Beach!

Luke's first beach trip was spent at Kiva Dunes for our annual trip with the Rodgers and the McGarrahs. Drew's parents have a house in Kiva Dunes and they are so nice to invite us every year to stay with them for part of their vacation. We started this little tradition 4 years ago and the first year Corey and I were pregnant with James and Tommy and Kristen and Chandler were only engaged. Every year there have been major changes with each family. And this year we definitely multiplied. 6 adults and 6 kids. I am not going to lie I was a little worried how enjoyable it would be with that many kids but it actually was really fun and not as chaotic and you would imagine. The ages are as follows: Tommy 3 1/2, James 3, Sarah Jane 21 months, Jackson 20 months, Embry 4 months, and Luke 3 months and Corey is expecting their 3rd baby due in August. The girls really need one more but we will have to wait until August to find out who will be joining us. And if you can believe it we actually all made it out to dinner one night and it went really well! 

Tommy, Sarah Jane, and James eating breakfast...I think Jackson was also sitting at the table but he escaped for a moment

James really enjoyed playing on the steps of the pool. A little background, a few weeks ago James jumped in the big pool just as he did all last summer but this time he was traumatized by going under water and he wouldn't leave the steps. By the end of the trip he had worked his way to the last step and swam to the other side of the steps. Of course Chad wasn't with us when he was traumatized so naturally it is all my fault :)

Sweet Sarah Jane

Tommy and James had a blast on the beach building sandcastles and running from the waves.

Luke and Embry chilling in the stroller. To be so young they were perfect little angels and dreamed of the days they too could keep with the big kids. Poor things they probably got a little ignored on this trip but they didn't seem to mind as long as they could see the action.

Luke did make it down to the beach one time and slept most of his first experience so I am guessing he enjoyed it. I was too paranoid about the bright sun so his experience didn't last too long.

He really seemed to love being at the pool with his Daddy.

We thoroughly enjoyed our mini vacation and we look forward to next summer and meeting the new baby Rodgers. The adults will officially be outnumbered :) 

Happy Mother's Day

I am a little late posting about Mother's Day but we were out of town. We spent this Mother's Day weekend in Atlanta celebrating a wedding for some of our good friends without our children :). We lived it up for sure and even though we missed them like crazy it was kind of nice to act like we are not parents for a weekend. Thanks so much to KK and Pop for watching after our little ones. I think they needed a day to recover too. 

As James gets older I get to enjoy homemade Mother's Day gifts he makes at school. This year I got an apron made from a pillow case with his hand prints on it and this framed Mother's Day quiz...

I laughed for several minutes after reading it. Salad is not my favorite food by the way I try to get him to eat it all the time by telling him how much I like it. And the green store is Publix. Kids get a free cookie while you are shopping and I made the mistake of letting him get one one time and now we have to have one every time to avoid a scene. 

I had a wonderful mother's day celebrating with KK and Meme and with my precious babies. Without my 2 little boys I would not have a reason to celebrate. 

Luke 2 months

I have a feeling I am going to be saying this alot but oh my goodness time is flying by and this little baby is growing up. I seriously cannot believe it has been 2 months since we met this precious and I cannot believe I have been away from work for 9 weeks and only have 3 more weeks until I have to go back. It always seems that just when you really start to enjoy life with a new baby it is time to go back. 

