we trudged through the snow...

Sam has been sucking on her thumb for the past 2 weeks or so. I caught her about to snooze on the play mat with her thumb in her mouth.
Trying out the bumbo. If you remember when Caden was little, you may remember that he stuck his tongue out all the time...well looks like Sam is going to be the same way.

Laughing in the bumbo

Caden has been trying out the potty lately with some success and some mess.

Two weeks ago Samantha and I made a trip up to Maumee for a baby shower for one of my college friends, Karen. Her and her husband Lane are expecting their first at the end of March. We cannot wait! We had such a good time at the shower. It was great to see Corrie and Lisa and chit chat with them. We didn't get to talk to the momma to be too much, but am sure that we will see her this spring with their new addition!

The only pic that I have from the shower...

Karen's friend from home, then Corrie in black, me and Sam, Karen (momma to be) and Lisa

I saw Nia out in the snow the other day...almost had to check to see if she was ok.

Fun with icicles, right before he dropped it and it broke into a couple pieces. It made him mad every time!

He had enough the other day and just had to get out in the snow, pajamas, rain boots and truck.

Well, in the huge Ohio snowstorm a few weekends back ... we trudged through the snow up to my parents house. I hate to admit that we went and didn't turn around in Sidney. It took us 8 hours together!!!! But it did make the way 3 1/2hr trip home seem like a breeze! We went up to see my cousins on my mom's side that were in town from Baltimore and NYC. Here is a pic of most of us, unfortunately Joe/Amy/Joey couldn't make it because Joey was feeling under the weather. boo.

Jen, Me, Kim(cousin-in-law), Bryan(cousin) in back and Mark, Curt(cousin) and Emery (cousin) in front

Grandpa Joe and Caden

Grandpa Joe, Caden, snowman, Sydney and Laurel (cousin)

Syd did not want to be in the picture with the snowman

Laurel, Mark, Kim and Curt playing some crazy scrabble game that I was not very good at!

Kim, Colin, Sydney, Caden, Me and Samantha

Caden enjoying a nice cup of snow

One of Caden's favorite things lately has been to help me in the kitchen. He loves to stir the ingredients in the bowl and see what is going on with the stove and pretty much anything up on the countertop. Here he is mixing the usual, flour, oatmeal and brown sugar.

oops...did I make that mess?

The boys are getting ready to go outside, not you little Sam.

February and lots of snow!

Caden had his 18month well check appt on Feb 11th (a little behind) and this was the aftermath! Before this visit, he had never had an adverse reaction to the shots. At first he was fine, but when he woke up from his nap he didn't even want to stand up. All he wanted was for me to carry him and not move his legs too much. I felt so bad for him. So...I set him up on the couch with his blankie and put on some cartoons and he sat there for almost an hour!! Usually it is hard to get him to sit still for 10 mins! He was so cute and cuddly while I was sitting there with him, I just had to take his picture.

He was 24lbs 10oz and 33in tall. The snow boots that I bought Caden at the last kid2kid sale are now too small for him, so I got him some rain boots at Wal-mart that he loves to wear around the house and everywhere really. We laughed when we saw the outfit that he ended up wearing the other night. His Thomas the Train hat, fire engine pjs and the rainboots, classic!

Dad with the kids

Sammie in her cute giraffe outfit that she has almost outgrown!

Amy & Tricia (my old OU roommates) came over for a visit this past weekend. Here is a pic with Amy (expecting baby #3 in May), Isaac and Caden reading a truck book, so fitting! After this book they were very interested in raiding my cookbooks and sat with Amy and looked at one about grilling different kinds of meat! You have to start those Winner boys early on the names of different cuts of meat! Ha Ha

Amy and all three kids!

Isaac, Caden and Kristin(going to be a big sister in Sept!)

Hanging out in the bay window. This is one of Caden's favorite places to hang out during the day. He loves to watch the birds and weather, as well as neighbors when they are out cutting grass.

Valentine pic of the kids together

Grammy Clarice with 4 of the 6 grandkids.

Maddie, Caden, Payton and Izzy

little peanut and buster brown

This is the onesie that Caden wore i think on day #2. It was a little snug on Samantha, but she had to put it on for a picture opportunity!

While we were bored and snowed in this month, I had a photo shoot with Samantha. I think she looks like a little boxer in this photo.

pretty little girl

We signed up to get a test box for a food co-op called the Miami River Foods Project (check it out at www.miamiriverfoods.org). They are just trying to get it going, but Mark and I were really impressed with the food, selection and presentation. All things in the box are either organic, eco-friendly, and/or local. We received a butternut squash, Winan's coffee, olive oil (organic from CA), 7th Generation dish soap and toilet paper roll, loaf of Spelt bread, blackberry blaze jam, rosemary crackers, dozen eggs, whole chicken, pork chops, chicken breasts, chevre cheese, gretna's grillin' cheese, and homemade butter. We look forward to the next month's box!

We had dinner at our neighbor's/friend's house a couple weekends ago. Caden loves their dog Ben (Nia's boyfriend) and was so excited to play with the toys that Bill and Ruth got down from their attic. Ruth is an amazing cook and we always have such a great time when we are with the Barney's!

Plus they always have a fire in the fireplace in the winter time! I love sitting by the fire!

Sam has been sticking her tongue out a lot lately. Thought I would catch it on the camera.

It was hard and I was a little nervous, but was able to get a pic with the kids together. Caden wasn't sure what to do when Sam was leaning up against him. He thought it was hilarious!

Happy Valentine's Day!