The Family's All Home!

Sorry for the long delay on an update! Luke was able to come home from the NICU last Wednesday, just one day after Stephen and I went home. It was so exciting taking home our little son, only 5 days old! Elijah was nearly 2 weeks old when we took him home, so we hadn’t experienced bringing home a baby so young before. It’s been nice being back home & adjusting to life with a family of four. While Stephen’s been back at work, my parents have been helping out during the week. They kept Elijah while we were at the hospital, so he’s been getting a lot of one on one time with his Nanny and Poppy. His Grammy, Stephen’s mom, is going to be helping out the rest of the week and part of next week. It’s so nice to have such sweet family to help out during this recovery time. I can’t pick up Elijah until Luke‘s 6 weeks old, supposedly, so the help has been greatly needed & appreciated. The c-section recovery hasn’t been bad at all. I pretty much feel back to normal, but I still have to take it easy as far as exercise goes. But I'm quite anxious to get my running shoes back on! Luke is doing so great - sleeping a ton and eating very well. He’s been a very good sleeper at night (knock on wood!) so we’ve been quite thankful for that. He’s all healthy, with the exception of a little hip problem. A lot of breach babies have hip problems, so we’ve got another ultrasound scheduled at the end of August to see if it has corrected itself. It’s hard to tell who he looks like just yet…I expected him to be a little clone of Elijah, but he’s his own little person. He does give a few expressions that totally remind us of Elijah as an infant. He seems to have my hair and his daddy and brother’s mouth… the rest is a toss up! Elijah has been enjoying having a little brother. Yesterday morning, he was playing in his room and I was sitting with Luke, who eyes were wide open at the time, watching Elijah play. Elijah kept smiling at Luke and looked as if he felt so much pride showing Luke how to play. And we got the biggest giggle out of Elijah when Luke went on a sneezing spree! Elijah also held Luke for the first time today. He rested his head on Luke's belly to hug him and gave him a kiss without us asking or prompting him to - SO sweet!!! He hasn’t showed too many signs of jealousy yet… We just have to be very careful when Luke’s on the floor in his bouncer or swing, or when he’s sleeping in his pack and play downstairs - Elijah loves to run over to check on him and sometimes shake the pack and play! Yikes! We’re working on that… Right now the adjustment to two hasn’t been that significant, especially since we've had so much help. We’re sure it will be a lot more difficult once Luke’s on the ground more and sleeping less often during the day. We are so thankful to be parents of two sons, who we hope will grow up to be the best of friends. Parenthood is awesome! It’s so amazing watching Elijah grow up and it’s going to be so much fun watching Luke develop into a little man as well. Thank you all for your prayers and support during this time. We have the best family and friends!

Pictures of Luke Thomas Burns

Holding Daddy's hand


Held by Mommy for the first time


Arriving at the NICU


Getting a little oxygen in the NICU


Little man is getting better!


The entire family

It's a..... Boy!!!!!!!

Where do we begin?! We went in for an ultrasound/NST on Thursday and they informed us, due to low amniotic fluid, they wanted to deliver our baby via C-Section (b/c the baby was breech) on Friday. We went into the hospital at 11:30 and, just as scheduled, the c-section began at 1:30. I was quite terrified by having a c-section and didn't know how I'd get through it w/o balling my eyes out. I did pretty good though... was a little nervous right beforehand when Stephen had to leave my side for me to get my epidural and prepped for surgery. But I got to look into his sweet blue eyes and hold his hand (aka take all of the circulation out) throughout the entire procedure. I held my emotions together until the doctor said, "Well Dad, what is it?!" and Stephen said "It's a boy!!!" Luke Thomas Burns was born at 1:45 on July 17th, 2009, weighing in at 6lbs 8oz and measuring 18.5in long. My first thought was that our sweet Elijah now has a best friend for life. Since he as booty down, he didn't get to squeeze all of the fluid out of his lungs naturally and his breathing was a bit irregular. So after Stephen held him by my head for about 30 sec, my man and my new little little man went off to the NICU. He was having trouble at first regulating his color, but it didn't take long to correct. His breathing was quite rapid - 110 per minute when what they'd ideally like is from 30 to 60. His oxygen levels were also lower than they'd like, so they put his little head in an oxygen filled shield. He looked like a little bubble boy, which made me giggle.(Thank you Karen Bowers for the tip to hold a pillow on top of my belly whenever I need to laugh). By nighttime, Luke was out of the bubble and his oxygen levels were up to 99! I was unable to get out of bed until 12 hours post surgery, so all Friday, I just got to see pictures and videos of my new baby boy. At 3am, anxious as could be, Stephen and I went down to the NICU to see Luke. His breathing had slowed down quite a bit; it was in the 80s! Therefore, they allowed us to hold our son, which was such a thrill for both Stephen and I. He looked so great!

ABC...Easy as 123...

