Carter Jacob Beckham has arrived!

On July 16 at 11:05 p.m. , our beautiful baby boy...Carter Jacob Beckham was born. He weighed 6 lb., 9 oz. and was 19 inches long. He is so precious and our hearts have already made room to love another little boy as much as our first born.

MY LABOR STORY

My labor began at about 3:00p.m on the afternoon of July 16. I was sitting at my girlfriend's pool and I started having some contractions. I had these same type of contractions the night before but they went away after a few hours, so I just figured these would too. After arriving home at about 3:30, I let Sam watch a video on the couch (and he promptly fell asleep). Shortly thereafter, Brian arrived home from work early with a monster headache, so the two of us layed down for a quick nap before the church picnic. It was during this time that I realized that my contrations were consistently 2-3 minutes apart. This seemed a little odd since I thought contractions were suppose to work their way down to 2 minutes apart.... not start at 2 minutes apart! So, I decided maybe I should start writing them down and timing things...just in case.

While getting ready for the picnic, I continued to time things and the contractions got a little bit more intense. Thinking this was still "false labor" we went to church and while there, the contractions got a little worse. Everyone thought I was crazy for being at the picnic and my girlfirends insisted that I call the doctor.

Next, we dropped Sam off at another church for Vacation Bible School and while in the parking lot I called my doctor. The on-call doctor, Dana Kraker, called back about a 1/2 hour later and asked me to rate my contractions on a scale from 1-10. Playing it on the safe side, I estimated about a 3 or 4. She told me I could come in and get checked if I wanted to or I could wait an hour. I decided to wait and in the mean time, finished packing my bags.

Around 7:30 some really dark storm clouds started rolling in and the TV was warning of severe weather. At this point we decided it was time to go to the hospital to "get checked" before the storm arrived. I was fully prepared that they were going to tell me that I was not in labor and to go home, but I also didn't want to push things too far.

At the hospital, the nurse checked me and announced that I was dilated to a 5 and in active labor. In her words, "Honey, you're having a baby tonight!" My heart started racing as I realized I would NOT be going home and that this was the real deal. My due date wasn't for another 2 days and I was so sure that this baby would be late and that I would have to be induced. I was so excited and relieved that my little boy would soon enter the world. I was definitely sick of being pregnant and ready to rid myself of the extra 30+ pounds, but I was also terrified of going through another labor experience like I had with Samuel.

From 8:00-9:45, I tried to "tough it out", but my contractions got progressively more and more intense until I told the nurse it was time for the epidural. At 10:00, praise Jesus!, the doctor arrived and administered the "good drugs" and in no time I was feeling no pain.. :) From 10:00-10:45, Brian and I watched a little TV and then suddenly I felt A LOT of pressure and the urge to push. I told Brian to call the nurse and upon checking me, she said, "Oh my, you're dilated to a 10, 100% thinned and I suggest you do NOT cough or laugh! That baby is about to fall out!" The doctor came rushing in (Dana Kraker) and said, "This is only going to take about 2 pushes!" Sure enough, by 11:05, Carter Jacob Beckham was born and our lives will never be the same again. He is a blessed addition to our family and we welcome him with lots of love.

Our family

My boys

39 weeks!

Only 5 more days until my official due date! Ahh! I was really kind of hoping that Lil' Beckham would arrive early, but now I'm hoping he holds off until I get over the nasty sinus infection I developed this weekend. (prayers please!) These pics were taken today after church...another beautiful Sunday! Today we attended a small congregation in Grandville where Brian was asked to lead worship. He did a great job and it was a cool experience for him to use his talents to serve God and bless others.

A Fabulous 4th!

What a gorgeous weekend! We had a fabulous time just hanging out as a family, especially since Brian got a 4 day weekend! Sam enjoyed the extra daddy time and it was so much fun watching those two interact. I'm so lucky to have such a great husband who loves his son so much, spends quality time with him, and in return Sam totally adores him. Sometimes I wish he (Sam) put me on the same pedestal that Brian has achieved in his eyes, but I understand that there is a special bond between a daddy and his son.

So...to begin our long weekend, on Thursday Brian went with me to the Aquatic Center to watch Samuel's last day of swimming lessons. As his teacher exclaimed, "Your kid has no fear!" Yeah, we could have told you that lady! At the bottom of this blog I have attached a video of Sam swimming and jumping off the diving board. He was the only kid in his group who dared to jump off without the help of the teacher. He just LOVES the water!

