BradtkeBlog

Samara's First Day of Kindergarten

2011-09-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

5 and a half years ago I started this blog, and at that time this day seemed like a million years away. With a bittersweet hug and kiss, we sent our first baby off to Kindergarten today. She did a fantastic job, and we couldn't be more proud!

Chicago Weekend

2011-08-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

We spend a couple days in Chicago during the kid's end-of-summer week off. Went to the Shedd Aquarium, walked around downtown, and toured the Lincoln Park Zoo. Great memories!

Our anniversary gift from the kids

2011-06-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

After we moved Quinten to another room to recover from a tantrum this morning, Samara also disappeared. This is how we found them.

Happy Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T18:08:00.001-07:00

Samara's first art gallery showing!

2011-05-08T12:44:00.002-07:00

Okay, it's a coffee house, but still :)

Our baby beluga!

2011-04-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Samara! 5 Years Old!!!

2011-02-01T18:29:00.001-08:00

Samara's 5th birthday extravaganza began on Saturday with a sledding and skating party for her and her preschool friends at a local park. We lucked out with fantastic weather, and everyone had a great time, especially the birthday girl who didn't stop for a minute all afternoon! After the park, we went back to our place for pizza, birthday cake, and presents.

Even with all the excitement on Saturday, we went back on Sunday for more skating and sledding... Samara has only gone skating 3 times, and is already showing major improvement: from not being able to stand on her own on Christmas, to skating and even turning on her own on try 3. Amazing!

Happy Birthday to our Sweet Samara, who will always be our little girl no matter how grown up she becomes!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-26T12:13:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas and we hope all of you did as well! We spent Christmas Eve with Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Joel. The kids really enjoyed relaxing and spending some great time playing with Grandma and Grandpa.

Samara and Quinten opened gifts early Christmas morning. Quinten got a balance bike...

And here is Samara wearing her favorite gift...

Then, we off to visit Aunt Marian in East Bristol, and then to Uncle Bruce and Aunt Tina's for Christmas Day. Samara got her first pair of ice-skates and was very eager to try them out! A bunch of us trekked out to the "back 40" in sometimes knee-deep snow so she could give them a whirl on their pond.

Seriously, all the gifts over the years, and I really think the little earmuffs Santa brought are an all-time hit. Think "Karen" of Frosty the Snowman!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Second Birthday to Quinten!

2010-12-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

Quinten had a wonderful birthday... it seemed to last at least a week, with Dad's birthday and Thanksgiving thrown in the week for good measure! Hard to believe our baby is two already, but he's grown up so much these last few months: sweet as ever, talking non-stop and developing a wonderful sense of humor!

Halloween

2010-12-05T15:50:00.000-08:00

Quinten's first year trick-or-treating, and another great Halloween parade at preschool (the wee one's didn't participate).

Apple Orchards and Pumpkin Patches

2010-12-05T15:42:00.000-08:00

We made several visits to apple orchards and pumpkin patches this fall... were officially pumpkin-patched-out for a while!

First day of preschool

2010-11-28T18:21:00.000-08:00

This is Samara's third year at her preschool, and in September Quinten started there as well. Here they are on his first day!

Bradtke family photos

2010-08-27T18:42:00.001-07:00

ala Plan A Photography, 08.07.2010!

Meeting Cousin Emile and Celine for the first time!

2010-08-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful visit with Kari's brother Mark, wife Julie, and children Emile and Celine, visiting all the way from their home in the Netherlands! This meant lots of time with ALL Kari's family... to the zoo, Bruce & Tina's farm, Samara's soccer game, Grandma's house; even trapped inside on a rainy Friday, we all had a great time!

Visitors:

Cousins:

Uncle Bruce and Aunt Tina

Flying kites at Uncle Bruces!

The whole gang!

Thanks for visiting, guys! We hope to see you again soon!!!

More pictures from summer 2010...

2010-08-21T04:31:00.001-07:00

We have a picture JUST like this of Samara, too (http://bradtkeblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/happy-halloween.html). The kids love to do that crossword puzzle with Grandma!

