Terrific Two!

My baby girl turned 2 this summer. It is so hard to believe. I have loved every minute of her and wish I could hold on to her sweet babyness just a bit longer. Unfortunately she seems just as determined to get BIG!

We had a watermelon birthday party a few days before Samara's actual b-day. Samara loves watermelon as you will see. Gotta love her facial expressions. She is definitely her daddy's girl!

Bubba and Sissy hanging out in the little pool.

Samara chowing down on some watermelon. The pizza remained untouched...watermelon is much yummier.

Playing in the big pool!

Cake!

Presents!

This was Samara's actual birthday. We saved her presents from us to open at home. She got a play kitchen and shopping cart. She was so excited to play with her babies in her new toys.

We had a team from Missouri visiting the church on Samara's actual birthday. So that evening we once again had watermelon and ice cream cake. As you can tell, watermelon was Samara's favorite!

I just love this picture of Samara and her best buddy Marcus sharing watermelon. They are so sweet with each other and I love that they are so close.

Me and my girl on the steps of the church. Happy 2nd birthday Samara!

Samara hit several milestones this summer. She moved from her crib to her big girl bed. We bought her a little tinker bell toddler bad as Lyric already had Tinker bell bedding and it went with the colors we already had in their room. She has done well in her new bed.
Another major milestone is that Samara is fully potty trained! She wears big girl panties all the time except for nighttime and has had very few accidents. She probably won't even wear pull-ups at night much longer as she is usually dry in the morning when she wakes up.
Samara spent 3 weeks as the only child again while Dalton and Lyric were back in OK. It was a good thing that we stayed busy with teams working at the church. She was lost when we were at home without them. She even started peeling the paint off of Dalton's door during that time. Above Samara in Time Square after visiting the Hershey's store. She is truly my child as we dragged her all over NYC working and sightseeing until all hours of the day and night and she totally loved it! She especially enjoyed all the attention she received from those visiting. Below Samara "working" while we were painting the sanctuary of our church.
Samara had her 2 yr checkup in July. She continues to be completely healthy. We are so grateful for this. Samara weighed 27 lbs and was 34 1/4 inches long which puts her at the 75th percentile for height and 54th for weight. Just perfect I think! No shots (YAY!) but they did some blood tests and she didn't even cry! She surprised her daddy and I when the Dr. asked if she knew her colors and we were both like "no" and she looked at her dress pointed at it and said "pink". Which it was! Little smarty pants!
Samara is much more timid around water than Dalton and Lyric ever were. By the end of summer she had finally gotten used to it and didn't cry as much. Usually once she was used to it she would have a blast. Above is her first carnival ride. We took the kids to the Greek Festival in our neighborhood one evening and I just knew she would start crying and screaming once the ride started to move. But wouldn't you know she was just fine with her Marcus by her side. Dustin said they looked like an old couple out for a Sunday ride! Marcus calls Samara "Mara" and it is just too cute!
Crazy hair or should we say daddy's hair! That's what everyone tells me anyway. It has finally really started to grow and we actually had to cut her bangs a few weeks ago because they were hanging in her eyes.
Here's a pic of me, Deidre, Samara, and Marcus at Sesame Place. As expected Samara was not overly excited about getting too close to any of the characters.

Daddy and Samara at Sesame Place.

Samara has definitely had her "2" moments. As her daddy says she has my curiosity and her mama's stubbornness. She loves testing her boundaries and to be quite honest sometimes its hard to place those boundaries when she can be so stinkin' cute. The best part though is that as she has gotten bigger so has her sweetness. Just tonight she kept telling me repeatedly in her sweet little voice "I Love You Mama" and giving me those precious kisses. I wish I could just bottle it up. There is nothing in the world that feels like those little hands around your neck. 2 is most definitely terrific!