Sam Crackin' Up

We were over at our friends house (Hollie and Hugh) a couple weeks ago and Sam went crazy. I wanted to post the video Hollie took of him cracking up hysterically. I was only making funny faces, but he was pretty slap-happy. Enjoy!

Super Sam the Lady's Man

We had a great Mother's Day weekend with our friends and family! Jeff, Shannon and Maggie flew in from Texas and Hugh, Hollie and Laney came in from Youngsville to hang out with us and attend Sam's dedication. Bill's mother, sister, brother-in-law, nephew, aunt, and uncle all came in too. Plus, Holly, Matt and Chad stopped by for a visit. It was wonderful to have so many people around who love us.

I thought I'd include some photos from the weekend to show you how adorable all of our kids are. One of our friend's previously nicknamed Sam "Super Sam the Lady's Man" and here's a picture to prove it! This is Maggie, Sam and Laney.



Here is Sam before the big event. He's wearing my brother's hat from when we were infants. This hat commands a lot of attention on Sam. I think it brings out the blue in his eyes, and I have actually watched many a grown man's heart melt at seeing Sam in it. Of course, a small grin doesn't hurt.




His Mamaw Gilbert bought him the outfit. I was going to let him wear one that my father and both my brother's were dedicated in, but he is just too little as of yet. Still, this little jumper is adorable. Mary Ella, you have great taste!

Here we are with Sam. We clean up good. Below that picture is one of us with Dr. Ron Rowe, our pastor. He told a lovely story about praying over Sam last July while he was still in my belly. It was especially sweet. By the way, I am not pregnant - it's just the way the shirt is designed.





And, just for fun, I thought I'D post a preggo picture of Shannon. I love this one!



Shannon, you're beautiful!

We had such a grandios time seeing all of my family in Tennessee. I wanted to post a few pictures to show that you actually can capture what love looks like.

Here are all the great grandparents getting ready to take a photo. Sam is eating Memaw's camera string.



Then, Sam did something adorable and you can see the love in Memaw's eyes. Actually, it was very difficult to get a picture with Memaw looking into the camera - she couldn't help but lovingly watch her great grandson.



Here they are - googley-eyed.



And, the posed-picture is set-up beautifully...



Also, my girlfriend, Germaine, told me about a cool product that allows babies to feed themselves. I purchased said-product and Sam really loves eating bananas out of it. It's just a mesh bag that holds cooked or raw food or even ice. It worked really well when Sam was teething last week.



My grandmother TOTALLY surprised me with a party on Saturday that was Christmas-themed. She remembered that I really missed being with family at Christmas-time, so she got a tree and presents wrapped in Christmas paper and even a cake that said Merry Christmas. All of the great grandchildren (sans two) were there. Here they are with their great grandparents.



One of Sam's cousins is only nine days younger than him. Here he and Cole are getting to know each other. PS Cole is such a looker!






Mamaw came to the party too. Here we all are together.



And here I am with Sam. I thought this was a sweet picture.



And, finally, here we are with Uncle Patrick and Brian. Sam LOVED being with Pat.

TRAVEL, TRAVEL, TRAVEL

We have been traveling so much over the last month since we've been in the States. I take that back, we've already been back five weeks. Time is really flying. We've only spent a total of seven days in our own home in Raleigh.

The first visit we made was to my relatives who were in Charlotte, NC. Here is a picture of my brother, Adam, Great Aunt Joyce, Uncle Jack, me, my father and Sam. Sam slept in Dad's arms for a long time that day. Poor little thing was still jetlagging.



Then we drove to SC and visited Bill's sister, nephew and brother-in-law. Here is Sam hanging out with Jacque and Nicholas.



And, Sam with Danny. Sam had a good time spitting up all over Danny the next morning. Danny was such a good sport about it.



The next trip we took was to Sevierville, TN. We met the Patton family and fell in love! Here we are with Doug and Nina.


The Pattons had a beautiful house in the mountains. Their home has enormous windows in it and lots of birds fly into those windows every week. This yellow bird was one of the stunned ones.



Next, our travels took us to Goodlettsville, TN. My grandmother, Mary Ella, also fell in love with Sam. He loves her too.



And, here Sam is with my Uncle Scott and Aunt Beth just before a black-tie party. Sam did great and didn't spit up at all. Phew!



I was so thrilled when we got to see my Granddaddy Sam and Memmaw (Angie). Here Sam is with his namesake. He absolutely LOVES being with Granddaddy.



We took a trip to Kentucky to visit with Scott and Beth. Scott entertained Sam with an instrument I had purchased in China for him. Sam loved to watch him play it.



In fact, Scott and Beth's house was filled with fun stuff for Sam to enjoy. Here Sam is listening to and playing the drums in Scott's music room.



We still have a couple more days here and then we're back to Sevierville, Greenville and finally Raleigh. I can't wait to get back and settled down for ten days before we travel to Columbia. Geeze, this is tiring! Sam sure is taking it all in stride.