A Stowaway!

I forgot about this picture! It's from when we were getting ready to go to Utah for Thanksgiving. I had all the suitcases opened to air out before packing. Luke pulled this one out into the kitchen and climbed right in. It was pretty cute!

Luke's Language

This morning I asked Luke if he wanted a strawberry or blueberry cereal bar. His reply, "Strongberry please."
There you have it, strawberries are now called strongberries.

For You Non-Believers

Here's a picture looking out our front door. Notice the nice sheet of ice on our walkway...figure skating anyone? :)

Christmas Morning!

We had a lovely Christmas! As I previously posted, the weather on the eve of Christmas Eve was a gorgeous 71 degrees. However, on Christmas Eve, that all changed. A massive cold front rolled in and snow, yes...snow, began to fall. It snowed most of the day and into the evening and actually began to stick. We ended up getting about two inches! It was CRAZY that it went from such nice short/flip flop weather to cold coat/mittens weather! Folks who have never lived in snowy weather here, don't really know how to drive in it and there were literally hundreds of cars lining the sides of the roads because they just slide right off. LOTS and LOTS of accidents...which...it being Christmas Eve and all...probably made for a long work day/night for emergency vehicles. Sorry ya'll.
Anyway, Christmas Eve we spent the night at my brother, Jared's house along with his wife Camille and three girls. My other brother, Casey and his wife Dawnielle were able to join us which, we originally thought they weren't going to be able to, so it was a nice surprise when they called and said they were on their way.
That evening we ate pretty traditional Christmas dinner with ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, some salads, etc... It was GREAT! Then while the kids watched a movie the adults played a game called Quelf. I highly recommend it. It is not only a super fun game, but you will laugh practically the ENTIRE time...I'm not even kidding. If you don't have it, stop what you're doing and go buy it...now...seriously...it's a keeper! :)
Poor little Delaney was not a very happy camper. I fear she kept most everyone up except for the other kids with her crying. She was running a mild fever and just could not or would not sleep. (We suspected the start of an ear infection.) We all made it through the night to find in the morning that Santa came!
Christmas morning Kallianne (Jared's oldest daughter) swears that she saw Santa's reindeer. We all heard a LOUD scraping sound in the middle of the night which could have been one of two things...a car crashing because of the icy roads, OR Santa's sleigh landing on the roof, and since Kalli says she saw reindeer, we can conclude it was in fact Santa's sleigh! SWEET!
The kids were so excited to see the wondrous things that had been left for them by the Head Elf. It was all so magical and especially fun for our little family as Lucas now grasps the concept of Santa.
After the unwrapping of gifts, I fixed the Satterthwaite family traditional Christmas morning breakfast of Eggs Benedict for everyone. It was my first time flying solo on the operation, and things turned out quite nicely...if I do say so myself...and I do. :)
We ended up leaving by about 11am or so to get Delaney home in her own environment to see if that would help her at all. Lucky for me I remembered we had some ear numbing drops from when Luke had an ear infection when he was a baby. We gave those a try and they helped numb the pain enough that poor little Laneybug could take a nap. Also lucky for me and Lance, Luke decided to fall asleep at the same time so the WHOLE family took a nap. HURRAY!
Today, I was able to take Delaney to the doctor. I was getting especially concerned because her fever had gone from a low 99-100 to 102-103 in the middle of the night. When I was an infant, I used to have fever seizures so I was up with her most of the night keeping Tylenol in her every 4 hours and wiping her down with a cool cloth. I got her into the doctor when the CareNow opened. She was still running a 102.6 fever, but the doctor couldn't see anything wrong with her ears, throat, etc. So, she's on an antibiotic to kill whatever is causing her grief. I still think it's her ears because the numbing drops helped. So hopefully the doctor couldn't see anything because we caught it early enough. Anyway...that's what our Christmas looked like...in a nut shell...a very LARGE nut shell. :)

December in Texas

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous the last couple of days. A cold front is rolling in so by Christmas it will be cold, but it has been about 70 degrees for the last three days. Luke was really enjoying the weather as you can tell by the photos. Note: no shoes, no jacket...just swinging away and shouting, "Yeehaw! Ride 'em cowboy!"
And tonight, the whole family went to the store in shorts and flip flops...a nice 71 degrees!

First time EVER!!!

For the first time in the 6 1/2 years that Lance and I have been married, we got some family pictures taken. Yes, I know, it took us 6 years, but we finally did it. I couldn't be happier with the outcome. My friend Natasha Smith (http://www.sweetlimeblog.com/) is an amazing photographer and was able to get some beautiful shots. It took us quite a while before we could actually have our session as we kept getting rained out, but the sun finally broke through the clouds and we were able to have them done. Natasha did especially well with Delaney and got some cute shots even though she was being fussy and uncooperative. Here are a few for your viewing pleasure.My handsome fellas!

