Getting Ready for Christmas

On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we put up the Christmas tree. We started doing that a few years ago. Mostly because we love having it up and looking at it for as long as possible! Joey had fun pulling the ornaments out and looking at them. Everytime I ask him which ornament is his favorite, he changes his mind. Christmas is really fun with kids! Although Luke doesn't do much these days, he does love to look at the lights on the tree and laugh. It makes me wonder what is going on in that little head of his!

After decorating the tree, we made a gingerbread house. Joey had lots of fun and kept trying to sneak candy into his mouth. He is definately my son:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Check out these two turkeys! They certainly made my Thanksgiving a lot more fun!
And yes, I am "that mom" whose kids have matching clothes. I can't help it!

HOME!!!!!!!

After 4 months in Tampa, we are finally home! Well, Joey, Luke and I are. Joe will be following shortly. We are soooooooooo happy to be in our house with our stuff. I love my bed and my couch and my cooking supplies! Joey was so excited to see all of his friends and he told me that "California is neat!" I love that boy!
Luke has adjusted to his new room and suprised me by starting to sleep for 7-8 hours at night! I am loving that! It gives me more time to enjoy my bed:)

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween! Joey, Luke and I flew to Pittsburgh for the weekend. A few months ago, we weren't sure if Joe would be working or not on Halloween night. I didn't want to be in Tampa alone with the kids plus my nephew, Cole, got baptized that weekend in Pittsburgh. So we decided to go to my parents to trick or treat. Joey was sooooooooo excited! He was dressed up like Woody from Toy Story and Luke was Buzz Lightyear. My little Woody ran from house to house trying to collect candy. But the most fun part of the night for him was handing out candy at my parents house. He stood at their front window saying "more kids!" And he ran to the door to open it and give them candy. It was so much fun to see him so excited. We even hooked up the computer to Skype and Joe was able to watch Joey on the computer:)

Here they are all dressed up:

Luke is 2 months!

Today Luke is 2 months old! He looks so much like Joey did when he was that age. I took him today for his 2 month check up and shots. He weighs 14 lbs! He has gained 4lbs in one month. That puts him in the 99th percentile for weight and he is in the 81st percentile for length. This means one thing...we are going to be broke when these two boys are teenagers because they are going to be eating a ton to keep up with their size! The days of Joe eating Joey's leftovers are gone! Tomorrow, Joey, Luke and I are starting our journey home to California with a trip to Pittsburgh. My nephew Cole is getting baptized on Saturday and since Luke had his shots, I am comfortable with flying on an airplane. We will be there until mid next week and my mom is joining us for our flight back to California. We are very excited to get out of this small apartment that we are living in during our stay in Tampa, but we have grown to really like the city. We are going to miss our daily hangouts like Target, Starbucks, the park and the mall to name a few. But with the military, you never know when or if you will be back!

Here are a few more pictures of all of the boys:)

My little angel sleeping:)

Daddy and Joey, best buddies!

Brotherly Love

Joey loves his baby brother. He calls him "Lukie". He loves to hold him and kiss him and lay next to him on the ground. Its a bit much sometimes, like when I am doing something and Joey tries to pick him up. Yep, that's happened. So we have to keep a close eye on Joey to make sure that he doesn't hurt Luke. Here they are together on the couch:

And here is Joey eating his pear. He won't let me cut pears or apples up. He likes to eat them whole, skin and all!

We Survived!

Joe left the country for 2 weeks and Joey, Luke and I were here all alone. Joe travels a lot with his job in California and we have gotten used to it. Usually when he travels, we have our own house and friends to hang out with. We don't know anyone in Tampa. The first week was LONG. We tried to stay busy with going to the park, going to Target, and going to the mall to play at the play area(its really hot here still so going to the park in the morning is hard with a newborn!). At the beginning of the second week, my mom came to visit for a few days. That was a nice break and I was able to get my hair done and go to the grocery store. Finally, 15 days after Joe left, he got back into our apartment at 3:30am. When Joey woke up the next morning and called for me, Joe went in and Joey said "you're back!" We are very happy to have him home!

