Walking :) 12 1/2 months

So Lucas has been walking for about 2 weeks. He's getting so good. Following us around the house and even opening some doors when he shouldn't be. That door being the one leading out of our apartment and into the hallway with stairs. It's so scary! He's almost given me a heart attack. Twice.

He loves puffs. No joke. This kid eats them all day long. I can't even have the bottle out or he screams til he gets some.

He's doing very well with drinking from his sippy cups and straws. He's still got some chewing issues but getting better. He wants to swallow right away and he can't always do that.

His one year stats were 22.10lb and 321/2 inches :)

One.

March 18, 2011.
I had been having contractions all day. These were different. They were coming faster and felt like my insides were burning. I called the doc and went in. Again, same story different day. I wasn't dialated enough to be admitted so I went home. Something wasnt right. I could tell. I went to bed around 11am and woke up at 530pm in excruciating pain. It was time.

It was the last call I would make to my husband before we became parents. He questioned me one last time. "Are you sure this time"?! I prayed it was.

We got to the hospital around 6:00pm. By this time I was contracting every 3 min and was certain this child was coming. My parents were on the way from Indy and my grandpa came too. Everyone had been notified.

Then it happened again. I was sent home because I was still only 2cm dialated. SERIOUSLY! My family was here at this point and I could barely keep from crying. I was released from the hospital at 9pm.

I knew this baby was coming. Why couldn't they just believe me. It was my first baby and I didn't know what I was talking about, I heard them mumble. I wasn't about to make my family drive all the way back to Indy. We found the nearest restaurant and hotel. Spaghetti was the last meal I consumed before giving birth.

We all got settled into the hotel and everyone tried to keep busy while I labored in the bathtub. Sam, Kate, Danny played cards. Mom and papaw got some sleep. I labored. And labored. And labored. 3am came and I had enough.

March 19, 2011
Mom, sam, Danny, kate, and I packed up the truck and headed back to the hospital. Papaw stayed in bed to get some more rest in case this was ANOTHER false alarm. We got to the hospital and I checked in. Everyone had to stay behind while they checked me and WAHOOOOO, I was dialated to 4cm! That was all I needed.

I got my epidural around 6am. It went better than I thought. I was nervous but we got through it. Danny held my hand the whole time. It was awesome. Once I got my epidural I was instructed to just rest and try to get some sleep before the big stuff came. In the meantime Danny had called my best friends and more of the family, and they were on their way. I was so happy they were coming to experience this with me.

My water broke around 10am. By this time I was at 6cm. I was progressing slowly but I was progressing on my own with no pitocin. Thats what I was most proud about...until....the HOT SPOT. If you arent familiar with labor terms, I had one of the most excrutiating pains in my entire life. The epidural was working great, except in my left hip. I could feel everything in my left hip. It was getting to the point where I thought my entire leg was going to break. I just could feel so much pressure and burning that I wasnt sure if I was going to be able to push. In the mean time, Lucas decided that he didnt like me laying on my side and his heart rate decided to drop. Everyone had to leave the room while they gave me oxygen and flipped me over to get him moving and situated into a spot where he could be comfy. It was so scary. I was certain my blood pressure was through the roof and I was going to go into a panic attack or preeclampsia.

Once that was over and everything calmed down, they let me press my button to release more of the meds into my system and gave me another type of drug to ease my pain. Thank goodness that helped. I fell asleep at 8cm...now thats not normal. At 8cm you are about ready for the rodeo. Not me, I was sawing logs. It was nice. They came to check me a bit later and I had gotten to 10cm but I just didnt feel like pushing. I wasnt feeling the pressure they described so I just felt like I would wait a bit longer. My doc wasnt even there yet so I didnt see the rush.

Then, something just came over me and I felt like pushing and getting this shit over with. I started pushing at 1:30 pm. I pushed 4 times with every contraction but was starting to get that stupid HOTT SPOT pain again so things began to get more and more difficult. I just knew I had to suck it up and get through this. Danny held a wash cloth on my face while my mom, debi, and sister all cried the entire time I was giving birth. I remember looking down at my sister who was just in tears as they pulled Lucas out. She was so happy and I am so glad she got to experience this moment with me. My nurse did an amazing job until my doctor got there. He literally was there just in time to do a procedure on me so I could push Lucas out and be done. Lucas was born at 2:50pm. I couldnt quite see him as soon as they took him out. I was trying not to scream in pain due to the HOTT SPOT pain i was having. It was really coming and I couldnt believe that my hip was still attached when I was finished. Doc finished up on me while everyone went over and visited with Lucas. I finally got to hold him after they cleaned him up a bit and got his vitals. I couldnt take my eyes off of him. Our family was complete...

or just started :)

3/19/11 Just minutes old.

