New Door

Big old shoutout to Anne and Dennis- who JUST finished totally stripping and repainting their front door.

You guys, it is REALLY starting to look amazing. I cannot wait to come and help out once the furniture gets delivered. I am so proud of you two!

Baltimore and Back.

This weekend, V and I drove with Anne to Baltimore to see Anne and Dennis' new house. Long-suffering Eric had to drive up by himself on Saturday.

Can you believe how cute their street is? There's a beautiful Catholic Church on the next block and their house is in the center of the image (the door is the white one near the dead center of this picture). Eric actually took off the storm door, so the door's not white any more, but you get the idea...

This house TOTALLY reminds me of my Philadelphia house- just with one less story. It is uncanny, even the smells are evocative for me- I think that many of the building materials must have been the same. On Saturday morning, we worked on pulling up flooring. There's hardwood in the front bedroom. We did a ton of demo and are FINALLY starting to get there! YAY!

And speaking of getting there, back at the ranch, we are still working on crawling...

Startin' Him Out Young

Thank you Uncle Brian!

Had a great weekend with Anne and Dennis, Courtney and her family, and Jane and her family. So glad to be back in the 23220. Traffic on 95 south was terrible on the drive home today.

Vake was a total trooper- it was a weekend of no schedule but he was so smiley and happy!!! YAY.

I've got good pics of Courtney and little V- will post soon!

Happy Birdie to Two Cool Chicks

This birthday shout out goes out to two of the best friends you could hope to have. Martha is loyal and brave- she always strives to be a good friend. Here she is with her godson at the hospital.


Liz is smart, sensitive and thoughtful- she's a fantastic listener.

Vake is so lucky to have both Aunt Martha and Aunt Liz as a part of his life. This was his expression when I told him that he slept through his aunts' birthday party last night. He was definitely not a happy camper.

He did recover nicely when I told him I thought the odds of seeing both Martha and Liz at some point either this weekend or next were pretty good. I got him to model both a smile and his new pajamas from Aunt Martha after that. These are an 18-24 months size- and he's got a little (not a lot) bit of growing room in them- I am hoping that these will make it to Christmas. They are a super nice brand- such soft lovely cotton- so much nicer that the Carter's that I am getting for little V.

And just in case you thought the mobile was getting boring, it never fails to entertain...

We are on the Daddy leaving countdown for the week- it is Seattle on Wednesday...thank God for Mary Sabra and Taren...and in exciting news, Aunt Anne, Uncle Dennis and DOMINGO are coming down this weekend! Woo-hoo!!!

This goes out to Uncle Dennis

We've only got one real golfer in the family, Uncle Dennis. Today's outfit is in his honor. It was a hot one but little V was cool, calm and collected in his lightweight cotton- which proved particularly nice when we did Stroller Strides for the first time tonight!

My New Overalls

Today Vake is definitely wearing a "little boy" outfit- his first set of overalls. I understand that big Vake was a huge overalls fan- and speaking of which, if any of the Sampson relations can send me a picture of what the West Lane (?) Plumbing Overalls looked like, I think little Vake may be getting a pair that look like the ones that great-Granddaddy had...


Here's Vake with his Uncle Dennis!

And here he is practicing a figure skating move...

Once he and Dennis were finished with their doubles skating routine, Vake and I went outside and looked at the cars driving by and played on the new bench that Aunt Andrea and Uncle Rob gave us.

My little drool monster may be getting pretty close to getting his first tooth- the drool production has increased dramatically, something I didn't think was possible.

And who was staring at us through the window? That's right. Domingo and Stilly, his BFF.

Vake's Cousin Domingo

Anne and Dennis have a new addition to the family, Domingo. Vake and little D, as the blog world knows, share the same birthday (mostly because Domingo's birthday was initially unknown so we could make it whenever we want.)

Today, little Domingo gave Vake some kisses...
...and stole Vake's pacifier...

...and was basically too cute for words.

Uncle Dennis, Bright Shiny Lights and Yet Another Reason Why Taren's Terrific

So Vake, Eric, Mary Sabra and I want to send a big "we're thinking about you" to Vake's Uncle Dennis. A week from today, Dennis will take his exam to become a licensed clinical social worker. He's completed all the requirements and just needs to take this test. For those of you who don't know Dennis, he's the most laid-back, patient person who gets along really well with everyone in our extremely high-energy family. We are super-psyched to have Dennis (and the new puppy Domingo) up with us in June. GO DENNIS.


So as I have posted before, I think, most days I get home from work as the V is winding down from his day. There's basically time to give him a bath, feed him and read some stories and cuddle as I get him ready for bed. There's a fussiness quotient in play too- he' s pretty tired. But he's never too tired to look at lights- here he is about to fall backwards out of my arms staring at the kitchen lights.

Last but certainly not least, I wanted you to see why I am such a huge Taren fan. So today, I come home from work and Vake has a Mother's Day present for me- I've attached a picture of it below- such a thoughtful thing to do! She called Mom for help and planned the whole thing!