Soccer star Samara!

2010-08-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

18 months of baby Q

2010-05-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

Yes! Quinten is 18 months old TODAY!!! Such a wonderful boy - a mind of his own, but tons of fun when he's happy :) We are so lucky to have TWO wonderful children!!

Samara Is Four!

2010-02-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

And has been for nearly a month! Of course, we didn't really forget her birthday. Just a bit busy between celebrations and being sick to manage a blog post. Check out these birthday pictures from years past: my how she's grown! :)

We had a great time getting some of Samara's friends together for a kid birthday party!

Samara with her new big-girl bike:Don't believe my "sick kids" excuse??? Check this one out:

Frozen Fog

2010-01-17T12:45:00.001-08:00

The view from our deck this morning... it didn't snow! Just got very foggy in the evening, and then cold. Guess this is what happens when fog freezes!

Big Week: Singing, Dancing, and Walking!

2009-12-20T11:27:00.000-08:00

Lots of excitement here this week! Wednesday was our first ever winter music program at Samara's preschool. She and her classmates did a great job singing some favorite traditional winter songs and performing dances. We were so impressed :) Here is one you will know (there are actually something like 20 children in her class, although you can only see a few in this video):

Quinten has been taking steps here and there for a few weeks now, but this week he started really getting around by walking... and we finally managed to catch a video! What a big guy!!! Don't mind Samara stealing his stuffed toy... that is HER BUNNY, her true love. Don't know how he got his hands on it to begin with :)

Happy Birthday Quinten!

2009-11-29T17:51:00.000-08:00

Quinten turned one year old on November 24th! It's been a crazy, wonderful year with these two. Obviously, Quinten has changed immensely and become our wonderful little man, but Samara has grown up so much too. The actual birthday was a little low-key as mom and dad both had to go to work and both the kids had colds. Here is a picture of Quinten and Samara very very early in the morning on Quinten's actual birthday. Happy Birthday Baby Q!

We had Quinten's birthday the Saturday following November 24th and were very happy to see lots of family... and lots of cake!
Now that Quinten is growing up a bit, he and Samara are really starting to become pals and learning how to play together. Here they are hanging out in their favorite hiding corner.

2009-11-29T17:46:00.000-08:00

In October we had a pumpkin carving party at our house with Grandma Ruth, Grandpa Joel, and all of the Bradtke-side cousins. So much fun for the kids to hang out with their cousins!

My cuties striking a pose.

2009-11-29T17:39:00.000-08:00

It's been a fun-filled but hectic fall here in the Bradtke household... so busy we haven't had much time to post on the blog. But, thankfully we have been keeping up on the picture taking, so here goes. We Wisconsinites were thrilled to enjoy a mild and lovely fall.

Family picture by the pumpkin patch after apple-picking.

Here's one of my favorite recent pictures of Samara enjoying the swings at the park.

We also made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Samara wasn't exactly in the mood for pumpkin picking - I think she and Quinten both came down with a cold that very next day.

On the move!

2009-09-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

Hey there all! Big news around here: Quinten started crawling this week and is quickly becoming a pro. Here is the first video:

Up until now, Samara has enjoyed relative peace with her toys while Quinten enviously eyed them from a distance. I think we're in for a bit of sibling rivalry!

Quinten is 9 months old today!

2009-08-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

Our little baby Q is 9 months old already! He's growing up so fast... trying hard to crawl, but not quite there yet. He's a happy little guy, despite having had 6 teeth rudely enter his life in the past several weeks (except when you try to give him his bottle, but that's a story for another day)! Happy 3/4 birthday, baby!

Here are some other pictures from the past month or two:

It's been a cool summer here, but we've had a few hot days.

We rebuilt our deck this summer (thanks Uncle Bruce!!!). Here are Dan and Samara surveying the progress mid-job. Aren't they cute?

Well, no one is happy ALL the time...

