The eagle has landed.

getting courage to pick one up...

testing it out...

Not eagles, but chickens and turkeys...more to come..but for now, here are some pictures of our latest crazy endeavor.

Five pictures and all is well...

I have received countless requests for new pictures of me. I hate to monopolize the blog, so you will have to be content with only a couple. If you want a couple hundred pics from the Best of Sam line, let me know and we can negotiate the cost. Until then, enjoy these for free!

Some videos, perhaps?

After much clamour, I'm finally updating the blog...and trying some videos. Am I high tech or what?

Some newer pictures...

Nora is growing by leaps and bounds...in her first twelve days of life she has gained 15 ounces (a spectacular growth rate)! If she continues to grow at this rate she will weigh over 36 pounds at her first birthday and by the time she is ten, she will tip the scales at 285 pounds. Let's hope it moderates somewhere along the way. Anyway, now that my blog has been cleared of all misdeeds, here are a few pics for you!

Some details for those who like that sort of thing...

Celestine and I are still debating how long her labor actually lasted. I say 3.5-4 hours...she says 5.5 or so...you can believe whoever you want.

What we can roughly agree on is this: Around 3:00 pm on September 27, her contractions became regular enough that we believed Nora was actually going to come that day. We finished loading the car and headed down to Becca and Jeremy's house in Oak Park (ok, they don't live in oak park, but they live very close and i don't know the name of the town in which they actually reside...it's all Chicago). I think we got to their house around 5:00 and went up for some tea (for Celestine) and a Luna bar (for me - nuts over chocolate - everything a woman's body needs). After less than an hour, Celestine wanted to get over to the ABC (alternative birthing clinic) room at the hospital. We headed over and got there around 6:30. She had to go into triage (life is a triage, says Dave) for about 20 minutes to make sure she and Nora were good. Once that was finished we got into the ABC room and into the tub. After ten minutes of valorous labor, Nora swam into our world. And she is beautiful, like her mom and sister!

Her vital stats:
Birth weight: 7 lbs, 9 oz
Birth length: 20 inches
Official Apgar: 9.9
Apgar assigned by the midwife and me: 10.0

(In a later entry, I will sing the praises of hypno-birthing, unless Celestine feels up to it. For now, hypno-birthing is amazing.)

Finally.

Okay, after much delay, and not as much sleep as one might hope, here are a few pictures.

Testing...testing...Is this thing on?

This is our first family blog adventure. We are hoping it won't be too lame along the way. Here is a before picture. More to come after I sleep some more.