Lucas's First Haircut

I finally broke down and had Lucas's hair cut.  I really loved his baby hair, but it was time.  I feel like once they get their hair cut they suddenly they grow up!!  It was getting to be a pretty good baby mullet so I had my hair stylist cut his hair.  She is awesome and that is who did Andrew's first hair cut.

Here are the before pictures looking like a precious 13 month old!

I kind of forgot how hard it is to have a one year old's hair cut.  He didn't want to sit still and he was very curious what this lady was doing to his hair!  It was so cute watching him.  He did a great job.

He was loving the cape!

Here is the after!!  He looks like such a big boy!  What happened to my baby???  

Father-Son Trip to Visit Mema & Papa in KC!

I finally get a chance to do a guest blog post! Tracey always does a great job of capturing the experiences, but I thought I would try it out.  I have realized how quickly time passes between the experience and when you finally get a chance to blog about it.  Plus, I am stressing out about making it somewhat interesting for those that read it.  OK, enough of the introduction, let's get on to what a fun time Andrew and I had.

The initial plan was to take a family mini-vacation to KC to visit the 'rents, hang out by the pool and take it easy.  However, after we found out the wonderful news that Tracey was pregnant we had to make a slight adjustment since she was told to limit traveling for long distances.  So Andrew and I decided to make the trip on our own.  I took the day off on Friday and only worked a half-day on Thursday so we could make the most of the weekend.

Andrew's ready to go as long as he has his 'Blue Bear'!

A little known fact (perhaps) about Andrew; he can hold his bladder for an extremely long time and has been known to hold it for the entire trip to/from KC (~8 hours).  Regardless, we made a stop in St. Louis to grab something to eat and try to relieve some pressure.  Fortunately, it was a success so I was relieved that we wouldn't need to worry about it too much as we got closer.

We also made a quick stop in Columbia, MO to visit one of my friends from high school and his family.  It was unfortunate that we didn't take any pictures or I would have included some.  It was a fun start to our weekend as we visited a park they had picked out and enjoyed some Orange Leaf.  I am glad we both made an effort to hang out since it is harder to find the time.

Since we were a little late upon arriving we didn't do much beyond saying hi and getting settled.  Mema and Papa had some nice arrival gifts waiting for us on our bed to make us feel extra welcome.  The next morning we started off with one of the things that Andrew seems to always talk about when describing why he wants to visit - play with my old micro-machines.  

Micro-machine time! I wonder if he appreciates this time to himself more now that he has a younger brother!

Mema and Papa had a full agenda for us so after initially taking it easy in the morning and having breakfast we began our fun-packed weekend!  It was also nice to see our dog, Grace, who is now permanently residing in KC with the parents.  We still miss you Grace and think about you! (Yes, she understands English and reads this blog on a fairly regular basis)  

 

Enjoying breakfast with Papa and Mema!

Checking in with mommy

Grace is such a good dog! I am sure she is enjoying her expanded freedom.

Next we were off to the Burr Oaks Nature Park to learn about nature and walk the trails.

Gotta look cool for the nature park!

Yes, you can find naturally occurring xylophones!

After the nature park it was time to get to business on why we really came to visit - spend time in the pool!  Andrew took swim lessons earlier in the year so it was nice to get him out in the pool to continue to improve his comfort level in the water.  He did really well swimming on his own (with a little help from a life jacket), going down the slide and jumping off the diving board.

Uncle Matt surprised us by coming down from Iowa for a visit while we there.  I enjoyed seeing him and Andrew really had fun with him too!

Lego time with Uncle Matt!

Later that night it was off to a Royals game.  Andrew has been to our minor league stadium here in Indianapolis a few times already, but he finally got to experience the magnitude of a major league game.  I am sure few would care, but it was actually a really good game with a game-winning home run!  I think our good luck sauce from Indy rubbed off on the team because they have been on a hot streak since our visit.  Going to the game also reminded me of my childhood memories when we would have a family reunion out at the farm and go to a game one night.  Based on the view, I am pretty sure we were very close to seats we used to get.  We had a nice fireworks display after the game.

