Love - Today and Every Day

"Indeed, one of the greatest things a father can do for his children is to love their mother."

President Howard W Hunter, October 1994

About a week ago I was listening to the radio and the radio announcer stated that if you went to a flower website and entered his name then you would get a special deal on valentine flowers.  So, I let David know about that in case there was any reason he may need to order flowers.  I did remind him however that my work schedule did have me out of the office on Tuesday, February 14th, so if he was going to order flowers he may need to keep that in mind.  David is not a fan of Valentine's Day and we had agreed several years ago that we could either be all romantic that one day or we could choose to express our love for one another every day.  So really, valentines is usually just another day to us.  But, I truly did want flowers, and I have found that rather than just hoping that David magically figure out that I want something, it is best to just give him some really big hints :) And, do you know, my hint was perfect.  Yesterday morning as I was sitting in my office, I received a beautiful delivery of flowers, chocolate, and a little bear....it was wonderful.  But the most meaningful thing of all was the card and message that came with the delivery.  David is so thoughtful and his words touched me.  I am so thankful to be married to such a wonderful man!

I brought the flowers and card home with me and Samuel was curious about why I had flowers.  I told him that Daddy sent them to me because he loves me and I read the card to him.  Samuel giggled as I read the message from David and Samuel confirmed that Daddy really does love me and he followed that up by telling me that he loves me too.  Such a good little boy and he has a great great example of how to be a good man in his dad.



The Diamonds and the Glen Miller Orchestra

While at Busch Gardens yesterday we got to see the concert of the Glen Miller Orchestra.  It was a fun show.  Reminded me of a show that my parents would have enjoyed too!  I told Samuel that Grandpa would have liked to see it and Samuel said, "Maybe he should come and visit us."  :)

People Mover

Last weekend we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go to Magic Kingdom.  We typically don't ride to many rides, but Samuel is getting bigger and more interested in rides.  We went on the People Mover and as you can probably tell from the picture, Samuel LOVED it!

First Roller Coaster

Yesterday (1/28/2012) Samuel went on his first ever roller coaster ride!  Here are a couple short videos of him on the coaster (He is sitting by David who is wearing a bright orange shirt), and the third video is a brief interview of Samuel's thoughts on his first roller coaster experience!



And here are some still photos

Waiting in the line for the roller coaster

Getting in - very excited and a little nervous!

Happy and Sad Faces

The urologist had a chalkboard in his room for Samuel to use while we waited.  Samuel drew a happy face.

And then a sad face!

Child Life part II

The Cincinnati Children's Hospital really does have an awesome child life department.  I cannot say this often enough.  We went through a similar test today that we had to do in Orlando.  It is a very uncomfortable test and when it was done in Orlando Samuel and I both cried.  I had to restrain him and try to get him to calm down while the nurses and radiologists did their jobs. 
Today I did have to restrain Samuel a little bit, but not for the the entire test.  The child life specialist had age appropriate toys to distract Samuel and after a few minutes he was talking, playing, and laughing all while the test was being done. 
I spoke with the child life specialist about the program.  This hospital does have a huge child life department.  Most hospitals don't have nearly the program that they have, and I am sure that most of it comes down to funding.  Even with the large department at this hospital, a specialist cannot see every child that could benefit so they have to prioritize.  The goal is to make the experience positive so that in the future the child will not be afraid.  It is such a great program in goal and in practice!

Waiting Rooms

This week has been full of appointments and with every appointment, a waiting room!  Samuel is usually pretty well behaved in waiting rooms, and Grandma has been a huge help in entertaining Samuel while waiting.  Today while waiting they colored pictures!