5 months old

Samuel is now 5 months old! Time sure does fly! Here are some new developments in the past few weeks...

- He now giggles frequently. Clara can always get him to giggle as well as our friend Kari. He won't do it as much for mom and dad.

- He LOVES Clara now. He watches her, pulls on her ears, and laughs at her. The other day he was fussy, so I sat down on the floor where he could reach Clara and he smiled and giggled.

- He's starting to sit up. He's getting more and more stabble every day!

- He LOVES his bath now. He learned how to splash and this new discovery resulted in a move from baths on the bathroom counter to baths in his own bathroom. He sure makes a mess, but loves it so much!

- He has rolled over again... this time from back to tummy. It happened for the first time today, so we will see if he remembers how to do that again. He had been rolling over from tummy to back for about 2 weeks, but forgot how (or didn't like doing it) and won't do it anymore. Maybe he's figuring it out again.

- As far as sleep goes... we've gone back and forth. He's slept through the night (8pm - 7am) for about a week, but then forgot how and woke up every couple of hours, like a newborn, for several weeks. Now we are up a few times a night, but it's getting better.

- He ate real food! (Pictures of that to come in a seperate post soon.)

- He has all sorts of new noises... squeals, grunts, "da," "yah," "ga" and spitting noises.

Christmas with the Lutz's

We headed up to Spencer, Iowa on Christmas eve to celebrate Christmas with Bud's parents. The usually 9 hour drive took closer to 11 hours due to weather and a baby, but we got there safe and sound. Samuel really did great in the car. He slept, ate, and played on the same schedule as if we were at home. There was about 2 feet of snow on the ground when we got there. It was really cold, so we bundled Sam up, took a few pics and ran back inside. No wasted time waiting for a smile when it's 4 degrees outside :)

Christmas morning... Samuel was having more fun with the wrapping paper than the gifts. Helping Grandma open a present...

Opening Christmas Eve pajamas... I think I was more excited than he was :)

A gift from "Santa"...

Bud's sisters came up from Dallas for Samuel's Baptism. So, we celebrated with them that weekend.

Christmas with the Pfisters

We were able to celebrate Christmas with my family while they were here for Sam's baptism. I got to open A LOT of presents. Bud was holding Samuel and Samuel can't open his own... so I got to open all of them :).

Gdaddy and Samuel, giving zerberts (I'm not sure how to spell that)...
The fam...

Samuel watching his new ball popper from Aunt Alyssa. I think Clara is enjoying this gift more than Samuel at this point... She chases the balls when they pop up! I'll try to get a video of it sometime, but Clara gets distracted when I get the camera out, so that is likely never going to happen.

Sam in his new hat from GiGi...

Samuel's Baptism

Samuel was baptised into the Covenant family on December 21st. Here are a few pictures from the occasion.

Thank you to all our friends and family, near and far, for supporting us in raising Samuel as a covenant child!

For those of you unfamiliar with this practice, here is an excerpt from the PCA Book of Church Order regarding the sacrament of batism:

Baptism is a sacrament of the new testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church; but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life. Which sacrament is, by Christ's own appointment, to be continued in His Church until the end of the world. (Read more at http://www.pcanet.org/general/cof_chapxxvi-xxx.htm#chapxxviii).

Christmas Card Picture

So, I'm a little late getting my Christmas cards ready. I'm having a hard time choosing which picture to send, so I need your help! Which of these pictures would you want sent with your christmas card? You can either vote in the comments section or use the poll on the left side of the page.

A

B

C

D

E

4 month Check Up

I took Samuel to the doctor this morning for his four month check up. Everything checked out great! He continues to grow and develop as he should. He now weighs 15 lbs, 8 ounces (50th percentile) and is 25 3/4 inches long (75th percentile).

There was a newborn, 4 day old, little boy in the waiting room with us. I can't believe Samuel was that small just four months ago! They start out so small (thankfully) and grow so fast!

Also, they pulled the wrong chart when we got there today and I happened to notice the name on it... Samantha Lutz. Who would have thought that there are two Sam Lutz's in the Bentonville area :).

Spittin' Sam

Here's Sam making his new spitting noise. Sorry for the shaky video, we were in the car.

Play Group

We got together with our play group yesterday and finally got a picture of all 7 kids sitting still. First, here's the 4 babies... Drew (7 months), Ellie (7 months), Kellen (11 months), and Sam (4 months).
And here's the whole clan... Chaucer (13 months), Ethan (almost 2), Xander (2.5), and the babies.

MU vs. KU Football

Friday, we flew to Kansas City for the Missouri vs. Kansas football game. We decided it was best for Samuel and I to not attend the game and, looking back, that was a very wise decision. It was freezing, snowing, and miserable out there. Bud and his law school friends were out there at 6:45AM tailgating and enduring the dreadful weather. Sam, Kelly, Clark, and I were watching the game in a warm home on a large flat screen tv. We never regretted that decision for a second :) Although the game was quite disappointing, we enjoyed hanging out with friends.

On Sunday, we had a baby shower for Christina and got this picture of several of the kids. August (17 months), Beckley (7 months), Clark (13 months), and Sam (4 months). Things sure have changed since law school... just 2.5 years ago!
Clark giving Sam a kiss on the head.

Sam driving home.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving celebration last week. It all started with our first Thanksgiving meal on Sunday at our friends, the Penturfs, home. Samuel enjoyed a few minutes of the party asleep on their bed (As seen in the picture below). This get together was the anniversary of the day we found out Samuel was on his way :).

