Summer Love

So, I'm a little behind on making Samuel's Paw Patrol letter worksheets, but for good reason. We spent a week in our hometown (Indianapolis) and just got back late last night. It was the first time we had been home in almost 3 years. It's hard to believe Samuel was 18 months old the last time we visited! Overall, we had a great time! I'm thankful Samuel was able to play with his cousins and Caleb was able to finally meet everyone (at 15 months old)!

It's A Party, It's A Party For Samuel!!!

Our little miracle turned TWO years old on Friday! I'm still trying to grasp the idea of having a two year old...where did time go?!

To celebrate his big day, we threw a Yo Gabba Gabba party for him on Saturday with some of his little friends here in El Paso. I'd like to think it turned out fairly well. With the temp being around 102 and the sun shining bright, the water games were quite a hit. It was definitely fun to see Samuel party it up with his little friends. In fact, he had such a blast that he passed out immediately after everyone left -- the sweet boy!

Chaos Company...

As always, I feel like it's been forever since I have been on here and am not really sure where to even begin. The last month has FLOWN by! Samuel spent time with all of his grandparents, James took Command over Chaos Company, I became the FRG (Family Readiness Group) Leader of that company, and we've somehow been busier than ever while James is away in the field. I am really starting to think I'm going to have to start scheduling in free time so we can just veg out every once in awhile. After all, Samuel barely has a chance to play with his toys these days and that needs to change. Being busy is great when James is gone, though, so I suppose it's a good thing that our days are flying by...

A Busy Month...

March was a very busy month for the Moore family. Looking back, it seems like it was rare if we even got one day a week to just hang out at home and let Samuel play with his toys. I'm starting to wonder what the point of having them is if he never gets to use them, ha. Samuel and I are part of a few different mom/toddler groups, so between meet ups with them, birthday parties, tumble tots, story time, and now speech therapy, "the boy" was constantly on the go. Oh, and how can I forget? Samuel got to meet the gang from Gabba Land in person! March was definitely a fun month...

Here, I was actually looking forward to aiming for a slower month in April, but it looks like it will be quite the opposite. We recently found out James will be taking Command here in less than 2 weeks and with that, I'll be the new FRG (Family Readiness Group) Leader. It's a very exciting time, but also very hectic. I'm super happy for James! He'll be in charge of Chaos Company. Ha. Every time I hear that, it makes me laugh. Chaos 6...it's very fitting, ha. And what better timing? They'll be prepping for their big field problem almost immediately following the COC. Chaotic to say the least. :)

To make the month of March even better, it also included Obadiah's 11th birthday. Our little old man enjoyed his day with his own bottle of beer and lots and lots of treats. How is it possible that he's 11 already?! Sweet Obie.

I had more to write, but nothing is coming to mind now, so I'll leave whatever it was that I wanted to say for later and finish up with a few pictures...

While at the Yo Gabba Gabba concert, they told us no DSLRs were allowed, so here we are with our old school PnS while waiting for the show to begin...

Samuel LOVED the bubbles!

But he wasn't so sure about meeting his favorite characters in real life...

Poor Samuel. He loves YGG, but between the live show and his 1st Birthday cake, he can also get very emotional when around his friends...

Samuel's first concert t-shirt, ha...

And here's one of the many videos taken while we were there. You can tell it was an emotional night for Sam...

On a different note, I've been loving watching Samuel have fun at the various play dates...

The toddler version of kettle bells right here, ha.

Observing the older kids as they build with lincoln logs...

And here's a typical pic of Samuel at tumble tots...

Fast forward to later in the month, here's Samuel at his buddy, Chase's birthday party...

Since it's already so warm out, Orange Leaf is a must. I suppose it doesn't hurt that it's within walking distance of our house...

Last but not least, here's our old man. Happy 11th Birthday, Obie!!!

Now on to April...I can only hope that things slow down and that we're able to enjoy every moment!

A Wonderful Visit With The Grandparents...

I'm very thankful for the fact that even though we live far away from family due to James' job, we're still able to have constant visits with them. For a little over a week, my parents were here and a certain little boy was in HEAVEN. As I'm sure I've mentioned in the past, Samuel and my dad are BFFs. In fact, during this trip, Samuel would run to the guest bedroom yelling, "Da-DAAA, Da-DAAA, Da-DAAA" as he called out for Grandpa Grant. The boy doesn't talk much at all, but he sure loves his Grandpa!

We had a great visit. We hit up the space museum in Alamogordo, NM, as well as White Sands National Monument. Why it took us this long to get up there is beyond me, but I'm glad we finally saw it! The rest of our time together was spent doing projects -- like cutting/sewing Molly Bears inserts and the Pinterest project that I blogged about yesterday -- and spoiling the little man rotten with attention. It was sweet...even my dad got involved in helping with the MB inserts during Samuel's afternoon nap.

As I'm sure it comes as no surprise, we broke out the good camera to get a ton of pictures of Samuel with his grandparents. Here are a few from our time at White Sands, NM. Sadly, they were all taken at the first stop where it's not nearly as beautiful/breath-taking as it is if you continue further into the area. However, by that time, Sam was done and we didn't bother getting the camera out...

Grandpa, slow down! I'm coming!

I couldn't resist...

The sweet boy and his dad...

Love these two. They're so cute!

Samuel always refuses to wear his sunglasses. However, after a little while, he decided he was finally willing to try on his daddy's...

He still wasn't so sure about the idea of covering his eyes, ha...

Total success! Now if only he'd be willing to wear his own on a normal basis. :)

And, of course, a little family shot. That boy is getting SO big!

Fast forward to the day my parents left, my mom asked if I could take a few quick pictures of the three of them one last time. Samuel wasn't exactly in the picture taking mode, so a few of them turned out rather amusing. People frequently tell me how much he communicates through his eyes (instead of talking) -- you can definitely see it in some of the pics, ha. In fact, I was told that again during the speech therapy meeting earlier today. Sweet Sam...you have no issue telling us how you feel with those eye brows...

Looking a little concerned about what Grandma Julie is about to do to him, hahaha.

I've got Grandpa Grant, Grandma Julie, and my (LeapFrog) cell phone -- what more do I need?

Oh, those eyebrows...

Love seeing how much these two adore him...

It's always sad to see them go. Luckily, there's talk about another visit in June when Samuel turns 2. It can't come soon enough for this boy!