He's Still Working on Me

He's still workin' on me,

To make me what I ought to be.

It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars,

The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars.

How loving and patient He must be,

He's still workin' on me! 

Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. Psalm 127:1

Who's your general contractor?

Luke: 4 Months

Luke, you are 4 months old!

I can hardly believe it! You are growing so fast, and Mama loves you more and more each day! Here's what you're up to these days...

• You weigh 17lbs. even and are 26 inches long...you've grown 9lbs. 10oz. and 6 inches since 09.30.10!
• You are eating three 7 oz. bottles and two 6 oz. bottles a day...plus two tablespoons of cereal in the evenings!
• You wear a size 2 diaper and 3-6 mo. clothes.

• You are a GREAT sleeper...we lay you (and Sissy) down between 7:30 and 8:00. You get yourself to sleep, and I have to wake you up around 6:30 on weekdays. On weekends you sleep until 7 or 7:30...take a bottle and go back to sleep until 9 or 9:30. =)
• You are still sleeping in the bassinet next to Mommy's bed. I know you would be fine in your own room (you did sleep there 4 nights in December), but Mommy isn't ready to give up our nights together. However, my goal is to have you in your "Big Boy Bed" by the time I write your 5 month post!

• You rolled over (from back to tummy) for the first time on Friday!
• I keep thinking you are going to get a tooth any day. You drool a lot, you love to chew on anything you can get into your mouth, and you've been a little cranky this weekend. Mommy is praying that it will come in quickly and not cause you anymore pain!
• Speaking of chewing...you were chewing on your paci a lot, so Mommy decided it was time to get rid of it. You have been "paci-free" since Monday (01.24.11)! Emma insists that you're still a baby and you need that paci, but you are doing just fine without it...and that's one less battle I have to fight a few months down the road!!

• You smile all the time, and you are so happy! You love people in general, but you have a special love for your sister (which makes Mommy's heart melt). She has a special love for you too! :)

Luke,
     I am so in love with you. My heart doubled in size the day you were born...and it had doubled one time already! God has entrusted Daddy and me with two very precious lives...yours and Emma's. We aren't the best parents in the world, and we make a lot of mistakes. That won't change as you get older, and I'm sure you will read this one day and agree completely ;). I pray each day for both of you...that you will accept Jesus into your hearts at an early age and that you will follow the plan He has laid out for you. Always remember..."I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my babies you'll be."


                                                                               Love,
                                                                               Mama

A Long Week & Random Pics

I hate to "wish my life away" (or more importantly wish my babies' lives away), but I am ECSTATIC that this week is O.V.E.R.!! Luke went back to daycare on Tuesday, and Emma seemed well enough to follow on Wednesday morning...WRONG! When we pulled up in Mrs. Elizabeth's driveway she began vomiting...profusely! At that point I decided I needed to go back home, get in bed, and sleep until Monday morning, ha! After calling work to let them know I would be late (but I was definitely coming since I already owe the sick bank one day) I tracked down Nana! Luckily she was able to meet me at home and stay with E until lunchtime, when MawMaw came and took over until I got home. Thanks Nana and MawMaw! Thursday morning we gave it another shot...and both of my babies made it through the day, praise God!

Here are some random pictures from the last few weeks. As I sit here typing, my sweet babies are tucked in bed. I look at these pictures and smile. The last few weeks have been very stressful, but I am so thankful that God shared His children with me...and more importantly trusted me to care for them!

E's new favorite thing is "playing letters" in the bathtub!

Daddy's Girl!!

I love close ups...excuse the date...notice the drool! ;)

All greased up and ready for bed!

Wow...I am SO blessed!

Hangin' out in the Bumbo seat!

How sweet is that?! :)

Mama's Helper!

Heatwave in Alabama...it's been in the 60s and 70s the

last two days, so we have taken advantage of the fresh air.

E quickly informed me that I needed to get Luke his own

umbrella stroller...one that IS NOT pink! =)

She's such a good driver! ;)

Luke and I went to Ashley's Friday night.

Sarah NEEDS a little brother! =)

We went to Michael's birthday party today.

