Ummm...Real Food Good

In the last 2 weeks we decided to start Luke on some real foods. I've been itching to start and I thought he was ready. We started with the traditional rice cereal. The box said to give an ounce at the first feeding and that they may not eat but a few bites. Well...Luke ate the entire ounce and screamed for more while I mixed it up. He ate all of it too! So we did the rice for a few days then moved on to carrots. I'm giving him canned organic carrots. I wanted to make them, but I read something that said baby food carrots should not be home made. Apparently carrots absorb a lot of the nitrates in the ground in which they are planted. So organic or not, you can't be sure of the level of nitrates in the carrots you prepare. Baby food companies test for nitrates and only use carrots that are low in them. So the canned stuff tastes and smells like crap, but he seems to like them. We did the carrots for a few days then started on the peaches that I made. The peaches were hilarious! They are a little tart (but oh so good) and after his first few bites his head kind of twitched after every bite. He is used to the tart flavor now are really likes the peaches. Those are the only foods he has tried so far. I'm hoping to introduce sweet potatoes this week, if I can find some organic ones. Then maybe apples after that.

Luke's turned 4 months this last Friday. He has his 4 month check-up on Tuesday. I'm anxious to see how much he weighs! I'm starting to see a little bit of chunk on his thighs, and his diaper tabs aren't over lapping anymore. Oh, and his 0-3 month shorts aren't too big on him either. I don't notice that he is any heavier, but I'm sure he is! He is definitely longer too. His rise has him almost out of his 3-6 month clothing and into the next stage. He does need to slow down a bit in the length department though. I have some 6-9 month long sleeve stuff that is really cute and it would be a shame if he never gets to wear them.

On a sad note, I found out this week that a girl from my college sorority lost her 5 month old baby on Tuesday. It doesn't say how he died, just that he died in the hospital. I can't even imagine what she must be going through.

A Day at the Zoo

Luke and I went to the zoo in Nashville last week. He absolutely loved it! I didn't think he would get much out of it, and while he didn't really focus on the animals, he loved looking at all of the plants and listening to all of the sounds. It had just rained when we got to the zoo and it was VERY humid and hot, which must have woken up the animals because they were very active. The elephants even went swimming in their pool in front of us. We went to a larakeet garden, which is an enclosed room with a bunch of birds that will land on you. One tried to eat my hair, but Luke thought they were pretty neat.

Luke and I are feeling much better. After I posted last weekend, Luke felt really warm. We took his temp and it was 100.8, so we made an emergency Sunday appointment. Apparently when babies have head colds and they start to get well, it will often turn into an ear infection. I wish they would have told me that at the doctor the week before, I would have been looking out for it! When they took his temp at the doctor it was 101.4 and he had a pretty bad ear infection. They gave him an antibiotic (not fair! I wanted one too) and he is great now.

Luke is figuring out his hands. I'm not sure that he knows what he is really doing yet, but I am more confident that he will. The little toy in the picture below is great. It has thin enough parts that his hand can grasp them. A lot of toys are still too thick for him to grasp well. Heather's (my sister-in-law) little girl, Ava, found her feet this week. She is a month older than Luke. But now Garen keeps trying to get him to find his feet. I just tell him, one thing at a time.

I decided that when Luke is old enough to eat solids, I will make his baby food. It will be cheaper and probably taste better. It turns out both of my SIL's Heather and Melissa make their baby food too. Heather said she just made and froze a bunch of peaches since they are in season now so I decided that was a great idea and I would do the same. So on our trip to Nashville, I went by The Turnip Trunk, which is an organic food store and bought 7 lbs of peaches and a bunch of plums. I borrowed my friends steamer and spent last Friday making baby food. It was really easy and I am so anxious for Luke to try real food. Garen let him try cantaloupe the other night (Garen held the long slice and let Luke suck on the end). I've started giving him rice cereal if he takes a bottle. At his next appointment at the end of the month I hope we are given the go ahead to start on solids.

Stay at Home Mommy

Well, its only been 6+ weeks since I last updated this blog, but now that I am going to be a stay at home mom, I don't have any excuses anymore! So for those of you that don't know (which is probably most of you) I went back to work on Thursday, the 19th of June, only to get laid off (due to lack of work) the next Thursday. I had the option of staying on through the end on July, but I didn't want Luke to get completely adjusted to daycare just to pull him out and make him get re-adjusted to life at home. So I went ahead and made Friday the 27th my last day of work. Friday was a pretty sad day of telling everyone at work good-bye. But Luke made it better - after I picked him up from daycare and we arrived home, he laughed for the first time!

To add to his firsts, Luke also got his first cold! Thanks daycare! It only took 7 days in their care for him to get his first cold. It is a head cold and he is stuffed up and congested. I took him to the doctor on Monday and because he is only 3 months old, they can't give him any drugs. So I get to squirt saline solution up his nose and then suction it out several times a day. He HATES it! I don't blame him. I hate squirting anything up my nose too.

Then on Thursday, I started to get a sore throat and by Friday I was feeling awful. I went to the doctor on Saturday and Luke gave me his cold. I am contagious, so I have to be extra careful not to give it back (or get it back) to Luke, and I have to make sure Garen doesn't get it. Garen is an awful sick person, so I hope he doesn't get it!

