Doctor's Visit

Yesterday, Luke had his 2 month check up and first round of vaccinations. He weighed in a whopping almost 12 pounds, is 24.25 inches long and has a big brain with his noggin measuring 40.5 centimeters. He's a healthy baby all in all and the pediatrician said he was doing a good job growing! He got his first shots which was super pitiful to watch, but it's beneficial for him in the long run. His little legs seemed to be sore last night so I gave him some baby Tylenol and he slept through the night. In fact, that was the second night in a row that he slept from 9:00 until 6:00 the next morning. Could it be that we've cut out the middle of the night feeding? Let's hope so! That'll make it a lot easier when I return to work in two weeks. 

Still no news on selling the house, so we're just assuming that the couple who put in the offer has decided to pursue something else. More power to 'em. 

Not much has been going on with us. We have a nice routine right now which is, once again, going to change when I return to work. Really and truthfully, I think that for the next two weeks I may just sit on the couch and cuddle with Luke because it'll be different once I'm working. I am kind of excited about getting back to work... My mom and dad came down this week and mom and I went shopping for new work clothes. It's a little shallow, but I'm excited to get back to work to wear my dressy clothes. It'll be weird to get up and get ready and not be wearing yoga pants. I've already started planning what I want to do when I get back into the office so I feel pretty good about that. I'm going to call Luke's daycare this week and go out for a little bit with him to meet the caregivers and to see what all I need for him. 

And here's your weekly Luke fix: 

Sleepy

Mommy's sleepy too

Thanks, Dill, for this photo :P 

 All Smiles! 

Hey, Ma! 

On the move already! 

2 months! (...And a few days)

Well, we've made it two whole months! The baby is growing every day and he's already starting to form a personality which is really fun to watch.

I've procrastinated writing a blog this week because I was hoping to have some news to share about selling our home. We've been haggling with some potential buyers and have had some offers back and forth and should know a final answer by tomorrow whether or not they want to buy our home. This has probably been one of the most stressful weeks Dillon and I have encountered. They put an offer in so fast on our home and we had barely even scratched the surface of finding our next house. Monday evening, we went looking and have found some homes that we would be interested in should the need arise for us to get a new home. Hopefully, we really will know what's going on tomorrow and if in two months we'll be living somewhere else.

Luke turned two months old last Tuesday. I've definitely become more comfortable in my role as a mom. I feel more confident with him and not quite as nervous as at the newborn stage. He's starting to sleep in large chunks of time on a regular basis. Friday night he slept from 9:00 until 6:30 the next morning which is quite the accomplishment. I also started using cloth diapers this week while we're at home with great success. Dillon doesn't like using them but I think that it may be a little more gentle on his skin than the plastic disposable ones. I've researched using them a lot and as I didn't know how successful I'd be at using them I bought a cheap set from Wal-Mart (You can find them here) and they work just as good as the expensive sets you'd buy anywhere else. When researching all this, I've found girls who have spent over $1000 on cloth diapers and accessories which defeats the purpose. I know that it is cute to buy the diaper covers with cool designs but really the white covers (which expand to fit him while he's growing, the cute expensive ones do not) work just fine. I also bleached and dried mine in the sun after using and they're just like new. And I also discovered that the water hose clears off a poopy cloth diaper really well. :)

I'm also down to less than a month until I return to work. In my mind it kind of plays out like a timer counting down to a bomb exploding. I know that in reality, it's not THAT bad, but in my heart it is. I'm so, so sad to be leaving him somewhere else. I even called my mom this week and offered her the money I'd be spending on daycare for her to come and watch him. She gently refused my offer and told me that it would be ok (and did offer to come watch him for the first week). When I was researching day cares at the beginning of the year there were some babies in there only 4 weeks old. I most definitely do not judge those mamas because some folks really can't afford to be out of a paycheck longer than that but I can't imagine the pain they must experience when dropping off their new little baby there. It is so terribly hard. So, I just ask that you keep me and our family in your prayers the next few weeks because I have a feeling I'll be on an emotional roller coaster until we've established our new routine.

Holding on to daddy's finger...

We went to church this morning with our friends Eric & Laurie. Eric was baptized this morning and they joined a church downtown. It was a beautiful service with a brass horn section! Such a nice morning!  Anyways... this was Luke's outfit. HA!

Laughs and giggles!

He says "Smiling's my favorite!"

Standing with daddy

Cuddling with mommy

Luke's monthly photos take several shots to get...

Caught mid-sneeze

Ta-da! Final product! 

Father's Day

I feel like Dillon's first Father's Day may have been a little bit of a bust. I can tell the housing market is picking up because we had a showing of our house every day since Friday. Yesterday, we spent most of Father's Day in the car either looking for our next house or getting out of our house so someone could come and see it. Saturday, we got the good news that we have someone who may be interested in buying our home. I thought that we might have received an offer yesterday, but the day passed with no notice. I think I may have jumped the gun because yesterday was Sunday. So, now, I sit at home with my phone next to me waiting for the call. We panicked a little when we heard that we may get an offer so soon, hence the explanation for why we spent yesterday going to open houses and researching houses we're interested in. Dillon and I are both on pins and needles about this. 

