Baptism Weekend

Sampson was welcomed into the Episcopal Church on Sunday with family and friends there to support him. The entire Powers clan ventured down to our little state for the first time since the wedding! Captain Powers finally got to see where we live and what we do down in Delaware. They arrived around lunchtime on Saturday and they immediately scooped Sampson into their arms and began passing him around. Luckily, he was well rested and had a great time with them.




After a gourmet lunch at Jake's (Delaware's finest burger joint), we went over to Milburn Orchards to pick out a pumpkin and drink cider. It was a very hot day and very crowded, but we managed to find the perfect pumpkin and take some fun pictures in the shade.





Sunday was the Baptism at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church. Sunday morning, we dressed Sampson in the outfit Oma (that's me) made him for this special occasion. It turned out quite nicely (thanks to Nana who fixed the final details the night before!).



The ceremony was so lovely since Jimmy and I were confirmed in the same service as his baptism. We entered the church as a family and it was a beautiful thing! It was such an honor to have Bishop Wayne there to welcome us. His sermon about respecting the dignity of all human beings was poignant and relevant to all present (and he's like 6'5"!). Plus, Jimmy and I play in the church band so our family and friends got to hear us play. Jimmy S is Sampson's Nouno (the Greek word for Godfather) and it was great to have him up there with us. Thanks to Rev. Jay for helping us through the process and leading a church we are delighted to be a part of.




After the ceremony, we had a reception back at our place. We took the opportunity to take some family portraits in the perfect weather.


Mom and Dad Vee


The Powers Family


Great-Grandma and Gramps


Nouno

Fall in Delaware

The weather has become a comfortable cool, even in the bright sun that Sampson loves. We've been taking lots of walks and running around town. Sammy is very well-behaved in public! We spent Saturday morning running errands on Main Street, and concluded the outing with a tea and bagel at our favorite coffee shop. We also spent an evening at the bookstore this week. Great Mom-mom gave us a gift card for the Borders so that we could start Sampson a library. Jimmy and I love to read so it is very important to us that Sampson learns to love books as well. We've covered the classics like Where the Wild Things Are, Goodnight Moon, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Sampson is fortunate enough to have others in his life who gave him the gift of literature... like Auntie Teeners brought him On the Day You Were Born, and Nouno Jimmy S brought Zen Shorts, and some Eric Carle books. Sammy likes books though he is more interested in the printed words than the picture right now because of the contrast. We read a book everyday, though we usually don't quite make it through the entire book!



Great Grandma and Great Gramps have returned from Scotland! They were so sad when they realized they'd be away when Sampson was born and assured me they would stop here as soon as they got off the ship! They took the Queen Mary 2 over and back from their two month stay. Sounds like they had a great time but they are happy to be back. They fell in love with Sampson as soon as they laid eyes on him. Here is Great Grandma in her first moments with him.

October is here! That means pumpkins! Great Mom-mom gave Sampson a silly pumpkin hat which I obviously had to get pictures of. It matches his orange gDiaper perfectly. This weekend, we are going to Milburn Orchards to take pictures of real pumpkins. But they won't be as cute as this one...

Sampson will be baptized this coming weekend and we are very excited about him entering the Christian community. He's been to church twice and rather enjoyed the music and Rev. Jay's booming voice. I'm working on an outfit for him to wear, though it's much more difficult to sew with a baby in a sling hanging from my shoulder. Nouno Jimmy S will be his Godfather. I realize that I have thus far failed to post any pictures of the wise Mr. Sarakatsannis. So here are some pictures to pay the proper homage. We are thrilled that Sampson will have his Nouno to give him love and guidance as he makes his way through life.

Today was a beautiful day so we got dressed up and took some pictures outside. I love a man in khakis and a white shirt...

Sammy is smiling more these days. He will smile if I tickle his neck or kiss his cheek, but he is undecided about raspberries on the belly. It's hard to catch because he only smiles at faces, not at the camera. But he has two dimples on his left cheek! We can't wait until he smiles more because he is happy... and not just because he passed gas.

Sampson found his thumb this week! He's been searching for about two weeks now and usually ended up sucking the knuckle. Yesterday, he managed to hook his thumb with his cheek and he sucked away. Unfortunately, because of his poor motor control, he startled and moved his arms.

I mean come on... this kid is a looker.

Four Weeks Old

Sampson James turned 4 weeks old yesterday. Almost a month old... the time has raced by! All three of us are doing well. We like to think we're falling into a routine, but really Sampson is the boss and we do whatever he tells us to do. He's running the show right now. Hopefully, this will not continue into his teenage years! This week was not too busy, mostly just he and I running errands and snuggling at home. He behaves very well when we are out. We have been to the fabric store, to the copy shop, and two different Mommy's Groups this week. Yesterday we went to a pig roast and he loved being outside for a few hours. We also made our first visit to church this morning and he was awake and happy for most of the morning. We have a social kid! Here are some photos from this week.

Sampson yawns like a lion.

He loves to watch out the back window when we are driving. However, because his is so young, his attention span is only about 10 minutes. If he doesn't fall asleep inside of those 10 minutes, he cries for the remainder of the car ride! Luckily, we have a diesel so the engine is rather loud. It seems to lull him to sleep well. He also likes listening to Les Miserables, particularly disk 1.

Sampson makes this face when he poops! My mother tells me I had a similar BM expression. We don't want to give him a complex so we try not to laugh every time he poops, but look at this face! This is one for the yearbook.

He just loves being outside. The weather is lovely in Delaware right now so we spend as much time outside as we can. We usually go out for a while in the morning after Dad goes to work, and then in the afternoon before we nap during Oprah. On several occasions, he's been so upset at 5am that we go for a short walk outside. The combination of walking and the outdoor air usually calms him right down. I'm not sure what we're going to do when it turns to winter!

First Road Trip

We made it! To Averill Park and back! Sampson was a great road-tripper. He slept all the way up to Albany and was content with the one stop we made on the way home. We are all a bit worn out from the trip, and Sampson picked up some back habits from being held ALL WEEKEND LONG, but he loved meeting the rest of his family. Here are some pictures from our weekend at Nana and Papa's house.

Papa was dying to meet his grandson but had to work until Saturday evening! When they finally met, there was an instant bond. This photo was taken early Sunday morning when they had some awake time together. I think Sampson was fascinated by his facial hair.


This is the type of baby carrier they use in Korea. My mother made it for us and tried it out on Sammy. He liked it very much even though Nana was out of practice!



Aunt Laura is a notorious Sampson hog! She's been known to pick him up even when he's sleeping just so she can cuddle with him. Sampson doesn't mind, he loves to cuddle.



Uncle Chris was excited to meet the little guy too. He explained that Sampson is too young this visit, but next time he will teach him armpit farts and how to shoot a BB-gun.



Grammy brought Sampson so many adorable outfits! She was overjoyed to hold her third great-grandson. Number 4 is on the way too! Grammy grabbed little Sammy every chance she got... mostly for burps!



Aunt Lynn and Uncle John

Father and Son napping

Tommy leads the pack in this generation. Baby Jack was born just a month before Sampson.

They both agreed there were too many cameras.

The Proud Grandparents

The Morning After

Growing and Changing

Two weeks old! These first weeks sped by and we are flying by the seat of our pants! The second week, we really started to get to know Sampson's habits and preferences. He loves time on his tummy (when we are watching of course) and he loves to take naps on our bed in the warmth of the sun. He's been getting up only twice during the night... once around 1 or 2 and then again around 6 or 7. By this time, Dad is up and getting ready for work so Sammy and I nap together on the bed for another few hours. This is my favorite time of day. He loves to snuggle and he sleeps so soundly for this time.


He also loves looking at his Wee Gallery animal cards which were given to him as a gift from the Angerer family. These are drawings of animals formed by repeating shapes in black and white. He finds them mesmerizing and will stare at them for almost 10 minutes at a time. That's longer than Jimmy will look at them! I am looking forward to decorating a nursery with wall decals and posters by this company when we find a new house. They are so simple yet so beautiful. I really want to teach Sampson the value of art.


Now that my mother and sister have left, Jimmy's mom, aka Grandma, has stepped in to help us out and spend time with her new grandson. She's graciously taken the week off from work. She comes to see us everyday to feed, burp, diaper, rock, repeat. And she also helps me keep the house from falling to shambles and keeps us all fed. Here she is with Sammy in the rocking stage.



This week, Sammy and I ventured out of the house (with Mom Vee's help)! We went to the new Mommy's Group at the Birth Center on Wednesday. It was fun to meet some other new moms and see their babies. The little ones range from 10 weeks to 1.5 (Sampson was the newest!) and it was amazing to see how different each baby was. Because all these Moms birthed at the Birth Center, they all seek a holistic approach to bringing up a baby like Jimmy and I do. We talked about breastfeeding and sleeping habits. We discussed and shared which kind of diapers we use. And with this, I cannot help but plug gDiapers... they are cloth diapers with flushable inserts... no really, completely flushable! Most importantly, because we are all new mothers, we all have similar worries and fears about our new babies. Their breathing is so irregular we stare at their little chest to make sure it is still gently rising and falling. We worry that their little hands and feet are warm enough. We watch what we eat so that they don't get sick from our breast milk and spit up in a projectile fashion. It was most comforting to hear that other mothers are worrying like, some even more than, I am.


