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!

3 weeks old!

It is hard to believe that our little Lucas James is already three weeks old! (It is just as hard to believe that I still haven't finished unpacking our bags from the hospital, but that's not important.) Today Honey and Grandfather visited him, so he got all decked out in his Aggie gear. As most of you know, my family is die-hard Aggie, and Grandfather purchased Luke his first Maroon Out shirt at last weekend's A&M-Miami debacle... I mean game. The smallest shirt they sold was a Youth Medium, and that's just fine for Luke, right? See for yourself...Luke was sorely disappointed this didn't come in his size. With luck, by the time Luke will be able to fit into this shirt, the Aggie football team will actually be a contender in the Big 12. I can dream, right?

Did you know there is such a thing as Maple Syrup Urine Disease?

I didn't either until Friday, when we had Luke's first doctor's appointment! (Before I proceed: Maple Syrup Urine Disease, or MSUD, is a defect in how the body metabolizes amino acids. It only occurs in roughly 1 of 200,000 newborns in the U.S., but there is an increased risk in Mennonites. Please know that I mention MSUD only to begin my blog in a creative, engaging way. The Roberts family does not trivialize MSUD, and we apologize to any readers, Mennonite or otherwise, afflicted by the condition.)

Okey dokey, now that I've appeased the PC masses ;), a lot has happened since I last posted! I'll start with the doctor's report: Luke has gained six ounces since birth but has not gotten any longer. He's in the 75th percentile in weight and only the 50th in height. I was briefly devastated, as I want Luke to inherit his father's tallness, not his mother's short stockiness. But as Jeremy pointed out, what matters most is that we have in fact kept Luke healthy in the two weeks he's been home. He had his first shot and his second PKU test (this is where they prick the baby's heel and take a blood sample to detect disorders such as MSUD). Yes, Luke cried and cried (and, surprisingly, his parents did not), but I swear it has as much to do with the fact that he was only in a diaper for about 40 minutes. Luke does not care for nudity, so I think being nearly naked for that long ticked him off more than the needles did. Poor little pumpkin...

Jeremy and I are doing pretty well. We've finally caught on to what everyone has told us: sleep when the baby sleeps. Luke is on a semi-reliable feeding and sleep schedule, and we've been lucky to get as many as four consecutive hours of sleep a night! (I hear this is quite a blessing.) Jeremy heads back to work tomorrow full time, though, and I think this transition will be tougher for everyone as we adjust to another change. That's another thing I'm learning about bringing up Luke: just when you think you have something figured out, it's time for something new!

Luke is awake much more these days (and, praise God, during his parents' more natural waking hours), and it has been so much fun watching him take stock of the world around him. I think he is finally starting to notice Hannah when she comes over to sniff him. We can't decide whether she's thinking, "I want to make sure my brother is here and safe," or "Oh s--t, he's still here." (UPDATE: based on the giant dump she just took in Luke's room, it appears that Hannah feels a bit underwhelmed with being second fiddle.) Luke tries to win her heart by wearing puppy gear as much as possible. I took a picture of him today in this adorable getup, complete with his puppy slippers. (Thanks to Stephanie B. for the slippers. Steph, he kept them on for about five minutes, which is quite impressive for footwear.)

Luke is getting better at zeroing in on us when we talk to him, and he's even started making little coos every now and again. Here he is at one of his first attempts at "tummy time." He's not quite doing one-armed push-ups just yet, but we're working on it.

Here's Luke on his first walk. I wish I could say he had a rapturous encounter with the outdoors, but, like his mother, he seemed unimpressed. (More likely: I think being in the car seat resembles being in the womb. He just balls up and sleeps. This has made for some noiseless car trips... so far anyway!)

Well, Lucas James is making it abundantly clear that Mom needs to stop blogging and start snuggling before we take a bath and watch the Cowboys-Packers game, Dexter finale, and Emmys. It's a big night around here!

Hugs to everyone... we'll write more soon!

Luke's First Week!

I'd apologize for taking so long to post, but if you know anything about rearing newborns, you won't be judgmental. I've always heard how quickly time flies with a newborn. Eight days into life with Luke, I am floored by how true this is. And it's an ironic truth given how little we're sleeping! It's hard to believe that nine nights ago we were setting the alarm clock (as if we'd sleep!) to be sure we made it to the hospital in time for my 5:00 a.m. induction appointment. I can't believe how different life feels now, as I sit here typing the blog next to the baby monitor, knowing I'll get up about twenty times to go to the nursery and make sure little Luke is in fact breathing. I think that act best sums up how I'm feeling: that for all of the challenges and exhaustion, having Luke in our family is a blessing beyond my powers of comprehension. I like to think I am a gifted writer, but I am powerless to describe how profoundly thankful I am for the miracle sleeping in his crib one room away.

