6 months!

Today we are 6 months along in the pregnancy (24 weeks)! Here's a photo of baby Micah's progress this far!

And here is our adorable Sam showing off his bubble beard in the bath!

Hope you all enjoy this rainy day!

Baby Names

Last pregnancy, we decided to keep Samuel's name a secret/surprise until he was born. We thought, since we already found out it was a boy, that we'd love some element of surprise in there for all of our family & friends! That led to a neverending guessing game between the two families of what they thought the name would be! :)

This time around, we decided that once we were 100% decided on what our little boy's name would be, we would share it ahead of time! We are so excited about what we are naming our sweet little baby boy!

His name will be Micah! Micah is of Hebrew origin, and means, "Who is like our God?"

We are so excited to meet baby Micah! 113 days and counting! ;) This morning we are off to another baby appointment where we get to hear his precious heartbeat. We are taking Samuel this time, so we are looking forward to him getting to hear his baby brothers heartbeat too!

On the road to becoming a BIG BOY!

Samuel turns 2 1/2 this Saturday! We love our little guy so much and couldn't be more in love with him! Everyday he surprises us with cute little sayings, and doing funny & new things...

Now with his baby brother on the way, we knew we had some work on our hands to get everything ready - including helping our little guy become a big boy! :) Back in December we realized there were 4 big steps we had to prepare Samuel for... and only 6 months to do it!

Step 1: Potty Training! We are so thankful that we can already check off that box! Our little guy is potty trained - in every shape & form. :) Way to go Samuel! We love you and are so proud of you! It was a crazy feeling packing up all the leftover diapers and storing them away for baby brother to use one day.

Step 2: No more paci's! Yup, this is step #2... actually, we're calling it a prerequisite for Step #3 on the road to becoming a big boy... our little guy has a love affair with his one paci. :) He only gets it a bedtime, but man, oh man does he ever look forward to bedtime because of it! I would say our progress on this step is about a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. That is because during the day (& only during the day) he is open to the idea of giving away his paci... and because at bedtime, he still acknowledges that paci's aren't allowed in his big boy room.

Step 3: Moving to a big boy room & sleeping in a big boy bed! Last weekend we officially started the big boy room project. We are transitioning our guest bedroom into Samuel's very own big boy room. Since red is his favorite color, he of course asked for red walls, so we started painting them red (just on the bottom & white on top). We've still quite a bit of to-do's before the room's ready to go (got to find a dresser, finish touching up the paint, putting up chair rail, and hanging some curtains, etc.) but hopefully in the next month or so it will be move-in ready! That is, if Sammy can conquer step #2!

Step 4: Becoming a big brother! We know it is going to be so much fun for Samuel to meet his baby brother. Every day he talks to the baby, tries to listen to the baby, and "pets" my tummy. He can't wait to meet him! I just pray the adjustment goes well from being an "only child" to a "big brother!" Time will tell, but we are very excited! :)

We love you Samuel! You are the joy of our hearts!

Saturday with the Bradley's

Last Saturday we met up with our good friends, the Bradley's, at San Clemente for some fun. We hung out at the beautiful beach, and had dinner in San Clemente's adorable downtown. Funny, that after camping in San Clemente each Memorial Day, we have NEVER explored that part of San Clemente! I can't wait to go back - its such a cute area with shops & restaurants and the pier.

Matt & Amy have a sweet daughter Lena who is almost 2. Sammy & Lena took a little while to warm up to each other but were soon having so much fun together throwing rocks, getting their feet wet in the water, watching the trains go by & imitating each other (like 2 year olds often do). We are so blessed to have these dear friends in our lives!

Samuel's favorite beach past-time: throwing rocks!

The 2 daddy's & their little ones

Sammy putting his arm around Lena... hmmm... might this be the start of something? ;) What a sweet daddy-son photo. God has given me the best husband, friend, and an amazing daddy to our little boy; and we are so blessed beyond words by the gift of the sweetest, most fun-loving 2-year-old - - thank you God for giving me these unbelievable guys!