One month with Bodie

Our little Bodie is one month old today! I can't even describe how much I love him, and how happy I am that he is our little boy. I love his cute little smile that accidentally happens sometimes when I kiss him. I can't wait until he smiles at me on purpose! I love that he is getting stronger and sturdier and that he is awake more often during the day. I love that he calms down when he hears my voice. I love his big blue eyes. I love that the girls hold his hands as they walk along beside the stroller, and I'm pretty sure he loves that too.

I had to take Laney to the doctor today for an ear infection and the nurse offered to weigh Bodie while we were there... at one month old, he weighs 10 lbs, 9 oz.! Brian said, "that's my Big boy!" He goes to bed around 9-10 pm and usually wakes up around 3:30 or 4 am to eat, but after I feed him, he sleeps until 7:30 or 8 am. When he is up for the day, he likes to sit in his bouncy seat, or lay on his playmat and listen to Mozart. Of course, his favorite thing is just being in my arms, roaming around the house or backyard or wherever we all are.

Bodie went to his first baseball game on Saturday to see the Cy-Falls Eagles. Sadly, it wasn't a win, but it was the first game we've been able to attend since Bodie arrived, so we enjoyed it! He slept most of the game while the girls got their sidewalk chalk and drew Rapunzel all over the ground behind the dugout. He got to meet all the moms of the boys and a special teacher friend, Evelyn, who has been so sweet to all of us.

Here's Brian & Bodie next to the Cy-Falls Wall of Fame (Brian's name is on the 1996 column).
It's bittersweet that this is Brian's last season coaching baseball at Cy-Falls. It has been a blessing in many ways and alot of fun for him over the past few years. The girls have grown up going to baseball games and cheering for the Eagles. We will still be cheering for the Eagles, but Brian will play a different role next year, which we are very excited about. More on that later.

Tate and Bo, my sweet little blondies

Brian's Aunt Shelia & Uncle Terry came in town last week to welcome their new grandson, Tyson David, who was born on Monday the 11th. Melissa's water broke almost a month before her due date, and Tyson arrived. Thankfully he is very healty, despite some jaundice, and we are very excited that Bodie will have a little cousin only 3 weeks younger than him. They will be good buddies I'm sure. Here's Shelia & Bodie...

Avery got to bring T.Bear home from Kindergarten last weekend, which always makes life extra exciting. She is very sweet about sharing him with Tatum & Laney. They all enjoy dressing him up and playing with him. We've never owned a Build-A-Bear, but after seeing how much Avery loves this class bear, we decided to buy her one just like it for her Kindergarten graduation present. Don't tell her... it's a surprise!

Here's our almost 6 year old with T.Bear!

It was her turn to lead her class through their daily calendar routine, so I went to school to watch her do it. If she doesn't end up as a teacher one day, I will be very surprised. She loves to get up in front of the class and call on her classmates to answer her questions. Sometimes while she's playing at home, she will invite me to attend her "Bible study," where she has lined up all her stuffed animals on the couch and is sitting in front of them with a Bible teaching them. Anyway, she did a great job leading her class through "calendar." I am very proud of her progress this year in Kindergarten.
Speaking of teaching, I officially resigned for next year. We have prayed and talked about it alot and both felt this is the right time for me to stay home. We're going to try it for a year and see how it goes. My feelings are extreme joy, mingled with a little bit of worry, not that I won't like it, but that it will cause more financial stress than we are prepared for, or that I will end up having to find some other part time work to make things work out. But mostly I am excited. For so many reasons. I am thankful that the Lord's timing is perfect... He knew this wouldn't have worked at any other time, but at this time all the pieces fall into place just right. It almost feels surreal.

