Figuring It Out

Happy Birthday Luke

My baby boy is 3 years old today. He is such a sweet and caring big brother and son, but he has his fair share of toddler moments. I am always shocked at the things he comes up with! I have been amazed t how much he adores his baby brother. He always wants to make sure he gets to go with us when we go somewhere and always asks if he can hold him and looks for him when he is napping. Sometimes he does get a bit jealous of all the time it takes to take care of a baby and wants my full attention, but he really has adjusted to being a big brother very well! He has learned how to write his name and loves to draw and colors, and he LOVES to play games. He always wants me to play games with him. He loves memory and bingo and a few other games we have! He sings the many songs he knows all the time and quite often makes up words to songs too! He is doing so well with his swimming lessons and loves the water and going swimming and playing in the hose and on the slip and slide in the back yard. He is really missing school and his friends this summer, and he can't wait to see some of them at his birthday party!

Just a few of the funny things he has said in the last few weeks. 

We were at the zoo, looking at a baboon, and he said "One day, when I turn into a baboon, I will live in there too"

I was trying to put something together for him the other day and he looked at it and told me "no, mama, that's not right- try again"

Lee was gone to play golf one say and Luke was looking for him, he asked me "where is my daddy" i told him he would be back in a little while. Luke said "but i NEED him, he is my best friend"

I can't believe how big he is now and how much he can do for himself. He is becoming so independent!

Here is a picture from this past week of him on the slip and slide: 

3 months old!

I started this post yesterday, on the day Charlie turned three months old. But life is busy around here and I never got it posted. 

Charlie is such a sweet and happy baby most all of the time. He really only gets upset when he is hungry. He is very serious about eating! He smiles and laughs all the time and "talks" and coos more and more every day. He loves watching Luke play, and he loves to cuddle and be talked to. He also is in love with ceiling fans and will lay and "talk" to a fan for a good 30 minutes. He rolls front to back and back to front when he wants to, but is usually just content to lay wherever you put him. He thinks if he is awake he should have something in his mouth (preferably a bottle), so when he isn't eating, he likes his bottle a lot and also sucks on his thumb a good bit.

He really is a little love bug. He is changing so much, I just can't believe how long he has gotten and how much he has filled out. I think he is probably going to be bigger than his big brother before too long!

One of my favorite recent pictures of Charlie

Uncle Brett is home!

Lee's brother Brett has been in Iraq since November. He won't be home for good until November of this year, but he got to come home for 2 weeks of leave. Brett's son, Jacob, didn't know he was coming home so we got to help surprise him! It was so sweet to see him get to see his daddy for the first time in 7 months. Luke, Charlie and I got to pick Brett up from the airport. Luke was so proud of the sign we made for Brett!

Family Beach trip

We really enjoyed our first beach trip this summer, but Lee wasn't able to go with us. He was gone out of town doing some training for work. So, we were glad to get to go back to the beach with Daddy. Nana and Poppy came for a long weekend. And Uncle Blair and his girlfriend Megan came for the weekend too! Luke had a blast with everyone around to play with him in the sand. He made fast friends with Megan and followed her around the whole time she was there. She was a good sport about it and even took us swimming at the pool where her family has a condo. Here are some pictures of when Lee's family was there with us:

After Nana, Poppy, Megan and Blair left- we got to stay and enjoy a vacation as a family of four. We had a wonderful time and none of us wanted to come home. We spent lots of time outside on the porch and on the beach. We also too the boys to the zoo and Luke got to play putt putt for the first time! Charlie was jsut happy to hang out and eat! Here are some pictures from the end of our trip:

Way too long!

So sorry it has been so long since I have posted. Having two boys keeps me very busy!! We also went to the beach for a week which was great! So just some quick updates and a few pictures. I will try to do better!

Luke.....

is done with "school" (mother's day out) for the summer. He is sad and so am I! But a lot of his friends with be going to the same preschool as him in the fall.

he is SO excited about his upcoming birthday and daily tells me who he wants to invite to his birthday party and what he wants for his birthday.

he had a ball at the beach. He loves the sand and the ocean and being outside so much. He can't wait to go back (next week!!)

is doing amazing at swimming lessons. He is now swimming all the way across the pool on his own and loves going down the big slide at the end of swimming lessons. He is a little fish!

Charlie.....

is still eating and growing like a champ! We had his 2 month checkup this month and he is 11 pounds 7 ounces and 23 inches long. Doctor said he looks great

he is smiling and laughing and "talking" all the time. he will lay and coo at the ceiling fan forever!

he rolls over both ways when he wants to. which isn't very often, but once every few days he will roll from his back to his tummy and then every once in a while he tolls from his tummy to his back.

is never still. if you lay him down, he scoots all around and you can expect to find him in a totally different position, we can't leave him on the couch or even on the bed without illows all around him, because he is a mover!

beach pictures (you can click on the collage to see it larger)

swimming lessons, last day of school and some around the house photos

Who is Who?

i think i better label all the baby pictures. One of these is Luke and one is Charlie, can you tell who is who? Their daddy can't!

