Baby Samantha arrives and we head to Vegas

Funny, but Darla and I thought we'd wait until mid January and our trip to Hawaii was complete before coming to Vegas to see Samantha. Well, the tug of a new granddaughter was far too strong and with the help of Dad and Shirley, here we are in Las Vegas. The trip on Christmas day was as easy as the return on Thanksgiving was difficult and even after an hour stop for lunch in Barstow at the only open sit down restaurant open in town (IHOP), we still arrived at the hotel by 3 PM after leaving Roseville at 6 AM. We actually made the trip in about eight hours of windshield time, which is pretty darn fast. The traffic was moving at about 80 MPH the bulk of the trip. I drove from Roseville to Barstow with one stop for gas and for a potty break for Darla outside Fresno.

We saw Samantha last night and only stayed for about three hours as Jen and John had company all day with John's Dad and Step-Mom over for a Christmas visit. They left shortly after we arrived at 4 PM and we had a great visit. The boys bought Darla a new digital photo machine for Christmas that is portable and makes 4x6 prints of pictures from the digital camera. We left the machine with Jennifer and John so they could print some pictures and when I talked to Jennifer today, she was copying some pictures. Samantha is, by the way, adorable. She is so small, but has long fingers and toes. She was born last Friday at about 11:30 AM and was 7 pounds even and 19 1/2 inches long. Thin and tall. She sleeps alot and is hungry quite often. Jennifer and John are doing great with her, feeding and bathing and changing diapers. They are a little frustrated with not being able to comfort her when she gets cranky, but they will learn what she needs, whether it is food, or burping or being rocked. She was fussy when they changed her last night, but she calmed right down when Jennifer fed her. They are very good parents, attentive and protective and Darla and I just don't want to be in the way while we are here. We've said that we will be available to help Jennifer during the day as John is back to work, but will leave by 7 PM each night to give them some "family time" together. We will leave for home mid afternoon on Saturday and drive straight back. That will give us Sunday to relax at home.

Jennifer and John said that they plan to take Samantha on her first outing on Saturday and we will buy them lunch at The Black Bear Diner on Tropicana. Darla and I had dinner there last night after we left. Jennifer and John bought me a little desk set with a pen and pencil and a letter opener. All of the items fit in a small golf bag that holds the pens, etc. The whole thing is about five inches tall and two and a half inches wide and has pockets and a carry strap just like a golf bag. Jennifer had engraved on it "To Dad, my Hero. Love , Jennifer" Very Nice. Darla got a bath set in a small crystal tub with legs. We bought the kids gift certificates. Jen got a Visa card and John got Home Depot. He already bought a palm sander and wants to get a Shop Vac as well.

Darla is upstairs in the Holiday Inn telecommuting and I am down in the business center updating the blog. I have a large account that closes on Friday and I've left Gail and Dinda in charge of getting it done and closing the deal. Hopefully, they can get it done. I was planning to be in the office this week, but Samantha came calling.

Diane, Jennifer's Mom, was here for the birth, barely making it in on Friday before Samantha arrived. In fact, she left her bags at the carousel in Vegas and grabbed a cab to the hospital. She arrived about a half hour before Samantha. Jennifer had such a great and uneventful pregnancy, so naturally the birth was difficult. Labor was long and painful (about eleven hours) and she didn't get an epidural until about eight hours into the labor. When they finally gave her the shot and numbed her from the waist down she was fine. The second problem was the delivery, where Samantha ended up breached and they had to do a double apiesiotomy (sp?) and her shoulder still got caught in the birth canal and ripped Jennifer on delivery. ( I never thought I'd need a medical dictionary to do the blog!)

All of the pain and tearing didn't deter Samantha and she came into the world perfect. Jennifer, however, lost a lot of blood and passed out three or four times. They finally had to do a blood transfusion before sending her home on Saturday. The doctor wanted Jennifer's body to heal itself, but Jennifer wanted to get home and asked for the transfusion. She is sore, but is thrilled to be home with her new addition. I will add pictures next week.

We enjoyed Christmas with the boys back home on Monday before leaving for Vegas. Darla's folks came over and Alica and her boyfriend, Don. Darla fixed a big Prime Rib, and I mean big: it was 14.5 pounds. We brought the leftovers with us and Darla will fix prime rib for the gang at Jennifer's tonight. We bought the boys a Wii Nintendo, which is an interactive video game where you use a controller and bowl or golf, fish, tennis, box, baseball, etc. We had a blast playing it on Christmas Eve and even had Earl and Francis up bowling. Darla and I won the team bowling with a combined 167. We also went to Christmas Eve service after dinner and enjoyed the Christmas music and the message from pastor Rick. He even came over and met the family, which is nice in a building that seats 3000.

We will check int the Jockey Club tonight and Thank You Dad and Shirley for making this trip possible. Samantha is a JOY.

Well, I will add more to this next week. I hope all are well, had a great Christmas and plan to celebrate the New Year next Monday and Tuesday. Ciao.