a day at the park.

Since I work 3 days a week and Brandon works 3 days a week, we usually only have that remaining 1 day for all 3 of us to spend together.  Today, we ventured over to Raleigh and picked up some fresh squeezed orange-ade from the farmer's market and then went over to Pullen Park.  First of all, if you have never had the orange-ade from the farmer's market, you are missing out big time!  It's delicious.  They also do lemonade, limeade, and a blend of the 3.  The orange is my favorite.  They put orange, lemon, and lime slices in it and a couple of cherries....mmmm.  My mouth waters just thinking about it!  We picked some up and headed over to the park.  Pullen Park was just recently redone, and it's so nice now!  They have great walking paths around the lake, plenty of places to sit and watch the paddle boats, and the cute little train track that goes all around the park.  There's also an indoor carousel and a great playground.  We put Lucas in the stroller and started walking around the lake, looking for a good place to sit and relax (and so I could feed the little chunker.)  We watched the train and the ducks and geese.  It was such a lovely afternoon.

This is his "feed me NOW" face

Now he's a happy baby

It was a little bright, hard to keep our eyes open

We are trying to be intentional in hanging out as a family on our day together instead of just lounging around the house.  It's so fun getting out and showing Lucas the world, especially before it gets to be 100 degrees around here :)

an ode to my baby daddy

I need to take a minute to brag on Brandon.  Not just because we celebrated his birthday this week, (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!) but because I feel like it's overdue and he deserves it!  I knew Brandon was going to be a great dad from the minute I met him.  I wasn't sure exactly how his overly-intelligent mind would do reasoning with kids who just aren't as smart as him (like when he tried to reason with our then 4-year old niece, Lily, on how the structure of her lego house wouldn't hold up because it wasn't symmetrical....yeah....) But he's come a long way :)  From the minute I peed on that stick and the positive 2 lines showed up, he ran around fist pumping the air while I stared at it in shock and told him maybe I should pee on another.  At that moment, as a billion thoughts were racing through my head, I was reminded that I had one heck of a baby daddy. 

There are tons of reasons why I love this man, but here are a few:

- he loves Jesus like nobody's business.

- he's smart.  I mean really smart.

- he's funny.

- he's pretty darn good looking.

- he's a hard worker.

- he helps cook and clean.
- he has the funniest conversations with Lucas.

- he knows how to fix things.

- he researches stuff like a maniac...this was exceptionally amazing when it came to reading baby books.  While he read all about sleep schedules and made charts on them (I kid you not), I read absolutely nothing and just look to him for the answers.  Score.

- he prays daily for me, Lucas, our family, our friends, our ministry, our neighbors, and our world.

- he leads our family spiritually.  

- he loves our dog.

- he loves our baby.

- he loves me.

Brandon has completely embraced his role of being a dad.  From changing diapers to feeding and playing with Lucas, he is quite the Mr. Mom on the days that I am at work! He is completely smitten by our little boy, and that makes my heart happy.  To see him delight in our son is a blessing.      

Here are a few of my recent favorite pictures of him:

One of the first pictures of him holding his
precious son. I love that Lucas is already looking
at him with love and admiration.

At our first pediatrician's appointment when
Lucas was 3 days old. Brandon got puked on!

I still love him even though he tries to
corrupt our son into being a wolfpack fan...

Reading with daddy

Changing a diaper with Lexi's help

Lucas wants to be just like his daddy when
he grows up!

Rocking the ergo baby carrier

Lucas loves his daddy

I told you he was good looking!

Holding his son

This picture makes my heart want to explode.
The way Brandon is looking at our son is
priceless.

We went to see Wicked at DPAC on his birthday, it was amazing!

There aren't enough words to express how thankful I am for having Brandon as my husband and Lucas's daddy.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!  We love you!

she works hard for the money.

