Smiles!

Picture Fun Time with Mom

I really love taking pictures of Little Lucky.  Sometimes the less perfect photos are just as good as the best ones.   It is really hard to pick just one to share, so today I decided to share a bunch of my favorites. 

The "Best" Photo from the shoot

"I don't know about this..."

I think the crying shots are hilarious

I love this one because it looks like he's giggling.  There was a smile in there, but he has not laughed yet.

I like the clear paci's because they don't show up easily!

The wiggler pulled the hat down over his eyes

"I'm a hungry caterpillar!"

I love my boy!

He grabbed his hands himself!

"Hello!"

Newborn Photoshoot & Lucas at 5 weeks

Lucky is now 5.5 weeks old and it is amazing to see how different he looks from his newborn photoshoot!  We loved our photographer Sarah Severson and are thrilled with how the pictures came out.  Check out more pictures on Sarah's blog, Lucas 7 Days New.  (Can I add how much I love "7 days new"?  Why didn't I use that before!)

7 Days New

It is so much fun to watch our string bean develop.  He changes so much each day.  He is gaining weight like a champ and is very healthy.  Lucky is currently in the 12th percentile for weight, but 84th percentile for height! 

 

When Alan and Jenn came to town to visit, Jenn took some amazing photos of our little family down by the lake.  

 Jenn even captured some amazing shots of us taking our selfies. 

Here is the picture that we captured (we accidentally had the camera on sepia mode.) 

Little Lucky is 4 weeks old!

He is getting so big!  

Happy Halloween (and how Indy gets along with the baby)!

The Brown Family Pumpkin Patch!

We are so happy that our two baby boys are getting along so well.  It seemed fitting for Lucky's first costume to be a pumpkin.  You cannot tell in this first picture, but one of the pumpkins is wearing a Red Sox hat.  And yes, I did bedazzle a pumpkin with purple rhinestones (before the baby was born, I don't have that much time now!)    

When it comes to his baby brother, Indy isn't a "Bad Dog" at all.  He is gentle and sweet with the baby.   He knows that the baby is something precious, and is very gentle whenever the baby is on the floor.  Indy does like to sniff little Lucky, and maybe lick his foot, but otherwise he stays back unless we encourage him to come closer.  Keith and I picked out this costume for him because the baby can only see high contrast items currently.  In a black and white costume, this should be stimulating to the baby.  A win, win, win in my book!  (It doesn't hurt that Indy's command to go to his crate is "Go to Jail!")

I also want to add that Indy has never been more photogenic until we had the baby, which is great because we really only have one subject flailing around!  

Go Red Sox!

Little Lucky, Keith, Grandma Bev, Indy and I are cheering on the sox in game 6! 

Welcome Baby Lucas!

Lucas Alexander Brown

Born Oct 8, 11:08 PM

7 lbs, 15 oz

21 inches long

Birth Story to follow at a later date.  

Any Day Now

Today I am 37 weeks 5 days pregnant.  This means that our little Chirphead could decided to come into this world at any time.  Boy are we ready.  Clothes are sorted and washed, the carseat inspected and installed properly, the Pack'n'play and changing table are built, we've had our shots... now we just need our little boy so we can bring him home.  

I still consider myself very lucky for the symptoms that I've experienced in this pregnancy, but these last few weeks have been extremely difficult.   I am, however, amused by the pregnancy waddle.   I'm less amused by increased insomnia (it really doesn't help when everyone tells you to sleep now there won't be time later... I'm TRYING to sleep but my body isn't cooperating), increased pains and decreased mobility. Unfortunately these all lead to increased irritability, but poor Keith has been a trooper.   It helps to know that these symptoms are temporary, but after living with a chronic condition for years and working hard to accept physical limitations outside of your control, it is hard to experience a sudden decline in ability.  Like all of my symptom accounts, I'm writing this not to complain but to remember what I experienced through this pregnancy.  I want to remember that each discomfort passed with time, and nothing lasted the whole length of the pregnancy.  

Let's focus on the (what is hopefully) the near future.  What am I excited for?

• To snuggle our baby boy.  Keith likes to tell me that I've been snuggling him for 8.5 months now, but I want to smell his (likely very little) hair, kiss his fingers and hold him close.  I want him to kick me from the outside so I can watch the wiggles.
• To see Keith snuggle our baby boy.  Keith is just as excited to actually meet our little one as I am.  
• To Breastfeed.  I know that there can be challenges with this, but I am excited to try to feed my baby and experience this closeness.  
• The introduction of Indy to Chirphead.  This is going to be a relationship that is going to need constant supervision, but we are prepared with baby gates and additional activities for Indy.  This won't be easy, but in the end will be wonderful for our family.  
• Beer.  Harpoon made a pumpkin UFO this year, and Keith and I went on a quest to find it.  We now have a 6 pack in the pantry waiting in the pantry for me to taste. 
• Wine.  We have accumulated 6 bottles of my favorite summer wine since the availability goes down in the winter. 
• Sushi, Lox, hot dogs, & lunch meats.  I don't really need to explain these ones, do I?
• Pancakes and Cookies.  Since we know the baby is pretty big, I have cut out carb heavy meals since sugars just go straight to the size of my little boy right now.  This has been hard because these are the food items that I'm craving the most right now.  So I've already put in a request for a cookie cake upon my return home from the hospital.  

Likely my last time holding both my baby boys at the same time for a while!

We had an appointment with our OB today... and guess what!  I am 1 cm dilated and my cervix is soft, which is AWESOME for a first pregnancy.  This means that we are really on our way.   Given the big boy I'm carrying, the OB would be happy for me to go into labor 1-1.5 weeks early, which is what we're hoping for, too.  Wish us luck! 

Happy October

Presented by Indy balancing random objects on his head.

He really wanted to eat the pumpkin more than the treat we had ready for him as a reward.  Why were we surprised?

35.5 weeks - the end is in sight!

As the pregnancy is rolling to a close, I am feeling pretty lucky with my symptoms.  I didn't start swelling until week 32, and even that was mild.  (Thank goodness it is September and starting to cool off!)  Unfortunately pregnancy related insomnia seems to have settled in, which means that my fatigue levels are increasing greatly.  Thankfully Keith is picking up a lot of the slack from my decreased activity level.  I'm having more difficulty maneuvering and getting up and down, but that is pretty normal when you are carrying a watermelon on your front!

Speaking of our little watermelon, Chriphead is going to be a big boy.  Big enough that we got to see him one more time this week!  He is measuring in the 70th percentile for size, which is still considered average.  The tech told us that they tend to estimate larger than smaller, but everything that she looked at was normal and healthy.  I'm very relieved that he's not expected to be 10+ lbs!  

Oh yeah, we learned one more thing at the ultrasound today.  Chirphead is still a boy!