Lucas - Week 3

Week 3 Lucas still slept a lot which was great for me and Jason because we weren't too sleep deprived yet! We had Grandma and Grandpa Snowden here for a full week so Lucas got a lot of extra cuddles that week! He met more of our friends and we went on another outing to the dog park since we're still not allowed to really get out due to how bad the flu is here. Our weather here has been amazing (40-60 degrees every day - Sorry Chicago friends!) so we are so thankful for the opportunity to get out when we want. We also had a follow up to his bilirubin levels and weight check.  His levels haven't gone up but haven't gone down as much as they'd like to see but there wasn't a need for lights so we were super happy about that.  I make Jason take him to get his blood drawn every time, breaks my heart when he cries! He weighed in at 7 lbs 6 oz and 20 inches...our little growing baby! Another amazing week with our sweet love!

 Meeting Aunt Jen, Jason's step-sister! Thanks for making the trip down to visit!

So yeah, this isn't a picture of Lucas but I'm documenting our family's week too!  My first glass of wine!  It went down way too fast and was delicious!  Grandma and Grandpa Snowden watched Luke so Jason and I could go on a date.  Our baby was only 2 weeks old but Jason and I think it's very important to take time out for our relationship to keep it strong.  And how often do we get a babysitter here in Colorado!?  We went out for sushi and had a great night together.  I think we were back home within 75 minutes of leaving - HA! After dinner I was practically racing to the car to get back home to snuggle Lucas but I am so glad we got out and enjoyed each others company and delicious sushi! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for babysitting!  

So content loving life!

Grandpa Snowden getting some last minute snuggles with precious Lucas before they headed out

Lucas LOVES cuddling on his daddy ( I love love love these two boys!!)

Heading out to the dog park - while he doesn't look thrilled to be heading out, he really does well in the car seat!

Lucas and Mom on the walk - Love

Family photo - Lucas slept through the photo and walk. Cooper is having a blast chasing dogs and sprinting all over the park

Love

Sweetness

Lucas meeting our awesome neighbors from upstairs!

Nightly snuggles before bedtime with dad

I want to thank all our friends and family who have sent cards and gifts the past few weeks! Our mailbox has been FULL every day with love from so many of you and we are so grateful to have you all love on Lucas, we certainly feel the love from miles away!  Thank you all so much!

Under Contract!!

As if we don't have enough going on with a new (adorable, sweet, lovable, amazing, wonderful best-ever) baby...Jason and I are under contract for HOUSE!!!  If you have read probably even one post on this blog you know how much we have wanted a house since we left Chicago and God willing, this is finally happening.

Last year we were in the market for a house but after searching and taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University we decided to pay off my grad school loans and wait on the house. While we knew this was the "right" thing to do, it was incredibly hard not knowing if and when we really would ever be able to move into a house. Then we got pregnant and the thought of having Jason working from home and needing an office and the baby having to share his office as his nursery wasn't the ideal situation. (especially considering we want our family and friends to visit and they would need a room or somewhere to put a bed!) So we decided to start looking at rental houses and quickly learned that the rental market here is very expensive! (our rent is also going up significantly in April if we were to stay here.)  We took a look at our budget and the amount of money we have saved since the loans were paid off and figured out what we could afford. It wasn't near what would buy us for what we want in a house but we had enough to start looking and a mortgage would also be around the same price of renting a house if not less. We started our hunt, (love Zillow!)

We looked at a Hud house and while Jason really loved it, I wasn't 100% sold and it was a gamble because there would need to be a lot of work put into it. We found a few more houses we wanted to see but in this market houses are off the market in sometimes just a day or two. All the homes we wanted to look at were already under contract!  (seriously the market here is ridiculous when you're the buyer!)

Jason found a home he liked that I had already passed driving by before her suggested it and I decided I didn't like because it was a corner lot off a through street. But I went to appease him. From the second we walked in the door we were in love! Let me just say that our new price range was well under what we ever thought we would need to spend to get what we wanted in a house. We had looked on Zillow plenty and even by looking way east (which we didn't want) we still couldn't find more than a 3 bedroom or it would back up to a major street and a million other things (needing major updating, 1 car garage, terrible location, bad schools, a tri-level, no back yard, no basement, etc.) This house had EVERYTHING we wanted! Everything and then some. It's 4 bedrooms - Jason can have his own office and each of our kids (we would like to have 2) can have their own. It has a finished basement too with a bathroom downstairs, who wants to visit!? The yard is small but typical of Colorado and there is plenty of grass for Cooper and the kids to play. Plus we're within a mile of a huge state park and reservoir and Coopers favorite dog park. Everything has been updated including bathrooms and kitchen. There's a huge bathtub for me! It's in the school district we want and is very centrally located by a highway, tons of shopping and restaurants very close. There's amazing mountain views and just has everything we want! The only downfalls is the kitchen is tiny and it's off a through street and is very close to a major street. Being that we're from Chicago the noise of traffic won't bother either of us and it's really not even loud! Everything else is just perfect and for the price that we offered is just amazing that we're getting everything we wanted at a price we can afford! Praise God!