Getting SUPER loves!

Beautiful blue eyes!

Daddy's little girl!

You can't tell in this picture, but Delaney had HUGE alligator tears. Sad, but very cute!

Big smiles for mom!

Trick or Treat!

For Halloween this year, Lance and I took the kids to my brother Jared's house. Luke loves to play with his cousins and he loved going trick-or-treating with them. This was the first year that Luke understood what was going on. Lance and Jared took the kids around while Camille and I stayed at home base to hand out candy. According to Lance, Luke was quite the ham...as usual. He said when he got up to the door, he would say "Trick-or-Treat!" and then after candy was put in his bucket, he would ask for more! Silly boy! At one particular house, the gentleman gave out the candy and Luke asked for a sucker. The guy said "I'm sorry, we don't have any suckers." Well the wife heard and shouted, "Wait! I think I do have some!" She ran back to the door with a sucker for Luke! So funny! He had a GREAT time!

At home, whenever Luke wants some of his candy he says, "Trick-or-Treat!" every single time. It's cute. Anyway...it was fun.

And the doctor says...

Besides Luke's pneumonia...
Lance has a head cold
Laneybug has an ear infection
I have bronchitis

We are ALL on antibiotics!!! YIKES!

I told Lance we are just too lovey dovey and always kissing and hugging on the kids and each other...that's why we are all sick at the same time. :)

Sick, sick, SICK!!!

We are all sick! Luke stated Friday and Saturday this weekend with some minor congestion and sneezing. He was still his active little self and he didn't have a fever so I chalked it up for a mild cold and packed around tissues and Purell. By Sunday early morning (1am) he was really, really congested and had a bad cough. His breathing was accompanied by a rattling sound in his chest so Lance and I decided he needed to go to the ER. Lance took him whilst I stayed home pacing, tossing and turning in bed (as if I could really fall back asleep while my little man was going to the ER) and pacing some more. The doctor said he had an upper respiratory infection and when they took x-rays of his chest, his lungs were dark and cloudy...pneumonia!!! I couldn't believe it when Lance texted me. His "cold" progressed so FAST!!! I kind of felt like a bad mom, like I had not intuition that something more serious was going on. :( Luckily, the pneumonia is in the early stages. He still is not acting tired or sick and is his normal, crazy little self. :)
Saturday night I started to feel a scratchy throat coming on as did Lance, and Delaney woke up Sunday morning with some congestion. Needless to say, the rest of us are going to the doctor in the morning to see if we can get a handle on all this before it turns into something nasty!
So...if you don't see any of us out and about for the next week or so...we're laying low for a while. :)

What's goin on in our world?

RAIN! That's what's goin on! Lance asked me yesterday if we live in Fort Worth or Seattle. It has rained 11 of the past 13 days here! CRAZY! It seems like more than that! The good thing is, it's Texas and hot, so we need the moisture, but SERIOUSLY! A teeny bit of a break and some sunshine would be nice. :)

Other news...I decided to measure and weigh Lucas and Delaney (she doesn't have an appt at 3 months) and these are the results:

Lucas is 40" tall (he has grown 2" inches since his 2-year appointment in March!!!) and he weighs about 35 lbs. He is growing like a weed, but still looks like a stick boy. We have to buy him 4T pants so they are long enough. Thanks to whomever invented adjustable waist pants!!! He talks up a storm, most of it is understandable, but he still babbles a bit. He sings and dances like there's no tomorrow. Oh, and he has some KILLER air guitar skills. :)

Delaney is 25" tall (she has grown an inch since her 2 month appointment) and she weighs 13.6 lbs. She is also growing very fast. She sleeps GREAT at night, but struggles with naps during the day. Which makes it difficult to get things done, but we have learned to let the messes that surround us not bug us too much. :) She has the CUTEST smile (she kind of scrunches up her nose) and the sweetest cooing sounds. She wakes up in the morning INCREDIBLY happy...even before she's fed! It's amazing.

Lance and I are doing just as dandy as a ham sandwich. Lance still loves his job and I still love being at home. My half marathon training is moving right along. I am running in a 4 mile race (called the Trinity Trot) this Saturday. I am hoping to complete it in 40 minutes. I have been keeping right around a 10 minute mile pace the last couple of weeks. We'll see. Anyway...life is pretty darn grand right now.

Who said Texas doesn't have hills?

