Settling In

For our first week home, we had lots of wonderful help from family.  Papa and Grandmama stayed the week with us, then Big T and Nana came back for the weekend.  It was so nice to have extra hands to play with Jake, hold Luke, or take care of meals while we started settling in.  All the love and help made our first week home great.  As I already said, Jake has been a super sweet big brother and is already trying to entertain Luke and help care for him... 

 One thing Jake likes to do is gently rest his hand on Luke's head when he's either nursing or sleeping...

 Chillin' with Daddy...

 Just hanging out...

 We were all thankful to have my parents' help.  Here they are lovin' on both their grandsons...

 Jake helped Luke get his first bath...

 On this way to his first doctor's appointment...

 Although Jake's been super sweet with Luke, he always turned down the opportunity to hold him.  Here's his first time holding Luke with a little help from Nana.  Since then, he's warmed up a little more to the idea, but prefers to love on him in other ways...

1st day home

We brought Luke home Monday, April 15.  We were all really excited to get home and let our journey begin.  Luke wasn't very happy when he first got in the car... 

but the relaxing motion soon put him fast asleep...

We were welcomed home by Jake, Papa, and Grandmama.  Jake was super cute and ran out to the car anxious to see his little brother.  I'm daily touched and filled with pride at how sweet and caring Jake is with Luke.  Of course, we're having some adjustment, but he is consistently thoughtful and helpful when it comes to his baby brother.

Jake gave him a quick tour of home.  By quick, I mean he showed Luke all of his own room a quick peek into Luke's, then became tired and ready to move on.  It was important, though, to let him check out the playroom.  There will be many hours spent in here as the boys grow together...

Welcomed with love

Luke was welcomed into this world with lots of love from family and friends.  All four grandparents were at the hospital when he was born anxiously waiting to see his cute face and hear the name of their newest grandson.  Here's the family...

Grandmama and Luke

Papa and Luke

Nana, Jake and Luke

Big T and Luke

Luke is also blessed to have wonderful friends who also already love him.  Here are our hospital visitors...

Joe and Luke

Chez and Luke

Luke and Hazel (future bff's)

Amy and Luke

Kim and Luke

Cyndy and Luke

Game 2

One last post before I've caught up to Luke's arrival.  Jake had his 2nd soccer game the day Luke was born.  I was determined for Jake to make it to his game and for me to get to see it.  Jake made it to his game, and I saw most of it in the midst of contractions!  Yes, I was in labor during the soccer game!  Of course, my contractions went from being irregularly 10 minutes apart to consistently 4-5 minutes apart while at the game.  Nothing like a little soccer to get things moving!  Jake had an awesome game, and Kevin and I left from the field to the hospital, so everything worked out great.  Here's our soccer stud...

39 weeks

Here are my very last pregnancy pictures.  I was 39 weeks, and Luke was born 3 days later... 

Sweet big brother hugging his baby brother.  Pretty soon, he'll get to hug the real thing!

Geese!

 Before Luke was born, I wanted to get Jake out of the house as much as he wanted since I knew we'd be a little more homebound once the baby came.  One idea to keep us busy was feeding ducks, so we invited Chez and her girls and headed to the pond.  Jake was super excited at first and jumped right in...

We soon realized, the ducks were not the ones in charge around here, the geese were.  These geese were super aggresive, so both Jake and Eliza got a little intimidated.  I don't blame them.  I definitely would not want to be eye level with those squaking things.  Eliza seemed to have fun as long as she was in Mama's arms...

 I did my best to keep up with the hungry geese...

 and after getting nipped by one especially hungry geese, Jake spent the rest of our time here; on the very edge of the sidewalk.  Needless to say, we soon packed up the bread and headed to the playground.  It was a much safer adventure for the kids!

Game 1

Jake had his very first soccer game a couple weeks ago.  He was SO excited!  He was dressed and ready to go a couple hours before the game and couldn't wait to leave!  Here's our cutie soccer player...

 Jake's team is called the Strikers headed by Coach Rob.  Coach Rob is great with the kids, and we're really happy to have him as Jake's first coach.  The Strikers won their first game and Jake scored 2 goals!  It was so much fun for all of us.  Here's the pre-game talk...

37.5 weeks

Here's some pics of all our bellies at 37.5 weeks...

Easter 2013

We usually travel to our families every Easter, but with baby on the way, we stayed in Austin and my parents came to us.  I think this was actually our first Easter ever to spend in Austin, so it was kind of nice to be at home.  We did the usual Easter festivities with Jake.  Of course, an egg hunt...

 Here's the loot...

 We also dyed eggs, although I didn't capture any shots.  Then, Easter morning, the bunny left a nice basket surprise...

Kiddie Acres

When my parents were here over Easter we headed to Kiddie Acres for some fun.  Jake rode every ride and we all enjoyed a beautiful day together.

On the ferris wheel with Momm

Captain Jake

 Jake even rode the pony!  This was his first ever horse and/or pony ride.  We were so proud!  He's had a few other opportunities to ride a horse or pony and has never wanted to.  This time he was a big brave boy and did great!

1st thing's 1st

I'm a little behind on my blog, but I'll back track a little later in order to share the news and pictures everyone is wanting to see.  We welcomed Luke Owen Lawson into our family on Saturday 8:15 pm weighing 9 pounds and 21.5 inches long.  Luke and I are both doing great, and we're happy to be home.  Here are just a few pictures from the hospital to get you started.  Then I'll get caught up on old news and post some more.

First moments

Mommy and Luke

Daddy and Luke

Proud big brother

Proud parents

Our family of 4



Jake, the entertainer

Time to get dressed to go home!

Going home outfit especially picked out by Jake

Sweet sleeping baby

Time to go home!!!