2009-07-04T05:07:00.001-07:00

We hope that everyone is enjoying summer as much as we are! We've been keeping busy with some projects around the house (more on that in another post), swimming at the pool, and spending as much time outside as possible. Samara has really grown up a lot this spring and is becoming very independent - thank you Preschool of the Arts! Quinten is also growing like a weed - nearly 20 pounds already, rolling both ways and sitting up all by himself for nearly a month now.

I always think the kids are cutest first thing in the morning when they're still in their pjs
He only dresses like a girl at night...

Here's Quinten showing you two of his favorite things to do: play in his exersaucer and blow spit bubbles!

The kids playing their pianos... isn't Samara a great big sister?!

Quinten is 6 months old!

2009-05-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

Today is Quinten's 6 month birthday! It has been an amazing experience having these two wonderful kids, and so much fun to see the differences and similarities between them as they are growing up. We see a bit of Samara in Quinten in many ways, but he is also very very much his own person... much more ready to voice his opinion than she was as a baby, reliably sleeping through the night already, and looking like his Dad more and more every day. Happy Half Birthday to our fine and fabulous fellow.

And a special thanks to the best big sister a boy could ask for!

Congrats to Aunt Renee and Uncle Gene!

2009-04-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since we posted, but what an eventful time! We had a wedding in the family: Aunt Renee and Uncle Gene finally tied the knot, and Samara (and I) were in the wedding! What fun! Bonus: Uncle Mark came home for a visit! We had a great time catching up with family, and Samara loved being in the wedding. She fearlessly walked up the aisle and was a dancing queen at the reception.

And even though Quinten didn't get to participate much in the wedding festivities, he is fantastic! Rolling over from his tummy to his back with no problem, and ready to go the other way any day. Best of all, he has sporadically started sleeping through the night! I've actually been missing him a bit at 3 AM...! What a handsome little guy:

Hanging with Uncle Mark -

Spring

2009-03-27T10:53:00.001-07:00

We are SO excited for Sping to arrive! We have had several days of warm weather and the daffodils we planted last fall are coming out of the ground. All this despite the fact that we are supposed to get 2-5 inches of snow tonight... hopefully it will melt fast! Quinten turned 4 months old last week and now weighs 15 pounds, 6 ounces (that's more than double the 7,4 when he was born). And Samara went to her first birthday party. Had to get a pic of those blue lips! Here are some other photos from the past month.

3 months!

2009-02-24T19:27:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to note the 3 month birthday of our wee-est one or, as Samara would say "Baby Quinten"! A couple movies today which, I have to admit, are actually from a few weeks ago but you'll get the idea. And we will promise to post some new photos soon.

Happy Birthday Samara!

2009-02-03T08:55:00.000-08:00

Sunday February 1 was Samara's third birthday! We celebrated with a family party on Saturday, and then enjoyed a nice relaxing Sunday home playing with all the great, fun gifts she received. Thanks everyone, and happy birthday to our sweet sweet girl!

8 weeks

2009-01-19T12:51:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to mark the 8 week birthday of our little guy, which was yesterday, January 19. Quinten has been smiling occasionally for a couple weeks, but the last couple days he's been very smiley indeed and we finally managed to catch a couple photos.
Look at these gorgeous kids!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

First off, we'd like to wish all our friends and family Happy Holidays! We had a cozy Christmas and New Years hibernating at home for the most part. The weather here has been very cold and snowy and so we were happy to welcome folks to come visit us this year. Samara had her first trip to sit on Santa's lap. I thought she might be afraid of the round bearded fellow, but I need not have worried!Kari's family enjoyed lunch together the Sunday before Christmas. Unfortunately, I was too busy with my meat thermometer to bring out the camera! Dan's family was here Christmas eve day, and his parents wisely took the opportunity to grab a photo with all their grandkids.

Dan and Samara decorating our Christmas tree this year... for some reason I always compare her on this occasion to years past. Something about the step-ladder, I think...

2007: http://bradtkeblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/decorati ng-for-holidays.html
2006: http://bradtkeblog.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

And, of course, we have all been thrilled with watching our newest family member grow... fast! They say that ~6 weeks is the fussiest time and, if that's really the case, I think Quinten will (soon) be a happy and mellow little guy!

