Birthday Boys

Hello there! It's been a while, but it has been a busy week since Jeremy had to go out of town for work and I've been flying solo. Thankfully, he is home safe, arriving in time to celebrate two momentous occasions: Luke's one month "birthday" and his own 408 month birthday! (I'll let you guys do some math to figure out his age. =D) Obviously, most of this post will be dedicated to Luke, but I do want to give some love to some deserving folks:

• Heather and Scott - a huge thank you for watching Luke so Jeremy and I could go on a real birthday date. We had an amazing time, which was primarily possible because we knew Luke was in good hands. Thanks again!


• Kerry and Tracey - you each were so helpful to me while Jeremy was out of town. Without you, I would have gotten even less sleep and showers - two things I sorely needed to keep going and care for Luke - and, Kerry, had you not brought me dinners, I would have gone on a two-day popcorn diet... probably good for losing baby weight, but not exactly the nutrition I'd need to mother my child. I have the greatest girlfriends you could hope for - thanks ladies! : )


• Last but certainly not least, to Jeremy. I'll do my best to spare the blog readers from extreme sappiness, so I'll be brief. I've always appreciated the gift God gave me in Jeremy. We had a quote on our wedding program by Aristotle: "Love is one soul poured into two bodies." I've always known that we're soul mates, and I've only grown more certain of that as we've become a family. I always loved Jeremy as a wonderful husband, and now I love him even more because he's a wonderful father. I'm going to stop now so I don't cry, but in sum: Jeremy, I love you more than I could ever adequately say!

It's so hard to believe that a month has passed since Luke was born. What a wonderful whirlwind it has been! Our lives have changed so profoundly over these past four weeks, so much so that it is difficult to remember what it was like before. (I commented to a good friend that I barely remember being pregnant... funny, because five weeks ago I couldn't remember NOT being pregnant!) For example: Monday, I ventured out of the house with Luke and we went to the mall. Before, this was an effortless trip that I'd think nothing of taking. But now, it's an event requiring a good half hour of diaper bag prep and considerable upper body strength and coordination. (Holy crap that car seat is heavy, and though eventually it will be easy, I'm sure I looked like a moron trying to get the car seat into the stroller!) In the pre-Luke era, I'd consider it appalling if I only slept for five hours in a night. That happens now, and I am singing a hallelujah chorus. Five weeks ago I never thought one of my favorite games would be trying to clean up a poopy diaper using as few wipes as possible (they ain't free, you know), nor did I imagine I could feel so triumphant if I could get three big, dry burps in the course of feeding Luke. Indeed, times have changed. One of these days I'll blog more thoughtfully about it since, in true English teacher form, I've started a rough draft. But I figure you want pictures, so here they come...

Many of you have already seen some of these pictures taken by my friend Cathy. They are beautiful mementos of Luke at four weeks.

These next couple are pictures I took. Cathy suggested I take a picture of Luke at each month with the same teddy bear next to him so it's easier to gauge how much he's grown. While Luke is pretty strong, he doesn't exactly have great head control, so these aren't great, but here they are:

And my personal favorite:

Off to check on the little man now... hope this finds everyone doing well and having a wonderful weekend!