The Big # 2

What a wonderful weekend we had!! Though Samantha officially turned 2 on Friday, we celebrated from Thursday to Tuesday. What a lucky girl! Big Guy and Grammy came in to spend the long weekend, which is always a treat for her. We had our family celebration on Friday, complete with birthday cake homemade by Papaw, and her party on Saturday. I think next year we'll be moving into "big girl" parties, so we had a big blowout with family and close friends. I'm not sure what all she could comprehend, but I think she had a good time. I think it just blew her little mind to see so many people she loves in our house all at the same time! As you can imagine, we took hundreds of pictures. I had a hard time picking out only a handful to post.

Samantha Elise Noland at 12:12 a.m. on April 23, 2010, officially 2 years old. I'm not sure how long this tradition will last, but Steve and I love to stay up and sing to her.

I decided to get her a birthday treat of Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. I got the pink one out of the box - makes sense, right? - and she looked at me and said "No, Mommy, I want brown one." What a smart girl!

It was such a beautiful day that we decided to take her to Riverfront Park to see the water. She was brave enough to stick her hand in the fountain with a little encouragement from Big Guy.

We ran into Samantha's good buddy Bruce Pearl at OCI. Even though he was there having lunch with friends, he was gracious enough to have his picture made with the birthday girl. He is quite a gentleman!

The first present ... a bubble machine from Gran and Grandaddy.

Does life get any better than this? Tons of bubbles with no work at all. The bubble machine was a big hit!

The best birthday meal of all time ... chick-fil-a nuggets and chee-tos.

Wawa helps her blow out the candles on her very special lemonade-flavored birthday cake made by Papaw. Many thanks to Jerry Lee and Southern Lady magazine!

Big Guy and Grammy found Samantha a "Samantha" flower. Really - it's a type of lantana named Samantha. After Big Guy helped her plant it, Grammy helped her give it a drink of water with her very own watering can.

Checking out her good buddy Evan at her party. She is fascinated by Evan, but I don't think she understands why he doesn't try to talk to her when she says something to him.

Her favorite gift ... her very own Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. We had a hard time getting her out of it the rest of the night.

Enjoying some birthday cake.

Samantha with her very proud Wawa and Papaw.

Samantha with her very proud Big Guy and Grammy.

The fun continues when Wawa and Papaw stop by on Tuesday with a brand new big girl kitchen. We've been doing lots of cooking ever since!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, a wee bit late. We hope that everyone had as blessed of an Easter weekend as we did. After discovering that the Easter Bunny knows where our house is, we attended an amazing church service then spent the rest of the day with family. Samantha doesn't comprehend everything quite yet, but I can confirm that she had a great time "hunting" eggs. I'm not sure the Easter Bunny even needed to stuff them with treats. The egg hunt was, in and of itself, quite thrilling. Here are some pictures from our day.

The Easter Bunny came!

Enjoying a pre-lunch swing on Papaw and Wawa's deck.

Wow! The Easter Bunny stops at Wawa and Papaw's house, too!

Her first experience decapitating a chocolate bunny. She was hesitant to bite into it at first, but she got the hang of it pretty quick!

A very proud Daddy.

Our amazing family!

Going after the eggs.

Getting some help from Papaw.

Taking a post-leftover stroll in the wagon.

Helping Daddy pull the wagon.

RIP Bradford Pears

We knew it was bound to happen one day, but nothing we could have done would have prepared us for it. Last fall, one of our beautiful bradford pear trees split. We were fortunate that it didn't do any real damage to our house or our wonderful neighbors. Since the split tree needed to come down, we reluctantly decided to take the other one down, too. It wasn't too far behind its compadre, and we might not be so lucky on the second split.

Newly retired Uncle Johnny has a knack for taking down trees. So, he spent last Thursday and Friday at our house doing the deed. Samantha watched him in awe. I think she might have been more upset than Steve and I. She kept asking me "What Uncle Yonny doing to trees? Poor tree! Oh-no!"

So long, dear friends. So long, privacy. And so long, wonderful shade to the front of our house. JC Penney, we will be visiting very soon to purchase a boatload of blackout curtains!

Samantha is comforted by her friend Maddie from across the street.

Taking a rest with Uncle Johnny, the hardest working man in Knoxville last week.

Goodbye. We will miss you until the fall. Then we will be ecstatic not to rake up your mass of leaves.

Samantha watches the last limbs come down from the safety of the house.

What happened??

Once upon a time, not too long ago it seems, I had a beautiful, dainty little girl. A little girl who did NOT like to have dirty and/or sticky hands. A little girl who would inform me "Uh-oh, mommy, I made a mess" if she found a speck of dirt on her person. With the rising temperatures and increased outdoor activity, it seems that little girl is gone. In her place I have a still beautiful, now very dirty little girl. Despite all of her outdoor toys, her favorite is the planter full of potting soil sitting on our back porch. I'm not sure I'll even put flowers in it this year, lest I take away her new joy in life ... dirt.