Aloha!

Saturday morning we are leaving for a week vacation in Hawaii. This will be Samantha's first official vacation, her first trip to the beach and her first swim in the ocean. I'm excited to see what she thinks of the Big Island! I am also excited to dress her in the ridiculously cute Hawaiian-esque attire that I have packed for her.

We are going with about 20+ friends, some have babies and some do not. Cross your fingers that Samantha does well on the 7.5 hour flight and that we all have a relaxing time. Details to come soon, until then - Aloha nui loa!

And she's off!

Cousin Lola definitely gave Samantha encouragement on the crawling front. She is now officially mobile. I'm not sure why I was in such a hurry. Now, we need to get going on child proofing the house. I posted some pictures here of my first Mother's Day along with some cute ones from the first birthday party Samantha attended last weekend for Norm.

The beginning of....the beginning

I've had a number of people tell me that they remember in clear detail the week leading up to the birth of their children. I guess that would be pretty boring for me since I was on bed rest. I remember sneaking out to take a walk and watching a lot of television but I don't remember the details.

What I really remember like it was yesterday was Memorial Day weekend. Those were the days leading to bed rest and ultimately the birth of Samantha. It was a busy weekend with family and friends in town and I overdid it with way too many activities. That Tuesday after Memorial Day was my first trip to the hospital - ugh!

I have been feeling nostalgic as the weekend approaches. This year I'll be running the Boulder Bolder, but last year I was having my first early contractions while watching the race. This year I'll go to a BBQ and walk at the Creek fest like last year but hopefully this year it won't cause my feet to explode into little balloons.

Best of all, last year I was a giant pregnant person waddling around and this year I have a gorgeous little girl to show the fruits of my labor (literally!). I'm excited to show her Boulder during one of my favorite times of the year!

Samantha - A Playlist

While I was pregnant I made a playlist on my iPod that I titled Samantha. This playlist had songs that made me think about Samantha before I met her. I would sing the songs on my way to work and get excited about having a baby and being a mom. Lately I have been listening to it again, it makes me smile and is even more meaningful now that I have her in my life.

I created an iMix for you to sample the songs on iTunes. It is not only a great display of my feelings for Samantha but also shows my very random, eclectic taste in music. Yes I have country, The Carpenters and JoJo & K-Ci on the mix.

Samantha
1. No One by Alicia Keys
2. She's Mine by Brett Dennen
3. Top of the World by The Carpenters
4. Bubbly by Colbie Caillat
5. Landslide by Dixie Chicks
6. Your Song by Elton John
7. Power of Two by Indigo Girls
8. The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson
9. Your Smiling Face by James Taylor
10. I'm Yours by Jason Mraz
11. All My Life by JoJo & K-Ci
12. Always Be My Baby by Mariah Carey
13. Fill Me Up by Shawn Colvin
14. You Are the Sunshine of My Life by Stevie Wonder
15. My Little Girl by Tim McGraw
16. My Wish by Rascal Flatts

Success

I am happy to report that our weekend away in Detroit was a huge success. We had so much fun reconnecting with our college friends (and each other for that matter) during the wedding weekend. And Samantha did fantastic with my parents. She slept great at night, she took naps and she seemed perfectly happy when we came to get her. I think Gramps especially enjoyed having some extra time with her. I was very ready to get back to her but it was an overall positive experience for all of us.

Last week we had a great time having my cousin Jeanine and her family in town visiting from Oklahoma. They have two daughters, Presley who is three and Lola who is one week older than Samantha. Samantha and Lola had a big time together and Samantha has been doing her best to crawl after watching Lola in action.

I have posted a lot of fun pictures of the two babies together. I did my best to dress them in matching outfits and take a ridiculous number of photos just as my Grandma would do!