A little bit of Richards life...

Sam gets a big boy bed! (aka a twin matress on the floor)

With Sam's second birthday on the horizon, we thought it might be time for a new bed. So we disassembled the crib Saturday morning then googled "how to transition your toddler to a bed." Apparently, 2 is still a little young. But we got him all excited about his big boy bed and amazingly, it worked. No tears, no escape attempts. Then around 11 we heard a "thud, thud" and found him like this: (Still sound asleep)

But he loves it, so we are thrilled!

Oh my goodness! The best burger meal ever. A friend told us about a place where the hamburgers start at $15 and they are worth so much more. So we scrounged up some pennies and shared a burger to end all burgers. He was so right!


A friend commented that half of our old Europe pictures were just of the food we ate. So here is a nod to the old days.

A visit from Grampa Joe and a trip to Ivars.

How cool is this kid?

Maybe my favorite picture ever taken.

This boy makes me giggle.

So does this boy:

Perfect timing to capture the bite

This one is for all the baby model scouts out there. But no, you can't have him.

We were so excited to take him out on a boat! He was less excited.

We did a little trip to Idaho where Jim's Aunt Barb and Uncle Larry treated us well, gave us boat rides (see above) and fed us home made moose smokies. Pretty yummy.

Summertime in Seattle

Daddy explains the wonder of the french fry.

It's the Richards family. Eating. What a surprise!

Sam turned this lunch bag into a hat. We didn't notice until someone on a neighboring towel called over to ask where he could get a hat like that.

Sam, can you smile for the picture?

He put this hat on and walked around the house saying, "Pretty."

And keeping with the theme of hats, my two favorite boys in hats.

Some recent videos

In the next video, try to focus on Sam and not his mama. (Although I think she's adorable!) This is the Sam dance, and his favorite electronica band.

We're blogging again!

Don't anybody get used to this type of regularity....no promises for the next six months. Here are a few of Sam lately.

Discovering the beach in San Diego

Meeting his new cousin Malia

Gotta fix this trike!

First time in a chair like a big boy

This is daddy's trick to get him to stick his face in the water to get clean

Sam's first and most common word is "Stella." This is Stella.

Reading with Grandma

Discovering sprinklers! In PJs!

Ammy Jane does the ammy dance.

Googly eyes for Aunt Jenney

Surprise visit from the cousins

A few months back we got a surprise visit from the Catheys (Amanda's sister's family). What a treat it was.

More recent photos

A little more advanced walking

These were taken a few weeks ago. The first is on a Washington Ferry on the way out to the Olympic Peninsula. Check out those sea legs!

Sam loves to help out around the house. Sweeping is his favorite task.

Sam's first(ish) steps

For Keren. :-)

Here are a few of the first videos we took of Sam walking. These were taken the first week of November.

Sam's first haircut!

Before: "derned Hippie!"

After: Clean cut boy.

November Sam

At the space needle with Aunt Jenney.

Sam loves the wind in his face!

The washing machine is better than any TV he could watch.

At dinner with Ammy Jane.

Sam's Fall spread

Sam's GQ shot.

That's actually just a backdrop at JCPenny's.

Nice product placement, Sam.

Sam's baby bird look.