Mom and Dad came down for the long weekend and thank goodness they did. It was really nice to have someone else take care of him while I laid around and got some rest. I don't know how people take care of sick children when they are sick themselves! We didn't do a whole lot with them during this trip, but it was a nice visit.

Last Saturday I went to get my hair cut and decided to let her chop it off. I had it cut up to my chin! My hair hasn't been this short since BEFORE my freshman year in high school. I like it, but I don't have any pictures yet. I'll have Garen take a picture in the next few weeks and get it uploaded. In the meantime, here are some more pictures of Lucas.

Lucas' Baptism

Happy Mother's Day.

We had Lucas baptised at Church this morning. My parents and brother were in town, so it seemed like a good time. He fit into Garen's Christening outfit really well, except the tie was too big for him, so we ditched it. As soon as service started, he started crying. It was a fun morning! He cried through the baptism and most of service. He was ready for a nap and he just would NOT fall asleep.

Yesterday was a bad day for him as well. The roofers finally showed up and put a new roof on our house. But everytime they dropped a bundle of shingles he would jump awake. I finally took him over to the neighbor's house so he could have an hour of peace and quiet. But we have a new roof on the house now! It looks great and we don't have to worry about leaks anymore.

Vanderbilt Visit

A friend reminded me this week that I have been very neglectful in my posts. Hopefully now that Lucas is a little bigger and taking better naps (some days) I'll keep this updated more frequently.

Last Thursday we took Lucas to Vanderbilt for his 1 month visit to have his heart looked at. They did an ECHO on his heart, which was just an ultrasound with heart monitors hooked up. Garen and I got to sit and watch. It was actually pretty neat to watch his heart work and beat. They turned on the "color" which showed the blood flowing through his heart. It was both blue and red, depending on if it was oxygenated or not. When the tech zoomed in on the different chambers of the heart, we could actually see the little holes. Surprisingly, it made me feel better because I could see how small they actually are. They are in the muscle of the heart (as opposed to the ligaments) which is very good. They are also no located near a valve, which is also very good. When we met with the pediatric cardiologist, he was very happy with the results and said he does not think Lucas will need any type of surgery. He is confident they will close by the time he is a year old. SUCH good news! He said there isn't anything we need to watch out for and nothing special we need to do. We don't even have to bring him back to Vanderbilt until November! Garen and I are so relieved!

Lucas has also started smiling and cooing in the last week or so. He doesn't yet do either consistently, which means we haven't been able to get a picture of his adorable little smile yet. I'm hope it won't be too long before he is laughing and smiling a lot more. His first bath was the only bath that he screamed through. He doesn't love bath time yet, but he doesn't hate it. He just sits in the water with his eyes wide and a look of shock on his face.

Garen had to go to Texas this week. He left early this morning, so Lucas and I are on our own for 5 days. I have a few friends and neighbors I can call for relief during the week if I need a break. Garen will come home the same day my parents come to town. My brother Jeff flies in on Saturday. With it being Mother's Day weekend and my family being here, we are going to have Lucas baptised on Sunday. Garen's parents may also be coming up, but we aren't sure if they can make it yet. Richard had rotater cuff surgery about a week ago and is still recovering.

Lucas' First Bath

Monday night Lucas' umbilical cord fell off - FINALLY. So Tuesday evening, Garen and I gave him his first real bath. Oh boy, did he hate it! I understand that a lot of babies scream through their first several baths, as the new feeling is strange and scary, but after a few baths, they love them. I hope that is the case. He screamed through the entire thing, and occasionally he would get so worked up he would forget to breath! Garen whipped out the video camera, so below is a video of the event! It needs parental consent to view, as Garen's camera skills accidentally made the video X rated towards the end. I'm sure Lucas will hate us later in life when we show this video to his girlfriend!


We experienced our first earthquake Sunday night. Clarksville is located on a fault line, so the earthquake in Illinois shook our entire house. I woke up to the bed shaking and I could feel the entire house swaying. My first thought was that it was a tornado, but it wasn't storming. I didn't figure it out til morning. Lucas and Garen didn't budge...men!

This week we will make out appointment with Vanderbilt. The appointment will be sometime next week. We will keep ya'll updated.



Lucas has started focusing on objects around the house. He has discovered his mobile above the swing and loves to stare at it, and he enjoys watching Law and Order with me in the afternoons!

*Video removed via Garen's request :)

2 week check-up

We went to our 2 week check-up today. Lucas is back up to weight, plus a little bit, weighing in at 8 lbs and 14 oz! He has also gained an inch and is now 21 inches long. Our little boy is growing up! He is nice and healthy and everything looked great.

Going to the doctor was my first trip out of the house alone with a baby. I told the doctor about Lucas's gasiness and the doctor suggested I try to cut cow's milk out of my diet, so in addition to going to the doctor, Lucas had his first trip to Wal-Mart... Mommy had to buy some yucky soy milk. Ummm, can't wait to try that on my cereal tomorrow! Oh yeah - and I need to cut down on cheese and ice cream, just to see if it will effect Lucas. It's like a cruel, sick joke! Do they make soy ice cream? Would it even be worth trying?!

On the plus side, no more ice cream should help me return to my pre-pregnancy weight faster! I definitely do not look pregnant anymore, I just look fat now, so there won't be any pictures of me showing up any time soon. But I'm sure none of you want to see me anyway, so here are some more Lucas pictures!