Samantha is eating, tickling, fake laughing and imitating animals

Here are some more videos from the last couple of months. Just a little glimpse for those of you who are far away and want to see how Sam is doing. As noted below, the first two videos are repeats from videos I uploaded to Facebook, but I put them here for my non-facebook friends and family.

Don't bother me... I'm eating (20 seconds)
10/8/09 - 16 months old
(If you're on Facebook, you may have already seen this one)

This video is a perfect example of how much Samantha loves her breakfast. You do NOT want to keep this girl waiting when it comes to breakfast. I make her breakfast using ground up grains (like millet, quinoa, brown rice, etc) and ground up legumes (lentils, split peas, chickpeas, etc.). I then mix in some pureed kale and peanut butter or an egg. YUMMY... Want me to come cook breakfast for you? :) As you can see, though, Samantha isn't complaining! I figure if I feed her this in the morning, even if she refuses to eat anything else all day, she's had lots of nutrition to get her brain going!

Tickle Tickle (11 seconds)
10/24/09 - 16 months old
(This is another one that I posted on Facebook)

I was SO happy when I captured this on video. This is video of Samantha making what we USED to call her Turkey sound. But a few days after she started making the sound, we realized she was saying "Tickle Tickle Tickle" because she'll usually do it while trying to tickle our tummy, our armpits, our feet or anything else she thinks might be ticklish (including her stuffed animals). This video is now 2 months old and I'm happy to say that Samantha still says "Tickle Tickle" on occasion. I tell her that if she's smart, she'll keep saying it because it makes me laugh everytime and could really help her get out of trouble sometime in the future!

Animal Impersonations (12 seconds)
11/26/09 - About 17 months old

This is probably the clearest video we have of my little munchkin making animal sounds. We are particularly partial to "Lion", but honestly, love listening to Sam make all her animal sounds. The amazing thing to me is that every time she learns a new one, it surprises us. It's not like we're making her practice with flashcards. She learns all of her words and sounds just through us reading with her and talking with her. I wonder if she'll learn algebra this easily... :)

Fake Laugh (12 seconds)
11/10/09 - 17 months old

Listen to this little actress! I guess she's trying to convince me something is REALLY funny. And lo and behold... it WAS funny!

Sam using her fork... and a few fingers (24 seconds)
10/29/09 - almost 17 months old

I promise not to post every mundane video about Samantha learning a new skill, but this one is really funny to me because it shows Samantha's need for structure and order. As she stabs her cantaloupe with her fork, a piece slides off. Of course, she doesn't just pick it up and eat it. No... it has to go back on the plate. Samantha has quite a few of these "yikes, there's something out of place" tendencies... and at the same time, has no problem if all of her toys are laying around the house. Go figure...

Mommy's Shoes (15 seconds)
12/1/09 - Almost 18 months

Samantha is definitely inheriting her Mommy's fascination with shoes (yes, you did just hear Sean sigh in the background). I have to admit... I was pretty impressed with her coordination with these ones, especially since she put them on herself. I hope the paparazzi doesn't get a hold of this video... I'll be lambasted for letting my little girl wear high heels!

As usual, I hope to get more pics and videos uploaded soon... hopefully it won't take me months like it did last time!

Lots of love from LV...
The Shepards

Samantha is singing, dancing, spitting, swimming and just loving life!

Hi there (and Merry Christmas)!!! Here are a few videos that hopefully give you an idea of what Samantha is up to these days. I have been very remiss in updating the blog, so a few of the videos go back to October, but some are from just a few days ago. I hope to upload a few more over "Christmas Break" as I'm hoping to have a little bit more time to sort through all the videos we take.

"Open Them, Shut Them"
12/20/09 - 18 months old
Video is 50 seconds long

Samantha and I have gone to "Story Time" at the library quite a few times. The last time we went, we learned a new song that has recently become Samantha's favorite. This is video of her singing the song with me.

"Ring Around The Rosie"
12/20/09 - 18 months old
Video is 13 seconds long

Samantha still doesn't do the whole "we all fall down, part", but you can get an idea of her great rhythm and dancing skills!

