Thanksgiving

Well, I have really fallen behind on my blogging! Life is moving so quickly these days; I wish I could slow it down because my little girl is growing so quickly. She's on the way to getting her first teeth and it hasn't been an easy trip! I hosted my first Thanksgiving this year and the day before when I had so much to do, she was having a really bad day. Will was on his way back from West Texas, so we were on our own. I called my mom is desperation and she came over to help entertain Hayden so I could start getting the house prepared. Luckily, Will was home before long and he tag teamed his way into the ring. He helped me get the house straight and played with Hayden so I could start making some of my food. I baked my little heart out all night long, and we were up at the crack of dawn the next morning to keep it going. We got it all done in the nick of time, just as our guests begin to arrive. We had my mom, dad, and brother; Destiny and her father Bubba; and my mother in law Susie, sister in law Jennifer, and nephew Devin over for the feast. Grant and Bubba fried a turkey in addition to my mom's baked turkey, and all the trimmings. I was in charge of the mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole, which was, haha, my favorite. It was pretty festive around here with lots of fun and laughter. The Texans played their first Thanksgiving game on national TV, and thankfully we won after a nail biting game against the Detroit Lions in overtime. I enjoyed having my entire family over. I realized just how much work goes into hosting a holiday for a family. I see now why my mom was always exhausted after a long day of cooking and entertaining. I'm happy to take over the tradition for her-- I feel like a real grown up now! ;)

Pin It

Hayden's First Halloween!

Halloween has come and gone already! We had a fun day yesterday getting all sorts of dressed up and taking pictures. Hayden actually had several Halloween accessories (bow, hat socks, skirt, onesie, etc) and we had to take pictures in all of them. Will wasn't able to get home early as planned, so when he finally arrived we got her in her costume for some pictures. It didn't last long for several reasons. A) It was a little big. It was for 6-12 months, as most of the costumes I saw were. At just under 5 months, she wasn't quite there yet. B) It was hot. It was a thick costume with a headpiece. A costume like that doesn't last long in Texas. C) She's teething some and was tired, so she was grumpy and over having the camera in her face all day. It was nearly 7:00 by the time we got her in it. But, we did get some pictures. All you need is one, right? 