But I do have to finish this school year and I'm trying not to go down the road of depression just thinking about it. I start back to work one week from tomorrow. It's only about 4 weeks until we're out for summer, and I want to finish well. I want to love my teacher friends and my students and my FCA kids, and I want the Lord to be pleased with me and the difference I've made at Cy-Springs. Now that I'm at the end of my career there, at least for now, my mind is flooded with all the great, amazing, wonderful memories and people God has blessed me with over the past 7 years. All this to say, I am eager to finish the year well and complete the work God has given me, but I'm also stressed about getting Bodie to take a bottle and pumping for him and figuring out a schedule for him and for the girls. I thank the Lord He has it all under control and He will carry us through May, just the way He always has carried us through.

Update on Bodie

I finally convinced Avery (and Brian) to let me try to cut her hair short for the summer. One of her friends at school just got her hair cut, so Avery was open to the idea. Up until now, she has always wanted her hair long. I reminded Brian that hair does grow back and he said it was okay, so I took her in the kitchen and started chopping. I didn't take a before and after picture, but the one above was the day after we cut it. She loves it short now and I do too! Easier to wash, easier to brush, easier to fix, just plain easy!

Brian put them in their matching pajamas and they came downstairs holding hands to show me that they matched. So of course, we had to get a picture of them looking cute and matching.

Then of course, I had to add our little guy in his blue...

Bodie has been such a good baby! He is sleeping between 5-6 hours at night now and usually goes right to sleep when we put him to bed at night. That did not happen with our girls, so I don't really know what we've done differently, maybe it's just him, but either way, we are very grateful that we are getting pretty good sleep for having a 2.5 week old. He is alert more during the day and I can tell he loves to be in the same room as the rest of the crew. He likes to hear all of our voices around him. Even though those voices are sometimes very loud and silly.

At his 2-week checkup on Monday, he weighed 8 lbs and 14 oz and had grown to 21.5 inches! So he is definitely growing and thriving. We also found out he does in fact have duarte galactosemia, which is the same genetic disorder Avery & Tatum were born with. I took the news alot better this time, partly because I expected it this time, and partly because I am planning to keep on breastfeeding him, even though we're not 100% sure it's best. The (very limited) research recently has shown that there are no significant delays in DG (duarte Galactosemic) kids who are breastfed vs. kids that had galactose-restricted diets. I wish I knew that back when Avery & Tatum were infants... they both had to be weaned immediately and put on soy formula, which was heartbreaking for me. I remember the news being so devastating back then, finding out there is something not "normal" about your child, and then being told what you are trying to do to nourish your child, breastfeeding, is actually a toxin to their little bodies and could damage them permanently.

All this to say, Bodie does have duarte galactosemia, but thankfully, he is thriving on breastmilk and we are planning to continue, unless God or the doctors tells us otherwise. The fact is DG kids do sometimes have delays, whether their diet is restricted or not. So regardless of whether I switched him to soy formula or breastfeed him, it is possible that he could struggle in certain areas, just like Avery & Tatum might struggle in certain areas... whether it's a result of being DG or it's just the way they are, we will never know. But we are so thankful for our kids good health and we know that they are beautifully and wonderfully made by our loving Creator.

Laney, by the way, is just a carrier of galactosemia, but doesn't actually have the disorder. Here she is at her teddy bear picnic at school last week. She has become a very interested and affectionate big sister in the past week. When she sees Avery or Tatum having a turn holding Bodie in their lap, she wants a turn too. So I put him in her lap and she kisses his head and hugs him sometimes a little too tight, but she definitely thinks he's lovable and sweet.

Tatum got a special day with Brian this past week. Her class had a field trip to Dewberry Farm, our favorite little pumpkin/christmas tree farm, and Brian took the day off work to take her. They had a great time together and she loved having her daddy there with her. Here she is in the bluebonnets.

Tatum & Brian on the hayride

More pictures of Bodie coming soon...

Feeling so Blessed

This was me (and Bodie) 11 days ago. I can't believe our boy is already 9 days old. Here's a little bit about our time so far with Bo...

