My sweet boy

Week 7: He is sleeping most of the day still. He is maybe alert 5 hours a day. He eats 4 ounces every 3 hours. He is going a little longer at night but only some nights. He will usually only go one 4 hour stretch. He is very cuddley. He likes to be held. He cries when he is hungry, has gas, or wants to be held. Overall he is a good baby.....as long as he is being held. He's a good, but sloppy, eater. He holds his head up good and looks around a lot. He can follow and focus in on objects but thats about all he is doing. I thought he smiled at me the other day but he hasn't done it since.

Sisterly love

Even after 6 weeks of having her brother here at home with us, she still seems to think he is pretty great. Every morning when she wakes up she wants to know where he is and what he is doing. She likes to hold him everyday, but not for very long. She loves talking to him. When he cries she says "It's ok little buddy". The other day Iwas washing bottles and he was on the table in his carseat and he was crying so Lauren climbed up in the chair, gave him his pacifier and rocked the carseat back and forth until he stopped crying. It was pretty sweet, and I didn't have to stop what I was doing.

How can someone this cute continually poop her pants!!!

We are now going on 18 months of trying to get this girl to poop in the potty. She can count to 13, she knows most of her letters, she can almost spell her name, She can draw a circle and a sun, she can write the letter L for her name, She can peddle her tricycle, she can throw and catch a ball, she knows that a bat sleeps upside down, she uses words like actually and wonderful, she can get herself dressed head to toe and she gets her shoes on the right feet, she can turn the pages of a book and tell the story.....but she can't seem to put her poop in the potty. We have tried many rewards, we have tried many punishments, we have tried having her clean it up, we have tried ignoring it....nothing works. I am loosing my mind.

Sweet Dreams

Every night before I go to bed I tiptoe into each of my childrens' rooms and I peek at them sleeping. When I look at them my heart is filled with pride and overflowing with love. It is one of those times, as a parent, I think to myself, "wow, could my life get any better. I am so lucky to have two beautiful children, who I love more than anthing in the whole world". Sweet dreams little ones....Mommy loves you!!

Chunky monkey

Luke was 7 weeks old when I took these pictures. It is hard to believe that my big guy used to be 4 lbs. He is growing so fast. He is actually starting to get chubby. His cheeks are filling out and he is getting quite round around the midsection. He doesn't depend on his pacifier but he does like it. He is wearing newborn clothes now but some outfits are a little snug. He is short so 0-3 clothes are way to big. He is my sweet little chunky monkey!!

Tummy Time

These pictures were taken several weeks ago when Luke was probably 5 or 6 weeks old. There is a bad glare but I wanted to post these pictures to show off how strong his head is. Lauren always had a strong head too but I think Lukie might be a little stronger.

Luke seems to like tummy time because he enjoys being on his belly. If I could I would put him on his belly to sleep but I can't.

Lauren loves to entertain her little brother and he follows her everywhere with his eyes. I can't wait until he can start interacting more with her.

When he is on his back he kicks and kicks like a crazy man

bath time

Our first bathtub picture....they will probably hate me for this someday....but for now it's cute. Luke loves bath time. Notice his hair...he has a little natural curl. Also notice the ducks in the tub. Craig came home with these one day when he and Lauren went to Farm and Fleet....REALLY CRAIG....do we need these. But of course Lauren loves them.

Lauren's sticker chart

Lauren's behavior lately has not been the greatest. She is having a hard time following directions and using nice words. If she gets frustrated she cries or screams. She is very sassy and snotty. She has trouble doing things when asked, like getting dressed and going potty. So I decided to start a sticker chart with her.

I laminated it and put Velcro on it. She earns smiley faces for doing certain things required each day and she looses smiley faces when she is not using nice words or when she doesn't follow directions. She was very excited to start it.

She has been doing really well earning all her smiley faces except the poop on the potty one. She hasn't earned that one yet. I also made her a chore chart....thought it was time for her to start doing some work around the house. She gets a smiley face for helping empty the dishwasher, helping put away laundry, and cleaning up her toys. She is doing great with that. If I ask her to do a chore and she doesn't want to I give her the choice of time out or the chore. Sometimes she chooses time out which is kind of funny because she still has to do the chore to get out of time out. At the end of each day we count how many smiley faces she earns and that is how many marbles she gets. The goal is to fill the jar with marbles and then she will get a prize. So far it is working. Her behavior has improved and she is doing great in the mornings getting ready by herself. She is learning to do chores.....hope it continues!!

