Growing Fast!

Sam is five weeks old today and he had his one month check up yesterday. He now weighs 11 pounds, 14 ounces and is 23 inches long. The doc said that puts him in the 95th percentile! Whoa! That kid must be drinking straight cream! We can only assume that his growth will level off at some point soon, but we are definately glad to see that he's healthy and growing. :-)

Newton Grandparents and Uncle Pete

We FINALLY have pictures to share from Thanksgiving week with the Newtons!

They arrived the day after the Hamer grandparents left, and spent Samuel's 1-week birthday with us. They were anxious to meet their second grandchild (first grandson). Sam joins one Newton cousin, Anna.


On Thanksgiving Day we drove up to Ben's grandparents' home in Limerick (1 hr. from here). Sam is their second great-grandchild...





















Four generations of Newton men:









We all then had a beautiful dinner over at Aunt Jackie's house (with Uncle Terry and cousins David, Dustin, Leena and her husband Dan). Aunt Janice even came from Toronto! This was a special time for the Newton great-grandparents to have three of their four kids together.




















Anna has already dubbed mom and dad Newton as "Mum" (the English version of "mom") and "Pops", so we're calling them that too.
Sam enjoyed lots of cuddling from each of them!







Uncle Pete was a little hesitant to hold such a little guy, but he got the hang of it and did a great job!







Mum and Mama out for a walk on a sunny November day...







FYI- the adorable pumpkin hat is a gift to Samuel from mama's friend Gretta. (Thanks, Gretta, we love it!)

Daddy Lovin'

Ben loves to snuggle with Sam... I love it when he comes home for burp duty, diaper duty, and bath duty. It gives me a break!
(Disclaimer: I absolutely love spending time with Sam, but I get to do it all day.)
Even right now he's holding Sam so that I can write this blog!
Below is a bit of a chronicle of their time together since birth...

Sam's second day, Papa came in from roofing our house to cash out with his boy.

Sam's third day: Sunday afternoon nap.


As you see in the next two pictures, snuggle time turns in to sleep time for Ben sooner than it does for Sam. We know who's getting the most sleep in this relationship!


Two days ago: Saturday morning quiet time

Please vote

Let us know which picture you think we should use for our official Christmas cards (which usually come out in February...)

Hamer Grandparents

As you know from our last posting, we do not have all of our most recent pictures available, so pictures of "Mum and Pops" Newton are forthcoming. For the time being here are some memories with the proud Hamer grandparents...







This is Grandpa and Nana on the 16th at the birth center. They were in awe of the whole process and immediately in love with their first grandchild.

Grandpa Vic said that his name can be altered to be "whatever Samuel wants it to be"!

"Nana" comes from one of Lindsey's very favorite books as a child, "Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs."

It was great having my parents here... they distracted me from the waiting game and got a TON of stuff done before Samuel arrived (stuff like organizing all his clothes, pointing out that we needed crib sheets and burp cloths, putting up the tub surround so that I could use the downstairs bathroom...). Then, when the big day came, things would have been scarier had they not been here to offer four more hands. After Sam arrived they, of course, had no objections to holding him whenever we needed a break - even in the middle of the night!

The week following

We are already acting like scatterbrained parents... We left our digital camera (with all our Thanksgiving pictures on it) at Ben's aunt's house in Schwennksville, PA.
Sorry folks, more pictures will come later this week.

Both sets of grandparents and one uncle (Peter) have already been here to visit their favorite grandson and nephew.

We already think Samuel is much bigger than when he was born... At his five-day check up he had gained 5 ounces!

Tomorrow is Sam's big day at church--pray the kid doesn't get sick!

The birth of Samuel Benjamin Newton

On Thursday, November 16th, a cold, rainy day in eastern Pennsylvania at 6:52 pm we welcomed Samuel into the world...



Official Stats: 8.4 pds, 21.5 inches and did we mention, definately a boy!


Family Shot


Grandpa and Nana were there too



Our precious baby boy leaving the birthing center in his onesie of many colors!

Thursday's Child?

My parents arrived from Illinois on the due date and have now been here for 6 days... we're all just waiting for this little guy to make his debut. It has been good for me to keep busy with them (yesterday we went to Chocolate World in Hershey!)... and much easier for Ben to get to work without me being so needy!

Well, Ben left early this morning for a conference in Harrisburg (one hour from here), and I've been having some "different" and somewhat painful contractions. Doesn't it figure that he would have to leave town today?! I told him to go, but to keep his cell phone on! This could be a very long day. Mom is doing a little dance as she moves around the house... I think we're going to work on the curtains for the baby's room while dad finishes renovations on the bathroom. Distraction is the name of this game!

More news to [hopefully] follow!

The BIG Belly

My belly feels SO HUGE! We had some pictures taken the other day that I'm really excited about. I waited so long to schedule this that they won't be developed until after the baby has arrived (I hope he's here by then!), but we'll put some on the blog when we can.

The baby is due to arrive any time now... Knowledge of this fact motivates us in different ways. My parents are going to go ahead and hit the road this evening to arrive here tomorrow. The plan was for them to "wait for the call" but with a 17 hour drive, that thought was unnerving. Ben is working a lot at the church and finding a substitute teacher for each event "just in case". Some days I cry (it happens easily these days!), and some days I'm just a flurry of energy because I want everything to be ready for the big day. Yesterday and today I am painting trim in the livingroom and hallways so that we can have that completely done.
Last night I had a doctor's appointment after which we went out to eat. We did this becuase we don't expect to be able to as much with a baby and we used coupons and a gift card at Panera so that we didn't have to pay at all! Then we had money to go share a cup of ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery (my favorite!). After eating we browsed the outlet malls for a rug for the baby's room... By the time we got home I was tired but BEN got the "nesting" bug! At 11PM he started installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, a new doorbell, and a front porch light. And I thought I was crazy! :-)
Well, I'm not sure if we're ready for our life to change so drastically, but we're tired of waiting, so BRING IT ON!!

POLL OF THE DAY:
Give us your favorite boy names - we are still open for suggestions! :-)

A Brief Family History

Ben and Lindsey met in August, 1999 at Huntington College (now "University").

Married July 19, 2003 in Sparta, IL.

Moved to Denver, CO where Ben obtained his Masters of Divinity from Denver Seminary and Lindsey worked at DenverWorks. Was a part of Colorado Community Church.

In March, 2006 found out that the first little Newt was on his way!

Moved to Millersville, PA in July, 2006 when Ben began working for Manor Church as the Pastor of Young Adults and Community.