Happy Birthday, Evelyn!

Our beautiful girl, Evelyn Louise was born October 1!  After many months of praying, praying that the Lord would allow me to carry her until the scheduled c-section date, He allowed it to be so, and it was such an amazing day!  We can't  believe she is here, perfect, and adds such sweetness to our family.

She was born at 12:18 p.m., weighing 8 lbs, 11 oz. She was 20 and 3/4 inches long.

So far, she sleeps  A LOT!  It's even hard getting her to eat, sometimes.

She's such a sweet girl.  An absolute beauty and already shows us what a precious heart she has. I can't wait to watch her grow!  I know how fast this first year goes, and I know it will probably be even faster compared to Luke's first year.  She already is almost 1 month old- totally CANNOT believe that!  We are soaking in each moment with her as they fly by!

We love you so much, Evelyn!  We can't believe you're here,  yet it somehow feels like you've always been here!  We are so thankful for you and thank God for entrusting you into our hands.

I'll write her birth story some time soon!

Here are some pictures of her first few days...

 Just born!

 With Gigi

 so cuddly and cozy :)

 with Paw-Paw

 My 3 :)

 I just love that face :)

 Cousins Noah and Georgia, Bobby and Kimberly

wide awake. (for a change.hehe)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Luke Andrew!

We cannot BELIEVE our little man is 2 years old!  Where does time go?  We had a big celebration this weekend with his party on Saturday.  It was Superman themed and oh, so cute!  Nate had a bright idea that we all wear the same shirt...so we did!  He had the best time celebrating with his close friend and family at our house that day.  The sun was bright and hot, and the house had a hard time staying cool, but none of that mattered.  We were just so blessed to have so many people come and celebrate his special day!

Oh Luke, you are such a crazy, fun, awesome kid.  You're constantly running around the house saying all kinds of hilarious things. You love the tee-tee (TV) although we try to limit how much it gets watched, your milk cup, brushing your teeth and you even grab it during the day and pretend to squeeze toothpaste right onto your brush. You totally love bath time and you're extremely curious about the potty.  You love to go on walks in the stroller and tell us, "I walk!". You are so extremely proud of yourself when you've accomplished something, as you should be.  You get a giant smile on your face and yell, "I did it!"

You love to help.  You get so excited to see what momma and daddy do and copy anything we're doing, and we love it!  You helped carry bananas in from the car when we went grocery shopping and did SO good!  You try to clean the counters and the table with whatever is in sight to wipe with- regardless of it's use, such as a placemat, a hand towel, pot holder, etc.

You're very excited about your little sister and are constantly running in her room saying, "Em-men!" (Evelyn).  We ask you where momma's baby is and you pat her tummy.  You're going to be such a sweet big brother. Watching you with other babies melts our heart.  I love how you automatically give them hugs and kisses without us even telling you to.  You have such a sweet, kind heart already, and we love your gentle spirit.

Daddy is your hero.  You get so excited as soon as you hear the garage door open! He love him to swing you in his arms and would have him do it all day if he could.  Daddy would, too, except you're such a big, strong boy and it makes him tired!  Momma has taught you how to ride on his back and say "Giddy-up" and slap his back. It's the funniest thing.  Daddy doesn't laugh as hard as I do. :)

Your smile is infectious.  We love that sweet laugh of yours.  When we tell you to say I love you, you do right on cue.  You have so many more things you've grown and learned to do, that I can't begin to list it all.  You are such a light in our lives and we couldn't be more thankful for such a sweet, awesome, amazing little boy.  The Lord has been so good to us in giving you to us.  We can't wait for the next years and to watch you grow in wisdom and stature. We pray for the Lord's direction in your life and that along with your goodness already, His perfect goodness would come about in your life and you would choose Him to follow.  We prayerfully plead this for your life and cannot wait to see his plan unfold in your life.

We love you and are so proud of you! Happy Birthday!!!!

Luke 20 and 22 months!

