Sam I Am, One Year

One Year.

One year ago your Daddy and I checked into the hospital and awaited your arrival. I'd done this before, but this time, waiting for you, I was much more emotional. I was too excited to sleep, too attuned to your heartbeat, too worried that something would go wrong. I was a jumble of emotions and I didn't feel like I was doing things right. I couldn't rest as I wondered if you'd be a daughter or a son (as I suspected) and I savored every last movement of what was likely my last pregnancy.

When you decided to come, you were ready and I had to hold you back until the doctor arrived. That wait was hard, but once we started the process, what I remember most was how peaceful it was. It was just Daddy, me, my doctor and a nurse in a dim room. There was a serenity and intimacy to it, so much so that I nodded off between a couple pushes. Maybe that's where your sweet, calm demeanor comes from. Or maybe you get that from your Daddy -- his patience, his focus, his easy-going nature.

After someone told me you had dark hair, I was anxious to see you. They brought a mirror and I was awed and utterly moved by the sight of your entrance into this world. It is my favorite memory of the day and one that I will never forget.

I worried when you were born that I couldn't love you as much as I loved your brother, but I was naive and unaware that your brother had already expanded our hearts for parenthood and carved a snug spot for you in there as well. And when you were sick in the hospital, that overwhelming love and fear for harm that we'd learn to live with (without acknowledging) leapt to the forefront and you became our everything. Sweet Sam.

You were a big ball of squishy newborn, so content, so cuddly, with dark hair and big eyes. Over the weeks and months that followed you unfolded, stretched out, grew longer, sat up, but still remained so content, so cuddly. You crawl (sometimes backwards), you walk, you reach up for us. You find your favorite balls and push them down the giraffe slide or toss them through the baby gates for us to fetch over and over again. You have a staccato laugh and when you grin your whole face lights up and your gray eyes twinkle. On the occasion when you fuss you sing a high pitched little whine (and it's usually accompanied by the "milk" sign). I have to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider just to keep you still long enough to change your diaper, and you look at me with fascination and calmness. You have the most easy-going personality, and with your brother's energy and activity, we greatly appreciate this, knowing full well in a year or two you'll be running along right beside him.

I cannot even tell you how giddy I am over you! While I'm a little nostalgic for your tiny infancy, I am more overwhelmed by your happy personality. Each day we learn more about the little traits that make you unique, and I love love love watching you grow and learn and discover them yourself. The more you grow the more interactive you are with us and your brother. You adore him and you love to chase him and laugh at him and get into whatever he is playing with. I pray that you grow to be best friends.

Our Sweet Sam, our pumpkin pie, our sunshine. You have changed our lives forever, and we can't possibly remember our family without you. Thank you for the year of joy and happiness and absolute delight. I pray that you always know how loved and adored you are, that near or far, we always hold your heart in ours. We imagine the man you will become and the impact you'll have in this world and know God has huge plans for you.
We are outrageously blessed.


Happy First Birthday, Sweet Sam.

Old News, but... Sam's Walking!

Good grief, I am behind. I have much to catch you up on, but a life has been wonderfully busy preparing for visitors, celebrations and holidays.

Updates will (hopefully) come very soon, but in the meantime I need to share Sam's talent: walking! He started walking before his brother did, taking his first unassisted steps right around 10 1/2 months.

He started out holding on to objects, and then skirted furniture to get where he wanted to go. He became quite fast at it, too.

I love watching him navigate around objects and still keep his balance.

 Once he started going farther on his own his stance required holding his elbows up near his ears for optimal balance, and in the weeks that have followed his arms have lowered (more to a T-Rex position) and he's only gotten faster.

When he falls down he crawls to the nearest sturdy object and pulls himself back up on his feet, but he is finally starting to figure out how to stand up on his own in place.

Sometimes he crawls over and pulls himself up on our legs, and just when we think he wants to be picked up, he's toddling off on his own.

We love our little walker!

Pop-Pop Meets Sam

It's always a special time when our Pop-Pop comes to visit. We love this guy!

And it was Pop-Pop's turn to finally meet Samuel, his sixth great-grandchild!

Four generations. What a legacy!

We love you, Pop-Pop!

Happy Halloween! (2013)

Can you guess what Adam wanted to be for Halloween this year? I mean, this is really a stretch for him... any thoughts?

Fireman, of course! He's just a teensy bit predictable.

He was a fireman last year.

He had a fireman themed party for his second birthday.

He loves firetrucks and we have to check whether the bay doors are open or closed every time we pass the fire station.

He received a fireman raincoat for Christmas last year, and combined with fireman galoshes and his fire hat, it's not that unusual for him to come downstairs all dressed up.

It's a natural fit. Though, a couple of weeks before Halloween I asked him again what he wanted to be, and he said "Super Why!" Uhhh, huh? I don't know that he's ever seen an episode of Super Why (I haven't!), plus I would have to start from scratch on a costume. Fortunately, he forgot all about it by the time Halloween rolled around.