My mom came over earlier that morning and she dressed up as a (good) witch. She looked really cute, and she did it just for Hayden. It was funny. I hope she continues to do things like that. She's a good grandma. We also had NO trick or treaters for the second year in a row. What a bummer. Our neighborhood is mostly comprised of older folks, but I know some kids live here; I see them in the park. We've never had many, but at least a handful. Nope. None this year. And with Will gone, we did not carve pumpkins for the first time since we've been together. It's one of our traditions; so that made me a little sad. Will is really good at carving pumpkins. We were going to have a contest where the winner gets a morning off baby-duty. And we always eat the seeds. I guess it was one of those times where life just gets in the way. We'll pick it back up next year, no matter what.
What other news? Will just got home after being on the road for ten days. That was a little challenging, but things are actually a lot easier now that Hayden is a little older. I'm more accustomed to the time, energy, and  sleepless nights now than I was in the beginning. I basically function on very little rest these days, but it's become easier. She hasn't been sleeping all that great since we unswaddled her arms, but is doing better now so that I am only getting up about three times a night, instead of six. One fellow mom recommended turning off the monitor to resist the temptation of going in there at every little peep. While I thought that was some sound advice, I opted to turn the sound down very low instead of the full turn off. That way I can look at her in a click if I want to. It's helped. She's becoming more skilled at self soothing. Sometimes I even put her down awake and let her put herself to sleep. She still starts out in her swing, but goes to her bed after her first wake up; and sometimes back to her swing when she wakes up around 5 am or so, just to coax her back to sleep so she knows it's not time to wake up yet. Hayden recently started rocking herself in her bouncy chair, haha, she really gets herself going by swinging her leg up and down. It's the funniest thing. Some things she really loves now: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, belly kisses, rolling to her tummy to look at the owls on her crib bumper, and her BIG lovey Delilah (Daisy's big sister) with her satin lining.
Speaking of Daisy-- I don't think I've written about dear Daisy. Oh, Daisy. We had a miniature crisis involving Daisy. Daisy is a little pink rag dog given to Hayden when she was born by her Aunt Jennifer. We take Daisy about everywhere. Well, on an excursion to Michael's craft store a couple weeks ago, we of course had Daisy in tow. I was staying at my parents' since Will was out of town. We came home, watched most of the football game, and it was nap time. I get her all settled in and started looking for Daisy, who was nowhere to be found. I became frantic and went into a frenzy looking for Daisy Dog. Not in my purse, not in the diaper bag, not in the stroller, not in the truck, not in the crib.... I came to the conclusion that she must have been lost out in the big world. I jumped in the truck and drove as quickly as I could back to Michael's, which was over a half hour away. Of course I had called to ask beforehand, but they were not very helpful. Whoever answered, said, "We don't have it," and it seemed like they hadn't even looked; so I decided to go look myself. I scoured aisle after aisle, looking underneath in case it got kicked under the merchandise racks. Nothing. I was just sick thinking about some grubby kid picking it up and taking home something my kid has been chewing on for four months. That's just not right. I asked again, and again, "No, don't have it." As I was walking away in near tears, a lady said, "Yes we do! Someone turned it in! It was found in the parking lot!" What?? I can't believe someone picked her up and brought her inside! And we were in a strip center, how did they know we were even in Michael's?? I couldn't believe it!! I was so happy, I think I actually was crying when I grabbed her up. No one at home could believe I found her, either. I washed her as soon as we got home so I could give her back to Hayden. My mom said the real Daisy needs to stay home from now on, so we ordered Daisy Deux for public outings. We also got Delilah (a big Daisy) just for fun. Oh yeah. I've named all of Hayden's stuffed animals, in case you hadn't picked up on that yet. Haha. :)

Pin It

Yum!

First sippy cup!

\

Daddy feeding me!

Pin It

Super Baby!

Here's an update on our favorite girl:
Four months old on October 5! She got her 4 month shots several days later and she took them like a champ. She cried, but not as hard or as long as last time, and she didn't sleep as long when we came home, though she did snooze it out for several hours. However, she did get a low grade fever that evening and it continued to drop and spike for over 24 hours. The highest it got was 101.3 and she was not feeling well at all. We just cuddled up and watched 'toons on the couch all day. I was happy when she awoke the next morning and it had broken. The doctor told me that she weighed fourteen pounds, nine ounces; and was twenty five inches in length. This put her in the 75th percentile for height and 90th for height. We're going to tall girl, I think. I'm going to guess around 5'6 or 5'7. Yesterday morning, on October 15, she decided it was the day to roll over from her back to her tummy! My mom saw her do it first (I was getting ready to attend a service.) She ran to get me, and sure enough, Hayden did it again! She's continued to show off for everyone now the last two days, we've all seen her do it. She is a very strong baby, as this is usually a five month old trick. She's done everything early so far, so we're on track for an early walker, Lord help us! I had a feeling this new streak of independence would be coming on, and I started breaking her of her full swaddle a couple of weeks ago. While it was a little hard going at first, she is slowly adjusting. She had been rolling up to her side in the middle of the night, and it really scared me that she would roll all the way over fully swaddled and would suffocate herself without her arms to help her. Seems like I made this decision at just the right time-- it must have been my mommy instinct. I think once she rolls over to her belly at night, she will be a tummy sleeper. I'm so scared of SIDS, though, so if she wants to sleep that way, she's going to have to get there herself. Her pedi agreed, with the sound advice, "We don't ask for trouble." Yes ma'am. Fine by me! On another developmental note, Hayden has also started taking her first sippy cup! It's a 4 month trainer. She has refused bottles for the past eight weeks like we were some kind of idiots for even thinking she would take such a thing. I don't raise no fool. However, that has made it a little stressful whenever we want or need to venture away from her for several hours. We introduced cereal a couple of weeks ago, which she loves, so that has been a big step and a little weight off our shoulders (she's not starving) but we are so happy with this new step! She's also started taking a little juice (per pedi's orders for her tummy troubles) from her sippy and is just quite the happy baby! We are very proud of our growing girl!

