I have BOYS!

I haven't really been doing anything this week, except having my nips sucked into oblivion. They're healing now, and I'm doing pretty good. I did however cut Zeke's hair for the first time. I was scared to cut his curls off, but he walked out in his jammies the other day, and he totally looked like a girl.


He's clearly making a face, but you can see his sweet haircut from here. He's a big boy now.


A REALLY big boy. What a difference 17 months makes!


And just some gratuitous shots of my handsome.



And my other handsome. Sideways. I don't know how to rotate it, and I'm too lazy to figure it out right now. Notice the Oregon Duck's shirt. It's pretty standard uniform this time of year.

He's HERE!!!

So our boy is here. He couldn't have come at a better time. Samson Manrique Sanders was born at 8:10pm on Tuesday, November 24th. He was 7lbs, 3 0z., and 20.5 inches long. Same length as his big brother, but over a pound lighter.

We were hoping he would come this week, because Josiah had taken the whole week off anyway for Thanksgiving. Monday night I was having some contractions, but that was totally normal for me. Pretty much every night I had contractions. However, when I woke up Tuesday morning having contractions, I thought something might be up. I timed them starting at 7am and they were about 8 minutes apart. They weren't too painful, but they continued until 10am when I decided to just take a shower, and get ready for whatever the day held. I was supposed to be at McDonald's for a playdate at 11:30, but when I got up and going, my contractions started getting more regular, and a big stronger. We decided to go to McDonald's and drop Zeke off with some friends, and then we would just go to the hospital. I felt really stupid, because my contractions weren't even bad, and they were still at least 5 minutes apart.

I was super nervous getting sent home from the hospital. It is such a pain, and I feel like I'm letting everyone down. We went to traige, and they hooked me up to a monitor. I was definitely having contractions, but they weren't too extreme. Finally the midwife came in and checked me, and I was at a 5!! I almost started crying. Well, there were definitely tears in my eyes. I was SO happy to know that I was staying. The baby was coming out today! We finally got admitted to our room around 3, and they hooked me up to monitors. By about 4 they let me get off the monitors and use the restroom. After I was standing behind a chair, and I started having a contraction. Before I knew it there was a puddle on the floor. I started cracking up. I felt so bad for the nurse that had to come and clean that up! For the next few hours, I just chilled in and out of bed having medium contractions every 5 minutes. In between the contractions I was making phone calls, and chatting with Josiah, and just resting. It didn't even feel like real labor. Then at 7 my midwife came in and checked me again. Now I was at a 7, but there was still a little bag of waters there, so she broke it. In the next hour, I started having real contractions. By 7:45ish, they started getting really hard, and I didn't know if I was going to be able to make it. I thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life by not getting drugs yet. I was always open to it, but I hadn't been in bad pain yet. I was still standing through my contractions, but the baby's heartbeat was dipping, so they made me lay down. I got in bed on my side, and the midwife came in to check me one last time. I told her that she would have to wait because I was going to have another bad contraction. She was coaching me through it, and Josiah was telling me how amazing I was doing. I was in some serious pain, and making some really nice noises, and then I was like, "I think it's coming out." and the midwife said, "I think you're right." Then things got intense, as she jumped off of my bed and scrambled to get ready. I just rolled to my back, and within 3 minutes, he was out. I don't even remember what was going on, just feeling his head come out, and then they said one more push for the shoulders. It was INSANE!!! I was cracking up and shaking and just a big old mess. I was so amazed that in 20 minutes I had gone from scared to death, to having a baby in my arms. For the next 20 minutes or so I just sat there shaking, maybe a little in shock, and then I calmed down enough to nurse him and hold him and love him. We're so glad he's here, and I am feeling AMAZING! I don't want to brag, but this was the best delivery EVER! I feel totally different than with Zeke. Not that I'm saying I want to do it again, but this worked this time.

So excited to be admitted!!

Did I seriously just have a baby!?? Pure adrenaline!

Our precious baby!

Just getting cleaned off.

Sleeping like a sweet boy.

This is a good picture of what he looks like awake. I took it with my phone so it's not super clear, but he has lots of dark hair, and he's just adorable. To us at least!

Oh, and here's one for Jacqui. He's extreme thumbsucking.

Halloween 2009!