Sam and Daddy in a Blowing Match
10/13/09 - 16 months old
Video is 34 seconds long

While getting Samantha ready for bed, Sean started blowing on her face to make her laugh. Sam, of course, decided to copy her dad, and they wound up in a blowing/spitting match!

"Opening the Hamster Dance Card"
12/4/09 - 18 months old
Video is 8 seconds long

A few weeks ago, Samantha got a present in the mail (not a Christmas present, so she was allowed to open it early!). She loved the gift she received, of course, but she was even more interested in the musical card we got. I included this video beause it shows Samantha's joy in the little things! I can speak from experience when I say that the "Hamster Dance Song" can get stuck in your head really easily! :)

"Trick or Treating with our Little Ladybug"
Halloween - 16 months old
Video is 9 seconds long

When we got Sam's costume for this year, we thought we'd just put her in it for a few seconds, take a couple shots, and call it quits. But she LOVED her costume! And she really enjoyed Trick-Or-Treating (until she got really tired, of course).

"Swimming Hard"
10/21/09 - 16 months old
Video is 18 seconds long

This video is from a couple months ago, but it shows that Samantha is starting to really kick and paddle. Most importantly, she LOVES to get in the water, and that's our biggest desire.

Video of Samantha eating and tickling...

Here are just a couple random videos of Samantha so you can get a bit of an idea of what she's up to! (BTW - if you're on Facebook, you already saw them, but I wanted to make sure to post them here for my non-Facebook friends!)

Feeding Time!!

Oct 8, 2009 - 20 MB

This is a video of Samantha chowing down on her breakfast. Probably only interesting to about half of you! But it cracks me up because the girl just doesn't breath... do NOT get in between her and her Super Cereal (made of millet, quinoa, lentils, egg and kale... YUMMY!!!)

Tickle, Tickle, Tickle
Oct 24, 2009 - 22MB

I had been trying to capture video of this for a couple of days. This is video of Samantha making what we ORIGINALLY thought was her Turkey sound. Now we know she is saying "Tickle Tickle Tickle" because she'll usually do it while trying to tickle our tummy, our armpits, our feet or anything else she thinks might be ticklish (including her stuffed animals).

Where have we been???

It has been 3 months since our last post. That's ridiculous. I guess if we weren't so busy, I'd have time to update our blog more often... but then again, I wouldn't have anything to tell you about because there'd be nothing going on! It's kind of a Catch 22, isn't it? :)

Over the next few blogs posts, you'll see a bit of a recap for the past few months. In the meantime, here are some answers to a few questions you might have.

1. How is Samantha doing?

Samantha is doing so well! Yep, we're still convinced we are the luckiest parents in the world, but you may beg to differ if you have your own gems in your family.

Samantha turns 15 months old on September, 10th. Physically, she is growing leaps and bounds. We weighed her a few days ago and she was about 20.5 lbs (which is pretty small for her age, but definitely getting bigger!). She started walking about a month ago (see video in one of the posts below) and she sprouted her 8th tooth on Saturday, September 6th (Finally!!! It had been 4 MONTHS since her last tooth came in... we were starting to wonder if her bottom one existed!).

Beyond physically, Samantha is also sprouting mentally and we are in amazement each and every day. She has a few words in her repertoire (like dog, dada, mama and woof, quack, etc. if you can count those as words!). But what we find even more impressive than her speech is just how much of OUR speech she understands. We've been talking to her in full sentences since the day she was born and we were very used to not getting any response. But now, when we tell her that it's time for a snack, she heads to her high chair. Or when we tell her to turn around to crawl down the stairs backwards, she turns around. If we ask if she wants to get on her horse, she walks over to her horse and climbs on. We still aren't past the shock of realizing that she's actually soaking in everything we are saying. Of course, Sam doesn't do exactly what we tell her to do all the time, but even so, it is extremely fun to watch her personality blossom!