Well guys, I survived.  And it wasn't THAT bad.  (For those of you who are a little out of the loop, my last post was me complaining about going back to work.  I'm just keeping it real, here.)  I think a few things helped make my transition back into work easier...first and most importantly, I had friends and family members lifting me, Brandon, and Lucas up in prayer yesterday.  Let me tell y'all, I felt it.  Granted, I did whine and complain throughout the day about missing my little boy, but I felt at peace with being back at the hospital.  Did I enjoy being at work?  I wouldn't go so far as to say that...but seriously, the few days leading up to my first shift back, I had these panicky feelings.  I felt guilty about leaving Lucas and was having fears of being labeled a 'bad mom' for going back to work.  Brandon is an amazing dad, don't get me wrong, but I worried about him staying sane while I was gone for 14 hours.  But all of those feelings were suppressed and tucked away when it came time for me to walk out of the door yesterday morning.  So to all of you who prayed for us, THANK YOU.  Secondly, I got a good night of sleep the night before.  Lucas had a great night, I think he knew his mama needed it more than he did.  Also, the girls at work went out of their way to welcome me back.  They made signs and hung them around the unit that said things like "welcome back mama Ash!" and "we missed you" and things like that.  Sweet?  Yes.  My patients were pretty delightful, too, and the day wasn't too crazy.  I had time to pump and eat and things like that.  And, everyone at work put up with me obsessively showing pictures of our little ham.  I was "that mom" and beamed with pride with every picture I showed. Finally, Brandon survived and doesn't seem too traumatized!  I only called twice and texted once (requesting a picture) while I was gone.  I'd say that's pretty good, right?  He sounded very calm and collected when I talked to him, and the picture he sent me was of Lucas peacefully napping in his bouncy seat.  Do I think that's really how the day went?  Not a chance.  Brandon was exhausted when I got home, but held it together for me and acted like it was the best day in the world.  I walked in the door and he was grilling burgers on the back porch with Lucas strapped to him in the Moby wrap, already in his jammies.  At this point, it was 8:00 which is time time for his last feeding and bedtime, so little man was at his breaking point.  I ran upstairs and jumped in the shower to wash off the hospital kiddie germs, then grabbed my sweet boy to kiss him.  When I kissed his cute little head, he smelled like hamburgers from being by the grill.  I had to laugh.  I come home and find my sweet boy smelling like straight up beef after a day with daddy.  Appropriate, isn't it?  So then we went upstairs, he ate, and went right to sleep.  WHEW.  What a day for everyone.

goodbye, maternity leave.

How can it be that time already?  Tomorrow is the day that I return to work.  Don't get me wrong, I love my job.  I'm a good nurse.  I love the kiddos I take care of.  I love the people I work with and the institution I work for.  I'm thankful to call my coworkers my friends and for the love and support they have shown us during my pregnancy and during my time off.  I'll be honest, I'm pretty nervous about going back to work.  12 hour shifts are long and hard.  Before Lucas was born, those shifts often wiped me out.  Now I'm going to do them on considerably less sleep...uh oh.  Also, there are so many details to figure out.  For those of you who know me well, you know that I'm pretty type-A.  Ok, I'm really type-A.  I like predictability and plans.  Surprises?  Not really a fan of them.  So far, I think we're doing okay on scheduling plans.  Brandon is in the office 2 days a week and of course on Sundays, and my work allows us to self schedule ourselves.  For this first schedule, we have it worked out so Brandon will be home with Lucas on the days that I work, and one week my mom is coming to watch Lucas when we both have to work the same days.  Needless to say, I'm SO thankful that we have that worked out so far.  Will it always work out?  I doubt it.  But for now, knowing that either Brandon or my mom will be home with Lucas while I can't be is comforting.  Another semi-stressful thing for me to figure out is how exactly to pump at work.  Breastfeeding has been one of the most rewarding and joyful experiences of my life.  It's something I want to eventually do a post on.  But on those 12 hour days, Lucas will be eating from a bottle, of course.  Thankfully, he does great with a bottle and I already have a good stash of milk in the freezer for him.  I think it's harder on me than it is on him :)  So I will pump before I leave for work, then a few times throughout the day at work.  As long as I get home from work on time, I will be able to nurse him just in time for his bedtime.  At work, I'm going to have to be diligent to make time to pump, even if the day is crazy busy. One of my nurse friends went so far to make sure I'm all set up to pump while at work, sending me a detailed email of how the work pump works and putting parts for me in my locker, all before I even step foot back on the floor!  

I know it will be fine.  And I know that Brandon will be great at home with Lucas on those long days (and send me plenty of pictures!)  I love my job.  And I LOVE being Lucas's mom.  We'll figure out how to do both, together.  

