Best Daddy Ever

I am so thankful that Leah and Lane have the best Daddy in the whole wide world!

Jasmine wanted to go for a magic carpet ride outside, and Aladdin obliged!

Does it get any sweeter than this?  Daddy tried to get in lots of extra snuggles before he had to leave for a week.

Thank You Nana and Papaw

My biggest fear this entire pregnancy was in regards to Leah.....what were we going to do with her when it was time to have the baby (and the days following).  With both of our families living so far away, it's always hard to imagine how it will all work out.  One thing I've learned, though, is that in the end it always does work out!

The moment we told my mom that we were having to go into Labor & Delivery to have my blood pressure checked she booked flights for her and my dad to head to California.  Her gut told her that I was going to be having a baby that day, but if not, she wanted to be here to help me with Leah so that I could rest in bed in hopes that my blood pressure would go down.  She knew that it had been high all weekend so she was on stand-by just in case!  We all know how this part of the story ends.....I ended up being induced that afternoon and Lane was born that night!

Nana and Papaw arrived in town just moments after Lane was born and went straight to our house to take care of Leah (who had been with our neighbor all day, thank God for her as well).  I never had to worry about her for a second!  My dad had all of the addresses plugged into his phone for all of Leah's places to be so they took over the moment they arrived!  Even after we got home from the hospital, they still had everything under control!  They took Leah to school and to all of her activities, took her to do special things (get ice cream, go to the park, go shopping, etc.), fed her three meals a day, gave her a bath every evening and put her to bed each night.  Of course, they also got in lots of baby snuggles too!

They were able to stay with us for two whole weeks which was a Godsend!  Luke ended up having to go to market in North Carolina for 6 days (early Wed. to late Mon.) when Lane was just nine days old, and my parents never even questioned whether or not they would be able to stay and help me, they just did it!  I can never ever thank them enough!

Leah certainly had Nana and Papaw wrapped around her little finger the entire time they were here, and she missed them like crazy the moment they left!

Thank you Nana and Papaw for all of the yummy meals (should I admit that I haven't cooked in three weeks now), the mounds and mounds of groceries, the daily trips to The Cookie Jar for dozens of yummy cookies that I'm now having withdrawals from, getting Leah everywhere she needed to be, babysitting Brother so that Leah and I could have two very special dates and for taking very good care of all of us while you were here!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Leah roped Papaw into some pretty fun things like making her a mummy out of toilet paper and playing Princess dolls!

And her and Nanaw were always playing school (one would be Mrs. Ibarra and the other would be one of the students in the class (not Leah of course)!

First Bath

To say that Lane was not a fan of his first bath would be an understatement.  In fact, the little guy is still not quite a fan of bathtime (besides getting his hair washed.....he loves this part).  Sister loved her baths from day 1 so this is a whole new ballgame for us to have to bathe a not-so-happy baby!  Hopefully he'll learn to like it soon or he may be one stinky little baby!

Leah takes her bath while we give brother his on the counter.  She thinks this is lots of fun (and has gotten used to his verbal protests of bathtime)!

I'm a much happier boy now that I'm all warm and cozy!

Daddy and his two freshly bathed cuties after Lane's first bath!

Meeting Baby Brother

When we left for the hospital on Monday, Oct. 10th, to have my blood pressure checked we had no idea that we wouldn't be coming home that night or that the next time we did come home it would be with Baby Brother in tow.  If I had known, I would've hugged Leah a little tighter and given her a much bigger kiss than the one I did when I told her that I would be back soon (soon as in just a couple of hours max)!
Leah stayed with Kara, our neighbor, until Nana and Papaw got into town around 10:30 that night.  The next morning Luke came home to help get her ready for preschool to try and keep her routine as normal as possible.  We decided not to tell her what was going on just yet.  When Luke (and Nana and Papaw) went to drop her off at school that morning, everyone noticed the hospital bands on Luke's arms so they knew what was going on but he made sure that no one said anything to Leah.  Nana and Papaw picked her up from school that afternoon and told her that they had a surprise for her.  They brought her up to the hospital (which she thought was the macaroni place for some silly reason) for the surprise of her life!

