Samantha's Back in Town

Although Lollipop got to enjoy 5 days of undivided attention and daily beach walks as the "only child" while Samantha was away at Grandma and Papa Robinson's house.....

She was thrilled to have her little sister home.

And we were happy to have our little girl home too. Unfortunately she came home not feeling well but the Mr. Potato Head set that Grandma and Papa bought her seemed to perk her up.

Thank you Grandma and Papa for taking her :)

Ostriches, Emus, Miniature Horses and a Giant Castle

We woke up this morning feeling very adventurous and decided to head up to the Santa Ynez Valley, which is about 40 minutes north of Santa Barbara, and do some site seeing.

The first stop was Ostrich Land. We have passed by this place several times and I have always wanted to stop. Ostrich Land is like a zoo for Ostriches and Emus. You are able to get really close to the giant birds and feed them. They do not raise any of the animals at Ostrich Land for meat which is good news for these odd creatures however they do farm both the ostrich and emu eggs so there are rarely any babies born there.

I must say that from afar you could see these giant birds running gracefully through the fields with their feathers flowing and gorgeous big eyes however as you get closer to them, they are quite the opposite. There cuteness sort of wore off when you saw how aggressive they were. They were hissing and pecking at each other as well as all the visitors. I was a little intimidated to feed or get near them.

These are all the "Feeding Rules". It is basically saying that if you do any of the above wrong, you will get pecked/bitten! After reading this, we decided to hold off on feeding them until we gave them a once over.

When you walk in, you are greeted by about 20 ostriches that are ready to eat (bite)!

The emus were a lot less aggressive than the ostriches. They are the 2nd tallest bird in the world next to the ostrich.

I didn't want Samantha to think her Mommy was a wimp so I did feed them. You can't tell from this picture but the ostriches were pecking super hard and it was not easy to hold onto the dish.

I used the two-hand method as suggested by the feeding instructions for the emu's which I think saved a few of my fingers!

We made it a true family affair and brought Lollipop along who was having a stare down with a baby emu.

Click to view the Ostrich Facts larger - I promise you will learn something new!

The next stop was to visit the miniature horses at Quicksilver Ranch. Samantha is obsessed with horses ever since she rode the pony at the fair so we were excited to see her reaction when she saw these. She kept saying, "Baby Horsey" and "Samantha Ride Horsey".

Lollipop had to sit this one out, "No Dogs Allowed" :(

Our final stop was the Sunny Fields Castle Playground in Solvang. This is the nicest and cleanest play structure we have ever visited.

It is amazing to me that we saw all this in half a day!

I am in LOVE

with my TOMATO PLANT!

Each day I notice that 1 or 2 green ones have ripened into beautiful red tomatoes

I am being very diligent each day with watering it (can't say the same for all my herbs that died recently) but this tomato plant has given me hope that I can regain my green thumb

It makes me so excited to begin landscaping so that we can have a whole yard full of fresh vegetables, fruits and flowers. And Samantha can run around on the grass instead of the dirt.

Hopefully soon it will happen!!!

Samantha Counts to 10

Weekend with the Grandparents

Samantha spent the weekend with Todd's parents so that we could do a major garage clean-out. I took a before picture of the garage but I am too embarrassed to post it. We were prime candidates to be on one of those documentaries where they follow "hoarders". We aren't done putting it back together so if the finished product warrants a good enough transformation from before to after, I will post them ;)

While we were up to our ears with boxes of junk, Samantha was having tons of fun with Dancing Grandma and Papa Ward. They took such great care of Samantha, who of course didn't want to nap, heaven forbid she miss out on all the fun activities Grandma and Papa had planned.

Here are some photos that Grandma sent us:

Miss Independent

She brushes her teeth by herself

She climbs in and out of her car seat without being lifted

She helps herself to snacks in the cupboard

She has ditched the high chair

She hops in and out of her "big girl" bed

What's next? A part-time job? Geez.........Slow Down!

Samantha is going to be a BIG SISTER!

Big news - we are having another baby!

After suffering a miscarraige at 9 weeks in April, the news that we were pregnant again in June was both exciting and nervewracking. I have been so worried that I may miscarry again that it hasn't been the most relaxing first trimester. Not to mention that I have had morning, noon and night sickness!

I am happy to say that we have made it through the first trimester and everything looks great. I still have bouts of nausea but not nearly as bad as it had been from week 5 through 11.

On Father's Day I surprised Todd with the news. Upon reading the cake, he looked confused. He then asked, "Who is baby?" It took him a few minutes for it all to register and once it did, he was thrilled. And then we both proceeded to eat an entire cake that serves 50 for the next week. It's okay because I am eating for two right?

Here is the kidney bean at 7 weeks

And again at 9 weeks

And finally looking like an actual baby at 12 weeks (although the baby was measuring 13 weeks)....could be all that cake!

The official due date is February 28th. We have decided to keep the gender a surprise. We found out with Samantha however this time around we are less concerned about having a boy or girl and more concerned about delivering a healthy baby. Plus, the first time around not knowing what to expect with labor (OUCH!) was the real suprise. Now that I know what to expect (I am praying for an easier labor), we wanted some element of surprise. Also, how neat is it going to be when the doctor announces, "It's a _____!", just like they do in the movies!

While this pregnancy has been harder than my first in that I have been so sick, it has been flying by. I rarely check to see which week I am in and when I do, I am surprised by how far along I am. I am way too tired to read about the development of the fetus, whether the arm buds have sprouted or if eyelids have formed. I think a lot of this has to do with a certain 21 month old....

Pregnancy cravings? YES!

cupcakes

ice cream

pizza with jalapenos and pineapple

bagels with cream cheese

watermelon

apples

pasta

popsicles

And I find myself putting crushed red pepper on everything

At least there are 2 healthy things on that list...And yes, I have already sent my dear husband to the store late one evening to fulfill a cupcake craving emergency. Thanks Todd.

And what does Samantha think of the news?

We have told her that there is a baby growing in Mommy's belly and she has been to all the doctor's appointments thus far. The only thing she has gotten out of it is that Bellies = A Baby. So, she is going up to everyone pregnant or not, male or female, and pointing to their belly saying, "BABY"!

I guess come February Samantha will get the real idea, right?