Want some pictures? I know you do!  Here are a few from playtime.  Enjoy!

2 month stats

Oh.my.goodness.  I can't believe Lucas is 2 months old! He had his checkup yesterday and got rave reviews from his lovely pediatrician.  

Drumroll please...

Weight: 13 lbs. 10 oz. (93rd percentile...hehehe.)

Length: 24 inches (70th percentile)

Head circumference: 41 cm (80th percentile)

He also got his 2 month vaccinations, which was SO hard for this peds-nurse-turned-mommy to watch.  Break my heart, why don't you?  He cried (screamed until his face turned purple) for the longest 5 seconds of my life until the nurse was finished and I picked him up.  See his silver sparkly bandaids in the picture?  Chicks dig the war wounds.  For the rest of the day he was a bit fussy and sleepy.  He wanted to be extra snuggly, which was ok with me.  I gave him tylenol before we went to the appointment and then for the rest of the afternoon, and I think that helped some.   

So what else has he been up to, you ask?  Here are a few highlights:

* Clearly, the boy still loves to eat, as evidenced by the 93rd percentile weight mentioned above.

* Sleep is getting better.  I plan to do a post sometime soon about how we have been getting into a sleep schedule.  For now, let's just say we're making progress!  (Progress, that is, when little man decides to just.give.in. and go to sleep.  He's pretty darn good at fighting it.) We are down to just one nighttime feeding where I only nurse him for 3 or 4 minutes before he goes back down to sleep.  Hallelujah.

* He continues to love tummy time and enjoys pushing up on his elbows to look around.

* That hair...still has mohawk tendencies.

* His eyes are still changing, sometimes they still have that baby gray color, but they are looking pretty brown more often.  There are days when they have a tint of blue, but I think he's going to take after his mama and have big brown eyes.

* He has discovered his tongue, which is hilarious.  He will stick it out and make lizard faces, especially in response to us sticking our tongues out.

* He's fighting a little bit of eczema on his cheeks and one spot on the inside of his right wrist.  We got some hydrocortisone cream from the pediatrician yesterday and have already seen some improvement.

* We have made huge progress on bath time!  Remember me saying how much he hated be naked and taking baths in this post?  Well, we are past that.  He actually doesn't mind hanging out in just a diaper, and baths have become enjoyable!  He loves to be in the water.

* He loves hanging out in the Moby wrap or the Ergo carrier, both genius inventions that allow mommies and daddies to be productive when baby wants to be near you.

* He gets the hiccups at least twice a day, and it makes him SO mad.

* SMILES.  Oh my, they make me melt into a puddle of sweetness.  He is very quick to give out smiles, especially after he wakes up in the morning.  When he makes eye contact, his little face lights up with happiness and a huge grin.  Mornings are definitely his happiest part of the day...where did he get that from??  He wakes up smiling and cooing every day, it's incredible.

* Talking.  He carries on the funniest little 'conversations' of coos and babbles.  It's really amazing how he responds to you talking back to him.  One of my favorite things is watching him talk to his daddy.  They have the funniest little talks, I love it.

* We are well into 3 month clothes. I had to suppress sad feelings when I put away some of his newborn and 0-3 month clothes and remind myself to be thankful that he is growing so well. 

* We are still in size 1 diapers, but barely.  I think it will be only a matter of days before that big booty can't be contained in the 1's.  We're trying to hold out until the rest of our gro-vias get shipped to us!

Lucas, you are growing up so fast.  We are so proud of you and are so thankful that you bring us so much joy.  We love you!!!

must.have.coffee.

This morning, I'm surviving with the help of caffeine.  Lots and lots of coffee is nothing short of a gift from God.  We had such a fun weekend filled with graduations and my first Mother's Day, and all of those activities are good to wipe a baby out!  Unfortunately, last night Lucas hit his sleepy breaking point and had a weird night.  Like an "I'm overly tired and am going to wake up every 3 hours and want to nurse again" night.  (Which he hasn't done in weeks...more on that later.)  

So we're surviving.  We might be a little cracked out from caffeine, but we're surviving.  

mother's day.

Mother's Day...It's a holiday I've always loved, because let's be honest, I have an amazing mom.  But this year, Mother's Day was extra special because I got to participate as a mom myself!  It was pretty wild, being 'celebrated' on this day, but it was awesome. 

