Please Vote!

You guys!

My little ol' blog was nominated for Best Mommy Blog and Blog with the Best Memes for The Sheenazing Blogger Awards hosted by the lovely Bonnie at A Knotted Life!

In Bonnie's words: "The Sheenazing Blogger Awards are named for Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. Sheen was amazing at using the newest forms of media to communicate the beauty of the Catholic Church and his love of Christ to the world. I'm positive that Sheen would be a blogger were he alive today and that he is in Heaven, totally approving of this award."

"I'd vote for From the Heart. You should, too!"

I'm so honored to have been nominated! Thank you to whoever was drunk enough to nominate me! I have a feeling I won't win, because, uh, hello- the greats like Simcha and Calah are amongst my fellow nominees. They are the Meryl Streeps of the Oscars and I'm the poor schmuck nominee that people look at on TV just to see their loser reaction.

So if you have time, please click this link here and vote for me! Please, please, please! Please vote for me because:

Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging. I'm working on a post where there will be a photo of Ryan dressed up as Captain America. Stay tuned!

Trying to understand real food

There has been a certain post floating around in my head for months now. I've hesitated writing it because I was afraid it would open up a can of worms.
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This post is a plea for information and also a rant, so please bear with me.

Real Food... Huh?

The first time I ever heard of organic food was when I watched Jon and Kate + 8, you know, before she went completely and totally crazy.

I never really thought anything of organic food. Little by little I would see something advertised as organic. Maybe it had been there all along, or maybe I just now noticed it because I watched Jon and Kate.

This was all a couple of years ago. I noticed one of my facebook friends lamenting that they couldn't find any food that did not high fructose corn syrup. Then I kept hearing about the documentary Food Inc. I was never a big fan of documentaries such as these because I always felt it over-sensationalized everything. So I never watched it.

Pretty soon this organic and real food stuff was everywhere I looked. On the news, in social media, advertisements... you name it.

This brings me to my first question.

Real Food... Why Now?

With this trend of throwing out processed foods and eating real food seeming to grow more and more I am starting to wonder.. is this just a phase?

Has the real food craze always been around and I've just been living under a rock eating my Doritos and Spaghettios? 

I have read so many articles and blog posts about parents not allowing their kids to eat processed foods... at all. No Oreos, no candy, no nothin'- not ever. They claim that when they do allow their child to eat this stuff it's like Dr. Jekkyl and Mr. Hyde; their kid is no longer recognizable in their demeanor.

I think back on my childhood eating habits. I know I ate Oreos, chips, Hamburger Helper, Fruit Loops and Kraft Mac and Cheese. But my mother did not fed me this food all the time. I loved fruit and cheese. My mom was always encouraging me to try new foods. She never let me drink pop. I never really liked to drink milk until my mom used a little mommy trickery and put milk in a wine glass for me to drink from. Worked like a charm. 

Moderation is a good thing, right? So my honest question is why are we moving away from moderation of real food and some processed food and right into no processed foods at all? 

Thinking on that question just opens up even more...

Why now is a bag of popcorn or Oreos considered cancer-causing?

Is the obesity epidemic more because of food choices or parenting choices?

What is different about the eating habits of my generation (I am 28 years old) when we were kids compared to the eating habits of children nowadays? Why wasn't there an obesity crisis when I was younger?

Why do we hear more about food allergies and gluten intolerance? Was I just sheltered in my tiny rural town? I had never heard of these problems until just a few years ago. Have food allergies and gluten intolerance become an increasing problem? If so, why?

The Un-Appeal of Real Food

  

I have all these questions. I have a few friends who are very into the real food lifestyle, but I wanted to get a wide array of information. That was a big mistake. The interwebz are filled with "experts" and I encountered a lot of vitriol toward the kind of food I was regularly eating. I was giving myself a death sentence by eating Spaghettios. I was a little turned off by some real food advocates. This is going to be blunt and vulgar, but a lot of the people who advocated the real food lifestyle were self-righteous assholes. The ranting and raving annoyed me, so I just removed myself from the subject. 

