Rocking Snail!

These are pictures of a Rocking Snail made for Samantha by Dr. Engle. He was Nick's boss when Nick was one of the computer guys for the psy department. The snail is a beautiful mix of woods, with gorgeous grains. Sam loved it right away, although she really wanted to climb all over it, so we may have to store it until her abilities match her adventurous side! Thanks Dr. Engle! She will definitely grow into it.

Nick is amazing!

We have had some beautiful Spring days in the big ATL. We have also had some rain. here is a picture of Sam and me in front of the Japanese Cherry Nick and I planted right after we moved in.

Also Nick sailed through his oral defense. He has a few paper edits, but nothing he cannot handle. He also has a job interview scheduled for Michigan State-Dearborn.

The Doctors Kelling, I presume...

So, no new pictures this time, but I wanted to share that Nick's defense date is officially set for next Monday at 3 pm. Please send him well wishes, thoughts, prayers, etc. I know he will be marvelous, but we can always use some assurance. After that we will officially be Dr. and Dr. Kelling. Can't wait to get that in the mail :) Although I have yet to get anything to Dr. and Mr. Kelling :) Have to rub it in a little more. I did manage to beat him!

Also, I have an interview scheduled at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. Wish me luck!

Happy Monday!

The zoo and an awesome box

Sam had her first taste of frozen yogurt this week. It took a few bites, but then she loved it. And wanted more.

So I finally downloaded some recent pictures, sorry for the lack of posts. Nick and I bought a recycling center to stop our little klepto from pulling out dangerous things from our open bins. So we came up with the idea of making the huge box into a playhouse. Nick took it to a whole new level, cutting different shape windows in it and even some skylights. Sam loves it, especially the door, which is one of her recent words.

Sam and I also went to the zoo on Thursday. It was the first time she had been in a long time and the first time she noticed animals and not just people. Although she did point out quite a few

girls. We are still working on the word boy, but hey 50% right is not too bad :) It was a great time to be at the gorillas, because the juveniles were playing right in front of the glass, which Sam loved. She was also a big fan of the train and even added the word choo-choo to her growing vocab. And you will notice both pictures have on the hat, but she only kept it on about 25% of the time we were at the zoo. This kid has a mind of her own and is developing a temper to go along with it.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hope everyone had a great one. We had a fun one. It was a beautiful day in Atlanta. We went to Piedmont park to hang out with some Georgia Tech friends. Played croquet, which was fun. But Sam really wanted to grab the colored balls, so it was hard to keep her entertained. Here she is in her St. Patty's Day T-shirt.

Something about the Southland in the Springtime...

Oh wait, it still winter! We had snow here last weekend. Samantha was none too thrilled again.


Our house looked pretty, though!
And although Nick and I had a lot of work to do, we took a break for a quick snowball fight.

Samantha wanted to play the Wii fit when we were doing it.

Samantha has been doing some really cute things lately. Never a dull moment. She loves dragging things around, like this corded phone (below). She also will take most anything, put it behind her ear and start chatting away. My dad taught her to stomp, so now she loves putting her shoes on and stomping. She gets really excited about socks and shoes. She also learned how to kick a ball, so she gets all excited when she sees a ball and rushes up to kick it. Nick got her a toddler basketball hoop for Christmas and we set it up recently. She can actually reach way up and get the ball in the hoop. It is for 18-36 months, so we joke that she is very advanced for her age. We are taking bids for soccer and basketball scholarships :) The best thing lately, however, is that Sam has learned how to hug. She puts her arm around you and says "Ohhh." It is the sweetest thing ever! At least to me.

Check out this cute sweater!

Here is Sam watching a baby einstein about animals and having a snack. She loves "Old McDonald" and was cute grooving out and "singing" along.