Still Kicking!

Our family has not completely dropped off the face of the planet, our lives have just been incredibly hectic lately!  I'm not going to try to catch up with everything since the last post, but I'll try to hit the high points.

We spent a really nice Thanksgiving weekend in Bellingham with some of Pat's family.  I even got to meet his cousin Lisa for the first time.  Uncle Don and Aunt Mary let us crash in their guest house since Grandma and Grandpa Burgess' house was pretty full.  We were really glad we were able to see everyone because shortly after Thanksgiving we began what has become the L-O-N-G-E-S-T move ever.

We decided not to try to drive from Washington State to Washington D.C. with Sammy and the cat, so Pat had to do that long roadtrip alone while Sammy, Mimi, and I flew.  We took a pitstop in Missouri to visit family and then got to Pat's parents' house on Christmas Eve. 

We had inteded to stay with Bill and Jo for a week or two, but the house hunt proved to be much more complicated than we anticipated.  We found a really great neighborhood, but kept barely missing out on houses.  Apparently BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) is brining a lot of people to Ft. Meade, which is very close to the areas where we were looking. 

We finally found a place that would work for us, and scrambled to get an application in before anyone else.  After about 4 anxious days we found out we got it (Yay!), but that the current tenat wasn't moving out until mid-January (boo).  Bill and Jo were amazing enough to let us keep staying with them.  A couple of days ago, we moved into a hotel so that we wouldn't have to do the D.C. to Baltimore drive while looking for daycare centers for Sammy, picking up the keys to the house, etc.  Our furniture is scheduled to come Monday, and I can't wait to finally spend a night in my own bed!

Hopefully I'll get some pictures of the new house up soon.  I just have to figure out where I packed the charger for the camera!  lol

And now to your favorite part of the post....adorable pictures of Samantha.  She has been a champ during the move, but I know she's ready to be in a house with all of her familiar things again.

Pumpkin Carving

Somehow we ran out of time last year to buy a pumpkin and carve it in time for Halloween, so this year was Samantha's first time participating.  She was a little freaked out by the "yucky" pumpkin, but eventually she got over it.  We had let her pick out her own little pumpkin at the pumpkin patch, so we let her decorate it with markers and stickers while Daddy was carving the big pumpkin.

Pinned It, Did It

I have gotten completely sucked into Pinterest lately.  If you're not on it, it's basically a website where you can gather all of those great ideas that you find on the internet in one place.  I'm trying to be good about actually doing some of them and not just "Pinning" them, so here are a couple of activities Sammy and I have done lately.

Here is a fun and a little different way to practice writing and drawing skills.  It's Elmer's glue and a little bit of food coloring in a Ziplock baggie, and then you write on it with a Q-tip.  I like it because it's all things that most people already have around the house.

Naturally we have to teeter on the edge of danger while trying
out this new toy

Disclaimer: Mommy drew this heart

Just squish it to start over

This is Sammy painting in the tub with shaving cream with a little bit of food coloring.  Next time I think I'll do two or three primary colors so that Sammy can see what happens when the colors mix.

We ended up with some pretty awesome green bathwater
when we rinsed off Sammy's artwork.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Pat and I bought this ridiculously adorable (and a little pricey) Halloween dress at a little boutique in Old Town St. Charles.  Sammy wore it last year, and I was thrilled when I saw it in her closet the other day and realized she could probably wear it again.  What a difference a year makes!

October 2010

October 2011

The Past Month

It's been a little over a month since I last posted,so I thought I'd do a little catch-up post.  Here's what's been going on with Team Vogt recently:

- Pat spent a month training in the desert at NTC in California.
- Sammy and I spent about a week out of that month in Hermann visiting my family.
- We got to see Jo for a night while she was out here visiting her parents.
- My parents spent a 4-day weekend with us, resulting in grandparent-spoiling withdrawal for Samantha when they left.
- We spent a weekend in Westport, WA enjoying the ocean and also spent several afternoons at the lake on post.
- Samantha is talking up a storm, and even putting little sentences together.  Her words are pretty clear, but every once in while she stumps us with an odd pronounciation.
- Pat's current Brigade found out that they are deploying.  Some of Pat's Company will be going with them.  Pat will not be because...
- HRC (Human Resource Command) has told Pat that it's about time for us to move, so we're waiting on the list of potential next assignments.  For now, our future it totally up in the air.

And of course some cute pictures because I just can't resist.

I Hiding

This is one of those posts that Samantha will probably be very unhappy about when she's 13.

Samantha is what I like to call a Poo Fibber. She doesn't like to admit that she needs to poop. She also likes to hide under or behind things while doing her business. I'll see her go into one of her pooping spots, and I'll ask her if she needs to poop. Her answer is always, "Noooooooo...I hiding." On top of her love of hiding, Sammy's also in that stage where she thinks if she can't see you (eyes closed, blanket over head, etc) that you can't see her either. All of this came together this evening when she dumped all of her toys out of one of her toy bins and put it on her head to poop. What a crazy child.

Perpetual Motion

I think that Samantha may have discovered the secret to perpetual motion. That would explain why she never. stops. moving!!!