And then there were four...

So, it's been a pretty busy week for us.

Emily was technically due last Thursday, but since Sam came 11 days early we've been expecting it any day for the last two and a half weeks or so. In fact, Emily's mom came in a couple of weeks ago and her dad drove down a few days later. They helped us paint the outside of the house and a few other projects, but nothing was happening as of Sunday so they headed home.

On Monday Emily had an appointment with her doctor. He had told her the week before that he would probably let her go a week past her due date before inducing her, which would be today. But on Monday he said circumstances were favorable to induce and he would be going out of town, so we could do it Tuesday or wait another week. The idea of being pregnant another week did not appeal to Emily so she scheduled it for Tuesday. Her mom had been home in Oklahoma not quite 24 hours, but when she heard they would be inducing on Tuesday she hopped on a plane Monday night to head back down (by the time she goes back on Sunday, she will have been here for 17 days, minus one; we really appreciate her).

This is starting to seem like too much writing, not enough pictures, so...we went to the hospital Tuesday morning at 6:30am and at 4:44pm Caleb Eugene Burkinshaw was born.



He was 7lbs 11oz and 20.25" long. For comparison, Sam was 6lbs 1oz and about 18" long. Also for comparison, here's a similar shot of both of them (Caleb is the first one).



We wondered how Sam would react to having a new baby brother, and when he came to visit at the hospital there were too many buttons to push and cords to pull on to pay attention to any thing else. But Emily and Caleb came home last night, and this afternoon Sam finally started to notice there was a new little person in the house.



Then this evening he was holding his arms out while I was holding Caleb, so we sat him on the rocking chair and they both did great for a little while. Then Caleb started getting fussy and Sam started getting bored, but we think they bonded. Don't you?

Sam has always been on the small side for his age, but now after holding Caleb, Sam seems huge. He's been very interested in all his old stuff that we've gotten out for Caleb. Here he is in his old bouncer.

We're very happy to be a family of four, and very grateful for these two little boys.

Long over due!

There is so much to say about what we have been up to! Mainly it's chasing Sam all over the place.

Some things about Sam. He likes to hide things in drawers. Today I found a puzzle piece and a remote in the Tupperware drawer.

He also likes to get out pans and try to slide on them.

He is very picky about what he eats.

Right now he loves pretzel goldfish!

He also likes mommy's yogurt covered pretzels.

He really likes drinking from a straw. He doesn't backwash much so that's good. John is usually willing to share whatever he is having.

He is an amazing tantrum thrower. He flips and flops all over the floor. I will leave and come back a minute later and he's on the other side of the room still flipping and flopping. It does make me laugh sometimes which is better than the alternative. However, he gets real tears every, so even though he's being ridiculous, I still feel bad for him. Who knew I would have such an ornery child. ;-) He usually gets pretty bummed when dad leaves for work, meetings or church. Sam is a total daddy's boy! He walks around saying Dadda? Dadda? And when he hears the garage door open, or any noise from that end of the house, he runs to the back door, Dadda? Dadda? and starts knocking on the door. It's precious. When it so happens that John is not home and he hears a noise, the poor child will lie on the floor and cry at the door. It's a little sad, but pretty funny to see.

He loves little babies. There is a 2 month old in our ward that he is just fascinated with. He'll go squat by him and rock the car seat (not things that I have have taught him). He has on occasion even tried to drag the car seat with him when he wants to go. I'll have to keep a close watch when his little brother gets here!

Sam loves seeing new people, and we're teaching him to give kisses. He was running away from me at the mall and stopped next to a lady who bent down to talk to him while I caught up. By the time I got there, he was sitting on her lap and trying to give her kisses on the cheek. It was pretty cute. I have no idea how he got so bold!

In the last few months Sam has put his amazing balance to the test. Here are a few of the things he likes to climb up on. (He can also balance on a plastic box of wipes!)
The picture where his nose is scraped up is from when he got going too fast down our driveway and his shoes got in the way of pavement, and he took a dive. It was pretty traumatic! But that doesn't stop him from trying to run!


Sam likes to help out whenever possible. This is him helping dad make some muffins for Conference morning. He did not like it when we tried to show him how to stir the ingredients. He had been doing a great job with the empty bowl. And he didn't like it when we took away his measuring cup to pour the milk in. He is quite the independent child.


Grandpa Burkinshaw came to visit last month and for FHE treats he bought some ice cream sandwiches. I think Sam might have eaten pretty much the whole thing. Thank goodness Grandpa was willing to sacrifice. :-) Sam will eat pretty much anything sweet!


Aunt Chelsea and Aunt Kathleen and cousin Spencer came to visit us! This I believe is the only picture I have from their visit! I'm not good at documenting things! It was fund having them here and it was fun to see Sam and Spencer interact. :-) Sam also fell in love with Aunt Chelsea's phone. He loved to take it around with him and and he liked looking at the pictures. Thanks Aunt Chelsea for keeping him happy! :-)


Sam likes to help Dad with his work out these days. He will just lie on John's back while he does push ups. This used to be my job when I was less pregnant and much lighter. It looks like he has the better end of the workout!

John also likes to use Sam as a weight when he does pull ups. Sam of course loves it too. He is just smiles all the way!

Over all, things are going well here. We expect our 2nd little one soon, and we can't wait to meet him! Hopefully we won't have to wait much longer!