Samuel Bryan Has Arrived!!!

Please note - some pictures are out of order!! I've had a tough time keeping up. If you scroll down there are pictures of Sam/September after some pictures from July....

It's been quite some time since we updated our blog site. The past three months have been filled with the preparation and arrival of Samuel. We had a nice trip to Denver in July to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa Leslie's 65th Wedding Anniversary. It was fun to reconnect with family and share time together. Zach especially liked the plane trip as he's into anything mechanical these days. We also had a nice trip to the cabin in July with JJ and my parents. Zach loved his time in the water at the cabin and also at various watering holes here in the Twin Cities. We were "stuck" here in Minneapolis all of August and early September - but had a great time doing simple things around town.

I went into labor with Sam an hour after his due date! (1 AM on Friday the 9th) The contractions were 5 minutes apart by 3 AM and quite bearable. Dan laughed as I did the laundry and dishes before we left. It was quite a different experience our first time around! By 6 AM things weren't progressing so they broke my water by 7 and Sam made his grand entrance at 10:42 AM. He was delivered by Dr. Kilburg and weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and measured 21 inches. I couldn't believe how easy the L & D was this time compared to last!

Our time in the hospital was nice with visits from family and friends. It was wonderful to see Zach burst into the room with my Mom and Jennifer. He was so excited to meet his brother that he held his hand for 5 minutes and even said "God bless you" to the baby! He continues to hug and kiss Sam and looks for him every morning when we wake up. If Sam cries Zach hollers "BABY CRYING MOM/DAD - GO GET IT" - or "HOLD IT" - he has even started to say "GIVE IT MILK". Before Sam's umbilical cord fell off he would say "ICKY - THROW GARBAGE"! He does have moments of jealousy – in those moments he declares - "MOVE IT"! It will be quite interesting to watch their relationship grow and blossom.

Sam has proved to be a mellow character so far - But as seasoned parents - ha-ha - we realize that that can change quickly! We feel so blessed to have these precious boys.