sweet baby face

this will have to be a quick post because today sammy and i are going to Purpose (my work) to introduce her to everyone. we are both very excited. sammy is looking forward to putting voices with faces, as I spent most of the days of my pregnancy with these wonderful women (and one man) and so the girl knows their voices.

sammy has some baby acne going on. it doesn't bother her and it doesn't bother me. but i was wondering if you all knew if there was something i could be doing to help her out. she is being bathed regularly (about every other day) and i am not using soap on her face (per the recovery nurse's instruction). i know this is something that will go away on its own, but if i can help a girl out i would like to.

well we are off to get ready for the day. tim has class all this week, and i am happy to report our morning together just the two of us is going quite well. (although bek we miss you and the kids like crazy!) it is a beautiful day in vancouver, and sammy and i hope to take faith for a walk when we return.

also - grandma v bought sammy her cute pink bow at claires.

a big pink bow

"mama - why do i have this big pink bow on my head?"

because you look so cute!
a close up of sammy per readers' requests

deep cove and stanley park

Yesterday - for our last outing together, we went to stanley park. it was a beautiful day and we had a great time walking, enjoying the view, playing bocce ball and having an amazing fish dinner.

here we are - slightly off center - it is hard centering a picture with a tri-pod. grandpa, grandma and auntie j
happy grandparents
at deep cove a few days ago, with sammy:
the ladies
grandpm, auntie j and grandpa - again enjoying the view and beautiful weather - the weather this past week could not have been better!
we had a great week with the knipps! samantha loved every moment of being held by her grandpa, grandma and auntie. and we were sad to say goodbye. thank you so much for coming to visit! we love you very much!

tim and i keep saying - look how big she is today! i would guess sammy has crossed the 8 lbs mark but she won't be weighed again for a few weeks. samantha continues to eat well and has better and better nights all the time. and we can't stop looking at her - she has captivated us.

america here we come!

i am proud to announce that sammy's birth certificate arrived in the mail yesterday. they are not messing around with birth certificates anymore - this thing is high tech. the arrival of her birth certificate means that we can return to america!! we are very excited to get back to the states and it looks like it will happen next week!!

a night together to celebrate sammy

Tim and I felt incredibly blessed to be able to have dinner with our entire family to celebrate Samantha's life- except for gabe, brooke and ellis (you all were missed!!!). we met in white rock and had a delicious dinner at a restaurant by the water. a perfect night.

sammy with auntie defense
sammy with mama and her aunties
the whole crew
the latimers
mama, daddy and sam
the knipps
thank you family for an amazing evening!! we love you so much!!

samantha jean and her pink dress

Grandma V gave Sammy this super cute pink dress! thanks grandma. :)

a trip to the park

so fun having grandpa and grandma knipp and auntie j with us!!

sammy meets the knipps!

sammy and mama

can't get enough

sweet sleeping sammy. loving life with her. tonight grandpa and grandma knipp and auntie j come. sammy probably won't be able to sleep until they arrive. she is so very excited!!

way to go daddy!

this picture was taken just moments ago. tim holding sammy - she is obviously quite relaxed. :) she was not so relaxed about 30 min before - so tim has successfully soothed a fussy baby and is feeling pretty good about it. i am proud of both of them.

and i know you can't exactly tell from the picture - but purple sure looks cute on this little girl. (thanks drew and bekah for the super cute outfit!).

in other samantha news: she has passed her birth weight. the midwife was by yesterday and she is up to 7 lbs 7 oz. and i am convinced she is growing by the minute, as she eats more often than tim - and that is saying alot. she is also more alert everyday, which is super fun. and she enjoyed her first church service this morning. so she is really on a roll.

i am feeling more and more like myself each day and thankful to have re-entered the land of the living, at least in small doses.

and we are incredibly excited about the coming of grandpa and grandma knipp and auntie j on wednesday!!

so life here is very good. :)

you know you have had a great night with a newborn if...

it is the morning and you are choosing to be awake while she is still sleeping :)

visits and outings

caption contest

This little girl is thinking something.
What do you think Samantha Jean is about to say?


(previous contest winners will be announced as soon as Kristi has the energy)

july 8

i don't want to close my eyes

sleepingwe look a little tired... but so happy

looking at daddy

i find myself thinking the lyrics to the aerosmith song that goes "i don't want to close my eyes, i don't want to miss a thing." these sweet days are like none i have ever known - where we just hang out and get to know this beautiful little person - who has captured our hearts. life has dramatically changed forever and we love it!

sammy did great getting her tongue clipped. she cried for maybe a second and then was eating. we are slowly getting the eating/sleeping thing down. tim and i are regularly strategizing ways to make things more efficient :)

my mom has returned (yeah! - props to mom for the top two pictures!) and grandpa geoff will come up tonight for dinner. auntie d will visit on friday. and return with uncle jacob on saturday.

loving life - with a heart overwhelmed with thankfulness to the Lord for this simply precious gift!

beautiful eyes

day 3

First bath at home




Sammy's friend Benjamin Moser who lives upstairs


Benjamin didn't want to go to bed until he had seen Sammy's eyes. So sweet.