Aunt Carol Is Great Great!

Sam met his Great Great Aunt Carol this week. We had lots of fun while she was here. We took Sam on his first visit to Central Market, our favorite grocery store in the whole-wide world. Gram carried Sam in the Baby Bjorn for the first time (very exciting). We thought Sam was most intrigued by the colorful produce department until we got to the beer aisle, where he was clearly mesmerized by the cool air and pretty-colored bottles and boxes. Takes after Daddy, I guess. We stopped shopping for a tasty lunch and a nice chat.
After Central Market, we did some shopping at Willow Bend and got Sam this super-cool baseball cap at Janie and Jack. All the shop-girls thought he was the cutest and they said "He looks soooo good in navy!" :)
Aunt Carol brought Sam lots of cute, big-boy clothes that he can wear later this year and next year. She also had a suitcase full of toys that Lydia, Paige and Claire are passing on to Samuel, including a wooden giraffe which proved to be a favorite, along with a pretty beaded "bracelet" teether that was nice to chew on.

She was very good at entertaining Samuel, with her "tan fingers" and her cool tweety-bird noises. As you can tell from the pictures, Sam found Aunt Carol to be one fascinating lady. And, of course, Sam was good at entertaining us as well. The video below is of Sam "talking" to us all after dinner last night.

Thanks for coming to visit, Carol. You sure are Great-Great! We can't wait to see you again!

Happy Father's Day



"What Makes a Dad"
(unknown author)

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need.
Then God combined these qualities.
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad

The Calm Before the Storm


Storms are much scarier when you have a baby with you. Here's how bad weather events usually play out in our family: I am busy and oblivious to the fact that a thunderstorm is coming. Brian calls from work to tell me to watch the weather because bad things are headed our way, then Gram calls to tell me the same thing. Then Brian and Pops remain calm while Gram and I freak out. Wednesday night was no different. This picture of Sam was taken on the patio at Mooyah - a new hamburger place near Gram and Pops' house - while we were waiting for our food to be ready. Not long after we had finished our tasty burgers, a whopper of a storm descended upon us. Texas weather can be sneaky and this storm got us good, despite Brian's warning-by-phone an hour earlier that we might "see some weather". We started to head inside Mooyah for shelter then realized, with it being almost all windows, it probably wasn't the best place to wait out a storm with a three month-old. So we quickly drove to the Babies-R-Us nearby.

We made it just in time. The lights quickly went out in the big scary warehouse and the rain started to slam against the not-so-sturdy-sounding skylights, while we wondered how long it would take for the roof to tear away and boxes of strollers and cribs to fall off the shelves onto our poor french fry-stuffed bodies. Gram showed off some smart thinking - we would go by the car seats and throw one on top of Samuel and pile our bodies on top of it if needed. But the fine employees of Babies-R-Us had a different plan. They wanted us all at the entrance to the store, waiting out the storm in front of all the giant windows...for loss prevention purposes, they informed us. Apparently they were afraid that we were going to sneak umbrella strollers and Diaper Genies down our shirts before being whisked away by the giant twister.

That's when all the momma-bears (and one Gram-bear) got a little protective of their baby bears. Everybody spouted off their variations of "I don't think so, Mister", with one mom even announcing they were welcome to strip-search her when the storm was over, because there was no way she was standing with her two young boys anywhere near those windows. As we ran with our young ones to try and find the restrooms, we discovered something better - the employee breakroom. Four concrete, cinder-block walls with no place for heavy boxes above. Funny thing, those same employees decided to join us soon after and we all waited on pins-and-needles for the storm to subside. Sam was a super-star. It was hot and cramped inside the tiny room but he just giggled, cooed, and charmed everyone with his flirtatious baby smiles. There were only three children who got a little teary - one little one and two big ones (I'm sure you can guess who the two big chickens were). It was over as quickly as it started and we headed home, a little shaken up but alive and well. Gram and Pops' house was still standing, with Sophie waiting inside for us, and the Straka house only had a small amount of damage to the fence and some flower pots, all of which were repaired by the next day. Needless to say, Samuel slept like a baby that night, having survived that whirlwind of an adventure, happy to know that Gram, Pops and Mommy were ready to do anything to protect our baby bird!

Weekend, Part 2


I'm one lucky Mommy. Despite being exhausted from helping me all night with a fussy Samuel, Brian was up at 8:00, ready to make my first Mother's Day special. When I walked into the kitchen, there were pretty pink flowers on the table, which was set for breakfast, a card from each of my guys, a present from Brian (a journal), a framed photo of Sam with his Mother's Day sign, and a sweet letter from Sam. After our special dairy-free breakfast (fancy scrambled eggs with mushrooms and tomatoes and waffles with peanut butter), we got dressed and made our way to Granny Nell's for Sam's first visit to Duncanville. We all had fun visiting, exchanging gifts and playing with Baby Sam.

Unfortunately, Brian had to work later that evening, but Sam and I still had fun with Gram, Pops and Uncle Andrew, who stopped by for a visit. Gram and Pops helped with Sam's bath for the first time which was interesting to say the least. I forgot to warn Pops that the water that comes out of the vegetable sprayer is pretty cold at first, and instead told him to spray Sam's head while I get the shampoo out. Boy can Sam can get red when he holds his breath and screams! He had a tough time recovering from that bath.

Gram and Pops gave me a couple of special First Mother's Day gifts. Gram found a book about Mommies for Sam and I to read together, and Pops gave me a Willow Tree angel holding a litte baby bird, just hatched from his egg. Doesn't get more perfect than that, does it?
Thanks to everyone for a special Mommy's Day. :)
*Sara

Weekend, Part 1


Samuel got to meet another aunt and uncle last Saturday!Uncle Bill and Aunt Bell stopped by, along with Hollie and Wayne. They were visiting from Hot Springs, Arkansas. It was their first time to see Sam in person. We had a great time visiting and watching Sam sleep and play. It's always good to see them and we wish they lived closer!

Later that night Sam met some special friends of Gram and Pops. "Supper Club", family friends for more than 30 years that met in the beginning years of Prestonwood Baptist, threw Sam a baby shower. He got lots of sweet, creative gifts, one of which was his big-boy rocking chair. As you can see, he's not quite into it yet, but of course, he can't sit up, even with Gram offering her support. I'm sure before long he'll be rocking in it, "reading" his favorite books to Mommy and Daddy.

It was a special Saturday - Sam is one lucky guy!