Uncle Andrew is home from Brazil!

We're a little behind on posts because we've had a lot going on. Andrew came home from his mission on January 19th and quickly found himself a resident of Provo attending BYU. He and Sam have become buddies. Andrew has been staying with us while he gets settled.

We got new carpet a few weeks ago and we are so excited to see progress on the house. Unfortunately we found that we have to replace a wall in what is supposed to be Samuel's room so that sets the finish date back again. Daniel thinks he can get that all finished this weekend and then we will be able to use every room in the house. Exciting!

Sammy is such a mommy's boy! Look how sad he is if he doesn't get his way.
Who are we kidding? When doesn't he get his way?

Sam loves his frogs.

Activity Island

Sammy got an Activity Island for Christmas. The first half of the clip shows when we first put Sam in it. After about 2 weeks he learned how to move around. He enjoys running around the little Island and playing with it.

Sammy talking

At about two and a half months Sammy started to try to communicate and talk to us

first video of Sammy

First video of Sammy (English version)

Sammy loves to play with his cousins. Here he is with Jaden my cousin Amanda's little boy.

When we got back home Sam got to know his cousin Adam. We had fun visiting with Nick and Cassi and were sorry to have missed Chris, Lindsay, and Madison. It is so fun to see these babies together.

Speaking the universal language of babyhood: "AAAhhh"

Adam smiles on cue! What sweet kids.

Boys being boys.

Sam got to open one of his Christmas presents early. This activity table is from Grandma Hobbs. Sam can walk all the way around it. It plays music and makes noises. He loves it.

We spent Christmas with my parents. Sam wasn't sure what it was all about, but he enjoyed himself. I think his favorite part was the wrapping paper.

This is Sam opening a present from Uncle Pablo.

It's a walker and scooter to ride on when the weather is a little nicer. Sam was very excited.
This is a drum from Mom and Dad. Sam likes to be noisy. You should hear him squeal and say "bla bla bla"
This is an alphabet finger puppet book from Grandma. Sam got lots of great presents.
A sleepy Christmas baby.

Early Sunday morning there was a knock at our door. Having arrived home very late the night before due to the terrible road conditons from Salt Lake back to Provo, and assuming it was just the poor little young men out in the bitter cold collecting fast offerings I chose to ignore it. Later that morning when my brain began functioning again and I realized it wasn't even Fast Sunday I got curious about the early morning caller. Sam and I were looking out the window at all the freshly fallen snow and noticed something strange in the front yard. The picket fence was missing! On the door there was a scrap of paper with simply a name and phone number. The fence wrecker obviously knew we would easily figure out what it was all about. I want to put a sign in the yard that says, "See what happens when you hooligans go so fast around this corner."

I think this is the most snow we've had since we've lived in this house. Daniel got a great workout shoveling and Sam was pretty fascinated with this new white world.

We're starting Sam early on the family beverage. His Coke cup is one of his new favorite toys. He's got the hang of it.

We have lots of pictures to post today. Last week we made Sammy a fort and he said it was pretty cool.

He is learning and growing so fast. He pays more attention to the things around him and moves around pretty well. He can get frustrated when he can't reach what he wants. He has just realized there is a mobile on his swing.

He loves to sit up, but he still needs a little bit of spotting. He likes to play in his bed or on the floor with "Boppy" for support.

We put up our Christmas tree and Sam loves all the lights. I took lots of pictures of him with his "Baby's first Christmas" bib and a stuffed dog that barks Christmas songs.

We've been so busy lately that we haven't been posting new pictures. Sam and Daniel hang out together when I work in the evenings. Here is Dad and his little buddy.

Sam is getting smarter and smarter everyday. He is so much more interactive. He tries to mimic us and investigates everything. He is so fun.