Let's Play Ball!

We took Sam and Jude to their first baseball game last night. I guess it doesn't really count for Jude, for obvious reasons (he spent most of the game staring at my chest in the Baby Bjorn), but Sam really enjoyed it! We went to see Florence Freedom play; it was great because we were really close to the field and Sam could really see what was going on. He sat through the entire 9 innings, only taking a break to use the bathroom! Afterward, they had a great fireworks show that Sam loved. Jude the Dude did his thing - sleeping and looking around.

Jude - looking like a little set of arms and legs

That's one way to eat a hotdog

The mascots Sam refused to get in a picture with

Sam with a baseball from batting practice...he slept with it last night.

Worn out!

Welcome Baby Jude!

He's here! Jude arrived on Thursday, July 15 at 2:06 PM, after just 15 minutes of pushing! He was 7 pounds, 8 oz. and 21 inches long. Boy, was this birth light years away from Sam's (which I really didn't think was too bad until I had Jude)! Jude has been a delight since he made his appearance. So far, he's calm and laid-back, and I kind of keep waiting for the ball to drop and for him to just develop terrible colic or something. Then I tell myself to just enjoy him! Sam's been great for the most part, although I think some underlying feelings were revealed when we caught him spitting on Jude after dinner last night! Poor Jude just laid there sleeping, completely unaware that his big brother had just spit dinner all over his face. I'm sure it's not the last time. Here are just SOME of the pictures taken over the last few days. By the way - shout out to my Dad, who took some awesome pictures during the birth, and somehow managed to be incredibly discreet! Loved my birth team - Ben (wonderful as always), Mom, and Dad, as well as my nurse, Jen, and Dr. Coppage.

Meeting little brother for the first time. Love this sweet picture.

Ben gave me this arrangement in the hospital. The 2 blue carnations represent the 2 boys!

Taken right before we left the hospital

Baby Jude "gave" this present - a Spiderman helmet - to Sam

Getting in some floor time with Daddy

How I found him this morning in his bassinet. Jude's a sound sleeper.

During first hair washing at home after his sponge bath. He LOVED it - not one tear!

Aaaah - all clean and dry and just hanging out

Happy Birthday Neenee!

Last Thursday, we celebrated Ben's mother's 75th birthday! Ben's sister, Jane, came up with her family from Atlanta, and we all went out for a nice dinner and then back to her house for sparklers, cake, and ice cream. We had a great time and Sam loved hanging out with his cousins, who were wonderful with him. They played with a tee-ball and soccer set that Jane got for him, and then showed him how to throw pop-its and play with sparklers.

Probably the last belly picture (in that dress I've worn a million times I think). 37 weeks.

Jane, Joey, and Johnny before leaving for dinner

Neenee with some of her handsome grandsons!

Sue with her sons - Brett, Paul, and Ben

Sam entertaining Sue..he kept telling her "you're seventy and five!" He was the life of the party....

Loves his Uncle Paul

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Sue

Trying out his first sparkler

Jacob showing Sam the fine art of throwing poppers

Sam has his technique down

Summertime

One of the perks of our jobs is that we get summers off. I think Sam's enjoying it - we've been doing lots of fun stuff, but also taking some time to just be lazy and relax before Jude arrives. What's helped us be lazy and relax? Sam's new stoplight clock! LOVE this thing. We set the time that we want Sam to be able to get out of bed and the light turns green at that time. Took some teaching and practice, but Sam has really gotten the hang of it and it lets us sleep until we want him to get up. It's gotten so that when we're driving and see stoplights, Sam makes comments like "time to go to sleep!" when it's red and "time to wake up!" when it's green. This thing has been a lifesaver.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

So, we have this little morning ritual this summer where Sam comes in and wakes us up around 8 or 8:30 and then we watch his new favorite PBS show, Word World. If I get up to use the bathroom (which is about every 5 minutes nowadays), Sam steals my spot:

Another new development: Sam is wearing real underwear now! We stayed home earlier this week for a few days and really focused on potty training. We're still having about 1-2 accidents every day, but he's getting it. Here he is modeling some Big Bird underwear. He has the pose totally down. Very GQ.

And we're pretty much living at Coney Island now. Sam loves to people watch (imagine that - kid of two psychologists), so this place is like a feast for the eyes for Sam. He loves to jump off the side of the pool, blow bubbles, and sit on his jet ski float and watch kids come down the slides or stare at people.

He's also gotten into "relaxing." As in "Mom, I don't want to go. I'm relaxing in my chair!!!" Here is Sam relaxing with Daddy while they discuss what's for lunch. His new favorite game is to come up with gross things to eat, like "crocodile tongue."

And occasionally, we find Sam sitting in his old carseat, now out for Jude. It's crazy to think about how tiny he was in that thing when he was first born....

Preparations for Baby #2!

We've been doing a lot to get ready for Baby Jude Thomas to arrive! Sam's room is pretty much complete; now we have to finish up cleaning up the nursery and we should be good to go. We got a new sit-n-stand stroller, pulled up the old infant carseat from the basement, and bought some new bottles and pacifiers. Still have clothes to go through.

Figuring out what Jude would be named was a long process! I have always liked the name; Ben took a little more persuading. There were lots of signs about this name, from serious signs (Jude is James' brother in the Bible - Sam's middle name is James), to random (a car with the vanity plate "hey jude" pulling in front of me on the highway while discussing the name with someone on the phone), to just plain silly (mom pointing out that Jude Law was hosting SNL on the night of my birthday). The best was Ben's mom's run-in with a family in Atlanta, who told Sue that Jude was a beautiful Christian name when they were discussing children's names after dinner one night and practically reprimanded her when she mentioned that she wasn't sure about the name! Sue switched to "team Jude" that night.

So once the name was picked (Ben decided Jude Thomas should be the name after all), the personalizing could begin! My friend Laura already had this adorable painted sign made for Jude's nursery. I especially love it because I didn't really have anything special to put in there after I tool some of Sam's stuff out, and now I do.

Last summer, my friend Amy gave me (and the other bridesmaids in her wedding - we'd all had babies in '08) a lovely necklace with an "s" tag on it for Sam's name. I wear it ALL the time - it's one of my favorite pieces of jewelry. I was able to send it back and get a "j" tag on it. I just got it back today and was so pleased with it! I can't believe I'm going to have 2 sons in just a month or so.

Now...on to sorting through all those clothes!

Just Like Mommy

Most of the time, Sam copies everything Daddy does, but lately he's been trying out some mommy activities, such as:

I was actually pretty proud of him for that one - he was very skilled at walking around in my 3 inch wedges.

A couple days ago, he and I were playing soccer in the backyard and he put the ball under his shirt saying he had a baby in his belly:

This morning, after a shower, he wanted his towel on top of his head "like mommy."

But the best was when I turned around the other day and spotted him wearing one of my new nursing bras. It was hilarious. I took a picture, but I don't think everyone needs to see a picture of my bra.

Coney with Jackson and Aunt Rachel

Last week, Rachel and her family were in town. Mom took Joseph and Rachel and Jackson came to Coney Island with us. We had a great time - played in the pool, ate dinner, and then rode some rides. Sam had a lot of fun with Jackson, who is so calm and patient with him (Jackson has turned out to be a wonderful big brother to baby Joseph, too).

On the Ferris Wheel - Sam's first time. I think I've developed a fear of heights since the last time I was on of these, plus my equilibrium is probably a bit off being pregnant, but I was so jittery when we would be at the top. Sam the daredevil had no problem with it, raising his hands in the air and yelling "up high!" whenever we were going up.