Vake and Domingo Visit the JCP Portrait Studio

One of my guilty little pleasures is the JC Penney Portrait Studio. Andrea turned me on to it- in Vake's first month, I went to Kiddie Kandids at Babies 'r' Us and paid the unseemly price of $19.95 a sheet for pictures. After that, I learned better- Jacques Penne will give you a sheet of pics for the bargain rate of $3.99 a sheet and Lindsey the manager at the Regency Square Store is A-W-E-S-O-M-E. She does a GREAT job.

So, Vake, Domingo, Dennis, MS and I trekked out to Regency tonight for a cousin pic. I think Dennis truly believes he has died and gone to h-e-double toothpicks- what a night. Please go to the mall with your mother and sister in law, your infant nephew and your puppy for glamour shots of the nephew and the dog.

We started out with Vake with clothes on, trying to take pics of him in a basket with Domingo but that wasn't going so well- the basket just wasn't big enough and everyone was miserable. So we decided on an "action shot" and the only thing big enough for the two of them was a bathtub.

Here's the first picture: in it, Vake's saying, "Who's this dude in the bathtub with me? Where's the water? What about the music we always play? Seriously people, what are you doing to me?"


Domingo looks similarly nonplussed- all you can see is the little white in his eye.

But they actually got used to each other: see below where Vake is staring at Domingo, petting Domingo, getting kissed by Domingo and finally about to fall out of the tub!

Seriously, too cute. What's next for me, though? A minivan with a stick figure family decal on the back cannot be all that far away.

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.

Domingo: Professional Wrestler?

I think that there's no longer any question that I am officially an old person. In one short year, I've gone from being the person who never takes pictures of anything to the person who wishes she had both a videocamera and a fancier still camera to capture every possible event on film.

I would take a picture of every bath that Vake ever took and post them all on the blog if I didn't think it would totally bore all of you.

So it should come as no surprise (although it probably should, given the recent nature of this change) that I am finding myself taking pictures and video of Domingo for Anne during the week that he is here with Dennis and she is packing up in Florida.

And what does tonight's video hold? Well, little D loves horsing around with the two big yellow dogs. Judge's patience for it is pretty limited. After about five minutes, he rapidly turns into the Red Swingline Stapler guy from Office Space and sort of runs away.

Stilly on the other hand, will let little D play with her the cows come in...see below.

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.