Well, Ben is finally here. He was born on 12/29/06 @ 10:03 AM. He weighed 7.4 lbs and was 19 1/2" long. Kristin and Ben are doing great! Sam is very excited to be a big brother.

One last picture.















Here is a picture from July 2003 and today. Tomorrow is the big day, and I've been spending today with Sam on our "last" day as just Sam and mom before Ben joins us tomorrow.


Happy Birthday to me!

Christmas 2006





Here is Sam helping mom tell the Christmas story before we opened our presents at the Keefer's house. Sam used the nativity to act out the story.

Sam and Uncle Kevin "playing" the Tractor Tipping Game from the Cars Movie.













Sam is showing off Diesel 10.

Sam really got into Christmas this year, and didn't show any signs of the Keefer trait of "saving the paper." Sam is definitely a paper ripper. He went from present to present, and netted several trains for his train table (the 3 he requested from Santa: Diesel 10, Fergus, and Harvey, plus a few more from mom and dad). He also got some cool gifts from his Uncle Kevin who visited from California, and made it back home again before the next storm went through Denver. The most heard phrase over the week was "Uncle Kevin, can you......" followed by "read to me, play with me, do this puzzle with me."

December 2006







Well, December 2006 was a very busy month. Sam was definitely more in to Christmas this year, and is also anticipating the arrival of his new brother, Benjamin Lewis. He will be here via FedEx on December 29th. No really, he will be here though on December 29th with a scheduled delivery. Sam enjoyed his time with mommy making cookies, and making a plaster train that he got to paint. Please look for Sam's new show on cable as he starts his own arts and crafts show. Sam enjoyed riding that train at Towne West mall. His faces were priceless as he rode around the track. Sam almost missed riding the train as dad left the digital camera at JC Penney. Thankfully, a customer turned the camera in. Sam is also enjoying some bedtime stories with mom.

My New Friend Joey

Joseph Richard Hudson came to see us on Thursday. Our good friends Scott and Jennifer Hudson recently traveled to Vietnam to pick up their son, Joseph Richard. He will be four years old in April. We had a really good time. Scott and Jennifer gave Sam his little gold outfit pictured below. Sam liked his outfit so much that he wanted to wear it out to dinner. We ate at P.F. Chang, so Sam blended in quite well. Thanks Scott and Jennifer!

Boy, Christmas can sure wear a boy out!

The Cars collection is pretty much complete. After traveling many miles to get the different Cars from the movie, Sam still thinks there are more to get. Not really. Sam really enjoys playing with his cars and continues to have meaningful conversations with them. I think we have learned a lesson though that Sam just doesn't need that much to be happy.

One more funny story...
Sam said several weeks ago that it would be snowing when his baby brother, Ben came. I'm not sure where he got that idea, except that Sam knows that Ben is coming after Christmas. On Thursday morning when Sam got up, I told him to look outside to see what was going on. When he saw the snow, he turned around, looked at me, and said "Is my baby brother here?"

More Snow Pictures


Not heeding the warnings from his Uncle Kevin, Sam made a snow angel this morning. (Some of you might know, Uncle Kevin, while trying to make a snow angel, fell back onto the corner of a brick, and received a cut on his head that required stitches).

While dad was busy working on the very cool snowman, Sam enjoyed his time outdoors eating the snow.

The snow outfit. Ski pants from Target bought on clearance last year for under $4, Snow boots, waterproof mittens (we haven't quite figured out how to get the thumb in the right place, so it makes it difficult to pick up items outside), dinosaur hat with ear flaps, and Old Navy Coat (also bought on clearance, but not for $4). Sam thinks the yellow parts of his coat look like the lightening bolts on the side of Lightening McQueen (a car from the Cars movie, of course.)

Sam and Uncle Hugh

Here is a photo of Sam at St. Benedict's Abbey with his Great Uncle Hugh. Sam graciously allowed Uncle Hugh to hold his latest "Cars" acquisition, "DJ" finally located at the "green Walmart" in Atchison, KS on Thanksgiving Eve. (our Walmarts here in Wichita are blue.)

