My Little Men

Video of the boys

This is a video we made for Peter's sister, Laura.  She's in Africa for awhile serving with some missionaries there.  Sammy has a new communication skill; when we don't understand something he's saying and he knows it, he'll stop us, and say, "I sayin'".  I was pretty happy to catch that here.  The whole times he's trying to tell me "baby smile" and I don't get it until the end.

Enjoy!

My boys-compare and contrast

Fun facts about my kiddos.

Sam: 7lb, 14oz at birth.  8 hour labor, born at 4am on his due date.

Marcus: 6lb, 13 oz at birth.  2 to 3 hour labor, born at 3pm 2.5 weeks early.

Both 19 inches long I believe.

Sam: quiet and calm right after he was born.

Marcus: Screamed as soon as he came out.

Both gained nearly 5 lbs by their 6 week check up.

Sam 12 lbs ?oz

Marcus 11 lb, 6 oz.

Sam slept the first day he was born almost all day.  After that I was lucky to get more than 1.5 hrs of nap out of him during the day.

Marcus still sleeps at least half of the day away.

Both prefer daddy to calm away their nighttime grumps.

Sam was born with dark, almost black hair.

Marcus was born with sandy, red hair.

Both had no trouble with chub.

Chublicious Marcus at 7 weeks

                                      Sam took awhile to smile (he was too busy studying things)
                                                               Marcus smiled pretty early.

Looks like roles are reversed here!

I'm realizing that if I don't write these fun little things down, I will forget for sure:-)

best husband ever!

There once was a backyard in need of a fence.

My handsome husband decided to fix the afore mentioned need.

So, he hired an assistant and got to work!

They cheerfully worked all day, (well one of them did) in the nasty Memorial Day heat

and the fence took shape.

They used nails (pokies)

hammers and saws.

They were quite the team!

Looking good!

Pictures!

Beware the unexpected!

Baby Marcus is here!  This is where I'm going to record his crazy, unexpected birth story.  I won't be too graphic, don't worry, but if you're not really into "birth stories" you may want to stop reading:-)

Mother's Day this year we decided to take it easy.  We'd celebrated Dave's wedding, (Peter's brother) on Saturday, and by Sunday I was exhausted.  In retrospect I'm glad we took it easy.

Monday morning around 6am I headed to the bathroom yet again.  This time though I thought I'd wet myself; awkward!  In actuality, my water had broken.  I went back to bed, and put it out of my mind.  When I got up a bit later, there was more "water".  I decided that I must have a slow leak, and decided to call my midwives to get their take.  I wasn't having any contractions which worried me a little.  I let Pete know what was up, and we decided to have him go to work.  It seemed that this might be a slow moving labor, ha!  He headed in, and I took the advice of my midwives; do your normal thing.  They said that if I hadn't gone into labor by dinner, they may want to get things going, but that if I had a slow leak it may stop and labor could be days later.  So, I figured I had a long time to wait for this baby.  Boy was I wrong.  I started going about my day.  My sister Joanna was here, because she'd photographed the wedding-this turned out to be a God thing.  We puttered around with Sammy, did chores and such.  Around 9am, I started having some light contractions.  They were very manageable and so I didn't pay them much mind.  I let my midwives know, and they said that today could be the day.  I still wasn't convinced.  I started timing them and let Pete know.  They were around 15 to 20 minutes apart and not very painful.  By 11am, they were getting more intense and closer together, but still manageable.  I let Peter know, and he planned to come home after wrapping up a few projects.  By the time he got home around 12:15 things were feeling like labor.  I was on all fours, draped over the birthing ball, thinking, "this isn't for real, I'm not having a baby today, he's not due until the 26th, but these contractions HURT!"  I had let the midwives know how things were going, and they headed out around 1:30pm.  They were about an hour away.  The next bit is a blur.  The contractions were coming one after another, and they were intense.  Peter kept talking to me and encouraging me.  I remember hearing the LaRocks come and get Sammy probably around 2pm.  Elizabeth, Peter's sister arrived around 2:15 I think.  When the midwives arrived, around 2:30pm they checked my status right away.  I heard them say that they could tell that things were moving fast. Peggy let me know that I was around a 6/7 centimeters and completely effaced; crazy!  She said to go ahead a get in the pool.  Funny, as I stepped in Peter and Joanna put the last pot of hot water in.  I had maybe 4 to 6 contractions in the pool, then, all of the sudden my body started pushing.  One of the midwives came in and said something to Pete, and asked him if I had pushed.  "Yep, I think she did!"  On the next contraction my body pushed in earnest and I felt the head!  I was shocked.  I wanted to tell them, but the next huge contraction came, and no words came out, just a wild yelp/growl/scream sound.:-)  One midwife, reached down, and there was the head.  One push later Marcus was here.  He arrived at 3pm.

Because of the speed of things, I didn't get any pictures of Marcus right after the birth, but he's sure pretty.  Things about him remind me of Sam, and yet he's his own little person.  His hair is lighter-kind of blond/brown with a bit of red.  He's so tiny!  He was 6lb 13oz at birth, and was 19 inches long.  Here are a few pictures of him.  We'll get more up soon!  Everyone is doing well.  God is good, and I am very blessed!

Almost there!

Today marks the end of month 8 for this pregnancy!  I have to admit that I am counting down the days a bit more with this one than I did with Sam which probably isn't good because who knows when he'll decide to show up.  Ah well!  I've been in a lot more pain with this one then I was with Sammy, and I'm very ready to get him out:-)  My hips and back are better, but I still find it hard to walk much at all.  I'm getting around the house fine, but not getting out for walks in this amazing weather is killing me; well not really--being a drama queen here!  I really shouldn't complain.  This pregnancy has gone well, and my little one is growing and he's quite a little kicker.  He's nearly full term now.  Here are a couple of pictures of the tummy.  It's pretty big, I agree.  I'm carrying much like I did with Sammy, which was big, but, I'm measuring normally, and everything seems to be as it should size wise.

It's been a beautiful week so far, and Sam and I have enjoyed playing outside.  He would live out there if I let him.  I suggested a tent today, but he didn't seem very sure about that. :-)

The pictures below are from a little b-day party we had for Sammy on Sunday.  Enjoy!

mmmmm!

Pretty Aunt, and pretty cake!  Thanks, Abby for the cake!

Candles!

Blowin' them.