2. How is Las Vegas treating you?

Pretty well! We can't believe we have been here over 10 months! We are past the two hottest months of Summer (although September is still very hot, of course). It's been a huge adjustment for us to stay inside in the Summer (when in Oregon, you hide inside in the Winter and blossom in full glory in the Summer). When it's as hot as it is in July and August, there just really isn't a great time of day to walk the dogs, go to the park, etc. That being said, the heat has not been as unbearable as we expected. For example, we don't spontaneously combust when walking from the grocery store to our car. We're definitely ready for the heat to subside so we can have more freedom for our activities, but with that said, the hibernation in the Las Vegas Summer is not quite as difficult or as long as the hibernation in the Portland Winter, so we are counting our blessings.

Besides the weather, we are definitely getting to know more about Las Vegas in general and are trying to make it our home. This has been a little difficult due to the fact that we have to schedule around work schedules and our dear daughters nap/bedtime schedules, but we are working on it. Fun activities like an occasional bike ride at Lake Mead, a hike at Mt. Charleston, or a picnic dinner at an outdoor theatre at the base of Red Rock Canyon bring us hope that maybe, just maybe, our Northwest roots can thrive in this desert! :)


3. Have you done anything exciting this summer?

Although we haven't ventured anywhere exotic this summer, we have managed to make a couple trips to Portland and one trip to Boise. We've also had a couple people visit us here in Las Vegas. You'll see a few extra details about these trips in subsequent posts.


4. How is Sean's work going?

Sean is staying very busy at work. It's a very challenging environment given that the gaming industry is definitely tightening their belts due to the economy, but he's hanging in there.

5. What is keeping Lisa so busy that she can't update the blog (for crying out loud)?

The travels to Portland and Boise and the visits from friends have definitely made the summer a very busy one. But like I mentioned earlier, we wouldn't avoid those events just so I had more time to work on the blog!! :)

I have also been working as a contractor for WebMD for a little over 2 months. I'm currently working about 30 hours per week for WebMD (from here in Las Vegas). I work 10 hours a day two days a week (while Nana takes care of Samantha) and then I get as many hours in as I can on the other days (before Samantha wakes up and during her afternoon nap). In a nutshell, this means that from M-F, my schedule is pretty packed and there aren't a whole lot of spare moments left over for writing in blogs, reading books, calling friends, etc.

6. Wait... I thought one of the reasons you guys moved down to Las Vegas was so Lisa could stay at home with Samantha?

You're right... but that just goes to show that if you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans! :) If there is anything we have learned over the past couple of years, it's that we are not necessarily in control, and God sometimes has other plans for you than what you made for yourself. When WebMD approached me with this opportunity in May, we thought long and hard about it. I didn't want to give up the opportunity to be a Stay-At-Home mom (especially after moving all the way to Las Vegas to make that happen) but at the same time, we could certainly use the extra money to help with the Oregon house that hasn't sold yet, pay off an IRS debt due to a ridiculous Federal mess up in 2006, etc. So we decided as a family to go for it. As it stands, I get to spend 5 days a week with my lovely little girl, she's watched the other 2 days by one of the most loving care providers I could ever hope for (her Nana) and I get to work at a company I know extremely well and make some extra money for the family. Oddly enough, I still consider myself a Stay-At-Home mom, so I think I have a slight problem with denial or split personalities.

7. What else can you tell us?
Well... check out the next few blogs to see pictures and video of some highlights from the past couple of months.

Samantha's 1st Birthday

Samantha turned 1 on June 10th. We had a birthday party for her in Las Vegas with family and friends on Saturday, June 13th. We also had a birthday party/bbq when we were in Portland in late June. We won't bore you with the 900 photos we took of her with friends, opening gifts, etc., but here are a couple of the highlights!

Here's our little birthday princess. Yes, we did make her wear a party hat.

In this life, you have to do a few things that your child will be mad at you for later! :)




This is the birthday cake we made for Samantha.
What girl doesn't like a flourescent pink cake for her big day?