Here Sam is patiently waiting for the Thanksgiving dinner to start, of course holding DJ.

Also a picture of Sam in room #2. One of Sam's most uttered lines over the 2 days we were there was "I want to go back to room #2. He had his own "yellow" bed, and even though Mom woke up many times to check during the night, he never came close to falling out.

Aren't they a little too big to be playing on playground equipment? Thanksgiving in Atchison, KS was quite warm this year. Sam got to stay in his usual room#2. Do you like the cement at the playground? This was at an elementary school. Lawsuit anyone? Enjoyed reading the sticker on the pole that said that death could occur if the equipment was placed on concrete. The concrete is new, so would assume they will eventually put a rubber padding over the concrete.

Sam ventured out for his fourth Santa visit. He's becomming quite the pro and knows how to work Santa over. This year, Sam wants some more Thomas trains, Diesel 10, Harvey, and Fergus. Sam's new baby brother Ben is supposed to get him George.

Well, we got our first snow storm of 2006. This is also the first posting from dad, thanks to the blog teachings of mom. It snowed, that's all I know. I think we received about five inches. It was windy, which caused the snow to drift a bit. Sam was more interested in eating the snow than building a snow lady. The nice round balls of snow were made possible by the lid from a George Foreman grill. The snow was packed in the lid and two halves made a nice ball of snow. The snow was not wet enough to roll. Sam enjoyed the snow. While it was snowing on Thursday, dad only worked half a day and Sam and dad went sledding at the Indian Center. They have a nice hill to sled down and is safe. No worries about sliding across the highway. Sam could only stomach two times down the hill. I think he was cold.

T-Minus 39 days and counting

We have a date with Wesley Hospital for December 29th at 8:00am for the scheduled C-section of Sam's baby brother, Benjamin Lewis. So far my blood pressure is fine, and my only complaint is lots of acid reflux (how many Tums a day can one take?). If Ben is as active outside as is he on the inside, we are all in trouble.

On another bright note....today we found some unflushed poop in the potty. Apparently Sam went all by himself, and didn't see the need to tell anyone of his stupendious triumph. We are so proud!!

The next Tiger Woods?

The weather was so nice this weekend that the boys were able to hit a few golf balls in the backyard. I think Sam was more interested in playing in the sand box, but he indulged his dad for a few minutes of hitting balls.

Merry Christmas 2006















We got our tree up this past weekend, and all of the Christmas decorations out and up. Sam was a big helper with putting the ornaments on the tree. We got the "deluxe" model of the Veggietales Nativity set on Sunday, and Sam and Dad got out the Bible to read the Christmas story. Sam keeps us entertained by making up stories with the different nativity characters.

The Cars Movie

Sam has now amassed 15 "hot wheels" cars from the movie Cars. Whenever he watches the movie, he will hold up the appropriate car when it comes on the screen. Here Sam is holding up one of his favorite cars, Wingo. Not sure if you can see that Wingo is actually also on the screen.

Welcome Back Bert

Our neighborhood goose, Bert, has returned after a long absence. There used to be 3 geese that would come over for bread and corn, but somewhere along the last 3 years, we are now just down to one. Bert will eat from our hands, but Sam is a bit too nervous for Bert to get too close.

Fun with Styrofoam

In Sam's Bible Study Fellowship class, they have been "hammering" with "nails" (aka golf tees) into the "wood" (aka styrofoam). I thought this would be fun while dad worked on laying tile in the bathroom with Scott Hudson. Apparently it was more fun to just rip the styrofoam apart...

Happy Halloween from the purple dinosaur, Sam

Sorry this picture is a little blurry, but it was the only one where Sam was holding still and not sticking his tongue out. Sam has kept mom and dad full of sugar with all of his loot. We went to the Night of the Living Zoo at the Sedgwick County Zoo, Believer's Southern Baptist Church, and to the Wichita State Volleyball game for trick or treating (not all on the same night!!) Luckily he got a toothbrush from the Zoo! 

