Tractor rides

Last weekend Ben Taylor came to town so a visit to the farm was in order along with a tractor ride for Thomson and Caswell. As Ben and Gus drove off in the fields with the boys on their laps, I heard them making plans for hunting trips with all of the boys in the future.

Some of you may want to know that Ben is doing really well - they are monitoring the tumor and have found no growth since his surgery. They will continue to monitor and we will continue to keep him in our prayers. They have moved to Charlotte where AnnaGreta is working as an anesthesiologist and Ben is starting a new career in medical equipment sales.

How adorable is Caswell? He has the sweetest little personality!

16 months a few weeks late!

We have been busy busy and having lots of fun! Thomson took his first few steps around 16 months and every day since then he is walking more and more - we don't sit down all day long! Mom took Thomson and Lee shoe shopping last week for red Keds. They had a ball and I think the store was glad to see us leave :)

His favorite toys right now are stuffed animals, push toys, especially his grocery cart, his wagon, books, and anything that plays music. And all of a sudden he LOVES Bates. I think because he is standing up now so he doesn't have to duck and cover when Bates runs up to lick him. He chases Bates around the house. Today I showed him how to pull his toy behind him when he walked and he was so excited, he thought it was chasing him!

We play every day "ousside" with Bates and Thomson's favorite wagon. He pushes the wagon, loads up toys, and I pull him around and around the yard. Yesterday Gus and I set up his water table and it was hours of fun!

Thomson is very attached to Gus all of a sudden. He has always LOVED when dada comes home for lunch and after work, but now he has separation anxiety for him. I have started spelling "G-U-S" to avoid a meltdown during the day. Maybe my next child will be mama's boy? Gus and I have switched cars and so all day long Thomson runs to the back door, sees the Tahoe and starts saying "Dada"

I am busy trying to get a lot of things settled before I get so big (and hot) that all I want to do is park on the sofa or sit in the pool! We are starting to set up Thomson's big-boy room. I wanted something he could grow into, so we decided on a hunt-country theme. Dada is excited to display some of his prize animals in Thomson's room . . . Pictures to come.

We have still not talked about baby names, besides one of us saying "We really need to start talking about baby names". He might be called bro-bro for the first year or so. That would be cute, right? :)

Here are pictures from Touch-A-Truck this weekend. Thomson loved the tractors the most:Thomson with Hagan Barrow - hopefully the last time in the back of a police car!

Flowers...

Gus went to the farm today and came home with an arm full of daffodils, one of my favorite spring-time flowers, perfect in an old mason jar on the counterLast week for our anniversary Gus brought home orchids. Orchids are great, they will bloom for months in the right light and with just a little watering. Here is a trick to dressing up grocery-store orchids - do you know the gross plastic hair clips that hold them up?

I like to take them off and tie them with twine or raffia

Voila - much better, enjoy for months (unless you don't water like me). I also usually replace the sticks with curly willow or bamboo but I didn't have any on hand this week

And one more thing about orchids - when I pick them, I look for one that is partially blooming and partially budding, it will last much longer. Also - this one is pretty but I would have picked one that is shorter and better proportioned, the really tall ones can look leggy. That's just my opinion!

It's a . . .

It has been a full week. We saw Dr. Rosemond on Wednesday for a comprehensive 18-week ulrasound. The baby looks perfect in every way and has the most adorable profile. Maybe he will be as cute as Thomson! And now we know for sure that it is a BOY! I have always loved having a sister, so a brother for Thomson will be so fun!


We also found out that I might have placenta previa, we have to go back at 28-weeks to confirm. Hopefully everything will check out fine, but we covet your prayers over this for the next ten weeks. It would mean an early delivery, bedrest, cancelled summer beach trips, and possibly other complications.