We made sure Lane was in his bassinet when she walked in and that no one was holding him.  Leah came into the room a little cautious and went to look at her new Baby Brother laying in his bed.  She really didn't know what to think but did want to hold him!  After a little while she said that she wanted him to go back "in there" (his bassinet).

This picture is a little scary (of me) but special none-the-less!



Earlier in the week, Leah and I wrapped up a present for Baby Brother that she had picked out all by herself.....some toys for his car seat and a zebra lovie. We also had a Big Sister gift for her from Mommy and Daddy (Big Sister jammies, a Big Sister book and a Big Sister bunny). There was also a gift to Leah from Baby Brother....."Barbie washing hair" that Leah has really, really wanted ever since she saw the commercial! This was a HUGE hit (so much so that she wanted to leave the hospital right away with Nana to go home and play with it)!

Since we've been home, Leah has been very sweet to her Baby Brother.  She loves to help get diapers out for him and loves to put the dirty diapers in the Genie.  

Leah has the absolute best preschool teacher!  She sent a gift home for Lane AND gave Leah a super special Big Sister gift!

Brother's Due Date

I can't believe today is the day I was due with Lane, but instead he has been here for two-and-a-half weeks (17 days to be exact)!  Just a few cute pictures to remember our day!

Leah before preschool this morning!  She took Halloween popcorn buckets from our favorite local popcorn store for her teachers for Halloween.  She also had to take back her homework.....a feather for the class turkey showing things that she is thankful for.....Peppa Pig, Disneyland, our family of four, her grandparents and her dollhouse!

And some fun pics of Lane on the day he was due!  We decided to get out his fun new play mat from Uncle Chris and Aunt Kylie in honor of the big day!  He loved it!

Halloween At Gymnastics

Today was Leah's Halloween celebration at gymnastics!  All the kiddos got to do their tricks wearing their costumes!  Leah's been looking forward to this class for awhile!

Little Red Riding Hood all ready to go!  (We skipped the tights for gymnastics purposes, but her Daddy thought it was chilly out so he put these socks on her!)

I sure hope someone got a better group shot!  Ha!

And a few fun pics from class!

Franklin Day

Today was Leah's Halloween celebration at preschool!  Because it's a church preschool, they don't refer to it as a Halloween celebration, but instead call it "Franklin Day" with Franklin the turtle the star of the day!  Luke made it home from North Carolina at 10:30 last night and was able to attend today's festivities with Leah.  I was so sad to miss out, but Lane still needs to be kept home for a couple more weeks, and he and I are on an every-three-hour nursing schedule so that only left Daddy available!  Luke took lots of pictures for me, though, so I could feel like I was there too!

Today was also "wear orange" day as orange was their color of the month!  Even the parents were encouraged to come dressed in orange!

Leah's special job of the day was to be the line counter!

Waiting patiently for the next activity!

This picture cracks me up!  Tanner was saying the morning prayer and Leah was bowed so intensely!  I love this girl!

Time for Franklin Day!

Leah said getting her face painted was her favorite activity of the day!

Shapes BINGO!

A class picture!

Bean bags!

Time for the playground!  This is what Leah looks forward to most days!

Back inside for more Franklin Day fun begins with a group picture with Franklin himself!

Waiting patiently for individual pictures!

Leah's turn!  Luke said she was the only child to get a little rough (move and touch) with Franklin!

Bounce house!  Luke claims this was Leah's favorite thing of the day!

And finally, time for lunch!  Each child was asked to bring something "potluck" style!  Luke was kind and signed us up for juice boxes.....trying to keep things simple right now!

And of course, I have to include a couple pics of Baby Brother!  He's already looking forward to attending Franklin Day next year with Sister!