Ben is here!

Excited to meet Baby Ben
Sami loving her little brother
Victory Kiss!
just after birth, looking kind of tired but feeling so happy
Benjamin David Rubinson

I am so excited to introduce you to our precious little boy, Benjamin David Rubinson! He is perfect, perfect, perfect! He was born Sunday, May 9 at 11:24pm weighing 7 lb 7oz, 21 1/2 inches long. I can honestly say I fell in love with him the moment he arrived. Speaking of his arrival, he has quite the birth story. I will give a quick run down.

I began to feel like I was having some early labor signs on Friday evening, so I easily convinced my mom to come on up just in case. Well, we walked all around South Lake Shopping Center on Saturday trying to encourage labor. I felt like we were headed in the right direction. Well, Sunday we made it to church and all the way through our Mother's Day brunch and still no Ben. In fact, things stopped completely. I was so disappointed. Mom said she had to head back to Houston by 3 or 4pm. I all of a sudden became desperate. I asked Adam to head to the store to pick up some root beer, ice cream, castor oil (yep!), reeses peanut butter cups, red raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose oil, and the spiciest indian food you can find. Mom went ahead and had to leave, but she knew she would probably have to come right back. After all the mid-wife remedies I began to have contractions while having dinner. I didn't want to get my hopes up, so we just continued with our evening routine. We ate dinner, gave Sami a bath, read her books, put her to bed, cleaned the kitchen, folded some laundry, installed the infant car seat, did some last minute packing of the hospital bag, all while having contractions. Before we knew it, they were coming 3 1/2 minutes apart and mom was headed to pick up dad and head back up I-45. Adam's parents were in a movie and quickly headed to our house. By the time we were headed to the hospital we were having contractions 3 minutes apart. We got checked in and had Ben in our arms not even 2 1/2 hours later. It truly was an amazing experience. Ben was perfection!

I cannot tell you how blessed I feel to have two healthy children who bring me so much happiness. I have never been filled with this much joy in my life! So, praise God for answered prayers, for blessings beyond blessings. Thanks to all those who prayed for us. I love our friends, our family, my babies and most of all my hubby who is just the greatest!!!

Getting Close to the Big Day

Whenever that is. May 7th is our official due date. It's funny that I am telling you that because all along I have been very general about my due date saying "oh, we are due sometime mid-May". I was 10 days late with sweet little Sami and I didn't want to feel disappointed if Ben waited an extra week or two also. But, as the weeks have gone on and we are getting so close I am starting to get my hopes up that he won't stay in there as long. So I guess I can say for sure that within the next 4 weeks (lets hope more like 2 weeks), we will have a baby boy!

While we wait, we are busy getting everything ready. I have a few more things to do in Ben's room and I need to put the infant car seat back in the car. Those are the only big things to do. Adam has been preparing for his licensing exams that he has to pass to do his new job. If he doesn't pass the first one the first time, he doesn't have a job. No pressure. He will do great. He has been studying so hard and doing well on his practice exams. So, by wednesday afternoon we will know if he has a job or not. Then he has one more to take on May 5th (good timing huh?). There is not quite as much pressure on the second exam. He will have a few tries to pass that one.

Sami has been loads of fun (for the most part) these days. She talks about Baby Ben, she prays for him, she knows he is in mommies belly. But, do I think she really knows that Ben is a real little baby boy who is about to change her entire world, no. The way I see it is none of us know what this is about to look like. We are all in this new experience together. Sami will be a great big sister. She is totally into babies these days. We have to change her baby dolls diaper every time we change hers. We have to put baby to bed whenever she is going to bed. She loves to throw away trash and to help clean. She will be my little helper!

When I finish the baby room, I will post some pics. Here are some pics for, well, someone's enjoyment (mostly mine :).

Bluebonnets 2010
Bluebonnets 2009
38 weeks with Sami
37 weeks with Ben (any difference, besides the tan?)

Sami in the leaves

Little Princess Ballerina


Snowing on Christmas Day at our new home
Sami and Uncle Rew


So, I don't seem to be the most faithful blogger in the world. After five, almost six months, I am finally catching you up. Since our last post, a lot has been going on for our family.  We managed to make it through a move, the holidays, my first trimester, illness and a week of Sami not napping (which I thought was going to be forever!).  Adam finished his golf year and has decided to change direction and start a new career.  He is currently on the job hunt meeting with many professionals in different industries (he has a few job offers and will know officially which he will take this week!).  We are starting to feel like things are slowing back down and getting back to some sort of normalcy.  

We had a great time over the holidays. Sami LOVES being with her family and friends. We got to spend Thanksgiving with our family in San Antonio.  Sami loves her cousins Chase and Lexie.  Uncle Mikey has become her favorite to play with.  She thinks he is FUNNY!!!  Christmas was spent in Fort Worth with all of the Fort Worth and Austin family.  There were around 20 of us plus 4 dogs.  It was the perfect environment for Sami, our little social butterfly!  Lots of family and friends, dogs and food, what could be better!  My parents and brother, Mike and his friend Mark came up Christmas afternoon and had dinner and stayed through my birthday.  It was so nice having everyone around.  Sami was not quite sure what to do with herself when all the holiday excitement came to an end.

Sami has recently developed one new and different trait, clinginess. She has become a little shy and definitely clings to momma. I took her with me to 24 hour fitness and definitely got called to come pick her up because she was inconsolable. She did the same thing at church. Not our usual Sami. But, as I have learned, this too shall pass. I am sure she will be back to normal in no time. Hopefully before Ben arrives (yes we have a name, Benjamin David Rubinson).

Speaking of Ben, we have our next appointment with our specialist on February 9th. If all looks good on this sonogram, we won't have to go back to the specialist and we can feel encouraged that Ben is growing perfectly. He definitely seems to be growing as he should and he is moving around in my tummy quite a bit. So, we are very hopeful for good news on the 9th.

