Week 8: February 9-15

The end of last week was pretty uneventful. The kids and I had our typical stay-at-home in our pj's day on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were also pretty relaxing.

Sunday afternoon I did get to have some girl time with April. We went to see "The Vow" and to dinner at Charleston's. It was so nice to be away from everything for a few hours--thank you April for making it happen. Troy obviously stayed home with the kids. He fed Hannah her first bottle while I was gone. She wasn't too keen on it for about 5 minutes but then decided it was okay according to Troy. All three of them were happy to see me when I got home.

Monday was an exciting day for Luke. It snowed during the night which we had talked about before he went to bed. I heard him wake up, walk over to his window, pull open the blinds and then exclaim, "Mom, it snowed!!!!!!" He repeated that about 10 times at the top of his lungs--he could hardly stand the excitement. We had to quickly eat breakfast and get dressed to go outside to play. I set Hannah in her bouncer by the window (she was sound asleep) and Luke and I played outside for about an hour. We had a great time! Luke made snow angels with our neighbor and they had fun chasing Maggie around. Luke and I also built a snowman that was named Rudolph. Unfortunately because it warmed up so fast Rudolph had fallen over by lunch time and almost all of the snow was gone by dinner.

Monday afternoon we also went to Luke's school for his class Valentine Day party. It is so fun for me to watch him interact with his teachers and his friends. He had a great time hanging out with them and handing out his Valentine's to everyone (Life Saver suckers with a card). The highlight for me was figuring out that he has a "girlfriend" and her name is Bella. He has talked about her numerous times but when we arrived she was so excited to see Luke. She yelled, "Luke, you're here!" It was the sweetest thing :)

Valentine's Day wasn't too exciting for us. Luke and I made brownies in the afternoon for our dessert. Luke also helped me a bit making crab cakes for dinner. So we all enjoyed a nice dinner, then had brownies and ice cream and opened a few gifts. It wasn't super romantic for Troy and I but we sure enjoyed a nice evening with our too precious kiddos.

A couple of randoms about the week: Luke has held Hannah probably 5 days out of 7 and he is really interacting well with her. Hannah's hair is growing and she has a bit more fuzz. She is really holding her head up well and tracking more with her eyes.

In This Moment...

...the 3 of us are all still in our pj's and it's 10:21 am. This is our typical MO for Fridays.

...Luke is watching "Sid the Science Kid" on PBS.

...Hannah is talking/cooing and kicking her legs while looking at the ceiling lights.

...I am blogging and messing around on Pinterest.

...there are 4 baskets of laundry that need to be folded in the hallway.

...there is also laundry in the washer and dryer.

...it is cloudy and gray outside (the temp is 47 degrees).

...my house plants need to be watered.

...the kitchen sink is clean and the dishwasher is empty.

...I am looking at a stack of library books that need to be returned by tomorrow.

...there are countless cars spread across the floor with a few dinosaurs mixed in.

...Luke and I are both drinking sugar-free grape kool-aid.

...I'm wondering if I will take a shower today and when if I decide to.

...I'm looking forward to the weekend and having Troy home and also my sister's visit.

...Hannah is now crying because she is hungry which means I am done blogging...

...at least in this moment.

Sweet

Anyone who is around children knows they say the sweetest things sometimes. It's unpredictable and always heartwarming. Today Luke completely melted my heart and brought tears to my eyes. We went to MDO this afternoon because they were having their Valentine's Day party. I did not want Luke to miss handing out Valentines to his friends and there wasn't a party on Wednesday. I knew this would mean a day without a nap because the party started at 2. Anyway as we were getting Luke into his carseat to come home our conversation went like this:

Me: Did you have a good time at your party?

Luke: I did. Mom, you're a really sweet mom.

Oh man! Could it get any better?!?

Me: Thank you Luke. I love you!

Luke: Love you too Mom! Are we going home now?

Me: We are going home.

Luke: Thanks for bringing me to my party.

I'm so glad I opted for no nap and taking Luke to the party rather than staying home and having (maybe) a quiet afternoon while Luke was napping. I have the sweetest little boy a mom could ask for!!!

