alaina.  She recognizes her in pictures that she sees and tries to say her name, which most of the time sounds like "Lane-ah."  It will be wonderful to see these two girls grow up together.

We ended up leaving Saturday night after bath time so that we could get back home for church.  A student from my class was going to be baptized and really wanted me to see him.  Plus, we had plans to get our Christmas tree after nap time.  I also got last minute tickets to see the Nutcracker ballet performed at the IU Auditorium.  Ben and I have gone the last couple of years together, but we figured it would be a little difficult for Samantha to sit still for that long.  However, I had a wonderful time, even if I did have to go by myself.

After I got back and Samantha was up from her nap, we headed out to get our Christmas tree from a local Christmas tree farm.  Just like last year, our weather was unseasonably warm.  It actually was fairly rainy.  We looked out in the field, but I think the good trees had already been picked over at this point.  Samantha did "pick" out a tree in the field, but it was worse than the Charlie Brown Christmas tree and the same price as the full size trees in the barn.  So, we went back the barn and found a good tree in there.  Samantha was very excited about the whole experience, the owners' dogs wandering around, the Christmas lights everywhere, the wide assortment of trees.  We got our tree, got it cut, wrapped up, and put in our car.

When we got home, we placed the tree in the stand with some water, and figured we'd fasten it in after dinner.  We decided to wait to decorate it after Samantha was asleep because we didn't think she'd be too big of a help this year.  We weren't quite sure what Samantha's reaction would be to having a live Christmas tree in the middle of the living room where her toys used to be, but we'll see what her reaction is in the morning when she wakes up, comes downstairs, and sees a brightly lit, colorfully decorated Christmas tree!

Samantha: 18 Months, Week 2

The beginning of this week began with our first trip to Disney.  A friend of Ben's from college has a brother who works at one of the resorts and was able to get us  in for free.  We weren't able to get into the Magic Kingdom, but we had a park hopping pass for any of the other parks.  The first day we went to Epcot and my dad ended up going with us as well.  Samantha had a WONDERFUL time.  When we got there, we met Ben's friend and took our picture in front of "Spaceship Earth."

Samantha was very excited to see all the people, the park decorated for Christmas, and especially the monorail train.  We were enjoying the warm Florida weather, although it was a bit colder than average for Florida and maybe that had to do with the smaller crowds that day.

The first ride we went to was "The Seas with Nemo and Friends."  She did fairly well waiting in line even though she was very, very excited.  The ride was a little people mover car shaped like a shell.  She loved seeing the fish floating around and was mesmerized.  The only part that seemed a little scary to her was a part with a shark that kind of popped out at you.  When we got to that part, I felt her body tense up a little bit.  Here is our attempt at a picture in the dark of the ride:

After the ride, there was an aquarium area that we looked around for awhile before moving on to the next area.

We went to several other areas in Epcot, "The Land" where we went on another boat ride and had lunch, the World Showcase area where we went on a couple other boat rides, and then lastly, "Ellen's Energy Adventure."  She was a trooper all day long, getting tired after lunch at her normal nap time when we were in the Imagination area with Figment.

Here is Samantha getting very sleeping while waiting in line for the Figment of your imagination ride.  This was right around her normal nap time, for she normally takes a nap for a couple of hours every afternoon around 1:00, so I was a little worried that she wouldn't be able to last the whole day without a nap.  However, our little social butterfly will just keep going and going, having fun and interacting with people, until she finally crashes.

Yes, we were Disney World and she was fascinated by the birds.  Go figure!

After touring the World Showcase, we decided to go on two last rides.  We had to wait in a staging area for "Ellen's Energy Adventure" and while we were waiting, Samantha started dancing to the music.

Then, once we were on the ride, it took no more than 15 minutes for Samantha to fall asleep in my lap, right in the middle of the dinosaur part of the ride.  She was sitting on my lap, and all of a sudden, I felt her head flop over to the side and she was zonked out for the rest of the ride, snoring away while the ride continued just as loud as normal.  At the end of the ride, I tried to stand up slowly and keep her asleep, but it didn't work, she woke up with a very dazed and confused look on her face.  We were glad that she at least took a little bit of a nap to get her through the rest of the day.  Our last ride of the day was "Spaceship Earth" which Samantha really enjoyed.  She especially enjoyed the interactive postcard on the screen at the end.  I was going to try to include it in this blog, but it is expired now.

