Summer time!

Sammi is now 9 months old!  She is such a happy baby with a big personality.  She is babbling a ton, and as Dan likes to say, "you're just like your mother".  And I'm proud of it!  She is crawling like a pro, and pulling herself up like crazy!

Nicky is doing great with Sam these days.  If I walk away and Sammi starts to cry, Nicky is always trying to make her feel better by saying things like "Don't cry Sammi, Mommy will be right back!...see, here's mommy!"  and honestly, no matter what word is uttered from Nicky's mouth, Sammi could never be happier - her big brother is talking to her!!  They love to do things together, and Nicky is always kind enough to share his toys:

Nicky is obsessed with baseball these days.  When he watches a game, he calls out "home run!" whenever the bat hits the ball, or "foul ball!" when the player swings and misses.  He'll figure it all out soon.  We went to a baseball game last weekend and what was he looking forward to the most? Eating peanuts!  For days before the game he'd randomly tell people "I'm going to the Diamondbacks game and eat peanuts!" with a fist pump in the air.  He brought his Mickey Mouse backpack, inside it was his glove, a ball, and a 1 lb. bag of peanuts.  As soon as we got to the game, he said "I want my peanuts" so I had to crack each one of them open while he sat there and watched the game...the glove didn't even make it out of his backpack!

His two favorite things: Baseball and Mickey Mouse

Both kids looking away from the camera..I have a feeling family photos will be like this for a while.

We are potty training Nicky and he has been doing a great job...well, at night.  He hasn't wet his bed in over two weeks, but is still prone to accidents at school.  One day in school he had two accidents within 10 minutes and his teacher said "should we put you in a pull up?" he responded with "Good idea."
We no longer are carrying around the potty in the car when we are away from the house, but I still love this picture:

He is starting to understand that if he wets his underwear, then he has to get a new pair. So when I put on a new pair, he'll say "Don't wet Supergrover?"  Me: "Yep, don't wet Supergrover."  Nick: "Okay."

His new response to whenever we ask him "why", is always "because i did".  Earlier today:

Nicky:  "My tummy hurts".
Me:  "Why?"
Nicky:  "I ate two hammaburgers at school."
Me:"  "Why did you do that?"
Nicky:  "Because I did."

Sammi had her 9 month check up this week and is growing like a champ!  She weighs 20 lbs 4 oz. (73% percentile) and is 28 3/4 inches long (83% percentile).  One thing I did mention to her doctor was the fact that she doesn't hold her bottle.  The doctor's immediate response was "that's her thing".   Sammi kicks if you take that bottle out of her mouth, but once she starts drinking her milk, her arms just lay to the side, and I'm sure she's thinking "this is the life".  I have a high maintenance girl on my hands!

Sammi's first visit to the beach!

The kids are growing up so fast.  Lolo and Lola will be visiting in the next couple of weeks, and then Nick and Sam are starting at a new school mid-September.  I'm excited yet nervous..but I know it will be the best for the kids!