Such a BOY!

On Friday, Samuel and I got to go tour the fire station in Addison with some friends. He really LOVED it, but wasn't too interested in the fire station tour as much as he was the firetruck tour! Oh my goodness, it is definitely encoded in a little boy's genetics to like all things that go!! He has loved firetrucks for about a month or two now so I knew he would love this. The hardest part of the day was keeping him in one spot long enough to listen to the firemen. He was running everywhere like a mad man! Here are some precious pictures from our day!


Here he is looking at the massive coats they have to put on. They look so giant next to his little body. Just a cute picture where mommy got to play with photo editing!

I HEART this picture! He was in total awe of the truck. I had to struggle to get him out to give other kiddos a turn.

This day reminded me of how fun little boys are!!

The Real O.C

About two weeks ago, Thad and I were able to get away for about 5 days and have some nice, relaxing time together in sunny southern California. We LOVE California and usually head west when we get the chance. Samuel enjoyed his time with Nana and Papa and Thad and I were able to spend some much needed quality time together. We went to Monarch Beach, which is just about 10 minutes south of Laguna Beach. We slept in everyday(well, not really that late but it was nice to wake up on our own without a sweet boy talking in a monitor), read MANY books, lounged by the pool, walked on the beach and surrounding areas every morning, watched surfers, and of course, ate lots of really good food. The weather was beautiful every day once the marine layer burnt off and the temperatures were perfect.

First night at resort...enjoying a nice sunset with dinner

Second night, eating Sushi in Laguna Beach

Our gorgeous resort; view from our balcony. We had a full ocean view and it was so nice to watch the sunset.

This picture is hilarious to me! In true Ashley fashion, I grabbed the first person I saw and asked if he would take our picture. Little did I know, the guy was a photographer who was there to shoot one of the three weddings that we saw. He took about 20 pictures while playing with the settings on my camera. I think he was laughing at my little old camera but he did his best!

Sunset from our room

The last day before we left for the airport, we walked down to the golf club to have lunch. This is the view from our table.

So ready to see my baby by this point!!

Goodbye Cali!!! We love you!!

First Day of School

On Tuesday, Samuel started MDO. He will go twice a week for 5 hours each day! There are really no words to describe the "cuteness" that was going on in the above picture. Samuel was so excited to wear his new backpack and was such a big boy walking in. And then....the crying began. Poor thing! He was so happy until he realized that mommy and daddy weren't staying with him at school. I'm usually really strong about leaving him in places because I totally understand that they are better once you are out of sight. But for some reason, I gave in to the crying, opened the class door and immediately picked him up. I then made the mistake of saying "say bye bye to daddy." He melted down! So, I put on my tough mommy face, and handed him off and we said goodbye. They tell me he cried for a millisecond and was fine the rest of the day. He took a 30 minute nap but I really hope that improves. As I'm typing this, we just finished our second day and he is sacked out upstairs. Maybe he will always take a nap when he gets home:))

This picture was Tuesday morning before school. Thad and I got home on Monday night from a 5 day vacation in California (bliss) so Samuel woke up to find us home and was so excited to see us....and the new car we brought him.

All dressed and ready for a big first day!! Nana and Papa were still in town because they kept him while we were on vacation. It was so nice to have them here!

Time to walk in to school!

And...I'm off!!