3/19/2012 ONE YEAR OLD

First Christmas :)

I couldnt believe it was already here. Lucas celebrated his first Christmas! Hard to believe his first one has already came and gone. It was definitely a moment I will never forget. Waking up with him on Christmas morning was the best feeling I have ever experienced. I truly feel like I am the luckiest mom in the world :) Being the mom of an almost 10 month old boy is so far, the coolest thing! He makes every day, a better day. Sometimes I forget what life was even like before Lucas was born! What the heck did I do with all that free time?!?! If you truly know me, you know exactly what I did ((SLEEP))!!! HaHa! Here are a few pics from his first Chrstmas and one from New Years Eve :)

 all his new stuff :)

 Christmas Eve

 Christmas morning :)

 He loved this toy!

 Christmas day with Papaw :)

 Lucas and Callie Jo

Happy New Year :)

Scary sweeper && 9 month appt.

So last week we realized that Lucas DOES NOT like the sweeper. I can put him down on the floor and sweep the other side of the room and he will be okay for a few. If you come closer, he freaks. He screams and cries. He absolutely hates the sweeper and the sounds it makes. Debi was sweeping her house and Lucas was in his pac n play, when she turned off the sweeper, he was crying hysterically. Poor baby :(

Lucas had his 9 month appointment this week. Here are his stats: 20lbs 10oz & 30 1/2 inches long. I forget his head size but it was in the 50% range of his age. The other 2 stats are also 50% and 97% in range.

The doctor said we could start giving him Vitamin D milk more in between formula bottles. He is only taking 2 bottles now as it is so it wont be hard to wean him off of the formula. I gave him a Vitamin D bottle last night and he did well. So we will see how this goes. I am keeping an extra pack of formula just in case he has issues :) lets hope he doesnt!

We also asked about his eye. Danny & I noticed that it may have been a bit on the "lazy" side. We werent for sure, so Danny asked the doc and the doc wasnt too worried about it. Said that it could still be some swelling that a fall Lucas had earlier in the month. We will keep close eye on it and check it in a few weeks to see if its still the swelling thas making it seem to be lazy or if he has to get his eyes checked. Prayers!

We also are starting to give him more and more table foods. He loves them. It gets harder to eat in front of him every day so we just give him what we can until the doc okay's it. Well, they did ha. Right now hes eating 3 jars of baby food and 2 formula bottles with some apple juice in between here and there if he gets thirsty. Most of the time he is too busy playing to even be hungry. He loves to play! Lucas has been very consistent with his sleeping pattern. He goes down every night between 7-9 and sleeps well until I wake him up at 6am to feed him and spend time with him before I head off to work. If i didnt wake him up, I am sure he would sleep until 7 or 8. I need that mommy time in the mornings, starts my day off just right :)

Favorite things:

• pacifiers
• num nums
• playing in his crib
• standing againts the couch
• remote
• mirrors
• kicking and banging his legs against his mattress when he isnt sleepy
• rudy
• riding in the cart at the grocery store
• hats
• his tongue

9 month pics :)



Crawling :)

I thought it wasn't going to happen. My heart was starting to ache because everyone else's babies were crawling. Was I being stubborn, probably. As a parent you never want anything to be wrong with your children. I was concerned Lucas was developing slowly. Then boom, outta nowhere he started crawling. My heart didn't ache anymore. I was relieved and excited he hit another milestone. Now, I can look forward to the next one :)

8 months.

Lucas turned 8 months old on Saturday. He is 20.2lbs. We had our first encounter w the croup. I was in Nashville when he got it and from the stories I got from both sets of grandparents, it was ugly. Poor baby!

We are still working on crawling. Army crawling and scooting were easy. This whole getting on all 4's and moving forward is what he won't do. We practice everyday and he just doesn't want any part of it. He would rather sit, stand, or roll to what he needs. I'm out of ideas as to how to get him to progress. On a happier note he's really been into giving me kisses. I love this! He opens his mouth so wide and closes his eyes! Melts my heart.

We started feeding him stage 3 foods. He is such a good eater. I am amazed at how much he likes everything. Peas are the only thing I have seen 'the face' with ha. Here is a pic of tonight's chicken noodles and he got a little on his new Jammie's. My favorite by the way! :)

Football games were on so we decided to watch the games and take our bath in the living room! He had fun! got water everywhere. Ha!

Baby's first Halloweenie :)

This year we got to dress up Lucas in his first Halloween costume. Although he couldnt do much of the 'Trick-or-Treating', it was still fun to see him in his Bengal costume. I took him up with me to Lapel to see his little cousin Callie Jo. I wanted to get the kiddos together for some pics since they will be spending lots of time together when I come home to visit! I must say, she was the cutest little elephant I have ever seen! Not to mention, she looks like me as a baby anyways :) Here are a few pics from the holiday! It was a Jungle at the house this year :)

Lucas in his Bengal costume

Callie & Lucas in their costumes

Lucas giving Callie a kiss :)

My lil Bengal cub :)

Momma Bengal and her baby