A Full Weekend!

Sam right after a bath. He is liking bath time more and more these days.

Sam had a very full weekend. We traveled to Paducah, KY for a family reunion/baby shower. It was so nice to see family members we haven't seen in a while. Aunt Bobbie opened her pool up and the kids had a blast. Sam received some great gifts....lots of clothes....exactly what he needs right now. Sam slept pretty much the whole time. Little Ava Jane took a dip in the pool for the first time. So cute! After saying good-bye to everyone, we headed to Eagleville, TN for Blain's baptism. We had to pull over about 5 miles from Amber's house to feed and burp Sam. He was not enjoying his car seat at this point in the day. Poor little guy, he had been in it for a while. It was wonderful to finally meet Blain Thomas. Sam and Blain looked so cute together.....they both are spitting images of their daddy. Early Sunday morning, Sam gave Daddy his gift and cards. Then Amber made pancakes...yummy! It was a rush getting ready for church that morning. Both boys needed to eat and the parents weren't even ready. We pulled up to church right on time! The ceremony was beautiful. Little Blain filled his diaper twice during his baptism. So funny! When we finally made it home that evening, Sam got a bath and we relaxed the rest of the evening. Sam is a little over 14 pounds now! Growing steadily. We had him on his tummy last night practicing all his new skills. He is so close to sitting up. He can lift his head and with help from Mommy, he can hold his chest up. For most of the day, he sleeps. He has an extended amount of awake time early in the morning and later in the evening...so no one believes us when we say he can do anything but sleep. I promise guys...I have the proof on video. :) We finally solved Sam's fussy period at night. We have started giving him gripe water. He has not had a screaming night fit at all this week. Boy are we happy about that. Oh, and after trying lots of different formulas, we are on regular Similac now. Sam is really enjoying that and is tolerating it without much spit up at all. His personality is emerging more and more each day. We are about to graduate to size 2 diapers and he is already busting out of his 3 month old clothing. Sweet sweet Samuel!

Baptism Day for Blain....Sam's best friend. :)

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Sam riding a puppy dog in Blain's room.

Angie, Rachel, and Amber with their boys.....Jakeb(7), Zachary(5), Gavin(2), Sam(3.5months), and Blain(3months). Did we make handsome boys or what!

Best buddies!

Stopping to burp little man. He did so good on our road trip this past weekend.

Aunt Bobbie and Sam.....at the family reunion/baby shower at her house.

Grandmother and her siblings....Uncle Daniel, Aunt Bobbie, and Aunt Lanie.

Daddy and Sam

Ava Jane and Sam

Sweet baby cousins meeting for the 1st time.

15 Weeks Old Today

Sam in his bouncy chair this morning after eating his breakfast.

Sam weighs 13 1/2 pounds! I'm not sure his length...we'll have to get the tape measure out later today. A lot has happened since the last time I posted. We visited the NICU last Thursday. Ms. Karen and Ms. Rachel could not believe how big their little Sam had grown. They aren't used to holding such big babies in the NICU. :) Sam has been home for 2 months now. On Sunday, we went to church. On the way home from church, we had a "wildlife experience." We saw two baby raccoons and stopped to take their picture. As we pulled into our neighborhood, there was a turtle crossing the street...we got his pic too. And on our way to lunch, we saw a vulture type bird....scary looking. Grandpa Larry and Grandma Sue came down from Clarksville and took us to lunch. It was Sam's 2nd restaurant experience. We had a great visit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam has been on preemie formula and milk since we brought him home from the hospital. The preemie formula has high levels of lactose to support the growing needs of a premature baby. Well, Sam started rejecting the formula a couple of weeks ago....lots of spit up and stuff. We have been trying different formulas recently.....lactose free, soy, and partially digested protein. Keep us in your prayers. Seeing our little guy spit up and go through gassy episodes is almost unbearable. Hopefully what we have him on now will work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have a big weekend planned. Tomorrow we are traveling to Paducah, KY for a family reunion/baby shower. My mom's side of the family wants to shower our Sam with gifts. It will be nice to see everyone. Sam will get to meet his little cousin, Ava Jane for the fist time. She is a month older than him. It will be interesting to compare them in size. Later Saturday

afternoon, we are traveling to Eagleville, TN to meet Sam's best friend, Blain. Blain is my friend Amber's baby. We were pregnant together. Blain was suppose to arrive 8 weeks before Sam, but Sam is actually 2 1/2 weeks older than Blain. I'll try to get pictures of the weekend up asap.

What a sweet little boy!

Daddy says my hat looks silly....what do you think? :)

Look at this scary bird!

Grandpa Larry and Grandma Sue.

On our way to church. Sam is so well behaved in church. He loves the music. :)

A turtle crossing the street in our neighborhood.

Two baby raccoons playing near our church.

Sam and Ms. Rachel in the NICU.

Sam and Ms. Karen...visiting the NICU.

Whoops, Mommy woke Sam up after snapping a picture of him.

Snoozing the afternoon away.

Sam waiting for Mommy to get his bottle ready. Feed me Daddy!

Flowers from Uncle Austin and Aunt Bethany.

Caught Up

According to Sam's doctor, he is now caught up! I took him to the pediatrician yesterday for a check-up. He is fine. The doctor was shocked that Sam was a preemie. I assured him that he was indeed only 3 1/2 pounds and 16 inches at birth. Sam is now 12 pounds and 6 ounces and 23 inches long! He eats about 5 ounces of milk every 3-4 hours. I have been looking back on pictures of him and can hardly believe how much he has changed in such a short time. Nick and I love him so much. This is old news, but Sam has been sleeping through the night for almost a month now! He was getting close at around 9 weeks old and then did it for the 1st time at 10 weeks old. He is doing it most every night now. Every once in a while I have to go change his position in the middle of the night and then he's fine. We are so blessed! Here are some pictures of Sam's room. I don't think I have posted any recently.

The changing table...where dirty dirty business goes down. :)

Do you like the stereo system Daddy installed for Sam! :)

A lot of sleeping goes on in here.

Sam's favorite new toy...his floor gym.

Our little wall of faith....all the special crosses people have given Sam.

3 months Old

Samuel is 3 months old! He weighs 12 pounds and is 23 inches long! He definitely doesn't look like a preemie anymore. Sam had a very big weekend. On Friday, he met his Godparents, Carol and Lenny who flew in from Georgia for the baptism. We took Sam out to a restaurant for the first time on Friday too. I didn't have my camera though. I will tell you that he looked mighty cute sitting up in his carrier at the table. On Saturday morning, Samuel was baptized. It was a beautiful ceremony. He didn't cry when the cold water hit his head, but he did startle a bit. After the baptism, we had everyone back to the house to celebrate. Nick prepared a delicious lunch for everyone. After everyone left, all 5 of us crashed....Daddy, Mommy, Sam, Georgia, and Yankee. :)

Watching the game with Daddy.

Getting cleaned up.

Bath time is so much fun!

Sam and Aunt Laura

Sam and Uncle Stephen

Sam and Uncle David

Sam and his Godmother Carol

Sam and his Godfather Lenny

At the church for Sam's baptism

Just after being sprinkled with water....what a good boy!

Sam's Godparents lighting his baptismal candle.

The priest asked us to touch Sam's hand to the candle. Can you tell how nervous I am?

All 16 of my parent's grandchildren.

My parent's oldest and youngest grandchild. Jeremy was the 1st boy to wear this white outfit. All of my nephews, except 2, have wore this for their baptism.

The 3 Levin grandchildren.

Mommy, Daddy, and Sam :)

Sam with Uncle Mark and Aunt Whitney