Sam's 3rd Birthday

Today 3 years ago we welcomed Samuel Joseph into the world. What a surprise addition he was and oh what blessing he is to our family! It seems like yesterday that he joined us but at the same time it feels like forever. 

Sam has such a sweet spirit. He is mischievous too but oh so sweet. He is full energy, climbing places before he could walk not talking in full conversation with us and I am loving every minute of it! He is our cuddle bug, the one who just wants you to hold him. He vacillates between being a "Dada"'s boy to a Momma's boy. He knows what he wants and will work diligently figuring out how to get himself to that goal. His attention to detail is remarkable. 

Because today is Sat we had his birthday party today which was a special treat. Sam has been SO excited for this day for a while now. He has such a sweet spirit - all morning in preparation for the day he was saying "Thanks Mom for my party" "Thanks Dad for making x for me" It was so sweet to see. Hannah was also in a festive mood - although it can be hard with your sibling has a party she was so loving and kind to Sam all day. We were blessed by this congenial and loving spirit in the house!  It was a great day for a Dino Party for our Mad T-Rex Sam!

 We enjoyed some playtime with dinos around the house.

 And for those interested - some crafting opportunities.

 Sam's favorite was the dino dig - we buried lots of little dino toys in the sand and the kids had a blast finding them. Sam was found afterward still digging and being a "paleontologist" as he called himself.

 When our friends had tired of the digging there was some good outside play time. We love our female friends but found ourselves reminded that we need to foster some good male friends for Sam :) 

 Here is our precious Hannah - always posing - she had a hair cut yesterday and picked this dress and shoes out specifically for Sam's party - love her!

After our outside fun we all came in for lunch. I am bummed this is the only picture I had of this (I heard Nonni might have more she could share). I found this on Pinterest and Brent did a masterful job of carving this watermelon to look like a TRex - we then cut up fruit for the inside. Great job Daddy!

And this was my first attempt at cake decorating. Sam requested a "Mad T-Rex" birthday party. I found lots of ideas for Brontosauruses but not so much T-Rex cakes however I found a pan that would work well :) I decided to bake the cake from scratch which ended up being yummy! My first baking of the cake was a bust b/c the cake wouldn't come out of the pan so we have some good cake in storage now : ) The second cake worked and then I worked on decorating it - I think I did a pretty good job. Sam though saw it and said "Mom that is a happy T-Rex, I wanted a Mad T-Rex" lol! But he came around eventually to loving it b/c he said it looked like his favorite toy :) 

Overall it was a great celebration of Sam! The rest of the day was relaxed and enjoyable as Sam explored his new treasures. He particularly enjoyed the toy Hannah gave him because he had been asking for it for some time and was so pleased with it - Hannah was thrilled as well.

Happy Birthday Sam! We love you!