Luke at three months

Luke is three months old! 

He's getting big. He weighed in at 13 lbs. today at his three-month check up. Go Luke!

On a side note, why is it that I'm always rooting for my kids' weights to be high, like it's a test I've crammed for? I like to feed them a lot before we go and I get disappointed if I feel their diaper is heavy as I undress them for the scale. Keep that pee in! What's wrong with me?

So serious

In my defense, I'd like to think it's because Clara was born weighing three pounds and was only five pounds when we got her, and Luke's weight dropped pretty quickly after birth. I'm a mother of underweight newborns, what can I say?

His length was 23 inches, but the pediatrician thought the nurse just didn't stretch him out enough.

As for his development, he's starting to use his hands, batting at things in front of him. Lots of cooing, smiling (just not on camera!) and interaction. He LOVES his sister!

Just ahead for Lukie - introducing some solids next month, rolling over and let's hope sleeping through the night (more on that in a second)!

And the most interesting thing to come from this appointment? Perhaps that he's definitely got an outie! At least according to our doctor. I've heard they can change over time though.

We discussed Luke's sleeping - or rather lack of sleeping - habits with his doctor. He was doing great for a while, even taking naps and sleeping through the night in his crib in his nursery. But after about a week-and-a-half of that, he went back to screaming like crazy when we'd put him down and not letting up. I can tell the difference between a fussy, over-tired baby and a frantic, possibly-in-pain (probably-from-gas) baby. He's been the latter as of late.

See - he does smile!

So after pulling our hair out for a few days and me yelling about not wanting to ruin all the hard work I'd done getting him in his crib, I relented and decided we needed to go back to survival mode.

That's where we are now and it's fine. He sleeps in his bassinet for half the night (until waking up for his night-time feeding) and naps wherever he'll sleep (swing, carseat, bassinet).

Overall, though, he's such a happy, calm baby, which couldn't be more different from just a couple months ago! Treating his reflux has helped SO much.

Getting some fuzzy hair

Clara went along to the appointment so she could get caught up on her shots. Both of them did great in that department. Poor things!

Oh and we got some other big news today - Clara's adoption finalization court date has been set for April 15. We have a lot of paperwork, background checks, physicals and social worker visits to do before then, so we're really hoping everything gets done and submitted on time. Please pray for this process if you get a chance!

And no, we don't have to travel to Louisiana. At least as far as we've been told.

I'd LOVE to know what she's thinking about me here

Happy three months, Luke! We love you!

Taking pictures

I got a new camera for Christmas.

I had wanted a digital SLR camera ever since we first brought Clara home. But, in the meantime, we were blessed to have a very good friend who had one and he quickly became Clara's "official photographer." His five-month photos of her our legendary in our family.

The first time we realized her knack for "smizing"

I couldn't be more thrilled that I have one of my own now. It's the best present I think I've ever gotten (thanks, Mom and Dad!). I use it almost every day and in any free time I get when Ryan's on baby duty, I plop myself down at our desktop and upload and edit pictures. I love it.

And that means that I've taken quite a few. 1500 to be exact. And that's only since Dec. 25! I don't even want to do that math for what that might be over the course of a year.

But how can I resist capturing every single moment? (Well, I don't capture every moment)

I waited a very long time to take these pictures and I'm going to take them. My poor kids.

So because they have to go somewhere, I'm going to start posting more photos here. After all, what illustrates our life with Clara and Luke better than pictures?

Well, maybe videos, which I need to start posting more of too.

Catching up

So much has happened lately with Clara and Luke and we are way behind in updating on this blog!

Here are some of the highlights:

* After weighing 7 lbs. 4 oz. at birth, then dropping as low as 6 lbs. 9 oz. and not reaching his birth weight again until three weeks old, Luke (now 2 1/2 months old) finally had a growth spurt around Christmas-time and has been gaining ever since. He now weighs in at a whopping 12 pounds 4 ounces!

* Clara (now 14 1/2 months old) is officially walking! Although she took her first (several) steps in my hospital room after Luke was born, she started walking full-time about a month ago. She'll be running soon.

* Clara cracks us up each and every day. She already has her own unique sense of humor. She's also talking up a storm, and some of her favorite words are Daddy, Lukie, baby, Nana, banana, poop, turkey, and amen. We were very excited the other day when she rubbed her eyes and said "night-night" for the first time (she says it all the time, but this was the first time she was clearly communicating to us with words that she was tired). She also likes to say "uh oh!" at totally appropriate times, complete with a look of great concern on her face.

* Luke moved out of the alien phase a few weeks ago when we finally made contact. It's so funny how one day they're just eating, sleeping and crying and then suddenly they are little babies who want to talk and play! Unfortunately for him, I think I was so caught up in the feeding and sleeping parts that I didn't realize he was trying to communicate for a few days. We're on the same page now though :)

* Speaking of that, he loves cooing, smiling and hitting whatever is hanging in his line of sight. He also loves laying on his back on the floor and staring at his big sister. He is obsessed with Clara.

* To my complete surprise, I'm actually doing pretty well at home alone with the two babies while Ryan's at work. We have a routine down now and add in the occasional teething, colds, hysterical fits, sleep training, and some intestinal upset and we still do just fine. My guardian angel is definitely helping out! It also helps that Ryan is able to come home for dinner every night. It's nice to eat as a family and he even gets Clara ready for bed when he has time.

* A BIG part of the reason things are going smoothly is that Luke is getting much better at sleeping. He takes good naps in his crib during the day and sleeps through the night in his crib. Well, last night he happened to wake every two hours which he has down in several weeks, so I'm hoping that's not a new trend!

Of course, what's a blog post on Our Life With Clara and Luke without pictures? Here are some of my favorites from recent weeks: