Welcome Samuel Leroy!

On Tuesday the 28th we welcomed our newest family member, Samuel Leroy.  Things could not have gone better.  We went in at 06:00 and into surgery just before 08:00.  Surgery went smoothly.  The only surprise was that our "little" Samuel was breech, which was a first for us {but not a big deal with C-sections}.  "Little" Samuel weighed in at 8lbs 11oz, making him our biggest baby to date, and was 21 inches long.  We were out of recovery in no time and into our room.  Here's the first picture of five!

 

Eli is very happy to have a brother to go with all those sisters!  He and Sis actually spent the day at school but had special emails sent to their teachers so they could see Samuel and find out "it's a boy".  Both of them got to share the news with their class and their teachers said they were both very proud.  Jason picked them up from school and brought them straight up so they could meet their new sibling.

Claudine is also a very proud sister and since bringing Samuel home we have to police her a little bit.  She had done a good job of holding him, talking to him, etc. but she also thinks she's big enough to carry him around {waiting until the adult leaves the room to do it} and I'd rather take that step a little slower.

We were extra lucky to have Nana come up the morning of the 28th.  She volunteered to stay with Miss G and Iz so Boppa, Grannie and Grandma Stein could be up at the hospital.  She made the girls' day by doing their hair and nails.  {Thank you, Nana!!!!  We love you!}  Miss G looks super proud here but of all of the kids she probably cares the least one way or the other.  :)  She holds him for a moment, usually begging someone to take her picture and promptly thereafter is "done".

A lot of people see this photo of Iz holding her brother for the first time and think she looks anything but the very excited little girl she actually was.  Just before this was taken she had the biggest "o" on her face as Jason handed Samuel to her.  She is such a proud big sister!  Even now that we're home she asks to hold him first thing after waking up in the morning and she does a pretty good job of it.

Samuel was not very excited to come out.  He cried from the moment the cold air hit him almost up to being able to nurse.  Food has definitely been a BIG priority for him from the get go!

Snoozing away while mom reads her "education" material - and yes, there are some things I read that I thought "cool, I forgot that" but most of it was old news.

Jason took his normal "day of" off and came up each evening after the kids were in bed to hold his new baby boy.

Samuel is the first of our kids to experience the Newborn Rash.  It goes away on it's own but for a few days he had a very blotchy complexion. 

We were dismissed on Thursday morning.  I'd already sent most of our stuff {including the camera} on home with Jason the night before so I don't have pictures of leaving but here is Samuel just minutes after getting home and starting to settle in.

There are {imagine} more pictures on my camera since coming home but I haven't gotten around to getting them uploaded to the computer.  I promise I will as soon as I am able.  I've just been using my spare moments cat napping or snuggling a precious baby boy!