Pin It

Family Day

The first week of October, Will took his week vacation at work. We didn't plan on doing anything special, just staying at home being a family and catching up on things we've been meaning to do at the house. He got a full dose of just what goes on at the Luker house while he's at work. While he loved it (and was a huge help), I think he was a little surprised to see just how much work it is to be a stay at home parent! He always listens to me and understands when I have a hard day, but I think he described it best: "I have always sympathized with you, but I've never been able to empathize with you." Well-- now he can! He sure helped with the baby a lot, and did laundry, dishes, cleaned out the garage-- I almost became convinced it was an extended weekend, not a vacation! I actually started to feel a little guilty and tried to let him sleep in as much as I could (though for Will, "sleeping in" is 7:30 am.) He reassured me, though, that he was "taking a vacation from work, not his family." Those are the words of a good man. A good husband and father. Seeing as how we were in desperate need of a good time as a family, though, my parents generously offered for us to have a family day on them the Thursday he was home. So we loaded up the truck and headed to Kemah for our first stop. We strolled the Boardwalk and ate a delicious lunch at The Aquarium. I hadn't eaten there is quite some time. Will took Hayden around to look at the fish inside the 50,000 gallon aquarium in the middle of restaurant. I was happy and surprised to hear her laughing away at the fish! Every time a school of silver fish would quickly jet by in front of their eyes, she would let out a loud giggle.So cute!
From there, we headed over to our next stop, NASA- Johnson Space Center. I'm ashamed to admit that I've lived here my entire life and have never been to JSC. Not even a field trip-- as a student or teacher! They had a replica of the Endeavor right out front for us to gaze at. It is still upsetting to me that Houston got gypped out of our own space shuttle. Really, after Cape Canaveral (Kennedy Space Center), we should've been next on the list. Aeronautical museums, or whatever, should not take precedent over the fact that Houston alone has Mission Control and that we were even the first word spoken from the moon. But, whatever. So after looking at the shuttle, we headed inside where we discovered that we wouldn't be on our own exploring a museum-- we were going on a 90 minute tram tour with forty other people! Oh, Lord. We were those people. Those people with a four month old baby on board. Will and I looked at each other nervously. The look we exchanged said it all. First, "Haha," then, "oh crap," and last, "Please Lord don't let this baby start screaming." Away we went. While we were both pretty tense at first, as the time passed, we relaxed. Hayden was great; on her best behavior. The only time we hit a snag was when we were in Mission Control and she started a little fussing. At the first whimper, Will whisked her out of there though and hung outside the door. Thankfully (for us) everyone was distracted shortly after by a man getting ill and having to have an ambulance come get him. Everyone forgot about us. She was nothing short of perfect for the rest of the trip. We heard a lot of interesting facts, saw many cool things, and took some great pictures. My favorite part of JSC was seeing the shuttle in front, the Mission Control room (until 1996), and seeing Rocket Park. Saturn V, one of the rockets they have housed there is HUGE at 363 feet tall, or the height of a 36 story building. Neat!
We made it out with a mind full of new knowledge and a happy baby. Thanks Mom and Dad for the chance to spend a great day together as a family!

Pin It

Haute Mommies and Bella Babies!

When I was preggers, looking cute was a must, and it seemed that so many places out there (while trying really hard to be cute) just didn't have quality clothing. Until.... I stumbled across Haute Mommies and Bella Babies in Clear Lake (Houston), Texas. While having cute things for me to dress my burgeoning body (including nursing gowns, dresses for my showers, and more!), they also had super adorable sleepers, outfits, bloomers, bows, and everything else you can think of for my soon-to-be baby! Hayden has the sweetest pajamas from HM & BB, and we also found her coming-home outfit and bow there. One of my favorite things about Haute Mommies-- they love to support local artists and domestic goods. They are huge supporters of USA made items and Houston artists. Another favorite thing-- the owner, Darcy, is always in store and on hand to give you a happy greeting as you visit. She makes the shop feel really personal and it feels good to be remembered upon your subsequent visits. They have baby registry available there as well. Be sure to check it out if you are in the neighborhood, and if you don't live nearby, fear not-- Haute Mommies and Bella Babies is online at www.hmandbb.com! Free shipping via UPS on orders over $99! 