One month old

At one month old Luke is weighting around 7 lbs. He is still eating every 3 hours sometimes he can go 4. He eats between 3 and 4 ounces. He is alert for a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours in the evening and thats about it. He doesn't cry much. He just cries when he is hungy or has gas or wants to be held. He is super cuddly. He likes to nussle. In the evenings we have tummy time on our activity gym and he lifts his head up pretty good. He is very strong. He likes to lay on his back and kick his feet. We are in for a treat when this kid starts moving.....he is squirmy!! I have kicked him out of our room and put him in his crib now because he is so loud. He grunts, spits, squeals, and snorts. As you can see he still has a ton of hair and we think he will have blue eyes but it is probably too early to tell. Happy one month my sweet boy!!

Is it too soon to call him a mama's boy?

I love being a mom. I don't know if it's the hormones or just that he is my 2nd and last but I don't like to be away from him for a second and I want to hold him all day long. I don't hold him all day but I wish I could. Craig thinks he is already a mama's boy....which is fine with me. He is so far a good baby. He sleeps most of the time...better during the day than at night. He is not horrible at night but I am very very tired. With him being my second I know how fast it goes and how you think you won't forget how little and sweet and cuddly they are but you do. And with him being my last I know I will never experience this again so I am trying to soak up every bit of it.

Me and my dad

Craig is such a good dad. I think the hardest part about the 2nd is he doesn't get to spend as much time with him. When he's not at work he is trying to divide his time between Lauren and household stuff. But he has definitely bonded with Luke. Craig calls him Lukie Zookie and loves to Kangaroo and watch basketball with him.

Nana turns 60!!

Mom turned the big 6-0! She didn't want anything big...no surprises, no big party....so we kept it small and simple and it was perfect. A wonderful dinner at Amy's with all the grandkids, grandma and grandpa, and Faith and Larry. It was such a nice evening. The kids were good. And everyone did a nice job of taking turns holding Luke. Happy Birthday Mom, we love you!!

Brother and Sister

Lauren is such a good big sister. She is great with Luke. She usually wants to hold him once a day and likes to help feed him one bottle a day. It is usually pretty short lived. I was worried about her being too hands on but she is not. She is very gentle and knows her limits. She is interested in him but keeps her distance. She loves to talk to him and hates when he cries. He has recently found his voice so his screams are pretty high pitched. Lauren will put her hands over her ears or put her hand over his mouth....which of course we have put a stop to. Luke likes his sister. When he is awake he will follow her with his eyes. And when she holds him he doesn't seem to mind it.

My kids

So far Luke is a really good baby. He eats every 3 hours and has about 3 ounces. He sleeps ok at night. He makes a lot of noises....I'm ready to kick him out and move him into his room but he is still so small. I am just not quite ready yet. He cries when he is hungry or when he has tooties. He loves being held and I love holding....I try to hold him all day.

Lauren is full of it. She is great with the baby but her behavior right now is not so good. 3 is very hard. And yes she is still crapping her pants. She wants to do everything herself and if we help her she gets very mad. She is either perfectly sweet and helpful or perfecty a pain in the you know what. She does not always follow directions. She is really into wearing fancy dresses. Everyday when she gets home from Jeanne's she wants to go upstairs and change her clothes. She is very hard to put to bed. She has worked daddy over and usually he is up there for 45 minutes...it's a little ridiculous. It's a good thing she is so cute...it's the only thing that saves her.

Look how tiny he is. Hanging in his glider. This is where he spends his time when I am not holding him.

One minute she is driving us crazy the next minute she is sweet as sweet can be but one thing is for sure....she can make us laugh.

My cousins

During my whole pregnacy Nick was very pumped to be having a boy cousin. He would rub my belly and talk to Lukie. He said Lukie was going to be his best friend. Jay being Jay didn't say much but I think he was happy that I was having a boy. The night they came to visit Nick was very excited and wanted to hold Luke right away. He talked to him and then was over it pretty quick but you could tell he thought his cousin was a little sweetie. Nick is my little sweetie. Jay didn't want to hold him at first but right before he left he did hold him. Jay never says too much but you could tell he thought his new little cousin was pretty special. I can't believe 9 years ago I was holding him thinking he was pretty special.

The love of family

Luke and Aunt Mindy
Luke is so lucky to be surrounded by such a wonderful extended family. It was hard for the first week because our family members could not see Luke. They could peek through the window but he was in an isolett at the back of the nursery so no one got to see him up close until he was in my hospital room with me. Everyone was so excited to meet little Lukie and enjoyed every minute of holding his tiny little body for the first time.

Luke and Poppy

Luke and Grandma

Luke and Aunt Amy

Luke and Nana