Heads Up!!

Alden is becoming quite a bit more active these days! He started rolling over on February 6th and is starting to enjoy him "tummy time" more and more each day. I imagine crawling is just around the corner, as he loves to watch Samantha move around the room.

Happy Valentine's Day ( A little late)

Samantha with her new Elmo.

Samantha got a balloon and a purple rose from Doug and Alden got a balloon and stuffed Lion.
Smiling with their Valentine's Day Attire.
Alden-His normal smiley self!

Samantha and Alden enjoyed their Valentine's Day (a day late) on Friday. We gave Samantha a "Many Kisses Elmo" which blows kisses and talks to you. Alden got a "tummy time" playmat. They also got cookies and clothes from Grandma and Grandmpa McKnight and clothes and a coloring book and a barking dog from Grandma and Grandpa Merritt.

Grandma and Grandpa Merritt came up on Friday night while Doug & I went swing dancing with Auntie Debra in Omaha. It was a much needed night out!

Super Bowl Sunday

On Super Bowl Sunday, we went to Doug's parent's house to watch the game. Doug always wears his Kansas City Cheifs gear during the Super Bowl because he says they are tied for 1st after the Super Bowl (because it's a new season again!). I always laugh, but go along with it anyway. This year, he was excited because Alden could join him and wear his Kansas City Chiefs onesie!

A Day With Friends...

Alexa & Samantha smiling with their new bunnies

Sam with her "Cheese" face & her new bunny

Bri & Alexa stuffing their bunny

Samantha & I stuffing her bunny

Samantha is rubbing the "heart" for the bunny

Stuffing Alden's Polar Bear

At the "Washing" Station....Washing their new bunnies

On Saturday, Samantha, Alden & I met up with our friends Brianna, Alexa, and Mary (Brianna's mom) at Oakview Mall. We ate lunch with them at the food court and then went to Build-A-Bear workshop, where we made some new furry friends. Samantha & Alden were using gift cards from Christmas from Grandma & Grandpa Merritt and Alexa got a gift card from us for her birthday in December.

Alexa and Samantha both choose bunnies to build and Alden chose a Polar Bear (okay...so I chose the Polar Bear). Samantha showed Alexa how to do it and I was very impressed at how mature she acted! She told the build a bear employees that she was "two" and also showed them her fingers that she held up to show them she was 2 years old. She did everything they asked of her. She jumped up and down, she pushed on the pedal to stuff her bunny, and she kissed the heart and spun around! She had a lot of fun. She named her bunny "Hoppy" and Alexa named her bunny "Flowers" and they dressed them a like and put a spring looking pink dress on the bunnies. I dressed Alden's polar bear in a KC Royals Uniform and named him "Royal."

After building the bears, we headed to JcPenney to get the girls' pictures taken. (They won't be in for 2 weeks, then I'll post them on the blog).

Which turned out adorable!!!

Chatter Box

(Samantha's shirt says it all...."Chatter Box")

In the last few weeks, Samantha has gone from barely talking to ALWAYS talking. Everyone kept saying that "she'll start talking someday and then you won't want her to shut up". Well....we are at that point!! She talks and talks and talks and talks. About what? We have no idea!! (most of the time). She loves to say "Yes, Mommy. Yes, Mommy." or "Yes, Daddy. Yes, Daddy." over and over again! And then there's "NO, NO...Mommy" She also is very polite these days, as her "please and thank you" are used all the time, as well as "sorry". But it's all very cute and we enjoy trying to figure out what she says!!

Baby Backpack

The other day, we got out our "Snuggli" that we got when Samantha was born. It's like a backpack that you can put babies in so that your hands are free to do other things. Samantha's legs were so chubby that it was hard to get her in and out of it. Alden was the perfect size and he really seemed love it! He just cooed and smiled and slobbered alot while he was in it. Alden's legs really got a workout too, because he just kicked and squealed in delight!

Playing In The Snow

Our Cute Little Snowman. We had trouble finding enough snow to make the snowman. Then, we used carrotts for its eyes, nose, and buttons!

Samantha liked her snowman so much, she decided to hug it!

Alden & I pose by the snowman before we run back inside!

Daddy and Sam smile by the snowman (eventhough, Doug didn't really help build the snowman because his hands were cold!)

Throwing snowballs with Auntie Debra.

Sledding Down the Hill

Fun on the Frozen Lake

Snow Angel

Alden didn't really like being bundled up!

On Sunday, we went out to Doug's parent's house for dinner and took our snow clothes so that we could play in the snow since it was such a warm day. Most of the snow was gone in the yard, so we had to play on the frozen lake. Samantha did get to slide down the hill on one side of their house that still had snow on it. Samantha made a snow angel and had a snowball fight with Doug & I. We also made a snowman. Alden stayed inside until we had finished making the snowman and then we bundled him up and got a picture of him with the snowman. Auntie Debra came out and played with us for a little while too.

Playdate with Uncle Chris

Samantha and Chris stacking up the blocks!

Samantha putting money in her play piggy bank.

Samantha with her fake "credit card". (Uncle Chris is pretending to see the bill that Samantha racked up!)

Alden & Chris

My brother came to visit Samantha and Alden on Tuesday. He didn't have school, so he decided to come play with the kids. Samantha and Chris played Dora Candyland on the Computer, they wrestled a little, played with Sam's little Einstein blocks, and her piggy bank. While Chris was here, we discovered that Samantha can pick Alden up (we didn't mean to let her, but she grabbed his shirt and was pulling him off the ground before we could even stop her because we were so shocked!) Uncle Chris brought Samantha a HUGE Dora balloon, some stickers and some M&Ms.

Still Sick

Samantha has seemed to just get worse over the weekend, eventhough we didn't go anywhere. And I woke up yesterday sick again. I was better on Saturday and then in the night got worse on Saturday night. YUCK!! Doug is fine and Alden still has not gotten sick! :)

Shut Ins

Tea Party!

Samantha and Alden both wore their Penguin PJs today to celebrate the bitter cold!!

The weather her in Plattsmouth is bitterly cold!! We have basically been shut ins since Wednesday. We went to Papillion so that I could get groceries from Super Target on Thursday night (but I was the only one that went inside the store because it was soooo cold outside!) It's suppposed to snow again tommorrow and then be bitterly cold again all next week, so we'll be stuck inside a few more days.

Samantha and Alden and I had a Tea Party with a few of Samantha's stuffed animals. Samantha served cookies and milk. (These are only about 1/3 of all of her stuffed animals....only her favorite ones were given invitations!)