 The day started out with Brandon making pancakes before church, and giving me my gift of Wicked tickets at the DPAC!  I'm so excited to see the musical and enjoy a date night with Brandon.  

 

After church, we met Jon, Kelsey, and both sets of parents for lunch after Kelsey's graduation.  We gave Nana her Mother's Day gift from Lucas, a coffee mug we painted with his footprints.  His cute little feet make up the "V" in LOVE.

 Then we came home and napped.  My kind of afternoon :)

Lucas, I love you so much and I am so thankful to be your mommy.  Thank you for making this Mother's Day so special!

a graduation divided

We had such a fun and busy weekend getting to celebrate Jon and Kelsey's graduation!  It was a time filled with the rivalry of red vs. blue, Wolfpack vs. Tarheels.  But we are so proud of both of them!  Here is a recap in pictures: 

Jon walking across the stage at his departmental graduation
 ceremony for Electrical Engineering

Lucas and Poppy watching Jon's ECE graduation

YAY Uncle Jon!  Lucas was clearly very excited for Jon to graduate!

 

After dinner at the Angus Barn

Congrats Jon, Ryan, and Ross!

This board is in Jon's house...see Kelsey's name written in the middle?
She wrote that the first night her and Jon met, and he never erased it :)

Jon scanning the blue for Kelsey

What a good looking group of Tarheel graduates!

Kelsey walking at the School of Journalism graduation

Love CAN exist despite the red and blue rivalry!

Sacrificial love?

CONGRATULATIONS Jon and Kelsey!  We are so proud of you!

strawberry picking

There are so many strawberry patches around here and I have always wanted to go and pick some of their beautiful red delicious berries.  We finally did it!  We met the Runkles at Waller Farms and picked tons of strawberries.  I didn't get any pictures of the big boys (Brandon and Daniel) because they were actually the ones doing all of the picking :)  They worked so hard while the kiddos played and the mamas talked.  Sounds like a deal to me!

sweet Katelyn and Jackson playing in the strawberry patch

mamas and babies!

the fruits of our labor

We had such a great time catching up with friends and hanging out in the sunshine.  We definitely will be visiting the strawberry patch again in the near future, yummmm!

a future NBA star...and tyler zeller.

There are 2 future NBA stars in this picture...and Brandon is not one of them.  Lucas got to meet Tyler Zeller last Sunday at church.  Tyler is a member of the Summit and came to speak to the students.  Towering at 7 feet tall, he makes Brandon look like a little kid, doesn't he?    

Tyler has a promising NBA career ahead of him but took the time to come and talk to our students about Jesus.  Pretty awesome.  And Lucas seems to be pretty happy hanging out with such a great Tarheel alum!

backyard BBQ shower for j+k

On Saturday, we had a backyard BBQ bash for Jon and Kelsey!  It was a really fun time filled with gingham, burlap, and all other things BBQ-y.  We had our back deck and backyard all set up with tables, chairs, corn hole, ladder ball, citronella candles, summer flowers, and homemade icecream makers. However, as everyone was arriving, big black storm clouds rolled in...but a fun time was still had by all. Here is a sneak peek at the shower:

Invitations made by two of Kelsey's friends who helped me throw the shower, Caitlin and Olivia

Any BBQ bash has to have mason jars and striped straws!

The food included BBQ sliders, corn on the cob, pigs in the blanket, cupcakes, apple pie, veggies and dip, watermelon, and vanilla and oreo homemade ice cream (which I'm sad I didn't get a picture of).  Delicious!

Adorable watermelon themed cupcakes by Caitlin

Individual veggies and dip

What's a BBQ without lemonade and sweet tea?

The "backyard" BBQ bash turned into a "living room" BBQ bash...thanks,  rain.

Because of the rain, I found out that my house can indeed hold 30 people inside...yikes.

Jon's new BBQ tool set

I made this towel cake for them, complete with 4 dish towels, cute bird salt and pepper shakers on top, and 4 serving utensils.  Thanks, pinterest :)

they are so cute together.

Kelsey with some of her girls

Jon with some of his boys

with Kelsey's parents

with our parents
 

Our lovely bride and groom!  We love you guys!

Lucas clearly partied too hard.