Thankful

WE ARE SO THANKFUL

As Sean and I drove to Davenport yesterday to celebrate Thanksgiving with most of his family, we spent the drive reflecting on how thankful we are for the great gifts God has given us! This past year we have undergone a lot of changes and so many times I would sit and think to myself, "this is a lot". A great friend reminded me that God never gives us more than we are not able to handle. Which is so true, and when we think it is a lot, it is the amazing family and friends that help us make it seem "less chaotic". Although the changes that took place in our lives are true blessings, welcoming our sweet little boy to the world, new jobs, moving, selling a house, and trying to find a house, it can be overwhelming when it happens all at once. We are overwhelmed with joy by the arrival of our healthy baby boy, Our Little Luke! We have so much love for this little guy and can not begin to describe just how blessed we feel that God has chosen us to parent this sweet little boy...we are thankful! We are so thankful for our wonderful family, amazing friends, and jobs to provide for our family.

12 weeks ago today our lives were blessed by this sweet little boy

Mommy snuggling up with little Luke after I got out of the OR

Sean admiring our beautiful little boy!

This is one of my favorites.

The nurse took this of Sean while I was still in the OR

Daddy and our Sweet Little Luke

The best gift in life

Daddy and Luke (probably watching college football)

Birthdays

During the month of November we are blessed to celebrate two very special birthdays. My mom celebrated her birthday on Tuesday, Luke can't wait to celebrate Grandma's birthday with her this weekend!

Today is Sean's dads birthday, Don turns 60 years old today. We are having a birthday celebration tomorrow evening in Davenport for Sean's dad.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Don!

W Gallerie

Yesterday Luke and I went to Cedar Falls to have a few pictures taken by the same photographers who took our wedding photos.

Going to miss this little guy

This precious little boy has changed my life! I have spent every waking minute with him the past 11 weeks, next Monday I return to work and I am going to miss our little Luke more than ever! Now, granted returning to work for me will be going to our home office in our basement for the first few days, but bare with me...it will still be so hard to not be upstairs with him knowing that he is just right there. The good news, I can sneak a visit every now and then when I am really missing him. Luke has become such a happy baby for us and he just melts our hearts. This morning Sean went into his room at 8:30 and he was just laying in his crib, content as can be, just a smilin away! Last night we put him down at 9:00 and he slept until 5 a.m...in my book that is sleeping through the night! If he continues to sleep like a rockstar, it will work out great when I go back to work cause I can feed him, put him back down, and start my day!
This weekend Luke had lots of visitors, his Grandpa Merrick stopped by to visit him on his way to Des Moines Friday, Saturday he met the Kettmann Family (Chris, Julie, Evan & Gavin), Heath & Alicia Christians came to watch the Iowa game with us, and Kate & Nate Guess stopped in after the game was over! Sunday he saw his Grandpa & Grandma Einck, Uncle Mitch, Uncle Bryan & Aunt Kate, and Russ and Mary Jo Meyer (my parents good friends) We had a house full of visitors this weekend and Luke loves it!
Friday night Luke met a new babysitter, Christine. Sean and I went out to the Children's Museum Gala, a formal fundraiser for our local museum. We had a great time getting all dressed up (ok, I had a nice time getting all dressed up, it's been awhile!). We enjoyed the evening with great friends, good food, and several cocktails! Thank you to my friend Carly for inviting us, it was so fun!

This is how we shop...

Luke had a couple shopping outings yesterday! First, I hauled him up to Cedar Rapids to exchange a few things at TJ Maxx, then off to lunch at Panera with Uncle Mitch. Then, last night we decided to venture out as a family and get our long awaited video camera. For our anniversary, which was in AUGUST, we decided we were going to get a video camera...better late than never! Also, Sean had intentions of buying me a gift for the birth of our child...well, with Luke's arrival coming three weeks early and the "last minute" shopper than Sean is, I just got my gift...again, better late than never! So our first stop was Best Buy for the video camera, then off to the jewelry store!!! Can I just say they were the fastest two purchases we have made...that's what happens when you shop with a sleeping 10 week old! We also introduced Luke to Scheel's (sporting goods store). Sean told Luke, "get use to this place...this will soon be your favorite store!"

This is how Luke shops! So content...we should do this more often!

Lazy Wednesday

our little monkey

The weather has just been crappy...rainy and dreary. Let's hope it clears up this weekend for Iowa's last home game, there would be some disappointed tailgaters! We are having some friends over Saturday to watch the game and catch up.

Luke and I have just been hanging out these past few days. I feel like there is so many things that I need to get done but I just want to cuddle and play with my cute little monkey. I am having a hard time thinking of going back to work, I just want to spend every minute with our little Luke knowing that I will never get this time back with him. He is smiling a lot and has this cute little scream...his legs get a movin' then out comes a little exciting scream! He is napping much better which makes him such a happy little boy. The past few nights we have put him to bed around 8:00-8:30 and he is sleeping until 4 a.m then up for the day around 7 a.m, I can handle that! I never thought I would say this, being the "sleeper that I am", but I enjoy our little nighttime feeding. When he is all done he just cuddles up on me, so peaceful...I could sit there for hours, it melts my heart!

Luke met his friend Claire last Friday

Claire's mom, Michelle, is one of my best friends from high school and we had these two sweet little ones 9 days apart!

Luke met his buddy Ryder Laing on Monday night. Ryder was born in June and I have a feeling these two little guys are going to cause some trouble together! Randy and Megan are good friends we have gotten to know through our work. They came over Monday evening for dinner so we could introduce our two little guys to one another!

Megan and I with the two little guys!

Little Luke

We spent the weekend at my parents and had such a relaxing weekend. Sean sat in his tree stand ALL weekend long and came home empty handed. He and my dad went out tonight just before we left to "scope" out where the deer were at and sure enough they saw three BIG buck and several doe. Next time...

Luke had so much fun hanging out with Grandma & Grandpa, and of course his mommy while daddy went hunting. We had a great time watching the hawkeye game, but unfortunately the Hawks could not pull out a victory to secure Big Ten champions...boo-hoo!

This morning we attended mass with my parents and Luke was a champ! I was a little nervous taking him because his feeding time was scheduled to be smack dab in the middle of mass, but he hung in there, didn't say a peep, and was so content all through church.

I must say our little guy has become such a happy little boy. I gave up on dairy products about two weeks ago and it has made a world of difference. It may not all be the dairy, but it sure seems that since I gave it up, he is napping better and just an all around content little guy. He loves to lay on the floor and kick & scream...it is the cutest thing ever. I could sit and watch him do that for hours! However, Luke knows what he wants...he sure lets us know when he is done playing and is ready for naptime! Last night he went down at 8:30 and slept until 4:15 a.m then back up at 7!!!

Two weeks from tonight will be a very very very sad night in our house...I will be getting ready to go back to work:( Although I am excited to get back into the swing of things with my team, I am really going to miss hanging out with my little Luke all day long. I am loving being a mommy to his adorable little guy!