I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who has made me a mother of two wonderful kids. Brooke and Luke are so special to me and captured my heart like no one else ever has. They truly remind me daily of God’s love and grace. I am so thankful to be their mother and love them so very much.

The cookie cakeI got!!

Yeah, I am number 1!!!

Oh that smile!

Luke Bear

My little Chicken and Bear!

Sweet Brother and Sister

I love my kids!

My Sweet Luke,
You are 2 months old now and just as cute as ever. Some people say you look like me but Daddy found a picture of himself at your age and you look just like him. Even though you look like Daddy, I will take every comment about how you look like me because I just think you are too darn cute! You have found your hands and try and put them in your mouth. I do not want you to be a thumb sucker, so I pull them down constantly. you don’t really seem to mind as long as I give you your pacifier in exchange! You also coo so much. You love to carry on conversations with me, Daddy and Brooke. You smile so much, and of course it is the cutest smile ever. It melts my heart when I smile at you and you smile back at Mommy. You love to be held, especially by Mommy. When you are in your car seat you like to be moving. When you are still you get fussy and want to move again or be held. You have chunky little legs and arms that are just adorable and you are growing so fast. A couple of nights you have slept for 7 hours and this makes Mommy and Daddy very happy! During the day you love to sleep on your tummy or be held of course. You are my sweet little boy and I love you so much!!!!

Love,
Mommy

In front of Pat Neff!

After our visit to Baylor we of course stopped at Vitek’s for lunch then headed to Austin. Brooke was so excited about staying the night at the hotel. She had to ask me several times what it was called becasue she would forget. She kept calling it a hospital but knew that was wrong then would ask, what is is called again mommy. She was excited about the hotel becasue Daddy booked one that had an indoor heated pool. She was so excited about swimming. Once we got there we went swimming then got ready for the wedding. The wedding was beautiful and it was great to see old friends.

The wedding venue.

My sweet Luke at the wedding.

My precious Brooke.

These caterpillars were everywhere.

I love them!

Accordion player at the wedding.

Aaron, the groom and his groomsmen.

The Bride and Groom

After the egg hunt, we went to church with our family. Brooke and Luke went to Big church with us. Both kids did great during the service and sure looked cute in their Easter outfits. Once church was over we came home for a little bit so I could finish my deviled eggs, which I will say turned out awesome! After Luke was fed and the eggs complete we went over to Grandma and Papa’s house for lunch. We had our annual Easter pictures in the back yard and then went out to the barn for everyone to see our horse Cash.

We had a wonderful Easter celebrating with our family. We are truly blessed to have this life and to be celebrate the death and life of Christ. We are so incredibly thankful He laid His life down for us so that we may live.

My precious Luke:
You have brought such joy to our family in this past month. We are truly loving being a family 4 and you are our perfect second child. Not only are mommy and daddy in love with you but so is your big sister Brooke. Brooke loves to kiss, hold and hug you. Any chance she gets she has her hands on you wanting to interact with you. She calls you her best friend and I hope and pray that as your two grow up you will continue to be just that. Mommy and Daddy love you so much and also love to hold, kiss and hug on you. Things you are doing at one month are: rolling over from your tummy to your back, lifting your head and holding it up by yourself with very little support, cooing some, smiling at us, drinking from a bottle and recognizing Mommy, Daddy and Brooke’s voice. You love to be held, sleep on your tummy and eat. We love you so much and are blessed to have you as our son. You truly are the sweetest and cutest little boy we could ever ask for. We love you sweet Luke!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy and Brooke

Just you and mommy went to your one month doctors appointment. You weighed 11 lbs. 8 oz. and were 22 1/4 inches in length. While we were waiting for Dr. Prestidge, I had you laying on your back looking up at me. I would tell you “say momma,” when I said this you would start smiling and coo. It was so cute and brought tears to my eyes. You are so sweet and I love you my precious Luke!

We had got our tickets a month or so in advance so I was thinking since we had an exact time on our tickets that is when we would meet Buddy. Well, apparently they have never done this before because there was no structure and it was MAD CIAOS!! The museum deiced to just have Buddy walk around and meet kids. This was NOT going to work and they figured that out pretty quickly when he stepped off the elevator and kids started screaming and parents started grabbing their kids to swarm Buddy. They decided to make a line for kids to meet Buddy and where we were standing allowed us to be first in line. I was so thankful because if they took him the other direction Brooke would not have met him because of the crowd that was there and I was not gong to wait in line for over an hour. Since it was so busy and packed with people, after we met Buddy we played with some bubbles then left. We didn’t stay for long but had a great time while we were there!

