Samantha, meet Santa

I'll post Thanksgivng photos later, but I thought you might enjoy Samantha's first time meeting Santa Claus. I'll let you be the judge of how it went .........

Weekend on Signal Mountain

Last Saturday, we went to Signal Mountain to spend the day with Bill, Elise, Will and Caroline. We had a great time! The last time we were there, Samantha's main activities involved laying on her back or sleeping. Now that she is a bit more animated (thats an understatement), she LOVED seeing and playing with all of Caroline's things. Caroline is certainly the trendsetter in the girly girl department, and she keeps me up to date on the latest and greatest things. I'm glad Samantha can't crawl yet ... she would've been into everything!

Of course, Samantha also enjoyed plenty of time cuddling with Aunt Elise, as well as playing with Uncle Bill and Will. She also managed to get some shopping in with the girls. What a full day! I'm sure we'll have many more adventures with the Mitchells as Samantha gets older, but, for now, hanging out suits all of us perfectly fine! We are looking forward to doing in again SOON.

Caroline becomes Samantha's new best friend.

The aftermath - messy, but worth it!

Bill and his little girl

Playing dress up

Samantha tries on the "Lola" wig

Snuggling with Will

Naked Baby = Happy Baby?

Greetings out there to all of our loyal readers of "Samantha's Blog" (amy-n.blogspot.com). Sorry we have been slack on posting lately (this is my first post in over a month). However, tonight was an posting opportunity that we could not pass up.

Since we last spoke Samantha has cut her first tooth. So far this tooth has been met with mixed results. At times it does not appear to be bothering her, and other times it appears that it has stricken her entire body with excruciating pain.

Tonight was one of those "painful" nights. I walked in the door at 5:40 after a three hour meeting at work. I open my car door and I can already hear Samantha. I open the door to the kitchen and Samantha is red faced from crying and Amy looks like she is at her wits end. Here is Daddy to save the day right? Not so much. Samantha continues her tirade. I pull out all of my "go to" moves. I toss her high in the air (and catch her), I take her to look at herself in the big mirror, I tickle her stomach, and NOTHING seems to be working.

We decide to feed her her peaches a little early in hopes that will get her to chill. She loves the peaches! Crisis adverted! Parents of the year! Unfortunately we run out of peaches . . . . this does not set well with young Samantha. It is quite possibly the worst thing that has happened to her in her 7 short months on Earth. How in the world could Mommy and Daddy possibly run out of PEACHES! Meltdown returns. Now what are we to do? I suggest extracting the troublesome tooth. I get out voted (Amy's vote counts as 2 to my 1). Amy says put her to bed early . . . we go with Amy's idea. It was GENIUS! Not because Samantha went to sleep, but because we had to take Samantha's clothes off to put on her PJ's. Once naked she proceeds to laugh, smile, and play for the next 45 minutes. Shocking!

Check the video at the bottom

I'm naked! Party Time!

HA! HA! It's knee slapping funny all the stuff Mommy & Daddy were doing to make me quiet

Seriously Mommy . . . I just wanted out of my clothes that whole time!

Big Orange Baby

We just had an AMAZING day. For several weeks now, we've contemplated taking Samantha to Neyland for the homecoming game. (A sure win, right?!?) We had Mom and Dad's tickets, and we were hoping that someone would offer up a ticket to an adorable 6 month old. Since the weather cooperated, we set out this morning for another adventure.

Samantha, not surprisingly, was a hit. We went to a few tailgates before heading into the stadium. Samantha did get her ticket, by the way, compliments of Mrs. Donna and Ryder. Once we were in, we had a very special treat. Our friend Amber is a former majorette and marched with the Pride of the Southland Alumni Band since it was homecoming. Before the festivities got started, she was able to get us on the field to meet the cheerleaders, dance team and, of course, Smokey. I think Samantha was a bit overwhelmed by it all, as she slept straight through the second quarter and the halftime show. She was all smiles when she woke up, especially since her buddy Lindsey had joined us. The stadium isn't exactly full these days, so we actually sat close to the field in the student section. Steve and I feel like we broke her in right!

Pre-game, all smiles.

Her very first tailgate.

Visiting friends Kristy and Kaitlyn Bruce at the McMichael family tailgate.

With Daddy in front of the stadium.

I think she's more interested in the pom poms than the cheerleaders!

With Amber and the dance team.

More interested in her pacifier than Smokey.

On the field for her first ballgame ... we may have set the bar a tad too high!

"This is fun and all, but seriously, I need to lay down and take a nap!"

With Brandon and Amber, our heroes for the day.

"Cool! A grown-up cup!"

Daddy shielding Samantha's eyes from the lackluster performance of the Vols.

Steve's football man-crush ... Eric Berry.

Snoozing with Mommy and Lindsey.

Our only touchdown.

A future Miss Homecoming with Miss Homecoming 2007.

Heading home ... she made it midway through the 3rd quarter!

The Punkin Patch

This is yet another post which is long overdue. When Samantha and I went to West Tennessee at the beginning of October, Big Guy and Grammy took her to her very first pumpkin patch. We dressed her, of course, in her overalls, which were a gift from Big Guy. It was an absolutely beautiful day at Green Acres Farm in Milan. Get ready for some serious cuteness.

Samantha and Big Guy

Family photo op

Big Guy's little country girl

Samantha and Grammy

Ragin' in the pumpkin patch

One of my favorite photos ever!

A Flurry of Firsts

Samantha has had a very busy October. Besides spending a week in West Tennessee with Big Guy and Grammy, she spent a weekend in Fall Creek Falls, starting eating veggies, joined a playgroup, started sitting up, learned how to put her toes in her mouth, and, of course, dressed up for Halloween. Here a just a few pictures from our very exciting month.

At the Moms & Tots playgroup with Garrison and Julia. We watch the other kids play!

"Hey! I can get my toes in my mouth!"

This is now a regular occurrence ... along with moving the changing table to extract letters.

She's showing signs of independence, though I don't think she is quite ready to feed herself!

Sitting up like a big girl!

Basketball cheerleader Samantha with "Coach Fulmer."