One more thing to note - Samara is doing great with her pottying, now pooping on the potty even withOUT the reward of candy afterward. Very exciting for all of us!

Introducing...

2008-12-02T11:34:00.000-08:00

Our new baby boy!
Quinten Daniel Bradtke
Born November 24, 2008 at 1:06 PM
7 lbs, 4 oz; 18.5 inches long

Thanks to everyone for all of your kind words and wishes, and we do apologize for the delayed blog post. The adjustment to two kids, while going smoothly, has managed to keep us somewhat removed from technology!

For those of you itching to hear details, labor started with leaking amniotic fluid around 8:30 pm on 11/23, which just happens to be Dan's birthday! After calling reinforcements to stay at the house with Samara, we headed to the hospital where they confirmed that it was indeed fluid and admitted us. Yay! After a long night waiting for labor to begin in earnest, we agreed to augment contractions with a pitocin drip since the docs insist on delivering withing 24 hours of ruptured membranes. Pitocin was started at 4 am, and by 8 am I was in sheer agony (and only 4 cm!!!) and I really have no idea how anyone manages this particular process without pain relief of some sort. My hats off to you ladies; not for me. My wonderful lovely epidural was administered and, once I could relax, was ready to push by noon. It took 1 hour of pushing, which may sound like a lot, but compared to 3 hours for Samara, was definitely an improvement. At last, our baby boy was here!

Hanging out with Dad and meeting big sister Samara for the first time: Just home from the hospital:

Samara loves her baby brother, although I think she's a little disappointed he can't play with her just yet. She's been a great help with diapering and giving baths, and is quickly adjusting to sharing her spotlight.

Everyone asks us who Quinten looks like. I would say he looks a bit like his dad, but more than anyone else, like Samara... who could ask for more than that?? Here are a couple pics to compare. Let us know what YOU think!

October & November 2008

2008-11-19T19:17:00.000-08:00

We wanted to update you on our fall activities! We went to the pumpkin patch, of course, this year with Uncle Gene.

And while Samara dressed up for Halloween before, this year she also got to wear her costume to preschool with all the other kids. There was a parade! ROOOAAAAR!

This was Samara's first year trick-or-treating, too! She loved every minute of it, and had a fantastic time both going door to door, and also giving out candy to the kids that came to our house.

Finally, while Samara has somehow gained a reputation as a little bit quiet, and even shy, girl when she's out and about, we wanted to give you just a taste of what she's like when no one but us is looking. Watch out world!

That's all for now. Hopefully our next blog post will include an introduction to Samara's new baby brother! He's due along ANY DAY NOW...!

Fall Apple Picking

2008-10-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a ton of fun apple picking with Samara's cousins at a nearby orchard. We picked and bought lots of apples, rode the tire swing, checked out the pumpkins and chickens, sat on the tractor, and threw rocks into the pond! A fantastic time, and on Sunday Samara and mom had a very early morning apple crisp baking session. Yummmm.....!

Summer Lovin'

2008-09-01T13:46:00.001-07:00

Today is officially the first day fo fall so we thought it about time to post some pictures from our favorite moments of summer! We had lots of fun this summer, filled with friends and family. Lots of cookouts - both for holidays and just for fun, going to see the cows, ride tractors, and eat ice cream at a friends dairy, learning to eat sweet corn, play T-ball, and pee-pee (if not poop....) in the potty! Here's to a wonderful start to fall for you all!

A Fantastic Father's Day!

2008-06-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hey there! It's been a while since our last post but we hope you'll agree it's been worth the wait...

First things first: tomorrow is Father's Day and Samara and I are lucky enough to be able to say with all honesty that she has got the best Daddy in the world! We love you Dan!

A few weeks ago I caught some fun photos of Dan and Samara doing what they do best - playing outside!

And..... it looks like the family fun is only going to be getting.... BIGGER around here since we will soon be bringing home a baby sister or brother for Samara!I think she's going to be a wonderful big sister!

More singing!

