Finally coming out of my mini “maternity leave” to introduce you to my second son:
💙 Rhett Matthew Merritt 💙
He arrived at 9:06AM on Monday, December 13th weighing a hefty 9 pounds and 8 oz. Whew. He’s also a tall baby, ranking above the 97th percentile at every doctor visit so far.
It’s been so wonderful having him here and my heart is so full. He’s been such a laid back baby. Of course he cries (and, sometimes, screams), but the nights have been easier than I’d expected. I’m tired, but not as tired as I thought I’d be at this point.
I’d been bracing myself for the transition from one to two kids and have been relieved that it’s been easier than I expected (so far!).
I’m not sure if Rhett is an “easier” baby than Luke was or if it’s just been easier because I’ve been through all of this before (and feel a bit more confident all-around with the whole parenting thing) but the transition has been much smoother than I’d expected and I’m just feeling very grateful for that.
As for Luke, he’s been a great big brother.
Zach and I have been making sure Luke still gets plenty of individual attention (in the picture above we’re making snowball cookies together before Christmas), and he’s been doing wonderfully. Thank goodness.
He likes to touch Rhett and say “He’s so soft!”, and to put his face close to Rhett’s and say “He’s SOOOO CUTE!”. When Rhett cries, Luke runs to find a pacifier or shouts “IT’S OK BABY RHETT!”.
He didn’t want to hold Rhett at first, but now he asks to (and wants to pick him up and carry him around like a baby doll, so it’s tough explaining to him why he can’t do that!).
There have definitely been some bumps in the road these past few weeks; we all got sick (virus finally caught us!) after Christmas and we had to spend a few cold days without heat thanks to furnace issues that popped up unexpectedly (thank goodness for space heaters!). Despite that, I’ve overall really, really been enjoying this time as a new family of four.
Many of you know I worked really hard all year to be ahead on content, so you’ve still been seeing new posts publish even though I’ve been “off”. I’m finally jumping back into the kitchen and am so glad to be back.
As always thanks for letting me share these sweet moments with you. For more personal posts, you can also follow me on Instagram where I try to share lots of behind-the-scenes and bits of my life over on my stories. 💜
Sharon
Congratulations, beautiful family. God bless you all. Thank you for all you do for us, Sam. You are loved!
Lynne Jenkins
What a beautiful family!! Congradulations
Lisa
Congratulations!! What a sweet, beautiful baby and gorgeous family you have! I had my fourth when you had Luke and yes, it was easier to go from 1 to 2 than 0 to 1:) My husband says 2 to 3 was hard but honestly I don’t remember. I must have blocked it out lol. My kids are more spaced than most people (4-6 years apart) so I’ve always had help from the older ones which is nice. Enjoy this special time with your family and the newborn snuggles- I miss that new baby smell and their fuzzy heads! God bless.
Vicki
Congratulations! What a blessing!
Mikaru86
Congratulations to you and your (growing) family! 🙂
Jessica
Congratulations! He is adorable.
Lisa
Congratulations!! And enjoy!!
Joanne
A beautiful family! Congratulations!
Jesse
Congrats on new baby Rhett! I’m a mom of two boys and one grandson 😀 but came from a family of mostly women so it balances out! God bless you and your entire family and keep the goodies comin! 😀
Rachel
Congrats!! I’m so happy for you guys 🥳
Angela
Congrats! He’s Beautiful ! Welcome to the World! God bless you all!
Anne
Such a blessing! What a gift Rhett is and how reassuring that the brothers are on their way to being loving and close.
Renee Ackley
Beautiful family! Thank you for the update.
Nicole
Rhett is so beautiful! Congratulations, Sam! Job well done and welcome to the new realm of being mother to 2! You’re right….there’s ups and downs and many sleepless nights, but that’s what life is all about! 😊🙌🏻
April
Congrats to your family on your bundle of joy. Blahhh to getting sick. Your kiddos look so adorably cute, Luke is totally right saying,”Rhett is soooo cute.” I absolutely love reading your personal post, I’m grateful for you sharing. If only I had caramel popcorn made before reading your post. 😍😂
Maxine Lauer
CONGRATS to the entire family. He is an absolutely beautiful baby. So happy the transition to 2 has been easy. Thanks for sharing. I love watching your family grow. That is a great family photo..Luke looks just like his mommy. Enjoy every moment, they grow so fast and in a blink they are out of the nest.
Sarah
Congratulations! So very happy for you and the family-beautiful photos!
I absolutely love sugarspunrun. Thank you so much for creating it! Your recipes and the love you place in each one are outstanding. An idea popped in my head-I sometimes don’t have the best kid-friendly food recipes, and I thought it would be awesome if, now that you have two little ones who will be growing, to have recipes that work well for kiddos! Now I know a lot of your recipes already work well with kids, I just know how creative and wonderful your recipes are I know any new ones would also rock for like lunches/dinners!
Congratulations again and will definitely be trying that rigatoni very soon!