Pin It

New Mommy Friends

Wow, I'm blogging my little heart out during naptime! If you're on our Facebook fan page and you're getting bombarded with new posts, you'll know that Little Miss is asleep and I'm getting at it while I can! The Lord has really been working in my life in ways I have really noticed the past few weeks. Sometimes I can feel a little sedentary being at home with our little one, though BLESSED is what I know I am. But being as how I'm at home with her during the day and we don't get out much socially besides my family, it's hard to see sometimes His workings and goings-on in my life; though He continues to provide for us financially and health-wise, all of us, so that I may do so! I know the Lord is continuing to work for the better good of our family, it's me, personally, that I'm talking about. I've been keeping up with prayers though and had the bright idea this week (I don't know why it took so long) that Hayden and I would start praying together too. I'm going to make it part of our bedtime ritual and when we wake up in the mornings. If you read the last post, I mentioned how God made room in our budget for Sasha's testing at the veterinarian's office; if you are a pet owner, you know vet bills can be quite costly. I've also written about how desperate I am to get back in shape physically from my pregnancy, and He has made that an option for me as well by my mom so generously helping me everyday and also giving me the motivation, inspiration, and support from friends to continue on with this journey. Several friends have led me to the My Fitness Pal app, and I love it. I just recently started using it regularly, and I'm kind of addicted. I think it will be a blessing in my weight loss journey. However, the biggest blessing of late that the Lord has bestowed upon me is my new mommy friend, Christi; and maybe even change friend to friendS.
It's so funny to me how God works. Last week, for no ordinary reason other than I thought of it out of the blue, was that I took a picture from my Pinterest board {Faith} and posted it on Facebook. It said, "God's plans for your life far exceed the circumstances of your day." I pinned it a while ago, and for some reason, God put it on my heart to post it on my Facebook. At the time, I thought, "Maybe someone really needs to see this or hear this today." So I posted it and went on about my day. Later that night, I got a message on Facebook from my aquaintance, Christi. She and her husband Craig had taken Lamaze with Will and I at the hospital. Though it was only four classes, I was really drawn to them because they seemed like good people, and a couple that Will and I would enjoy. We always sat by them in class. We got an email list of everyone that was in class with us. I took it upon myself to email her and say that maybe we can get the babies together or hang out sometime after we recovered from our impending births. She replied that she'd love to; but you know how it goes-- are you really going to do it? I added her to my Facebook a couple weeks later as well. She has been pretty active on my posts, so I know she was seeing everything I was putting out there, but we hadn't made any plans to get together. And then, just earlier this week, the message. She invited me to come to a mommy group she was having at her house on Thursday (yesterday.) She said it's a few friends that get together with their babies, and that they read a chapter a week from a book and discuss the chapter while the babies play. The book they were reading is called "You're Already Amazing" by Holley Gerth and that they were going to discuss chapter five at the next meeting and she'd be making lunch if I'd like to come. Um, yeah! I downloaded the book on my Nook and covered the chapter that morning during Hayden's playtime. I haven't read the previous four chapters (yet), but what I read was, well.... amazing! And I can see why she didn't invite me right off the bat-- it's a book for Christian women. That's not necessarily something you just throw out there to someone if you don't know how deep their faith is. The chapter I read was called "Where are you and where are you going?" It talked about how God led the Israelites out of Egypt on their journey to the Promised Land and it applied it to different areas of our lives; personally, professionally, our families, any issues we're struggling with. Is there any part of your life that you feel like you're still in Egypt? Bonded, enslaved to something? Are you encamped, as the Israelites were for some time (as you probably know, it took them forty years to reach a destination only eleven miles from where they started out.) If you are encamped, you are awaiting the Lord's direction, or you may be healing and resting from weariness while the Lord prepares you for your next journey. Are you setting out? Has the Lord put it on your heart to be on the