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.

Sam's First Easter

Enjoying Easter cookie at MDO

Checking to make sure all eggs are in the Elmo basket

Sam and Daddy Easter morning

Mama getting an Easter kiss from Sam

Sam and Mama having some fun in the backyard

Hunting eggs Easter afternoon

Daddy giving Sam some egg hunting tips

Sam and the Easter Bunny (Sam is getting candy)

Mama insisted I pose with these bunny ears!

Handsome boy ready to go to Eggstravaganza!

Easter egg hunt at MDO

What a cutie!!!

I think it can be said that Sam truly enjoyed his first Easter! He took his Easter egg hunting very seriously! We had a blessed Holy week and Easter. It was so nice to share all of this with Sam. Thursday he had his first Easter egg hunt at his MDO. Thanks Ms. Deb for taking pictures! Saturday we went to our church's Eggstravaganza. Sam really liked the puppets and he also got to meet the Easter Bunny! Enjoy the Easter pictures!

Spring is in the air

Sam likes the Carolina Jasmine

Two of Sam's favorite things... his wagon and sandbox

Practicing for the ultimate sandbox... the beach!

Feeding cornbreak to the ducks at the Museum

(After throwing it, Sam will pick up chunks of cornbread

and eat it if they do not come and get it quick!)

Fun at the Museum with TaoTao and Juliana

Sam is really enjoying this nice warm weather. He is definitely an outside boy. He loves playing in his sandbox, pushing and riding in his wagon, playing on the slide, kicking his ball, and now his new favorite pastime... hunting Easter eggs!! He loves to find them, put them in a basket, then laugh hysterically while he dumps them on the ground and they roll everywhere! Easter is my favorite time of the year and we are so excited about sharing this very special holiday with Sam. As he gets older he will understand the true meaning of Easter and the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus Christ did for us up on that cross and the miraculous resurrection that followed. We cannot wait to share our faith with Sam. He is so cute when we say our prayers. When say amen.. he always throws his arms up in the air and yells "Yeah"! We are going to visit Sam's Nai-Nai and Pop-Pop for Easter and we will post pictures later. Last week was spring break and we had a play date with Juliana, Madilyn, and TaoTao at the Museum of Fine Arts. He also spent alot of time with Mimi and PawPaw. Oh by the way.... thank you Aunt Tami for the Easter care package you sent Sam.... he loved the marshmallow bunnies/chicks and the books. Sam has been growing and is getting taller. He weighs about the same, but his pants are getting shorter. He continues to pick up new words (you have to listen close to understand him) except when he says "ByeBye"... that is strong and has the cutest southern accent to it! Last week he put together a two word sentence twice. He said "Da-Da Bye Bye" and "Da-Da Bath". He has started saying "Mama" more and seems to enjoy saying it when he wants something!

Chinese New Year Parade

Isabell and Sam having fun in the tub

Throwing beads at the parade

Ready for the parade to start

Playing in the suitcase

Rub a dub dub

We had so much fun this weekend visiting "Aunt Marcy", Isabell, Gran Mary, and seeing all our friends at the Children of the World Chinese New Year parade. We spent the night with Martha and Isabell (our travel mates from China). Isabell and Sam are from the same orphange. They got along very well especially while taking a very bubbly bubble bath! The next morning we drove to Fairhope where Sam and Isabell participated in the Chinese New Year parade. The people of Fairhope are so nice and supportive. Sam and Isabell had a great time throwing beads and candy from their wagons! We also ran into the Meeks, the Ungers, and our other travel mates from China.. the Schmitt family. The parade ended at a very nice park and Sam discovered the slide!! It was a tunnel slide and I lost count how many times he went down the slide!! Needless to say he loved it and we will be going soon to get him some fun backyard play equipment. I also must bragg a bit... Sam learned how to blow his nose this weekend!! It makes things so much easier! One more thing... it seems that he is a Johnny Cash fan. I got one of those musical cards that plays "Ring of Fire" for Nick for Valentine's Day. Sam loves it and plays it all the time. You should see how he dances to it. Tomorrow we go to see an Pediatric Orthopedic surgeon at Children's Hospital to see what is involved with removing his extra thumb.

Introducing the next Tiger Woods

This is how the pro's do it!

Choosing the right club is a tough decision

Daddy is a GREAT Caddy

Look out Tiger.. it seems you will have a new competitor in about 20 years! We have had great weather recently and it was the perfect opportunity for Nick to begin teaching Sam the sport of golf. As many of you know, Nick is an avid golfer. We purchased this little golf set a couple of years ago and it was so fun to finally put them to use. Sam seemed to enjoy the lesson although he had a hard time choosing which club to use! This is the first of many father and son golf outings!