Just another day in the life....

I think this is one of my favorite pictures ever of Carson.

Just another day....hanging out in the Bellagio's beautiful Chihuly inspired lobby....

It's tough - someone's gotta do it.

P.S. He wanted to dive into this fountain SO BAD.

Bellagio Christmas

One of the best things in Las Vegas is the Bellagio Conservatory.

Whenever anyone is here, you have to go.

The Christmas display does not disappoint.

Sam and Carson took in the sights today and they loved every minute.

All of the flowers are real, which is the coolest thing ever.

Carson was into the penguins and the igloo.

This is a polar bear made entirely of flowers.

Only in Vegas! I love it.

Diggin' that polar bear.

Growing up Sam

Sam is getting so big.

She is looking so grown up these days.

Here she models her new Chuck Taylors from Daddy.

They help people remember that she is a girl, not a boy.

Sam's vocabulary is growing - she says "Boo" for blueberries, "ba" for bird, "Dada", "Uh oh", "Doa" for Dora. And she is trying hard to run but it is not working out just yet.

When she sees the skunk in one of her books, she holds her nose.

She talks a lot about things that no one can understand.

She is already a toilet diving champion, much earlier than Carson was since she's spent half of her life in the potty with Carson.

She can climb up onto the couch, all by herself. (Yay!)

She's getting so big these days.

A 13 month old smart little lady with a whole life of fun ahead of her!

Gardens Park Christmas!

I took the kids to a Christmas celebration at our community park last Thursday.

It was adorable and the kids loved it.

It snowed there.....little teeny tiny bubbles that looked like snow.....

Awesome! My kind of snow.

Carson saw several "characters" that he loved.

He wanted his picture taken with all of them.

Needless to say, he cried the whole way home, saying

"Mommy, I miss the characters sooooo much!!"

Carson and Summerlin Sam.

Taking it all in from the BOB.

Examining the snow up close and personal.

Christmas is so fun this year with these curious little babes!

Santa was at this celebration, too.

There was a long line of people waiting to have their pictures taken with the big guy.

When I suggested it to Carson, his answer was.....drum roll please....

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

So we didn't. Maybe another time. ;)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun.

We cooked twice (Thursday and Saturday).

It was made a little bit stressful by the fact that Samantha threw up all over the place, seconds before the turkey hit the table on Thanksgiving. And continued to all weekend long.

As someone pointed out, at least she didn't throw up ON the turkey! (Very true.)

Our meals were fabulous though.

We had a special visit from Jenny and Ian, Baba and Papa, and Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Smith. We missed my family of course.

We have a lot of blessings this year and we gave thanks for all of them!

Samantha reading with Great Grandpa.

Reading some more, seconds before the hurling began.


Looking cute with some of her best buddies before dinner.

Concentrate

These are the faces of sheer concentration at its best.

Only the iPad could evoke such focus.

Sweet face

Tonight Carson said, "Mommy, I love spending time with you!"

Those little moments take my breath away.

What a sweet boy - I love him so much.