A Love For Books

We have always known Samuel has a love for books. We often encourage this and will read to him whenever he asks. Little did we know it had gotten so mature so quickly...

Here he is a few days before Liam's birth...reading...The No Cry Sleep Solution. Maybe he learned something because he has been sleeping wonderfully. Last night...11 1/2 hours without waking!

Here he is a few days after Liam's birth...reading...Harry Potter!
He is ahead of both Mommy and Daddy! Hope he doesn't spoil the ending!

One Week

It is hard to believe, but Liam is one week old! We have had a great first week with him. He is eating well and sleeping like a champ (5-6 hour stretch at night)! I know it probably won't last, but we are enjoying it while we can.

Here are seven new things he did within his first seven days of life...

1. Took a nap with daddy!

2. Went on a trip to the park. He really enjoyed it as you can tell!

3. Went on his first car ride.

4. Ate his first meal. (This is the Hooter Hider! Great name...great baby product)

5. Took his first bath with help from Daddy and Samuel!

6. Went sunbathing (Liam and Mommy sat in the sun for 5 minutes since he was appearing a bit jaundiced)

7. Met the best big brother in the world!

Hope everyone had a week as enjoyable and memorable as ours!

Visitors

Liam has had many visitors over the past week. Here he is with a few of them...

Philipp was still here from Germany as was eagerly awaiting our arrival home. Liam is the third baby Philipp has ever held. He was a pro!

Johanna (Philipp's sister) was also waiting happily. On her trip to America she held two newborns...the first two she has ever held!

Nana arrived shortly after Liam was born. She came with arms ready!

Annie and Liam (also pictured...Baby Boy DeWaal...due in November)!

Jon and Liam...what a natural!

Liam also got to hang out with Lachlan for a bit. I am sure these two will teach each other all sorts of tricks!

The Dinkins Family...Trish, Paul and Roxy...Roxy will be a big sister in February!

The Lee Family...Carol, Sam and Jocie! Thanks for a great dinner!

Brotherly Love

Samuel has done amazing with Liam. He was very excited to see him as soon as we walked in the door and can't get enough of him.
When Mike walked in carrying the car seat Samuel yelled "BABY!" He then ran over to see inside. As soon as he realized that Liam was there he went straight to his baby, grabbed the bottle and brought it over to Liam. Sharing already!

Samuel has also been very gentle with Liam. He is able to touch his hands and feet, but is suppose to keep his hands away from his face for now. He also covers Liam with kisses every chance he gets.

Here are the two boys this morning.
Liam taking yet another nap...Samuel standing by on guard duty!

Once Liam was awake we decided to let him lay down on the floor for a bit. Samuel was right there next to him. They watched each other closely. It was amazing to see how Liam would just stare at Samuel thinking..."oh...all the things you will teach me!"

I think this picture will officially bring a tear to my eye every time I see it!

Our two boys...Samuel Michael and Liam John...

Our Birth Story...

We thought we'd share a bit of the story of Liam's entrance...

Thursday morning, Jenn woke up feeling a "bit funny." We went to see Cindie, our midwife, who declared that Jenn was in early labor and we should be having a baby within 24 hours.

To help time pass and for labor to progress, we went to Carkeek Park for a walk. Samuel loved throwing rocks (as usual) into the water, while Jenn continued to battle regular contractions.

At 3:30, we saw Cindie again and decided to head home to try and relax as labor continued to progress. Samuel stayed with Jen and Tucker for a few hours so that Jenn and Mike could get a short nap and begin preparing for baby.

Around 7:30, Jon and Annie graciously brought Quiznos for dinner and stayed to watch Samuel while Jenn and Mike packed up to head to the birth center.

We arrived at the birth center around 10pm. Jenn was still in early labor, but was seeming to progress well. We spent time in the tub, walking around the parking lot, and sitting on birthing balls.

About 3am, Jenn was hit with the full onslaught of labor. Her contractions hit very hard, very quickly, causing her to vomit in between and during the sometimes overlapping contractions. She did amazing for during this period.

By about 4:35am, Jenn made it over the hump and was completely dilated and began to push. 11 minutes and 5 pushes later, a head emerged.

