Tis-ter

Luke is such a good big brother, so far he has been very gentle & loving with his "tis-ter" as he calls her. Last night Luke held Aubrey for the first time and he loved it! He got mad when we took her away and followed us with his hands held out like he wanted to hold her again.

Checkin' her out

I love my "tis-ter"

If anyone messes with you, they'll have me to answer to!

Cousins

Big Mama (Ryan's mom) has been here all week helping out with Luke, laundry, cooking, cleaning, & running errands; it's been great to have everything else taken care of so I can focus on the baby. Bigg Daddy (Ryan's dad) came last weekend when Aubrey was born, drove back home to Indiana Sunday and then drove back yesterday to spend just a little time with all his grand kids before leaving again today.

Aunt Holly & Parker came Wednesday and just left this afternoon. Luke loves it when Parker comes to visit, they have so much fun together!

Aunt Holly & Parker meeting Aubrey for the 1st time
For some reason Luke enjoys sitting in Parker's lap...she can only take it for a minute & then she needs her space back

Aubrey & Parker

Bigg Daddy with all his grandkids

Jaundice Baby & Utensil Using Big Boy

We took Aubrey to the doctor yesterday, because she was getting increasingly yellow and we were afraid her jaundice levels were getting too high. Sure enough they were indeed higher than the safe range and so she has to have some "photo therapy".

A nurse from a home care company came yesterday afternoon to put a light bed in her bassinet that she has to be on 24/7 except when she is being fed. I was afraid that she would hate it and scream all the time, but so far she has slept almost the whole time she has been on it.

The nurse came back today to draw her blood to see if the jaundice levels are coming down, hopefully they will be so she doesn't have to be stuck on this thing for too much longer. They said the average jaundice baby stays on the bed for 2-3 days, let's hope it won't be any more than that.

She has to be zipped up in the blanket/outfit that fits over the light

Snoozing away...I've had to wake her up to feed her, because she's so warm & cozy in there

In other news...
Big Mama (Ryan's mom) has taught Luke how to use a spoon to feed himself applesauce & yogurt! We tried using a fork & spoon several months ago & it was a disaster, I'm glad it's working this time!
As I've stated before, Luke is such a picky eater and won't eat the food that we eat, but last night we got him to eat some Lima beans, potatoes & ham because he got to use the big boy spoon...I hope this trick lasts!

Aubrey is home

It's great to be home with Aubrey...I think Luke was the happiest out of all of us that we are all under the same roof again.

So far Aubrey is a great baby, very laid back compared to Luke! She sleeps most of the time and is very hard to wake up to feed. She had a very traumatic birth and has some bruising on her head which has caused her to be a little jaundice, but other than that she is perfect! As I'm writing this post Ryan is walking Aubrey around the block so she can get some sunlight to help with the jaundice, as well as taking Luke on a wagon ride...I hope they all 3 make it back in one piece!

Luke has definitely not been himself since we've been home, he's not acting terrible just whiny and has thrown several little tantrums. I feel so bad when he wants to climb up in my lap, but can't because I'm holding or feeding Aubrey, but I know this will get better with time.

Aubrey giving us the A-Ok sign

Luke's gift from Aubrey, he loved the race track!

Luke being very gentle with his little sister

Little Sister

Going home outfit

Luke "helping" feed Aubrey

What a good Big Brother

Pictures of Aubrey

This is Rachel again, standing in for Christen. We went to visit them this morning, and got a few pictures to share with you!

Here's Mommy (who looks stunningly AMAZING, by the way!!) with baby Aubrey:

She is a gorgeous and happy baby!

And Luke is an excited (if not completely clued into what's happening here) big brother:

Christen, Ryan and Aubrey will be headed home tomorrow, so I'm sure that there will be many more pictures next week!

Aubrey is Here!!

Hi all! This is Rachel posting for Christen.

Aubrey has arrived!! She was born at 12:25 pm today, weighing 9 pounds and at 19 1/2 inches!

Everyone is feeling great, although I'm sure that Christen is tired, because she had to push for an hour and forty five minutes.

I'm sure we'll/they'll get pictures up soon!!

Congrats, Christen, Ryan and Luke!!

Tomorrow is the Day

It doesn't look like Miss Aubrey is going to come on her own, so we are headed to the hospital bright & early in the morning to be induced. Please pray for a fast delivery & healthy baby girl! Check back tomorrow for details & pictures. We can't wait to meet her!

Father's Day Cards

Luke & I went to Rachel's today to make Father's Day cards with the mom's group at our church. I have always loved crafts, probably because growing up my mom always had my sisters & I doing craft projects.
I had very low expectations for Luke's involvement in the card making, but to my surprise he participated very well. I picked out things to put on the foam card, and Luke would stick them on the card. We spent a good 45 minutes creating cards for daddy, papa, & bigg daddy...I could have continued crafting for several more hours, but Luke was loosing interest.

Making Daddy's Card, we had to put a "pish" (fish) & "ba-bal" (basketball) on daddy's

Luke's favorite thing to do was take all the foam stickers out of the cup then put them back in.

The whole gang
The finished products
All this crafting wears me out...he fell asleep in the middle of eating his pretzels, his hand is still on the snack cup

Your Baby Can Read

For Luke's first birthday, Aunt Holly & Uncle Andy gave him a DVD/Book series called
"Your Baby Can Read".