The Past Two Weeks

Last week, my cousin Tina came to visit. Joey was soooo excited to see her. He talks about her all of the time. During her visit, Joey had her playing and hiding from his invisible polar bear. We also went to the aquarium, park, and a child-free trip to the mall. We had a great visit!

My mom came to visit this past week. While she was here, we went to visit our cousins that live in Sarasota. Joey was so excited to see Charli again. He loves her so much that he ate a chicken finger because that is what she ate when we had lunch together and he doesn't even like chicken fingers! Anyways, while Joey, Rita, Charli and I went down to the water, my mom sat with Luke in the shade and then in the car. We didn't have baithing suits, but still enjoyed touching the sand and sitting in the sun for a little.

Also this week, I took Luke to the dr for a weigh in. At one month, he weighs 10lbs 6oz. He has gained lots of weight in his first month! He loves to eat and sleep. We were having some problems with him sleeping on his back because we both got sick after getting out of the hospital. But his congestion is finally clearing and he is sleeping MUCH better.

Here is my 1 month old Luke!

Hi

I haven't posted in awhile. Back when Joey was a newborn, I had the time to post everyday. It is a little harder to do with two...especially when one of those two kids is a 2 1/2 year old with lots of energy that likes to get into things. Oh, and did I mention that we are living in a small apartment without our things and with no friends or family nearby? Yea, that adds some complications, too.

Another thing that doesn't happen when you have more than one is the constant photography sessions. We have more pictures of Joey as an infant than I know what to do with. Poor Luke...he isn't going to have very many pictures of his childhood. I am trying but it just isn't happening!

But here is my favorite of Luke(or Lukey as we like to call him). He is finally getting over his cold. He has been congested for over a week. Luckily he didn't get a fever even though Joey had one last week and Joey is constantly touching him and in his face!

Luke's First Week

Luke had an eventful first week of life. Unfortunately, eventful is not always good when talking about a newborn. While we were in the hospital, he stayed in the nursery the whole time. He didn't get to spend time with us in my room. We finally all got discharged from the hospital on Monday. We spent Monday and Tuesday at home with Joey and my mom(Joe can't take any days off work unless it's an emergency). On Wednesday morning, we went back into the doctors office to get Luke's bilirubin level checked. I got a call on Wednesday at lunchtime from the doctor to tell me that his bilirubin level was at a 17.8. That is pretty high and not good. So we packed our bags again and headed back to the hospital. Joe was able to come home and go with us. My mom and Joey stayed home. They put Luke under the lights overnight. He also had to have an IV in. We couldn't hold him and I couldn't breastfeed him because the doctor said that there is something in breastmilk that can make the jaundice worse. I had to pump. I hate pumping. Anyways, here is a picture of my baby tanning.

On Thursday, after about 14 or so hours of Luke laying under the lights, he was allowed out of the isolet after his bilirubin level went down. We still had to stay at the hospital on Thursday night because they wanted to watch him and check his level again the next day.

Joe was able to take the day off work on Thursday to play with Joey while my mom came with me. Poor Joey was definitely missing his mom and dad. He loves my mom, though, so that made it a lot easier! Then my mom and Joe swapped and Joe spent the night with Luke and I at the hospital.

Also on Thursday, I started to develop a cold. What bad luck! I called my doctor to see if I could take anything and someone that I talked to at the clinic suggested that I just go get checked out at the emergency room--it was right there and with our insurance, it was free. So I went down to the emergency room at the hospital and spend 5 hours waiting to be told that it is a virus. I guess it was better to be safe than sorry. But they did give me a mask to wear around Luke. So I have been wearing a mask while feeding him or getting close to him. This means that I can't kiss him and hug him like I want to. I am feeling better now, though, so hopefully it will only be another day or two of wearing the mask.

My mom left on Saturday. She was here for 2 weeks because she came early just in case we needed her. Joey definitely misses his buddy that he spend so much time with. We were so lucky to have her here because I pretty much didn't see Joey for a week because of being at the hospital for so long.

We are home and enjoying life as a family of 4. Luke is doing great and eating and sleeping pretty good. Joey loves his little brother. He likes to hug and kiss him, shake his hand, and play with his toys. He has done great with the new addition.

Here are some pictures of Luke: Luke's first week.