2008-05-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

Samara learned a new song this week! It may sound familiar to our San Diego friends as it was the song used in some very popular commercials for the San Diego Zoo that were on TV toward the end of the time we spent there. For the rest of you, here are the lyrics, although we think you'll be able to get the gist of it from Samara's fabulous vocal styling. Enjoy!

"Maybe it's the way you move,
the way you sway your hips,
eyes that shine like precious jewels,
perfect silky lips,
maybe it's your angel face
or that wonderful thing you do,
but all I know is in this world,
there's only one you.".

Learning to count

2008-02-26T18:53:00.000-08:00

We've been working with Samara for a while now on her letters and numbers. Here she is showing Grandma Diane her new, fun Play-Doh, which she has all kinds of uses for.....

Happy Birthday Samara!

2008-02-26T18:19:00.000-08:00

Eeek! How did it get to be nearly March already and I still haven't posted Samara's birthday photos? Sorry... Well, on February 1 our baby officially turned into a little girl. She's growing up so fast!

Samara opening gifts with her cousins, blowing out candles on her cake, and enjoying her new Elmo chair.

I guess we'll never get to have any messy birthday cake pictures of Samara - last year she wouldn't touch her cake, and now she's just too skilled to make much of a mess!

And just a good picture of our gorgeous girl. Happy Birthday baby!

Ring around the Roses

2008-01-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

Here's some fun stuff from earlier in the winter.... have we mentioned that Samara loves to sing and dance?? This movie is a little dark, but we'll think you agree it's worth squinting for.

Decorating for the holidays

2008-01-30T18:16:00.000-08:00

Samara loves helping Daddy decorate the Christmas tree. And going to get it gave us a good reason to bundle up!

Compare these pictures to one from last year!

Merry Christmas!

2008-01-30T18:10:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year - full of family and such a joy to watch Samara really enjoy it this time around. Here she is showing her new kitchen off to Uncle Gene and a few of her cousins, and loving her new baby doll.

The best part was probably watching Samara open presents, which she really got into this year. And then, when we came downstairs the day after Christmas, the new toys were still there and she had forgotten all about them so it was like Christmas all over again!

2008-01-26T11:07:00.000-08:00

Surprise! I know a lot of you figured we were no longer posting, and I'm sorry for the huge delay, but we really do have good intentions of keeping this blog updated. I really wanted to post some photos and movies from the holidays and the last couple months before there are birthday pictures in a couple weeks!

First, a most recent movie of a lesson learned straight from "Elmo's World" which is hands down our favorite tv program.

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-05T18:31:00.001-08:00

This is Samara's favorite thing to do when Grandma Diane comes over: sit on her lap, eat breakfast, and do the crossword together. Aren't they cute?!

In October we all went to the pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins for our front porch!

Happy Halloween Elmo!

2007-09-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

Okay okay. I know I've been a major slacker on the blog. But don't worry because I'm about to make up for it with a fantastic post! Samara is nearly 19 1/2 months old now. Hard to believe, but not when you see her every day and realize what a brilliant girl she is. We'll start with a few pictures, and then, movies!

First of all, Samara got her first real haircut. Which basically just means we hired someone to cut her bangs straight instead of botching it like mama does. Here's a before shot:

And here's an after shot. Yes, that's right. She hated every second of it. Just like I knew she would since she also hates having her hair washed, her teeth brushed, and her face wiped. Fun times. But what a cutie-pie!

Here's a picture inspired by the Weber-Fergusons of Amstelveen, and by cousin Emile in particular, who've inspired us to "get on the pot" already!

And just one of Samara being lovely as usual wearing a strawberry hat hand-knitted by a friend of mine.

Now it's movie time! Samara is completely infatuated with our shoes. She likes to wear them, smell them, chew on them, whatever. We usually keep them in the closet, but sometimes...

And now, something we're very proud of: Samara has starting singing little tunes. It started with "twinkle twinkle little star", then "rock a bye baby" and "hush little baby don't say a word", and if you listen closely I think you might hear a little song your recognize in this quick movie.

