Carving Pumpkins

Last night, we carved our pumpkins, and Samantha had the best time helping us clean out the insides ... saving the seeds so that we could roast them after she went to bed. We carved three pumpkins, one for each of us and before we were all done, Samantha definitely needed a wardrobe change!

Steve's pumpkin is a simple design with a skull coming out of it. It looks so scary when we put a light inside of it and the skull is completely illuminated. Samantha's pumpkin is a traditional face and mine is a kitty cat. I did a similar pumpkin for Halloween when I was pregnant with Samantha, so I guess that I decided to carry on the tradition. Hopefully I will be able to take some pictures of the illuminated pumpkins tonight after trick-or-treating.

This was Mommy's pumpkin

Touching the gooey seeds for the first time

Helping Mommy with her pumpkin

Such a good helper

Cleaning out her own pumpkin

"Am I doing a good job, Mommy?"

The finished products (after a quick wardrobe change)

Fun with Play-Doh

Yesterday, we bought Samantha some play-doh at the store. I didn't really know that she had an interest in it until we started going to our local playgroup and she was able to play with it there. Boy, was she ever excited just carrying it around in the shopping cart with her!

After she got up from her nap, we set her up in the kitchen and she played with it for such a long time ... In fact, she cried when I told her that it was time for dinner and that we needed to clean it up. I promised that we could play with it again today. I'm excited about this activity because there are a lot of shapes that we can work with and we can practice her fine motor skills using the kid-friendly plastic "scissors" and "knife" that are included in the kit.

Using the "knife"

Showing Mommy how to roll the play-doh out

The Great Syrup Incident of 2010

Yesterday, while I was preparing breakfast, Samantha went into the pantry ... and unbeknownst to me, got out the maple syrup. She then proceeded to take the syrup into the back living room (adjacent to the kitchen) and pour half of the bottle all over the wooden rocking chair and rug that it was sitting on. I caught her in mid-act, otherwise it could have been the whole bottle. Wow -- what a mess! I was able to clean the rocking chair and floor (after three separate washings) and the rug came clean after a nice, hot bath in the washing machine. All in all, it could have been worse ...

Today, my little helper decided to unload the clean silverware from the dishwasher (one of her favorite jobs), and then group it all together on the kitchen floor. It kind of defeated the purpose of washing it in the first place. Oh, well. I guess it just keeps me on my toes, trying to be two steps ahead of her at all times!

"Aren't I a good helper, Mommy?"

Daddy's Home!

Steve arrived home from China on Thursday night (after being gone for the last 2 1/2 weeks)! He will have to leave again soon, but we are enjoying our time together as a family as much as we can until that day comes ...

Samantha was SO excited to see him when he came home. Of course, he brought her some new stuffed animals which she is cherishing so much and the giggling has not stopped in this household. She really loves her daddy.

And how cute is she in her little Halloween shirt??! It reads, "Mommy says I am BOO-tiful."

Following in Mommy's Footsteps ...

I have the luxury of doing two things that I love -- I am primarily a stay-at-home mom, but then for a few hours a night, a few nights a week, I am a chemistry professor. I couldn't be happier ...

Samantha has recently developed a fascination with my lab coat and goggles that I use on the nights that I teach lab. The other day, she took them out of my bag and tried to put both of them on by herself. It was a rather haphazard job and I started to chuckle as I helped her to put them on in a more organized fashion. Here is my little chemist, following in Mommy's footsteps:

"I could be your assistant, Mommy!"

Fall Fun

Fall is my favorite time of year! I love the Fall colors; I love the Fall scents; and I love crisp, cool mornings. The weather was so beautiful this weekend that I took advantage of the opportunity to capture some of the essence of Fall with Samantha. We're still working on smiling on cue (she is a pretty serious child), but I love the natural pictures anyways. She seems to be growing up SO fast ... Enjoy!

So many pumpkins to choose from

Pumpkins and gourds galore

A quick shot with Mommy

"This is so much fun, Mommy!"

Looking serious for the camera

So grown-up

Ultrasound

Yesterday was the day of my ultrasound, and it was such an exciting day for me. While I was sad that Steve couldn't be there (he is still in China), I was anxious to see our little one on the screen and know that he/she is healthy. We have chosen to be surprised about the gender of the baby (just as we were surprised about Samantha), but the chance to see the little one's profile and movement was just as thrilling for me. The baby was incredibly active (probably because I had just eaten lunch) and I got to watch as he/she was practicing breathing -- it looks like hiccups.

The baby is very healthy and measuring in the 57% percentile for being 19 weeks along. The doctor would like to see the baby stay right around this percentile for size in order to make the delivery a little easier for both me and the doctor. Samantha's delivery was a struggle, not because of her size, but because of my bone structure.

The other interesting thing is that because this baby is sitting very high, my belly is measuring closer to 23 weeks along (4 weeks ahead of schedule). This doesn't concern the doctor because he knows from the ultrasound that the baby is right on track with its size.

I am so thankful and relieved to know that everything is progressing nicely with this pregnancy and the development of our little one. I fell more in love with this baby (if that is possible) after I saw it moving around on the screen. I can't wait to meet him or her in a few more months!

The profile (looking up)

Look at those feet!

Cookie Day

Last weekend, we went next door to partake in Cookie Day at the neighbor's house. It was so much fun for Samantha to decorate some of her very own cookies -- probably a few too many sprinkles, but they were SO good ...

Lots of sprinkles

Spreading the frosting and sprinkles around on her "bat" cookie

More sprinkles

Some of our finished cookies (you can tell which ones were Samantha's!)

Play Day!

Friday was a big "play day" for us. In the morning, we attended a PlayGroup in Laingsburg for the first time. It is designed for toddlers and is held in the preschool room in the local school. For the first 40 minutes, the kids have "unorganized play," where they go around the room and play with anything or anyone that they want. There are tables set-up with different activities if the children want to partake. One of those activities was finger-painting, something that we have never done before and decided to give it a try.

After unorganized play, the children then must clean-up the room together before we sit down in a circle and sing songs. The hour concludes with a snack. Of course, my daughter was the one that ate ALL of her snack and then helped herself to the other plates ...

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After lunch and a quick nap, we headed to my friend's house for a playdate with her two girls. Sydney is 4 years old and Keira is only a month older than Sam. The girls had a great time together and it made for a very fun and exciting day for Samantha.

Potter Park Zoo

The weather was so nice on Thursday that my mom and I decided to take Samantha to the local zoo (Steve is in China ... again). We were so glad that we went because Samantha had SO MUCH fun! She is at the perfect age where she recognizes most of the animals and gets so excited as we move from one exhibit to another ...

At the aquarium

Up close and personal

What a cute little head!


Observing the sleeping lioness

Taking time for a quick photo