Annoyance turned into pissed-offness when I kept seeing graphics and charts and snarky memes aimed at parents who fed their kids anything that wasn't real food. I couldn't escape these sort of attitudes. Basically, according to these people I was poisoning my children. Charts and "research" were showing how quickly my child would die of cancer and how unintelligent they would be in the future. While some bloggers were trying to educate the masses and rally against big evil food corporations they were making me feel like a horrible mother. Here I was feeding my son, who I love so deeply and fiercely, chicken nuggets FROM A BAG. I was giving him TARGET BRAND FRUIT SNACKS! But I had already set him up for disaster when I gave him Gerber rice cereal when he was 4 months old. God forbid if I had used formula instead of breastfeeding him! He'd be a zombie! I do try to give him healthy options. We rarely eat fast food. Still, my budget and lack of cooking skills forces me to dig into the processed food quite often.

I wish that some of these advocates would stress how awesome real food is for your body and how it makes one feel better instead of using it as ammo for tearing each other down. I wish advocates would use their passion to change things for the better. Save your fighting words for those big corporations and regulations that make it nearly impossible for families like mine to afford to eat real food.

Getting Over It and Moving On

It took me awhile to realize that real food is just another cog in the mega machine in the mommy war. My sensitive nature makes it hard to buid a thick skin and just ignore the bitterness and criticism. I've got to put on my big-girl panties and just realize that people advocate in their own way.

Thankfully my real-life real-food friends are very kind. They are enthusiastic, but in a "Wow, this granola tastes yummy and I made it myself!" way instead of the "Wow, this granola tastes yummy and won't give my children and me brain tumors!" way. Many of my friends admit to eating McDonalds or indulging in a Mountain Dew on occasion. Only a time or two have my feelings been hurt, but that's just because I am very sensitive when it comes to my mothering skills. Motherhood is one of the hardest things in the world. I'm constantly worried that I'm going to screw up my kids.

I am about to start my journey with Weight Watchers again. Lately I have been feeling so lethargic and crappy. I know WW will force me to think about my food choices again. I lost 30 lbs the last time I was on the program and I felt so good... physically, mentally and spiritually. I guess exercising and eating fruits and veggies will do that to you. So now I am ready to learn about real food. I am ready to serve healthy options to my family. I want to know the answers to the questions I asked but really don't know where to begin. I want to keep it simple. I don't want to dive too deep into politics (because it seem that's where everything comes down to nowadays.)Who is Monsanto and why does everybody hate them?

So here I go, gathering info for my real food journey...

Wait, you can eat second breakfast when eating real food, right???

 


 

Can This Week Be Over?

Le sigh.

What a week.

And it's not even over yet.

My sensitive and melancholy nature have taken over big time lately.

I had a long post post detailing my craptastic week, but I don't want it to sound like one of those old country songs. You know "Ooooooh, my wife left me and my dog ran away and my pickup truck done broke down on me and my bes' frien' stole my fishin' pole!"

But here are two noteworthy complaints:

I haven't watched Dr. Who in 4 DAYS!

I so badly want to look up Dr. Who stuff but I'm paranoid of spoilers. I have to be extremely careful when I see people post Dr. Who stuff on their facebook walls. Today I saw one and glanced only a second at it because I knew it was probably something important. It was Dr. Who with a bunch of people in front of the TARDIS using the same font and words as the TV show "How I Met Your Mother."

What the heck does THAT mean?! AHHHH!!! I want to watch all the Dr. Whos!!!

*PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't spoil anything for me. If you do, I will hunt you down and give you a stern talking to. I'll do it! Don't you think I won't!*

Aaaaaand I ran out of chocolate.

The Last Three Pieces

There they are... my chemistry notes are their funeral pyre.

Yes, I do my homework on the floor. I have a lot of distractions as you can see...

I spend about 75% of the time watching Sam scoot around. The rest is divided between homework and facebook.

I swear he's going to take off crawling any day now...

Oh, and every 15 minutes I have to go put Joe back down to his nap. He hasn't been napping at all lately. It's been super duper. That's added to the wonderfulness of the week.

Although it's been easy to entertain him lately. My sister in law got this beautiful canvas picture for me. Joe thinks it's "toot" which is his way of saying cute.

The week is almost over thank goodness. Hopefully this weekend will get me recharged and ready to take on some of the challenges that have been thrown my way.

Well this post is pretty darn random. Let's add to the randomness shall we?!

Here is a video that we took of Ryan rubbing his eye last night. Turn up the volume and hear the freaky noises coming from his head! He's a cyborg for sure!