Luke is blissfully unaware of the stresses of selling our house. He's enjoying playing with on his new mat and spent a lot of this weekend cuddling with his daddy. Have I said how much I appreciate Dillon? When we were trying to determine how much time off I could take after the baby came I told him I really wanted to take off as much time as I could if I was going back to work. The majority of my maternity leave has been unpaid and Dillon has picked up my slack of not working (at least in the work-place, I work pretty hard around the house! :) )  When he gets off work from a 12 hour day, the first thing he does is take the baby.  He's never once handed the baby off to me to change his clothes, clean his diaper or feed him. We've alternated nights taking care of Luke, and even though he works long days in the hot sun, he'll stay up as late as he needs to with the baby. I seriously couldn't ask for a better mate and someone who has made having a baby that much easier. He really has pulled double duty and done it all with a smile. He's a good, good man. 

Tomorrow marks Luke's 2 month "birthday." He's growing so fast and I was flipping through pictures on my phone yesterday and couldn't believe how much he's changed in just 2 months. It's so exciting to see him grow and change right in front of us. Here's a photo dump from my phone... I use it a lot when we don't have our nice camera with us!

We had him laughing for probably 10 minutes yesterday... best 10 minutes of my life.

Outtakes with daddy on Father's Day

Yaaawwwn

sooo cozy

Bouncing around!

Wonder Week 8

Today, Luke is 8 weeks old. It's hard to imagine that he's been with us that long and that he's almost 2 months old. It's gone by so fast. It also means I have 1 month (from Saturday) until I return to work. My heart is breaking at the thoughts of leaving him somewhere for the whole day for someone else to care for him. We've got our own communication down and I can't stand the thoughts of someone watching him who doesn't know what he's needing, who won't pick him up at the first sign of a fidget or who'll have to divide their time among him and 8 other babies. Ugh. This sucks. But I still have a month and am determined to make the most of this month of just us together. 

Luke has been a little (what an understatement) fussy this week. Starting this weekend he started crying for no apparent reason. His diaper was clean, he had just ate and didn't seem to have any obvious issues. After doing a little research, I came across this book called The Wonder Weeks and it has helped us a great deal. Apparently, babies hit certain points of brain development at the same point of their lives and there's an 8 week wonder week. They develop new skills and it's just a little scary for them. After their fussy periods, they return to their calm self and have developed new ways to do things. During this time, he's learned to  "stand" with the help of us, reach out to new things, make sense of large blocks of color, smile at us when we smile at him, and start to play with new toys. The book said sometimes their fussy times are brought on because they are bored with what's in front of them. I purchased Luke a little play mat with toys hanging down and he LOVES grabbing at the rattles and just rolling around on the floor. Whew, what a difference. I really recommend this book because it prepares you for the next wonder week and what to expect when it happens. It really helped me understand what was going on with him and not feel so frustrated. 

Another nice thing about being on maternity leave is I don't have to wait for a weekend to visit with people. Today my mom and dad came down for a short visit since my dad is going out of town and wouldn't see the baby for awhile. We had a good lunch out and a nice visit here just holding, feeding and playing with the baby. 

Next week is Luke's 2 months! Look for a picture soon documenting all of his likes in the past month! I just know you're all on pins and needles! :)

Josh & Amy came to visit and their doggie, Oscar, loved on Lucas.

There's the smile! 

Gah, I love that face

Starting to play with toys

Our new play mat, and "hey" Lola and Emma!

It's so much fun!

Grandpa comes to visit

I love my grandma! 

Luke chills out at the restaurant

Happy Father's Day Grandpa!

Meet & Greet

This has been a busy week, one that doesn't look likely to slow down as we barrel through June. 

Dillon's birthday was on Tuesday. We celebrated with birthday cake and a trip to Tupelo Honey for his birthday dinner. The dinner was cut short due to a fussy baby, we took turns trying to calm him down but he just wouldn't have it. So, we packed up our dinner to return home. So much for a romantic birthday dinner. :) 

Wednesday we officially put our home on the market. I've spent most of this week furiously cleaning trying to get it semi-ready. I wake up between 5 & 6 and start cleaning while the baby is down for a nap. It really did take almost 3 full days to finish and I still haven't vacuumed the upstairs. We do have our first showing tomorrow, I'll be getting up early once again to make sure everything is in order and clean. Guess I'll have to finally vacuum our bedrooms. 

Today was a pretty awesome day. Lucas got to visit with his Grammie Debbie and meet his Aunt Kenzie & Uncle Taylor! We got to spend some really good time with them here at home and eating good food. We also got some gifts including dvd's of movies that Kenzie and Dillon loved as children and a pillow that has all of Luke's stats from when he was born! Kenzie is the best gift giver I know, she always thinks of very personal & emotional gifts. 

We also got to spend some time with our friends at Eric & Laurie's wedding shower. The theme was a Mexican Fiesta with tasty treats and margaritas! 

I think next week may be our only week with no plans on the calendar. Hopefully I'll have some time to recoup and get back on my feet! 

Finished beer fridge! Minus the beer... to come in a week or two

Candid!

Happy birthday, daddy! We love you!  

Party animal! 

Luke testing out his bumbo seat... I know they're not supposed to be in it until another month or so, but he's got really good head control.

Uncle Taylor!

Aunt Kenzie feeds Luke

Dillon's gifts of childhood movies on dvd

12 Bones for Lunch!

Grammie feeds Luke!

Robert Feaver

Fiesta time!

Shout out to Kari who reads my blog secretly :) It's ok, Kari, I write it for people to read! 

Me and the lovely Lauren Wyatt

Sunny Point for dinner!

Dillon is an artiste with the camera