While the rest of the partygoers feasted on the cake above, this was Samantha's special banana cake with smooshed banana and food coloring "frosting". You're right, it seems hardly fair that Samantha didn't get to partake in the sugarfest, but at this point in Sam's life, she still hadn't had any refined sugar and we had no idea what a shot of sugary cake and frosting would do to the little angel! :)

As you can see, Samantha was pleased as can be with her banana cake. In fact, a couple of months later, I tried to give her a cupcake with frosting and she would have nothing to do with it, so I guess we aren't so mean afterall!

Yummy!

This is our little 1-year-old princess with cheeks stuffed.

I think she was ordering up a tall sippy cup of milk to help wash down all that cake!!

Videos of Samantha: 14-15 months

There's only one thing more time consuming than sorting through the thousands of pictures we have of Samantha. And that one thing is sorting through the hundreds of video snippets we have shot of her in the past couple months. If I were to wait until I had them all sorted to post the best ones, our next blog post would probably be some time in 2013. So here are a couple that hopefully highlight what she's like right now. If you want to see some of the other historical favorites, you'll have to come to the video Show-And-Tell scheduled for some day in 2013! :)

Samantha is walking!
August 5, 2009

While in Portland, our friend (Teresa) and her two boys (Brayden and Noah) came over to visit. Brayden is 4 and was running circles around Samantha. After about 30 minutes of not being able to get to the toys fast enough, Samantha decided to quit crawling everywhere and just up and decided to start walking. (Up to this point, she had taken steps to go between mommy and daddy, but never voluntarily walked anywhere). Here is video of some of her walking from that first day... we were so excited!

Walking to Momma
August 19, 2009

This video is a little bit more recent and shows Samantha's increasing walking skills.

Samantha's chores
August 27, 2009

Samantha is getting better and better at walking. Since she pretty much waited until she was ready to walk before giving it a try, she has gotten stable very fast. Because of this, we have decided to put her to work. Her first chore is emptying her diaper pail since it's just too stinky of a job for us! :)

Samantha has something to say!
August 29, 2009

We don't know how it happened, but it turns out Samantha likes to talk. Imagine that! Although we have some other video clips that show her talking a bit more, this is the most recent one I could find. Just a couple seconds of her "talking", but I still think it's adorable. The other day, she blabbed on and on to me after I wouldn't let her crawl in the dishwasher. It's so funny to know that she is saying something... we just don't quite know what it is yet!

Still Swimming!
August 29, 2009

We just started up swimming lessons again (at a new swim school that is far away, but has a great technique for teaching both kids and parents). We still have a long way to go before she is an actual swimmer, but it is a lot of fun to see her have so much fun. Here are a couple of videos that show what a little fish she is!

Portland Visit

In August, we had an action-packed trip to Portland. Believe it or not, I filtered through a lot of the photos, but still wound up with A LOT of highlights. My apologies!!! :-)

Our main reason for heading up to Portland was to attend the 3rd Shepard/Faulkner family reunion in Siletz, OR. We snapped this picture while playing in the river at the campground.

Samantha enjoyed a ride on a tricycle at the family reunion.
Her legs just need to grow a teeny bit! :)

Safe in proud Papa's arms at the family reunion.

After the family reunion, Sean, Samantha and I spent a gorgeous day at Cannon Beach.

Samantha enjoyed walking along the beach with us...

...as long as she didn't get sand on her hands. Unfortunately, the few months stuck inside in Las Vegas have turned her into a bit of a priss. It's time to introduce this girl to some dirt!!!

While in Portland, I had to work for WebMD for a few days. During that time, "Uncle" Don and "Aunt" Stacey took really good care of Samantha.

"Aunt" Stacey was a master at balancing both coffee and baby while coming down the slide.

We spent a wonderful day at the zoo with friends...

...and got to feed the Larakeets out of our hands. We were all fascinated with them... and I think Samantha thought I had caught her a new pet!

Samantha and I participated in the Portland Bridge Pedal...

...with Uncle Don and Aunt Stacey.

In case you were wondering, Samantha was NOT a fan of her helmet.

One of the greatest things about our visit was being able to enjoy the small pleasures of the Portland community, like...

