Little Fat Creases

We love every one of them.

Happy Monday.

A Day for Ben

Friday was Daddy and Ben day. I see us having a lot of them over the weeks and months ahead. He just doesn't quite understand what has happened to his little world...and I want to make sure he gets all the attention he needs.

The weather was supposed to be great (and it was), so I decided on Thursday morning that Friday we would head to the zoo. Membership has its privileges. The main one being that you can walk in, walk around for an hour, and head out - feeling as though you haven't spent a dime (I know, I know...you pay for the membership...but still. It's so easy.)

Since we were there by 10, the crowd was non-existent and we were able to get up close and personal with the newest members of the zoo family - the penguins at Penguin Pointe.

Jenny obviously was at home with Luke...Jonathan and Spencer joined us for the zoo...

Spencer's mommy is pregnant and not feeling well. At all.

How cute is this little guy? He was so much fun to watch. It was actually pretty hilarious. A year ago, Jonathan and Lauren just pushed precious little Spence all over the zoo in his stroller...while we chased a screaming, running child all over the grounds. Today, Ben was really well-behaved, and basically wanted me to hold him. Spence, on the other hand, ran ALL OVER the place. I looked at Jonathan and said, "Just remember, this time last year we were doing exactly what you're doing..and about to lose it. This too shall pass..."

Ben had worked up an appetite so we went to Chick Fil-A for lunch. What is it with McDonald's no longer having playgrounds? The only one I can honestly think of is in Hattiesburg...we stopped there on the way home from FL last year so that he could stretch his legs. I remember because the a/c was out in the indoor playground and I about died.

This picture is a little fuzzy because I had to zoom in on my phone...but he went down the slide about 100 times...a big milestone for him. He's usually pretty timid about slides, but this one was a hit.

After our nap Friday afternoon, Ben and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few groceries. I bought him the Robots DVD for $5 and he has been belly laughing at it every since. I'm not even sure what the movie is about...what kind of parent am I? While we were at Wal-mart I let him ride the Spider Man Helicopter twice, and wasted $2 trying to win him a sponge bob out of one of those robotic arm things.

All in all, we had a really good day.

Our First Week at Home

Just a few highlights from our first week at home...

This is basically what he looks like 98% of the time. Sound. Asleep.

Ben wasn't trying to pick...he was simply pointing out the various parts of Luke's face...nose, mouth, ears, etc.

He kisses his baby brother. All the time. It's really so adorable it makes us sick.

He's being a little rough with him, but not too bad. It's just things like trying to move him too fast or pushing the swing (which doesn't need to be pushed, obviously).

This was Wednesday morning before his photo shoot.

We bathed him in the kitchen sink. I had completely forgotten to clean out the baby tub, which has been in storage for three years. We were trying to get ready and it occurred to us that he hadn't had a bath yet...ha. (Don't think we're weird, he scared the nursery staff in the hospital because baths made him SO upset...which caused his breathing to become rapid and labored...so we were hesitant to do it until we knew he was completely over the fluid in his lungs, etc). As you can see, he almost slept through the bath.

Ben's first bath pics look like we had submerged the kid in ice water. I'm hoping these differences are indicative of how their personalities will differ. We could certainly use a laid back kid after having Benjamin.

Here are some other details I probably should mention...basically a recap of what has been going on:

Wednesday, March 9.

Scheduled c-section. 38 weeks and 6 days gestation. Luke William Bunch was born at 10:45 am, weighing 8 pounds, 13 ounces, and was 20" long. (Ben was 8lb 4 oz, 19 3/4 ")

Luke ingested/inhaled amniotic fluid as he was being pulled out, and he spent the first 12 hours of his life in the NICU. His Mom, Dad, Grandmother, Grandfather, Great Aunt, Second Cousin, Uncle, Brother, and various friends were able to visit him, but he wasn't held in our arms until 10 PM that night.

