house arrest
We still haven't been up to much besides playing around at home but it gives me a chance to see what Samantha's really up to these days. Two of my favorite new things : )
*Samantha is sooooooo big (say it or ask her how big she is and she'll put both arms up)
*Samantha puckered up for kisses today for the first time
I'm working on clapping but it's taking a while. She'll clap and bang her toys together but not her empty hands. Up this week on the food front is ground beef.
Another boring post. Maybe soon I'll be able to clear my head and post something deep and meaningful...I'm thinking it just not up to writing it out yet.
shopping trip
It was a gorgeous day. Too bad the lawn company decided to mow the subdivision today! It was super breezy and they were working all.day.long. We made the best of it and ran to babies r us and old navy this morning. Samantha was freaking hilarious at bru. I was washing her cart cover when we left so I strapped her into the bjorn. She was arching trying to see everything. I thought she was going to pull an exorcist and her head would swivel around at one point. She was looking at everything and started screeching when we walked into the toy section. We took our time looking and touching everything, finally deciding on a pull/push along turtle and a Sesame Street book. I wish I could have bought her the store she was so cute and happy : )
happy Easter
for the record I L.O.V.E holiday weekends. I am just so incredibly tired afterwards it's hard to seem like it. I was super cranky by the end of the day today but it happens I suppose. Or it's the fact that I didn't get into bed until after 1 am Saturday night and had my usual 5 am nursing session with Samantha only to have her wake up for good at 7. But I digress...
Friday was a typical night here at the bolt house...dinner and talks of a movie but the night ends with Adam passing out on the couch and me taking Brody out and going to bed without waking him to come upstairs. But Saturday all the fun started! First I met up with Rachel and Michelle for sushi to catch up. So much fun. After sushi I stopped quickly at caputos to get the ingredients for my dishes today. It was beyond a madhouse and I'm so glad I didn't need anything from the deli. Disaster with a capital D. After the errands and few hours of getting things together here we took off for Riverside for the rest of the weekend.
Samantha went down for a nap like a champ when we got there so we hung out with all the parents/babysitters while they ate pizza. She woke, I fed her and we snuck out for Will's surprise dinner. We went out for tapas at a restaurant in their building. It was delicious and it was soooooo nice to see everyone. We got back to my parents super late (for me) and luckily Samantha went down for Grandma Sue no problems and had been sleeping ever since. Success!!
Today was a nice day relaxing with the family. Samantha was her usual lovely self and totally adapted to napping in her pack n play. The below wasn't taken today, but it's pretty much how she is every day. Playing with her toys and giggling at something silly mama is doing.
It may not be thanksgiving but I am extra thankful for my husband, our daughter, and our families today. They all make my days brighter 
I call it like I see it
Samantha crawls. She moves her hands and her knees together to move in one direction. 95% of the time it's backwards. On a rare occasion she'll go forward. She's not zooming around me in circles yet. I don't think I have too much more time until then however. Over the past few days she'll get much further from her starting point in shorter spans of time. From the time I got up to walk to the fridge and back to the floor to play she had gone from the coffee table to Brody's toys (o joy of joys). This week I'm going to analyze the situation here so we can move some things, ground some things - namely the shelf in the corner, remove and/or bundle all electric cords, and come up with a decent looking way to block the way to the back of the TV. Oh, and the main thing, find a magical way to help Samantha not be afraid of the vacuum. With her scooting off her blanket it's really important to begone of all the Brody hairs. I guess I or Adam can just do it every night before/after dinner so one of us is around to hold her. We'll see.
We made a family trip to the library this weekend. I'm not overly impressed with the kids section. I keep comparing it to the Riverside Library and while if I remember correctly it's not like it was perfect it was nicer than this. But she's still to young to care anyways and they're voting this week to expand the library anyhoo. Adam got a number of books and I checked out two total chick books. This was late morning Saturday. Sunday evening at 12:15 am I finished the first book. Apparently I have more me time than I thought.
The weather is crazy...why is it snowing in April!?!? But we made it out before it all started and went to lunch today with BT and Brie to finally have that celebratory. We put Samantha in the high chair at Texas Roadhouse. She did good for about 20 minutes then wanted to be held. I'll take it, you have to start somewhere!!
godzilla and apples
I wanted to try and sort through Samantha's clean laundry before her next nap so I put her on a blanket in her room and brought the laundry in there to do on the floor. She decided she wanted to help me. Help me by knocking down the stacks of clothes and literally throwing her socks all over the room. She was so cute each time she did something, looking up at me and smiling, even when I told her she was being godzilla. When we were done we played for a bit and started putting the toys away. The last thing to put away was the blanket and I pretended to wrap her up like my mom used to do to me. She got a kick out of it, laughing every time I put the blanket over her head. She smiles more and more each day, adding in longer and longer giggle spells. She thought it was hilarious when I put my coat over her head to protect her from the rain on they way in to target. There's nothing better to brighten up your day than that huge smile she's got, especially when it's directed at you. She's got my heart wrapped around her.
This morning we made apples! I'd say it was a success. First she started pushing them out but pretty quickly started sucking them back in. I'm trying to decide what to do on Friday...one more fruit before back to veggies or try another veggie. If you have any suggestions let me know! To make comments on the blog there is a register tab. Adam has to approve you first but then you can comment!
play time
Samantha is turning into one of those silly babies. You're all excited to break out some of her favorite toys and then all she's interested in is the box. One of my favorites to play with is the stacking toy Beth gave her for Christmas. Meet Kyle (it's a Kushie and I name most of her toys)
Up until about three weeks ago Samantha loved to play with all the parts, suck on Kyle's eyes, and have me squeeze the rings to make the different animal noises go off. However NOW Samantha is obsessed with the plastic cylinder that Kyle lives in. She gets mad at me if I move the lid or take the case away.
Today before one of her naps we were quieting down in her rocking chair and I dropped the picture book we were looking at. I bent over to get it and saw a pink bear that had fallen off the wall ledge. I propped the bear up on the arm of the chair to get book. I heard Samantha start laughing so I looked back at her and she was staring at the bear. I picked it up and wiggled it around and she laughed even harder. Actual laughs. Not just giggles. Later this afternoon we were playing on the floor. I was flying her and having her sit on my stomach. Brody was by the couch but started walking towards us. Samantha started laughing again. It was loud and long lived. I could have cried. She was just so happy at the smallest thing. It's simply amazing to watch how much she grows every single day. I am so lucky to be here with her.
sickly
Today was different. I'm getting over a cold, but I feel the most germy I have all week. Coughing a lot, sneezing, running nose. I asked Adam if he could help out today more than normal for a weekend. I just didn't want to chance getting her sick if I didn't have too. I laid in bed a bit this morning watching Sex and the City. I ran errands. Just kind of stayed away. It was weird. I missed playing with her.
I picked up a new toy for Samantha during my errands. A fishbowl from Lamaze. I love it and she seems to like it so far! They are by far my favorite brand of toys. We took some video of her playing with it, talking to the fishies. She's been talking up a storm lately. If you've seen her in the past two months you'd notice that when talking she kept her lips shut tight, if that makes any sense. The last few days she's started opening them again, I missed her babbling. When I was in bed I could hear her talking to Adam this morning, it was so cute.
This picture was from earlier this month. Ha, I was getting her bath ready for Adam this morning and I saw that we've been sitting her in the 'wrong' side for the past few months. I still had her sit in the newborn side, opps!
