Please meet Sam...

Happy Birthday, Sam!

Samuel Paulson Stager is our second son. He is the daddy of Elyah and Ethan. And he's married to that beautiful tropical princess, Joanna.

I'm a firm believer that mothers should be honored on their children's birthdays. Afterall, we're the ones who did all the work, right? My other daughter-in-law, Ellie, feels the same way. She always goes out and buys herself fresh flowers on her kids' birthdays. So even if we have to honor ourself, so be it!

It's funny the things you remember when your kids' birthdays come around. When I was very pregnant the second time, and we knew the baby's sex, I was getting very antsy because my hubby and I were not finding a mutually agreeable name for our child. Anything he suggested, I vetoed. Whatever I came up with, he didn't like. OK, I was getting more than antsy. I was getting really frustrated, and it was beginning to be an issue between us. Things just seem so much more amplified when you are pregnant, don't they?

Well anyway, I remember one night I finally prayed about it. I said, "God, if you know what this child's name is, I sure wish you would tell us, because you can see it is getting to be an issue!" Would you believe, the very next day the name came to me. I asked my hubby what he thought. He liked it right away. Yep. Prayer changes things. Duh.

Samuel was my father's first name, and the two Sam's ended up not only being very close, but sharing so many of the same interests, talents, temperments, likeability, and even some quirks! (My dad didn't really like cake, for example, and neither does Sam.) Paulson is my mother-in-law's maiden name. So we also got Sam's 1/4 Icelandic heritage represented in his name too.

I well remember the day Sam was born. Our older son, then almost 4, stayed all night with my inlaws the night before because hubby and I both had the flu. As the day wore on, hubby was feeling better, but I was feeling worse by the hour. Then it dawned on me. It was my DUE DATE! Yep, I was in labor. We went to the hospital and in less than four hours we had our new baby boy. I didn't know babies were actually born on their due dates!

All grown up now, with a wife, two kids, and a mortgage of his own, Sam has made his parents proud. He's a steady-on kind of guy like his father, and has a tender heart like me. And I guess it's about time for me to forgive him for carving "I hate math" on my kitchen table. Even though you can still see it if you look for it.