Waiting for the Disney Cars movie to start

Sam has fallen in love with the Disney movie "Cars". He has seen it twice and is eagerly awaiting the release of the DVD on Tuesday. He has 10 cars so far, thanks to Walmart and Target. ( I think he knows the way to the toys section all on his own by now).
He has:
Lightening McQueen
Dinoco Lightening McQueen
The King
Chick Hicks
Filmore
Sheriff
Tow Mater
Luigi
Ramone
Doc Hudson.
He likes to play with them on the couch, and will carry on his own conversation between the cars. He also likes to sleep with them. Last night he fell asleep holding Chick Hicks. 

GO SHOCKERS!
Here is a picture of Sam patiently waiting for the Wichita State University Volleyball game to start. He can usually make it through one game, then needs popcorn to keep him in his seat after that. 

Labor Day 2006

Our Labor Day Weekend began at 2:00 AM when our friend Danny came to pick us up to take us to the Amtrak Train Station in Newton. After a quick stop at Druber's Daylight Doughnuts
(which opens at 10:30 PM) to get some "breakfast" we waited for the train to come at 3:30 AM. It was close to on time, but once it got there, Sam decided that it was too scarey and wanted to "just go home." So after practically dragging him onto the train, once on he decided it was pretty cool. Our seats were upstairs, very comfy and very roomy. We stayed awake until the next train stop in Hutchinson, then we slept about 3 hours (that would be Kristin and Sam, I don't think Doug slept more than an hour or so) until the next stop at Garden City, then Dodge City. Kristin learned what it means when you say "the other side of the track" as the houses and scenery at the towns we went through were not in the best of shape, nor the yards very spick and span. We were just one car away from the observation car (the top picture). It was nice to be able to get up and move around. We ate lunch in the snack car (not the dinner car, which required reservations), and then took another nap in the afternoon. We arrived in Alberquerque, NM close to on time, and were met by Grandma and Grandpa Shaffer who picked us up and took us to Aunt Doris' house. It was a fun weekend of visiting the Shaffer cousins. We went to the Alberquerque zoo one day (very nice zoo!), and the Aquarium and Botanical gardens the next day. The train ride took about 14 hours, but it went, overall, pretty quick. The van ride back with the Shaffers was about 12 hours long(with many potty stops and snack stops), and it didn't really go quite as fast as the train ride. But it was nice to be home. It was a great weekend with family, and Sam enjoyed sleeping in his tent at Aunt Doris' house.

St. Louis Zoo

We finally made it out to St. Louis to visit our friends Scott and Jennifer this last weekend. They had a cool tent set up for Sam to sleep in, and if it weren't for our demanding that we go places, Sam would have stayed in the tent all weekend. Their dog, Oliver, also stayed with Sam in the tent some too. We made it to the St. Louis Zoo, after a very tasty breakfast at Einstein Bros. Bagels (need one of those here!). It started out not too hot, but by the time we were ready to go, it had steamed up a bit. The coolest part was the indoor penguin exhibit where it was 45 degrees and you could walk right up to the penguins. I think this zoo has to be one of the nicest we have visited, and the best part was that it was FREE. Sam, Dad and Scott are pictured here riding the carousel. Sam, of course, wanted to ride the "bench" instead of an animal (like he did at the Santa Monica Pier Carousel in California), but mom insisted that he ride an animal, after all we were at the zoo. After a bit of hesistancy, he selected the tiger, although he clung to his penguin and blanket for most of the ride. We ate at great restaurants, Sweet Tomatoes (in Kansas City on the way up), Chevys, and Cheesecake Factory, plus had a great homemade dinner of fried rice with chicken and steak--thanks Jennifer! It was a great trip, and we will have to go back again to visit the 100's of places we didn't make it to this trip.