World Balloon Convention

Lines at Six Flags? Crowds at Disneyland? Bring it on.

Brian and I took Sam to the World Balloon Convention in Dallas a couple weeks ago. I think the reason they call it the World Balloon Convention is because the entire world was there. The line was unbelievable, though it moved rather quickly. Sam was a trooper, especially considering he'd had a very small nap that day. It was an interesting event. Balloon sculptures of all kinds, everywhere you looked. It was a little hard to see the sculptures, especially for someone short like me, but I think Sam still enjoyed it. At first we thought we weren't going to make it through the whole show because Sam thought he got to take the balloons. Oops! It makes sense because most of his life people have brought him balloons to keep! But this little hiccup was soon over and we were able to walk him through the convention and enjoy the amazing balloon creations!

(giving the balloon a kiss)

Smooth Cheeks

Oh! What have we started? About a month ago, Brian pretended to shave Sam's "whiskers" with the back of his electric razor. Sam loved it. Now when he hears Brian's razor, he speed-crawls to the bathroom to watch, waiting not-so-patiently for his turn. We started pretending to put aftershave on him, too, by shaking the closed bottle and then patting his cheeks. Now, every night after his bath, he points to the razor, whines, and then pats his face. Actually, he does that several times throughout the day, including every time we walk past the bathroom. What can I say? The kid loves to shave. His cheeks are as smooth as a baby's bottom!

Samuel's Five O'Clock Shadow from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

A Birthday Dinner for Daddy

Happy Birthday Daddy! The day's celebration started off with a certain toddler jumping into bed with a balloon card, waking up a sleepy Daddy and a sleepy schnauzer.  Then I made us all a birthday brunch and we spent the rest of the day lounging around the house.

That evening, Jeff and Kathy took us all out for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Mi Cocina, and we all ordered the same thing we always order - brisket tacos. So yummy!

Sam was a good boy for two reasons:  food and Danielle.  His dinner kept him happy for a while, and then when that ran out, Danielle and her pinwheel pencil kept him happy.  Thanks lady!

After dinner the Mi Cocina staff brought Brian a birthday flan, complete with a candle and a song.  What fun!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

Sam had a great first day of 2010 - Gram and Pops came over for dessert and coffee to help us complete our New Year's Day celebration.
They brought gifts for Sam...of course they did, right? Because it's been, what, less than a week since they last gave him presents. Somebody's getting spoiled - it's peach puffs, cheesy snacks and best of all, another BALLOON!  Food and balloons - no better way for Sam to start off the new year!

Happy New Year!

Love,

The Strakas

Christmas, Part II of II

We didn't have to dream of a White Christmas - we had a real one.  Because of that, we ended up spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Gram and Pops house. It was just too icy and windy to drive home. 

Sam had lots of fun opening presents on Christmas Eve, and we all enjoyed a cozy dinner of mushroom-crab soup, salad and bread.  Sam slept really well in Gram and Pops' crib...Sophie kept us up throughout the night, but we kind of expected that. 

Christmas morning we had a nice breakfast looking out on the snow, then spent the rest of the day hanging around, watching TV and eating snacks.  With hardly any room left in our tummies, we finished the holiday off with a ham and sweet potato dinner!

Enjoy the pictures and video of our little guy's First Christmas! 

Christmas with Gram and Pops 2009 from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

Just in Time

These moose jammies from Great-Great Aunt Carol came just in time. Sam was busting out of his ducky jammies.

(note: My child does have sheets. On this particular day, both sets were in the washer/dryer, I'm sure you can guess why.  And he normally doesn't sleep with a crib full of wooden blocks and fuzzy critters, but for some reason we just needed them that day)

Look at those moose ears!  Speaking of jammies and cute things to put on baby feet, check out Sam's snowmen.  They were a gift, along with a fleece Santa blanket, from one of Gram's collegues.  Just wook at those widdle baby swippers!

Moo. Cluck.

Happy Halloween from The Funny Farm.

Sam had a great First Halloween. Gram and Pops came over to join in the festivities. Sam dressed up as a cow - a costume I received at a shower. Sophie was a chicken, a costume that suits her perfectly.

After dinner Sam and Daddy and I went to a couple of houses, mostly neighbors that we know, while Gram and Pops passed out candy at our house. Sam was a really good boy. He just held on to whoever was holding him and took it all in. He stayed up about an hour-and-a-half past his bedtime and wasn't even too fussy. He had a great time!

Enjoy the photos and the short video at the bottom!

Pops got swamped by trick-or-treaters!

Spoiled Little Pumpkin

(this is Sam's new "I'm excited" move - more on that later...)

Sam got a ball he can hold and a (baby-safe) hammer he can bang with.

We finished off the evening celebrating Gram's birthday with presents.

Happy Halloween!

Sam's First Halloween from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

A New View

Sam's got a new view. And we have yet another piece of baby furniture in the house. Yay.

It's actually a pretty neat high chair. It has six chair heights (Sam seems to like the highest setting right now; he can watch Mommy work), three reclining positions and three, nesting trays. The thing Daddy and I like is it folds up super skinny and matches our kitchen and living room furniture, which is nice when you have a smaller kitchen area. A big ole' blue and white high chair would have stuck out quite a bit in our cozy little space.

Even though he's not eating solid baby food yet, and won't be for another month or so, it's nice for Sam to have a way to join us while we eat, get off the back of his head, and enjoy another view of his world!

Working Mother

I've been a working mother this week. I've had to be up at school quite a bit, cleaning out my classroom and packing everything up. Most of my trips up there needed to be without Samuel, so Tuesday, Thursday and Friday he stayed home with his daddy. The first time I came home, this is what I was told when I asked for the full report: my men had spent all day watching the History Channel, "eating, burping and scratching". They were bonding in their own special way, I guess. Brian did a good job taking care of Little Bird. He dressed him that first day in, what I think, was a very appropriate t-shirt to wear while spending the day with Daddy, along with some not-really-matching pants. (*wink*) He fed Sam, played with him and read him stories. I think they had a pretty good time together!

Thanks, Daddy, for letting me be the Working Mother I needed to be this week. I'm now officially DONE!