For the rest of the afternoon, we spent time just hanging out on our deck blowing bubbles, swimming in the kiddie pool, and playing baseball. Yes, we know his hands are not lined up correctly, but for some reason he has his mother's stubborn spirit and does not like corrective criticism....so we're just happy that he's asking to play. :)

Friday we spent the day with the Timmer's. Brian and Mark went fishing all day, while Cory and I took the kids to a pool for the afternoon. In the evening we had a cookout and then later we watched the fireworks at Kollen's Park. The kids had a blast, but were totally pooped out by the end of the night.

Finally, after church on Sunday, we headed down to the lake and spent the afternoon enjoying an absolutely perfect day. The water temp. wasn't too bad so Sam and Brian spent most of the time either in the water or burying each other in the sand. I, on the other hand, sat and sunbathed like a beached whale at 38 1/2 weeks pregnant! (12 days to go!)

Why can't weekends last forever?!

All Boy!

Twice I have had to cancel my appointment for Sam's 4 year pictures because he's constantly doing something that causes him to have a bump, bruise, or scrap on his face. Finally, Sunday afternoon we were able to get his pictures done! Literally, within 2 hours of finishing, the kid already had a black eye! Apparently during "rest time" Sam decided to play a game with his flashlight and somehow bonked himself in the face and now he has a lovely black and blue mark under his right eye. At least we got those pictures taken first! (Look closely at the pic below and you can see his ringer).

Here's a few of the 4 year pics that were taken yesterday at Sears. We had a hard time choosing our favorite one. Those dimples get me everytime!

Let the Countdown Begin!

In less than 1 month (26 days to be exact) our lives will change dramatically! While I am very excited for the arrival of our new little boy, I'm also not quite ready to give up my life of freedom. Currently, I get a full night's sleep and Sam is mostly independent. He dresses himself, goes potty by himself, wipes his own butt, and even helps me out around the house (ie. "Sam, please go get mommy a drink of water.") Soon, I will be totally responsible again for the feeding, nursing, and diapering of a helpless (but precious) little infant and my free time will virtually disappear. So, I'm doing my best right now to not only prepare for L.B.'s (Little Beckham) arrival, but also enjoy some quiet moments to myself... laying in the sun, reading a good book/magazine, getting my hair colored, mini-pedicure, etc.

36 WEEKS

Also, I wanted to mention that Thursday I had a final ultrasound in Grand Rapids to check on the health of this baby's heart. At 19 weeks I had an initial appointment that confirmed that structurally the baby's heart had no defects. This appointment was to check on valves and other areas that were too small to see earlier. I went alone to this appointment and surprisingly I was much more emotional that I was prepared for. Everything checked out perfectly and I was a big ball of hormonal tears. Mostly just very grateful that this baby is so healthy. As I waited for the cardiologist and ultrasound tech. in the same room that we found out about Sam's problems, I was overwhelmed with so many emotions....remembering how awful and hopeless I felt 4 years ago when they confirmed that Sam had something very wrong with his heart that was going to require open heart surgeries...while at the same time reflecting on how amazingly healthy and active Sam is today...to feeling so grateful that this pregnancy has been so much less stressful and without all the conflicting emotions and fears I was going through while carrying Sam.

The ultrasound also confirmed that he is a very average sized baby...currently weighing in at 5 lbs., 15 oz (41st%) and that I am measuring perfectly (even though I feel huge!) Our little stinker is head down and would not show his face (hands were covering) but they were able to see the boy parts so that's still a for sure! I just can't wait to hold him in my arms!

MISC. WEEKEND ADVENTURES

On Saturday afternoon we had to have a large tree in the middle of our yard removed. While we were sad to see this old tree go, it was something we had to do because it's been dead for a couple of years and is becoming hazardous. Now we have a huge open area in the middle of our side yard which will be great for our boys to safely spend hours playing baseball, football or whatever.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

(the stump will be removed soemtime this week)

While the tree was being cut down, Brian and I spent time planting some new perennials. This space used to be occupied by 2 large overgrown Holly bushes. We removed them because we were planning to remove the cement balcony and add on a deck to the side of the house. However, due to the tree removal and a few other unexpected house expenses, we are putting the deck on hold. Instead, in 2 weeks, the cement balcony will be repaired and refinished with a new coating of cement and the old rod iron railing will be replaced with a new updated railing for a much cheaper cost than building a deck. We are very happy too with the look of the new perennials.


Friday afternoon I babysat Mya for a bit and Sam took her for a ride on his new Gator. They had a blast riding around the yard for a long time. Can you tell they're cousins?!

Lastly, on Saturday evening, we took a trip to "Sam's park" and Brian attempted to start teaching him how to ride without training wheels. Sam really wasn't very excited about trying so I'm not sure if he's ready or not. He loves to ride his bike everywhere and doesn't understand the meaning of the word "slow down", so we figured he was ready. I guess we'll just keep trying once and a while until he's more comfortable.