And finally, for those of you we don't get to see all the time so you won't forget what we all look like...

17 months and counting

2007-07-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

Okay okay - we know its been far too long since updating the blog. It's just that summer has been so busy what with all the fun a one 1/2 year old can have!

Here - getting ready to catch some rays

We had a visit from our dear friends Amy and Todd all the way from Austin, TX with their sweet boy Jack (yes.... we stole this pic from Jack's blog!)

We went to Lake Wisconsin with Aunt Renee for Independence day
Samara showing grandma Diane her belly button...
And tried to get a look at Grandma's belly button

I think she's starting to look more like her daddy every day:)!
Samara's first visit to the Madison zoo

She started coloring!

And finally, here's Samara showing this toy who is boss!

16 months

2007-06-03T05:50:00.001-07:00

Samara has been growing in leaps and bounds lately. We haven't had her weighed or measured for a few months, but our arms and backs are telling us she's gained several pounds, and she can pull stuff off the table from closer and closer to the middle, as well as the edge of the kitchen counter. Also very exciting is that she has turned into a real chatterbox with many many words said now with meaning: shirt, pants, sock, bird, dog, cat, woof, cow, moo, elmo, doll, tower, book, bottle, milk, cracker, fruit, outside, apple, tree, car, chair, poop, toot, up, hat, coat, shoe, tall, etc..... and will mimic just about anything we ask her to. She's also gone #1 and #2 once each in her potty!

Here Samara is practicing a new milestone:

But when it comes to spaghetti, there's no time for utensils!

And a picture of Samara giving her new Elmo doll a bottle

New pictures!

2007-05-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

We thought you might like to see the results of Samara's latest photo shoot with the fabulous Brook! Here's the link:
http://planaphotography.photosite.com/Album37/

15 month update

2007-05-05T05:58:00.000-07:00

A couple pictures from the past month or so:
the first couple are from the first warmish day and dress of the season.

And eating spaghetti - Dad's spaghetti is one of her favorites.

And a couple movies today too: One will show off some of Samara's new skills. In the other she is demonstrating our method of babyproofing the kitchen around here which was just to move everything that posed a threat out of reach and let her play!

14 months and counting

2007-03-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since we updated this blog! Samara is growing and changing like crazy these days. We thought the walking excitement was over, but just this past week she's been able to start walking backwards, which she really gets a kick out of. And of course, the talking has progressed as well. We've added a number of new words to our vocabulary: milk, bottle, hello, bubbye, dog, watch, up, and I'm sure I'm missing several that I can't think of right now. It's so fun to finally hear what her voice is really like. We had a rough week or so where Samara was battling Roseola, which is a childhood illness that had us guessing at the reason for a high fever for several days, and for which we made our first trip to the ER. No fun there, but all is well again now. A few pictures from the past several weeks:

A traditional Dutch first birthday gift from Uncle Mark, Aunt Julie, and Cousin Emile - being used properly at first, and then later.... our little hot-rod. She is starting to get very into climbing on just about anything.

Feeling rotten with a fever

And finally, a picture for our friends from San Diego. This is from the biggest snowfall this year; there was at least a foot of snow in the driveway two mornings in a row. Yes, that is our mailbox nearly completely covered with some of the heaviest snow I've ever watched Dan shovel. No - I helped a little. This picture doesn't really do it justice. The snow was piled so high at the end of the driveway we had to walk down the street a ways to find a place to put the snow the plow pushed in.

Hello!

2007-03-29T19:09:00.001-07:00

Giggling with Daddy

2007-03-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

PB and ...... face...

2007-02-19T04:50:00.000-08:00

While Samara has never been too enthusiastic about eating, and she still isn't keen on feeding herself, holding her own bottle (yes, she still gets a bottle), or drinking out of a sippy cup, she does like her some peanut butter - despite getting it everywhere but in her mouth. This picture was absolutely not staged in any way. You actually missed the part where she used the toast to scratch her head.

"DUCK!"