This little boy of ours amazes me every single day. He's growing into such a young little man - He so cutely says "excuse me" whenever he burps (or pretends!). He's getting into a great routine of saying "please" and "thank you Mommy (or insert name)"; however, for some reason when he says thank you to Stephen, more times than not he will say "thank you Mommy Daddy." LOL It drives Stephen crazy!
He's showing us how much his little brain can absorb everyday. He's got his colors down and most of his shapes. We've been noticing that he's learning his ABCs too. We'll sing it to him and stop during the song, and he'll usually say the next letter or run of letters. He normally says the correct letter, although he thinks "LMNOP" is "apple bee." =) And we noticed that he pointed out a few of the letters on Stephen's t-shirt the other day just out of nowhere. Well, today during lunch, I decided to run through the alphabet side of some of his flashcards (pictures on one side, letters on the other). I didn't ask them in order of the alphabet - just randomly - and these are the letters he got correct on the first try: Q, G, K, H, O, F, M, E, P, B, N, I, R. He got the letters U and S correct on the second try (after we were done w/ all the flashcards ). A few of the letters he missed, but I could tell he was trying with how he answered - he thought D was B, thought X was K, thought T was I, thought Z was W, thought W was M....I kind of thought those letters either sounded similar or looked similar. I was absolutely floored with our 19 month old son! He's been watching this Brainy Baby ABC dvd in the car on longer trips for the past couple weeks, so I attribute this learning mostly to that, but it's still exciting, nonetheless. We ran through about half of the letters during dinner tonight and he was getting them correct, one after the other. It just makes me realize that I don't need to slack off on teaching him one bit - kids can learn way more and understand more, even at his age, than we usually give them credit.

Pregnancy Update

I had an OB appt this Monday where my Group B Strep test and my first "exam" took place - for any of you who have been pregnant before, this was not exactly a fun appt. =) GBS is a harmless bacteria that some women carry, and I happened to have it when I was pregnant with Elijah. Due to all of my drug allergies, they were unable to administer any of the antibiotics for GBS during my labor, so Elijah either got some strain of strep or a skin contaminant that kept our little boy in the NICU for 10 days after delivery... not a fun situation at all. I had an allergy appt scheduled in January for me to be tested on all of those antibiotics so that we wouldn't have to go through this problem again; however, I had to cancel it when I found out I was pregnant with baby #2. So I have been praying so hard over this situation from day one - that I either would test negative for GBS or that the Lord would just somehow shield this baby from getting it if I was positive. I've been sitting on eggshells for the call from my dr to say I'm positive. I finally called them a few minutes ago and found out that I tested negative! I am so thankful that the Lord cleared my body of this and hopefully will allow Stephen and I to take this baby home after the routine 2/3 days in the hospital. They'll still probably test this baby for it since Elijah was positive last time, but hopefully he or she will be completely healthy. I am still going to be praying hard over this, but I know God is faithful and works everything for our good and for His glory.
I have an ultrasound on Monday to check on the baby's size. I'm trending just a tad small (how in the world, I don't know!!!) so they just want to check how big the baby is and probably check my fluid levels. We have less than 4 weeks now, so Elijah's baby brother or baby sister will be in our arms before we know it! Crazy!!! Speaking of - I can hear Elijah's voice in his monitor, which means his nap is now over... "Mommy...Daddy...bye bye Sage...donkey book...goofy's hat...school bus...airplane..." The things this boy wakes up talking about! I will be posting some fun stories and pictures of the little man asap so stay tuned in!

Potty Training and House Updates

I thought I would give an update on potty training... My last post was on his best day ever! He only had an accident 4 times that entire day; however, the next 3 days were quite difficult and trying. I don't know if we were pushing him too hard or what, but he just didn't seem to be enjoying it. He would tinkle and tell us as he was going, instead of before. So he was so close to being there, but wasn't there yet. We decided that we'd just do a more gradual approach over a longer time period and let him and mom actually enjoy our summer! We weren't able to really go outside or go to the pool or anything, which wasn't fun or fair. So now, we'll take him to the big potty about 3 or more times a day and he'll tinkle right away - and he's so proud of himself! We still have to buy diapers =( but he's a much happier little boy =)

We've been spending our time going to the pool, which he adores. He loves to get in the kiddie pool and walk like a little duck. He's a good little kicker in the big pool too! We've been finger painting and coloring at home (he's working on drawing circles) and just having a blast enjoying the summertime while I'm still able to chase him... speaking of - one of Elijah's Sunday school teachers told us the other day "man he's fast!"  A few min later, Stephen asked me what I thought of when they said that. I said "yeah I know! And I'm 8 months pregnant chasing him!" Stephen said he was thinking, "That's my boy!!!!" Like father, like son.