I had seen the infomercial on this series before and it looked a little unbelievable. The creator of the series says that if your babies watch the DVD series, and you read the books to your baby then they will learn to read the words in the dvds/books. The infomercial showed babies around a year or two old reading words on flashcards. I don't think kids this young are capable of really reading, more like recognizing words...if you learn to read through the phonic system this would be called learning "sight words".

Needless to say, Ryan and I were a little skeptical of the series, but it has worked miracles with Luke! He is mesmerized by the DVDs, he will sit perfectly still for the duration of the video and for a while he would even cry when the credits starting rolling at the end of the movie!
He has learned everything from recognizing body parts to animal names & sounds to things associated with babies (such as bib, blanket, etc.). The movies show the written word and then a picture of the word, and there are also fun kids songs in the movies.

Luke started watching the movies a couple of weeks after his first birthday and after just a few days of watching the first movie he was already learning things like where his nose & ears were. He also loves the books & flashcards; he asks me to read them to him all the time.

While I don't think he can read or even recognize the actual written words yet, he has learned so many things from the movies & books! It's also wonderful to have 20-30 minutes of peace & quiet in the mornings while I am getting ready for the day!

Luke & Parker watching Your Baby Can Read

Showing us their ears

And Hair
(Disclaimer: Luke is NOT holding a purse in this picture)

Uncle Andy refers to the movies as "baby crack" because the kids really do get addicted to them, but in a positive, educational way :)

So, if you're looking for a fun, educational gift for a baby, toddler, or preschooler check out the Your Baby Can Read series...it's also very inexpensive!

"Oot" & "Ka-Ker"

We've really enjoyed having Aunt Holly & Parker here since Wednesday. For the most part Luke and Parker love having each other around (unless they're really tired, then you hear a lot of "no, no, no" & "mine, mine, mine"). Luke calls Parker, "Ka-Ker", and Parker calls Luke "Oot".
Here are some pictures of all the fun things they did this week.

Pushing each other on the tractor

Relaxing in the Recliner

Doing some shopping at Wal-Mart

Taking a ride in the wagon

Having fun at the McWane Science Center

Flashback Friday

Luke was so blessed to have 7 great grandparents & 1 great great grandmother living when he was born, and they were all very anxious to meet him. My grandparents live in Birmingham and were able to visit him at our house a couple of weeks after he was born.

Luke with Meme

This is the only picture I could find of Luke & Granddaddy...
I need to get some of the 2 of them!

Luke with Big Nana

Ryan's grandparents live in Madison, Indiana, so we took Luke too meet them when he was 2 months old.

Luke & Pappa,
Mamma was sick, so she wasn't able to hold Luke

Luke & Granny

Luke & Grandad

Luke & great great Grandma Gertie

8 x 8

I've been tagged!!

Things I am looking forward to:
1. Date night with Ryan
2. Meeting Aubrey
3. Looking for a new house
4. Hearing new words from Luke everyday
5. Not being pregnant
6. Watching Luke & Parker play together
7. Spending the rest of the week w/ Holly & Parker
8. Sleep

Things I did yesterday:
1. Went to lunch at Baha Burger with Ryan
2. Went to the Doctor
3. Scheduled an induction date
4. Got remainder of baby stuff out of boxes
5. Went grocery shopping
6. Blogged
7. Read blogs
8. Ate a Klondike Heath bar...yummy!

Things I wish I could do:
1. Take Luke to fun, summer outside activities w/o dying of heat exhaustion (b/c of pregnancy)
2. Sleep on my stomach
3. Be more experimental in my cooking
4. Sew
5. Cross Stitch
6. Go for a boat ride
7. Lay out in the sun/get a tan
8. Go to the beach

Shows I watch:
1. 18 Kids & Counting
2. Rachael Ray
3. Regis & Kelly
4. American Idol
5. Dancing with the Stars
6. Celebrity Apprentice
7. Jon & Kate Plus Eight
8. Sports-baseball, football, college basketball

Favorite foods:
1. Spaghetti
2. Lasagna
3. Salad
4. Shrimp
5. Baked Potatoes
6. Cheesecake
7. Mezzaluna from Carrabba's
8. Spinach Con Queso dip from J. Alexander's

Places I've traveled:
1. Rome-Italy
2. Capri-Italy
3. Venice-Italy
4. England
5. New York City
6. Los Angeles
7. San Diego
8. Houston

I'd like to travel:
1. Italy (again)
2. France
3. Spain
4. Alaska
5. Prince Edward Island
6. Boston
7. Chicago
8. Jackson Hole

People I tag:
1. Rachel
2. Christie J.
3. Emily E.
4. Laura M.
5. Blakely S.
6. Amy K.
7. Katie D.
8. Jenny F.

3 Years!

Today is our 3rd anniversary! It some ways it seems like we've always been together, and in other ways the time really has flown by! This morning Ryan said I can't believe it's already been 3 years, and I said I can't believe we (almost) have 2 babies in 3 years! :) We're going out to eat & maybe to see a movie tonight, we haven't been to a movie since Thanksgiving, so if anyone out there has seen a good movie lately let me know!

I don't have our wedding pictures on a cd or the computer, but thanks to facebook, I can "steal" pictures that other people took at our wedding.

Aubrey Update

We went to the doctor today and if Aubrey doesn't come on her own, then I will be induced next Friday, June 19th. We are trying to enjoy our last 10 days with only one child!

Luke loves to point to my belly and say "bay-bee"
He also loves to give the "bay-bee" kisses

We can't wait for Aubrey (AKA: "Au-ree") to get here!