Growing Big and Strong

We have been comparing Luke to his Astros Rally Monkey over the months.

Newborn:

2 Months:

3 months:

Other pictures from this week:

On Saturday mornings, when Luke wakes up around 8:00, I feed him and hand him off to Brent so I can sleep another 1 or 2 hours to catch up from the week... this Saturday was like any other EXCEPT that Brent came and woke me up and said he had made breakfast! As he was telling me this, I thought to myself "What could he have possibly scrounged up?" (We have been eating out of the freezer and going through the groceries we have, so we widdled it down to bare bones)... I walked in to the kitchen and he had made pancakes, FROM BISQUICK! I helped myself to a pancake, loaded it up with syrup and dug in! Brent was still getting his plate at this point... as I took that first bite, they tasted pretty bad, but I was determined to get through the pancake since he went to the trouble... at this point, he sat down, took a bite and realized something went terribly wrong! As we were tossing the rest of the stack, he mentioned the recipe calling for Crisco... I didn't even know we had Crisco! I went to smell it and it was WAY rancid! Ugh. I won't tell you the expiration date on it :) In conclusion, Brent can cook breakfast, it was the Crisco's fault! Here is how far I got on my pancake :)

We also had a night out with 2 other couples from our Sunday School class... Leah made a yummy Mexican Stack up dinner complete with a cheesecake soppipilas dessert! Luke wailed through the whole night making mom and dad pretty frazzeled, so we forgot to snap a picture with our buddies :( Next time!

3 Months Old

As Luke grows up, I know the phases will come and go quickly.

What I never want to forget about now:
-the closeness we have during feedings- he props his outside knee up and sprawls out on the boppy, then he waves his hand around until I hold it in mine to warm it up
- running my fingers across his super soft hair-- pictures just don't do his hair justice!
- the smell of his room- paint, baby powder, and pampers
- his gummy smile and his kissable fat cheeks
- the look of calm that comes over his face when we place him in the bathtub as his feet float
- his light weight in my arms as I lower him down in his crib at night
- happy grins as he lays on his back on the changing table

When I don't think I could love him anymore, I do.

What else Luke is up to:

-Opens and shuts his hands

-Swats at dangling toys placed near him

-Mouths objects brought to his face-- loves to stick his fist in his mouth

-Pushes down on legs when Daddy "stands" him up

-Turns his head toward direction of sound

-Follows moving objects with his eyes- watches me cooking in the kitchen

-Beginning to babble-- day care calls him "chatty"

The night time is the WRONG time!

I went to go pick up Luke in the middle of the night 2 nights ago and his diaper must have BUSTED because his sheets on the right half of the crib were majorly WET... gross! Well, at 2 am I wasn't going to change sheets (pull off bumper pad and remove the entire mattress, so I just slid him over to the dry side-- you can do that when they are little, right? ;) The following night, I was changing it all and Brent was rocking Luke going through the alphabet for barn animals... "A... a is for ants in the barn... B... b is for birds in the barn, etc. Luke just giggled and loved it! It is SO wonderful to hear giggles at night now! My heart is so full in those moments, even in the midst of tying A MILLION bows around crib slats! Here is the final product with my favorite barn yard sheets:

Brent and I painted these letters to go above the crib:

The Apple Doesn't Fall Too Far From The Tree

The Apple:

The Tree:

(notice the dent at the top of their ears?...
Their toes are the same too, but Brent wouldn't let me take pictures of his feet!)

My Boys:

Startin' 'Em Young

We don't usually sit Luke in front of the TV... we know better, but this was a special occasion... he likes the colors and movement :)

Luke's Many Faces!

Happy baby by day:

Pouty face that makes me melt:

Unhappy baby by night!

We think we have found the solution to keeping Luke less fussy at night by changing his formula to one where the protiens are further broken down to go easier on his belly. The night we switched, he slept SEVEN hours straight! Yes, SEVEN!!! Hopefully he will be happier at night, and so will we!

Back to Work

Everyone has been asking how it is going since I went back to work yesterday-- it is okay. Luke is adjusting to daycare- my biggest worry was that he would not sleep with all of the activity around him. He is napping throughout the day (big relief) and sleeping really hard at night now. We still get up at around 2 am. to eat, but that time we have together when the world is asleep is pretty much my favorite time of the day-- the choos and cuddles are wonderful! Brent and I were going to switch off every night at that feeding, but I bargained with him to let me do the 2 am if he will put Luke to bed- he gladly accepted! I am getting back in the groove at work-- I have been gone since September so there is a lot of catch up to do! My Sensory Technician may get to stay on which would free up my job to do special projects and customer support that I just can't manage alongside day to day stuff on my own. That excites me that my job may shift gears a little! When the clock strikes 4:00 pm, I am pedal to the medal to see my baby boy! All in all, we are doing fine- of course there have been tears, but we will survive and our family will be better for it! Thanks for the emails, calls, and concern.

