Cracked a Smile!

It has happened.... Lukas has started to smile at us! Erin and I have loved to just sit and watch him as he will smile and even start to talk at times (well make cooing noises). I am working on trying to get one of these moments on video, but that is still a work in progress. It is very difficult to capture these moments on camera too. We have some that aren't bad though. I am sure he is tired of me holding the camera and telling him to smile. I figure he better get used to it because I don't plan to stop taking pictures anytime soon. Of course I want to capture every milestone of his life. This picture will have to do for now. Isn't it adorable?!?!

You Might Have Just Given Birth If...

…you still look like you are pregnant.

…you look like you just leaked breastmilk through your shirt. Because you did.

…there are itty bitty wet diapers, all wrapped up in itty bitty bundles, laying on the floor by your bed. And they don’t bother you at all.

…you tried so hard to keep your new baby’s name a secret while you were pregnant, that now that you are allowed to say it, it gets stuck on your lips…or another of your children’s names comes out.

…you are very, very tired. Very.

…even though you are very, very tired, you also have more energy than you did when you were pregnant. Which is weird.

…you’re so glad someone came up with the notion of “pelvic rest” so that you don’t have to be the bad guy.

…you hear soft grunting while typing this.

…if you were to chart your emotional state over the past number of days, the resulting graph would resemble the Killer Snake rollercoaster at Six Flags.

…your heart is bursting with an amazing, new love you can’t believe you ever lived without.

…you’re finally starting to fit back into your maternity clothes again.

…you have forgotten to eat because you were too busy stroking soft baby fluff on top of a sweet smelling little head.

…there are miniature socks in your laundry that don’t even fit the tiny newborn feet they belong to yet.

…when you walk by people in the store as you’re carrying your baby in a wrap, 37 people whisper “Oh, look! A tiny baby!” during your 14 minute trip.

…the question of whether or not it would be acceptable to store homemade pesto in breastmilk storage bags actually crosses your mind.

…a sitz bath sounds really good.

…people ask, “How old?” without using a pronoun, because it’s hard to tell if your adorably squishy baby is a boy or a girl.

…laughing hurts. Coughing hurts.

…you are still enjoying the Superwoman complex that giving birth gave you. And rightly so.

…your can see your ankle bones better every day.

…the person you just gave birth to has only been awake for a total of 27 minutes today.

…you bought the value-sized tube of Lanolin. And you’re not afraid to use it.

…you are beaming with pride at having been able to collaborate with God in the creation of another human being, an achievement you will long consider one of your crowning moments.

I know that my baby is already a month old so I'm a little late with this, but I got it sent to me and I found it kind of funny. I thought I would go ahead and share it. For those of you that have children maybe you will remember back to that time and laugh. For those of you that have not, well hopefully you will get a little chuckle out of it as well :)

1 Month Old!!!

I can't believe it, Lukas was a month old yesterday! Time has just flown by. It is crazy how a child completely changes your whole life. Some things just don't seem to matter anymore, the focus just turns to him and his needs. I am loving being a MOMMY!

Here are our 1 month pictures. I am stealing this idea from my sister-in-law. I have loved watching my nephew change in his pictures. Thanks Jana :)




Things about Lukas at one month:

• He is up to 10 lbs. 2 oz. He has filled out so much. I can definantly tell a difference in his weight when I hold him. What can I say he takes after his mom and likes to eat!
• He can still fit in most of his newborn clothes, but we have started to try on more 0-3 month clothes. I think I am just getting excited about different outfits to put on him.
• His neck strength is coming along. He loves to hold his head up and look around at things. He struggles lifting it and turning it still when doing tummy time.
• His legs are very strong! He loves to kick and practice standing on his legs. It gets very interesting during diaper changes when he does not want to loosen up and relax his legs.
• Smiling - almost, he smiles at times but not really doing it on purpose yet, it is probably just gas :)
• He loves to take naps on his tummy with his legs curled under him.
• He is not a huge fan of the sun, he enjoys the cloudy days much more.
  
• The bouncy/vibrating chair is a favorite of his. He will just sit and hang out in it.
• He is still a little unsure of the swing, but does test it out at times.
• Bath time has been great! He even loved it when the warm water was dumped on him at his Baptism.
  
• Sleeping very well at night! Lets hope I don't jinx myself here.

More pictures from his first month of life!

