Visiting Nai Nai and Pop

A nice stroll at the park with Pop and Nai Nai

Looking for ducks with Nai Nai

Reading a peek-a-boo book with Mrs. Ann



Showing Pop his picture book

Sam loves Aimee!!

Just a swingin'

We went to visit Nick's parents in DeFuniak Springs, FL for the weekend. We had a nice time and Sam met lots of new friends and relatives. His cousin Aimee has been keeping a scrapbook of our journey to becoming a family and she gave it to us this weekend. WOW... what a great gift... it is priceless! Thank you Aimee for being so sweet and thoughtful and for taking time to put together all the pictures and entry's from our blog. She labeled the book "Sam I Am" and it is something we will forever treasure. By the way... Sam is completely in love with Aimee (as you can see from the pictures).

He is adding new words to his vocabulary and one of them is car. He says it just about every time he sees a car, so you can imagine how many times we heard it this weekend while driving to and from DeFuniak Springs!! He is also telling us when he needs to use the bathroom so we are buying a potty chair today. One more week until we go back to the doctor and remove his cast.... YEAH!!!!

Welcome Julia Day and Happy Birthday Jo!

Sam feeding Julia Day some Teddy Grams

Aren't they sweet??

Jo showing off her great sense of humor!

Happy Birthday dear friend!!

Sam's goldfish (from left to right: Ming, Ling, and Ping)

Father and son watching the Masters

"See son, you will be playing on that course one day!"

His future is so bright he has to wear shades

Sam had a play date last week with our Panda Pals newest arrival.... Julia Day Turman. Julia is so sweet and Sam seemed very shy at first. He later warmed up after he fed her some Teddy Grams. Julia is 14 months and loves to eat (just like Sam)!

Sam continues to do great with his cast. We have had it almost 2 weeks and we have 2 more weeks to go until we go back to the doctor.

My dear sweet friend Jo is celebrating 50 wonderful years of life! Jo is a very special Sister in Christ. She lets her light for Jesus shine very bright. She is such an inspiration to me and everyone who has the pleasure of knowing her. She also has a contagious sense of humor (as you can see in the picture above)!! Happy Birthday Jo... you are loved by many!!!!

Sam's Surgery and Recovery

Sam with his club (I mean cast... LOL)!

Doing one of his FAVORITE things... closing doors!

Sitting on his spiderman couch with his blanket while eating goldfish

Let me start first by thanking all of you for the prayers, cards, phone calls, and emails concerning Sam's surgery to remove his extra thumb. The thumb was removed Tuesday, April 1, at Children's Hospital by a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon. The surgery was very successful and in fact it was not as extensive as we originally thought. The doctor did not have to put a pin in the bone because there was not much reconstructive surgery. She said Sam would have a small scar where the thumb had been. Even though the surgery was on the hand, they put a cast up to the elbow so the main thumb cannot move. This cast is HUGE... and he has already whacked us and himself with it several time (not on purpose). We keep a sock on it to make it softer. Sam adapted immediately to the cast. We told him he is very special because not everyone has a cast on their arm. Sam did great the day of the surgery. We could not give him anything to eat or drink and we had to wake him up early for the journey to Birmingham. After we were there one hour we were pleasantly surprised when his "Mimi" showed up at our room!! Thank you Mimi for coming up to stay with us during this difficult time!!! We will never forget your kindness, thoughtfulness and love for us!!! His surgery was delayed by about two hours but Sam played and took a nap... he was hardly fussy at all. Before they took him into surgery they gave him some "giggle juice" to take off the edge. We wish we had Sam on tape while he was "under the influence".... it was hilarious!! The doctors came in and gave us updates. Everyone at Children's Hospital was so very nice. After recovery they carried him back into our room and he was very alert at first, then drifted back off to sleep (after drinking lots of water). We left the hospital at 5pm and got home around 6:30. Sam was very hungry and ate his fill of mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. He went to bed at the ususal time of 8pm and slept through the night without a peep. He is so funny because you ask him to show his arm to someone and he raises the arm that does not have the cast! He is such a trooper and has proven to us once again that he is a survivor and a fighter. Most importantly he rolls with the flow and makes the best of any situation.