Sam

Oh, boy. Where do I start? This kid has been trouble from the word 'go'. He decided to make Mommy's blood pressure shoot off the charts when he was in the womb and it hasn't come down since. The doctor had to induce me and Sam decided to make his entrance quickly. So quickly that his face and eyes were purple from the bruising. The nurses had to put a note on his bassinet that said, "my face is bruised" because so many people thought he had stopped breathing.

This photo has not been retouched, that is really how he looked. Poor baby. So impatient.

I prayed for a boy, and that's definitely what I got. He is ALL boy. He's loud and busy. And loud. I can't even count the number of giant goose eggs he's gotten on his head. Black eyes, stitches, *sigh*... I'm waiting for the broken bone. Because I know it's coming. I love him, but he's hard. He has reduced me to tears more in his 2 3/4 years than his sisters combined. He has 2 modes, off (asleep) and GO (loud)! There is no in between. He loves guns, as evidenced by the 12 toy guns and millions of rounds of Nerf ammo currently residing all over my house. He loves to swing, and he loves water. Especially throwing rocks into water. And his daddy. He LOVES his Daddy! Maybe it's because Daddy has lots of guns, but don't tell him that. Oh, and he loves soldiers and anything camoflauge. If he sees a soldier, he screams, "A SOLDIER!" and then runs over to hug or shake hands and tell them, "tank you for your circus." I'm pretty sure he means "thank you for your service". At least I hope he does.

Here he is at 3 months:


He was always a happy baby. As long as he was being fed. I couldn't make enough milk for him, so we had to give him formula too. Once, after he started eating baby food, he ate 6 of those big jars of food. Six! He would have eaten more, but I cut him off. He has slowed down a little since then. I'm sure his eating will peak again in his teenage years. I'm already saving money for groceries. I have a feeling I will need it! If he lives that long. I keep saying one of us may not survive his childhood and since I'm bigger...


This is Sam eating his first birthday cake. Let's just say that he enjoyed it. A lot.


One year old at Yellowstone. He had a lot of fun with that driftwood.



His first Halloween. He was a little stinker. A mad one.


He looks like he already had a sugar coma going on! His second Halloween he was a little monster. Do you sense a theme? Yeah.


His 2 favorite things, guns and water. Age 2.


I rarely catch him sitting still. Most of his images are blurry. Don't strap this kid down! He hates strollers, car seats or any place he is required to sit for more than 20 seconds. So restaurants are out. I lose him all the time at church. Luckily most people know him there or at least recognize him enough as he blazes by them to alert me that he has escaped and can tell me the general direction in which he was headed. We have child locks on EVERYTHING. You think I'm kidding. I can't believe he's almost 3. Time flies when you're so sleepy you can't hold your eyes open. That's what they say, right?


Born to be free. Age 2 3/4. He really likes the swings.

"Mama, knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"A nudder UNDERDOG!"
"Okay, son. One more underdog."

I love this kid.