Please keep us and the closing in your prayers.We originally were scheduled to close 2/28 but the sellers are moving early so we bumped it up to THIS FRIDAY! Lucas is going to have his own room as early as this weekend! We are just so excited!

Lucas - Week 2

Week two with Lucas was wonderful! Lucas has been such and easy and fun baby! He is just so easy-going and happy. The first week we thought maybe it was because he was sick with his jaundice but this week has proved that he is just a super happy, loving baby. We are taking full advantage of his easy-going personality because I KNOW this isn't how the first couple weeks are supposed to be!  He sleeps through the night except that he obviously has to be fed and changed every couple hours (we try for at least three but he doesn't like going that long.) He falls asleep during every feeding which means I am up more than half the night feeding but he rarely ever cries. So how awesome is that. Even when we change him, he doesn't really full on cry. So very thankful for a happy baby! Enjoying it while we can! We have many many more years with him to challenge us so we'll take the calm while we can! Love him to pieces!

So sweet!

Meeting Grandma and Grandpa Snowden 

Our little southside chicago boy in his way too big jacket! 

(Again we didn't have a small enough jacket since we didn't 

have newborn sizes so we made do for our walk outside)

Jason and I took him to the dog park for one of our first outings for a nice walk

Look at that new dad!! That Ergo fits Jason really well - such a great daddy!

Big brother Cooper was beyond excited to get out and run a little!

Morning routine now consists of feeding Lucas then extra 

cuddles before we start our day. I have to say, waking up in the 

morning to this little guy is the best feeling in the world, 

even if he is taking all my sleep away all night long!

Bath time!

Warming up after bathtime!  His hat was a gift from a co-worker. LOVE it!

So cute!

Love this little boy!

Lucas - Week 1

 Day 2 in the hospital - peaking a look at his new surroundings

His "going home outfit" :)  This was one of only about three NB sized clothes we had as the doctors kept telling us he was measuring sooooo big! I didn't even have NB sized diapers at home!  Oops, learned my lesson on that one with a 6 lb, 13 oz baby!

We're ready to go home!  

 Arriving at home - we introduced Cooper (and Sam at the top of the pic) to Lucas; Cooper was very curious. (and still is!) Funny story...when we give Cooper a bone he will often bury it with his nose for later. He also does this with his food. So at one point we had Lucas on the bed and Cooper had jumped up there. Well Cooper took his nose and tried burying Lucas! I think Cooper just wanted Lucas to go away for a little while.  

Off to the doctor and to get lab work done which became a daily occurrence for the first week with Lucas being jaundice.  It was exhausting walking into hospital every day (only a couple days after giving birth) and so sad seeing poor Luke being stuck every day.  He was such a trooper though, barely cried each time!

Loves his Snugglebunny bouncy chair

While waiting for his bilirubin lights which weren't delivered when they were supposed to be, Lucas enjoyed the Colorado sun in our room.  

The goggles Luke had to wear while under the lights.  It was not all fun and games at all having him have to be under the lights for 24 hours but these goggles made us laugh and cheered us all up!  Lucas did not enjoy them one bit but they looked so cute they proved he is super excited to be born in Colorado where he can go skiing and boarding as often as he wants when he is a little older!

Lucas levels were bad enough that he needed to be under the lights until his levels were better.  The night they were supposed to be delivered the lights were never dropped off!  (Jason had called a couple times and the guy was really sketchy...we were slightly sleep deprived too and it was late in the night so there wasn't much we could do.) In the morning we called the doctor who was concerned about Lucas so we had to get more blood work done and learned he was close to needing to be hospitalized.  The place where the lights were coming from called super apologetic telling us they would be investigating what happened and the lights were dropped off almost immediately.  That was a long day and night because Lucas didn't want to sleep in the little briefcase-like bed (can you blame him!?)  There was a sheet that was supposed to protect his face from the light and whenever that brushed his skin he would hit it or start crying and it was nearly impossible to get the sheet not to rub against him.  Jason and I took turns sleeping next to him but it was a long night! We were so thankful the next day to learn that he wasn't needing another night under the lights.  (At his two week appointment today we learned his levels are just below what would need the lights again but not quite there. We'd like the levels to have dropped a lot more than they have the past week but at this point we're still in the clear.)

Lucas got his first (home-made!) stocking cap from our friend, Sarah.  That says Cubs too!  A home-made Cubs stocking hat!!  He wears this on his couple walks he has been on. :)  Thanks Sarah!!

Just a super cute pic of our sweet baby chilling

Off to our first walk outside!!

Lucas has his eyes open! A very rare occurrence in his first week of life! 

He is just the cutest little guy ever! We are so in love!!!

Welcome Lucas Jon

Jason and I are so very proud to welcome Lucas Jon to our family!  He arrived on January 6, 2014 at 7:40pm weighing 6 pounds 13 ounces and 19 inches. We are so in love with him!

