A month in pictures

I've decided to give in and load this month's pictures on slide.com. Some of the highlights from March.

Ben's baptism March 9th. Great service, great family, Scott made great chili...missed Grandpa H. (silly ankle)

Uncle Josh came to stay the next weekend. Luke had fun chasing him around. I'd like to hire him as my manny. He cleaned my dishes and organized my kitchen.

The day he left, Uncle Ben came down to drop off his car. He took Luke shopping the next morning so I could pack and bought Luke his very first baseball.

We headed for St. Charles on Thursday night. Friday is was 70. We played in both Grandmas' backyards. Luke LOVED being outside. Saturday was filled with extended family. Luke played nice with all his cousins and Ben got to meet everyone. Sunday was sunrise service (Luke stayed awake through the whole thing, Ben slept through the whole thing). Monday, my cousin Anna came to visit. We took Ben shopping and then Shawn joined the whole family for dinner. Sally and Jeff asked Luke to be a ringbearer in their upcoming wedding and I get to sing. Scott is the best man so I guess Ben's on his own!

We're home now, getting ready for Dinner Theatre. Everyone's feeling well, for the most part and we can't wait for spring to actually get here.

Alright, the pictures.

Check out my Slide Show!

He's here!!!!

Wow, a lot has happened since February 10th. I'd like to thank both of my sister-in-laws for posting the news much sooner than I...no internet at home means I can do any quick posts.

Everything went very well. We started active labor at 3 pm on Tuesday and at 3:17 am Wednesday, Feb. 20th, Benjamin Lee was born. 8 lbs. 9 oz. 21.5 in (exactly like his brother) and he looks just like Luke...except for the dimple in his chin, which EVERYONE at the hospital noticed.

We were in the hospital until Thursday at Noon...came home and settled in with 3 boys and my soon-to-be-hired-full-time doula. My mom was a HUGE help for the first couple of days home. Scott and I really wanted to keep her for good...alas, her other children would not survive without her for more than a day or two. (they called all the time)

Anyway, here are the longer awaited pictures of our last two weeks.

Luke is reading a little Elmo book to his brother.

Apparently we need to turn up the heat in our house.

Still waiting...

For those scoring at home it's 2 days past my due date. Luke was a week late so we're not really surprised. Things are moving along, slowly. We're hoping for a baby early this week. I'm tired, sore, and cranky. I think Luke and Scott are ready for me to be done with carrying this baby. Anyway, here are the lastest pictures.

Relaxing like Daddy (those are Daddy's feet he is laying under)

Helping Daddy on his snow day.

sweeping

All his snow removal equipment

Little Hot Chocolate to warm up

And a bath completes our snow day with Daddy

The following group of pictures are from our rowdy SuperBowl party.

Luke has a new obession with his father's hat.

But he didn't want to have his picture taken...so he just tried to keep moving.

He's quite the thug isn't he...

The count down continues...

We have a week from Friday until our due date. The doctor seems to think that's about right. I have an appointment on Thursday morning, they want to do a quick ultrasound because they aren't sure of the baby's position. I'll let you know what they find. Anyway, we're as prepared as one can be for a newborn to come. Now it's just enjoying our parent to child ratio for the moment...and believe me, Luke gives us a run for our money. Here are some random pics from the week.

Getting ready for work (he's trying to hide from the camera)

He's got his tie and his shape bucket, off to work he goes.

Watching some Shrek...Mommy loves that her little boy will sit through a whole movie without getting bored.

We folded his tent up and put it away to make room for baby stuff. He can't figure out why his feet stick out of the door when he sits in the tent.

Anyone who knew me about 20 years ago will understand the irony of this picture.

New Camera!

It's finally happened. 7 months later and we have a working camera. We would still be camera-less if it weren't for the very nice young man at Target who actually offered customer service to us. Anyway, here are the first pictures off the new camera, just a little taste of how life is these days at our house.

Luke was trying to get his diaper off to get in the tub...lucky for us, he hasn't figured out that there are tabs on the front.

His hair has definately grown out since July.

Last night Luke got another Christmas gift. Marty (the preschool teacher's husband) made Luke a wooden airplane. It's very cool. Luke had a great time running around the living room making engine noises as he flew through the air.

So there's a little look. Everything else is going well. We had a doctor's appointment yesterday, she thinks we've still got three weeks which puts us right at our due date. As of today I am officially "full term". I'm feeling tired and sore, but nothing different than every other pregnant mother who is at 37 weeks. I'm sure Erin can remember the joy of chasing a little one around at this stage, and Jamie, make sure you are taking naps when Naomi does!

Scott starts Dinner Theatre season next week with auditions. I hope to be as involved as possible but I have a feeling he'll be relying A LOT on Anne, another teacher who has been roped into helping with the production. We'll be doing Elves and the Shoemaker and the Prince who wouldn't talk. We like the fairy tale genre...it's what we know. =P Plenty of schtick...no serious acting. Anyone who has seen Scott or I on stage knows that is what we do. If you're in town April 11th and 12th, stop by and see the show!

Now that we've got a camera, I'm sure there will be more posted. I'm POSITIVE I can at least keep up with my brother (November, really?) We'll keep you all up to date when Junior arrives!

Merry Christmas!

Well, we just got news about our camera. Turns out Kodak doesn't fix our model any more...so next week, Scott said we're gonna get a new camera. So we only missed like 4 or 5 months of Luke's life.

Anywho, Grandma H. has graciously provided some pictures for your viewing enjoyment. Here's Christmas in St. Charles...

Santa stopped by Great Grandma's house on the 23rd...you know, before his big night. He seems to make an appearance the years that we're in town so Luke lucks out. The kids eat up every bit of Santa's vist. Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on a picture of Santa and Great Grandma soon. Piece of advice though, don't turn the curling iron up very high when helping Santa groom his beard.

Here's our only picture of Luke in his Christmas outfit.

Aunt Jen, if you've got any good ones, ship them our way.

Christmas Morning...

We put Luke's gifts under the tree. We then told him to pick a gift to open. This was his first choice...I think he's starting to figure out the whole present idea. (editor's note: that big green one belonged to Grandpa...all of the gifts we bought Luke were small enough to hide behind it.)

Opening

And enjoying I think he looks like he's reading the morning paper.

Some other things we've done at Grandma and Grandpa's house...

Found a new way to watch our movies

Found out we still like the bouncey seat.

Found out Mya is able to fall asleep while just lying on the floor.

Found out Grandma's camera takes really cute pictures!