Santa stopped here!

Luke was soooo into the holidays this year and really looking forward to Santa Claus visiting our house. He loves Christmas lights, Christmas trees, and knows tons of songs. We visited Santa when he was at the mall the week before Christmas and Luke asked him to bring him some cars. Well, I guess Luke was on the good kid list because Santa did not disappoint. He got a kitchen with lots of accessories.

I'm not sure if you know this, but this kitchen actually serves another purpose other than for kitchen play. It is really great for parking cars in! For the first few days, he kept emptying it out and filling all the doors with his expanding collection of cars.

Luke is really good at talking Gene and I into buying him little Hot Wheels when we are at the store. They are super cheap--usually less than a dollar, and its an easy reward when he's being extra good. The only thing Luke likes more than getting a one car is getting a multi-pack of new cars! Here he is getting a 20 pack! Lucky dog!

Playing cars in the aftermath of Christmas morning. He is going to be a GREAT valet driver someday.

Will fell asleep in the middle of all of this.

The only thing left to do was bundle up and go play in the snow!! Luke was really excited about playing in the snow.

This is my favorite picture of the whole day!!

Daddy & Luke having a snowball fight!

They even made a snowman!

Portraits of Will

Luke went to spend today with his Nammy & Pop pop, so I decided to take Will to have his pictures done. After missing our first appointment due to a bit of a rough morning, we made it to our second appointment. Here are some of the results. . .

Strictly Will

This post is just for pictures of Will. I will post our Christmas Pics next time--there are a ton! I promised I would post some pics a few days ago but I was having trouble with uploading them. I don't know if the problem is completely fixed yet, but I got them uploaded for now. Sorry they are a bit late.

We are still getting to know our little guy and figure out his likes and dislikes. This is what we know so far.

1. He likes to eat.

2. He likes to poop.

Beyond that, we are pretty much clueless.

I am convinced that the La Leche League fairy snuck into the nursery at the hospital and whispered sweet nothings into my baby's ear while I was sleeping because he is like their poster child. Not only is he a champion breast feeder, but the kid's favorite sleeping spot is right on the chest--he doesn't have to be eating, he just wants to lay his head right there--skin to skin. Also, this is really the LLL kicker, he HATES pacifiers, HATES them. It seemes as if he takes it as a personal insult to even bring one near his face. In the first few days he didn't mind them, but now--oh boy, you had better keep that thing far, far away from him. Luke didn't reject his pacifier until he was six weeks old which gave us six weeks of misery waiting for him to find his thumb. Thumb sucking seems so far away for us now.

Will doesn't much care for too much swaddle either. Luke loved to be swaddled--tightly. Most babies at the hospital love to be swaddled as well. I like to swaddle. I think it's cute and I like that it keeps them tucked in and asleep. Well, it really ticks this kiddo off--especially if you don't leave his hands out. Once he gets in a good sleep, he likes to throw his arms up over his head.

Moral of the story--if you really want to upset my kid, swaddle him snugly and stick a pacifier in his mouth! Really, what other newborn has this personality???!!!???

Let it snow,let it snow. . .

Merry Christmas Eve!

As tradition, we spent Christmas Eve at my parents. Just like the rest of the nation, we got to experience some of the crazy winter weather.

Never in my life have I seen it snow around here like this! This was the first blizzard warning this far south in Texas--EVER!! And of course, we had to go out and drive in it. The trip to my parents usually takes about 45 min, but it took us an hour to get there and two hours to get home. Once we got home, it took us three attempts to get the car to go up the incline of the driveway--and its not that steep!

Will got all bundled up for the trip out to my parents.

One of Luke's favorite gifts he got on Christmas Eve from my parents. Here he is enjoying it on the floor of their kitchen. He is really, really into cars--Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Cars Movie. . . all of it. He got this giant semi truck that holds a ton of cars and came half filled with cars. Immediately he unloaded the cars and assumed the position. He always lays down like this to line all his cars up in parking lot rows.

The Cra-Z-Art set from Luke's cousins was also a winner around here. As soon as we got home we had to whip out some paper so we could try out all the colors.

