Nana and Papa

Nana and Papa came to visit Sam two weeks ago. Nana was so sweet to come down early and play with Sam all week while his daycare was closed. They had a great time going to the park, taking walks, and learning the sounds that animals make! Then Papa joined us for the weekend. Of course, we forgot to take pictures until the end of the week, but we got a few cute ones the day that Nana and Papa were leaving.

Here's Sam, experimenting eating his Cheerios with a big-boy spoon from a BIG-boy bowl!
Sam is all about animal noises these days. His favorite books the last couple weeks have been Old MacDonald and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? - because he can point at all the animals and say "Neigh!" or "Baaaa!" or "Ooof! Ooof!" (that last one is a doggie sound, by the way...) :) Here he is playing with our neighbor's "Meee-owww!"

Never one to sit still long -- he's outta here!

Homeward Bound and Homebound

Sam was sick last week...a nasty stomach bug that lasted about 5 or 6 days. When Sam has been sick before he's always rolled with the punches pretty well, but this one really hit him hard, and he was pretty miserable. Poor little guy. He made a big recovery this weekend and is back to his old self this week!

Even when he wasn't feeling well, he was still sweet enough to share his Cheerios with Annie...

While Sam was convalescing at home with Dad this weekend, I took a quick solo trip to Puerto Rico (!) for my friend Dimitri's wedding. It was so great to catch up with the Greenville crew, and the wedding was pretty amazing, but I sure missed my Snuggleman. I'll post some pics soon of the incredible hotel in San Juan (infiniti pools!).

We are loving life these days. It's pretty oppressively hot, which makes it hard for us to get outside with Sam (much to his chagrin), but he's growing so fast and doing so many cute things we don't mind being cooped up inside. Sam continues to do hilarious and adorable things every day. Right now he is a big fan of copying Mom & Dad. He likes to sit in chairs, talk on the phone, put Annie's leash on her, and even try on Mom's hats and jewelry (he thinks it's hilarious to take my bracelets off and put them on his wrist). Here are a few cute pics from the last couple of weeks.

On the Road this Summer!

We've been on the go this summer! Sam has been to Charlotte to meet his buddy Brady, to Isle of Palms in SC with his buddy Cohen, to Chip & Phy's lake house, to the beach in NC with Nana and Papa and mom's whole family, to the beach for mom's Bday, and to The River for July 4th where he met his buddy Frazier. He celebrated his birthday with Nana and Papa in NC while we were up there for July 4, and he had a very fun kiddie pool party with his friends during his b-day weekend at our house. We've been busy!

Here are a few of our favorite pics from our travels the past couple months...looking back at these pics, it's amazing how much Sam and his buddies have grown over the last three months!

In May, we went to Charlotte to meet Sam's buddy Brady and see Aunt Ashley & Uncle Ben. Look how little Brady was back then! Sam, too. Such cute little guys!

We even managed to squeeze in a visit to the Hathaway and the Joneses while we were there, too. We really miss our friends in Charlotte, and we love when we get to go back and visit!

On Memorial Day weekend, we went to the Tousey Lake House with Chip, Phy, Auntie Meredith, and Uncle Mike. Sam loved his introduction to the Lake House, and Annie had a great time running around and exploring!

On Saturday, we had fun playing at the lake before heading home to celebrate Memorial Day!


In May, Sam had a great time in Isle of Palms with his buddy Cohen. We spent a long weekend there with the Hathaways, and it was a lot of fun for the boys AND their parents! The guys had a great time playing together on the beach and in our condo.

They had so much fun riding to the beach in Cohen's wagon.
Sam's ready for Bocci already!
At naptime, Sam loved sleeping in his beach tent. He's so snuggly!

On one of our few weekends at home, we caught some great pictures of Sam...


Sam LOVES his kiddie pool! Thank goodness for it -- it's the only outdoor activity we can enjoy in the sweltering Jacksonville heat these days.
In June, we drove up to Emerald Isle, NC for the Swarming Stricklands' beach week. Sam had a blast with all his second cousins and hanging out with Nana, Papa, and Uncle David for a nice, long week! Sam truly loves the beach - especially the water!
Nana and Papa taught him how to play soccer!
Sam enjoying a little breakfast with all his cousins. The Strickland family just keeps growing!
Hallie was very sweet and played with Sam all week!
Playing on the pier with Dad...
...and Snuggling with Papa!
More fun on the beach with mom!
On Sunday, we celebrated Father's Day and Mom's birthday on I-95, as we drove back to Jacksonville...
We drove back up to NC again for July 4th weekend to meet Sam's newest buddy, sweet little Frazier Jones!

