Luke: One Month Update

If Mom had to describe me in one sentence it would be that I am such a sweet little guy! I am starting to fill out, but am still pretty skinny. My cheeks make me look chunkier than I really am though. I am quite a snacker. I like to eat little amounts every 1-2 hours. Mom is trying to get me to eat more, farther apart. I am getting better at sleeping. I don’t like to sleep by myself. I like to be held and cuddled. I don’t know why Mom tries to put me in my bassinette every night. Is it so hard to hold me all night long? I am usually the most awake in the mid-mornings and in the evenings from about 5 pm-10pm. 

My brother Carson loved to be swaddled really tight, but not me. I HATE having my arms tied down! I also don’t like the Moby wrap Mom tries to put me in, it’s too restricting. I like the Baby Bijorn though. I am not much of a fan of pacifiers. My brother keeps trying to shove them in my mouth. I know he loves me and likes to talk to me in a high pitched baby voice, but he can be a little rough. It scares Mom and Dad. He loves to hold me and gets mad when Mom takes me away. He isn’t allowed to pick me up, but if Mom isn’t watching carefully all the time he tries. He hasn’t dropped me yet though, Mom says that is a victory. 

Mom and Dad love to hold me and snuggle me. I am quite a snuggler! I’ve only met my Grandma Kelley and Grandma Bonner so far, and am excited to meet the rest of my family. I have a total of 16 aunts and uncles and 23 cousins. They are all very excited to meet me!

4:30-6:00 on a Friday night

Play time 

Thanks a lot Dad...

Dinner time 

Carson's favorite thing in the fridge is hummus.

This is the best kind from Trader Joes.

Bath time

He had been in there for a while, quiet as can be. Silence equals trouble. This is what I found. 

He has filled my Q-Tip, Cotton Ball, and hair tie containers with water and was drinking out of them and stacking them. 

Right after I took this picture...

This happened.

Currently

C is on the couch, eating popcorn, watching Manny. Life is good when you are two and your Mom can't stop you because she is stuck nursing a newborn!

House Stuff

 I love seeing what changes people make in their homes, so I thought I'd share. Finally, pictures of Carson's"big boy room". It isn't anything too fancy. Steve thinks every boy should have a bunk bed. He still isn't sleeping in here. We'll see when he is ready to give-up his crib. Hopefully it will be in the next few months, because he'll be kicked out. =)

 I found these paisley printed pillows at TJ Maxx and fell in love! I bought the green fabric and made coordinating pillows and a new window treatment.

 One of my favorite things...New bedding. I thought I'd share one of the Christmas presents I bought myself.

That's all for now!

Walks

It's finally warm enough and dry enough to take walks again. Plus I finally got to try out my cool doubles attachment!

Late night photo shoot

Last night was one where Luke wanted to be wide awake until 12am...Around 11 I decided to take some pictures.

Poor kid. By this age I had literally taken hundreds of pictures of Carson. Taking pictures of Luke has to be put on my to do list!

Helping Mommy make brownies

Pre-Biggest Loser of course!

Friendship

I was driving a few days ago listening to the “Coffee House” channel on Sirius radio (it’s all live/acoustic/mellow stuff.) Anyway, the song The Power of Two, by the Indigo Girls came on and all the sudden Sophomore year at Ricks came flooding back to me and all of the fun my roommate and best friend there, Amanda and I, had together. It made me pause and think how grateful I am for the friends that I have had throughout my life.

My friends in high school helped me figure out who I am. I had a fantastic high school experience and it is because of them. Of course, I had my share of heartbreak and high school betrayals like anyone else, but through those experiences I learned who my true friends where and how to be a true friend. Thank you Katie, Yvonne, Jackie, Dianne, Julianne, and Matt for always being there for me. 

College was the funnest (is that a real word or isn’t it) time of my life. I was able to live away from home with roommates and figure out how to become an adult. So much happens during college. I picked a career, traveled to some amazing places, and got married. I met some of the best people I know during those 4 (okay 5) years. Thank you Amanda, Mimi, Laurel, Josh, and of course my hubby Steve for sharing in those amazing times! 

I was able to live outside the country twice for a total of 8 months throughout my college years. Living in a foreign country enables you to create a very special bond with the people you share that with. Thank you Kim for serving in Ecuador with me and Heather for exploring Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia with me. The experience of getting married and all the sudden having to make married, couple friends was hard! Luckily Steve and I made great couple friends our first year of marriage. Kendall and Ryan, you guys are the greatest!

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made really great friends here and I love them, but once you are married and have kids friendships aren’t like they used to be. My main focus is on my little family now, like it should be, but it’s kind of sad all the same. I guess what I am trying to say with this post is to thank all of my friends over the years for shaping the person I am and for the memories.

**Revision** I do have to say that Carolyn and Aaron Petersen are our "favorite" couple we've met since college, even though they left us and moved to South Dakota... Sorry for leaving you out Carolyn, but I'm still hurt over the whole move...

Biggest Loser Couples

A group of us (9 couples) are doing a biggest loser couples contest for the next 8 weeks. We had our first weigh-in tonight and will be weighing in every Sunday. There is a large cash prize at the end for the winning couple and smaller weekly prizes. Steve and I are in it to win it! It is perfect timing for me especially. It took me close to a year to lose all my Carson baby weight and I don't want to have to deal with that again. In order to hold myself even more accountable I will be blogging about our weekly weight loss. Wish us luck!!!

Bitter Sweet

For the past almost six years I've been serving in Young Womens (the last year as YW president). Last week I was released. It was time for me to be done, especially with a new baby. It comes as a relief, but also with some sadness. It will be nice to have my Wednesday nights back, have fewer meetings to attend, and not have the constant worry and concern for the girls. It was weird this past Wednesday not being there for mutual. They were planning for next year and I was sad thinking that I wouldn't be a part of it. I love each and every one of those girls and will miss being involved in their lives. I think working with the youth is the most important callings in the church as well as the funnest. With that said it is one of the most exhausting! Anyway, I'm not sure where I'm going here. I guess I want to say that it was a great honor to work with these girls over the years and the other YW leaders. Good thing I can still see them every Sunday =).

Carson Rocking Out!

This kid LOVES the guitar!

First Bath

He looks peaceful, but he HATED IT!!

Brothers

I love Carson's face in this one. Very mischievous...

Carson sure loves his little brother. It is so funny whenever he talks to him he uses this cute little high pitched baby voice. Luke is the first one he looks for when he wakes up or comes home. He is very particular about his brother though. He thinks he needs to be held all the time, or needs to be put in his bed with the lights off when he is sleeping. We have to be on high alert when Carson is in the same room as Luke because he is constantly trying to pick him up. I've been trying to go somewhere with just me and Carson for the past few days. It's always been just Carson and Mommy for most of the days of the week and he's been having a hard time. I think It's helped.

It was so wonderful having my Mom here for a week and having Steve take a week off of work. Luke is only going about two hours between feedings at night, so I appreciate being able to sleep in in the mornings and being able to take naps when I need them. Steve's Mom gets here Monday night and she'll be here for a week. Carson is doing much better at night. He has woken up around 5 am a few nights and will get out of his crib and cry at his locked door for 10-15 min then fall asleep on the floor. Our rule is the door doesn't open until at least 6 am. I've survived my first week of a mother of two (with just "a little bit" of help...) =)