We then drove up to Kansas City and flew to Nashville from there. Samuel was a great traveller! He didn't make a peep on the plane. The flight left at 9:15pm, so I expected he'd sleep for most of it. He only slept for about 30 minutes of it, but he was very content and well behaved. The flight back required a few trips down the aisle to keep him calm, but he never screamed or cried loud enough to disturb the other passengers. Here he is on the plane with mommy...

And, with daddy...

I was kind of a slacker about taking pictures while we were there, so my words will have to suffice. We drove to Chattanooga on Tuesday night to meet up with our good friends Jason and Claire for dinner. Then the rest of the week we hung out at Gigi and Grandaddy's house with my parents (Gigi and Grandaddy), the Aunts, and Great Grandma Pfister. Bud and I went out on a date to Pancake Pantry (If you are ever in Nashville, you have to go there... it's the best breakfast ever! It's also where Bud took me before he proposed.) and the mall. It was nice to have the grandparents babysit for us! Also, I ran in my first race in over a year. It wasn't my best performance, but I finished :) It probably wasn't the easiest to start with a 5 mile race... Oh well. We watched the Cowboys and the Titans win. Friday we had a photographer come to the house to take some pictures of all 7 of us. Here are the few pictures I did take (hopefully I can get some new ones posted when mom, Lauren, and Alyssa send me theirs.)...

Gigi, Holly, and Sam on the back porch...

Bud and Sam watching football.

Before Thanksgiving dinner... Sam is wearing his "My First Thanksgiving" bib, even though he didn't consume any Thanksgiving dinner. It was just there to catch his drool.

4 Months Old

Sam turned 4 months old on Sunday. He is growing up so fast!! Here is a picture of him posing with his camel ("hump").
Samuel's new developments...
- He is making all sorts of noises now. He likes to make spit noises and blow bubbles a lot.
- He can spin around 180 degrees when lying on his back. Yesterday, he was on his Baby Einstein play mat and we came in and he was completely off of it.
- He won't relax and lay on my lap anymore. He has to be sitting up or standing so he can see everything! He is so interested in things around him.
- He has digressed in the area of sleep, but I think this is because of all our travels last week (I'll update on that in a future post).
- He drools like crazy! His shirt is always drenched. I'm hoping it's just because he takes after his mom, who often can't control her saliva, not because of teeth coming in... we will see.

That's all I can think of right now. He is a very sweet baby, very happy and easy going (most of the time), and I can't believe how much I love him!!

Daddy's Birthday

Here's how we celebrated Bud's birthday.

Meeting the Great Grandparents in Dallas last weekend.
Sam Smiling at Great-Grandpa.

Sam found his fingers :)

A New Job

I found a way to be a stay at home mom and be a "teacher" at the same time! My old boss called a few weeks ago to offer me a part time position. I'm not sure what my job title is, but my primary responsibility is to provide additional instruction to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students in the area of math. I will also be writing tests to assess students and identify who needs help and what concepts need to be addressed within small groups of students.
I have a friend who is going to watch Samuel while I'm at the school for 2 hours, 2 days a week doing the small group instruction with the kids (Thanks Shawn!). The rest of the work will be from home (writing tests and analyzing them). I'm really excited about this job for many reasons: it involves my favorite parts of teaching (writing assessments, analyzing info, teaching math, and working with small groups of students), it provides mental stimulation (more than patty cake and peek-a-boo), and it's good for my resume when I do go back to work... and, of course, the added income. So, I guess that about covers it... I've already written three lengthy tests and will start the small group instruction next Tuesday (November 11).

Happy Halloween

3 Months Old

Samuel then...

Samuel now...

Samuel turned 3 MONTHS OLD on Thursday. We didn't get to or have to go to the doctor for this milestone, so we don't have a current weight/height measurement. We will go again when he is 4 months old. Here are some accomplishments Samuel has made in the past month...

- He smiles all the time!

- He loves his new Bumbo seat (as seen in the picture above... it makes him look so old!). He likes to sit on the counter and watch himself in the mirror while I put on my makeup or do my hair.

- He has rolled over several times

- He now wears size 2 diapers

- He sleeps great at night (Except for last night...) He goes for an 8-9 hour stretch at first (about 7 or 8pm - 3 or 4am) and then another 3 hour stretch till about 7am! I like getting up just once in the middle of the night. He does have his digressions, but about 5 of every 7 nights he sticks to this schedule.

- He has outgrown all of his newborn sized clothes and half of his 0-3 month clothes, and is wearing some 3-6 month outfits.

- He grabs everything around him to explore it through touch and taste... blankets, toys, necklaces, etc... so far he has stayed away from earings, thank goodness! Most things end up in or near his mouth if possible.

- He has found his hands. He plays with his hands and has started to suck his fingers... although, it's more that they happen to be in his mouth then that he found them to calm himself.

- He makes more noise when happy... contented sighs and goo goo, ga ga's.

- He can support his own weight while standing (leaning against the back of the coach)... I know what some of you are thinking, this causes bow leggedness... I checked with my pediatrician sister, who checked with an orthopedic doctor, and they confirmed that this is just an old wives tale.

So, that's where Samuel is at 3 months old!!

To celebrate, we went to get his pictures taken. Here are some proofs from that photo session. I might be violating some copyright laws by posting these, but I think we'll be okay :)