Thursday, March 10

After 24 hours of oxygen monitoring, blood sugar testing, and soy formula feeding (GAG), Luke was discharged to the regular Nursery. He basically spent the remainder of the stay with us in the room during the day and in the nursery at night. Jenny's epidural fell out (a day early) so she was started on oral pain medicine.

Saturday, March 12

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY, BENJAMIN! Luke and Jenny were discharged at 11:00 on Saturday morning. Benjamin came home from his grandparents at 1:00 pm. He went straight to his brother, kissed him on the top of the head, and then proceeded to watch a video. Jenny's mom arrived with us that evening.

Sunday, March 13

Todd went back to work.

Tuesday, March 15

Luke's first doctor visit. All seems to be well. His birth weight was 8.13. His discharge weight was 8.3. His weight on the 15th was 8.7. Not where they would like it, but not severe either. We return for another weigh-in next week. The doctor's goal is that it would be at 8.13 by the time we return.

Friday, March 18

We spent the first night alone (Thursday night) and it was pretty uneventful. We went to bed at 11:00, Luke woke to be fed at 3:00 am, and again at 7:00 am. Other than crying when he needs to burp or when he is being changed, he is COMPLETELY SILENT. He just sleeps. We keep telling ourselves he wasn't fully cooked until yesterday, so this is likely to be short lived.

Jenny is walking around fairly normally and has discontinued her pain medicines. Her incision isn't bothering her at all, though she has the typical discomfort that follows major surgery.

Life - for the moment - seems very manageable.

Photo Shoot

These are just two of about a zillion images that were taken of Luke...can't wait to see the rest!

Thanks Amy Jones Photography!

Comparative Study...

Benjamin - One Day Old

Luke - One Day Old

Sweet, sweet brothers.

Luke is Here

Luke William Bunch arrived by C-Section at 10:45 this morning. He weighed 8 pounds, 13 ounces and was 20 inches long.

It is now 6:30 pm and we have yet to hold him. He swallowed quite a bit of amniotic fluid on the way out and his oxygen levels have been up and down all day. As of now, his oxygen is fine, but his blood sugar is low (though not by much).

We're not sure what the plan is - he will either stay in the NICU overnight, or he will go to the nursery and be monitored all evening. Either way, he's going to be fine...nothing is life-threatening.

This is Luke about an hour after he was born. You'll see the nasal cannula and heart monitors. He also has an IV port for injections to regulate his Blood Sugar.

They were giving him a bottle when Jenny first went back to see him.

Jenny is doing great...such a strong mommy. She's in very little pain (though she still has her epidural) and has been comfortable all day.

Sitting up to burp at Mommy.

Snoozing away. I go back about every half hour just to check on him. I think I'm driving the nurses crazy.

Ben stayed with some friends in Little Rock today, and they brought him up about 3 so that he could meet his little brother. Here he is looking down at him. Unfortunately the pic of him kissing him did not turn out...the flash upsets Luke!

My brother brought Ben an "I'm the Big Brother" bear and Luke an "I'm the Little Brother" bear. Ben was insistent that his bear sit with Luke for a while.

If you had told me at 8:30 this morning that it would be close to 7 PM and I still would not have held my son, I'd have thought you were crazy. Just goes to show you how complicated deliveries can be.

We're just thankful that he's here and that he's going to be perfectly healthy.

He's just the fattest little chunk! We can't wait to get our hands on him!

The Nursery

Welcome to Luke's Nursery...

Luke's Nursery is finally finished. If you saw posts from Ben's nursery three years ago, you'll notice a lot of the same things. I'm thankful that we made the investment for the furniture that we really wanted so that it will last for two or (hopefully) three kids. That is also why everything is white - it just made more sense in light of our own style.

We are having to make a huge adjustment in our layout from Ben's nursery. His room was around 14x20, and was the largest room in our former 80 year-old house.

Looking in from the doorway.