Today was a 2 mile run. I ran my last 2 miles on a track and finished in 18 mins 43 seconds. Just over 9 minute miles...that's really good for me. Anyway, today I finished my 2 miles in 22 minutes. What's the difference? I ran in my neighborhood instead of the track and there were hills! Granted they weren't very high hills, but when running, the slightest incline to me seems so BIG!!! I made it, and though my pace wasn't as great as I'd like it to be, it was tolerable. I think I need to run in da hood a little more frequently to get used to it. At any rate...it was still a good run. Tomorrow is 30 minutes cross training, and Saturday I'm shooting for 3 miles! Wish me luck! :)

HAPPY DAY!!!

Delaney has been sleeping pretty well at night. She usually sleeps from 7pm to 9pm, eats, sleeps from 10pm to 3pm, eats, and then wakes for the day around 6:30am. But not Tuesday night. Tuesday night she decided to go to sleep around 9:30pm and not wake one single time until 6am! WHAT?! 8.5 hours straight sleep?! It was marvelous! I was hoping for it again last night, but she is back to her regular schedule. Darn! :)

More Pictures

Since I know that pictures are so much more fun than a bunch of blah blah blah, here are some more for your enjoyment! :)

I got a helmet to wear when I go biking for my cross-training days and Luke LOVES it. He had just been bathed and we were getting everyone ready for bed, but not before he could sport my new helmet around on his trike. :)

Laneybug after a bath. She now REALLY loves taking a bath, but HATES getting out. This was one of her happier moments after getting out of the nice warm water.

Just Because

I thought it would be nice of me to post some pictures of my kids for all the family and friends that live far away. Love and miss you all! :)

This is what Luke looks like when we tell him to smile for pictures. LOL...he cracks me up!

Laneybug playing on the floor one morning.

Lucas trying to put on his best smile. He was getting really sick of the photo shoot at this point.

Feel the BURN!!!

Today for my half marathon training Jared, my brother, and I got together and did some Tae Bo. Not just any Tae Bo though, we did Billy Blanks Lower and Upper Body Boot Camp. They are two separate DVDs, each 30 minutes long. Needless to say, we were exercising in pools of our own sweat! LOL...gross..not quite that much, but we were feelin the burn for SURE! It was awesome! I guess I'll really know how awesome it was if I can get out of bed in the morning. Tomorrow is a 1 mile run, but after today...it might seem like a million miles as my muscles SCREAM at me. Fun! Fun!

2 month well check and a happy girl!

Delaney had her two month well check yesterday. The doc says everything looks great! Here are her stats:

Weight: 11 lbs 14 oz 75%
Height: 24" 95%
Head: 15 3/4 75%

She's growing like a weed and getting to be soooo fun! Still a happy girl and hardly cries at all! I have been trying to get some pictures of Delaney smiling, but our camera is so delayed in taking the picture that I couldn't ever capture it. So, this morning she woke up SUPER happy and I took some video. Hope you enjoy it! :)

It starts...officially...

Yesterday was the official beginning for my 20 week training program to a half marathon. I did a Lower Body Boot Camp Tae Bo video and some ab stuff with an 8lb medicine ball. Today, my abs and quads are KILLING me.
As for exercise today, I did 1 mile on the treadmill in 9 minutes and 50 seconds. Not too shabby! :) That's just over 6mph. I know there is NO way I could possibly maintain that pace for longer than a mile though...UGH! But that's okay.
If I average as I did in the last half marathon I ran...11 minute miles for 13.1 miles, I'll be happy. It's not how fast I run the race...it's everything I hope to be leaving behind...like half of my behind...lol :)
And...a shout out to my bro and buds that are training as well. Let's get shakin! :) WOOHOO!

For Luke's Entertainment...

The other day, I showed Luke how to get his own ice in a cup from the fridge dispenser. While I was nursing Delaney, he was able to entertain himself. I could hear one or two ice cubes drop into his cup and then he would go to the sink, step up onto his "step" (the plastic container for his matchbox cars) and dump them in. When I was done nursing the baby, this is what I found...

Whatever keeps him happy!!! :)

Delaney's Blessing

Today was Delaney's blessing. It was a really nice day. She slept SOOOOOOO great last night which I was a little worried about because she has a little cold and was asleep most of the day yesterday, but she only woke up at 3am and, as soon as she was done nursing, was back asleep not to wake until 7am. My dad was able to fly in from Utah for the blessing. It was nice to have him here. As always, we love visitors!