Thursday was Thomson's 16-month birthday. He celebrated by taking about 4 steps. He is so proud of himself. He is as adorable as ever and still talks a lot. Dada, Mama, Uh-oh, happy, apple (sounds like a-ppy), outside (ou-ss), Bates, Gus, shoe, bath, juice, gamma (sounds like maama), and lots of other words here and there. Those are his favorites but he repeats everything I say. Yesterday he said achoo (sneeze) all day long.


Friday was our five-year anniversary. Maybe it deserves its own post, it is a sweet time for us. We celebrated with a great dinner at the National. It has been an adventurous 5 years - from Birmingham to Charlottesville to Athens, our first dog, Thomson and now a new one on the way. There are so many things I love about Gus - he is patient and kind, hardworking and passionate about everything he loves, including me and Thomson. These qualities make him a great teacher, in Charlottesville they called him the dog whisperer, and now he is so fun to watch with Thomson. I need a video of Thomson's face when he sees Gus pull up the driveway at the end of a long day with just Mom. They are going to have a lot of fun times together. And in so many ways Gus is a wonderful doctor. He truly cares for his patients and worries about them even on nights and weekends. He chose ophthalmology because he says it is the best gift you can give to someone - their eyesight. This combined with valedictorian of PC and top of his med school class, and so of course I think he is the best in town. I love you Gus! (but he doesn't read this)

Back soon with pictures I promise and maybe a scanned 3-d ultrasound if I can get the scanner to work.

update

We are finding out what we are having this Wednesday so check back for an update.

And on Thursday Thomson stood up and took one step. Yesterday he took two steps and just a minute ago he stood up and took three steps. Maybe Gus can get him walking this weekend!

Where have you been?

These days I have been hearing a lot of "where have you been?" and "I emailed you a few weeks ago and never heard back from you". But instead of giving excuses or writing about why I have ignored this blog for so long, I think I will show you in pictures.

I have been doing a lot of this: spending time "ousside" with Thomson, his favorite place to be. The weather has been perfect! He loves his wagon, riding around the yard, pushing it around the yard, loading toys into it, dumping toys out of it...and outside I find a little break because the yard is baby-proofed unlike our house.

I have had a LOT of work - residential and commercial - Spring is the time for landscape design! This work eats up my early mornings, Thomson's naptime, and nights. Since college I have been fascinated with stormwater; how it can be manipulated, alternative ways to handle it than piping it offsite. Luckily most of my Charlottesville projects include some type of bioretention. Here was yesterday's project - a preliminary concept for a bioswale to catch roof water from an urban hospital.

One day I will post more on garden design and plants. For now I am busy cleaning ketchup out of Thomson's hair.And cleaning more ketchup out of Thomson's hair. Zoom in on this one - he actually styled his own hair with ketchup. Yes, this is a nightly occurrence.

Fun times at the Sams house! Baby #2 is kicking around the clock, very strong kicks that say "I am going to be bigger than my brother, 9#9oz at least!" If Thomson would just start walking to give my poor back a break . . .

New Baby Sams

Well I am 15-weeks pregnant and still have not written a word about it. I guess I have hesitated a little bit. Partly because I don't know what to write and partly because I have so many thoughts. We have intentionally kept the sweet ultrasound on the counter as a daily reminder to both of us that there really is a tiny thing growing with hands and feet and a beating heart. Some days this just reminds me to drink more water, other days it stops me to really think about what we are getting into.

I have some fears and some days I feel overwhelmed. I have been dreading the inevitable rude comments that seem to gravitate to me when I am pregnant. I have been watching friends with two young babies to see how our life will look. I have been trying to wrap my head around what went wrong with Thomson's delivery and finally put it behind me. We are blessed with fertility and are mindful of our many friends who are struggling with it right now. I have been enjoying quiet days with just me and T and have been planning our fun summer together. But mostly I am excited about where this journey will take us. Far, far from our quiet newlywed days in Virginia, I know. But to a place, I think, with daily rewards and blessing.

"From the fullness of His grace we have received one blessing after another." John 1:16