...playing in the many neighborhood fountains,

...swinging in the park,

...climbing through the playground tunnels,

...and trying out the tire swing.

Overall, our Portland trip was fantastic. It was wonderful to see family, friends and escape the Las Vegas heat. We are already looking forward to our next trip up there... whenever that may be.

Visiting Boise & our relatives from England

In July, we visited Boise for a week (Sean was there for part of the time but had to come back to Vegas earlier for work). While there, we got to visit with Lisa's family, some of Sean's family, a few friends, and we had the added bonus of getting to spend some quality time with Lisa's Aunt Margaret and Uncle Eddie who were visiting from England. Here are a few of the pictures from our visit...

It didn't take long for Samantha to warm up to her Great Aunt Margaret and Great Uncle Eddie. What a blessing to be able to spend an entire week with them during their visit to Boise.

Grandma Broman was more than happy to feed the eating machine.
(Even though Sam is only in the 10th percentile for weight for her age, she is a CRAZY eater. It's dangerous to get between her and her spoonful of food!)

As you can see, Aunt Lorna spent the week teaching Samantha all kinds of good habits! :)



A fun swim in the next door neighbor's pool with Uncle Eddie and Cousins Channing & Charise.



Wheeeee!!!!!
July 11, 2009

Sean's Uncle Jim and Aunt Barbara rented a huge bouncy slide for a family picnic. Although I was a little out of control on my landing, Samantha enjoyed our adventure down the slide all the same.

Samantha was happy to watch Grandma's tennis match
in the comfort of Aunt Margaret's arms

Uncle Eddie and Samantha went on many adventures around Grandma's house. They went down to the river, on walks around the house and they stopped to check out the neighbor's horses.

Uncle Justin set up a swing in their backyard. You can't tell it from this picture, but Samantha really did love it!

More highlights from the past few months

Take a journey with us through the past couple of months. I promise to keep the word to picture ratio really low! :)

June 10, 2009 - 1 year old
Papa and Nana reading Samantha her book she got for her birthday

June 21, 2009
She's a bird. She's a plane. She's SUPER SAM!!!

June 23, 2009
Just another day in the pool... with my rubber ducky!

June 30, 2009
Samantha playing with her friend Ava at one of the Las Vegas water parks

August 7, 2009 - 14 months old
All smiles while visiting friends in Portland

August 8, 2009
Our teeny tiny techie geek enthralled with momma's phone

August 16, 2009
Samantha is getting so big!!!

August 28, 2009
Sean and I got out for a bike ride... and wound up at Hoover Dam. Not bad!

August 29, 2009
Sam helping Papa with his work. She isn't allowed to touch the buttons now... but I can imagine she will be a great tech help to Papa very soon!

August 30, 2009
A beautiful hike up at Mt. Charleston. The temperature was about 30 degrees cooler than the valley, so it was a great escape. We had a mini picnic lunch up at the top.

August 30, 2009
Although the hike was a little dustier than in Oregon, all five of us enjoyed the fresh air, the pine trees and the exercise. We will definitely visit Mt. Charleston again!!!

September 6, 2009 - 15 months old
Our little girl enjoying her Cheerio treat at Starbucks after church.

September 7, 2009

We went out to Lake Mead to enjoy a day on the boat. The water was about as rough as the ocean, but we had a good time anyway. Samantha really enjoyed riding in the boat and swimming in the lake.

September 7, 2009
Samantha managed to get her sea legs while we were on the boat. It was actually funny to see her walking after we got home... she was stumbling all over the place. I think she was still feeling the rocking of the boat even after we got home.

Samantha's First Steps!!

It's two days before Samantha's 1st Birthday and she just took her first unassisted steps. We are so proud... and we just HAPPENED to have a camera nearby to document the event. Hmmm... that's so unlike us! =)

Here is the first video of her steps... and then of Lisa completely spazzing out. It was just so amazing to watch her get that balance down.

And since we're an equal opportunity blogger, her is video of her walking back to Mom.

