It's Me, Again, Margaret...

Did anyone else listen to Ray Stevens growing up? Ah, those were the days... riding to school with my mom and brother, listening to our favorite Ray Stevens' tape... My favorite song was "Clyde the Camel."

Little makes me laugh harder than Ray Stevens making camel sounds.

Anyway, I'm way behind, I know with the whole posting thing, but now... now I'm on maternity leave.

Let the posting begin!

Obviously, a lot has happened since that last post way back in August.

First and foremost, Swimmer has arrived!!! Samuel ("Sam") Keith is here, and Ethan in 2-0 for baby predictions! We're going to pimp his talents on ebay to finance college for our growing brood of children.















Anyway, Sam was the smallest of our three at birth -- 8 lbs. 3 oz. -- but he's gaining weight at an oddly rapid rate, so we're sure he belongs to us. He likes to eat like the rest of the family.

Laney and Ethan are adjusting well to his arrival, as are we. He is a great baby -- sleeps anywhere from 3-5 hours at a time, eats, and then goes back to sleep... loves to snuggle... doesn't cry unless he's hungry or wet. Now if we could only get him to teach the other two those behaviors...



















The hardest thing thus far is explaining certain things. Even with the other two, there are certain things I just haven't been prepared for... like Ethan wanting to feed Sam... from his own chest.

That's a moment they don't cover in the Mommy books.

Fortunately, the vague "Only mommies can feed babies" explanation seems to have worked. I didn't want to scar the kid for life.


Laney, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be too concerned about present technicalities but is more confused by the fact that Swimmer is no longer in my belly.


















She keeps trying to communicate with him via my belly button (which she learned from Ethan, who swears that's how babies hear when they're in the belly), and I'm like, "Hello?!?! He's in the bassinet, not in the belly." She gives me this quizzical look -- "Are you serious?" and then we repeat this at least once a day, every day. I hope she'll give it up before she goes away to college.


Other than minor issues as such, things are going well. On occasion, K & I look at each other and wonder what we've gotten ourselves into... like on Saturday mornings when all twelve kids come bounding in at once and climb in the bed with us... or when we try to go somewhere in public (like Wil's football game last night) because it seemed like a good idea at the time..., but for every "WHOA!" moment, we have many more "Sweet!" moments... like when Laney bumbles over to Sam, kisses him, and proclaims in her best Princess voice, "I wub Sam so!"... or when Ethan tells people that he's going to teach Sam to read and play football and soccer.


All kidding aside, we really are blessed with an incredible family as well as amazing friends and relatives who have gone out of their ways to make Sam's arrival unbelievably special. We thank God every day for our blessings. Since most of the blog readers are also our peeps, that includes you guys. Thanks so much for all of the love, meals, gifts, and well-wishes you all have sent our way. We love you!