Hello?

Is anyone still following this blog? I feel like it's been years since I've been on here! Life only seems to be getting busier, not slowing down. In return, my days of blogging have come to a screeching halt. There are many times that I think of something to blog, but I'm already in bed and too tired to get back up. Ahhh, such is life.

It seems like I could tell you a new story about Samuel daily, let alone bombard you with crazy amounts of pictures of the little man every time I turn around. He's growing up way too fast, and according to his 15 month well visit, he's in the 80% in height, but only the 45% in weight. My skinny little guy! I love him so much, and really...I could just stare at him while he sleeps every night...in awe that he's here. I really don't think that feeling is ever going to leave -- the realization that we have a healthy, happy child here in the home! Really?!?! Such nonsense may sound crazy to you, but that shocking feeling seems to hit me almost daily. Thankful can't even begin to describe it.

A dear friend recently endured her second loss (in 8 months) and it has brought on many feelings about our three that have kind of hidden in the background for awhile now. While I hurt for her and her angels, I can't help but then think about Jacob, Jordan, and Olivia along with her two. I hate that baby loss is so common -- more common than people think. I hate that I've seen so much of it (personally) that it almost feels normal. I hate that as I watch friends and family near the end of their pregnancy, I can't help but think, "You're not there yet, things can still happen." It's terrible, yet I can't shake it. Will I ever? Most likely not.

This blog is kind of all over the place. I'm really enjoying life in El Paso, which is something I never thought I would say. That is...before we moved here. So many people told me horribly negative comments about this town, and yet we've totally enjoyed ourselves! We still miss things that other large cities have to offer that they're lacking here, but it's been a great experience thus far.

Samuel and I seem to stay pretty busy during the week, and while he gets to be around other kids quite often, he has severe separation anxiety. The child care workers at our church (that are also there for my Bible study) know him well, yet they had to page us before the sermon even started this morning because of how much he was crying. The poor guy! He sure loves his momma! He won't even let go of me during the first half of story time at the library, for fear that I'm going to leave him there -- at least that's my assumption by the way he handles it.

To continue on this random post, I think I mentioned how Samuel said goodbye to his crib and is now on a twin mattress. The kid is trying to grow up faster than I can handle! He's doing so much better with the whole sleeping thing now that he has his big boy bed. He still would rather dance the night away than go to bed when other children his age go to bed, but oh well. He's a night owl like his momma -- what can I say? So there are nights where putting him to bed can take several hours, then other nights where he passes out before 8pm. It's always an adventure with the Sam-man. His new bunkbed should arrive in about a week -- here's hoping the transition goes well!!!

So now that I've pretty much covered a variety of topics, I can't go before posting a few pictures...

We had a fabulous time in San Antonio over Jake's weekend (His Angelversary is Sept. 4th, so we've always considered Labor Day weekend a time to remember him). How has it been NINE years since we said goodbye to our first born son?!?! I'm thankful that this is the second Angelversary for Jacob that we were able to honor and remember him with his little brother, Samuel, by our side...

Because the new format for Blogger is not as friendly with the way I add pictures, I'm just going to save time and add a slideshow...

Sooooo...here's a slideshow of pictures from our trip...

And before I go, here's a set of pictures that I took earlier tonight of the big 15 month old...my 2T wearing, 13 teeth biting, crazy, nonstop little boy...