Sammy Jo is 2 months old!

I can't believe it! How can she be 2 months old?? I am so excited for her to be blessed this Sunday. She is such an angel and such a blessing to our lives. She is growing everyday. She now loves to coo and smile all of the time. She is learning to grasp things and is fascinated with everything around her. She is already such a social gal, always wanting to see what's going on.

Being a stay at home mom is THE BEST! At first I was frustrated everyday and felt confused as to why woman feel such joy in raising their children. I felt like everday was so hard and I couldn't get anything done. Now that my body is feeling better and Sam is getting a little older it has gotten so much better. Seeing her smile and respond to me is so rewarding. I feel like I fall more in love with her everyday, which is crazy because I already love her so much!!

Chicago Day 3

Chicago has really lived up to it's name! Today has been WINDY and rainy. Because of that we didn't do much. We checked out of our hotel and then we ate at the Chicago Burger Company that is right on the river. We walked around the city more and then we headed to the airport. I am glad that Samantha and I came with Nic. It was a neat experience to see Chicago and I am glad that Nic got to attend his conference.

Chicago Day 2

Our second day was spent visiting the Navy Pier. It has beautiful views of lake Michigan along with a lot of fun shops, restaurants, and rides.

We walked around the city and admired all of their beautiful buildings and impressive architecture!

We ate at Giordano's which Nic and I think is really the best deep dish pizza (or stuffed crust as they call it)

We visited the Hershey Sweet Shop where I had the best peanut butter brownie that I have ever had (my siblings would be JEALOUS!)

Chicago Day 1

We are in Chicago! We are here for the ABA Conference. Nic holds two positions in the ABA. He is the student liaison at the U of U for the committee on Armed Forced Law and he is also the Lt. Governor for the 15 Circuit. He has had to attend a bunch of meetings for the conference, but we have managed to do some fun things while we are here.

Samantha decided to poop all over her outfit as we were boarding the plane in SLC, but other then that she has been an angel! First of all, our hotel is awesome. It is literally right downtown and is located right on the Chicago River. Here are some views from our window...

It has the MOST COMFORTABLE BED EVER!

We started our trip by trying a real Chicago Dog (probably the best hot dog I have ever had)

Then we tried Gino's East (supposedly the best pizza in the Country..Nic and disagreed!)

Then we walked "The Magnificent Mile" which is a mile of awesome shopping.

Chicago

Nic has a conference he has to attend in Chicago. Sam and I are tagging along. I just wanted to do a post and ask you all if there is anything you recommend doing while we are there. We are staying right downtown, so I am hoping that we won't need a rental car. If you have been there and have done anything fun, please give me your recommendations. We only have 3 days, so I want to make the most of it while we are there. Thanks for any help/advice you have for us!

Life with Baby

The last month and a half is such a blur! We are slowly adjusting to our life as a family of three. Here are some pictures of what we have done the last 2 weeks.

We had a great time at the Ute Stampede with my family. Sam didn't do too great with the noise at the Rodeo, so we didn't get to stay for the whole thing. Maybe we can go to another rodeo closer to the end of the summer.
We took Sam swimming for the first time, she actually liked it more then I thought she would.

We did our first hike/nature walk with the baby on Legacy Parkway. I think she got a little warm towards the end, but for the most part she did really well. I LOVE my stroller by the way!

Samantha really loves getting baths. She is obviously too big for our bathroom sink here, but she just seems to enjoy being wet. I don't know if you can tell in this picture..but she is losing all of the hair on the top of her head but keeping it all on the sides. She looks like an old man :)

4th of July

We had such a fun 4th of July and the baby did so well with the busy day. We started our day with a great family breakfast at my sisters house. It was a lot of fun to get together with all of my siblings. Then we went to the Magna Parade like we do every year. The baby slept through the whole thing and I was so happy because I was afraid all of the loud noises would scare her. In the afternoon we celebrated Nic's Grandma's Birthday party. It was the first time that Nic's extended family got to meet Samantha so that was neat. Here are some pictures...

I think this picture is neat...4 generations!