Our patriotic little man (his name IS Sam, and he WAS born in July) had a great time celebrating our nation's birth and celebrating his own birthday a little early with Nana and Papa (they have all the pics, so we'll have to post those later!).
Ahhh, relaxing at the River...

Crazy Uncle Wes and Dynomite Tousey!
Sam had fun fishing with Dad...

Some things change, some things stay the same...
Then Sam helped Aunt Allyn, Uncle Wes, and Uncle Chris with a MINOR repair...
A fun July 4th at the River...
And after all our travels, Sam helped unpack!

ONE AMAZING YEAR!

Sam is ONE YEAR OLD!

It's hard to believe it's true. Since July 9 of last year, Sam has morphed before our eyes...from a sweet little bundle who loved to sleep curled up on our chests and loved nothing in the world more than swinging in his lamb swing into a giggling, walking, talking, independent little man who still knows how to give the best hugs in the world.

We've celebrated so many milestones along the way...smiling, holding his head up, holding toys, sitting up, eating solid foods, SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT(!), crawling, standing, feeding himself, and walking. He's gone from sitting in my lap (mostly sleeping) while I read "Goodnight Moon" and "Guess How Much I Love You" for the upteenth times to picking out his favorite, sitting down in my lap, turning the pages, and pointing out all his favorite pictures. He's transformed from a helpless (yet incredibly sweet) little guy into one who prefers to feed himself and takes his toothbrush out of my hand so he can proudly brush his own teeth. And he's gone from a snuggly little newborn to...well, a snuggly little boy. His hugs really are life-changing.

He's incredibly happy, giggly, headstrong (like his momma!), independent, and just so, so sweet. We couldn't be prouder of him, and we're grateful for an incredible year of adventure and growth and love.

Thanks, Sam, for being you.

And here are some pics from Sam's big day! He had a great time playing in the kiddie pools. Here he is with his buddies Liza and Kailyn.

Not so interested in blowing out candles...

But he DID love his cupcakes!

...and the brightly-colored packages...

...and playing with his mountain of toys afterward! Sam says thanks to all his buddies for the fun toys and clothes. He's had a great time with them ever since the party, and we're all so appreciative to have such sweet, generous friends.

Connor gave Sam some kitchen tools so he can learn to cook like a real man, just like his dad!

Here's to one amazing year...and one amazing kid :)

First Video Post!

Just before Easter, we finally broke down and got a video camera. Clay and I are both fans of still photos, so video just wasn't a priority for us...but everyone we knew was aghast that we would let Sam grow up and not have videos of him to play back one day when he's all grown. We're so glad we finally came around!

We've had a lot of fun catching little moments of Sam being Sam...

Hippity Hoppity!

Sam's First Easter!

We had a great Easter! We celebrated an early Easter (and Phy's 60th birthday!) with Chip, Phy, Aunt Meredith & Uncle Mike the weekend before, then headed to North Carolina to celebrate with the Stricklands - Nana, Papa, and Uncle David.

Sam's favorite part of the holiday: EASTER EGGS! Nana gave him a big bowlful of plastic eggs, and Sam dove in headfirst! He played with them all weekend. He pulled them apart, put them together, dumped them out, threw them around, shook them, banged them, dropped them, picked them up, and...of course...ate them.

Sam and Dad made some delicious Easter cupcakes with sprinkles...now, Sam just wishes he were allowed to EAT one!

Hopefully Sam will pick up his Dad's culinary skills!

Sam loved his Easter basket! Mom couldn't wait for him to see it...so she convinced the Easter Bunny to arrive a day early! Sam is a lucky little man; apparently his mom, Nana, and Phy all talked to the Easter Bunny and convinced him to bring THREE Easter baskets...lucky guy!

On Easter Sunday, we spent the whole day at The Cabin -- on Papa Hal and Grandma Janie's farm. This is a very special place for our large and ever-growing family - its where we "Swarming Stricklands" have spent every holiday for as long as we all can remember!

This was our first holiday without Papa Hal and Kati, and it just didn't feel the same without them. We planted two cherry trees for them at the farm as a reminder that they'll always be with us...especially when we're there.

After the planting was complete, Sam had a blast hunting Easter eggs with all the other great-grandbabies. Grandma's egg hunt is a long tradition, and it was fun to pass it along to Sam's generation. He may not have found many eggs, but he sure had fun doing it!

Hallie took the prize with 80 eggs!

After we finished planting the cherry trees, Aunt Tricia told us about a recent sermon from their church about "the thin places" - the places where, for you, the line between heaven and earth is very thin. For all of us Stricklands, the Cabin is one of those thin places. It was another gorgeous holiday spent with the people who matter most to us, enjoying God's amazing blessings...and missing those who couldn't be with us.

It was a HOPPY Easter!