Supporting the team!

Papa sharing his wisdom and teaching the finer things of the game (like where all the pretty girls hang out).

Despite the heat still having fun!

The next day we planned on going to Legoland Discovery Center.  Andrew was really looking forward to it especially after watching The Lego Movie.  Unfortunately, when we got there we were told that it could be up to a 3 hour wait!  I guess we should have booked a reservation online, but how do you explain this to your soon to be disappointed 4 year old?  Well, we thought fast and decided to visit the Lego store instead to pick-up a kit to build and play with.  Letdown diverted!  It seemed as though he was just as excited, if not more, to find out that he would be able to pick out one.  From my perspective I felt like it was a better deal.

Happy as can be with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle kit!

Who's helping who?

Later that day we had some of the extended family over for some fun.  I am so glad that they were able to come over so that Andrew could meet and get to know more of his family. 

Family fun!

It seemed like before we knew it our trip had come to an end and it was time to go.  We had such a great time seeing the family.  Andrew was such a good boy the whole weekend and really hung tough since we were up late every night (afternoon naps were our saving grace).  

We love you!!!

I really hope I can go on more trips like this with Andrew, Lucas and baby-to-be.  Not sure if the last one will be a boy or girl, but I look forward to spending time with them.  First order of business will probably be a proper family trip.  I also hope that I can contribute to the blog again.  I have always appreciated the fact that Tracey did this because it will be a way for us and the kids to look back at our memories.  Now I have the utmost respect for her diligence to the blog; despite the fact that it is enjoyable it is certainly time-consuming!  Love you Tracey!

Love this guy too! 

P.S. We made it the whole way back without him needing to go to the bathroom!

A Day At The Lake

Let me start out by saying we have some awesome neighbors!!  Bob and Monica live across the street and they are the best!  Their kids are grown and they don't have any grand kids.  They are so great with our kids!  A few months ago Andrew went over there and Bob set him up with a tackle box with every fishing supply you can imagine.  He also gave Andrew a fishing pole with a promise to take him fishing this summer.  Last weekend was our trip to go fishing!  Bob and Monica invited our family and the Bullerman family, who are our other awesome neighbors!  This was Andrew's first time fishing and he was so excited!  Bob has a fishing boat and a camper at Lake Monroe, so we met them out there last Sunday!!  It was so much fun!

The first part of the day the boys went fishing while the girls and babies relaxed.  When the boys came back they told us they didn't catch anything!!  I guess the fish just weren't biting.  Bummer!!  They great part about the day is that we still had a blast even though we didn't catch a fish.  

After lunch the girls and older kids went back out on the boat.  We stopped the boat for awhile and did a little swimming.  The kids had a blast.  Andrew really impressed me because he just jumped right in the lake.  Monica was awesome because she just jumped right in to swim with the kids.  I was thankful because Andrew wanted to swim and I didn't have a swimsuit on.  It was so fun being out on the boat.  I decided that when we win the lottery we need a boat.

This kid loved being on the boat!

Buddies

Nothing like a nap outside on a beautiful day!

I am not typically an outdoor kind of person but I think being on the water is amazing!  

16 Weeks!

Well...here we are again!  I am so excited for baby #3, but at times it doesn't seem real.  I know it's real, but without a giant baby bump or baby kicking around in there it is easy to forget.  Running around after a 13 month old and keeping a 4 year old busy can also make you forget a baby is growing in there.  Either way I am so excited to have another baby, but I guess I don't have all the time in world to day dream about it like I did with the other 2.  I still think about this baby a lot and I cannot wait to be holding him or her in my arms.  Andrew wouldn't let me forget anyway because he has to talk to the baby at least twice a day.  I think he is just as excited as I am.