The kids "jumped" and Luke Man rode the horse! :)

An attempt at a group shot...I zoomed in to try to get Emma and

Luke, but I'm pretty sure the entire group looked about like this! :)

Faith, Emma & Cheyenne

Roly Poly

I picked up my sweet boy from daycare today, and Mrs. Rita asked me if he had been rolling over at home!! Apparantly he rolled over three or four times today (from his back to his tummy)! So when we got home I decided to see if he would do it again. Here's what I got...

Luke Man, you did it! :)

Here we go again...

Luke has basically been sick since he was diagnosed with the flu on 12.30.10. It looks as though he will be my "sick one". :( Mama DOES NOT like for her babies to be sick!! However, he is a happy baby regardless! We spent Saturday just hanging around the house and playing while Emma spent some time at Nana's and Papa's.

Don't you LOVE this face?!

A little virus won't get this boy down!

It looks like Emma rested a lot at Nana's!

The pictures are a little fuzzy, but you get the gist! :)

Sadly enough the weekend didn't end as peaceful as these pictures may lead you to believe. At some point Emma (my "hasn't-been-sick-a-handful-of-times-in-three-years" child) developed pink eye. Luckily our pediatrician has an Oxford office that is open on Saturdays and Sundays. Dr. Ray doesn't work on the weekends, but it beats going to the ER. Sunday afternoon we headed to Oxford where I was absolutely SHOCKED to learn that not only did E have pink eye, but she tested positive for the flu...types A and B!

They pricked her finger to check her blood count. She insisted I take

 her picture and send it to her daddy so he could see her booboo! :)

Here we go again...thankfully I am a member of the "sick bank" so I borrowed a day so that I could be home with my sick babies...who aren't really acting all that sick today. They are both coughing pretty badly, but their overall dispositions are good. I am thankful for that, and the last month has made me incredibly thankful to have children who do not have terminal or chronic illnesses. I will definitely be saying a special prayer for all those parents out there who are caring for those types of children.

Here are my little blessings today...

Monster-in-Law

Yesterday when I got to Mrs. Elizabeth's to get the kids she told me Luke had been coughing pretty badly and had slept a lot of the day. So I gathered Emma, Luke, and all their baggage and headed to Anniston. By the time I got cell phone service it was after 3:30, which is Dr. Ray's last appointment...but they told him I was about 15 minutes away so he agreed to stay! :)

Emma and Luke waiting patiently to see Dr. Ray. E was SUCH a

good girl all afternoon...even I had a meltdown before it was over!

Luke was a good boy too so he got a Scooby Doo sticker!

Emma Girl got an "I'm a Big Sister" sticker,
a Dora sticker, AND some gum. Dr. Ray and I decided
she is a much happier girl when she's not the patient! ;)

A thirty dollar co-pay, breathing treatment, finger prick, nose swab, two prescriptions, 45 minute wait at Target Pharmacy (thanks to PEEHIP's poor money managing skills...but that's another post all in itself), and $10 prescription co-pay later (insert "Mommy Meltdown" here)...Luke is sick...again! It's viral, and although he tested negative for RSV it is possible that it was too soon to tell. We are supposed to watch him closely and head back to Anniston if he begins wheezing. So he couldn't go to daycare...and I'm still out of sick leave...and of course, it's horse sale weekend. (My kids only get sick on sale days, ha!) MawMaws to the rescue...MawMaw Nell came this morning to sit with Luke until MawMaw Wanda could get here around 10am...and I am ever so thankful for them both! My monster-in-law mother-in-law isn't half bad! ;)

Look at what I came home to...

You cannot fully appreciate this since there is no "before" picture, but let me just tell you it was a MESS! She "super cleaned" the sink too!

I also came home to this...

So it's been decided...MawMaw needs to quit work and stay at home with Luke until flu/cold/yuckiness season is over! She can keep him at my house once a week to do some "organization" work, and she can get lots of things done at her own house too! Doesn't this sound like a good plan? Here's our plea:

Dear Poppa,

      Since my daddy won't let my mommy quit her job I would really like for you to let MawMaw quit hers. I need her to keep me when I'm sick, because my mommy is fresh out of sick leave. She could help keep my mommy's house clean, laundry done, and maybe cook a few meals too. This would really help me, because my mommy could spend her nights and weekends playing with my sister and me. I appreciate your careful consideration of this request.

                                                                                   Love,

                                                                                   Luke