The armoire we used for Ben. This is a piece of furniture I got for my bedroom in high school, and I repainted it for Ben and added blue panels and blue to the front drawer. The blue drawer had Ben's initials on it. Now we changed it to green accents and put Luke's name on the drawer.

Same crib that Ben used. We bought it from Bombay Kids when their stores were closing down nationwide. Jenny made the crib bedding. The insides are a yellow chenille, the outsides are polka dot. The skirt is stripe with paisley trim and the bumper ties and trim are paisley as well.

Jenny made matching liners for some of the baskets. The changer is Bratt, and the chair is Best. Both of them were bought for Ben...again, we splurged on things we knew would get years of use. The chair has a few marks on it, but has worn really well for three years. The changing table still looks brand new. The little bunny hat is what he will have his pictures taken in.

Another shot of the armoire.

We have to get blinds up, but other than that, we're finished.

We are so excited to meet him and bring him home this week. I know we have some long nights ahead of us, but we know it will be worth every second.

Stay tuned...we'll be updating as things progress Wednesday.

Big Boy Room

We've been waiting to post pics of Ben's Big Boy room thinking we would eventually get it knocked out.

Well, two months into our house and no, it isn't knocked out. It's HARD to do a room for a three year-old at the same time you're doing a room for an infant. Still, he's so happy and proud of his room, so here are the highlights:

The bed is from a family member. We painted it barn red for our guest room in Little Rock, knowing that it would one day be for our kids. When Ben and Luke are old enough to share bunks, this bed will be repainted to go to Lilly (if we're so blessed).

We painted the train engine above his bed...the inspiration was last year's birthday card invitation. His night stand is an old end table. My brother thinks I should go into business refinishing furniture. Actually, everything in his room is 60 and 70's maple that has been repainted. Since we didn't spend money on furniture we splurged on the bedding. We looked everywhere and everywhere and finally ordered it from Pottery Barn Kids. Queen quilt and two euro shams. The red pillows are just plain pillow cases and Jenny and her mom made the pillow. The center of the pillow is his smocked train from last year's birthday party.

I don't know why I didn't take a picture of his closet. It's a really good size and it has floor to ceiling shelves on one end, so all of his books are in there. He goes in every night and picks out three to read at bedtime. There are very little toys in his room because we were blessed with a perfectly-sized closet off the den where all his toys are housed. His train table is in the room, but not much else in the way of toys.

This lamp actually belongs in the armoire in the nursery, but I haven't been able to find one that I like for the dresser. The hardware didn't show up either. Guess after prepping for his birthday party I wasn't into details with the photos of his room.

Above the dresser is a plain wooden-framed cork board, which we painted red, with wooden letters spelling out "Ben's Art." He comes home from Mother's Day Out every day with some sort of art project. I love it.

His room is small, simple and colorful. And the best part of it all is that he is still sleeping like a machine. Typically 12 hours a night. He takes about a two - two and a half hour nap every day, depending on what time he gets home from mother's day out on those days.

AND...he's sleeping without Paci...praise the Lord! An accomplishment that we knew we would reach. An accomplishment three years in the making!

Happy Monday!

Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog

Our little man turns three next Saturday. Since we will either be in the hospital or will be awaiting discharge next Saturday, we had his party today.

It's so weird that he is old enough to tell us what he wants. And this year he wanted a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Party. Our initial plan was to have a swing set waiting for him in the backyard, and have a birthday party where his friends came over to play on the swing set. Didn't happen. We're just barely settled in our house and the weather has been too bad to build anything.

So, we invited family and a few of our close friends and just had a simple little party at the house. My wife has outdone herself again. She has been so focused on this party - I think because it's keeping her mind off the wait for the baby, and it's the last time Ben will be the center of attention without a brother.

The Kid's Table. Jenny and her mom and sister made party hats for the kids.

Happy Birthday Banner over the dining table.

Another Happy Birthday Banner over the Fireplace.

Notice we just painted the Den. It was sort of an army green before.

Another shot of the kid's table.

We grilled hot dogs, but we also had a 20 pack of nuggets from McDonald's.

