Sweet Luke

The darling baby boy—such a sweet cooing babe of late. He has been sleeping so well the last 4 or 5 nights getting in 7 or 8 hours of sleep before I feed him around 2 in the morning, and then sleeping another 5 or 6 hours before he's awake for the day.

He is also suddenly sick today with the saddest wheezing chest and cough I've ever heard. I have never had a tiny get sick this young (just shy of 3 months). I am sure he got something from the bigger kids who are so in love with him that they are just in his face and holding his hands and touching him so much—even when they have snotty noses or lingering coughs, and even when I try to tuck him away from everyone and keep him out of the kids' way. Guess that's what happens to an adored 4th child...

I am just so filled with worry that Luke won't be able to breathe because of his thick chest. He is sleeping soundly right now with baby vicks on his chest and the humidifier pumping vapor and steam into his room. Is there anything else I should be doing? His doctor said there is no need to worry until he stops eating well (no problem there so far). For being so sick he is still a sweetheart and so content. I hope he pulls out of this fast and we can get our healthy little babe back.  

Luke on Monday, thoroughly entertained by the ever exciting ceiling fan

I love this sweet nightgown baby

Zoo Day

 No school on Friday and 60 degree temps in the forecast—perfect day to play at the zoo.

 It was my first official "big" outing with 4 kiddos so I enlisted some help from my mom. I'm so grateful she came to hang out with us (and brave the reptile house with Bentley and Caroline).

 

 Look who we happily ran into:

One of my oldest and dearest friends! We had just been emailing the day before about finding a time to meet up for lunch. Such a great coincidence!

We ended up spending 2 1/2 hours at the zoo and enjoyed it so much. Luke was such a sweetheart and took a long, hard nap while riding around in the stroller. Made it easy to see all the animals and take our time. And the weather was just so inviting. We are loving these glimpses of spring!

Losing Teeth

My little Caroline is so proud. Today she lost her very first tooth! 

Bentley came home from school on Monday announcing that his 3rd tooth had just fallen out. Cares has had a fairly loose tooth for more than a month now and decided that day to work on hers and get it out. She is so brave and just kept wiggling and tugging on it (and letting her mommy give it some solid pushes forward). This afternoon she asked me to help her one last time and out came her tooth! She was slightly crying and slightly cheering when she saw her tooth in my hand—it's painful work losing those teeth.

Both kids are eager to earn money via Tooth Fairy now. Bentley told me a girl in his class gets 3 dollars a tooth...what?? And I was thinking 50 cents was a normal amount...

In other news, Luke is getting better and better at napping in his bed, even when I put him in there awake. But he is still learning. And on Monday night he was so tired but not wanting to calm down and sleep—until I popped him in the sling. Then he slumbered so sweetly. Sometimes that is the only way to get dinner made around here.

We had Tahitian pancakes with fresh fruit (and nutella and powdered sugar) and sausage for dinner that night. Yummy! The pancakes are basically very sweet crepes made without any butter and spread on a big skillet so they are very large. The recipe is from Joseph's sister Flori who made them for us after a stay here a few years back. She is totally her mother's daughter in the kitchen so any recipe from her is a good one.

Luke's Blessing

Yesterday was a beautiful day in every way. We woke to a clear, sunny, nearly spring morning, greatly appreciated after all the snow we received earlier in the week.

Joseph gave our Luke such a tender blessing, reminding him that he was given special names to help him honor his stalwart pioneer ancestry, and remain close to his Savior throughout his life. I can think of nothing I want more for my tiny son. I love so much that Luke was surrounded by both of his grandpas, many uncles and his own loving father as he was blessed. He was a total angel during the blessing and then slept peacefully during the rest of sacrament meeting. That baby loves to snuggle and sleeps so well when he is nestled in my arms (or Joseph's, or Aunt Luci's, or Aunt Cecily's....)

We had a lovely day and felt so grateful to have family around to love and support us on Luke's special day.

 

 

Now he's officially named: Luke Fielding LeBaron

10 Weeks

 How endearing is that little pinky?

Luke is totally obsessed with his hands and feeling anything he can.

This sweet boy indulged in a 7 hour sleep stretch last night! Of course it started rather early in the night (he was the first to bed of all 4 kids) so it was still a few hours before I was able to sleep too. I am hoping we are onto a new trend—the darling is sure filled out enough to handle some long sleeps :)

We all just love him so much. The kids have had gross noses and coughs of late and they are dying to get rid of them so they can snuggle their Luke again. I have saved him all for myself which is both lovely and exhausting. I swear this babe gets heavier in my arms on a daily basis but I am eager to soak up this newborn stage while it lasts. It really is fading fast...

Kitchen Update

 Before:

 the kitchen table became the center of chaos the day our granite came:

 and after:

 Joseph installed some under cabinet lighting and we like it so much we may add some more...

A close up of the backsplash:

Sock Hoppin'

My cute sisters-in-law planned a darling sock hop party for the February birthday girls this past week (since Livs falls in that category we were able to help with things a bit too). I was planning to make my girls some poodle skirts all week but never got around to them until Thursday morning (they look cute enough but were super last minute and weren't really fitting my tiny ladies...) Luckily, Nanny had the same idea and whipped out 5 for all the granddaughters who'd be attending. They were awesome and fit the girls perfectly. And now we are the proud owners of 4 small girl poodle skirts so if anyone ever needs one you know who to call!

Anyway, the night began with crazy cousin playtime all around the house. Sisi and Kai are in town from Cali and the kids were so excited to see each other and just play (laugh, hug, chase, hide, run, giggle...the usual.) Then we gathered them up for some Twister which they loved (even if some were still figuring out which sides are right and left–they just loved stretching into silly shapes on the mat!)

 

 It was so fun to watch them. Cute Tiago arrived looking so sleek and adorable and opted for spinning the wheel because he didn't want his cool hair to get messed up.

We ate burgers, hot dogs, fries and root beer floats for dinner followed by cupcakes for dessert.

Then it was dance party central! Mary made a 50s dance playlist including the Hokey Pokey and the limbo. It was so fun to see the kids go wild and totally get into it.

 Of course there were also presents to be opened by the birthday girls:

At the end of the night we got almost all the kiddos corralled for a big picture so we needed serious entertainment to keep their attention. See how happy they all are? 

The reason for all the laughter: 

Joseph being silly with an awesomely ugly mullet wig. Simple pleasures...

We also got to meet the lovely baby Annacapri (Luke's cousin buddy—he's only 8 days older). Love the striped babies meeting each other for the first time.

And Johnny holding the pair of them together. Luke is in outfit number 2 for the night—that babe was blowing it out all over that night. Nothing like a sock hop to let it all loose!

 Luke snuggling with Nanny—he loved watching all the action and was quite content to watch the kids (as long as he was being held...spoiled baby :)

The 3 Kindergarten girls at the end of the night. I have big dreams for them to be college roomies their Freshman year and break all the boys' hearts! They would have such fun. I love how much my children adore their LeBaron and Smith cousins—I hope they will stay close forever. Guess we need to keep throwing parties like these!