This pregnancy has been very interesting from the start.  Obviously, it was a little bit of a surprise.  I started feeling sick the day before I took the test and this is the first pregnancy I have actually thrown up with.  I started taking anti-nausea meds everyday around 8 weeks and stayed on them until about 15 weeks.  I started out the pregnancy with a subchorionic hemorrhage, which is a bleed between the placenta and uterus, but that quickly healed.  Of course, it gave us a huge scare!  The first 2 months I was soooooooooo tired, but I am pretty sure that is how I was with the other 2 pregnancies.  All pregnancy symptoms seem to be magnified by each kid you have.

The other fun part about this pregnancy is that we are not finding out the sex of the baby!!!!  I cannot believe I am doing this!!  I am such a planner, but I think it will be so much fun not finding out.  It's not like I have the time or the money to be out buying more baby stuff!!  As much as it is killing everyone else not knowing the sex of our baby, just know that it is 10 times worse for me!  I go back and forth on if I think it is a boy or girl, but if I had to settle...I would say boy!!  I was right with Lucas and with Andrew I had no idea, so we will see if I am right.  We have our ultrasound next week so be on the look out for some pictures.

Size of Baby and Mama: Baby is supposed to be the size of an avocado or about 3-5 oz and 4-5 inches from head to bum.  I have gained 1 pound.  I lost a little weight in the 1st trimester because of morning sickness and I had no appetite. Here comes the weight gain because the appetite is back for the most part.

Gender/Names: I still cannot believe we are not finding out.  My vote for this post is boy.  Mark and I have decided I will come up with a few girl names and he will come up with the boy names.

Movement: I have just started feeling a couple tiny kicks.  I cannot wait for that to be more regular.

Sleep: Oh sleep...let's just say sleep isn't my favorite topic right now.  I am so exhausted by the time I lay down and some nights I cannot fall asleep.  Other nights I cannot get back to sleep if I wake up.  Some mornings I wake up with a head ache :( I guess at 16 weeks my body is already preparing for lack of sleep.

What I miss: A nice strong caffeinated beverage!

Cravings: Salty snacks, cheese, or tomatoes

Surprise, Surprise...

The Creason Family has an announcement to make...

We are so excited to be adding Baby #3 to our family!!  This came as a little bit of a surprise to us.  Mark and I were very open to a third but we didn't see it happening so soon.  As most of you know we had a hard time getting pregnant with Lucas so we thought we had plenty of time.  For some reason I just had this feeling that it was time to be open for another.  After Andrew, I didn't even entertain the idea of a second until Andrew was close to 2.  After Lucas was born I really just felt this tug at my heart that another baby was in our future.  I never thought it would happen right away!!!  The night I had a positive test I just had to laugh.  It just made me realize that I am not in control of this situation and God has a bigger and better plan than I could ever dream up!  We are so thankful to be given this blessing.

Andrew is so excited!  He loves to talk about the baby and tell people that there is another baby in Mommy's belly.  Lucas has no idea what is going on :)  We are all so excited.  This pregnancy has been different from the first two.  I don't know if it is because it is #3 and so close to Lucas or because it's a girl.  We will see come January!

Happy 1st Birthday Lucas!!

My baby is 1!!!  It is so crazy how fast his first year has flown by.  I haven't even updated my blog in two months! This blog post might be a little long, but I promise lots of pictures too!!

I love all of his expressions!

Lucas is such a blessing to this family.  We waited for so long to be blessed with a second child and I thank God everyday that he hand picked Lucas for our family in His perfect time!! 

Lucas is still growing like crazy.  At his one year appointment he weighed 26lbs 10oz (98th percentile) and he was 32 1/4 in (>98th percentile)!  I always think it is funny when they use the > symbol.  Lucas is just a big boy and I love every single ounce of him!  He is currently wearing 18-24 month clothes and size 4 diapers.  He moved to drinking whole milk a couple weeks before he turned one.  He switched over with no issues.  He eats all table food and we haven't really come across anything he doesn't like.  Some of his favorites are Cheerios, chicken nuggets from Chick-Fil-A, and green beans. 