And speaking of worrying, Jimmy and I went on our second outing alone in two weeks. Our good friends Kyle and Jess got married Saturday night and we left Sammy in the hands of his Grandma. We left the house around 4 and I said I would not call until 8:00. But of course, I changed my mind at 7 and called. The wedding was at the Deerfield Country Club and the weather was perfect. Jess looked so beautiful and the two of them just looked so happy. All Jimmy's college housemates, the Elf Hive, were there and we always enjoy such reunions. I managed to pull myself together for the event, even managing to shower, comb my hair, and wear real shoes with heels. Though the dancing was limited due to the soreness of my incision, it was a lovely evening.




And today, of course, was Sampson's first Football Sunday with Dad. Sammy sported his favorite Eagles onesie and sweats and then proceeded to phase in and out of consciousness for three games. The Eagles, however, played so poorly that it made Sammy sick so he spit up all over that onesie. He is also disappointed that his Nouno (Uncle Jimmy S) might beat his Dad this week in Fantasy Football.


This will be our first week on our own! I am actually looking forward to time for just us. Not that we don't love sharing our joy with visitors, but it is definitely time for us to settle down and set up some routines. In conclusion, here are some stats for the first two weeks:

baths: 4
loads of baby laundry: 12
feedings: 136
wet diapers: 89
poopy diapers: 63

The First Week

Sampson turned one week old yesterday! It amazes us how quickly he is changing. At our first pediatrician appointment on Friday, she said he is very healthy and gaining weight properly. This is good news since this first week has definitely been a whirlwind for his parents! Here are some highlights of our first week as a party of three.

This was taken just as were about to pack him up in he carseat to take him home. We were so excited to finally go home and settle down without nurses constantly poking and prodding us!

Here he is all pack up and ready to go! He is wearing a very cute little outfit, but he (of course) peed all over it during the last diaper as we were dressing him. This was the first time he took a shot at us, and I must say he had good aim and distance.

We decided not to wait to introduce the bottle. Some believe introducing a bottle too early creates nipple confusion and makes him unable to latch on, but he has been doing well with both so far. This is Jimmy feeding him for the first time. Since we want to continue breast feeding, I have become well acquainted with the breast pump. It allows me some freedom I would otherwise not have. This includes freedom to sleep while Dad feeds him... ahhh. In the beginning of the week, he was eating about 2oz. at a time. Now he's up to 4oz. and sometimes wants more soon after! He is a growing boy.

Here we are sitting on the porch. He loves the outdoors! He loves to bask in the warmth of the morning sun and he likes to listen to the crickets for his midnight feedings. He is getting a few minutes of direct sunlight everyday to help him lose the last little bit of jaundice. He did not need to go under the lights at the hospital, but the Dr. said a few minutes on each side would do him some good. Also, vitamin D is the only essential vitamin not found in breast milk. His body makes it on its own when exposed to sunlight. When not basking in the sun, he enjoys the warmth of the Delaware summer in the shade.

Most babies like to be swaddled up tightly when they sleep. Sammy likes to have his lower half swaddled, but always sleeps with his arms up by his head. If we wrap him up like a burrito, he somehow always manages to pull out his little arms to plunk them near his ears.

This is us sitting on the porch again. This is his early version of a smile. More of a demure grin I suppose. He has so much hair and the Dr. says he will probably keep it at this point. He got my nose and Jimmy's ears. His eyes are the perfect combination of both of ours. He has long toes like Jimmy but cute toe nails like me. It is amazing that Jimmy + SK = Sampson!

Our first bath at home was apparently unpleasant for some. He cried through the entire bath but calmed down when we wrapped him up in the little hooded ducky towel. After, Aunt Laura spent considerable time combing and styling his luxurious mane. In the end, she decided on the punk emo front tuft.

Nana and Aunt Laura stayed with us for the first week. They left today around lunchtime. We could not have made it through the first week without them here to help! 3am feedings and changes and even doing laundry and fixing dinner... they did it all. Thanks to them, everyone is clean and fed (including the new mom and dad) and the house is still in working order and clutter free! Parting was a little sad, but we will see them in two weeks we go to New York. Sampson can't wait to meet Papa and Uncle Chris!

Thank you to all who have sent such warm wishes and thoughtful comments. We are so blessed to have such supportive friends and family. Jimmy and I are so pleased to be able to share our (not so) little bundle of joy with you all!