7 Quick Takes: Future Posts Edition

Another fairly mundane week. I already posted about the utter freak out experience of my first class. My second night of class went 100000 times better than the first night. Aaaaaand that's about the excitement for the week.

For these Quick Takes I decided to write some of the blog ideas that have been trapped inside my brain for a long time- some of them even since I first started this blog almost 4 years ago. Look for these major posts in between my usual posts of baby poop and toddler antics.

So buckle your seat belt and brace yourself for the most exciting Quick Takes EVAH!

1. Real Food

I am actually in the process of writing this one. I have a lot of questions regarding real food and some annoyances I need to get out. I've hesitated on writing this because I don't want to cause a big kerfuffle, but I need to put my big girl panties on and get a little courage!

2. Family Togetherness

This is a blog post that I have wanted to write for a couple of years now. I've emailed family members and friends of close families for their experiences on how their family stayed so close. I just need to stop being so lazy and write the darn thing.

3. Hell

I'm sick of society treating Hell as a joke. "At least I'll be with friends..." NO! NO YOU WILL NOT! Just... NO!

4. Growing Up Semi-Poor and Turning Out Relatively Normal

Eh, pretty self-explanatory.

5. Growing Up In a Small Town

Basically memories of my tiny little Midwestern town.

Main Street of my hometown. This was taken by my insanely talented cousin Megan.

6. Trying to Find Community

Settling down for the long run and finding an awesome community to raise my kids is something I think about often. Oh, and my desire to own chickens and goats.

7. Working Mom Guilt

I haven't even gotten into the nursing program let alone get a job, but I'm already having minor panic attacks at the thought of someone else taking care of my children.

WOOOooooo!!! Wasn't that exciting?! I know, you are just beyond worn out from reading all that.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and please go to Jen's for much, much, MUCH more exciting Takes than I have!

My First Night of Class Told in GIFs

Last night was my first night of class. It's a chemistry class. Chemistry is not my strong suit. It was an interesting experience.

Here is my night told in GIFs.
 

I've been away from the classroom for nearly 4 years. This was a new campus and I was unsure of where I was going. Needless to say, I was a tad nervous. 

Thankfully my guardian angel gave me a dose of courage as I walked to the classroom. 

I got up there and the door was locked. Another girl was sitting there. I said hello and asked her if I was in the right place. She said yes. A few more students showed up and there was The Awkward Silence.

The semi-social butterfly in me wanted to say "Hi" but I was afraid it would come out creepy.

Sooo my inner self warned me to stay silent. 

Finally class began and things started off well. The teacher was pretty cool and he was explaining things in a way I could understand.

Then he started picking up the pace a little bit. Then there was math. And rules. And MORE rules. And more math. It was simple math I should have known but my brain was like:

More math. More rules. Faster, faster! Then we did some word problems and I was like:

The rest of the class I tried hard to keep up but my thoughts were drifting away to something like this:

Finally class was over. I left in an orderly fashion.

When I got home I tried telling Ryan about my night but we were interrupted by Joe waking up. By the time he was done I was all up in my dranky drank.   

Today I should have been reading and doing some refresher math problems. Instead I watched this go down.

It is going to be a loooong semester.

Because of the amount of reading I'll have to do for this class and for my internet class, I will really have to limit myself on the internet. I'll be reading your blogs, but don't hate me if I don't comment! Also, this little ol' blog might be a little sparse for the next few months, but I'm sure come midterm time I'll have a "My Night of Studying in GIFs."

7 Quick Takes Vol. 28

Jen is feeling well enough to host her 7 Quick Takes this week! Prayers for her continued recovery!

1.
This week's 7 Quick Takes will be suuuuper boring. Seriously. I sat down today to catch up on my journal and I realized I had nothing interesting to write about regarding this past week. Apologies if these are boring!

2.
I have been especially frazzled lately and I thought it was time to take part in the time-honored tradition of enjoying a glass of wine at the end of the day. I asked my sisters of #Cathsorority for suggestions.

They did not disappoint.

I love these ladies!

So tonight I plan on enjoying a little wine and a little Dr. Who.

2.
Speaking of Dr. Who, both my husband and I have been watching the series. He won't let me watch it without him, which is probably good because then I'd spend all day long watching it and then yelling at my kids, "DELETE! DELETE!" and sending them to time out. Yes, even the 5 month old.

