God Bless Samuel James

Our beautiful boy

Samuel being baptized (you can see him on the screen too)

Pastor John presenting Samuel to the church

The Good Family

The Galand/Rowse/Good Family (missing: cousin Alex)

Samuel's Godparents - Aunt Tammy & Uncle Aaron

Proud Mommy & Daddy

My little man loves the camera

Samuel's first Bible from Mommy & Daddy

Samuel was baptized at our church this past Sunday. I was a little nervous about how he would be up on stage in front of everyone...especially when it was his nap time. Thankfully he loved looking at all of the people and was really good...even when Pastor John put the water on his forehead. We are so grateful to our friends and family who shared this special day with us as we declared that it is our intent to raise Samuel in the knowledge and love of Christ. Our prayer is that Samuel will accept Jesus at a young age and walk with him all the days of his life. May God bless our little man.

*All of the pictures (except the first and last) were taken by our good friend Andrew Rush. He is an amazing photographer and was kind enough to help capture Samuel's special day.

McKee Babies

Last weekend we went to visit one of my college friends and her family in Reading, PA. This was the first time that they met Sam and the first time that we met their 18 month old son. We had a great time watching our kids play together and we had some great conversations about faith, marriage and raising kids. We look forward to many more weekend visits as our kids grow! (As of Saturday, we have two more McKee babies to add to the group...welcome twin boys Owen and Eli!)

Teach me to swing

Sam took his first ride on the swings this past weekend and he just loved it. He is such a happy, easy-going baby!

Sam pretending he went down the slide!

Buggy Rider

First, let me say that this post is dedicated to my mom who always calls her shopping carts "buggies". One shopping trip my sisters and I watched my mom run after a runaway buggy as it was headed straight for a vehicle. We probably laughed for a solid thirty minutes about that and ever since then we have said that mom has a special place in her heart for buggies.

So on Monday Samuel took his first ride sitting in a shopping cart. Grocery shopping has been difficult lately because his car seat doesn't fit too well in the cart and then it is a pain for us to push both the stroller and the cart through the star (and obviously it is a two-man job). Sam has begun to sit up on his own (hoorah!) for a few minutes at a time so we thought he was ready for this next step. We have a nice seat cover that covers all of the yucky parts of the cart and actually has a good harness to strap him in. He had a great time sitting up and looking at all of the people and things in the supermarket. It was fun and sad all at the same time. Where have these 6 months gone?!

Carrots in the Highchair

I got Samuel's highchair set up and it is so much easier to feed him in that. He can pound his hands on the tray but can't bend his head back so I can actually get the spoon to his mouth. We tried carrots tonight and as you can see he had a much stronger reaction to it than the squash. He made lots of yucky faces and actually spit it back out! I think that maybe it was a bit too thick for him...so we will water it down a bit and try again tomorrow. I don't think I will continue to do a post for every new food he tries but instead I will probably do one post summarizing all of the veggies he has tried and then another one for fruits (you can tell he is the first baby, our poor second child probably won't even have a blog!) So until then enjoy these carrot shots.

1st Veggie - Yellow Squash

Samuel tried his first vegetable today, yellow squash. I bought it fresh at the farmer's market and made a batch last night. First, let me say that the video and pics aren't that great because Luke has our camera in Texas (he is at a conference). So these are from my cell phone...not too bad, but not great either :) As you can see by the pictures and video, he was not a fan. I discovered that it is time to pull out and assemble his high chair because he likes to lean backwards out of the bumbo to the point where it looks like he will flip over. Needless to say it is not easy to feed a baby when he is doing that. About 30 minutes after I took these pictures, I tried again with the squash to see if he would take anymore and to my surprise...he finished all of it with NO yuck faces at all! I am not sure if he just had to get used to the taste or if he was just hungry enough to eat anything. Time will tell...we have 3 more days of yellow squash before we move onto sweet potatoes.

6 Months

It is so hard to believe that my little boy is already 6 months old. This is such a fun age as he learns to do new things everyday. Samuel can roll across the floor, transfer objects from one hand to another, reach for everything is sight, make himself (and his mommy) laugh and sit up by himself for a few moments. He is such a happy baby and loves to smile for the camera. Samuel now weighs 16 pounds 4 ounces and measures 26 inches tall. This month will be full of first foods for him...we can't wait to see what he likes and doesn't like. We thank God everyday for our little man!

Babies at the Zoo

We went to see the new baby elephants at the Pittsburgh Zoo today. Samuel got to try out his new "big boy" stroller for the first time. He really seemed to enjoy being able to look around although he spent more time looking at people than the animals. The baby elephants were just adorable...so big and so tiny all at the same time. We also got to see the polar bears swim in the water (from the underwater tunnel) for the first time ever. It was good day at the zoo!

Baby Food

I have decided to make most, if not all, of Samuel's baby food. On Saturday we went to a small, family-owned organic farm and picked a peck of green beans and spent the evening steaming, pureeing and freezing them in ice cube trays. It is actually very easy to make baby food and I feel good knowing that Sam will be eating fresh and organic veggies. Now I am just hoping that he loves green beans because he has enough to last him for a long time! Tonight I did a batch of peaches from a local farm. I don't think they are organic though and I am having a tough time finding local organic farms that sell fruit. I still hope to make and freeze applesauce, pears, sweet potatoes and carrots. Luke's parents have apple and pear trees, we are growing carrots in our garden so now I just have to find sweet potatoes. This is a new adventure for me, so I am open to any hints or suggestions! I will be sure to post pictures when Sam tries all of these homemade foods for the first time.

Sandcastle Fun

Grandpa and Grandma Good treated Samuel (and his parents) to a day of fun at Sandcastle water park on Monday. We had a great time enjoying the sun and water slides. Samuel spent the day nursing, sleeping and splashing around in the baby pool. He was quite a character with his spiked hair (courtesy of the suntan lotion) and his sunglasses...he was the coolest baby at the pool! Luke and I got to race each other on the slides and lounge on the lazy river...some much needed time together! I couldn't fit all of my favorite pictures on here so make sure to check out the Flickr link for more.

Steam Roller

Samuel has been rolling from his back to belly for a few weeks now, but tonight for the first time he managed to roll himself half-way across the living room floor. Yes, that means Samuel is mobile and the house needs to be baby-proofed! Here is how I discovered he could do this new trick:

I put him on his blanket in the middle of the floor with some toys and went into the kitchen for ONE minute to get his cereal ready. He has never rolled off of the blanket before so I figured I was safe. Well when I came back to check on him, he wasn't on his blanket and I panicked. Then I saw that he was on his play mat smiling and playing with his toys. For a minute I thought maybe I had lost my mind and that I put him there to begin with, but I specifically remember putting him on his blanket. When I put him back on his blanket he started to roll again and I realized that he can roll and roll and roll himself over (kinda in an arch pattern) to get where he wants to go! Cereal and rolling across the room all in the same week...this is a little much for this mommy to take in. It is a neat trick though and I am going to try to get it on video...