I missed writing about his 20 month mark!  I said I would write about every 2 months or so until he turned TWO!  We are only 2 months away from that mark- how insane is that?!

Luke is the silliest, funnest kid I know.  He makes us laugh, shake our heads in disbelief, act silly right along with him, and teaches us love in whole new way.
He still has his phases of not wanting to eat much, then will bust out in starvation mode eating everything in site.  His favorites are still bananas, ritz crackers, his milk from the sippy cup, strawberries (which he says the cutest way I've ever heard the word spoken), and cheese!
His dislikes include ground meat in any form.  I can get him to try most other things and he will eat a bite or two.  He's also revolting lately against yogurt which is unfounded.  He's always LOVED yogurt. Who knows!  It's so funny how they decide one day they like something and the next it's disgusting.

He makes the funniest faces. His faces are so expressive and genuine.  You never have a doubt what he's thinking with the big, sweet, angel smile, to his frown, to his pouty lips. He will definitely frown at a stranger or reach out and grab a stranger.  How he decides, the world will never know!  We will have to be careful with that one as he gets older. :)

He's walking, running, dancing, spinning, and his new thing is turning flips!  His is so proud of himself each time and screams, "Yay!!" every time!  I love seeing him so happy and satisfied with his new accomplishments, which are happening so quickly!  He is learning so fast and picking up on new concepts almost daily!  He has mastered using a fork (he calls it his "poke-poke"), climbing up and down stairs standing up, helping me put on his clothes, and he even helps me unload the dishwasher!

We cannot believe he's about to be two!  Here are few pictures from the last several months!

swinging with daddy

such a yummy cupcake!

with my mom and dad!

Does this all the time!

Playing with his friend Troy-dog!

Sliding on the tallest slide- such a big boy!

With my mom- 'GiGi'

May 9, 2013...

the first day I was able to feel my baby girl kick from the outside!  I will be 19 weeks this weekend!

Gender sono!

Well, this is super late, but April 18 we had a little bonus sonogram at my 16 week appointment to determine the gender of Baby #2!  I made sure to down a bunch of orange juice and ate a breakfast burrito on the way.

We sat and waited, and waited, and waited some more.  They were SO slow that day and all we wanted them to do was hurry and get to us!  We were both so exitedly anxious!  We talked softly to each other imagining if it was a boy or girl and what we would name him or her.  We joked about what would happen (since we paid specifically for this extra ultrasound) if the baby wasn't positioned for us to see!

So, finally they called us.  We got to the room and the tech seriously tried for about 20 minutes!!  Our little one had the legs crossed and wasn't budging!  She let me get up and walk around and use the bathroom. In the bathroom I had a little pep-talk with the baby and asked him or her to just work with us for a split second. hehe.

I got back to the room and she tried again. And again. Finally, after a few more minutes, she said the baby relaxed its legs enough that we could see it's a girl!!  A GIRL!

We were both super thrilled!!  Surprised in a totally great way!  I think we both thought it was a boy again, but we couldn't have been more excited and happy to hear we were adding a little girl to our family!!  We cannot wait to meet her!!

Here are a few sweet pictures!

First appointment!

Well, on Feb 21, we got to see our little one on the sonogram!!  Everything looks great!!

My appointment was scheduled for 11, so we got there a tad early.  We sat and waited for just a little while and they finally called us back!  Nate and I just chatted before, but I know we were both a tad nervous.  It's always a little anxiety-producing, getting that first ultrasound.  Up to that point, you know you're pregnant with a drug store pregnancy test, but nothing else tells you (unless you're one of those who I completely have sympathy for that get rough morning sickness). You're just waiting for a good 4 or so weeks, praying with all your might that all is well!  I think suffering a miscarriage exacerbates those feelings some.

We got the ultrasound done and the tech told us everything looked perfectly normal for where I was in my pregnancy. She dated me at 7 weeks and 4 days.  That makes my due date October 6, which is doubly special since that's my birthday!!  The doctor came in and talked for a minute or two. Then we left!