Enjoying some Chick-Fil-A nuggets

Cheerios!!

Since his 10 month post we also found out that Lucas has a problem swallowing.  He had to have a swallow study done.  A swallow study is when he drinks his bottle with barium during an x-ray and the radiologist can see where the food goes.  During this swallow study we found out that he actually has been aspirating his formula.  The scary part is some of the times he aspirated he didn't even choke or cough.  We were suspicious something was wrong because at about 9 months he started choking on his bottles and would wake up at night with a bad cough.  Now we have to thicken all liquids he drinks.  This has added some extra frustration with feeding and weaning from the bottle.  He has to use straw sippy cups because of this too.  He is now drinking from a straw with no problem!!  He is pretty much weaned from the bottle, but still takes a night time bottle.  He would probably take a sippy cup then, but we just haven't tried it.  He is supposed to grow out of this problem, but the doctors can't give me any kind of time frame. We will just have to keep repeating the swallow study until he is cleared.  

During the swallow study

Drinking from a straw like a big boy

Other big news for Lucas is that he now is officially walking!!!  He just started in the last week or so.  Right now he is about half and half walking and crawling.  It is so cute to watch him figure it all out.  Andrew is so funny too because he gets so excited every time Lucas hits a new developmental milestone!  Lucas is so physical.  He loves to push things around the house like stools, chairs, large toys, and really anything that he can physically move.  I am pretty sure he could start his own moving company.  He can also climb the stairs and loves to do it, but don't worry we have the stairs gated and we only let him do it supervised.  I think he just wants to keep up with his big brother.

Lucas is such a lover!!  His face lights up every time he sees Andrew, Mommy, or Daddy.  He loves people in general and will let most people hold him.  He is becoming less and less of a cuddler.  He will always cuddle at night before bed in the rocking chair.  He is going through a phase where he cries when we first lay him down to sleep.  He just wants someone to hold him :(  Sometimes I will hold him and rock with him for a while even though it is not helping the situation.  He is still an amazing sleeper and sleeps from about 8:30-8:00 and still takes 2 naps most days.

Playing with Alissa at the Children's Museum

Hanging out with my BFF Patrick in the church nursery

Spending some more time at the Children's Museum with my other BFF Carter

He only has a few words right now, but seems to understand what I say.  He says Dada and yes all of the time.  I finally figured out that he calls me Nana (sounds like Mama but with an N) and he very rarely says Mama.  He sometimes says all done and more.  He still loves music and loves to dance.  He loves books.  He loves going in the playroom with Andrew now.  They will sit in there and destroy it everyday.  Andrew and Lucas can't get enough of each other and I am sure this bond will only grow as they get older.  My heart melts watching them together!

They make me smile everyday

Love them!!

For Lucas's first birthday we decided to do a baseball theme.  We had a few friends over and our family to celebrate.  Lucas seemed to have fun being passed around and playing with his little buddies.  He was so funny to watch with his cake.  He first knocked the entire cake off his high chair but it was still in one piece so I put it back up there.  He wasn't very interested in the cake at all.  He played with it a little and ate a few bites, but wasn't very impressed.  I couldn't believe it because I thought he would love it.  It is always so nice to have family in town and friends here to help celebrate. 

Playing with Patrick

Trying to figure this whole cake thing out

Not too sure about this

Present time 

Checking out his new toy

Spending good time with Dylan and Tyler

We had his one year pictures taken yesterday so hopefully those will be coming soon.  It is sad to say goodbye to the baby days, but I love watching Lucas grow and watching his little personality take shape.  Time is going to fly by with or without me, so everyday I take time to slow down and appreciate the phase we are in.  I try to really enjoy everyday with them even when it feels busy and hectic.  There will be a day when the house is quiet and I will long for a busy frustrating day.  I love being a Mommy to these boys and thank God for them everyday!!  

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy Lucas!!!  I love you so much!!