Well, my mom wanted new pictures of Sam so here you go! These are from another tummy time episode. He did pretty well this time and just drooled a lot. In fact, in this sequence of pictures, you can see the evolution of his spit strand. Enjoy.

Also, I made him this mobile during the hurricane and Dan helped me put it together. I just bought cheap wood airplanes and helicopters at Michaels, painted them, and hung them from dowels. I think it turned out pretty good! (Other than being a little bit lopsided.)

Uneventful

Not much is going on around here lately... Sam turned 4 months old on Thursday so to celebrate I took him to the doctor and he got 5 shots. What a lucky kid. He loved them and showed this love by screaming his head off.

To reinforce my hatred for doctors' offices, I waited for an HOUR before the doctor saw him. Sam was getting pretty tired and a little fussy and I was pretty annoyed, but I tried not to show it. I figured that wouldn't have done any good. Sam weighed in at 17 pounds, 6 ounces and is 26.25 inches long. His head is still in the "orange-on-a-toothpick" range. Gotta love it! Hopefully he'll grow into it one day. He's the best.

Here's a picture. I know it's all you care about.

One more - Sam in 1978

Man, I wish I really went to high school in the 80s. I've got perfect hair for that. I have a feeling it would have been something like the above picture. Dan's picture is supposed to be from 1974. Try it for yourself here and let's see the results!

My trip to Jack-in-the-Box.

Background #1: In my childhood, we NEVER went to Jack-in-the-Box. I think it's because they had some e-coli or salmonella scare or something so my parents just decided that we would never eat there again. When we got to Houston, Dan convinced me to give it a try and I actually liked it. Their chocolate milkshake is off the charts.

Background #2: In our apartment's mailroom, there's a big bin where people can throw any junk mail they don't want. About a month ago, we got a Jack-in-the-Box ad that had a coupon for a FREE smoothie. No catch. Just a free smoothie. So instead of being satisfied with my one coupon, I dug through that junk bin and got 10 more coupons. ROCK ON! People had just thrown them away without reading them. So we've used a few, but they don't expire until January. It's awesome.

Back to the story: So the week after the hurricane, a lot of stores were closed and we didn't have power so I was craving a nice cool beverage. Around 7 in the evening, Dan offered to watch Sam while I went to JITB and got a shake for me and a free smoothie for him. So I went there and there was a sign on the door that said the dining room is closed for the time being and the drive-thru is only open from 10-6. Bumma. No shake for me.

So the next day, I decided to go on a nice long walk with Sam to JITB to get a free smoothie. It's quite a walk - probably .75 miles and that's pushing Sam and dodging all the debris on the sidewalk from Ike. So I huff and puff and finally get there. There were two ladies who drove up at the same time so instead of me just going straight for the drive-thru with my stroller, I pretended to look at the sign on the building first so they knew that the dining room was closed and that I HAD to go through the drive-thru. So I get in line for the drive-thru with a stroller. I'm already looking so cool. Two cars in front of me, three cars behind me. Breathing in toxic fumes. A woman with a stroller.

So finally it's my turn to talk to the dude through the speaker thing but nothing happened b/c the sensor didn't detect me. I think the others were getting impatient. So the ladies, who had gotten back in their car to also go through the drive-thru, drove up a little bit so that the guy knew someone was there. So then I ran up to the speaker, just feet away from these ladies, and told him I just wanted my free smoothie. He says, "Sorry. The smoothie machine isn't working." Man, I looked like a doofus. To make things worse, I had pulled out the coupon and at the same time, dropped the only money I had - a measley quarter - and couldn't find it. So I didn't get a smoothie and I'm out a quarter.

Then I walked home.

...and we're back!

We survived! We got power back early this morning and were beyond excited. We had heard one person say we might get it back on Friday, but on the power company's website, they were saying it could be after Monday that we got it back. Sam was crying so I got up to get him and I looked over at the clock and it was flashing! I woke Dan up and we were both so happy. Six days without power wasn't too bad. Other people have it a lot worse, but I couldn't wait to take a hot shower. My legs hadn't been that hairy since I was 11!

The hurricane sounded to us like a heavy rainstorm or windstorm. Just a lot of wind and rain. When we woke up, though, trees and powerlines were down all over the place. Gutters and siding had fallen off of a building and a few windows in the complex had blown out. But for the most part, we were fine. Heavenly Father really blessed us these last few days with some gorgeous weather. It's been in the high 70s/low 80s and low humidity so life w/o a/c wasn't very oppresive. Lots of stores are just beginning to open and you had to wait in line at Kroger and only had 10 minutes to shop. The lines were madness.

Here are some pictures and videos that I took:

This first one is of the "bayou" (read: canal) behind our apartment complex the day before Ike.

This is the afternoon of the day Ike hit.

IKE! YIKES!

Hurricane Ike is headed right for us. Luckily, we're about 40 or so miles from the coast so we're hoping it will die down a little bit before it reaches us. Still, we're thinking we may not have power for a week or two. We plan on keeping our phones off unless we're calling someone. If you call, feel free to leave a message and we'll call you back. We'll see how this goes! Welcome to Houston, right?

Tummy Time

Whoever said babies love tummy time was severely mistaken. Not once has Sam gotten through 15 minutes of tummy time without screaming bloody murder.

In other news, Sam's got some crazy long hairs that reach down PAST the bottom of his earlobes. but we can't bring ourselves to cut his hair. That's about it for now! I just hang out with Sam and get lost when I try to go and do things. I've got the drive to Target down, but that's about it!

My Getaway to San Antonio

Hey folks, Sam here. I decided that my parents needed a little time alone together before Dad starts work on Tuesday, so I took a nice little trip down to San Antonio, Texas.

The first day, I drove down and checked in to my swanky hotel. My Grandpa Cheney would have loved it! It had free popcorn and two free alcoholic drinks every day. (He would have loved the popcorn, not the alcohol!) Don't worry. I'm on an all-milk diet. Gotta look good for the ladies, you know. The hotel's breakfast was off the charts, too. But again... milk does this body good.

After checking in, I strolled along the famous Riverwalk. There were lots of overpriced restaurants and lots of tourists, but it was really pretty and fun to see. I got pooped out pretty early so I hit the sack.

The second day, I went to two of San Antonio's five missions - Mission San Jose and Mission Concepcion.

At the first mission, I took a moment to reflect on the impact of the Spanish mission life on the culture of the indigenous people of southern Texas.

Then I lightened things up a bit and stuck my head out of a hole in the wall they used to stick cannons through.



Later I took a siesta and then went back to the Riverwalk to take a tour on one of their boats. As you can tell, the tourguide was a snoozer!

On my last day in San Antonio, I went to the Alamo. I saw a knife that belonged to one of my ancestors who fought at the Alamo, but I wasn't allowed to take a picture.


It was a pretty fun trip and I think my parents enjoyed their time together alone. Until my next trip, adios, amigos!