So alot has happened in this past month. I will be honest and say that 2/3 of this month was not fun. We went through some very emotional times. I made a big decision to begin adding more formula bottles and start pumping less. It was a hard one because I struggled knowing breast milk is best but also thinking that the days we were having with my stress level and lack of sleep something needed to change. Luke also digressed on his sleeping patterns and began to only sleep for 2 hours at at time...whew those were some tough nights/weeks. He wouldn't scream or anything he just wouldn't sleep for a long period of time. I spent the days scouring the Internet for tips, sample baby schedules, read blogs, read articles...I was desperate! I felt like we were doing everything the books and internet said to do. And it is so hard not to compare to your first child but I have learned that James spoiled us with his sleeping. He may have had some colic issues but he was a good sleeper. I read in his baby book he started sleeping through the night at 7 weeks and we were at 7 weeks at the time and not even close! Then right at 8 weeks Chad and I made a change in his night time bottle time and bumped it up to 9 instead of 10 and bumped him up to 6 and then 7 oz for that bottle and whola! For the past week he has been consistently sleeping 4-5 hours straight and then I give him his paci and he will sleep another hour and half. I feed him at 4 then he goes back to sleep until 7:30 or 8. I think a combination of what we did plus him turning 8 weeks helped tremendously. I read sometimes around 8 weeks things just start to click. It is amazing how much better everyone is with a little more sleep! 

For more of the positives he is just the happiest baby. He smiles non-stop during the day. It doesn't take much to see that big toothless grin and it makes you just want to squeeze him. I can be talking on my cell phone and just look at him and he thinks I am talking to him and gives me the biggest grin. It really just makes your day so much better. And he really smiles at anyone who will talk to him even total strangers. The funniest thing he does is I will get him all swaddled for a nap and he will fall sound asleep in my arms and the minute I lay him down he opens his eyes and gives me the biggest smile. It is like he is saying "yeah right mom I am so not asleep". We went to his 2 month check up today. He is weighing 13 lbs. 14 oz and is 24 1/2 in long. He is the 90th percentile for both height and weight. He is such a chunky thing! He did have to get his first round of shots and it was just awful. I think it way worse on the mom then it is the baby but we cried through it together. And not to leave out brother but every day I enjoy watching James interact with "Lukie" as he calls him and he just LOVES his little brother so much. He constantly wants to kiss his forehead and he is always letting me know when he cries because he knows I need to pick him up. We are so fortunate he is not jealous! He are some pics from this past month...

He is beginning to enjoy his bath especially since it has become a nightly thing...

His official 2 month pictures...

Happy Easter

This Easter was so much fun with James. Each year seems to get even better with holidays as he begins to understand more. Plus it is always good to use "The Easter bunny is watching you" and James responds "and so is Santa Claus" haha. KK, Pop and Chase made the trip to our house for the weekend. We really enjoyed sharing the Easter weekend with them. Easter eve James prepared a plate of snacks for the Easter bunny. We initially got out the carrots and celery but James insisted that the Easter bunny will want lettuce too. I realized he got that from the "Tale of Peter Rabbit" story KK and Pop had been reading him. 

The baskets are ready for the Easter bunny. We couldn't decide where to leave the baskets. Where do most people leave their baskets?? We ended up by the fireplace thinking that would be a good spot. 

And then when we woke up the next morning...the Easter bunny had left footprints!! 

Along with goodies for James and Luke.

James LOVED the footprints and couldn't believe the Easter bunny had made such a mess. We were instructed not to step in them. He also was very pleased with the candy and the pool goodies the Easter bunny left. James got a new swim suit and new water wings. I got a picture of James in his swim suit and water wings over his pajamas but in order to please Chad I did not post the picture but I am sure it will come out one day for his wedding rehearsal dinner slideshow :). Luke also got a new swim suit and a sun hat. 

James and Luke in their matching pjs! I will only do this while I can with James. My time is running out when he will allow me to dress him and his brother alike. Right now he loves that Luke has pjs just like him.

After we went through the Easter baskets us and KK, Pop and Chase headed to the Grand for an Easter egg hunt and breakfast. James loved hunting eggs and he was so determined to get as many as he could. The look of determination on his face really reminded me of someone. He is such a competitor.

An attempt at a family photo. I am afraid it will really be a rare occasion when we are all looking at the camera. I think 2 out of 4 is pretty good.

A little croquet after breakfast...

Luke taking in the festivities...

James cleaning up the Easter bunny mess...