William Sanford Rauch, the 3-week-old son of Beaufort Mayor Bill Rauch and wife, Sarah, is the new king of The Castle, the mayor's historic home in The Point. The family has dubbed the 8-pound baby "Sandy."

"Of course I'm a little attached to Sanford," Sarah said. Her brother is Gov. Mark Sanford. "We didn't want a Will and a Bill in the house -- that can be confusing. So we opted for Sandy."

"I think he's going to have sandy hair," Bill said, showing off the tiny infant's locks. Sandy, clad in a yellow onesie, snoozed in his dad's lap.

"He's not sleeping through the night," Bill said.

"Which means we're not," Sarah added. The trio sleeps about four hours a night, but Sandy catches Z's during the day, too. Mom and Dad have to make do.

"Bill's much better at the sleep-deprivation thing than I am," Sarah said.

Sandy, born June 18, is Sarah's first child and Bill's fifth. She found out she was pregnant on her birthday.

"There's not any better 40th birthday present I could think of," she said.

The other children are two boys and two girls between 10 and 18. With Sandy, that makes a full house, Bill said. The Castle is out of bedrooms.

"We've essentially outgrown the place," he said.

Sandy's siblings crammed the hospital after he was born, trying to see the new family member.

"It really is unbelievable how psyched they've been," Sarah said.

Although Sarah is a new mom, Bill's child-rearing expertise comes in handy, she said.

"If he gets fussy we go into the jump mode," Bill said, bouncing Sandy up and down on his lap.

The addition of Sandy to the family leaves Beaufort resident Peg Peyton, head of the extended Sanford clan, with 11 grandsons and one granddaughter. Peyton has Sarah and three sons: Bill Sanford, Beaufort resident John Sanford and Gov. Mark Sanford. The governor's four boys -- young Marshall, Landon, Bolton and Blake -- are South Carolina's famous first family, and John's wife, Julia, is expecting their first child next month, also a boy.

"Sarah was sure it was going to be a girl," Bill said, looking down at his son. The couple did not know the sex of the baby before he was born.

"We both just started laughing" when Sandy was born, Sarah said. "I just couldn't believe it."

Jack, Rauch's 10-year-old son, was so curious about the sex of the baby before Sandy was born he offered Sarah's obstetrician his allowance for the information. She didn't give in, Sarah said. She had the baby with a planned Caesarean section.

"We were there at 6 (a.m.) and by 7:45 we had a baby," Sarah said. "It was amazing."

Juggling mayoral duties and being the father of an infant has been fairly easy so far, Bill said. Sarah is an independent producer for several television channels and has a flexible schedule.

"It's a little easier in the summer. The pace of the city slows down. If I lose some sleep, it's OK," Bill said, holding his son in one hand and petting Claire, one of the family's dogs, with the other. Gus, a golden retriever, slept at Sarah's feet and Tigger, a gray tabby cat, sat on top of the piano.

"They've all been amazingly agreeable about the baby," Bill said.

As for the new mother, she couldn't be happier.

"I waited a long time for Bill and a long time for this," Sarah said. She and Bill were married in October 2002.

"Aren't they a good combination?" she asked, looking at her husband cradling the tiny infant. "There's my dream team right there."