My Boys!

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Ali

Due to there being a lot of snow this week, we spent a lot of time just hanging out at home. Sam enjoyed getting his parents undivided attention.

Sam sure does make some entertaining faces!

I love seeing Sam play with his dad, it’s so great to see how much they love each other.

Sam was watching a football game from up there on his little perch on dad’s head. He loves sitting way up high!

He also likes to use his dads wrist as a teething toy. Yum.

This kid makes the best faces, right?

Just wanted to show off some pictures of my boys, I got pretty lucky, right?

Samuel’s Baptism

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Ali

While we were in Tacoma for Christmas Samuel got baptized! We had it done at my home church, by Pastor Rayburn on Christmas Morning, and it was lovely.

He was baptized with water from the Jordan River!

And if any of you are curious about Sam’s baptismal gown, that was ALSO made by my mom! She’s so crafty (I wonder where I get it, right?) Here’s a close up:

She knows what I like, that woman!

I need to get Sam to make his pouty face so we can get him in his baptismal gown next to my picture of me in my baptismal gown.

Month 4

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Ali

A few days late, but here are Sam’s monthly photos! Here’s a link to Month 1, and Month 2, and Month 3, in case you missed them! And here is a link to a page that I’ll be updating every month with all of the pictures together, so you can see them side by side!

With his bear:

Sam in his crib:

With Crocheted Pillow:

I can’t believe Sam is already 4 months old! So crazy to think that he is 1/3 of a year old. It’s been challenging, but he seems to be getting better and less colicky. He did have really bad croup this week, but we went to the doctor and got on some steroid medication. We were really relieved that he’s gotten so much better because they thought he was in the beginning stages of pneumonia, which in a 4 month old baby is really scary! But he is feeling a lot better now, although we are teething on top of all of that! He’s cutting a tooth and drooling a LOT, lots of chewing on his hands and sticking everything in sight right into his mouth!

Speaking of which… he’s up from his nap, so I’m off to rescue him from the swing!

Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Ali

Posting might be a bit sparse this week, as the 3 of us are in Tacoma visit family (yay!) but hope you all have a fabulous week!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas. May you be blessed this holiday season!

Love Ali, Paul and Sam.

Baby Legs

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Ali

I saw some Baby Legs online, and thought they were really cute, but I didn’t want to pay $14 bucks for basically a tubesock.

So, I took a pair of knee socks that a hole in the heel and I cut the feet off of them, and voila! Babylegs!

He was being really squiggly! I couldn’t get a good picture of him!

They are handy for when we are just hangin’ out at home, and this way we don’t have to take any pants off when we are changing diapers!

I think they look pretty cute, although Paul thinks they look kind of dorky. I think I’ll make some more out of socks that are really worn in the heels or toes.

Christmas Decor

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Ali

We’ve got all the Christmas decorations up now!

We’ve got the perfect little 3 foot tree! It’s quite adorable!

“The stockings were hung from the ship’s wheel with care…” Pretty sure that’s not how the words go, but hey, we don’t have a mantel!

But here are our real stockings-

Sam really likes Christmas lights. We can set him in his bouncy chair in front of the tree for several minutes before he gets bored!

Well, he thinks it’s fun and then all the sudden I get this face staring up at me:

Then we find a new activity. Like sleeping!

Have you guys all decorated for Christmas? I just love how good the house smells with this tree up! Yum!

Month 3

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Ali

A few days late, but here are Sam’s monthly photos! Here’s a link to Month 1, and Month 2, in case you missed them! And here is a link to a page that I’ll be updating every month with all of the pictures together, so you can see them side by side!

Sam With His Bear:

Sam in his Crib:

Sam with Crocheted Pillow:

Sam’s big growth spurts seem to have leveled out. He hasn’t gained much weight this month, but I’m ok with that because he’s still wearing all of the same clothes! He’s 12 lbs, 1 oz (as of 12/3/11 and just about 22 inches) Looks like we’ve got a shorty on our hands, ladies and gentlemen- he is only in the 3rd percentile for height! But I am sure he’ll catch up. I’m pretty short, too, so it’s not a huge mystery which side of the family he gets that from.

We’re still working on figuring out Sam’s grumpy moods. He tends to be on the colicky side, or a “high needs baby”. He is a pretty demanding kid who always wants to be held and never under any circumstances wants to be put down if he is awake. Still getting up about 3 or 4 times a night, no matter how much we try to do a schedule or follow the “eat, play, sleep” routine he just likes to get up to say hi, and grab a bite to eat before settling back down. But lately we’ve had a few good days sprinkled in with the bad, and it’s so nice to have a happy and smiling kid at least a few days a week! But it is getting easier to deal with, mostly because I am finally learning his signs and can do something before he has a major meltdown! He is pretty social, though, and is usually pretty good if we are out and about, and he loves Chloe, because she dotes on him like nobody else.

But, hey, we are getting there and trying to stay cheerful because this too shall pass, right? He won’t always be an infant, and while I love my son (very much!) I am a little anxious for the next stage in his life. But we are going to enjoy this one while we’re here.

Don’t forget to check out the monthly pictures side-by-side here!

Sam’s First Football Game

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Ali

This past Saturday Paul and I took Sam to his very first football game! University of Idaho vs Utah State! The game got down to double overtime, but unfortunately the Vandals lost. But it was a really, really great game, and most everyone was already gone for Thanksgiving break, so it wasn’t very crowded, which was nice.

I also made Sam his very own Vandals hat for the game! Unfortunately it’s on backwards in this picture, but you get the idea.

Sam did really well during the game. He lost it a little bit at the end, the crowd got really loud during the double overtime, but other than that I think he had a good time. Well, pretty much he just slept the whole first half.

(And yes, I did bring my knitting to a football game. It’s a disease, I tell you!) And then, Sam got to meet Joe Vandal! YES! I was pretty excited about this photo-op.

He’s also wearing a Vandals outfit, too, but you can’t really see the lettering on the side of his onesie says University of Idaho Vandals and it’s pretty cute, too. But the hat steals the show, the little lady at the concession stand just couldn’t get enough of Sam.

Go Vandals!

Who Does He Look Like?

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Ali

People often ask me who I think Sam looks like, me or Paul. I just chuckle and say “Definitely me”. Unfortunately I don’t see a whole lot of Tong in him, although maybe once he grows up and stops looking so baby-ish he’ll get more Tong features, but for right now he’s definitely very Gronewold! Wanna see some proof that this baby looks a lot like me?

This is me, circa 1986. And in case you need a comparison picture, here is Sam, circa 2011. (This picture of Sam is over a month old, but it was the best comparison one I could find.)

This picture is the only picture of Paul as a kid that I could find on my computer, I am sure his parents have some more, and believe me when I tell you, he was a really, REALLY adorable little kid.

I am a little surprised that my fair-skinned, light haired genes were more dominant than Paul’s, but as long as he gets Paul’s musical talent, sense of humor or his artistic skills then I don’t mind at all.