Here is Liam's debut.
He came out very peaceful and calm, wide eyed and taking in every aspect of his new world. After the discovering that he was a boy we all took a calming breath as he explored and let out a wail.

For the first 30 minutes, Liam rested on Jenn's stomach while he was getting the last of the yummy nutrients from the umbilical cord. He was content and happy, but ready to eat. Mike was able to cut his umbilical cord and Liam had his first meal at only 39 minutes old. Amazing!

We then spent the next couple of hours just being together. Liam was wide eyed and alert most of the time. He scored wonderfully on his Apgars and all the newborn screening. Jenn also was healing amazingly fast and was up moving out of bed less than an hour after Liam was born.

Mike and Liam shortly after birth.

Once we were up and moving we started preparing to go home. It was wonderful to know that everyone was doing so well and that our own beds were only minutes away.

We got all packed up and Liam was put into his car seat around 7:30am. We walked out of the birth center and began our trip home to introduce Samuel and Liam.
What an amazing morning!

Here HE Is...

Liam John Clark
Friday, July 20th
4:46am
8lbs 6oz

21 inches

Everyone is doing well. We arrived home about 8:00am (yes, less than 4 hours old) this morning and are all relaxing well. Samuel LOVES his brother and is eager to check every little part of him out. We will post more pictures soon!

As far as visitors we are asking that if people would like to stop by and visit that they wait until tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon. We would love to introduce you all to our newest family member. Feel free to call or email tomorrow after 10 and we can find good times to stop by and take a peek!

More pictures to come....along with the whole story...

More Pictures

I have a few pictures that were taken over the past week that are just cute and need to be shared. So ...here they are!

Mill Creek (town just north of us) had a street festival a few weekends ago. Mike took Samuel, Philipp and Johanna down. Although Samuel slept through most of it he did enjoy the fire trucks!

My two favorite boys!

Mike, Samuel, Philipp and Johanna spent some time downtown the other day when I had a meeting. Here is a great shot of the city from Kerry Park (Queen Anne).

Johanna, Samuel and Philipp being "cheesy!"

SAM (Seattle Art Museum) has recently opened a sculpture park near Mike's grad school. Although no one really calls Samuel, Sam, we thought this picture was much needed!

Camping Weekend

This past weekend we packed up and headed out to Gold Basin campground off Mt. Loop Highway for a few nights away. Yes...I am a week away from my due date, yes...we have a 2 year old, yes...we hiked two miles, yes...I slept on an air matress on the ground and yes...we had fun!

Here are a few pictures to highlight the weekend!

Philipp cooking his burger over the fire. We had a bit of trouble the first night with cooking, but no one straved. The rest of the weekend went much better!

Saturday morning Samuel was up at 6! Daddy decided to take him down to the river for awhile so the rest of the camp could sleep. They spent two hours exploring. Samuel loves climbing on the rocks, throwing rocks in the water and just being a boy!

Saturday afternoon we decided to take a hike. We headed up to Borgman Lake. It is a 0.8 mile hike into an alpine lake. It was a pretty easy hike. Mommy made it without having the baby and Samuel walked all on his own also.

Once we made it we took some time to play. Philipp and daddy went swimming, Samuel threw more rocks in the water and Johanna and I sat and ate cherries! We then hiked back out and enjoyed a drive back to camp with the air full blast!

Sunday morning we packed up camp and Samuel and I headed home. Philipp, Johanna and Mike decided to brave Mt. Pilchuck. They made it despite the bugs and huge elevation gain.

It was a great weekend away! I am glad we decided to go instead of waiting here for baby to make an apperance. We would still be waiting...

Philipp and Johanna

As many of you know, Philipp and Johanna are here for the next couple of weeks visiting. Philipp was our exchange student two years ago. He and his sister have had the chance to come back to the US to visit for about a month. They started their trip in Chicago and stayed with Mike's sister. They are now here in Seattle and will be staying until the 22nd of July. We have lots of fun things planned for their time here...hopefully even the arrival of Baby Clark #2!

Here are Mike and Johanna putting together the chair/bed we found for all our guests! She said it is pretty comfy!

Samuel warmed up to Philipp right away! Now they are buds for life!

Philipp and Johanna brought gifts from Germany. Samuel loves his new puzzle. Mom and Dad love his English/German wordbook! Daddy will be learning right along with him!