Anywho, last night Ryan had the audacity to suggest we start another TV series on Netflix. I shut that idea down faster than you can say TARDIS. He then said to me, "It's always Dr. Who this and Dr. Who that... what about what I want to watch?"

First world marriage problems.

3.
You want to know how frazzled I've been lately? In the afternoons, when Joe is supposed to be napping but instead is laying in front of his bedroom door yelling "Mommy, mommy, mommy, oooooh moooooommy." (Just like the empty child of Dr. Who) I like to chill out and catch up on my beloved internet while listening to The Civil Wars Radio on Pandora. I'm zoning Joe out, hypnotized by sleeping Sam's baby swing and totally zen when all of a sudden the music stops.

I click back on the page and there's that stupid rectangular box that says, in what I imagine as a very snotty voice, "Are you still listening?"

I proceed to click in HARD and yell "YES, I AM STILL LISTENING PAN-DOR-A!!!"

I have issues.

Thinking of having Joe dress up like this for Halloween.

4.
Cute Joe story:

Joe has been in love with Toy Story since he was about one year old. This Christmas we got him the real deal Buzz and Woody. Like Buzz's wings shoot out and Woody has a pull string real deal. Now Joe takes his Buzz and flies him through the air and yells, "Donadinidy an eyoooon!" which is "To infinity and beyond." It's so freaking adorable. I call my mom and chase Joe around the living room with my cell forcing her to listen to the cuteness.

Ryan and I also like to put Joe and Woody in funny positions when we clean up after Joe goes to bed. Buzz's signature dance move is the sprinkler.

Oh great... Woody's drunk again...

5.
Our super duper awesome parish sent out a mass email on our behalf asking if anyone knew of any houses or duplexes we could rent. We SO need to get out of this apartment. Fo realz. I cannot even tell you....

We have been blessed with a number of people offering to help! We might have found a small house that is just like a mile and a half from our parish. I am hoping and praying it works out!

6.
Do college students still take notes in notebooks or does everyone take their computer? My first chemistry class is on Monday and I'm afraid I'll walk in there with my handy dandy notebook and everyone will look at me like I'm 90 years old.

7.
This is hilarious. You must watch!



Have a great weekend! Check out Jen's page for more awesome Quick Takes!

Why Nursing? The Journey Begins...

In less than a week I start my first prerequisite class for nursing school. I'm taking Introductory Chemistry for Health Sciences. Last night I drove to the campus bookstore to pick up my textbooks and goggles for my lab.

As I walked back to the van where Ryan was waiting I had a huge grin on my face. He asked me why I was smiling and I told him I was excited about starting this journey. I love the "newness" of my textbooks. I'm a nerd... I get excited about new pencils and notebooks.

ERMAGERD! SKOOL!

My excitement tapered off a bit when I flipped through my chemistry book. Suddenly I had flashbacks to my 8:00 a.m. Chemistry of the Biosphere class and remembered this was my reaction after every class:

I will admit, I'm kind of scared. It's kind of like skydiving. You're so excited and psyched to do this awesome thing, but when you are about to get on the plane fear takes over and... you poop a little. OK, I'm not that scared that I lose control of my bowels, but I'm still nervous! 

Despite my fears I am not going to back down. This nursing dream is nothing new. It's not like I thought to myself, "Self, we need to do something about my student loans. Let's pick a career that makes good pay and is easy to find a job! Nursing sounds good!"

When I quit the first college I attended I had plans to go to nursing school. I went to the local tech college and took the entrance exam. I passed with flying colors and was ready for the next step. But then I was told that since I still owed money to my previous school that I could not apply. I was upset, but vowed to get a job and pay off my debt.

I began my job as a nurse aide at a nursing home. It was very much a love/hate relationship. I loved working with the residents and enjoyed taking care of them, poop and all. I just did not like the environment and some of my co-workers who did not take their job seriously.

My next job was working housekeeping and maintenance at our small local hospital. I still had the goal of nursing school, but for some reason (I think it was some stupid boy) that dream tapered off. Now I think it was God's way of saying, "Not right now."