This past week Delaney has been a totally different baby! She has stopped crying ALL day long and has only had a couple episodes of extreme fussiness, but as soon as she poops...she's fine. Her little body is developing and I think the gas problem is subsiding for the most part...WHEW! She smiles and is alert a lot more during the day, and she is focusing in on things very well. She also is putting her weight on her legs and standing when you hold her in your lap...little stinker.
Luke is so sweet with her. Whenever she is crying, he comes to her and gently strokes her head and kisses it and says, "I sorry baby". He is such an awesome big brother and such a big boy now! I haven't measured him lately, but every time I look at him I can't believe how tall he is!

Anyway, life is good...scratch that...life is GREAT! Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Laneybug in the car seat getting ready to go to church. My mom bought her blessing dress in Utah and brought it when they came to visit in July. Thanks mom! She looked so cute! It makes me think about the occasions in the future my baby girl will be dressed in a beautiful white dress...sniffle sniffle.

Laneybug after church. She was such a good baby during the blessing! I was so relieved.

What a good looking bunch...if I do say so myself! :)

Pictures by Lucas

Experimenting with some self photography.

His adorable, I'd say little but it's actually quite large for his age, foot. Note the hint of blue polish left on his big toe. :)

A picture of his HANDSOME dad...just getting home from work.

A lovely picture of Lance's sister, Kim, while they were visiting.

I take it back...I take it ALL back!!!

This week I began training for yet another half marathon. I trained for and ran one after having Lucas so I decided to do it again. I felt great during and after training and I actually started to really enjoy running.
So, I began on Monday with a great attitude and really excited about the whole deal. I was really hyped up and kept telling myself how great it will be and how much fun it's going to be and how great it will be to lose some weight and feel good about my self and BLAH BLAH BLAH. Monday I did strength training and Tuesday I ran 1 mile. Just one puny, measly mile and nearly died. So this morning, grunting and groaning while I struggled to roll out of bed because every single muscle in my body, including the ones I forgot I had, ached...I decided--I take it back...I take it ALL back! All the hubbub about how much fun it is...that's a bunch of fluff! What is fun about waking up in the morning so sore you want to curl in the fetal position (as if you really could) and cry yourself back to sleep? What's so fun about running in 95 degree heat (and that's on a "cooler" day in Texas)? What's so fun about feeling like a sweaty wildebeest? What's so fun about feeling so thirsty you drink so much it makes your bladder feel like it's going to burst?!
I'll tell you what's fun about it...
-When slowly but surely you build up your endurance. Before you know it you are pushing yourself farther and farther and find yourself running 5 miles and thinking...really...that was 5 miles...pfssshhh...piece of cake. And saying the same thing after 7 miles, 9 miles....
-Accomplishing things you thought you couldn't possibly do in the beginning.
-Watching the scale as it drops
-When all the hard work really DOES pay off and you are strutting around in your skinny jeans.
-Hearing someone say to you, "Wow, you are looking mighty trim!"
-Crossing the finish line and telling yourself, "I did it!" and thinking to yourself you'd never do it again only to find yourself nearly three years later...doing it again! :)
I really am still excited about going on this adventure. One of the things that makes me most excited is embarking on it with others. We will all experience the agony and accomplishments together!

Holla if you hear me! :)

Visitors!

This past week we had Lance's sister and her husband visiting us, Kim and Tim. They are both Beatles fans and went to the Paul McCartney concert held at the Cowboy Stadium. It was an awesome visit. Lance and Tim went to a Rangers game and Kim and I went and saw Julie and Julia. Lucas LOVED playing with Tim and vice versa...I think. :) Kim was more than happy to spoil Delaney by holding her a lot. I felt bad as she is a pretty fussy baby and would put up quite the stink before she yielded to falling asleep. I'm hoping she is growing out of it (keeping fingers crossed). There are some days when she does AWESOME!!! Like today...had a little fussiness later this afternoon, but otherwise an angel!
Anyway...as I was saying, the visit was awesome. We didn't really get any pictures though. :( So sorry about that!

Pictures taken by Lucas

This is Delaney's "Unsure" face. Wondering what brother is up to...

"Oh! Taking my picture...let me put on my 'Soooooo Adorable' face."

"Angry " face...the first of many times to come that Luke is going to make her mad. :)

Well...he had to get her legs...lol

One month check up.

Delaney had her one month check up today. Here are her stats:

Weight: 10lbs 9oz = 75-90%

Height: 22 1/2 inces = 90-95% (WHOA! She has grown nearly 2 inches in just one month!!!)

Head: 15 3/4 = 90-95%

She only had to get one shot, but she was VERY unhappy about it and not afraid to let the entire world know. She is peacefully sleeping in her bouncy seat right now though. Thank goodness. :) Luke thinks it's pretty cool to go to the doctor when he's not the one being seen. They still let him pick a toy and get a sucker. Today the nurse even let him pick out some stickers! SHEESH!

