Sam's Hospital Pictures

At our hospital, they changed the way they do the hospital pictures. Instead of the classic "baby mug shot" picture, they had a photographer that would do a little photo session in your hospital room if you wanted. She got some really cute pictures of Sam.

Welcome, Baby Sam!

Samuel Paul made his arrival on Sunday, May 23 at 3:23 pm. He was 20 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces. He is such a cutie, and it has been so fun to finally meet the little person we have  been anticipating these past 8.5 months. 

My water broke around 8:30 am as we were getting ready for church, so we called Mike's parents and they came to stay with the girls while Mike and I went to the hospital. When I walked in to Labor and Delivery, they said "Uh oh, we have a towel!" since I had a big bath towel between my legs. They admitted me to a room, and monitored me for a while. I was only have irregular contractions that weren't very strong, so Mike and I walked the halls for a few hours trying to see if we could get them to pick up. By around 1:45 they hadn't picked up, and I hadn't made any progress, so they started me on a low dose of pitocin. 

After that, things definitely picked up and went pretty quickly. Little Sam was born at 3:23. Paul and Marolynn, my parents and the girls came to visit us once we were settled on the recovery floor. Nora was very excited about the baby, and wanted to hold him, and sang him a song, and asked all kinds of questions. She brought her little baby doll, which she said was named baby Grandpop. Evie came in, and got right up on my bed and helped herself to my dinner tray, which had just been brought in. She wasn't very interested in the baby, but did go take a look at him. Hehe. 

Sam is a very sweet little guy, and we are so excited to have him here! 

One last belly shot in the hospital

Brand new baby Sam!

Evie checking out my dinner

Kate took some really wonderful pictures when she visited at the hospital:

Our newest family picture!

Kate has some more of her pictures at her blog: http://katejohns.blogspot.com/2010/05/welcome-baby-sam.html

Getting Warmer

Although the spring weather is still pretty moody, we have been grateful for more warm days! It is getting harder to take the kids places, so it is nice for them to spend some time in the backyard. Mike sanded and painted the whole deck. It was a big project, but it looks great!

They love their sandbox. We are still working on the concept of keeping the sand (or at least most of it) in the box, but they have a lot of fun in here.

We got a little picnic table for the deck so that the kids can eat outside. My sister, Karin, told me that one of her favorite tips for keeping the house cleaner is to have the kids eat outside as much as possible, so we are going to give that a try.  They also use it for doing little crafts.

We have just a little over two weeks until my due date. I am definitely getting that "ready to be done" feeling! At my last OB appointment, the little babe had his hand on top of his head. Hopefully he moves that! Nora asks me every day if the baby has been born yet (ummm, no), and whenever we drive past the hospital (which is just down the street) she asks if it is time for me to go there and have the baby. I guess I'm not the only one getting impatient. Hehe.