Fast foward past a couple of deep, dark years of partying and being a hoochie mama. God was calling me to move almost two hours away to a town where I knew absolutely NO ONE. Atchison, Kansas. Who moves there willingly?! But away I went... I transferred to the Wal-Mart with the plans of saving up money to attend the nursing program there in Atchison. Again, God said "Not yet" when he led me to get an apartment right underneath Janie and Moe and they introduced me to Benedictine College. There I met my husband and got a theology degree because I loved learning about Catholicism.

My husband has always told me I would be a good nurse. I've always told him that I didn't have the time and money to go back to school and that a nursing career usually meant you worked long hours and holidays. I always just pushed the idea away.

It was when I was pregnant with Sam when my interest in nursing came back. My best friend was in the process of getting her R.N. and I enjoyed hearing the stories from her classes. There were lots of nurses at my OB's office that I really liked so that got nursing on my brain again.

When I was in the hospital after I gave birth to Sam one of the night nurses sat down and chatted with me. We talked about breastfeeding and motherhood and then the subject of being a SAHM. She worked nights, part-time, but still, a majority of her week was spent at home with her kids. All of my nurses were so great. They were kind and helpful. I wanted to be like that to someone.

For weeks after Sam was born I had nursing on the brain. The thoughts would not leave me alone! I messaged some of my facebook friends who were nurses and also stayed home with their babies and I learned nursing was totally doable. I researched different programs and different schools.

In November I decided to just go for it. I applied to the college and was accepted. I enrolled in two classes. I ordered my books. The journey is now beginning.

The application to the nursing program begins in August. I have my prerequisites to complete, two tests I must pass and of course the application/recommendation process. I am super nervous that I won't get accepted. But if I do get accepted and pass my final examination I should be an R.N. by December 2015.

Why nursing? I love learning about how the human body works. I love taking care of people when they need taking care of. Poop, pee, vomit, blood, mucus... doesn't bother me. 

It's going to be a challenge, especially with two small boys running around but thankfully I have an awesome husband and loving family and friends that will help me out.

So... here I go. Let's get this started! 

Falling down the stairs to meet Mary

Last week we went over to my in-law's house. They have a beautiful, large home and Joe loves to run all around, including up and down the stairs. Joe has no problem going up the stairs, and he's getting a lot better at going down. So when he is hanging out at the top of the stairs I don't bolt over there like I used to.

However, this time was different. Joe had been playing around upstairs, running in and out of the rooms. He was standing at the top of the stairs and just like that- down he went. I bounded over in what seemed like two steps with my arms outstretched even though I was far too late getting over there to catch him. I looked on with horror as I saw my little boy tumble down the stairs.

I saw it all in slow motion. He started sliding on his back and I saw the look of terror on his face. Fear pierced his eyes. I saw his whole tiny body tense up as it twisted and turned down the stairs. I saw his hands reach out to grab on to something- anything to stop his fall. Those little boy hands that are still holding onto a hint of baby fat. All I could do is yell out, "Joe!" and run down the stairs after him.

He hit the landing with a soft thud, laid there in shock for a few seconds, then cried out. I scooped him up in my arms, my heart beating a million beats a minute and shakily held him. He stopped crying after 10 seconds, but my body would not calm down. Thankfully my in-laws' stairs have super soft, cushion-y carpet, so he wasn't hurt at all.

The way I have described this experience my seem to be a little over-dramatic, but this is the first time I watched as my child was getting hurt and there was nothing I could do to stop it from happening. Joe has had plenty of boo-boos. He's fallen off chairs, beds; he's walked into walls, even chipped a tooth. But I've always been able to be right there to comfort him. Even though him falling down the stairs probably lasted only 10 seconds I felt so helpless.

That was the first time I really, truly felt a connection with the Virgin Mary- mother of God.

I know so many who have a deep and committed devotion to Mary. I've always admired her, but never really "clicked" with her. I felt more of a connection with her when Joe was born, but nothing that made me feel like Mary and I were BFFs.

But the day Joe fell down the stairs made me think about how Mary must have felt as she saw her son marching to his death. Seeing him beaten, bruised, tortured and ridiculed... and there was nothing she could do.

Joe falling down the stairs is nothing like going to get crucified, but I could understand Mary's anguish. Her yearning to run to her child and hold and protect him. I understood her sadness at seeing her son hurting. My heart broke as I saw my little one fall down the stairs. Can you imagine the pain she went through at seeing her son being killed even though he did nothing wrong?

