That's My Man

Here is my man.  My dear Sam.  Look how sexy he is. 

Haha.  We bought Sam a Transformer for Christmas and he made sure to take it with him, although I don't remember it being so big. 

Ha.  I knew he was a bit shorter than that. 

 

Some of the trucks that my brave man is working so hard on. 

The Zollman Five

 

 

         All photos were taken by Samantha Allred of Simply Samantha.

New Arrival

David Lorenzo Zollman is here!  He was born on August 17, 2012 at 12:18PM.  He weighed 8.6 and was 21 inches long. 

Aunt Mindy rewarded new mommy with a shake, but big Sister, Anna thought she deserved it more for giving up her spot as baby in the family.

Ruby was just happy about her little brother. 

Anna wasn't sure what to think about the new baby at first.  She just kept to herself.  Then she decided that no one else should be allowed to hold baby brother.  She kept saying, "I hold It."  Oh yeah, and apparently he went from being a baby brother to an It. 

Sam was able to come home for only four days.  We were so happy to have him there and for the perfect timing.

Sam made sure to give David his first "Fo Hawk". 

This is what a proud daddy looks like, in case you were wondering. 

So here is the birth story.  We planned an induction so that we could coordinate both baby and Sam's arrival.  Sarah and I went in to the hospital at six o'clock on Thursday morning to begin Cytotec and get things going.  By the way, the Skinners came up from Texas to meet David.  Sam flew in that afternoon and nothing was really happening.  My contractions were fizzling.  At eleven that night I was only a two, so they allowed Sam and I to spend the night in the family room.  The following morning we woke up early and I was on Pitocin by seven.  I HATE Pitocin.  It is the devil, but it did the job and we got David here for his daddy to see him.  The labor was awful, because once again, I opted not to have an epidural and even when I broke down and asked for one, they wouldn't give it to me.  I went from a seven to a ten in less than an hour.  I went to the birthing tub to relax and they gave me some Nubane.  Once, in the tub everyone in the room settled down and let me focus.  I gave two little pushes to get him settled and then all of the sudden I felt a huge contraction and felt David moving down fast.  I screamed that he was coming.  All I could hear was shoes scuffling around (my eyes were closed).  Then they asked Sam if he wanted to catch.  I said no for him and asked if anyone was going to be there to catch him because he was coming.  I honestly didn't know if he was truly out, because it all happened so fast and in one push.  And here is the result.  A beautiful baby boy. 

Oh yeah, here is a shot of the girls after walking around the halls Thursday night, trying to induce labor.  Here I had been walking the halls since six o'clock that morning and they were exhausted after only twenty minutes.  Love my girls. 

Ruby's Birthday!

 Ruby had her third birthday a couple weeks ago.  Nana came for a birthday lunch and gave Ruby her gifts.

 Ruby loved her Dora themed birthday gifts.  There were Dora underwear, Dora jammies and a Dora dress.

Ruby picked out My Li'l Pony cupcakes to share with everyone on her special day.   She had a blast and she really knew it was her day.

Guess What I Found

So I was looking for some files on the computer the other day and I found this.  Sam sings/plays this for me all the time.  We first heard it on Rio, the movie and he just thought it was the perfect song for us.  Although, he says every love song is our song.  He is the sweetest.  So blessed to have such a romantic for a hubby.  

Deployment

We have been facing Sam's impending deployment for months now.  Saturday was the big day.  We saw him off at five thirty in the morning.  The girls were less than thrilled about the early departure.  Ruby begged for the sun to go back down and the moon to come back up so she could sleep some more.  Me, on the other hand, just wanted my husband to stay and never leave on that bus, but we have prepared for this.  So here it is.  Sam is gone for a year.  

These pictures are telling the story backwards...oops.  

We spent Thursday with the unit families at a picnic.  Then, Friday was the 1461st's send off ceremony.  

The whole family came to support Sam.

I love my husband, my best friend, my soldier.  And I am so proud of him.  

Weeks prior we had a send off party of our own for Sam.  Here are the pictures.  We had an amazing turn out.  I could never have imagined the support we have been given.  

Sam also turned thirty right before he left.  

Sam has spent all his time looking after the girls and I, making sure all our needs are met.  Ruby and Annalyse love their Daddy.  He is their favorite playmate.

The girls and I made sure that Sam had something special to remind him of home.  So, we made a build-a-bear for him with our voices recorded inside, saying "Love you."

Love you, Sam dear.