Feb 2-8: Week 7

Another "normal" week for us. I probably could stop using the quotes around normal now. This is our life. I realize I have done posts for weeks three through seven all this afternoon but I like the idea of doing a weekly post of pictures, activities and thoughts on Friday afternoon or Thursday afternoon before I pick up Luke from MDO. Of course I'll still have other posts throughout the week too (maybe).

On the 2nd Hannah had a check-up with the doctor and everything looked great. She weighed 10 pounds 12.5 ounces (75%) and was 21 3/4 inches long (50%). She also had to get one shot; I absolutely hate it when my children get shots. She handled it with only a few screams. Troy worked on Saturday morning so I took the kids to Home Depot for the free build project and to the library with some neighbors. Luke had a bunch of fun building his Valentine box and we both really enjoyed reading several books at the library before leaving. We then went and had lunch with Troy before heading home for some much needed naps!

Sunday was a lazy day. Grandpa and Grandma H. came over to watch the Superbowl with us and we grilled hamburgers. Troy managed to win $250 for having the right boxes in a grid pool at work for the 1st quarter, half time and 3rd quarter. His coworkers were not too happy with him. The odds of that happening though have to be astronomical--way to go Troy!

Monday morning we spent over at the McBride's playing with Benjamin and Andrew and of course talking for Ashley and I. She had hernia surgery about a month ago and we haven't spent much time together due to that and Hannah's arrival. It was great to hang out with them and let the boys play.

The rest of the week has been low key. I had a follow up appointment with my midwife on Wednesday and then went to lunch with April before getting Luke from MDO.

Week 6--Jan 26-Feb 1

We enjoyed the rest of Mom's visit this week; she went home Friday afternoon. Our weekend was relaxing. We did get to see Todd and Georgia for a bit as they stopped in on their way home to Dallas from Topeka on Sunday. This was the first work week I was on my own--I'm not counting the first week Troy was back at work because he was with me pretty much all day on Wednesday of that week. This was a good week. I went out to lunch with my dad and step-mom one day while Luke was at MDO and I was able to enjoy being home with just Hannah. The best part about the week for me though was the fact that none of us was sick! One milestone for Hannah this week: she started developing real tears. I remember this clearly with Luke as well and it broke my heart then just as it did with Hannah this week.

I couldn't decide which of these 3 I liked the best so you get all 3!

Luke was very excited about his potato penguin he made at MDO this week. Troy took it to his office for display.

Hannah's typical spot while we all eat dinner.

Kisses!!!

Week 5--January 19-25

I have way more pictures of this week. I was probably more aware of the camera this week because Hannah started sleeping so much better because her acid reflux medicine started working. On Friday the kids and I met Troy for lunch at Chesapeake--Troy's coworkers had been anxious to meet Hannah. On Saturday we had our first outing as a family of 4. We ran some errands and had lunch at the Elephant Bar. Sunday we picked up my mom at the airport; she stayed until Friday. Troy and I were able to enjoy a date on Monday night!!! And on Wednesday Hannah, Mom and I enjoyed our first girl's shopping trip.

I know I will look back years from now and know that this is the week that things started to go back to "normal" since Hannah's arrival. I was sleeping better because Hannah was sleeping better and that allowed me to function better--obviously. I require a lot of sleep (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that before) and I knew the first few weeks while I got adjusted would be tough.

Pics of Week 4

Again not too many pictures from this week. Hannah's baby acne was really bad this week and roughly the next couple of weeks. Aunt Sarah came from Sunday until Wednesday of this week. We took both kids to the doctor on Monday--an ear infection for Luke and acid reflux for Hannah.

Week 3 in Pics

I don't have too many pictures from this week. Troy went back to work on Monday the 9th and I had my abcess drained on that Wednesday. I'll cut myself some slack on that week because it was really rough with Luke being sick and not feeling well myself. I do have to say that the picture below is one of my favorites--I absolutely love it!

Hugs & Kisses

Luke loves to give Hannah hugs and kisses. He is always asking, "Mom, can I give Hannah a morning hug and a morning kiss?" I'm not certain why it's always a "morning" hug and kiss because it's throughout the day--it doesn't matter though because it's just so sweet. I've been wanting to capture this interaction on video for a while and this morning I managed to do so. Enjoy!