Luke's First Day At Daycare

His Momma was a wreck, but he did really good! Here is his report card, sweet baby.

Luke's Photoshoot!

My sweet friend, Kelly, took Luke's newborn pictures over Christmas... they are posted on her website for the next month...

www.kellyhornberger.com
"my peeps"
password: Luke

First Trip to Church

We have been really missing going to church-- it feels like forever since I was on bed rest for 8 weeks before having Luke. Our wonderful Sunday School teacher said we could bring him with us to class if we weren't ready to leave him in the nursery, so that was a baby step I could handle! Well, it went about as we expected... right after announcements, Luke started to whimper-- I took him into a side room-- hungry. I fed him half of a regular feeding (He was supposed to be sleeping after all, so I didn't bring a whole bottle). I got him calm and we went back to our seat. Then, he started up again, this time Brent took him-- wet diaper. Then there was no calming him since he was still hungry, so we spent the rest of class in the side room with the door cracked! Next week, we go prepared!

Playdates are TOTALLY for the kids!

We had a playdate with all of Luke's buddies (minus the Treat twins who are out of town). They slept, ate and played while the Mommas caught up and told all of their baby stories that we spare others from hearing :) Trust me, I do spare you some of the baby details and I know all of you reading appreciate that!! Sarah altered her 3 year old's upstairs playroom into "Babyland" for us and we had a blast with the toys and gadgets... this girl has it all together (she would tell you otherwise!), but she served us homemade tortilla soup and fruit salad for lunch... a wonderful way to conclude my time at home with Luke. (I start back to work on Monday).

Sarah C and Baby Drew, Sarah P and Gracie, Me and Luke

Say ChEEse, Please!

Brent got a new camera with his Christmas cash... he was playing with it today-- how can I not post these!

And YOU thought Christmas was over!

Not at our house!

I was putting away Luke's new clothes that he got for Christmas and came upon this:

How could I have forgotten something as adorable as this:

So, we pretended it was still Christmas yesterday... Brent must have thought I'd lost my mind when he came home from work!

Luckily Santa still found us!
AND... we took advantage of the after Christmas sales at Hobby Lobby and got a better tree for next year! Goodbye apartment tree that cost us $16.99 at Target 3 years ago! We won't miss you! Not one little bit!

2 Month Stats/ Trip to Pediatrician

We went to Luke's Pediatrician today... our baby weighs 10# 15 oz (25%) and is 23" long (25%). His head is a whopping 15 3/4"... the Dr. remeasured to make sure that was accurate... Luke has lots of brains already! Luke had 3 shots in his legs and some gunk squirted in his mouth. When the nurse gave him the shots, his face turned red, he held his breath and got stiff as a board. I blew in his face, he let out screams for maybe 20 seconds, I touched his face and he was over it! Tough little boy! It is confirmed Luke has colic and he should grow out of it in 4 weeks or so... for now, we just get through it and do whatever works to calm him down at night. Luke got a car that honks for being such a good boy!

Christmas at the Allison's...

It was short, but sweet!

Sisters ;)

Honey and Granna holding Luke Christmas Day:

Melody learned how to make Honey's famous Banana Pudding... nothing in this world compares!

Visiting our long time friends, the Ducks/Brannans:

Santa Came:

Poor Allie has had half of a newspaper for 2 months now... Granna had her a new one sitting on the tree skirt-- it didn't take Allie ten minutes to find it... lucky dog!

Luke watched his first UFC fights:

Sitting with Daddy:

LOTS of Texas Hold Em in my parent's pool house... we spent most of our time right here! Loosers had to go play pool :)

Luke met his Aunt Melody:

Luke met his Uncle Justin:

Granna and Pops got one last hug in before we left:

2 Months Old

Our sweet baby boy is 2 months old! What he has been up to:

- He tracks us with his eyes when we walk around
- He LOVES ceiling fans... if they have a light on there, even better. He is so content laying on the bed looking up and we have caught many, many smiles here.
- His eye lashes finally got darker and they are long!
- His hair is getting thicker in the back and has a little curl to it when it is wet... it still dries spiky, strait
- His newborn diapers are really snug and we are finishing out the last box before promoting to Size 1!
- He is extremely fussy at night... from what we read, this is normal at this point and goes away by 3 months. He pretty much has to wear himself out, but a bath seems to be the best way to calm him, along with lots of holding and burping.

We get his official weight stats on Monday at the Pediatrician, so I will post those then.