It's hard to believe ...

that little miss Samantha has been with us for almost 3 weeks now even though she wasn't "due" to join our family until today.

Here she is on her due date - 10-20-09.

Our house has been pretty crazy these past few weeks. Crazy in a good way ... but still crazy.

So far I have had someone here helping me with the girls. Dave was home the first week. Then his mom Donna was here and now my mom is with us. I am so thankful for the help!

Daddy's Week

Much like her big sister Adrienne, a couple days after coming home from the hospital Samantha's Jaundice was bad enough that she needed to go on the light blanket. Unlike her sisters though, Samantha was born nursing like a champ. Because she was eating so well she only had to be on the light for 2 days. I guess I have to deal with the light blanket in exchange for delivering early. :)

Dave is a dad that isn't scared to go out and about with his girls. In fact he is often more adventurous then I am. The week he was home he took the girls out on several adventures. One of the adventures was going to the zoo in South Bend. Morgan had Teddy the tiger from preschool for the weekend so of course he got to go too.

The girls were so excited when they came home. They all had a blast. I was a little sad I couldn't be there with them. But I'm glad they were able to have that special time with their dad.

The girls continue to be in love with their new baby sister. Both Morgan and Adrienne love to hold her.

Samantha is also showered with kisses. Some day I should count to see just how many times they kiss her in one day. Every time they walk by her they stop to give her a kiss, or two. They will also stop what they are playing to come and give her a kiss. I love it!

"Boop!"

This may be the biggest news. Adrienne has decided to potty train herself. One of the last days Dave was home with us we figured out she was telling us when she was going potty, the key word being "boop". So Dave decided to sit her on the potty and she peed. And we all did a dance of celebration. Then a little later she said it again and pooped on the potty. We of course danced again ... even harder. We decided to go for it and had her go bare bottom. I am excited, and still a little shocked, to say that she has only had 4 accidents in a little over 2 weeks.

Grandma Chupp

Our week with Donna seemed to fly by. We continued to adjust to the added activity in our household and Donna was a huge help.

The girls loved having Grandma here. Donna always has fun little "activities" for the girls. Honestly, I think she likes it as much as the girls do. One of the favorites was decorating pumpkin cookies. Of course Adrienne was not to be denied the fun, although she did more eating then decorating. Adrienne's cookies were easy to spot. She didn't see anything wrong with using candy she had already sucked on to decorate. The cookies were definitely in the "eat at your own risk" category. :)

As you can see taking care of three little munchkins is tough work.

Thanks for all your help Grandma Chupp!

Even with all the help, there doesn't seem to be enough minutes in the day. It's hard to believe that such a little bundle can bring so much joy and exhaustion all at the same time.

I love our little Samantha.

I wouldn't trade her for all the sleep in the world.