We got a few pictures to bring home with us, although they're really fuzzy and don't show a whole lot. I'm not sure she tried too hard to get a good angle, but we didn't care.  We're just so blessed and so thankful all is well.  We are praying, praying for a continued healthy pregnancy. I'm also adding to that prayer that I can carry this baby to the full 40 weeks.  I'm praying for healthy blood pressure and that all is drama free this time.  We are praying against a NICU stay this time, and that I can experience that instant bond with our little one- something I really feel I missed out on last time, since I wasn't allowed to hold him until 3 days later.  I long and yearn for the second they put him on my chest and let us have him in the room with us instantly.

Thank you Lord for great news and for the joy of carrying another gift!

Luke's 1.5 birthday!

January 14, Luke turned 18 months old!  We just can't believe we've gotten to this point and that we have a one and a half year old.  It doesn't seem right that now we're on the downward slope to 2 years.  Time must slow down.

Because of busy schedules, we went today for his 18 month check up.  Just a few weeks late.

Luke, as of today, weighs 31 lbs and 1 oz.  He's 34.5 inches tall and in the 95% for height and weight!  Once again, I was asked if Daddy is tall, too.  It's the normal conversation it seems at every appointment we go to.  The doctor said he's doing great and is excelling at all things that he should be for this age.

Some of the few things we've seen break out of him the last few months is his landmark recognition.  He knows within several miles of Gigi and Papa's house (my parent's), that it's where we are going. He also absolutely loves Chic-Fil-A and screams Cow, Cow!, every time we are approaching the shopping center that it's located in.  He loves just being a boy- getting dirty, playing outside, climbing and jumping off of things.  He tries to climb on daddy and jump off him, but it's just a little dangerous..lol.  If I'm on the floor, he HAS to have a piggy back ride.

He really has taken even more so to other kids. He's always been so interested, but now he reaches out for random kids no matter where we are.  It's sweet but a little embarrassing too..haha. We visited with his brand new cousin Brooks, the other day.  He kept saying 'baby'.  He would go and give him a hug and kiss his forehead.  At one point Brooks was just so upset and Luke went over, rubbed his head and said, 'Awwwe.' If your heart can break in a good way, he does it to me.  I tell Nate all the time, he's so sweet that it just breaks my heart.  I guess melting it would be a better term.

He goes to Mother's Day Out twice a week and totally loves it.  We try to make sure we get out of the house at least once a day, too, because someone just gets way too stir crazy.

I think the last post, he still wasn't exclusively walking but he definitely is doing that and trying so hard to run, which is the cutest thing!

I just know this next year is going to be so exciting, as we watch him grow and change!  We can't wait to see the Lord work in our lives over this next year!  Gonna be fun!! Not many people read this blog, and the ones that do pretty much already know, so I don't mind sharing.  Luke is going to have a little brother or sister, due in early October!  We're beyond thrilled!  I'm not very far along of course.

My hormone levels were again low at first, as is the usual case with me.  I immediately began supplementing and had the levels checked again a few days later.  The nurse called with the great news that my numbers were exactly where they needed to be and had even jumped super high in a manner she hadn't seen before.  Haha. Maybe she was a new nurse that hadn't seen much? But the 'T' word is definitely something I can't lay aside completely. She went ahead and wanted to schedule our appointment, so we'll get to see our little baby on February 21. :) We are totally stoked and can't wait!!

God has been completely faithful and His Love is beyond what we can ask or imagine.  We're praying for a healthy pregnancy and delivery and that all is well at our appointment!!

For now, here are some pic of Luke from the last 2 months!! Enjoy!


Because I have to sit on Daddy's head when I'm playing with the phone..

Head first down the slide!

Sleeping beauty, angel baby.

Christmas morning!

more Christmas... playing with "sweep-sweep"

and his new hammer ball toy..

Riding the carousel at the mall after his hair cut- my handsome boys :)

Luke with his new baby cousin, Brooks, and Mimi and Poppi (great grandma and great grandpa)