We went to a wedding reception for our first family outing when Lukas was 5 days old.


This is what happens when I try to get a little extra sleep and Daddy and Aunt Christy are watching Lukas. They decide to test out all of the "toys" that Lukas got. I'm not sure a 3 week old is supposed to use his bumbo yet, but isn't it so cute!


Here he is just sleeping in his boppy. Check out those chubby cheeks!


Erin and I have learned so much already! I have loved watching Erin as a father. He does a wonderful job with Lukas. I look forward to everything we have ahead of us. I have learned to just enjoy the moment though, because time goes too fast and I don't need my baby to grow up any faster than he already is :)

The Beck's Came to Visit!

Lukas got to meet the last of his uncles, aunts, and cousins this past week. Erin's brother Evin, his wife Kayla, and their son Maddox made a trip from Oxford, Mississippi to meet "Baby Lukas", that is what Maddox calls him.


Maddox thought he was alright. The best was when we were trying to take a family picture with Erin, Lukas, and me and Maddox was trying to get Lukas to smile. He was making silly faces at him with his fingers in the ears and tongue sticking out. Who knows, it may have worked if only Lukas would have opened his eyes to actually see the faces he was making :)

We also got a picture of all the Beck grandchildren. Such a great looking group!


Kayla discovered how much Lukas likes to be bounced! She became a pro at calming a fussy baby by just standing and holding him while she bounced him up and down. He loved it! Erin and I have been attempting it ever since, but I think Lukas knows its not Kayla doing the bouncing. It also never failed that once Kayla got him calmed down, Evin was ready to take him off of her hands. She wasn't sure how fair it was that she got the fussy baby and then once he was sleeping and peaceful, she had to given him up.


It was great to have them around and hear all about how things are going for them. I know Lukas enjoyed meeting them. With them living so far we don't get to see them a lot, but that only makes it more special when we do!

We also made Grandma Strube very happy this weekend! At Christmas she wanted all of her family to get individual family pictures so she could update them at her house. The last one was quite sometime ago and many people had been added since. It was a great idea, however our family didn't get our picture taken. We were planning it and then some things just didn't work out, which we figured was fine because it was going to be out dated anyway without Lukas. We went ahead and took this opportunity of having everyone here to take our picture for her. It turned out pretty good. I figured atleast everyone is in it now, even if the baby in the middle looks like he was just pinched before the flash! We can try again at Christmas :)

Baptism

Lukas celebrated his first sacrament Saturday evening when he was baptized at our church. We were very blessed to have so much of our family be a part of it and share in the ceremony with us. It is so amazing to watch God work in our lives and he has truly blessed Erin and me in many ways. We thank him everyday for bringing Lukas into our lives and look forward to sharing our faith with him as he grows. We can't imagine life without him anymore!

Our family with Father Reggie. We found out later that evening that he is quite the pool player as well :)


Back at our house with his Godmother Christy and his Godfather Evin.

BATH TIME!

This weekend we were able to give Lukas his first bath at home. His umbilical cord finally fell off so we didn't have to continue the sponge baths and could do the real thing. I have to say it was a great experience that Lukas seemed to not hate atleast. I think he was just unsure about what was going on, but we got through it without any crying!!! That is a successful bath to me.


The only crying he had was when he had to get out of the warm water and into the cold air. Once he was wrapped in his towel he was good again though. I am hoping he likes to be clean like his daddy that way he will love bath time as he gets older. We are one for one at this point and have a wonderful smelling baby.... atleast for the moment :)

Meeting more Grandmas

Last week Lukas got to meet some very special women! He first got to meet his Great Grandma Keeley.

I have decided that Grandmas always know the perfect things to say. She was asking all about how Lukas was doing and how it feels to be a mom. She just kept telling me how precious he was and how excited she was to get to meet him. We had a great conversation about how much a child changes your life and the joy they bring to you daily.

The other grandma that Lukas got to meet was his Great-Great-Grandma Hoffman. Yes that is right it is Erin's Great Grandma. She is 95 years old and was so excited to meet her 5th great-great grandchild.


It is really amazing to have Erin and Lukas be a part of 5 generations. We had to get a picture of this occasion. There is Lukas, Erin, his mom Karlynn, Erin's Grandma Strube, and Erin's Great-Grandma Hoffman. What a great looking group :)