I figure pictures are what you want, and pictures you will get, thought it takes forever for them to upload. *Sigh* I remember when I had time to sit leisurely at the computer while pictures uploaded. My times have changed! Anyway, one more picture from Luke's birth day. 99.5% of the time I am ridiculously vain about being photographed sans make-up and flat-ironed hair. But this is one I do not even care to share, because I will always melt when I see how that little boy is looking at his mama! [Kleenex break...]

Phew, I'm back. Really, there are so many pictures I have from this past week, so I'll include some highlights. Please forgive me for not providing lengthy stories of each. Again: time is precious.

I have to provide pictures of Luke's grandparents, in part to thank them. Here are Grandfather, Honey, and Granny (my parents, John and Janis, and my grandmother, Shirley) right after Luke is born.

Here are Grandpa and Grandma (Jeremy's parents, Pete and Donna).

Having kids of your own provides you with a sudden, piercing insight of how much your parents really love you and would do anything for you. [Seriously... I may need another Kleenex. Dang hormones! =D] I know I'm speaking for Jeremy as well when I wholeheartedly thank all of them for their help over the past eight days. Whether they cooked for us, picked up around the house, took care of Luke while we took much-needed naps, answered their phones when we needed advice, and just did a million other things... our parents have been godsends, and Luke couldn't be luckier to have them in his life!

The Luke-Hannah introduction has gone amazingly well. Hannah is very protective of her baby brother, and I've heard a lot of her crying on the baby monitor - she gets so upset if she can't see that he is doing just fine! She very gently sniffs at him to check on him. This picture (that I wish wasn't so blurry) is from right after we brought Hannah home to meet Luke. She's been a really sweet big sister!

Here's Luke in his crib his first day at home.

Here's Luke just after he made his "Touchdown!" motion. It's one of our favorites.

And here's Luke resting after several visitors on his one-week birthday:

Alright... I'm sure in the time it took me to do all of this posting, he's ready to get up and eat again soon. We appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers, and we thank those of you who have visited us at the hospital and/or home. We are always telling Luke how lucky he is to have so many people who love him! We'll write more soon...

A brief update

Hello! I will definitely post more updates when we have time... which could be any time between tomorrow and, perhaps more realistically, 2026. =D

We've been home since Friday afternoon, and, all in all, things are going really well! Luke's already sleeping through the night!!!! Okay, I am completely kidding on that one. But he's mastering the arts of eating, burping, and pooping. Hey, for those of you who are laughing, it's tough work for a little man! It's the center of his life right now, and, as a result, the center of ours. You never think you'll utter things like, "Would you please pass me the butt paste?" But we're developing a renewed appreciation for caffeine... and treasuring Luke. We both keep looking at each other with goofy smiles like, "Look what we did!!!" He is such a gift.

I promise I will write more later (and post pictures!), but I wanted to get something up here. Thanks so much to all of our visitors and well-wishers. I am already telling Luke how lucky he is to have so many people who love him!

Luke is here!

Most of you know this already, but Lucas James Roberts joined us on Wednesday, September 3, at 12:51 p.m. He weighs 9 lbs (yes, 9 lbs) and is 21.5 inches long.

The whole family is doing just great! I will write more when we get home tomorrow, but I wanted to get a photo out. Luke is such a handsome boy, and we are already desperately in love with him!

My womb must be like a five-star resort...

...and this little man is cozy and does not want to check out!

I went to the doctor today, and while I am 3 cm dilated, nothing else has really changed. I have not had a single contraction, and it seems like this little boy just really digs his current living arrangement. I've tried to explain to him that it really isn't so bad out here. He has a much bigger room that is very nicely decorated. He has cool parents that are so eager to meet him. He has a vast selection of awesome relatives and friends to get to know. He has a really cute dog. Yet he remains unmoved... literally. The good news about my progress is that if I do not go into labor before September 3 (and, God willing, I move up from the induction waiting list to the ACTUAL list), at least I've started dilating, which should make for easier inducing.

Patience is not one of my stronger virtues, but I am doing my best to stay calm. I taught the first two days of school, and though I was very tired yesterday, I am so glad I did. I got to meet my students, and they're terrific. I know going back to work is going to be really difficult when the time comes, but at least I'll know that I've got good kids waiting in the wings. I'm taking friends' advice and resting as much as I can.... as much as you possibly can anyway when you have a gigantic belly for which you can no longer find a comfortable position. I'm trying to think of things I can do to keep from getting cabin fever without over-exerting myself. The front runner is scrapbooking since I don't even have the first trimester page of the baby book done. We'll see...

Anyway, thanks for your continued support and prayer. Keep sending those good vibes our way!