Numbered Days

Our days as parents of one little boy are counting down.

This past weekend, Ben and I went to see my parents and Jenny stayed at home with her mom and sister. Ben and I hung out with the family & Jenny and her fam worked on Baby Shower Thank-you notes and decorations for Ben's 3rd Birthday Party.

Ben and I had a great time of bonding...we were gone for three nights, and he was a champ the entire time. He played with his cousin, we went to the park. We watched his cousin's Upward game on Saturday and visited my grandfather.

We usually take lunch to my mom while we're there and he gets to play in her classroom. This time he wanted to read a book to her kids. They loved seeing him. (Sidebar...he's wearing his new tennis shoes in this pic...11.5! My niece is in first grade and wears a size 1!)

Our every-other-night bath schedule goes out the window when we're with my parents, where he wants a bath every night...and who could blame him? If we lived there we would have to install a dedicated hot water tank just for this tub. It pretty well depletes the supply. I think you could safely get three adults in here...not that we'll ever try.

Sunday morning we left very early so that I could get to church in time for Bible Study. Jenny met us at church and took Ben and the dogs on home...I hadn't even taken him out of his jammies. I was so sad later when I realized THIS was the morning one of our teachers was bringing baby lambs for the kids to pet. Their lessons over the past few weeks have been about Jesus being God's lamb, etc..., so this volunteer was thoughtful enough to allow the kids a hands-on experience. This is one of our three year-olds feeding one of the two lambs.

The nursery is finally finished, except for the windows. Our next post will feature pics of the completed nursery, as well as pics of Ben's Big Boy Room.

Have a great week!

Our Loves...

Happy Valentine's Day from Conway!

Ben was able to open part of his Valentine's Day yesterday afternoon since our dining room was full of gifts from Jenny's baby shower and he was feeling a little left out (Note...at church last night, I received several gifts from people who weren't able to come to the shower and two of those people included separate gifts for Ben...so nice).

New Rainboots and a Puppy Dog...He's saying, "Awwww...I LOVE it" in this pic.

He also got about 2lb of hershey kisses in this bag.

Ben enjoying his loot...

Money from Grammy and Granddad...He exclaimed, "A QUARTER!!!"

Stephen Joseph sunglasses from The Toggery.

This brand of kid's stuff is so fun.

My Furry Valentine...Bailey...who will be NINE this September! Where does the time go?

This dog loves Jenny and Ben and our extended families so much, but he's mine

in every sense of the word. I L.O.V.E. this dog.

Jenny's Valentine's Present from V. Day 2005.

Our Funny Valentine...Annabelle.

Our life wouldn't be the same without her

antics and her nocturnal howls uttered from under the comforter.

Hope everyone enjoys their day!

Another Snow Day

Last January we took Benjamin to the Catholic Seminary/Diocese complex in our old neighborhood. While we were letting Ben romp around the grounds, another dad loaned us his toddler sled...his boys were too old for it. Ben absolutely loved it. We wanted to get one, but didn't know where we would be living the next year - so we never ordered it.

Monday I was in Ace Hardware and these little flat plastic tubes were flying off the shelves. I thought maybe they were some type of insulating device...but they were actually sleds (flat plastic sheets rolled up). As the clerk and I were talking, I mentioned the "classic" wood and metal sleds. She said the warehouse was completely out and they wouldn't' get any more in this year. When I mentioned - honestly in passing - that we had intended to order a toddler sled with sides and back, she got excited and said, "Oh they have those! I just saw them online!"

She checked for us, and there were two available. No shipping charge - 49.99, and it arrived Tuesday afternoon...just in time for this crazy snow event!


He was dying to go out this morning, so we layered up and headed out. It's crazy how much has fallen just in the last hour since we were outside.

Absolutely having a ball!

WOO HOO!!!

After a few trips up and down our street and up and down the driveway, Ben was ready to be in the backyard with his dogs.

This was our patio at about 1130...4"

Current report from the NWS is 5.5" in Conway.

Bailey loves the snow. And I love that his fur doesn't get wet...it just rolls right off of him.

Flying through the backyard.

Having the best snow day yet!

My favorite part of a snow day is this part right now...you've ventured out, run around in it a while and now your wet clothes are off and it's time to just veg out.

Hope everyone enjoys their day!

Coming Together

I have to give serious credit to my wife. This has NOT been an easy pregnancy. A lot of the concerns and fears we had with a second baby have not been a reality for us, thankfully. Other things that we didn't think about have been overwhelming. Jenny had migraines throughout the majority of the second trimester. That followed SERIOUS nausea during the first trimester. Zofran and Phenergan-requiring nausea.