My labor and delivery was quick and a little crazy at times. When I got to the hospital I was dilated to 3 cm and not in labor. My doctor broke my water first thing, which hurt like crazy. Apparently I have a very tough amniotic sac. That might have been the most painful part of the whole day. Anyway, we started the pitocin around 8:00 am and Brian & I had time to just sit and talk, read and text people. Around 9:30 am, the contractions were pretty painful, so I asked for the epidural. The nurse checked me and I was 5 cm, so I got the epidural around 9:45 am.

I casually mentioned to her that with my last baby I went from 6 to 10 cm really quickly. She asked me how long I pushed for my last baby and I told her probably around 15 minutes or less. Her eyes got a little bit big and she started moving around our room kinda quickly. She then mentioned that they didn't have the lab orders for the cord blood sample that was supposed to be taken at the birth of our baby to check for galactosemia. Apparently they hadn't received a fax from my doctors office with the specifics of which color tube and how much blood to draw.

So around 10:00 am I was around 6 cm, and still no orders. At 10:30 I was dilated to 8-9 cm and I finally offered to get on my laptop and pull up the orders for them to look at from my email. Which we did. Thankfully everything worked out at the last minute and they were ready to take the blood sample from the cord. At 10:45 I was complete, but of course, my doctor wasn't there because he didn't expect me to be ready to push until after noon. So I had to wait about 10 minutes for my doctor to get there, feeling like our baby was about to pop out on his own. I was so happy when he finally walked in the door. I pushed through about 3 contractions and finally at 11:10 am, Bodie was born! I later found out he had to use the vacuum to help Bodie come out because he was such a big boy! That's why he has a little cone head.

I was so happy when I heard "It's a boy!" Bodie was the biggest of our kids at birth, weighing in at 8 lbs 11.5 oz. Tatum was second at 8 lbs 8 oz. Laney was 8 lbs even and Avery was 7 lbs 10 oz.

He came out screaming and wailed through the entire cleaning/weighing/footprinting process. When they finally put him in my arms, he got completely quiet. It was one of those memories I will always cherish. I just talked to him and he just stared at me, and I was completely in love.

Brian is so good at helping me through every step of the childbirth process. He is so calm and reassuring to me. At one point when I was dilating quickly, I got the chills so bad I asked for more blankets. He came over and held my hand and the warmth of his hand helped me relax and feel so much better. I am so happy for Brian to have a son. He will be such a great dad for Bodie. I know he will teach him about the Lord and fishing and baseball and how to be a good man. And deep down inside I'm pretty sure he is hoping he will fight and rough-house and knock things over.

Here we are... our first family photo with all six of us!

Grandad and Bodie

Nana, Papa & Bodie

Papa, Avery & Bodie

Nana, Papa and the whole crew

Gigi, Aunt Adriana and Bodie

The girls got to watch The Little Mermaid in our hospital room that night. My mom was so sweet to come stay with us and help take care of the girls so I could focus on getting used to Bodie. We appreciated her help so much and the girls loved having Nana all to themselves.

Avery is CRAZY about her baby brother. Here is the first time she got to hold him.

My sweet friend Bethany came to meet Bodie in the hospital. Also, our pastors Stephen and Matt came to meet Bodie and pray for him while we were there. Bodie also got to meet all his grandparents while he was in the hospital. We were very thankful to be released about 24 hours after Bodie was born. We were very ready to get home and get settled in. Here's Brian & Bodie with his stork in our front yard.

Bodie Luke - one day old

Three clean pajama girls so glad their baby brother is finally here!

Uncle Brent, Aunt Jenn & Tara came to meet Bodie this past weekend. Brian had games on both Friday and Saturday, so it was nice having Brent & Jenn there to help me out. They kept the girls entertained and we enjoyed just hanging out and visiting with them. Bodie also got to meet the Cavazos family and Uncle Brandon and baby Matthew during his first weekend.