Busy week! crazy week!

A lot has happened since I posted last. My blood pressures kept going back up and my doctor came back in town. He put me back in the hospital. We had an unexpected and unwanted 24 hour hospital stay. I was put on magnesium to make sure I didn't have seizures because my blood pressures were so abnormal. Then they sent me home on blood pressure medicine and put me back on bed rest. I had been told that I didn't want to be put on magnesium, and I now know why! I felt terrible for the 24 hours in the hospital and the day after I got home. But I won't go in to all that, or the HORRIFIC nurse that I had when I was admitted! That is a story for another day..... But what is important is that, I did get to come home, and I am doing much better. I went back to the doctor this past Wednesday and I was given the okay to drive and to start easing back into my normal life. I hadn't driven in almost a month because of my bed rest before Charlie was born and being put back on bed rest, so I was more than ready to be able to just get in the car and go!! Thanks so much to everyone who has called and emailed to check on all of us and to our families for ALL they have done for us. Helping with Luke and with meals and driving me and the kiddos around when I couldn't drive. I am glad to be on the mend and I am SO thankful for my wonderful doctor and his careful attention to all that was going on with me. 

Both boys are doing great and Lee is back at work. We were so sad that he had to go back, but are thankful for the time he had off! Charlie is eating ALL the time! especially at night! Luke is loving being a big brother most of the time. He has his moments when he wants some attention and I am busy with Charlie, but for the most part, he has really embraced his role as a big brother and is crazy about Charlie. He loves to help do anything he can for Charlie and loves to hold him and even tries to get him to play with some of his toys some times.

So, before we get started with bed time routines, I am going to share a few pictures and post this! I have been trying to write this post for over a week and it hasn't happened, so please forgive me if I left out all the details!

By the way, as you can see in the last picture, Charlie likes to lay on his side. And we don't put him on his side. He has been rolling onto his side since he was about 4 days old. As soon as you lay him on the floor on his back he rolls onto his side.... He will stay there a while, then roll onto his back and then on to his other side. It is pretty funny to watch.

1 week old

Charlie is one week old today! Kinda hard to remember all of this past week. It has been a blur! So far he mostly just eats and sleeps and eats and eats some more!! His big brother likes him most of the time!! Luke really has done amazingly well adjusting to life with a new baby around. He has had some issues with sleeping and sometimes breaks down if you can't help him with something right away. But these are all things that we expected after him being the only one for two and a half years. He does love to hold Charlie. And if we are ever out of the room and walk in, he will just be staring at him in the bassinet. He isn't crazy about me breastfeeding him. He always says "he is mine, he wants me" and tries to pull his shirt up and feed him when I am trying to feed him. But we are working on that.

Everyone has helped out cooking and cleaning and taking care of Luke since my blood pressure is still not doing what is should be. When we went for Charlie's outpatient check up two days after we were released from the hospital, my blood pressure was really up, so they sent me to labor and delivery to be monitored and they were able to get it down. All of my blood work was elevated, but not enough that they wanted to keep me. My doctor is out of town right now, but the doctor on call said i really still needed to be on bed rest until my BP comes down. I am hoping to talk to my doctor later this week when he is back in town and see what we can do. I have been SO thankful for all the amazing people in my life during my time on bedrest and this past week. Lee has been amazing! He has been doing all the dishes and laundry and taking care of luke as well as helping me with Charlie and doing some of the cooking. All the grandparents have been huge helps as well. Luke has spent lots of time with Dee and Pop and also with Nana and Poppy and has really enjoyed all the attention.

Charlie had a little jaundice when we left the hospital and when we went for his follow up visit, it had gone up a little bit, so we had to go back today and his jaundice was down enough that we don't have to go see anymore doctors until his 2 week check up with the pediatrician next week. After his birthweight of 7lb 8oz, when we left the hospital, he was 7 lb 4 oz. At our first outpatient visit, he was 7lb 2 oz and today he was back up to 7 lb 6 oz. So all of his eating is paying off. Sorry for all the rambling, this is mostly so i will remember all the details myself! 

Here are some pictures from this past week! (you can click on the collage to make it bigger)

Day 2

We had lots of visitors on Charlie's 2nd day. Luke really got to see him for the first time without lots of other people around. And Luke wasn't scared of Mama anymore. He didn't like all the monitors and wires on me when he came in the Labor and Delivery room. He was very glad to see me out of the bed on Day 2. Luke insisted on wearing his doctor suit to the hospital again and even brought his doctor kit!

Charlie's Birthday- March 10, 2009

After spending the night in the hospital, we got an early start and we were so excited that the doctor thought he would make his appearance around 2. The day went by pretty smoothly, and Charlie was born at 2:37 pm. Here are a few pictures from the day he was born. You can click on the collage to see it bigger.