Becca home for Christmas in January (20-26)

My sister came home for a very short week in January to see family and celebrate a late Christmas! The first evening together we let Luke run wild with the camera and while most of his pics did end up deleted (there were like 70 of them, mostly things like the ceiling, floor, dog's butts, etc.) I think all the pics from that night were taken by him.

Becca got a kick out of how he takes pictures, basically shoots from the hip without really looking in either the view finder or the screen on the back to see what he is getting. She took a pic with her phone of him taking a pic of her.

This one was supposed to be of (left to right) me, Tim, and Becca. He tried three different times and this was about as good as it got.

There is a video that goes along with these pics but I am going to have to post it later...

We got some bubble bath and while I was disappointed at the amount of bubble bath needed to make just a few bubbles Luke loved every second those bubbles lasted.

Saturday we had Christmas with my Bartel family including the traditional Christmas feast of Vereniki and so much more! It was a really fun day. Greg and I took a few of the initial pics just to ensure we got a few good ones and later on we let Luke run wild with the camera again. We still ended up deleting quite a few, but he did manage to get some really great ones in the mix.

I think this is where Luke's pics start...

(above pic is obviously by Ben, one of his favorite techniques I think! :-)

Sunday we had our Christmas at Mom and Dad's, and Luke again had the camera the majority of the time. I think this is getting to be a nice lazy habit.

lots of "up the nose" shots!

My mom is dishing out Wassel, my favorite Christmas drink! We also had our traditional chips and cheese dip meal!

This is Luke at home playing with his dolls and being the baby. We talk about baby things a lot, and I got a new sling over Christmas in Indiana that I have shown him a few times too

Another afternoon we spent with Becca and Mom...

We painted pictures together, lots of fun!

Mom made noodles and we had amazing turkey noodle soup for supper. Below is a pic of Luke's bowl...

Yum!!!!

...........................................................................

Becca's visits always end too soon for me! I think for Luke too. He always woke up first thing in the morning asking to go see Becca at Gammy and Papa's house. It was hard for him when she left and I tried to explain that Becca was back in Vermont and that no we couldn't go see her there because it was too far away. (Time and Space... He also thinks we can walk to Gammy's house and go see Mimi and Papa in Indiana in 30 minutes if we would just get in the car and drive there!)

A new baby in our Sunday school class, and belly shots!

So, just for easy reference this top pic is from November 13....

This next one is from January 13, 2 months later! (Luke took it!)

Some friends of ours, Joey and Amanda just had their first baby!!! It's a little boy named Sam and he is a very handsome little chunk! He is a big little guy weighing in at 10 lbs and 4 oz. and is 22 1/4 inches long! Poor mommy! The whole family is doing really well and we got to go visit them and take them a little food to help out on Thursday. Luke let me snap one of him with baby Sam and then he grabbed the camera so the rest of the pics are his!

Proud daddy!

..............................................

Luke's pic of Amanda was not very good or very flattering so I am going to do her the favor of not posting it, especially because she looks great in real life and I don't want anyone to worry because of Luke's terrible photo taking skills! The funny part of the visit was that the fact that we have a dog named Sam and the baby's name is Sam really threw Luke off! He couldn't figure out if we were going to see a baby or a baby dog! It was too funny, but once we got there I think it finally made sense to him.

.....................................................

As for me and the baby, we are doing great! I feel really good and have truly found my appetite over the holidays. I had a prenatal appointment last Tuesday and had gained 5 lbs in 5 weeks, finally in the normal range for a pregnant woman at this stage! I think my midwife was a little relived as well. (-: It was a good visit. The baby is measuring on target and is already head down! My mom came with and got to meet both my midwives and see the birth center as well as hear his little heartbeat so that was good. I also had blood work drawn and did the 1 hour glucose test and passed, maybe a little too well, with my blood sugar being only 80 one hour AFTER drinking 50 grams of sugar! I had a PB&J sandwich along to eat which was a good thing! I have had a couple of episodes of near fainting and we are guessing it is due to not eating frequently enough (one of them was at work when I didn't get to eat supper until 10:30 pm because we were so busy). I am keeping some peanut butter crackers in my purse now in case I start getting faint again so I always have something with me. I also get to start the 2 week visits now so things are feeling like we are in the home stretch now! We even talked about after delivery care for me and the baby and when most pediatricians like to see the baby for the first time. I was impressed that the midwives are able to do pretty much everything that we would have done in the hospital, including the standard lab tests, hearing screen and circumcision if we decide we want it! Anyway, this little boy is a real mover and it is so much fun to watch and feel him all the time. I can't believe we are only about 10 weeks away from getting to meet him face to face!

Snow at last!!!

We finally got the first snow of the winter this week and it has been REALLY COLD! It snowed Sunday night and I worked Monday and Tuesday so Wednesday was the first day I had a chance to go out and play in it at all. It hasn't melted at all, which was unfortunate for sledding since it doesn't have that nice ice crust to make it easier going, and that gives you a clue as to just how cold it has been the last few days. Last year Luke was pretty little so we didn't end up taking him sledding at all, but this year I thought he would enjoy it, and it didn't take any twisting at all to get my dad interested! Anyway, around 3pm we went and picked up my dad and the sleds and headed out to our favorite hill. Greg and my Dad took turns pulling Luke on a sled to get to the starting spot.

(Greg and Luke above, my dad in his scary mask pulling Luke below.)

Greg and Luke went down together for the first ride...





I think Luke liked it until the snow started flying up in his face, by the time they reached the bottom I could hear him crying. )-: When he got back to the top and got his face and his boots cleaned out though he was ready to go again. He wanted to go with me, but with my pregnant belly I figured it was probably safest for both of us if I went alone and he rode just with Greg and my dad, so it was Papa's turn to give the ride.

(We were joined by a neighbor dog)

Again by the time he reached the bottom he was crying, but Papa calmed him down easily and he was ready to go again pretty soon.

Yes, I really was there! I went down the hill only twice because I wanted to take pics of everyone else and because I am at the stage where I get winded pretty easily already!

Luke didn't have to worry about getting winded on the way back up!

Luke's third and final trip down the hill with his daddy!

It might be hard to see, but by that time he kept his hands over his face the whole way down to keep the snow from hitting it. He was still crying at the end of the ride, but when we asked him if he liked sledding he still said yes, just not getting snow in his face!

I think Greg and Dad probably got at least three or four rides each, but with Luke getting so cold and not enjoying the snow in his face we stopped after only a short time to go in for some hot tea and cookies with Gammy!

....................................................................

On our way out the door again to go home Luke wanted to play in the snow again so I grabbed a few of him jumping in it. We were hard pressed to get him into the car he was having so much fun.