move? Or have you already reached the Promised Land? This really put a lot in perspective for me. I think I'm in a little of each of these areas in my life. As for Egypt, I have felt "enslaved" or "in bondage" over my weight issues for a long time. I've always worked very hard at it since my early twenties and it's always been an issue for me. I was thin for so long in my life, I don't think I knew how to handle gaining weight. And though I've always been active, it wasn't easy for me to lose. We now know that it's a thyroid issue which I take medication for, but it has followed me for a long time. As long as I'm being proactive in my health, I feel good about it, even if I'm not where I want to be. I know I'm doing something about it. So I feel that of late, I have broken out of that bondage, skipped over the encampment, and I'm now on the move. Professionally-- well, I no longer have a professional life. That was another thing for me to overcome. I worked sixty plus hours a week and I emotionally and physically gave everything I had to those children. I didn't realize how much of myself I gave over until I left. There was some guilt there, and I was sad for a while. I feel like my professional life is encamped; but you know what? I do need rest from that, I do need healing and preparation. When Hayden starts school, I'm unsure if I will go back to teaching. I truly love it, but I don't think it's worth my family. Leaving education is the sole reason that I consider my family life to already be in the "Promised Land." There is no way, absolutely no way, I could give 100% to my job and my family simultaneously. I would be half-assing somebody, so to speak; and neither party deserves that, especially my husband and my child. I would be an exhausted, bitter person to work and live with if I had to pick Hayden up from daycare at 6:00 everyday. That means we would get home, bathe, and she'd go to bed. I know being a stay at home mommy isn't for many of my friends, but it's worth the personal and financial sacrifice to me. I may want to pull my hair out at times; I may really wish I could buy this or that, but I can't-- but when it comes down to it, Hayden is numero uno. Moving homes has also been on the table for us for the past few months. It's been heavily discussed for several reasons. I feel encamped in some ways, but I also feel the Lord is putting it on me to set out, to have faith. I'm hesitant and excited, which is an odd combination of feelings. There is so much about this issue that I will have to tackle in a blog all it's own, but I know it's something I really need to be praying about and seeking God's wisdom.
Anyways, that's the gist of the book and how I applied it while reading it (which I think is the whole point of a book like that.) So Hadyen and I set out yesterday morning at 10:45 to journey over to Christi's. I'm a real people person, and I wasn't too nervous, but I had a few flurries. I had really only seen Christi four times in my life, and she was the only person I knew. But Hayden and I showed up, as well as four other girls, plus Christi, and they were all so welcoming and nice. I felt really comfortable. And, if you know me, I just jumped right in to all the conversations. We ate lunch first, a yummy spring greens salad and a chicken casserole, then we sat down on the floor with all our babies on a big comforter and just played with them while we talked about mommy stuff or things going on in our lives. Then we started discussing the book, and I just jumped right in. You can see where it can get pretty personal. But that is the whole point of using the book, the support of friends, and God's presence to work through those things that we need help with. All the girls (except me) go to Clear Creek Community Church, which used to be my church before Will and I started to attend Gateway a couple of years ago. That is how they know each other, and they all volunteer for their small groups (such as high school youth.) At the end we prayed together and then continued to just hang out for an hour or so after. Christi told me it usually ends about 1:00 or 1:30; well, I didn't get home until 2:30! Hayden was a good girl and all the other babies were cute, too. I really enjoyed the company and discussion and being out with other moms my age. I also felt really good about God being so present; I felt closer to Him and I didn't realize until then that I have really been needing that. Maybe being a mommy, I've been moving too fast and He's telling me just to slow down a bit, enjoy it, and most of all, don't forget Him in all of it-- He's the sole reason that I've been so blessed. Hopefully I will continue to meet with these moms, make new friends, and continue on my spiritual journey with Hayden along for the ride.

PS-- Christi did tell me she asked because she saw the picture-- God at work, that was! :)

Pin It