Long overdue update...

I have so many things to post to this blog to catch you all up on everything we've been up to this summer. We've been so busy! Just wanted to start by putting up these last few "month birthday" photos of Sam who is growing like crazy and is just a bundle of fun. Here he is at four months:

Starting to roll over...

With big sister Madeline...

And his new favorite thing, standing up...



Here are some pictures at five months...

Mr. Smiley...



And with big sister Ellie, who, as you can see, is missing a few teeth ;)



And at six months...



And up on hands and knees and rocking back and forth... watch out world, here he comes!

So that is Sam for now, although his seven month birthday is fast approaching so I'll need to be on my toes to update again! Hope to have some more photos of other family activities between now and then! Come back and visit again soon!

Happy Birthdays!

Today is the Fourth of July - the birthday of our country... Happy Independence Day! It's also Sam's 3 month "birthday" and we've taken the customary "month birthday" pictures as well as some patriotic ones of the kids in their "4th" T-shirts and hats (we made these couple of years ago, and they love to sport them during the summer and especially on the 4th of July).







(And just because it's cute...)
Hey, can't a kid get a little privacy around here? Whatcha lookin' at anyway?


Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Exciting accomplishments!

All three kids finished activities this week of which they were very proud. Madeline has been taking ballet all year and had her performance, The Jewel Heart, last weekend. She and her classmates played the Rose Fairies who brought clown Gemino back to life after he was lost in the forest and taken by the Creatures. They danced around the stage as they sewed him back together. Here are some pictures...

On stage for the finale/curtain call. Madeline is at the far left side of the picture.

This is her second year taking ballet, and while she enjoys it, she thinks she might want to take a break and take a karate/gymnastics class next Fall.

Ben has been taking that karate/gymnastics class this spring and had his last class this week. At the last class the kids were able to show their parents all that they had learned. They showed us blocks, stances, kicks, gymnastics, and more. Here are some photos from that last class...

Ben with one of his good buddies, Charlie, who was also in the class.

He really loves karate and is going to take more lessons in the fall.

Ellie has been taking gymnastics this spring and also had her last class this week. They had a beach theme during that week and all the kids were encouraged to wear their swimming suits to class. They showed us all of the skills they'd been working on throughout the session and had a great time. Here are pics of Ellie doing her thing...

Ellie had an awesome time with gymnastics this spring, but wants to take ballet in the fall.

We're really proud of all of their hard work in these activities, and they had such a great time!

One month, two month, old pics, new pics

It has been quite awhile since I last posted pictures and updates about Samuel. Since I last posted he has had both his one month and two month "birthdays". When Ben was a baby we started a tradition of taking a photo of baby on each month birthday for the first year in the same spot and with a special stuffed animal. At the end of the first year, we had a wonderful look at how baby has changed and grown. We plan to continue this with Samuel and have started with his first and second months. Below are pictures of Sam at one month...








and at two months.







He is growing and changing almost daily. I never grow tired of seeing how much babies change and learn during this first year. Sam is a fairly content baby, still sleeping quite a lot (most days)and even sleeping fairly well at night (usually!). However, he does NOT like riding in the car and if he doesn't fall asleep, he invariably screams for the entire car ride. It is really sad to hear him and nothing works to calm him except getting where we're going, taking him out of the carseat, and holding him. Sam has started to smile and "talk" quite a lot in the last couple of weeks. He has a really sweet smile and especially lights up for Madeline. He also has found his hands in the past week and now chews and sucks on them often. We went in for his two month check-up this past Wednesday (the 6th) and found that he is now 13 pounds, 10 ounces and is 23 3/4 inches long - a big boy!

Happy two month birthday Sam!

Gratuitous cute baby pics

I don't have many new pictures to post here yet because Sam just isn't doing much that's interesting to take pictures of yet. I mean, really, how many pictures of a baby sleeping do you want to see? Well, I'm biased, of course, and think that every time he's sleeping it makes for a great photo op. But, I tried (for your sakes) to get a couple pictures of him awake too. Just waiting for those first smiles to really have something new to post for you! Madeline helped with these pictures - thought I should give credit where credit is due.


"Boy, is this Dad guy comfortable!"

Just relaxing on Mom...

The pensive look...

"Check out my double chin!"

Comments please?

Could those of you who are reading my blog pretty please attempt to leave a comment on this post (or any other)? I've only had a couple of people leave a comment, and I've had one person say that they've tried to leave comments but it isn't working for them. So I wondered if this was a wide-spread problem or if it's just that one person's computer or something. I seem to have everything set correctly for anyone to be able to comment and for the comments not to have to be moderated. I could be wrong... So let me hear from you!

Two weeks old...

Sam is two weeks old now, as of yesterday morning. He had his two-week check-up with the pediatrician yesterday and he now weighs 9 pounds and 11 ounces!! He was 9 at birth and had gone down to 8 lbs 5 oz when he left the hospital (normal weight loss during the first couple of days), but he certainly hasn't had trouble putting the weight back on! He's a healthy little guy and continues to grow and change. He's starting to be more awake and alert now and can hold his head up really well when being held up on a shoulder. Here are a few more recent pics - some of them even with his eyes open!

With Grammie and Poppy Heimburg...

With Grandma and Pop-pop Hain...

With big sister Ellie...


What a big, big world...

One week old!

It's amazing to think that our little guy is already a week old (as of yesterday)! Here are a couple more pictures of him (because I can't seem to take enough of them this time - digital cameras are so wonderful!).

Another sleeping baby picture... I just can't help myself...

What more could this little guy need? One sister to cuddle him and one to read him a story...

Can't see the baby in this one, but I had to show off the beautiful Mei Tai (baby carrier) that my friend Amy in Maine made for me. I love it already and so does Samuel - fell asleep in it each time I've worn it... Thanks again, Amy!

The guys

Here are a couple of pictures of the guys in the family since they weren't included in the last bunch of pictures. Ben finally let me take his picture with Samuel, and I caught an adorable one of Charles and the baby hanging out together too.

Ultimate relaxation...

New arrival!!

We are so excited to announce the birth of our baby, Samuel Henry! He was born last Wednesday morning at 2:06 AM, just a couple of hours past his "due date". He weighed 9 pounds at birth and measured 21 inches. He is doing really well and already growing fast. His brother and sisters are very interested in him, particularly Madeline who loves to hold him, awake or asleep, and who is very intrigued by all things baby-related. Ellie is glad to be a big sister (finally!), and Ben has nicknamed Samuel "Little Dude" for now.

Here are some pictures of Samuel, beginning with one taken just a week or so before he was born (yes, I was quite huge!).

Christine at about 39 weeks...

Just after birth...

The proud big sisters...


At the hospital...



Sleeping Sam...



Sam comes home...

Awake Sam...
After a night of many awakenings, feedings, and diaper changes last night, we are quickly remembering what having a newborn is like ... but we wouldn't trade it for anything! We're loving getting to know this new little person in our corner of the world!