Visit with the pediatrician

We took Sam for his 2nd visit to the pediatrician today. Overall he's doing fine, but he could stand to gain a little more weight. We'll be feeding him every two hours and that should get his weight up.



Sam ready for his ride. Cleo reviewed our car seat setup and approved.

-- Chris

Memorial Day

We went to Alan and Mahvash's (Roya's parents) house for Memorial Day. Sam and Mommy spent most of the time in the bedroom trying to soothe a gassy tummy.


Family portrait


Grandma trying to soothe a gassy tummy


Nap time

Out for a Walk

We went for our first walk with Sam in his stroller yesterday. He did very well. Cleo was very excited because it was her second walk of the day since Mary Lou took her earlier. We ran into our friends and neighbors Paul and Patty out walking with their daughter Elizabeth.


Family of four ... Emily, Chris, Cleo, and Sam


Elizabeth and Sam

Meeting Grandma

Sam got to meet Grandmother Mary Lou yesterday.


Here he is playing with Aunt Melly.


...and taking a nap after such a long day. To quote his cousin Landry "It's not easy being a little boy."

One week old

Sam is one week old today. This is also his actual due date according to the first sonogram. He is doing great! He is starting to fall more into a routine, so we got a good night's sleep last night.


Posing for the announcment photo in his bouncer.


In Daddy's arms in the nursery.


In Mommy's arms.


Lying in Mommy's lap in the glider.


Teeny tiny baby hand holding Aunt Melanie's thumb.

First Bath

Well, we had our first bath at home yesterday. We think it went very well, but Sam doesn't agree. He'd prefer not to have to do that every day. He cried most of the time and peed on Daddy a few times.


Sam in his tub.


Warm and toasty in Daddy's arms.


Relaxing with Aunt Melanie after the traumatic bathing event.


Meeting Aunt Melanie earlier in the afternoon.

More pictures of Sam ...

We went to the pediatrician yesterday for Sam's first visit, but believe it or not, we forgot to take the camera! The doctor said that Sam is doing great. He's only 2oz off of his birth weight and no sign of jaundice. We'll go back in two weeks for vaccinations. The doctor also gave us some tips on getting Sam to sleep better through the night, so we got a lot more sleep ourselves last night. I'm taking this opportunity to post some more pictures while Chris and Sam sleep.


Sam sleeping in his bouncer.


deep in thought


with Grandpa


with Aunt Andrea


with Tom


with Roya


with Daddy and Ian


asleep in Mommy's lap



Cleo is starting to adjust to the idea of having a baby in the house. She's up with us at every feeding. She remembers when she was in all the photos.

First full day home

We checked out of the hospital Saturday evening. Sam had a few more procedures that were required, such as the removal of the IV in his scalp.


Stanley with Sam. You can see the IV taped to Sam's scalp. The NICU needed an IV to provide him with antibiotics. The IV was in various places, but Sam's kept pulling it or kicking it out. He was pissed when it came time to remove it from head, but all is well.


Emily is quickly becoming a pro at this baby thing!

Samuel Adrian Conner

Samuel Adrian Conner entered the world yesterday, May 18th, 2006 at 4:06 PM CDT! He weighed 7 lb 11.5 oz and was 20.25 inches long. Unfortunately, he was born with his cord around his neck and this caused a little respitory distress which required that he stay in the NICU. Emily is doing great.



Sam, just a few minutes after he was born. He was a bit pale becuase of breathing problems.


Emily feeding Sam his bottle.

Click here for a short video of Emily and Sam.

Mother's Day update

Took this picture of Emily yesterday. Everything continues to develop. We think the baby has dropped since yesterday as she is carrying lower than what's in this picture.

Week 39: The Moon and other updates

We have a nice clear night and a full moon so I took a picture with the new lens. It's not quite long enough to get a great shot but this was the best I could do. The Moon is a difficult subject to take a picture of. It requires that you set you camera to full manual and adjust shutter, aperture, and ISO.

Emily and I went to the OBGYN today for the weekly check up. The doctor esimates that the baby is 7 lb. She told us that everything was looking good.

Brad & Jax

 
Brad stopped by on Friday with his son Jackson. Jackson is six months old growing quickly. He spent most of his time laughing at Cleo. Here he's looking at Dad work the cell phone. 

Pictures with the new lens

Emily and I got the new lens on Wednesday. Here are a few of the test pictures we've taken so far. Overall, the lens is very sharp.


Day lilly in the back yard.

 
Birds have been pretty active in our back yard for the past few weeks. Here's a shot of one of them on the fence behind the pool.

 
One of the many rabbits in the neighborhood. This is at 200mm.

 
Here's the lizard again! Emily took this from inside through the window and screen of the office. Emily watched him climb up and down the tree hunting for butterflies.

 
Just a quick shot of a truck two doors down the street. I took this from right in front of the house. 

Last day off...

Today ends my little mini-vacation. I can't say that I've gotten a whole bunch done in my time off, but I feel a lot better. I need to do this more often!

Emily washed all of the baby clothes, hung them up, and got the nursery ready yesterday. The picture below is of one of the stuffed animals hanging from the mobile over the crib. I played with the picture a bit to get the saturated colors and to throw everything behind the first animal out of focus.


Now it's hurry up and wait. The due date is May 23rd, but we're prepared if he shows up early.

If it isn't evident by now, I've gotten into photography. I've really enjoyed taking pictures of friends and family. I think the logic behind it was that Emily got the nice camera for her birthday and that I should learn to use it so I could take pictures of her progress along the pregnancy and to be ready when she delivers the baby.

Of course, that's how it all starts. It's now evolved into something a bit bigger. I got a lens and a flash not too long ago and I like to think that's made a big difference in the pictures we've been taking. Last week I decided to get one more lens before Emily has the baby. I'm currently waiting for the UPS man to show up with the lens below. It's a 70-200mm zoom lens and it should allow me to get shots at a greater distance without being so obtrusive.