Aunt Jenn & Bodie

Uncle Brent & Bodie

Tatum getting some sweet kisses from Bo

Bodie - three days old

The other day Avery said, "When I first heard 'bodie' I thought 'oh, that's okay', but now I think bodie is the cutest name in the whole world!" I must say, I agree with her!
When she gets home from school each day, the first thing she wants to do is hold Bodie. And he is so content in her arms. She talks to him and kisses him and occasionally squeals and says "I can't believe he's finally here!" These two have already bonded and it makes me so happy!
Tatum loves to kiss his head and put his paci in. Ever since we found out I was pregnant, Tatum has been praying and asking God for a "brother with blond hair." When we found out it was indeed a brother, she was very excited that God had answered that part with a "yes." And apparently He has answered the "blond" part too because Bodie's hair is a lot like Tatum's when she was a baby. So unless it falls out and grows in dark, we really think he will probably be a blond like Tate. She is so very happy to have another blond in our family.

Laney has done really well with Bodie. I was worried she would be jealous and it would break my heart to have to choose him over her, if they both were crying. But so far, she has been fine. Mostly she just ignores him, which is fine with me for now. But she does like to kiss his head and point to him and say "Bo-bee."

We are so thankful that Bodie's first newborn screening for galactosemia came back normal! We are still waiting for more tests to find out if he might have a minor case of it ("duarte", which is what Avery & Tatum had) or if he is just a carrier of it, like Laney. We have seen God answer our specific prayers so many times and we are so amazed and grateful!

Welcome Bodie Luke

Bodie Luke
Born 3/21/2011 at 11:10 am
20 inches long
8 lbs, 11.5 oz
We are all so thankful for this gift from God!

Bo, your sisters adore you and love to kiss your sweet forehead and cover you up with blankies and put your paci in when you cry. You are your daddy's "little buddy" and he could not be more excited to have a son. You and he have a big job taking care of all us girls! Your mama can't get enough of you. I just can't kiss you enough or tell you I'm crazy about you enough.

There are many more pics and stories and words coming soon...

Bluebonnets 2011

We were definitely a week or two early this year, but since we are welcoming our little guy in about 2 days, we decided this was the best chance to get our annual bluebonnet pictures with the girls. If you look real carefully, you can see about six bluebonnets in the field behind them.









The girls had a good time walking around in their pretty new dresses and pretending like we were in a field full of bluebonnets. I can't wait until next year's pictures when there's a little boy in the bluebonnet pictures with these three princesses.

We've had to pack a week worth of spring break into about two or three days lately since Brian was swamped with baseball at the beginning of the week. While he's been busy with baseball, the girls and I had a fun day at Copper Lakes feeding the ducks and birds and playing at the park. We also did some shopping for those last few things we need for our baby brother. And we did a lot of playing outside and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. So yesterday since Brian was finally on break, we walked the mall several times and wore the girls out completely. None of them got a nap the whole day, which worked perfectly into our plans... We put them to bed around 7:30 and went out on a date, while a friend of ours sat at our house for us. We saw a movie and ate dinner and it was so much fun. Might be the last date we get to go on for awhile, so we definitely enjoyed every minute of it.

Some fun we had over the past week... Tatum flying her kite while riding her scooter. And below, showing her "back teeth," which for some reason she is very proud of.

Laney's entertainment throughout the Girl Scout ceremony was this little plastic frog. So glad I let her pick it up off the ground and bring it into the ceremony!


Daisy troop 17547 had their official investiture ceremony yesterday and our little Girl Scout did a great job. Her job was to tell about the red petal on their vest, which stands for being strong and courageous. They have been working since September to earn these vests and all the petals on them. I am very happy Avery has had the opportunity to be a Girl Scout this year.


Next time I post, it will have pictures of a cute little baby boy it it, and I am so eager to find out what those pictures will look like! I keep trying to picture him in my head with all the different possible combinations of hair, eyes, skin, nose, mouth, etc. that he could have. It's so neat to know that God already knows every detail of this little boy growing inside me and I will finally get to find out in two days or less! Monday morning we are going in to be induced, and we would greatly appreciate the prayers of all our friends and loved ones!