As for Sam, I figured we'd just dig up the Spiderman costume from Adam's infancy and reuse that, until Michael had a better idea. I ordered a $15 teddy bear costume, picked up a brown shirt at the Army surplus store for $1, and after a half hour of crafting, we created an ...

Ewok! (Character from the Return of the Jedi, for those of you who are from the new Star Wars movies generation.)

Isn't he adorable? And amazingly he wore the costume all evening without trying to yank off the hood.

Did you have severe weather in your area on Halloween? While several towns around us postponed Halloween to Friday night, ours still went on. For the first hour, we just had a little drizzle (perfect for those fireman boots!) and we were able to take Adam trick-or-treating.

PS. Adam is the world's slowest trick-or-treater. I really should savor this time. It won't be long before he's zipping from house to house on his own with his friends.

What I love about trick-or-treating is the neighborly feel and meeting new people on our block.

We took Adam to about a dozen houses and came inside when it got dark and the rain picked up. But, it wasn't like he was missing out on anything. The kid already had a stash of candy from his school Halloween party. Even Sam attended.

Oh, and since I had Adam's old Spiderman costume and Adam was given a batman costume for play, I just couldn't resist a pre-Halloween dress up.

Happy Halloween!

Go Cats!

I love college football! But.... my alma mater is a basketball school. This is awesome and exciting and worthy of gloating (ranked #1!)... during basketball season. Usually we have to suffer through football season first.

Meanwhile, my best friend is an Alabama fan. We've learned to live with this and love her anyway. She's not just a fan, she lives Bama football, often traveling out of state multiple times a season to see her Tide play. When the 2013 SEC football schedule was announced years ago with a AL vs UK game in Lexington, she started making plans to come up from Florida for the game.

I didn't care that we had no real chance of winning this game. I didn't care that our seats were in the AL section surrounded by students (ok, by the end I cared a little). I was just so excited to be back at Commonwealth Stadium on game day!

I knew the game would be a blowout, so I felt pressured to make the tailgate a fun time.

I haven't been to a game in probably 10 years (if not more!) and was giddy just being in the stadium.

And better yet to be there with some favorite people.

We won't talk about the final score (but, hey, it was 0-0 after the first quarter!), and honestly, months from now I won't even remember the score or the turnovers or anything else about our loss.

But I'll remember our weekend with Sarah and Mike.

Thanks so much for coming up! 

It's Really Hard to Get to the Finish Line

A few weeks ago we signed up for a small 5k in Georgetown, KY, and Michael thought this would the perfect day for Adam's first real race. He's been in races before before as a participant, like the Fastest Kid in Town Race, and he's ridden others in the jog stroller. But this -- We're not talking a 1-mi kids' run or a 1.5 mile family walk here. We're talking over three whole miles on small 3-year old legs. By himself, no help from us.

We checked him in and he was the youngest competitor by many years, and only one of two kids in his 10-and-Under age category.

I took Sam in the stroller and set off with my sister, with Michael and Adam in the rear. I passed them just past the first mile marker, and he was still hanging in there.

Once I finished (certainly not a PR for me), I met up with Angie and walked back to see how our little guy was managing.

He and Michael had about a mile to go, and he had done it all on his own. He had done so well, and twice along the way told Michael, "It's really hard to get to the finish line."

As soon as he saw me and the stroller he wanted to ride or be carried, so Angie took Sam and I walked the last leg with them. We didn't pick him up. We didn't carry him. Every step he took on his own.

As we approached the last turn toward the finish line I wondered how he'd do if we asked him to run it in. I feared he'd be too tired, too whiney to run, or worse, start running only to trip and fall and cry and have to be carried across (because we've been there before on another kid race).

And then the time came, and he took off! 

Many of the other participants were still waiting around for the awards and cheered him as he finished. He was clearly so proud of his accomplishment. I heard one spectator say, "That's really far for a little guy!"

And, to make his endeavor even more special, he finished in second place in his division! He medaled!

And so did Aunt Angie!

And so did Daddy!

Three out of 4 isn't bad, right?!

Summer in the Cincy

Michael is really good about looking up local events and getting us out of the house for mini family outings. We've been known to pack up the car, load the kids, start driving and then look at each other and ask, Where are we going? We really enjoy checking off landmarks and events that this great city has to offer, like past visits to Findlay Market and Carew Tower, our annual Reds games and recent visit to the Basilica. As we are in the midst of a beautiful Fall here, I thought I'd look back at a few other summer events we shared Downtown this year.

Park along the Ohio Riverfront. Adam had to do the entire maze. 

Activities at movie in the park.

Burlington Flea Market

Special trip downtown to buy an official Cincinnati Reds ball cap.

It was a great summer, and although it all didn't happen in Cincinnati, it's still fun to remember the highlights...

It's easy to say goodbye to summer when Autumn is so gorgeous. Nothing beats Ohio in September/October (except maybe January in Florida)!