Grateful Heart

Doesn't every post need a cuddly picture of Luke?

I am surrounded by the most amazing people. During the past 10 days or so I have received so much help and service and love from friends and family—it overwhelms my heart.

When Luke was a week old my little sister, in town from Minnesota, left her tiny kids with her hubby and spent the morning at my house. She basically put all of our Christmas decorations away, sweetly listened to Bentley as he described his every move in an iPad zoo game, and started a crockpot dinner for us. Then she loaded up Bentley and Cares and took them to my nephew's birthday celebration at the movie theater. At one week out I was feeling pretty good but there is no way I could have done what she did for us that day.

The next day my mom came over, loaded up my 3 big kids and whisked them away for a fun day and sleepover at her house. I had such a clean and quiet house and worked on catching up on my sleep. It felt so good to just take care of my baby and me—healing days for us for sure. After their sleepover with grandma and grandpa my kids spent the next day playing at my big sister's house with much loved cousins. My sis had 8 kids at her house that day and when I stopped by to pick up my crew she sent us home with a complete dinner!

For the past 3 days we have had the pleasure of having my mother-in-law come and stay at our house. She showered her gourmet skills on us making delicious meals and filling my freezer with 7 ready to bake dinners...7! Of our family's favorites (BBQ pork ribs, chicken cordon blue, lasagna, chicken enchiladas...) She also did a thousand dishes, took Cares to ballet and kindergarten, walked the kids home from school, vacuumed my whole house and cleaned all 3 bathrooms, snuggled Luke while I showered, and babysat so Joseph and I could take Luke for his photo shoot and then see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Oh, and she also found time to make dresses for the girls' dolls! I felt totally spoiled and yet she kept telling me she felt like she didn't do enough for us! Oh Ruth Ann, I for sure married the right boy :) Thank you a hundred times over!

There have also been sweet friends and neighbors and darling YW who have dropped by with gifts and meals and all kinds of love and support for our little family. I truly feel so blessed and humbled and grateful for all of it. I honestly forgot how taxing it is to be awake so often during the night and then try to run a household of busy, needy children all through the day (especially while my own body is trying to heal up and get back to normal). All of the help we've received has been wonderful and restorative. I am the luckiest and I know it. Thanks to all of you! 

2 Weeks Old

From Luke's photoshoot yesterday:

Luke's first week came and went without mention on this blog—but those first days were so full of holiday celebrations and family events that all I could do was feed my babe, sleep with him and make it out the door when needed.

Now that we are 2 weeks in I feel like life is settling down. We are nowhere near a schedule with Luke—just feeding him every 2 or 3 hours around the clock. But I am hoping we'll find some longer stretches during the night soon and find more of a routine as we make it through the next 2 weeks. Luke has been a very good baby though—he rarely cries but just grunts and wiggles to let me know he is hungry. He naps like a champ, loves to stare at the bold pattern on my duvet cover, and snuggles up for nursing and cuddling happily. But in the middle of the night he doesn't always love going right back to sleep after I nurse him and often extends our awake time by about 30 minutes. Those have been the hardest times for me so far—I just feel so sleepy and yet can't let myself fall asleep until Luke is settled. And thank goodness for my hubby's help during the night—he may be rather hard to wake up when he is settled into sleep but he is always a good sport to take Luke into another room so I can doze off quickly after too many night feedings have made me desperate for sleep.

Luckily I am in love with my newborn baby. Joseph and I felt like we just had to capture Luke as a tiny before his folds of skin fill out with fat and his skinny little legs chub up. Love that we have these pictures (and many more from the shoot that turned out so well).

2012

And suddenly it's a new year. I feel unprepared and yet eagerly optimistic about it. All of 2011 seemed to be consumed with hoping to be pregnant, then being pregnant and then welcoming baby Luke to the world. 2012 will be filled with all his milestones and they'll most likely be the last time I experience them with a newborn. Such a weird feeling for me, but I am excited for them all the same. I think Luke may have more pictures during his first few years than any of our other kids. I am determined to savor him.

Anyway, goals seem way too overwhelming for me right now with a 10 day old babe. All I really hope to do is rejoice in small successes: changing a diaper without Luke peeing everywhere, getting at least one 3 hour stretch of solid sleep during the night, finding time for a shower every day, and keeping on top of the abundant laundry a newborn creates. Nothing too exciting but all I can handle at present.

Our New Year celebrating was very low key last night. We did manage to go out to dinner without any fuss from our sleeping babe. And then we came home for some poppers, snaps and horn blowing all before 9:00 pm. Short and simple, and then Joseph and I were off to bed at 10:30 ourselves—gotta sleep when our baby does!

Christmas Eve

I think this picture pretty much sums up our Christmas Eve. How lucky we felt to have our 3 day old Christmas baby in the nativity this year. Cute cousin Connor, dressed up as a cow, kept coming up to Luke, stroking his head and saying "Ooohhh, it's okay baby Jesus."It was so sweet and one of my favorite things about the night. My other favorite: not being in the hospital but gathered together with my wonderful family.

And then there were some very fun gifts from Grandma and Grandpa for all the grandchildren. Livs and Cares got a new Playmobile grand mansion (and it has been well used everyday since!)

Family of 6

There is so much to catch up on—Luke's birth story, our whirlwind Christmas, life at home with 4 kids...I am just too tired each night to edit pictures and type coherent thoughts. I have to remind myself that I am still in recovery mode and there will be plenty of time down the line.

**As I look through hospital pictures I am so grateful for my 2 nights there. Yes I missed my family, a lot. But there is nothing more healing than calm and quiet and incredible nurses who did whatever I needed and took great care of me and my baby. And those nights of sending sweet Luke to the nursery so I could sleep as long as I wanted—priceless. I woke to see the sunrise both mornings but felt more rested than I have in months.

Christmas Baby

Carrie and Luke are both doing well and I leave in just a few hours to bring them both home from the hospital. It will be a crazy and busy time of year for a new baby, but it will be just what we need to help us slow down, quiet down and focus on the right things this season. For those of you who have been waiting for a better view of baby Luke, feast your eyes on this!

Unto us a son is given from Joseph LeBaron on Vimeo.

Good Baby

This precious little man joined our family at 8:10 pm last night weighing in at 8 lbs 8 oz—my biggest baby yet. For arriving a few weeks early he's quite the mushy beefcake and we are all in love with him.

 More details to come but for now we must sleep and nurse, and sleep and nurse some more. I rather adore these calm, quiet days in the hospital cuddling my beautiful boy. I still cannot believe my body made him. He'll forever be my best Christmas miracle :)

 

and we're pretty certain his name is Luke but we're still deciding on his middle name...