Our FIRST Babysitters

Mom and Dad were ready for a night out, so we elicited the help of our sweet friends, the Richmonds. I actually emailed Tony (he is our church youth minister) to get the name of one of his youth and the next thing I knew, I was getting an email from his wife, Kristen, that SHE wanted to watch Luke! What a TREAT! Luke had a ball and we enjoyed dinner and dancing! Thanks, Tony and Kristen, for easing me into babysitting mode! We will most definitely return the favor!

Go to the Holy City!

One of our friends just returned from Jerusalem... HERE is the post that talks about his experience with some amazing pictures of where Jesus walked! Check it out!

Mealt-y Luke Story

I didn't post this when it happened since this is gooey, but wanted it on the blog after I could bury it with newer posts...


Last night as I was feeding Luke, he finished his bottle and we were looking at each other and smiling back and forth... he was laying on the boppy. He reached his hands out, grabbed my face and pulled it to his- I kissed his lips/cheek and pulled back, he pulled me in again, I kissed again and he giggled! We did this about 8 times... Brent came in and Luke did it once in front Daddy too! I LOVED it!!! My most favorite moment as a Mommy yet!

7 Months

Luke is seven months today... it is hard to remember what life was like before him. We are loving every minute with him and soaking it all in... it seems that life changes every day. Luke is becoming "busy"... he loves to stand up (with assistance), he is sitting on his own, but still topples over after about 30 seconds. He is not a fan of laying down anymore-- unless it involves a big blanket covered with toys so he can roll all over the place. He lays on his back and pumps his bottom in the air, then pushes off with his feet to move backwards... the pediatrician told us to start baby proofing the house, so I think we may have a few more weeks and then-- LOOK OUT! Luke has 2 more inches in length before we have to upgrade to the next car seat. When he doesn't feel good, he looks to me to console him (crys and holds his arms out when I walk into the room) and when he wants to play, he looks to his Daddy to swing him around and make funny noises prompting the most wonderful giggles. He still loves Allie-- she licks his face a lot-- even when he takes her toys from her:

He constantly gets "sugars":

He loves being upright in his exersauser:

And his Daddy can get him worked up and smiling like no one else can:

Luke is our pride and joy-- we have never smiled more, never been so goofy in our lives, never loved being at home as much, and never take it for granted.

Happy Memorial Day!

To say we are thankful for our troops is a huge understatement... to enjoy freedom today because men and women have fought so hard for us is a true gift that should be celebrated much more than once a year. Yesterday, we had an active duty serviceman stationed in Iraq at the church service... a standing ovation just seemed so little to give... to see those men's knowing faces in the group who had gone before him and feel the pride we all have in our military was quite a moment. We are blessed to live in this country... as political as it may be and as divided as it sometimes feels, it is still the greatest country in the world!

We decided to celebrate our freedom by going to the Botanical Gardens-- the weather was so beautiful-- we got there early enough for the morning breeze and saw lots of squirrels playing. Then, of course, we stopped off for BBQ at Railhead... any excuse for good BBQ!

Luke-y is Back!

Luke had his first cold this week, so we have had a pretty slow, teary, hoarse, piddiful, snotty week. He woke up this morning MUCH better and even felt like playing!
Counting wooden numbers:

Tasting wooden numbers:

Playing with links:

Landscape Complete

We are really pleased on how the backyard turned out... it was fun to place all of the plants, but let someone else dig it all! We can't wait to see how it all grows when summer comes and see more colors when the flowers come out!

My favorite- Mexican Petunia:

Brent's favorite flowers- Gaura and Coneflowers:

A Rainy Saturday = Little People

We were all ready for the Cats baseball game, but the weather altered our plans. We stayed in for the afternoon and Luke watched Little People. Luke LOVES Farmer Jed and Friends:

Under Construction

Our backyard landscaping is in! Here is what I walked out to see as they were unloading the truck:

Our Lace Bark Elm:

Our roof was also being repaired today:

Stay tuned for complete landscaping pictures... they are rerouting our sprinklers and adding a flagstone path on Monday, so be patient... I want you to see the complete and final product!

Big Boy Stats

We had Luke's 6 month check up today... we are 2 weeks late, so I am sure these numbers are a little inflated...