Anyway, just thought I would post the latest! Here's a couple pics too!

Silly boy!

Here are a couple pictures of Luke that make me laugh.

We have this lion costume that my sister gave to me before Luke was even born. I forgot all about it for this past Halloween so we just threw together a pirate costume. The when I was in his closet I found it and pulled it out. It says on the tag that it's a 3T-4T so I thought maybe we could use it this year...

Umm...not so much! You can't really tell, but he had to sort of hunch over for me to get the hood on, it's too short in the legs/arms, and I couldn't get it all the way zipped up because it was pulling so tight from torso to head. He ran around the house yelling "ROAR!" for about 5 minutes and then wanted to take it off. We'll have to think of something else for this year. :) Silly boy!

A couple of days ago Luke really wanted to play Guitar Hero. I knew he was tired, but he insisted on playing and that I played too (we have both of my brother's guitars). Delaney was asleep so I went ahead and put it on. We hadn't been playing 5 minutes when I looked over to see that he had fallen asleep. Silly boy!

4 Weeks ALREADY?!?

I can't believe it has been four weeks since Delaney was born! Where is the time going? Actually, I'm a little glad the time is going by fast for these first couple months. She has had some SERIOUS gas which has caused some SERIOUS crankiness. I'm hoping as her little digestive track matures, she will not be as fussy. We are plugging through it though. :) Things are good.

I know the pictures aren't much, but it's all I have been able to take. If she's not asleep, I'm holding her because that is the only way I can keep her from crying. The first few pictures were taken while Grandma and Grandpa Haacke were here. It was a wonderful visit and Luke loved having someone other than mom to hang out with all day. :) Anywho...enjoy and I'll work on getting some more! :)

Luke and Grandpa playing Guitar Hero while Grandma and Laney Bug snuggle in the rocking chair.

Grandma and Laney Bug

Don't they look like Rock Stars to you? :)

Delaney catching some late morning Zs. Look at those cheeks!

Scowling and thinking to herself, "Why am I in this dumb thing again?"

Just have to laugh!

Today, while picking up the house, sorting mail, and doing laundry I walked into our bedroom and my nostrils were filled with the aroma of the artificial fragrance of watermelon. As I entered our master bathroom I found Luke in the tub, fully clothed, with his new bottle of shampoo/bodywash. "I helping!" he joyously stated as he rubbed the pink soap all over his head, body/clothes and tub. Needless to say, he doesn't need a bath tonight, the tub doesn't need to be cleaned for a week, and we need to add shampoo to the shopping list! Silly boy!

We're adjusting...

So, we have had Delaney now for over a week! I can't believe it! She is such a wonderful baby. Her yellow skin from jaundice is getting pinker everyday. We took her in for a one week check up and things are looking great! She has already gained her birth weight plus some. When we were discharged from the hospital she weighed 8lbs 1 oz and at her appointment 3 days later she weighed 8lbs 10oz. She's a good eater. :) I really think she is going to have brown eyes. When Luke was born, his eyes were a real blueish-gray and Delaney's are a real brownish-gray. So that will be fun if they are, but it's okay if they are any color really. She hardly cries so far. Even when she's hungry we just get some little squawks and squeaks. The couple of times she has cried, she has really cried...HUGE alligator tears...it's so sad, yet very cute. She eats about every 2 to 3 hours, on the rare occasion she'll go for 4 hours. I like it when she does that stretch at night. :) She really is a sweet baby.
Luke is adjusting for the most part. He has his days when he does things in order to get attention, but Lance and I try very hard to make sure he doesn't feel like Laney has replaced him...she's just an addition to the family. He does some things that are VERY cute. For example, the other day I sat down to nurse Delaney and he reached in her bassinet, pulled out her blanket and covered her. He also likes to hold her. He asks if he can hold "it". It's kind of funny. When he's done holding her though we have to be ready because he sort of shoves her at ya. Like I said...we're adjusting. :) Anyway...things are going well. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Mimi, Luke and Delaney.

Delaney the "glow worm" sporting her stylish goggles as she catches some rays on the Bili-bed.

First day home! Just 3 days old.

I don't know if it's visible, but we put Delaney in some indirect sunlight to help with the jaundice. We noticed a line forming down the center of her chest with one side pink (right side) and the other yellow. The side that is pink is the side that was getting the most sun. We thought it was very interesting and kind of funny.

Snoozing on Mimi's shoulder.

Just being cute and sweet!

This was such a sweet moment. Luke had Delaney's hand in his to compare how tiny it was. Had to capture that moment! Too cute!