Beanie Baby

Forgot to post these pics of my handsome beanie baby.

We stopped by Target on our way to the Holiday shoot a couple weeks back and saw this hat on an endcap for just one dollar.  It was in the boys department, and while it fits Sam, I have to admit it's a little poofy.  But it will have to do, as all the toddler hats are too small! :)  It was fun to take pictures of him wearing something new.  I shot these at a pretty park in McKinney.  He was cooperative for the most part, but in order to get the shots on the stone wall I had to bribe him with the promise of fruit snacks and an extra Oswald when we got home.

He held me to it, too.  He's almost impossible to trick!

In the Leaves

Just a few shots from a playdate this week.

Sam was rather anti-social for much of the playdate, but decided at the end to semi-cooperate. He taught a couple of friends a listening game he and Gram play - "Stop & Go".   I don't know if "taught" is the right word...more like "yelled".  The girls were having fun running around at Sam's command and they were very sweet to him.  As grumpy as he was at the park, as soon as we got in the car he told me how much fun he had playing "his" game with his friends and has talked about it several times since.  I just never know with this little boy sometimes!

November Mosaic

Somewhere Else

When we visit this park, those 100 degree days are just a distant memory.

It doesn't feel like Dallas here, either.  If it wasn't so far from our house, I think we'd come here everyday, at least while the colors are out!

Harvest Time

Pretty good lookin' pumpkins, if I do say so myself.

Especially since we had such a hot, dry summer.  We're hoping we get more next year!

Nature Walk

Sam and I found some cool stuff on our foggy-morning nature walk.

A spider's web, covered in dew, some green moss, and a locust's shell. The spider's web against the fog was especially Halloween-y!

Punkin' Cookies

Gram helped Sam decorate pumpkin cookies, just like we used to when Andrew and I were little.  He did a good job of stirring the icing and putting candy corn eyes on the pumkin heads.  Then he started sticking his fingers in the icing and shoving raisins in his mouth.  So Gram helped him finish and we called on Pops to decorate one for us.  Fun and tasty!

Trying New Things

Howdy, y'all!

Sam and I visited McKinney's Storybook Ranch with some friends a few weeks ago.  It was a cute little patch of farmland that had pumpkins, pony rides, a petting zoo, and bounce houses.  I was

shocked

that Sam tried, and loved, all of these things!  I thought for sure we'd just be quiet observers at this playdate.

The pony rides were the first attraction of the day and at first Sam wasn't sure about riding.  He watched some of his friends sit on their pony while the lady pushed the bar around and around in a circle.  I asked him if he wanted to ride a pony and he said no.  When the first round of kiddos was done I asked him, "Which pony do you want?" and that worked!  He said "That one", and pointed to "Brittany", the pony with a flag blanket under her saddle.  Sam was a little quiet at first, but really warmed up to this whole cowboy thing rather quickly. 

I couldn't get him to wear his cowboy hat, but when our friend Liz asked him to put it on, he complied, of course.  And then, thanks to all the moms who were cheering Sam on, I got that great shot of my little cowboy smiling and holding up his hat on his pony.

After his pony ride, he ran through a hay maze and chased after some baby pigs.   He thought the pigs were hilarious, but was a tiny bit scared when the goats started chewing at my sweater.  I have to admit, I didn't really like that either! 

I thought for sure that would be our last activity of the day, but Sam decided today was the day he was going to try a bounce house.  He's wanted to try one before, but didn't like that other kids were bouncing in there with him.  I guess it made it too bouncy.  This time having other kids bouncing with him was fun.  If they left one bounce house to go and try another, Sam was close behind.  Again, I was pretty surprised!

Before leaving he got to ride a pony

again

(!) and then we were told to chose our own pumpkin to take home.  Sam picked a pretty good one - our first official pumpkin of the season - and it's still on our entryway niche outside his room.  It was a very successful playdate, with Sam trying lots of new things.  We were very proud of our Cowboy Sam!  Yee-haw!!

Squirrel Huntin', Flower Pickin', & Acorn Throwin'

Sam and I made a stop on the way home from the aquarium Friday.

We decided to get out and stretch our legs at Addison Circle, where Mama lived when she first met Daddy. I took Sam to each of the parks I used to take Sophie to when she was just a puppy. He chased squirrels in Bosque Park and, before I could stop him, picked two pansies from the flower beds outside Pastazios Pizza. We played peakaboo around a lamp post and did the freeze dance at the dog park. We'd done a lot of driving and had a lot of wiggles to get out! Our final stop was at Quorum Park to visit the sunken fountain where I'd taken Sophie for pictures almost ten years ago. Sam had a blast throwing acorns into the fountain and I got a few more great pictures. It was a great way to end a fun fall day with my handsome boy!

Thanksgiving with Granny

Sam's trying really hard to say "Granny Nell".

He's getting there and had lots of chances to practice the other night when we went down to Duncanville for a quick Thanksgiving visit. Not only did Granny make a fantastic pot pie for dinner, she had lots of toys and teddy bears to play with.  But as it turned out, Sam's favorite toys that night were Granny's piano and full-length mirror. Might Sam be a musician someday? He looks pretty comfortable with those piano keys. Or perhaps he'll be an actor. Just look at that expressive face!

When The Birds Were The Bees

Buzzzzzz.