Here's a couple of quick video clips...

Maniac Sam riding with training wheels...

Learning to ride without...

Wild At Heart

Happy Father's Day to all our wonderful dads and grandpas! We are so blessed to have you all in our lives. I'm feel especially blessed that Sam gets to grow up surrounded by so many good men who model for him how to be a great man. Today in church our pastor's message had many referrences to the book "Wild at Heart". It is a book that Brian has already read (and highly recommends) but it was so good for me to hear again that boys were created in God's image to be "wild at heart". Sometimes I feel exhausted by Sam's energy and rambuncous spirit, but today I realized again that #1 it is totally normal and #2 it is a huge blessing. Considering the health issues he started with in life and despite 2 open heart surgeries, Samuel has far more energy than either Brian or I could have ever imagined. And now I've been blessed with another little ball of testosterone due in 33 days....Lord help me!!!!!!!

Here's some pics of our "Wild at Heart" gymnast. Next up is swimming lessons starting in a week.

Ready to POP!

Here I am at 34 1/2 weeks...only 38 days to go (not that I'm counting or anything)! Surprisingly I'm still feeling really good. With Sam, my back hurt a lot, but I'm not having those issues this time. I've been having to get up 1 or 2 times a night to pee, so that's kind of annoying, but I can't complain. Also, I've been having a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions. I know this is typical and expected, but it makes me anxious! I lay awake worrying that I don't have everything done and end up getting up out of bed at 4:00 a.m because I'm so wound up. Some people might call this "nesting", but anyone who knows me knows that this is just part of who I am... a slightly anal retentive/perfectionist person when it comes to organization, cleanliness, etc. Sometimes it is a trait that serves me well, but mostly I just end up driving both myself and Brian crazy with my to-do list of "Things that must be done or the world will end"! My poor husband, God bless him, has been awesome for me lately. He works hard all day, but still comes home and does whatever I need done around the house or in my new classroom to help me relax. My goal is to be done with everything by the end of next week so I can just relax and enjoy a few weeks of summer before the baby arrives. Oh, and I think we finally picked a name! Well, at least we're down to 2 favorites. We will probably wait until he arrives and we see his cute little face to make the final decision. Here's some more pics of some of our summer adventures...

Cory and I took Samuel, Samantha and Brynn to a mini-zoo exhibit at the library. Sam got to pet a turtle and a big lizard, and look at other things like snake skins, deer skulls, and snow leopard furs. He had fun, but did not like waiting in line!

Last weekend, Brian, Sam and I went up to Silver Lake again for some family alone time. It rained alot in the mornings and evenings, but Saturday afternoon was gorgeous! We all got terrible sunburns (even with SPF on!) Guess we forgot to reapply. :( Here Sam is building a sand castle with a little boy that he met at the beach. While Brian fished, I sat with him on the beach for 3+ hours and he had a total riot making mud, throwing things in the water and then jumping from the dock into the water to retrieve things. He was SOOO tired by the time we got back to the cottage.


Sam was the fisherman of the weekend. He mastered the technique of slowly reeling in his line and everytime he pullled it in, there was a fish on the end! He was so proud of his skills, but actually he probably had more fun playing with the worms.

One of Sam's favorite things is to be pushed over and over again on the swings. He giggles so hard the entire time...it's so cute! Apparently I don't push him as high as daddy does because he kept bugging me to push him higher. When I finally gave him a good shove his response was, "Now that's what I'm talking about lady!" (needless to say, I almost peed myself from laughing so hard!) I have no idea where he comes up with some of his little sayings!

Last week, I took Sam over to Anna's house for a playdate. The kids had fun dressing up and playing for hours while LeAnne and I chatted.

Sam is in his 2nd week of gymnastics. He is having a blast! Every morning he wakes up and asks me, "Am I going to preschool today?" For some reason he has confused preschool with gymnastics, but either way, he is always excited to go. Today he started learning cartwheels and he seems to catch on to everything quite easily. He's one of the older kids in his group so I think he feels a little over confident (several times I've caught him running and trying to cut in line or push over some poor innocent little unsuspecting 3 year old girl in a too too.)

Every year since Samuel was a baby I've taken a picture of him in front of this flowering bush in our yard. It only blooms for about 2 weeks, so it's kind of neat to see how he changes from one year to the next.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a "Family Night" and roasted marshmallows in our outdoor fireplace and made smores! Yum!

Last but not least, I couldn't resist this adorable pic of Sam all pooped out after a day of gymnastics and playing at the park with his church buddies. He has lots of friends, but Murphy is still his "best buddy".