It's All About SAM

Sam is six today!!! I can't believe it. I know that most moms say this, but it really does seem like he just turned five and couldn't get enough of Diego. In some ways it's so fun that he's getting older, in others, I miss my chubby red-haired boy.

Sam is one of the kindest, most considerate and friendly people I have ever met. He has never met a stranger, and he ALWAYS is the first to give up whatever for a sibling, friend or even a stranger. He told me his five best friends are Dad, Mom, Meg, Ben and Molly.

We are so blessed to have Sam in our family. His personality is so contagious and makes us laugh every day.

Here are some fun things that many people might not know about Sam that I don't want to ever forget:

1) Sam was born on April 4, 2002. Six weeks later, (the day before he was to be blessed) I got mastitis. I was pretty sick, and after 5 days of being on an antibiotic, and my fever continually spiking, my doctor advised me to go to the hospital. I decided to not listen to her advice, and put it off because so many family members were coming. I thought I could get through the blessing and then go into the hospital. Rusty and I knelt down and prayed and he had the strongest confirmation I should go immediately to the hospital. It was a good thing. I stayed in the hospital for four days and then for the next two weeks had a nurse come to my house twice a day to give me IV antibiotics. The doctor told Rusty I really needed to get rest and get better or I would have to go back into the hospital for surgery. Rusty really stepped up to the plate. I think he was worried I might die and leave him with a four year old, three year old and a new-born. Every night for six weeks Rusty slept in the family room on the couch with Sam in the bassinet/bouncy seat next to him. He set the alarm for 3:oo a.m. (unless Sam woke up around that time anyway). Rusty would bring Sam into me to nurse (this helped clear the mastitis) and would sleep on the bed while I did this. When I finished feeding Sam, I would wake Rusty up, and he would change Sam's diaper and go back into the family room until 7:00 a.m. and do the same thing all over again. Because of this I not only saw the great love Rusty had/has for me, but for Sam. This was a huge bonding time for those two.

2) When Sam was 10 months old he got RSV. It was one of the scariest times of our lives. Every time he coughed he sounded like he was going to die. We took him to the hospital and after only being in the waiting room for a few minutes the triage nurse couldn't stand hearing him cough and took him right back. Sam stayed in the hospital for three days. I have always been one of those moms who "take up" for her kids, but I think I took the cake for my actions on the first night of the hospital. Rusty refers to the "incident" as me going "Carnival Freak Crazy" on the nurse. I did! It was 2 a.m. and the nurse came in to give him a breathing treatment. Well, after having experience with another asthmatic child (Meg) I knew what type of medicine was the best as far as side affects. The medication they wanted to give Sam makes children hyper and, therefore, I knew he wouldn't get any sleep that night. I wanted the more expensive medication that many insurance companies don't want to cover/pay for. I started out calm in my request, but when the nurse wouldn't listen to me I started getting angry until I seriously was yelling, "Wake up the resident on call now and get me the medicine I'm requesting." Needless to say the nurse woke the resident, who was very nice and immediately wrote the orders for the medicine I wanted.

Sam had terrible asthma for a few years after this. We had to give him breathing treatments twice a day for about two years. He also had allergy shots twice a week for about a year and half. I remember Rusty and I being worried he wouldn't be able to play with other kids as much due to this, but because of the treatments/shots he received those two years, he hasn't had any asthma problems the past three years. 3) Sam has rocked himself to sleep ever since he could sit up. I'm not just talking a little rocking, I'm talking shake-the-bed, things-fall-off-the-wall rocking. The more tired he is the harder he rocks. He has a specific technique as well, that he's tried to teach all of us. Apparently, all power is generated from the hips and the hands have to be between the knees while sitting up. Most of the time, he's dead asleep while he rocks. Ben, I guess, has gotten used to it, but I do feel for his future mission companions, room-mates and wife. 4) For the longest time, Sam wanted to be a cheetah. I mean really thought he would grow up and be a cheetah after his mission. When you asked him how this would work, he would look at you like you were the dumbest person on earth and say, "the hair on my back will bet longer and go all over my body until I'm a cheetah." Sam has a really hairy back. Then we would ask him where he would live. For a while his response was, "Mom, cheetah's live at the zoo." Then it turned into he would live in our back yard and eat the grass. This way we could see him everyday. Now, he realizes he can't be a cheetah, but he still LOVES cheetahs--really any big cats. We got his picture taken with his favorite "soft guy--Cheetee" when he was 2 1/2.

5) Like many red-heads (if you're a parent of one you will know exactly what I'm talking about) Sam gets stopped all the time because of the color of his hair. People will pull out pictures to show me that they had red hair when they were young, or their grandkid has red hair, or my favorite from strangers (I've been told this multiple times), "Red hair is a becoming extinct." Really?!?! Anyway, Beginning with the nurses at the hospital, "Oh, you're the mother of the red-haired baby in the nursery;" to getting stopped countless times, I often wonder if part of the reason Sam's personality is super outgoing is because so many strangers have talked to him his whole life. On the subject of hair, Sam's "baby" nick-name was Crazy Hair (given to him by his brother Ben). It stuck up everywhere. 6) Again, speaking of Sam's hair (I guess it's a big part of Sam's personality for the last six years), after he turned one year old we always did the "buzz." The shorter the better. He's had a couple of months the last little while growing it out. He wanted it long enough so he could "flip" his bangs. I guess he's tired of trying to flip, and just told me yesterday that he wanted to get a buzz this weekend. This jacket was Rusty's when he was little. His mom bought it when she was a teenager and worked at a department store. She bought it with the hope that her little boy would one day wear it.
7) Sam's a little gross out!!! I realized this was part of his personality when he was about two years old. I looked outside at all the kids in the cul-de-sac playing to see if the kids were okay, and Sam was laying on his belly slurping up the run-off water from the neighbor's sprinkler in the gutter. Another memory is when he was about 4 and we were headed to Ben's baseball game. Sam had gotten in trouble and I told him he couldn't have any snacks at the game. While at the game I couldn't see Sam. When I began looking I realized he was underneath the bleachers eating the remainder of someone's soft pretzel. He can also burp on demand and unfortunately toot on demand as well. The one thing that I think has been in my favor with all these "gross-out" experiences is that Sam rarely gets sick. I think it's built up his immune system.

Sam just loves to always be playing. He swims for our neighborhood swim team; he plays baseball (Rusty's the coach) and plays with his brother and sisters (mostly on the tramp or scooters). He also is ALWAYS coloring or drawing. Most days, while Meg and Ben are doing their homework and practicing the piano, Sam's coloring. WE LOVE YOU SAM--HAPPY SIXTH BIRTHDAY!!!