Stephen and our sweet friend Joey got the baby's furniture moved into it's room - all but the crib, which we have to disassemble and reassemble to get it in the doorway. We've decided to keep our house on the market, so instead of decorating the baby's room like I want to, we're just going to set up the furniture for now and wait to really decorate until after we move. I told Stephen, as I was crying, that I think it's the best decision to not decorate or paint or anything, but being a girl, I do want the baby's room to be really cute and it makes me sad that it won't be. But it will eventually be cute and permanent, so I just have to think what's best long term. We're getting closer to being ready for the baby to be here. Less than 6 weeks now, so we really need to get going (which I'm sure the Phelps would agree!). Please be praying for our house to sell and us to move before the baby gets here, and for a continued healthy pregnancy, baby, and delivery! 

And you can check out my not so stellar acting and Elijah's you tube debut at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcBcQ3kaCyg. This is a video our realtor put together to help promote the sale of our house in a bit of a lighter way. Hope you enjoy!

Potty Training...

Well this has been an interesting and trying week. Monday we had his 18mo check up. He weighed 24lbs 7oz (30%) and was 50% in height and maybe a little bigger in head... I forgot what percentile. He did great for Dr. Malone! I told him that I was going to start potty training on Tuesday and he told me if I was able to pt an 18mo old boy, I needed to right a book. LOL That's what I've heard quite a bit! But I figure it's worth a try. Hey, we've saved money on diapers this week! (although we've gone through some spot shot and paper towels...)
So I started naked baby training on Tuesday morning... no pants at all, except for a diaper at naptime and bedtime. I've tried to keep my eyes on him at all times to see when he looks like he's about to tinkle. When he looks like he's ready to go (or after he starts to tinkle on the floor), I try to encourage him to sit on the potty (maybe read a book or watch tv or something). I've made a spread sheet and have recorded every time he's tinkled or pooped, all with cute little graphics, and if he tries to go on the potty - or refuses - I make a note of that. I put a little heart graphic in the spreadsheet whenever we have a success. So that being said...
Day 1...
4 hearts - 3 of which were after he first tinkled on the floor, but finished in the potty. This was a hard day! The Lord blessed me with a positive attitude though... Elijah tinkled a lot in 5 min intervals. =) He would tinkle a little and I guess he would surprise himself by seeing it, so then he would stop. I mean, for 20+ min before naptime, I was just trying to get him in a diaper but he wouldn't stop tinkling for me to put it on him!!! lol But it was the first day...
Day 2...
9 hearts - 3 of which were after he first tinkled on the floor, but finished in the potty. 6 were counted as success b/c he tinkled in front of his potty (so he tried!) and 1 was when he sat in the potty and actually went w/o an accident. We bought a new potty today and it plays music whenever he tinkles in it, which he really seemed to like. It also has a flusher that makes a noise. Fun incentives. We were able to go on a walk in his stroller (1 1/2 mi) w/o an accident. He tinkled in the tub immediately before and in the potty immediately afterwards. Yeah!
Day 3...
5 hearts - 3 of which were w/o accidents (one he warned me in advance) and the other 2 were in front of the potty, so I counted them as a try. This was a very trying day. It's so hard to be encouraging and not scold him for doing something that comes natural to him... especially when he likes to rub his hands in the pee that's all over the floor! At one point, he was being super sweet and cuddly, but I was so down about the day that we just rocked in the chair as I cried and talked to him. I'm so proud of him for trying so hard and I just want him to see that. I'm just hard on myself.But Stephen gave me lots of encouraging words and helped me to focus on the small successes that we've made. One thing that worked really well was to lure him to the potty with a piece of a cupcake (no frosting, but the confetti kind of cake). He wanted it so bad and I told him he had to tinkle in the potty first and then he'd get the cake. He fussed and fussed sitting there and then...music played...yeah!!!
Also, today was Elijah's year and half birthday! And it was our 4 year anniversary! It was such a romantic evening - chasing around our naked little boy!
Day 4...
(today) As of 3:15, he has already had 9 hearts!!!! Only one of which was an accident first!!! He told me he had to tinkle upstairs, and both the potties were downstairs, so I just plopped him up on the "big potty". He tinkled immediately! Then I put him down and he cried, so I put him back up there and he tinkled 2 more times!!! When I've lured him to his little potty today, it hasn't taken very long at all for him to tinkle - like 30 sec or so. Unfortunately, I had to put a diaper on him for almost 3 hours today b/c our realtor came over to shoot a video. After an hour and a half, I sat him on the potty and he tinkled right away. And right before naptime, I sat him on the potty and he tinkled again! Today has felt very successful - only 3 accidents (one was during snack time in his highchair). I thank the Lord for a good day so far b/c I just needed to see it clicking with Elijah and I'm really starting to. But this is all naked... in a few more days we'll add the clothes and see how it goes from there. =) Say a prayer for us! It would be so nice to only have the cost of one baby in diapers come August. =) (By the way - make sure you vote off to the side... girl or boy?!)