Now that we're in the final days, it's backaches, heartburn and pressure from the growing baby that are keeping her in misery.

During this pregnancy we've changed jobs, changed cities, lived in three different houses, and chased around an incredibly active two year-old.

To add to it, my wife was determined to learn how to make Luke's bedding. When we were preparing for Ben, we shopped all sorts of bedding companies and made-to-order vendors, and wound up ordering fabric and having a seamstress in Little Rock make it. She did an absolutely perfect job...it was just what we wanted.

Over the past 18 months, Jenny has purchased a new sewing machine and begun to embroider, monogram and sew like a pro. Ben has something on every week (some weeks every day of the week) that Jenny has made.

This past month she has been making his bedding. She was able to pull apart Ben's bedding and use that for a pattern. Add to it that we could reuse all of the foam inserts and we ordered fabric online (as opposed to purchasing it from the most expensive place in LR as we did with Ben) and it's been a really economical project for her.

This morning the office opened late because of (yet another round of) snow, so I was able to get the crib partially assembled. While he was teething Ben chewed on the ends of the crib, so I have some sanding and painting to do before it's ready for Luke, but we were able to put the mattress on and prop up the bumpers.

This is the skirt. It's designed in sections and you are able to use velcro to attach so that it can easily be adjusted to fit as you change the height of the mattress, and it always lays just right on the ground. It still needs to be adjusted and it needs to be ironed.

The short end in this photo is flipped backwards to show the outside of the fabric. The inside is yellow chenille. We used polyester this time and we hope it will be easier to clean than the cotton we used with Ben.

Another pic of the inside.

Ben brought his baby pillow and some books, and climbed up to "Read to Babby Luuuuke." It's amazing how well he is doing with all of his old things being in Luke's room (we are using the same crib, chair, dresser, changing table, and armoire that were Ben's). He doesn't refer to anything in the baby's room as his...he's calling it all baby Luke's. I hope he is still so eager to share when Luke arrives in a few weeks.

Yesterday on the phone I was telling my mom how bad Jenny is feeling and not knowing if we would last four more weeks. Then Jenny and I were laying in bed this morning and were talking about how we couldn't believe that her shower is already this coming Sunday. I hope the time continues to fly by.

Somewhere in the madness of the final four weeks of this pregnancy we have to squeeze in a birthday party for a certain soon-to-be three year-old.

It's going to be busy...stay tuned!

Snow Day

Watch Out.

He'll nail you with a snowball.

Happy Snow Days!

Grief.

Our friends Rebecca and Scott just lost their two week-old daughter. She was born at 25 weeks gestation.

Please pray for them.

Scheduled...Registered.

So it's official. Luke is scheduled to be delivered by C-Section on Wednesday, March 9. Five weeks from tomorrow.

And we're registered for our church baby shower. It was pretty funny registering for a second little boy who will be born in the same season as the son you already have. We hardly even looked at clothes. Skipped over the onesies and gowns all together. We registered for lots of

diapers, diaper rash cream, diaper genie refils, bottle nipples, pacifiers, wash cloths, hooded towels, etc. Stuff you use for a long time. The only big-ticket items we have are already taken care of. My parents bought us a new travel system a few months back, and Jenny's parents are giving us the video monitor system.

We also registered for a few items that we never got with Ben but could really use now that a second is on the way...like the scoop for bath toys. And the net for bath toys.

We limited our registry to Target but I think Jenny is going to pick a few things out at a local boutique. Ben enjoyed the experience immensely, and even scanned a few items with the gun. He's an amazingly good shopper when popcorn and sprite is involved.

Saturday morning Benjamin and I had a daddy-son date at the Zoo. Jenny was really needing to sew, and the weather was insanely perfect for an outing, so I just decided to throw him in the car and head to Little Rock.

Riding the train...always a favorite experience.

I'll have to admit that I have been a little disappointed at the zoo the past six months. They have been advertising the Penguin Exhibit for what seems like well over a year, but still no Penguins. Oh well. I think we will always be Zoo members. It's just such a great thing to do with little to no notice, and it definitely pays for itself within about two trips.

It's crazy how far we have come from the days of pushing his stroller and holding him up and trying to point out the animals. Now he's running through the zoo non-stop and spotting them at amazingly long distances, naming them all...it's just crazy.

We are so blessed to have another baby on the way, and to be able to re-live all of these firsts with our Luke.

Have a good week...