Maryland Visit

On Memorial Day weekend we headed to Maryland so Samantha could meet her Gary Great Grandparents (my mom's parents).  She also got to see her Nana and Granddad (my parents), and we are pretty sure she decided that hanging out with all of these doting grandparents is the best!

There was "Welcome Samantha" cake- even though she's not sure what to do with it!

 Lots of snuggle time...

She loves her Nana!

 And her Great Grandparents!

 Grandmom and Granddad have been married for almost 61 years!

And definitely her Granddad!  My Dad wouldn't give her up the whole weekend, and Samantha was very happy about that!

Lanie is the only one who isn't still sure about Samantha and how much attention she takes up.

Note skeptical Lanie in the back of this flying photo...

Four generations of women :)

 All of us :)

May movies

Samantha has started giggling...

And she's loves to play peekaboo...

She makes all kinds of noises trying to sing...

And she's trying to make her own music as well...

May days

Here's some random shots from the last few weeks.  The temperature has been all over the place here- some days have been a bit chilly and some days have felt like summer.

Flying outside.  We've been sitting on the blanket out front a lot and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Other days the weather has not been as nice...

But in general warmer weather means night time walks, cute outfits, and super cute little feetsies...

We've been working on sitting up. Somedays it looks super promising.

And then some days it looks like this...

And tummy time has also been getting much better...now if only she could turn this back into a roll!

And finally we got to have an extra special last breakfast with Rhymes and Prentice before they moved back down south.  We'll miss having you guys close by!

Jinhee and Dennis's wedding

Last weekend we traveled up to the Berkshires for the wedding of two friends from Princeton, Dennis and Jinhee.  It was wonderful to see all sorts of Manna friends, and it was Samantha's first time at a wedding!

Andrew Matthews took the train out from NYC to drive up with us to the Berkshires.  Here's Samantha with her birthday twin before we started our drive.  Matthews is becoming a natural with babies!

We were a little worried about a four hour car trip with Samantha, but she did great.   Mostly this was what I saw from the back seat the whole time (thank goodness the place she likes napping the most is her car seat!)

And when she wasn't sleeping, Freddie the Firefly kept her super occupied.  She has started grabbing everything in the last two weeks so crinkling and putting Freddie in her mouth kept her quite busy.

Once we got to the hotel it was time to get Samantha ready for the wedding.  Such a fancy little girl! (Thanks Auntie Nancy, Uncle Larry, Ashlee and Emilee!)

 The wedding took place at Edith Wharton's estate, the Mount, in Lennox, MA. Since it was raining when the wedding started the ceremony was in a barn instead of outside.  It turned out to be such a fun and unique venue!  And I loved how the bridesmaids had all different but somehow still coordinating peach dresses that reflected each of their unique styles.  So bright and happy!  I was a little worried about Samantha being in this small space the whole time with no where to really escape to except for the rainy outside, but she somehow slept the whole time- thanks goodness!

 David Kim, our pastor from our college fellowship days, performed the ceremony.  He had performed our ceremony (almost five years ago now!) so there were a lot of great flashbacks.  And of course a picture of the beautiful bride and groom!

The weather cleared up enough to have some of the cocktail hour outside.  The bride and groom switched to traditional Korean attire and the toasts began.

 The Mount!  Because it was Edith Wharton's home, Jinhee and Dennis had lots of little touches having to do with reading and writing.  Because we were occupied with Samantha we failed to take pictures of the little details, but I loved the table assignments being written on library cards and the centerpiece flowers made of book pages.

Daddy and his girl!

Cocktail our in the moby with mommy.  Samantha is currently putting everything her mouth- even the moby wrap.

Our family of three!

 And prepare yourself for more cuteness than you thought possible...Samantha met a new friend at the wedding, Caleb Kim.  Caleb is the son of two of our friends from Manna, David and Jane, and was born just three weeks after Samantha.

And what you don't see in this first photo is what actually happened for most of our little baby photo shoot- Samantha kicking and flailing like always- and Caleb trying to figure out who she was and why she was moving so much!

And on Sunday about an hour into our trip back home, we stopped outside of Albany to have a quick lunch with Justin.  Glad he got to meet Samantha, and we got to catch up with him a little.  We somehow failed to take a picture of me with Samantha on my first Mother's Day, but I was feeling very blessed all weekend long to get to be this little girl's mother.

Congrats Jinhee and Dennis! We're so glad we got to be there to celebrate with you and glad we got a chance to catch up with old friends!

4 Months Old!

Samantha turned 4 months old on May 4th-can't believe she's been alive for 1/3 of a year already! At her 4 month doctor appointment she weighed in at 12 lbs 10.5 oz (about the 30th percentile) and was 24 3/4 inches long (just above the 50th percentile).  She had to get 4 injection shots and one oral shot again, but she was a champ and didn't cry until the last one.  Dr. Marshall said that despite a little cradle cap and some dry skin, everything looks great!

What a long baby!

Samantha is smiling all the time these days (although a smile was hard to come by during this photo shoot).  She also started giggling this month if you tickle her-love that sound!

Samantha also started sticking everything in her mouth this month - her hands are her favorite because they are always readily available, but blankets, our clothes, and her toys also work.

She is fascinated with looking at people, and she will smile at faces all the time these days.

Samantha has also started cooing a ton this month.  We think her Music Together class is definitely helping this, but almost any time you talk to her now, she makes noises back at you.

Samantha is a mover!  It is so hard to get her to sit or lie still (was there really a time when we thought if she opened her eyes it was a big deal?)  While she can hold her head up pretty well these days, her flailing arms and legs often make staying in any type of sitting position hard to do!  This sequences if pretty typical!

She is getting better at tummy time- although it's still not her favorite.  And she loves rolling on her side now. She's rolled a few times from tummy to back, but it's hard to make her repeat it. And she can almost go from back to tummy except she gets stuck with her arm underneath her just before the roll would be complete- definitely going to happen soon though because those legs keep swinging.

Samantha continues to be a great sleeper at night- often sleeping 8 or 9 hours at a time.  During the day she still likes napping in her car seat best, and we've found that she will only take crib naps for exactly thirty minutes- she needs the motion to keep her asleep longer.  But being a generally good sleeper makes for a happy baby almost all the time.

And since the aunties were here for this photo shoot, here's a sneak peak of what actually happens behind the scenes when we take Samantha's pictures. As you all can see we were less than successful this time, despite our best efforts at smiling. Just keeping it real.

Happy 1/3 Birthday little girl!

For comparison:
3 months
2 months
1 Month