After this, we decided to call it a day and go home.  Samantha had a long, full day, and we were planning on going back for dinner and time to visit with Peg.

The next day, we didn't do anything too much.  We relaxed at the house and went to a local park which Samantha really enjoyed, especially the wonderful weather.  Now, the only downfall of our time in Florida was Samantha's wake up time.  She would wake up between 6 and 6:30 every morning, a little too early for our own liking.  We tried to snuggle and play with her in bed until at least 7:00 when we would go out of our room into the rest of the house.  Daddy also got a nice wake up call every morning with Samantha hitting his foot until he paid attention to her.

On Wednesday, we had another full day ahead of us as we were planning on going to Animal Kingdom.  The park was MUCH busier than it was on Monday.  I don't know if that was because of the nicer weather or because it was closer to Thanksgiving, but it was almost so crowded that it was overwhelming.  We went on several fun rides, a dinosaur ride that was kind of like the Dumbo ride at Magic Kingdom, which Samantha LOVED.  She cried when we had to get off and leave that area.

Since it was so busy, we decided to get a couple of Fast Passes for rides we wanted to be sure to get on.  One of them was an animal safari.  Samantha really enjoyed riding in the truck, seeing all the animals, and dancing to the music they played on the ride.  I took many pictures of the animals as well, but I figured that I didn't need to post any of those.

One of Samantha's all time favorite activities of Animal Kingdom was the petting zoo.  She got to get up close and personal with many animals like sheep, goats, and pigs.  She was SO excited!  She loved trying to pet the animals and even tried to hug a few along the way, chasing them if they tried to run away from her.  We practically had to drag her away from this area because she loved it so much.  We have a real animal lover on our hands.

Later in the day, while we were waiting for our time to go on the Mt. Everest ride, we decided to go see a bird show.  Ben and I were going to go get a drink, and while he was in line, I went to change Samantha's diaper.  While we were in line for the bathroom, I could see her eyes getting heavier and heavier as she fell asleep in my arms.  I slowly laid her over so that she was laying on my shoulder, and we exited the line since now I had a sleeping baby.  We went back to the bird show and Samantha slept through almost the entire show.  Here is a pictures of my sleeping sweetheart:

After having our fill at the Animal Kingdom, we decided to leave and go to the Hollywood Studios park for a little while, just to take advantage of the park hopper pass.  We got some food there and decided to get in line to ride the "Tower of Terror."  My dad and I waited in line while Ben walked around with Samantha, took her on a Little Mermaid ride, and let her watch some music playing.  By then, we were done riding the ride and Ben was able to use the rider swap to ride again with me.  It was getting late after that, so we only went on one more ride and then went back home.  Samantha was so sleepy, but enjoyed riding the bus one more time to get to our car, falling asleep very quickly once we started driving home.  We certainly had a full day of fun with our little girl.

The next day was Thanksgiving and we had a slow, relaxing morning spending time together playing and watching the Thanksgiving Day parade. Because of Samantha's long day yesterday, she was very, very tired this morning so we decided to lay her down for a nap.  She slept for a good couple of hours, waking up just in time for us to get her ready and head to my grandpa's church for our Thanksgiving meal.  Samantha was a really good girl at lunch and all the older people really enjoyed seeing her around.  After lunch, once we got back to the house, Ben and I decided to take Samantha swimming before dinner.  She loves swimming and really had a great time.  We didn't stay in too long because we didn't want her to get too cold, but we were enjoying basking in the bright sun and blue skies of Florida.

Friday after lunch, we headed out, on our way back to Indiana.  We decided to head all the way up to Nashville on our first night, making for a long first day, but much shorter second day.  Samantha again did great in the car.  The only time she got antsy was when we were about 45 minutes away from home and wanted to get out of the car, which is how we all felt.  We were all very glad to be back home again and get settled back in for a day before we had to head back to work and back to reality.

We had a wonderful time in Florida.  It was great to be able to see my grandpa, have him meet and see Samantha in person, and it was great to get away from the hustle and bustle of this crazy semester and have some time enjoying ourselves as a family.  Even the next day and many days after that, Samantha was talking about Disney and Minnie Mouse.  I think she really enjoyed her Thanksgiving trip to Florida. :)