Today at his appointment, he weighed 8lbs 15oz. His height was 21 inches. The doctor said he looks and is doing great, just as Brooke had said before! He had to get his heel pricked to complete the second round of his testing. He did great the first time, didn’t even flinch. The nurse couldn’t enough blood so she had me feed him then tried again. This time, when he got pricked he cried. I felt so bad for him! I typically have Brandon hold our kids when they get shots, but this time I had to since I was feeding him. It wasn’t so bad, I liked comforting him, but so sad when he would cry! With all his measurements he was in the 75% for height, weight and head circumference.

Around 2am, I was still up because Luke decided to not go to sleep and be awake at night, I hear Brooke walking to our room. She crawled in our bed, began to cough again and so I told Brandon he may want to go get a bowl for her just in case she were to throw up. Not 10 seconds later there she was throwing up in our bed. Since I was sitting up in bed holding Luke I was able to catch the first vomit in my hand. Brandon then grabbed Brooke and she finished throwing up in the bathroom. He then brought me a towel, took Luke and then I cleaned Brooke up since her and I had throw up on us.

Brandon then had to go to Walmart because of course we had nothing in the medicine closet for Brooke’s fever or cough. Once he got back, Brooke got medicine, Luke got fed again and it was now around 3:30-4am. Luke finally went to sleep and then we were up for the day at 8am. It made for a long night but I wouldn’t change anything. Being a parent has it challenges but I know these challenges are small compared to others. We are truly blessed to have 2 wonderful children and each other as our spouse. Wednesday was a day of relaxation though since we were all pretty pooped. We watched several movies and chilled out on the couch pretty much the entire day.

Thursday, Brooke was still running a temperature so we took her to see the doctor. She did great at being weighed, 35.5 pounds, she is getting to be such a big girl! When her doctor came in, she told him right away, I have a fever and a cough. He checked her out and she did awesome. She has a virus that just has to run its course which is good to know but stinks that there really isn’t anything you can do to help her. Also, while we were there, we had Luke checked out. We were coming the next day for his 1 week check up so instead of coming back he told us that he would just look at him today. He weighed 8.6 and was doing great!

Our family of 4!

I knew I wanted Brooke to have a Big Sister shirt and Luke to have a Little Brother shirt that sort of matched or went well together! I decided to make them myself and I think they turned out great!!

Once we got settled in a few visitors came by. We loved having our family and friends coming by to see us! Uncle Preston and Aunt Rachel could not be in Texas with us and were sad they could not be there. We decided to do a video chat with them so they could see Luke over the computer! It was so nice to see them and even though they couldn’t there I am so glad we go to share this experience. The family and friends who did come by to see us or who called or texted us, we are so thankful for!

Brooke, Carrie and Luke! Sweet Cousin Picture!

Kayla and Sean holding Luke!

Sadie and Luke

A couple of our visitors we had were our entertainment! Miller and Janie came by and were just that. Miller could not fit the latex glove on his head so he convinced Janie to do it herself. I thought my incision was going to bust open at how hard I was laughing, I had to try so hard to hold my laugh back. They are so funny and truly amazing friends of ours!

Our entertainment!

The proud grandparents. My kids are blessed with wonderful grandparents. We could not have asked for better parents for ourselves and grandparents for our kids!

Of course we had to snap a few pictures of just Luke. I just think he is the cutest little boy ever!

My sweet kids! Crazy that we have 2 kids now! We are truly blessed by God!!

My sweet Luke. Look at those eyes!

Ready to meet Luke!

During the surgery, Brandon had to run out to get the other camera because the camera he took with him was messing up. The doctors slowed down and Brandon was quick so he missed nothing! Luke arrived at 10:41am. When my doctor pulled him out she said “Autumn, he looks just like you.” I was so excited to see him. She said he had a good grip because he grabbed her coat right when she took him out. Then she said he is a big boy, I bet he is over 9 lbs. I thought she was kidding till they said he weighed 9lbs. I was shocked, but so happy to have a healthy baby boy!

such a sad face but yet so cute

Dr. Angel and Luke

The surgery went well, and I couldn’t wait to put my eyes and hands on my sweet new little bundle of joy. Once we got back to the preparation room, Brandon went out and told them how much he weighed and they we were both good. He brought Brooke back first to meet Luke and she was in love. She liked his little tongue and wanted to hold him immediately. After a few minutes of holding him she said “he needs his momma.” So was so excited about her new baby brother.