Well, that is pretty much the update on things. I have thrown in a few pics of our girl. Thanks for checking in on us!

1 year and 1, almost 2, months later

Little Chef
Blue Eyes

Loving her ability to walk!
funny girl!

It feels like Little Miss Sami has mastered so much since she turned 1 on August 3rd. She is walking like a pro, even occasionally trying to run (definitely falls 100 times a day!), babbles all day long, loves to pretend she is talking on the phone, squats to pick up toys, dances to music, says "mama" and "dada" (sort of), signs many things, LOVES books (yay!), is growing a healthy mullet (thankfully it curls up so it isn't so noticeable), can dribble a ball (as in soccer dribble), throws balls (and her lunch, not a fan of that one), eats everything (except hot cereal), helps clean the floor, gives kisses and hugs (my favorite) and blows kisses. She is definitely loving that she can communicate and is showing signs of really wanting to talk. She loves hide and seek and peek-a-boo games. She loves attention, and gets it most of the time (yikes!). In fact, the other night we had City Group at our house and she wanted everyone to stop talking and to pay attention to her. So, she just started sitting and falling back on her head over and over again thinking she was being funny. It was strange actually, but I knew she just wanted everyone to look at her. I have got my hands full I think!

I am really excited the weather is cooling off. Sami loves going outside, and she is finally at the age to really start enjoying the outdoors more actively. This fall should be a blast. In other news, we are pregnant...you heard me right. Baby #2 is on the way, due in May. Not sure what all that is going to look like, but for now we are just trying to push through the tiredness of the 1st trimester.

Sami is headed to Austin tomorrow morning with her Nan to visit the Austin family. I get an entire day and two nights to myself. What to do, what to do! Oh, I know, lets get a mani and pedi to start!!! I am sure I can find plenty to do! I will be excited to see Sami on Sunday, but I am going to make the most of my time with no responsibilities!

Adam is in the heat of his golf with Q-school right around the corner. We are praying for him to make it to the PGA Tour this year, but if not we know God has good things for us in the future. We are looking forward to having a little more clarity, either way. Thanks for all your support and prayers!

Sami turns 1!!!

It has been a while since I have posted anything on our blog, mainly because it has been CRAZY busy! We have been to Puerto Rico, New York City celebrated Sami's 1st birthday and our 5th anniversary all in the last month and many more events in between. All fun things, but just very very busy.

So, here is a summary of Miss Sami's last month. She has started walking (more and more each day), been to Puerto Rico, has become so curious about everything around her, kicking balls, playing instruments, hit the 20 pound mark, still LOVES people and loves making them smile, has started getting curls (so cute!), fills out her size 3 shoes (finally!), climbs stairs and anything she can, enjoys life with all her heart! She is so fun to be around. Adam and I and the rest of the family are enjoying her so much. She is learning a ton these days and just soaks up everything. We have at times thought she was saying her first word, but then we don't hear it for a while. At times, she has said "baby", "mama", "nana", "dada", "baba" (for bottle), "bye bye" and maybe some others. But, nothing is sticking yet. She is certainly on her way, the girl babbles all day long!

Ok. Sami's 1st birthday. So fun. We just had family over to celebrate which was perfect. We really wanted her birthday to be a celebration of everybody that has loved her so much in her first year. Sami is a party animal! She enjoyed every minute. She wasn't a huge fan of the cake, but she gave us just enough for some cute pictures. She loved every gift she was given, letting the giver know how much she appreciated the present. It really was a perfect closing to her first year and beginning to the next.

Sami has truly brought so much laughter and joy to our lives. We love her so much and are so thankful for her health and her happiness. We are excited to watch her grow and learn this next year!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMI!!!

Happy Father's Day

         Smooches for  Great Zadie!

Happy 1st Father's Day Dad!!
Cousins!
Nanya & PopPops 60th Anniversary

We have had a lot to celebrate so far this summer.  Last weekend we were in San Antonio to celebrate Nanya and Pop-Pop's 60th wedding anniversary.  Yes, I said 60th!!!  It is really inspiring watching my grandparents grow closer together even after all these years!  They are quite a team.  They held a beautiful brunch on Sunday for our entire family and some close friends.  I know how hard Nanya and Pop-Pop worked to pull this even together and it turned out wonderfully!  Sami really enjoyed getting to see her cousins, Lexie and Chase.  They were so sweet to her.  Sami laughed and laughed at Chase and Lexie was so adorable calling her "my Sami".  I am so excited Sami has cousins close to her age to grow up with.  So much fun!  Mikey, my brother in the Marines, was able to come as well.  It was great to see him but it was way too short a visit.  

Today we got to celebrate Adam's first Father's Day.  We went to brunch and enjoyed some great time with family.  Zadie was so adorable with Sami today.  We got some cute shots of them together.  I love watching everyone interact with Sami.  She is so loved!  I love my husband so much and I love how sweet he is with his little girl.  Happy Father's day Adam and to all those dad's we know and love!

Sami's 10 months old!!!

Sami turned ten months old yesterday.  10 months!  That is just too close to 1 year.  Sami is really enjoying her ability to crawl these days.  She loves being able to discover the house all by herself.  I really think she loves her independence.  We can see the light bulbs going off in Sami's mind during the last month, but I really see a difference in her understanding in the last few days.  She listens to people so intently and I know she understands much of what I say.  She is waving hi and bye, trying to clap, pulling up on everything, doing "so big", and lots of other cute tricks!  She's full of smiles and laughs.  She is a ton of fun these days!  I love when she reaches for me and gives me a hug and kiss and I can't wait for the day when she says "mama, I love you"!!!