To view more pictures click here!

Babymoon in Florida

January 3 and I am finally writing about our "babymoon" to Florida back in October! We had such a great time together. We wanted to go on a cruise but cruise ships won't allow you to travel past 20 weeks, and I wasn't willing to go to Mexico in case we had an complications so after much thinking and Jason researching, we decided on a trip to the Keys in Florida. I had been there before plus we'd be able to see my friend, Ellis and her husband, Josh, while we were there.  Win-win!

We went in with minimal expectations. With work being very busy for both of us and having the trip back to Chicago the week before with the wedding and my two baby showers, it was all a whirlwind!  We got to Florida on Monday and after a long day of traveling, we met up with Jason's co-worker for a late lunch in Ft Lauderdale. By the time we got to our hotel it was evening and we were both exhausted...to say the least. We watched the World Series (where Boston won - WOOOHOOOOO!) but sadly I passed out before they actually won! But man did it feel good to sleep!

That first day on Tuesday we went to the beach (Jason had to work every day while there...he's saving up his days for when the baby gets here) and I literally didn't know how to just sit and relax!  All that go, go, go for months had caught up to me and I sat there trying to read, lay, or do whatever and I just couldn't do it! But man was it nice to have that problem...sitting in the sun, listening to the ocean and seagulls and just enjoying feeling the baby move!  That night we went to dinner for some delicious sea food!

Tuesday we went to Key West, Jason had been there before but I hadn't. I really wasn't interested in driving all the way there but once we got there I loved it and was so thankful we made the trip down! There was so much to see and eat and was just such a fun little town!  I had my first (ever) piece of Key Lime pie...which will also be my last! Ick! That night we also went out to a nice local restaurant along the beach.

Thursday was pretty much our last full day in the Keys and I was definitely enjoying and able to relax very well! We spent the day at the pool and the only thing that would have made my day better was to have a fruity umbrella drink in my hand!  (seriously...whats a vacation without any drinks?!) But it was such a fun day, I found a good book to read, just out my feet up and took in the sun.  Thursday night was definitely my favorite night at a nice, romantic restaurant where we were able to get some cute pics of us together that showed my bump.  It was a night I'll always remember, just the two of us along the ocean...so peaceful and romantic.

Friday we spent the morning in the pool for our last day before driving to Ft Lauderdale to see Ellis. I was so sad the trip had already came to an end as I was seriously enjoying the relaxing! We could have used a couple more days there, just the two of us!  The trip really helped me bond with the baby and appreciate what is about to come with him. The school year had been so busy and even though the baby had started to move by then I was always too busy to stop and appreciate what that all meant. The trip to Florida truly opened my eyes to what we're about to experience as parents. I bonded with the baby and Jason and I bonded together over the baby and together in our marriage. Ahhhh, we're going to be parents!!

Friday night we went to see Ellis and their new house and dog.  Sadly, as I've been saying through this entire pregnancy, I've been exhausted so unfortunately by the time we got there, I was already fading quickly. They cooked us a delicious meal and we sat catching up together before I finally had to go to bed.  I wish we had another day with them so I could have been a little more refreshed but it was great to be able to see them while we were there!

All in all it was a great trip to Florida together. I loved how we were both able to bond with the baby and with each other as we'll be settling into this new role of parenthood together!  I'm so thankful for the friendship I have with Jason and couldn't be more excited to start this journey of parenthood with him.  How wonderful it was to be able to spend 5 days just the two of us in a tropical place together before we welcome this baby boy into our lives!

Ahhhh - peaceful! Just sitting and feeling the baby move :) and enjoying marriage and life

Dinner one with my love

 Our hotel

Key West

 Using my best imagination possible that there is a little extra flavor in my drink

Southernmost Point - fun times...trying my best to get the baby bump to show but then you can't see us!

Dinner 2 with my love

Our last dinner out which was super romantic!

The view from dinner

Colorado Shower of Love for Baby Boy Lockwood

My small group girls hosted a shower for me here in Colorado!  What is so very cool about this shower was that we obviously had been trying to get pregnant for a long time and through it all, I was always thinking that if and when we got pregnant, we wouldn't be able to have a shower here because of the lack of friends here in Colorado.  Well, that sure did change and the girls threw me a wonderful afternoon shower at my favorite restaurant and again, no details were left out!  The invitations were beautiful, they even matched our nursery theme (sneaky girls looked at my registry to figure that out.)  They also sent questions to my Chicago friends and family to fill out so I have a little keepsake album which helped bring a piece of "home" to the shower here.

We all got together in early December at Maggiano's and sat and chatted about all things baby for over 2 hours. Obviously I have a million and a half questions about birth and being a mom so it was so special that I got to sit there and ask all the questions to these other veteran and new moms. I didn't get many pics from that day but it is a memory I will never forget.  I cannot thank you girls enough for loving on me and the baby with a very special shower.  I am so thankful for the friendship and fellowship we have!

Thank you girls!!