The day I got Sam's bee costume at our local children's resale shop, I stopped at a thrift store in town, just to look around. I found a bee "body" for grownups for $1.99. It was looking like Sam and I were meant to be a pair of sweet honeybees for Halloween this year. Brian asked if I could get my hands on some yellow duct tape so that he could join in the fun. A quick trip to the craft store for some duct tape, pipe cleaners and yellow pom-poms and our costumes were complete!

We invited the grandparents over to the hive for dinner and trick-or-treating. Sam made it just halfway down the block, stopping at only a few houses for treats, but that was plenty for us, too. We all ended up sitting on our porch with dessert and coffee and passed out candy to the neighborhood kids by the light of Daddy's second awesome jack-o-lantern.

What a Happy Halloween!.

The Big Orange Pumpkin Patch

It was SO big, and SO orange, we had to go twice! 

The first time we went to Celina's famous Big Orange Pumpkin Farm, Brian and I took Sam on a Sunday afternoon, after waking Sam up from a short afternoon nap (a nap on Mama, no less). Late afternoon naps tend to make Sam cranky, as do naps cut short because we wake him up. He enjoyed the farm just not as much as we had expected. There was a lot of whining.

A lot of whining.

And I'm pretty sure we made the hayride fairly unpleasant for three other families. The massive crowds didn't help anybody's mood either!

But when we went with our playgroup, on a weekday, we pretty much had the place to ourselves and Sam had a bit more fun!  He enjoyed running around, feeding the goats and playing on the pumpkins.

Do I look like I'm ready for the hayride to be over?  Because I am.

And with both trips to the farm, we got to pick a small pumpkin straight off the vine.  Happy Fall!

Autumn Blooms

Fall has come to Texas!

Gram and Pops and I took Sam back to the Dallas Arboretum to enjoy some beautiful fall color!

Sam was a bit clumsy that day. It started before we left Gram and Pops' house, when he fell in their yard and rolled over some crushed acorns. Then at the Arboretum he fell in front of Strega Nona's house, right into a big mud puddle. After we wiped off all the mud on his face, all his bumps and scrapes were easier to see. Here's a little before-and-after:

But he was a trooper about it. We stopped for lunch on the lawn, changed his shirt and enjoyed the rest of the park. The pumpkin houses were so colorful. Sam especially loved Cinderella's mice and her carriage that had turned back into a pumpkin. There were many varieties of gourds, arranged in clever scenes.

 (swans in a pond)

We were a bit early for the mums, but the pumpkins were amazing. Everywhere you looked there were more and more pumpkins!

Another special treat was the concert playing on the north side. We stopped so Sam could listen.  He sat with Gram for a while and then and of course, he had to get his groove on!

He didn't make it back to the car before falling asleep.  Too many pumpkins for one little boy...

For the Birds

I decided Sam was ready for a project.

I have a book called "Toddler Busy Book" full of ideas of fun things to do with toddlers. One suggestion for 18-24 month-olds was to make a pinecone bird feeder. We had pinecones that Great-great Aunt Carol had given me long ago and plenty of peanut butter in the pantry, all we needed was birdseed and we were ready to feed the birds.

Despite my attempts to keep from making too big a mess, we got peanut butter and birdseed everywhere. But we had fun. And Sam did really well. I was surprised at how good of a job he did spreading the peanut butter and sprinkling the birdseed on.  His favorite part was playing with a bowl of birdseed after we hung all the feeders! And now...we wait for birds!

Way Back When

It was a beautiful day yesterday.

It even felt like fall!  And it's still September...unusual for Dallas!  Sam  and I headed out to McKinney with our photography friends for a photo shoot at Chestnut Square.  It was a pretty place and reminded me of a very, very small Old City Park or Naper Settlement, except it was free and we happened to have the place to ourselves!  There was a large patio, surrounded by old homes.  The insides are restored and furnished with period pieces, but our group was just interested in the outside.  There was lots of shade which made for great light and each house and porch floor provided a different backdrop. 

It was a great place for Sam.  He could roam safely from porch to porch without much help from me, and I could follow at a distance, snapping photos.  And because he was able to run around and burn off some energy, he was pretty agreeable when I'd ask him to turn toward me or do something specific so I could achieve a certain shot.  He took direction surprisingly well, actually.  I asked him to knock on doors, peek in windows and "hug" posts. 

Brian and I giggled until we were in tears when we saw the top photo - he looks like he's posing for a runway show.  Just a lucky shot, of course, but what a ham!!  The last one made us laugh, too.  I had just sat down on the ground and said "Come give Mama a hug".  And so he did!

Family, Food and Fun

What a wonderful First Thanksgiving we had with our baby Sam. Happy to have Papa Emil and Grandma Jan with us, we spent the day eating, playing with Sam, chatting and eating some more! Gram and Pops prepared a great feast and Sam entertained us all. He looked so handsome, too!

Enjoy these photos and a short video of our Thanksgiving Day with our special guests and of course, Samuel!

If you listen carefully, you can hear baby Samuel snoring in the video. 

Looks like somebody had too much turkey!

Too Much Turkey from Sara Straka on Vimeo.

Swingin' Sam

We took Sam to the playground this week for the first time. We put him in the baby swing and he loved it! Nell and Vic were visiting. It was a nice, fall day and everyone had a good time, especially Swingin' Sam.

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.

Happy Fall Y'all

Happy Fall from our Little Punkin'!

Happy Fall Y'all from Sara Straka on Vimeo.