That night I started thinking about my relationship with Joe. I am pretty attached to him. Yes, there are MANY times during the day I want to crack open the bottle of vodka Ryan got as a Christmas gift. He drives me crazy at times. But when it comes to leaving him with others... I feel lost. We are very lucky that we have family nearby that like to watch him while Ryan and I can have time to ourselves, but I find myself missing him when I am away from him. I get a little depressed when I think about sending him to daycare or preschool. I won't be the one who kisses his boo boos. I won't be the one who sees his smile when he hears music. I won't be the one who gets to see him draw a picture, or teach him a new color or shape. I HATE that feeling. I know I shouldn't feel that way because there will be SO many others besides me that will teach him and shape him. Maybe it's my pride or my overwhelming desire to always protect him, but it bothers me.

It is tough to swallow realizing that God did not give me Joe as my own personal little person who loves me and entertains me. God made him as his own son, a son who will be with him again someday in heaven. God made Joe for the benefit of others, besides me. Someday he will grow up and live to serve his wife and children. There are times now he likes to dance with me. I will pick him up and he'll rest his chubby-cheeked face on my shoulder and we'll sway. I flash forward to his wedding day when I will sway with him, but then he'll go and dance with his bride and they will drive off together and begin a new life. There are times when he sleeps with us at night and I wake up and he'll be looking at me with his beautiful blue eyes and smile. Someday it won't be me he is smiling at, but his own son or daughter.

How did Mary feel knowing her son was made to die for us? She knew that something was up when she and Joseph presented their baby to the temple. After Simeon had blessed them he turned to Mary and said, "Look, he is destined for the rise and for the fall of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is opposed. And a sword shall pierce your own soul too..." (Luke 2: 34-35) This probably gave Mary the clue that she wasn't going to have a normal life with her son. He wasn't going to grow up to be a carpenter like Joseph and get married and give her grandbabies. He will die to redeem mankind.

I don't want to focus on the tremendous responsibilty Mary must have felt at raising the Son of God. (Can you imagine losing the boy Jesus, the MESSIAH, for three days?!) I keep thinking about how she must have felt rasing Jesus knowing he wasn't going to be with her phsycially forever. How would it feel knowing that he was born to serves others... to save others? How did Mary feel whenever she saw her own toddler son fall and scrape his hands? Kissing them, not realizing that in about 30 years they will have huge nails driven through them and hung on a cross?

The Child Jesus and his Mother Mary from The Passion of the Christ

Yes, my relationship with Mary and her son is growing with the aid of my own relationship with my son. My pain will never be as much as Mary's. But because of the pains of motherhood I especially feel her loving embrace when I think about dropping off my Joe on his first day of kindergarten or thinking about his first broken heart. I feel her loving embrace when I change poopie diapers and cook chicken nuggets.

I truly feel her loving embrace through all the ups and downs of motherhood.

Mother Mary, draw me closer to you so I can be closer to your son. Help me to be the best mother I can be so I can raise my children to someday inherit the glorious crown of heaven.

Back from Minnesota

We're back from our Minnesota trip. Ryan's grandmother passed away on New Year's Day so we went up to the land of 10,000 lakes to say goodbye.

It was a good trip. The boys did very well! Joe had some meltdowns, but he's two years old. If he didn't have a meltdown I would think something was wrong with him.

I have a lot of things I want to blog about... family ties being one of them. However, this will be put on the back burner because I am sick. It takes A LOT for me to admit that I am sick. Let me tell you, driving through Iowa having to use the potty every 10 miles is NOT fun.

So I will share some of the few photos I snapped during our trip.

***Before I do that, I want to share some links. Jennifer Fulwiler, a brilliant blogger and role model of mine, was diagnosed with pulmonary embolisms. She is currently pregnant with her sixth child, a precious baby boy. She is in the clear for now, but still has many months of recovery and discomfort ahead of her. You can check out her blog here for updates and you can go to the Moxie Wife if you would like to give a monetary gift to Jen's family to help out during this challenging time.***

Hopefully I feel better soon. Moms should be completely immune from this crap... Now, without further ado...

The first thing Joe did when we got to the hotel. Reminds me of something...

Sheldon Cooper!

Daddy teaches him how to jump on a bed!

Sam watches from the sidelines...

Hanging out at the wake

Before the funeral

Someone loves his Daddy!