2007-02-04T18:45:00.000-08:00

Time for cake.....or maybe not

2007-02-04T18:28:00.000-08:00

Samara was not at all excited about her chocolate cake. In fact, she wasn't happy to have the big scary piece of cake in front of her at all. We're pretty sure she didn't taste any... maybe next year.

Happy Birthday!!!

2007-02-01T07:27:00.000-08:00

We'll have messy cake pictures soon, but wanted to wish our little girl a big Happy First Birthday today! What a year we've all had! Samara is truly a delight and it's been so wonderful to watch her change and grow every day. Not only is she walking like a pro, but running... she's faster than us on our hands and knees which makes the favorite game of chasing each other around the ottoman slightly less challenging...

More excitement!: until now we've only had sort of indiscriminate "dada" and "mama" for words. This week, "duck" became her first word for an object - strange first word? Perhaps, but Samara has many ducks in her life: the rubber ducky for bath time, a stuffed duck, a couple books with ducks, and her most favorite quacking duck from aunt Renee. Our little girl is growing up!

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-27T16:42:00.000-08:00

We'll start with some photos from Samara's first Christmastime, and then a video from tonight to show off Samara's fabulous progress with walking. Enjoy!

Nearly 10 months

2006-11-27T13:28:00.000-08:00

Hey there everyone. We realize it's been a while since we updated our blog, but were inspired this week by Samara's latest strides.... pun intended. That's right - she's pretty early, but has already started walking. She can go about 4-6 feet without falling down! Amazing! We've been telling people, but no one believes us and Samara's not too keen on performing for a crowd so I was finally determined to get movies from the last several months off the camera. This first movie was from last night, and then there's one of her giggling from a couple months ago that I couldn't resist posting. We hope you enjoy them!

Walking already!

2006-11-27T13:27:00.000-08:00

Ha Ha!

2006-11-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

Samara has just one thing to tell you this week:

2006-10-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

Juicy news to chew on

2006-10-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

No pictures today but yes you guessed it. A tooth at last - and we think maybe more than one but Samara's not too keen on having people feeling around inside her little mouth right now. We were wondering when it would show up because younger cousins Emile and Portia both had her beat. Congratulations Samara!

America's next top model...

2006-10-19T06:24:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Brook recently started her own photography biz and took some pictures of Samara for us a few weeks ago. It's a testament to Brook's skill that these turned out so well even though Samara was a big crab on this particular morning.

Check it out:
http://planaphotography.photosite.com/Album19/

Eight and a half months!

2006-10-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

We had a wedding shower for Aunt Becky last weekend... Samara is now pulling herself up. Especially if gifts are involved!

Here's a couple of pictures where she's just plain being a big cutie! And of course a couple obligatory food-stuck-to-face pictures.

Watch out - we have a crawler!

2006-10-06T15:10:00.000-07:00

On the move

2006-09-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

Our very first weekend here was cold and rainy... Here's Samara all decked out for a trip to the grocery store.

Our little monkey has quickly progressed from sitting up to being on the verge of crawling. Here she is trying to crawl on her daddy...

Samara's early attempts at crawling are generally leading her to scoot backwards! Here she was playing in bed Sunday morning and backed herself up under the pillows and against the wall.

A new post at last!

2006-09-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

We realize it's been a while since we updated, but we've been keeping pretty busy moving and buying and getting settled in our new home. We loaded our moving truck with belongings and car on Monday August 28th, flew back to Wisconsin on August 29th, closed on our house on August 31st, and our truck finally arrived on September 5. We stayed with Aunt Marian for a week until our stuff got here. Here Samara is enjoying her nightly bath in Marian's sink!

At last our stuff arrived and we started to settle in, Samara is getting more comfortable and was very very happy to see some familiar toys.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but Samara's hair was all static crazy from playing with the package from our mattress pad.

Getting ready to move!

2006-08-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

We've been pretty busy here getting things ready to move - we're aiming to have packing done ahead of time so we have some time to relax before we leave. Samara is sitting up really well now, but she keeps ending up on her tummy when reaching for toys out of reach.

Sooooooo big!

