Best 29th Birthday!

Yep, you all heard it 29! One more year to 30 :( Birthdays are so much more exciting with kids, Sami was so happy and excited. I got great gifts and had a very nice dinner at Olive Garden with Paul, Sami, my in-laws, sister-in-law and soon to be brother-in-law!

Dora Show

Samantha is 95% potty trained. Only a diaper at night. For her reward we promised her the Dora Live Show. The only day we could go was on Easter, but it worked out great. We went to the 11am show and with it being Easter we drove into the city in 30min and got out in 45. She had a great time and was very star struck :) I think Daddy had the best time with his Star:)

Easter

We're off to see the Wizard.....

Sami's favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz. Last month I saw a commerical that it was coming to Madison Square Garden Theater, so of course we got tickets. Sami had a great time she was so excited. Her favorite part was Munchkin Land and her favorite charater was Toto. After the show we walked around the city, had dinner at Planet Hollywood, took Sami to Toys R Us and went home on the train. We had a great time and Sami says she loved it. This was our test to see if she can sit through a broadway and she did wonderful, so hopefully this summer we take her to Little Mermaid :)

Crazy Hair Day

Every friday at daycare they have a "special" day. This last week was crazy hair day. As you can see she was so excited. When I got her to school, we were the only ones that remembered it :) She was still excited. We also have great news, she is almost completely potty trained! Yeah!!! As her reward Paul and I are taking her on Easter to Radio City Music Hall for the Dora Live Show, she is so excited. I am so happy that in April and May when we come to Utah no diapers to have to worry about! Yeah! :)

Sick and still a Monkey :)

1st month down, I lost 11.6lbs! :)

Daddy's Girl

Sami is definitely Daddy's Girl. Lately every day when he comes home from work she hides in the dining room to jump out yelling boo. Paul will act all scared and she gets the biggest kick out of it. It is so sweet to see the beautiful bond they have. She has always been a very loving snugly baby, but lately she is very loving, especially with her Daddy. I hope you all enjoy the pic, I think it is one of my favorites! :)

The Challenge is On!

Paul and I started a weight loss challenge January 6th to May 19th. As you all may know we have Megan's wedding May 28th and Dani's (my cousin) wedding in St. George June 5th. I am the Maid of Honor for both weddings & Paul is an groomsmen in both. We figured we better get our hineys in gear! For a little motivation, at the end of the 20 weeks, the person who lost the most percentage (to be fair) of weight gets to take $1,000 from our savings account and do what ever they want with it. This first week went great, we ate very good, didn't even cheat once :) I have been working out every morning for 40 min on the elliptical, every night for 50 min and with my weight trainer on friday nights. Paul has been working out when he can, but he has been very busy with work and working late hours. We had our first weigh in last night and my hard work paid off, I lost 5.6lbs, Paul lost 2 lbs which was great considering he only was able to work out one night. I am way above my goal! Wish me luck, I want that $1,000! :)

Samantha's Christmas Pics

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. This was the first time that I had to cook for Thanksgiving. I was so nervous, even though I usually cook a turkey for Christmas Eve, it was very nerve racking with more people coming. It turned out delicious and Paul helped me so much! I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Update on Zeus

Email received from Russell Rescue-

Paul and Brittany - here are some more pictures of Zeus - they just ADORE this dog - thank you for allowing us to help you place him in a happy forever setting - kindly, Pauline, Russell Refuge, NY Here is what his new mom wrote about Zeus: Here are some photos of Zeus and Trout (and me). Zeus is on my lap as I write this. He and Trout are the greatest of friends and playmates. They run all over the house all day long. They have their dog training lesson together. By evening they are a little tired from wrestling with each other. It is the funniest thing to watch because Trout is twice as big as Zeus, but she treats him so carefully while still "roughing him up." Trout like to jog with us. We are going to see if Zeus wants to work up to this, too, once his feet heal. They already look much less inflamed. He got a cortisone shot on Saturday for the skin condition (along with the rest of the regular vaccinations he lacked) and is taking antibiotics for 10 days or so. At night he is in our bed. He is like a little wooly lamb. We love him SO MUCH!!! He is the ideal fit for our household. What a great dog. We are so incredibly lucky. Thank you so much!

Halloween 2008

Work

Zeus's New Home

For those of you that didn't hear already, we had to give our male Jack Russell Zeus to the Russell Refuge of NY. Ove the past 2 years it has become very hard to manage 2 dogs, Sami and work. We didn't have enough time for him and he started acting out by marking all over our couch and chair. Paul took him to the Russell Resuce last tuesday and wednesday he was adopted by a family that live in Manhattan. His new family sent this picture with his new sibling Trout. He has his own room with Trout and window overlooking 2nd Avenue. The new family also has a summer house in Connecticut. His new mom was the head of the Humane Society of Manhattan, so we feel he is in the perfect home. It was very hard on me and Sami. Sami told Paul that Zeus is her bestfriend. It was very heartbreaking, but it is the best thing we could do for him. Madison is a very calm Jack Russell, where Zeus was very wild. Madison is doing great she has gone back to her old behavior before Zeus. She doesn't seem sad at all. We are just so grateful that the Refuge could find an excellent home for Zeus.

Carving Pumpkins

Sunday we went to Hicksville Nursey. They have a small walk-thru called Otto the Ghost for kids, very cute. At the end of the walk-thru Otto was there to greet the kids, Sami was very nervous :) Outside they had animals you could feed, a hayride and pumpkins. It was too cold and windy to do the hayride and Sami wasn't too interested in the animals she was on a mission to get pumpkins. Later Sunday night Paul carved Snow White and the Witch and Sami colored her baby pumpkins. We baked the seeds...yum! It was a very fun day and it is so exciting that this year Sami is so involved in holidays! Can't wait for Christmas :)

Utah

We recently spent 4 days in Utah. This was the first time Sami got to see her cousin Rowan, she instantly fell in love with him. She thought he was a real life baby doll. They were very cute together. We had a great time in Utah. Kelsey's wedding was beautiful and a lot of fun! It was so good to see everyone, but the visit was too short.

1st Ballet Class

Samantha started ballet today. She loved it! She was very upset when the class ended. The class was 45 min long, just enough for the teacher :) It was very trying to have all the girls positioned all at the same time and listening all at the same time. It was cute to say the least! :)

Daddy's 35th Birthday

Saturday we celebrated Paul's 35th Birthday, he is an old man! :) Samantha had a great time, I took her to the store to buy him something and she choose a balloon, but it had to be a Dora balloon. She was so excited to give it to him. Her favorite part was the ice cream cake. Every time she ate some of the cake she made this face. When she was about 9 months old she used to make this face for us, we called it the scary face, we hadn't seen her do it for almost a year now. We were so happy to see it again, our little scary faced comedian! :)

School Shopping

We know she is only 2 :), but we had to take advantage of the back to school shopping, especially at our favorite store Gymboree! Sami was so excited about her new clothes for the fall she had to model them. She also got a Dora backpack at Target. Dora is our favorite show, she can even count to 10 in spanish. I was reading a Dora book to her last night and we learned she knew how to count in spanish, maybe she is watching too much! :) She has become a TV bug since she doesn't watch all day at daycare, we have been trying to ween her off so much. She had a great day at the mall today shopping for school clothes, shopping is her favorite hobby :)

St. Rocco's Feast

Today we went to a Feast in Glen Cove NY at St. Rocco's RC Church. It was a lot of fun. Sami had a great time on all the rides. This video is the first time she has ever gone on a ride by herself. She loved it!