Party Favors.

Glass jars. Kid's initials painted on the jar.

Take valentine M&Ms and pull the pink out, leaving red and white.

Run to Candy Craze and buy a small bag of black-only M&Ms.

Tie on a "Thanks for coming to my birthday party" note and voila!

Ahh...the cake. Another masterpiece by Jenny's mom.

We thought we were just going to have mouse ears on top of a layer cake,

but again - Benjamin picked what he wanted. And he wanted the clubhouse cake.

She did an incredible job.

While we were finishing up lunch in the den, Ben went into the

dining room and climbed up on the table and just sat, waiting for us.

We only had about 30 candles on it. Lighting them took me back to the night I proposed to Jenny and lit about 200 candles.

FYI - He's in a phase where he does NOT like to hear "Happy Birthday To You."

Present Time!

Ben loves costumes. It's nothing for me to come home from work and walk into the house to find him in his Elmo costume from Halloween, or dressed like a pirate, or like a cowboy.

This is sure to entertain him for hours and hours. Thanks Aunt Bee Bee.

Opening his present from Lila...a stomp rocket.

He has been playing with this NON-STOP, and most recently was shooting rockets across the house wearing nothing but a smile.

I wandered around a toy store for almost an hour trying to find something that he didn't have. When I spotted this, I knew I had a winner!

Notice the fixed gaze on Spencer's Eyes. The guitar was Spencer's favorite toy - without question. He cried all the way to the car. Surely Mr. Jonathan and Mrs. Lauren will buy him one very soon. Maybe the Easter Bunny will bring one for Spencer.

Dance Party Mickey from Pippi and Poppa.

Hi-Ho Cherry O from Eli.

He has played this three times already.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD from Spencer.

We had to take it in the car with us tonight. And he talked about it while we were eating at a Mexican Restaurant.

Hugging Spencer Thank-You.

Dads are great friends, mommies are good friends and go way back, and now the boys get to grow up with one another. Good times.

It's The Very Hungry Caterpillar!!!

Hate that this is Black and White but for some reason the color version would NOT

get rid of the red eye.

Just what his bed needs...another stuffed critter.

PLASMA CAR!!!!!

We told him we would give him one of these if he got rid of Paci.

Which didn't do a thing to entice him. So Pippi and Poppa got it for his birthday.

And let me say, on that note, one day last week I just took Paci out of his mouth while I was putting him down, put it in my pocket, and left the room. And. That. Was. That. We're still in shock that it was that easy.

He has several more presents headed his way at some point. My family couldn't be here - my dad is in the hospital being treated for a mild case of pneumonia. Which is CRAZY because he is never sick. He was apparently EXTREMELY sick yesterday and was actually taken by ambulance to the ER. I know it scared my mother to death. Thankfully it is not severe and he's getting IV antibiotics to fight it.

Can't have a sick granddad when a new grandson is coming into the world this week.

Thanks to all who came. It was a perfect day for our little man. He talked about it all day and all night and even thanked me for his birthday when he was going to bed. It's absolutely the way I wanted to end his time as our only child.

Happy Sunday!

In Search of An Egg...

Three years ago I purchased about a dozen cardboard easter-egg cutouts...well, like heavy card stock at least. The following year, I returned to the store and bought a few more.

Last Easter they did not get any in, and I looked everywhere. This year - again - no eggs. They acted like they had no idea what I was talking about - WHICH REALLY, REALLY IRRITATES ME.

The picture doesn't do them justice.

They're about 16" long and look really fun hanging from the ceilings in my hallways. LUCKILY I found the vendor online. HA HA Teacher Store Suckers! Mess with me and I'll go straight to the source!

Anyway, should any teachers or educators or ministers come across this post and need them, here's the website:

www.centurynovelty.com/detail_37_014-44532.html?reasonAdded=related_item

1.19 each...or 1.00 each for 11 or more. I ordered two dozen.

Happy Tuesday!