Video of Samantha as she approaches the big 0-1!!!

Oh... there is so much to update you on! Our little champ has just been growing by leaps and bounds. Can you believe she'll be a year old on Wednesday. I know it's cliché to say "Where did the time go?" so instead, I'll say "Wow... so much has happened in a year and I can't believe this bundle of crawling, babbling, inquisitive joy is the same bundle of swaddled, floppy joy that we brought home from the hospital almost a year ago." Here are some video clips to give you a glimpse of what she's up to right now. She is at such a fun age and I seem to have this silly video camera rolling all the time! Hope you enjoy the clips!

June 5, 2009 - "FIX IT!!!"

Proud moment only a parent could appreciate: Earlier in the afternoon, Samantha was playing with this chain and it was one long piece. When she started to play with the chain again later, she seemed confused as to why it was in two pieces. Watch as she tries to solve the problem and put the chain back together the way she has seen mommy and daddy do it!

June 5, 2009 - "Pulling Hair"

You can hear me laughing in the background as Samantha pulls her own hair. She looks perturbed that it hurts... and yet she continues right on doing it. In all fairness, I shouldn't have been laughing because I think she was feeling some pain in her ears or was just really tired... but I found it humorous anyway!

June 2, 2009 - "No Touch"

We have just started working on telling Samantha what she can't touch... now that she's mobile enough to get to a bunch of stuff. This video shows the thought processes going on her head as she tries to decide if she should touch the outlets or not.

June 4, 2009 - "Searching For The Dogs"

We think that "Dog" might be Samantha's first word... but the jury is still out. Although she says "Da" a lot, whenever she sees a dog (or a picture of a dog, or a statue of a dog, or a figurine of a dog), she points and says "Da" in a slightly different way. I guess you have to be a nerdy parent to see and hear the difference!

June 1, 2009 - "Conquering The Stairs"

In this clip, you'll see that Samantha has pretty much mastered the stairs (well... at least going up. Down is a different story!). And to think she was still hesitant on the stairs about a week ago. Needless to say, we put gates up this week!

June 1, 2009 - "DADDY!!!"

I think this clip is funny because it sounds like Samantha is yelling at her Daddy. Fast forward about 10 years and I probably won't find this as funny! (BTW - After looking at this clip, you will understand why we went out and bought some plastic sheeting to put up on the banisters. Yet another baby proofing step that we've decided to implement.)

Boise Trip From Late May

In late May, Samantha and Lisa flew to Boise for a visit. We packed A LOT in! Here are some pics from our visit:

Samantha cheered on Grandma Broman at her tennis practice

We visited Aunt Barb and Uncle Jim (Sean's Aunt & Uncle)

We got to see Sean's cousin Jamie (and her kids Cody & Coco)

Samantha met Jamie's dog, Olive. Olive is an 11 month old mastiff puppy!

Samantha was a little more comfortable with Jim & Barb's dog, Miss.

...but she managed to get the upper hand later!

Just a cute picture of Samantha crawling around Grandma Broman's kitchen

Samantha and I headed out on the greenbelt for Samantha's first bike ride. She loved it!
Aunt Lorna and cousins Channing and Charise joined us!

Samantha enjoyed all the attention from her cousins!

We had lunch with Lisa's friend from high school, Joy

...and Samantha met Joy's son, Braden. Look at that adorable little dude!

We also got a chance to see Katie, another of Lisa's high school friends

Aunt Lorna walked little Samantha all over the house...
...and probably had a sore lower back to prove it!

Music time with Uncle Justin, Channing and Charise

We went to a retirement party for Mrs. Linda Selvig
(family friend of 33 years... and former teacher of Lorna and Lisa)

Showing off Samantha's shoes at the party

Grandma Broman and Wayne (Linda's husband) at the retirement party.
We think they must have gotten some sort of memo about shirt color or something! =)

Samantha and Lisa really enjoyed attending Charise's dance recital

Although she was super tired, Samantha did wonderful on the plane back to Las Vegas.
This was Samantha's 13th plane ride... but who's counting! =)