Did we mention that Samara is a genius? Not only is she reading Harry Potter, but just moments before she was balancing this book on her head and practicing her walk....But even geniuses don't always want their picture taken!

Samara's half-birthday!

2006-08-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

Nearly 6 months!

2006-07-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

Samara and I went for a walk in Balboa park today with our friends Roberta and Mark, and Carmela, Lars and their daughter Jadzia.

We thought it would be fun to compare this photo taken a few months ago with a more recent one... can you tell which is which?

Hanging out with Daddy...

Some like it hot... but not us!

2006-07-23T09:31:00.000-07:00

The weather here has been hot the last couple of weeks, but yesterday was unbearable. The previous record in San Diego was 87 and yesterday we hit 94. Probably doesn't sound that bad to you midwesterners but keep in mind that where we live it was likely even hotter still and that we have no air conditioning...! No global warming... right.

Anyway, Samara is fabulous despite the heat. She's been sleeping through the night at last (except last night but we blame the heat), and is soooo close to sitting up by herself. She's not really very happy in any reclining position now, which means she wants to be held alot so that she can sit up with the rest of us.

We've got a fun new toy that helps keep our little busy body entertained for a few minutes at a time.

Here Samara is sampling sweet potatoes.

Exciting news!

2006-07-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

Samara rolled over today! We though it might never happen (cousin Portia had her beat by two months!), but we found her on her tummy after her pre-dinner cat nap. Yay for Samara!

Our first family trip to the beach

2006-07-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

Samara turned 5 months old last week!

2006-07-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

She wore her first dress!

Now it's all about her feet!

Week 20

2006-06-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

Samara had her first bites of cereal this week. She wasn't very impressed...

Just hanging out in the kitchen.

Week 19

2006-06-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

mmmmm......uhhhhmmmm....No wonder we can't understand what she's saying. There were actually 5 fingers in that little mouth but I wasn't fast enough with the camera!

Happy Father's Day Dan!

Is it just me or can everyone see the resemblance in this picture??

Weeks 17 & 18

2006-06-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

It's so hard to catch Samara smiling while she's holding still! Here are a couple examples.

She's finally starting to enjoy tummy time.

We visited Wisconsin this past week so Samara had her first plane ride...

...her first piano lesson...

and checked out where she'll be living this fall!

Week 16

2006-05-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

2006-05-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

Tummy time!

Samara the studious...

Happy Mother's Day!

Week 14

2006-05-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

Snoozing after a walk with Daddy...

Too much splashing to be taking baths on the kitchen table these days! Our first bath in the actual bathtub.

"Hey! Quit taking pictures and come play with me!"

Week 13

2006-05-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

We're all very excited here because Samara has graduated from watching her toys move, then batting at them, and this week she started actually playing with her toys. She wants to put the whole world in her mouth!

I'm three months old today!

2006-05-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

Airing things out...

2006-04-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

Samara will probably be mad at us someday for showing everyone this pic, but we couldn't resist!

12 weeks

2006-04-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Almost 12 weeks

2006-04-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

It almost fits!

2006-04-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Weeks 9 & 10 - she's most excellent at lifting her head, is starting to drool, found her hand, and yesterday wore her first 3-6 months outfit

2006-04-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm two months old!!!

2006-04-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

Some photos from week 8

2006-03-31T14:42:00.000-08:00

Week 7: even more chins...

2006-03-26T10:00:00.000-08:00

Six weeks; yes, that's a smile!

2006-03-16T14:15:00.000-08:00

Four weeks & first family photo

2006-03-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

Pacifier: before and after...

2006-03-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

A couple more firsts with daddy

2006-03-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Aunt Marian visit

2006-03-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

Napping with Grandma

Nice tan!

More early days...

2006-03-03T14:11:00.000-08:00

The big event

2006-02-28T16:59:00.000-08:00

Recovering on our first day at home

Proud papa Dan

Some of the first photos...

Hello All... We decided this was the best way to share our experience with Samara so that our family and friends near and far could see her as we do - changing every day! To start from the beginning, view this blog from the bottom up.