Length: 28 1/4 (90%)

Weight: 18# 1 oz. (50%)

Brent said Luke cried at the shots... he is getting old enough that I fear he will start associating the Dr. with shots soon :( Glad I missed this. The Pediatrician went through his developmental check list and the only thing Luke isn't doing is babbling consonants (bahs and dahs), but he attributes that to Luke's ears being clogged up until now. Our homework is to work on that by getting right in his face so he can watch our lips move.

Our Big Boy! (a far cry from his "unable to thrive" newborn stats!)

Luke is eating 2 times a day now... oatmeal cereal and a fruit in the morning and cereal and a veggie in the evening... he takes BIG bites now-- some nights, I can't get the spoon refilled and back to his mouth fast enough before he opens his mouth to the "ready" position!

AAAhhhhhh..... ZZZZZZzzzzzz!

Well, I must admit-- Ferber was right! God bless him! We have had 3 full nights of sleep at the Brewer household! I think Luke is adjusting faster than me... I am still waking up at 3:00 am. in bottle mode! I will get over that, I am sure :) Without the wedge and sleep positioners, Luke has become a TUMMY sleeper and his Momma and Daddy are slowly coming out of their sleep deprived, baby coma!

Bedtime stories (look at those heavy eyes :)

Ferber = Serious Beat Down

We thought the first night was too easy... we got the full show last night. For those of you lucky few who don't know what the Ferber Method is, let me give you a little background.

Before Ferber, we would go through bedtime sequence: Eat Cereal, give medicine, take bath, lotion/massage, swaddle, rock to sleep with a bottle, place in crib SLEEPING onto incline and in between sleep positioner.

After Ferber, we go through bedtime sequence: Eat Cereal, give medicine, take bath, lotion/massage, keep awake while feeding bottle (this is really hard with a sleepy baby!), read a quick story, place in crib without "sleeping props"- no blanket, no swaddle, no positioner, no pacifier, but AWAKE.

Which leads to:

Cry it Out. (this means exactly what it says)

Let the baby cry for 5 minutes, go in and soothe them not picking them up or feeding them- just tell them you love them and you will see them in the morning. Let baby cry 10 minutes, go in and soothe them (if they can hear you through the screaming). Let baby cry 15 minutes, go in and soothe (if they aren't flailing from side to side-- I think this is why cribs have bumpers :)... this goes on until baby cries himself to sleep... in other words-- it took us 1 hour and 40 minutes. This began at 3:00 am when Luke would usually get a bottle, but we are phasing that out... doing the math, that means when he finally stopped crying, I had 10 minutes before my alarm went off. Nice. So, I I have been up for 5 hours, I am on coffee #2 and it is 8:00 am. It is safe to say, Brent and I hate Dr. Ferber! He better come through for us tonight...

The ultimate goal being that the baby learns how to self soothe and sleep a continuous 10 hours without waking up to eat. A good goal!

Happy Mother's Day!

What a different meaning this Mother's Day takes on for me-- more appreciation for my Mother and a grateful heart that now I get to be called a Mother. No other position has ever been so gratifying.

Luke gave me a picture frame with his thumb print on it... his Daddy helped him make it into a masterpiece!


After Luke went to bed, Brent grilled me up the best Filet Mignon I have ever eaten, complete with crab cakes, grilled zuchinni, and potato wedges. Yum!

Saturday Night Fun

We knew it was time to break Luke of his night wakings, so it was time to Ferberize, aka. "Cry it Out". We got him pretty tired to speed up the process and it wasn't awful. I do think at about 10 minutes in I said, "If this wasn't recommended by a doctor, I would categorize this as child abuse." The shrill screams were fierce like we had never heard! The book we read said the process can take up to 2 hours-- Luke took 30 minutes, so we may have gotten lucky tonight... not sure what is ahead of us later- like 3:00 am later... :)

Those green and red lights represent screaming :)

6 Month Portraits

Yes, those are Brent's hands in some of the pictures... they cropped them off on the prints that we bought... and BOY did we buy them up!

And You Are...

Brent said Luke's name last night and Luke turned his head and looked at Brent like, "What?"... this was the first time that we know of that he responded to his name!!! We did it again several times last night to make sure he knows he is Luke and we are pretty sure he gets it! Now for Momma and Dadda!!! :)

The Funnest Toy... EVER!

Johnny Jump Up... UMMMMM... need I say more?