Our family and friends waiting in the waiting room!

After Brooke was introduced the rest of our family and friends came back to meet Luke. Everyone was so thrilled to finally meet and hold him. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to be here with us during this time.

Nana and Luke

Papa, Grandma and Luke

Proud Grandparents!

Aunt Susan and GG meeting Luke.

Love this picture. Everyone who was there waiting for Luke to arrive! We love you all!!

Monday morning came around and I woke up with a cough and congestion. I called my doctor just to be safe and she prescribed me Tamiflu just as a preventative. I am not too keen on taking medication while I am pregnant, but I also know she wouldn’t put me on something that would harm Luke. Well, being the stubborn self I am, I went to care united just to see if I did have the flu or not. The flu test was awful! They shove a small q-tip up your nose, literally into your brain to test for this. I immediately started crying and then got my first ever nose bleed. The test came back negative so I then asked do I have to take Tamiflu. She said no unless my symptoms got worse.

Tuesday morning, I woke up and my cough was a little worse than the day before so I decided what the heck I will just take this Tamiflu in hopes it would knock out my sinus issues. I took it with some breakfast, got to work and then started feeling nauseous! I then was throwing up every 30 minutes. I could not keep anything down. Crackers, water, Nothing! I felt like I was dying! I called the doctor and of course no one would be in the office till 1:30pm that day. I decided to go home, drank a glass of sprite and managed to fall asleep. This was helpful and I was able to keep the sprite down! I went to the doctor and of course they said do not take Tamiflu anymore. They wanted to test me for the flu, not knowing I went to care united and so when I confessed they said ok, we won’t do that to you again. She gave me a z-pack and said everything would go as planned for Friday unless I had a fever or productive cough. I hadn’t had a fever yet so I just continued to pray for Brandon and I to be fever free!

Wednesday: I am now just on a z pack and feel a lot better. I am still congested, sneezing, runny nose and cough every once in awhile. I also took Tylenol to help with the headache which again I hate doing but at this point I just want to feel some what normal for delivery on Friday and to meet our sweet new little addition to our family, Luke! I did call my doctor today but not for me, for Brandon. He has been on the couch since Saturday and away from us as much as he can. This has been so hard on Brooke. She told him she wanted to give him a hug to make him feel better. He had to say no and it just broke her little heart. She loves her daddy so much, so to not be able to touch him, hug him, kiss him or be around him was so hard. I told her that daddy had germs and was sick. That we had to stay away from Daddy until he got to feeling better. Well, my doctor said Brandon was clear to be around us after 4-5 days of the diagnosis and 48 hours of being fever free. Both happened yesterday so when Brooke and I got home she finally got to hug and kiss her daddy on the cheek. She held his hand every where he went and was so thrilled that daddy got rid of his germs. Brandon was also so excited that tonight he would be able to sleep in a bed and not on the couch. I sure did miss him in our room too but am thankful Brooke or I didn’t catch the flu from him! Lysol defiantly became my friend this week!!!

I think by being cooped up in the house since Saturday, Brandon was getting a little stir crazy. So when Brooke and I got home he and Brooke went outside and rode bikes together. I of course grabbed the camera to take a few pictures. Brooke’s hair was crazy but she was fine with it. She cracks me up. After they got done riding bikes she wanted to clean her bike. She found a scrub in the garage and went to work on her bike. I think she was just so excited to be outside, playing and doing things with daddy again!

So as far as decor for his room, I found the bedding at pottery barn kids, fell in love with it and just went with a color scheme. Or so I thought. After I got the bedding, I decided that the color scheme would be navy blue and white with some to very little yellow accent. This looked great in my head until I realized I couldn’t find anything except one giraffe bank for the accent color. So, I decided to add some sports things to it. I think the end result turned out great and I really love his room! I can’t wait to bring him home and for him to grow up in this room Brandon, Brooke and I created for him!

A few burp cloths I made for Luke!

heart stamp made from a toilet paper roll

Brooke's artwork!

Supplies: Paint, Toilet Paper roll bent in the shape of a heart!

I got a cute idea from a friend, so we had to make a second Valentine Day craft! I love crafts that have Brooke’s hand and finger prints. It just reminds me of how little she is/was. It truly marks and records her growth! I love them! At the bottom of this craft I had her write her name. She needed some help with a few of the letters, but for the most part she did it on her own!

Brooke's tree! The hearts are her thumb prints.

so proud of her artwork!