Happy Father's Day and Summer fun!

I hope everyone had a great father's day. Here is a photo of Nick and Sam.


We have been busy with packing and such, but Sam is so much fun right now. She did have a phase of difficulty, but her imagination and vocab have exploded allowing for more fun games and easier communication to prevent tantrums. We try and spend a lot of time playing outside when it is not too scorchingly hot. Here is Sam on her baby big wheel.

Here she is playing in the dirt while I weed.

She grabbed this box and kept saying cheese. I am not sure if I was supposed to take her picture or if she was pretending it was a camera.

She wanted to wear this shirt of Nick's. It was pretty funny.

She still loves her high class box house. We upgraded and added a stool for her piano as well. Only the best for our baby.

Bubbles are a big hit right now. I have some scented ones that are pretty cool.

Below is her playing the piano with her bottom, cracked us up. You will notice she says cheese, makes it hard to take video. Also, she wants to be clapped for every few seconds.

Those are our big updates. I will try and post more often, but I just do not spend much time on the computer right now. Hugs to all.

Moving on up...

So we decided to take the positions at Marshall University. Nick will be an assistant professor and I have a visiting professor position, which should develop into more, but it depends on a lot of things. We are excited, but not looking forward to all the packing and moving itself. And we will miss my parents and all they do for us a lot! But it will be nice to start our "real life."

We have been spending a lot of time organizing, cleaning, and packing. But we have had time for some fun. We went to Nick cousin, Xanna's, graduation party. It was great to see all the family, but although I actually had my camera I thought I did not. So no pictures :(

Sam loved the birds in Houston, so I took her to the zoo to have lunch with a friend of mine and we went by the new parakeet experience. She really loved running around pointing out the birds.

We also went to Six Flags with my parents. My dad and I love roller coasters, so we had a great time. Sam only got to get out of the stroller a few times. Here we are on the monster mansion ride. She was pretty tired and I only had a few seconds to snap a shot.

Texas 2

We just got back from Texas. It was a marathon trip that included job interviews, house hunting, visiting Martin/Sarah/Seb/Luciana, the Houston Zoo. Here are a few pictures.

Here is Sam enjoying a shake from McDonald's. She still will not drink milk, but shakes are a big hit.

This shot was right before Sam woke up, what a silly pose.

She travels in style.

We went to the zoo and got caught in a downpour, so we ducked into the aviary. Sam was crazy about the birds, pointing them all out. It was cute.

This was actually our flight home. She slept before we left, so we resorted to letting her watch elmo with earphones.

All three at one time. What cuties.

Already driving!

Seb is a huge Star Wars fan, so Nick did an x-wing and star fighter in sidewalk chalk. It was amazing! But I only got pictures of it in process.

Happy Mother's Day, Playdate, and Job update

So to start with, Nick just got back from a job talk at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. They are putting together an offer. We are also going out to Texas to see about a position for him at Texas Transportation Institute. So we may have a decision to make soon. Wish us luck.

We also had a nice playdate with Sam's friend Izzy, who is the daughter of Sally, who is a friend of Angie's from high school. Here are two generations of friends.

Sam hated the swings, but loved the slide. Izzy however, loved the swing.

Sam decided she was way past baby things like exersaucers, but maybe Izzy needed just a little help figuring out how to use everything.

In our effort to find more and more fattening things, we found out Sam is a big fan of sour cream, which Ang hates and Nick loves. At least she takes a few things after him.

I had a great mother's day. Sam and Nick made me a scavenger hunt, which was fun, but hard. Mom, Dad, Nick, Sam, and I went to brunch at La Madeline.

Here are two contrasting sides of Sam...the girl in the pretty dress sniffing the flowers.

And the girl in the pretty dress playing with the ball.

Hope everyone had a great mothers day, if applicable. Hugs to all.

Another Dr. Kelling!

Nick's graduation was this past weekend. His parents came into town and we had a great time. Here are some highlights.

Here are the Doctors Kelling with their genius daughter, Samantha!

Sam had a blast at the dome walking up and down the stairs with Papa, my dad.

Samantha had a blast at the Spaghetti Factory and she ate a great lunch! Here she is in the trolley car.

Here is the newest Dr. Kelling with his proud parents.

Here is Nick and his advisor immediately after Nick got hooded.

Random cuteness

Here are some recent assorted shots. Sam has been asking to be tickled lately. She learned a song in Music Class that goes "Shake, Shake, Shake; Shake Your Hands Now. Shake, Shake, Shake, And tickle your friends!" Her giggle is so cute!

Here is a full shot of her tutu pj's.

She has also learned to say, "Cheese." But ends up with a silly face a lot.

One of her favorite things to do right now is feed dolls. She makes them say, "Milk! Milk!" And then feeds them. She is doing a lot of imaginative play.

Here she is trying to carry an old doll of mine. Almost as big as hers.

She loves being outside. Here is a profile shot.

And she has been loving sniffing flowers as well.

Happy Spring!

15 months!

I am way behind in posting, so here are Sam's 15 month photos. I had them done to make a special photo for Nick for his graduation. So I held them to keep the surprise. Sam was tired and teething, so she did not cooperate much, but the people at Portrait Innovations were very patient and we got some cute shots. Although not any with my sign :)

Also, Sam had her check-up. She was about 31 inches (50-75th), although she was wiggling a lot. She weighed in at 18 pounds 13 ounces (under 5th). So since she fell off the weight chart, we have a month to get her weight up, or she has to have testing done. So we are buttering her bread, cheese on everything. She is doing much better. We decided to cut out her first thing in the morning nursing, so she is more hungry for breakfast and lunch. It seems to help. So wish us luck!