So we started out our festivities by visiting the pumpkin patch. This one is about 2 miles from our house, so it's really convenient. Zeke LOVED being able to walk around all independent like!

He's wearing his oregon shirt because it was a game day.

Here Daddy is pushing him through the haybale maze. They were both having a pretty good time.

When he got out he had to try out every "car" they had there. Zeke REALLY liked this one, with the antennae and squeaky horn.

We tried pulling him in the wagon, but he insisted on pushing it. Such a big boy!

And here is our little ducky. This is at the trunk-or-treat on Friday. We all go to the church, open our trunks and let the kids walk around in the circle getting candy. VERY efficient! I was surprised at how long he kept his hood on. I made his costume and this white fur sheds SO BAD! My sewing room is a hazmat zone.

So, I woke up at 5am with Josiah on Friday, and all of the sudden, I had a cough. By that afternoon, I had a slight fever. But I was NOT missing the trunkortreat. Basically that was the whole reason for making Zeke's costume! So I got some cough drops, and made it there. By the time I got home, I had to run out of the car, into the house to throw up. I called Kaiser, and the nurse said I have enough swine flu symptoms that they wanted to put me on tamiflu, an antiviral. Since I'm pregnant, they want me to really watch it. So, now I feel a little like death, but Zekey got to parade around in his costume! The things we do for our kids!

Our little person.

Our little guy is just FULL of personality. I swear he's changed this week. He is no longer a baby. Well, he sort of is. But he's also this walking, talking, signing, screaming, opinionated, little person. He LOVES being in the kitchen with me.

The oven mitts go in the second drawer from the bottom, so it's right at his level. They're usually somewhere in the living room or play room. Or kitchen floor.

When Zeke was still in utero, Jacqui found this costume and gave it to us. He is NOT a fan. Plus it's a little small. It was just hilarious watching Reggie. Apparently he likes having another doggie around.

He did NOT like the hood, but it was the cutest part.

So today, I was letting Zeke feed himself. I wasn't supervising, because it takes FOREVER. He just coats the spoon, and licks like half of it off, and then 20 seconds later tries again. Well, I heard him start crying suddenly. Apparently yogurt in the eyes doesn't feel good.

Is it terrible that I was cracking up. There was a thin coating of yogurt on EVERY surface that he could reach. I'm not sure where this all went wrong. Last time I checked, he was doing ok.

WHAT??

Not sure if you can read this, (I took it with my cell) but I was behind this car the other day, and the License plate reads des "heart" joe.

How many des's out there can love a joe? In all fairness, we spell "joe" Jo, but it's basically the same thing! She must have great taste!

Just a couple of videos for Nana and Papa.

Here we had just bought him a new gun at Cabela's. It took him about 2 seconds to fall in love, and he still won't put it down.

It's still summer here!

Since it's still full on summer here, we decided to visit a splash park last week. I tried to take him a few months ago, but he was still crawling, and he ended up crawling the tops of his feet raw. It was sad. He LOVES the water though, and this was no exception!

Just soaking up some rays. The sprays turn on and off, and he would always get there right as they were turning off. He's a little too slow.

He also LOVES bigger kids, and loves following them around.

And sometimes he gets thirsty. He goes to the drain where it all puddles, and sucks it out. It's really gross and I yell at him, but he finds it irresistable. He also likes to drink pool water. He takes nose dives when we swim, but at least he's not afraid to put his face in the water.

Our friends the Turners have a kid chair, and Zeke LOVES it, so Josiah went to Ikea and bought him a nice little chair. Josiah wishes he had the adult version, but our house is too small. He took off with my silverware basket. He likes things with handles.

And sometimes you just gotta do some work on your truck, and you can't be bothered with clothes.

Pretty much every time we put Reggie outside, Zeke goes to the back door and torments him. The back door is behind our couch, so I'll be minding my own business, and he'll be at the back door giggling. It's really cute in real life.

I'm also a GENIUS babysitter. Since Easton loves movies, and Zekels loves his stroller, I gave them the best of both worlds. I set them up with some Scooby Doo and Goldfish crackers, and they were silent for 20 minutes. Well, Easton was good to go for the entire movie, but 20 minutes in Zeke time is like 2 hours in regular kid time!