Due to the weather, we decided to skip Chrismas Eve service so we could head home before it got too late. We went ahead and put on our church clothes and took a family picture anyway. It took quite a few shots for us to get a family picture in which Luke was not a blur. Its hard for a two year old to stand still. This is one of the best ones we got.

Luke & his Pop Pop

This is what we came home to--a thick blanket of snow covered our backyard.

Sweet dreams!

P.S. Happy Birthday Nammy!

One more night, hopefully

The home health nurse came to draw Will's blood early this morning. They called aroun one to tell us his level is down to 9.2 now. On Saturday, they told us they were looking for less than 10 before turning off the phototherapy. Because it is just barely below 10, we have to keep him under the lights for another day. I am really hoping that this is the last night for this as Will HATES being in the phototherapy bed because he has to be naked and can not be swaddled. Last night he didn't go down until 4am--I was in there trying with him for four hours! Exhausting! We go to the pediatrician tomorrow for our level check and--cross your fingers--I am hoping they will tell us we are done!

Bilirubin bulletin--

We went to the pediatrician this morning. Will's bilirubin is coming down with the phototherapy. While it is not low enough to stop it yet, it is moving in the right direction. As long as it continues this trend we will not have to go to the NICU. Yay!! Better yet, tomorrow the home health nurse is coming to our house to check his level, so we don't have to bundle up and head across town to get him checked. Double yay!!

Will is here!

Just like when Luke was born, I went into labor in the wee hours of the morning on the day I was to be induced anyway. We got to the hospital around 4am on Tuesday and I was having hard contractions. I stayed pretty uncomfortable until I got my epidural around 9 or 10. After that it was smooth sailing. I started pushing about 1230 and at 1244, William made his arrival. We came home Thursday afternoon and Luke couldn't wait to meet him. (Small children aren't allowed on the hospital floors right now thanks to swine flu, so Luke hadn't been able to meet him yet.) Luke adores him and we are working on gentle ways to touch baby Will. Also just like Luke, Will is jaundice. We went to the pediatrician today--I didn't want to waste any time as I suspected this might happen. Luckily, we are still early and we have started our phototherapy at home. The home health agency came this evening to set up all our equipment and we will have his bilirubin checked again tomorrow morning. Hopefully it will bring it down and we won't have to admit him I don't have much time to write, just wanted to post some pics.

To everyone we told he was 8lbs 9 oz, well I found this evidence--he's 8 lbs 10 oz.

Proud daddy!

Tired & happy Mommy!

No, he's not crying--he's hungry! Kid is eating like a champ!

Big Brother's first glimpse of baby Will!

Brothers finally get to meet.

Getting some sunshine for that darn jaundice.

Luke loves his brother! He wanted his picture taken with him.

His two favorite things--Will and cars.

Getting his snooze on in his phototherapy bed on the kitchen table. So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so thankful to be doing this at home this time!

You have five days to vacate the premises. . .

This is a formal eviction notice presented to Mr. William. You are hereby ordered to vacate the premises immediately. Due to persistent complaints in regards to excessive use of common living spaces, late night disturbances, and physical aggression with the landlord, we feel we no longer meet your needs for habitation. If you fail to vacate in five days, medical proceedings will commence immediately and authorities will remove you from the premises.

In order to speed your transition, we have pre-arranged transportation to your new living quarters. You will be more than comfortable in a newly redecorated first-floor room. Freshly painted and with a beautiful chair-rail hand cut and installed by dedicated Dada. You will enjoy vaulted ceilings and ample storage. Amenities include adjacent laundry facilities, full kitchen, free room service, personal hygiene assistant, and round-the-clock concierge services. Linen service provided daily with door-to-door trash pick-up.

Okay, okay. This is my retarded way of saying--I'm ready to be done!! If this baby doesn't come out before next Tuesday, I will be headed to the hospital early Tuesday morning for an induction. Will's room is pretty much completed except for hanging a few things on the wall. Tuesday--dang! I still have to work two more shifts and attend a work party. My Dr. has been promising me all along that I wouldn't go this far! What do dr's know anyway????