Well Child and Well Baby Check Up

I got smart again this Dr. visit.  I had Leta's well child check up and Max's well  baby check up at the same time.  Luke knew we were going to the doctor this morning and asked if he had to go.  I replied he did.  The he wanted to know if he had to have shots.  I told him he didn't have an appointment, he was just coming along and assured him he wouldn't have any shots.
Luke: Does Leta have to have shots?
Me: Yes.
Luke: YEA!! That means I'll get a sucker, too!

He's very sympathetic.  I love our doctors visits.  It's so much more than that.  I get all types of parenting tips and advice and he's a Christian so I'm confident on all sorts of levels that we're getting sound advice.  It's always nice.  Leta is very possessive and throws lots of fits and so we talked about that and I learned that I'm to "stay the course".  Keep doing what I'm doing and results will eventually come.  We hope.  He also assured me that the face children put on in public is the face that they eventually grow into.  I hope that's true, because both Luke and Leta are so much more well behaved in public than they are at home.

Isn't this the greatest picture of Max ever? He's just over 5 months in this picture.  But that's still what he looks like today.

Luke at 6 months

Leta at 6 months

Max: 26" long 15lbs 15oz

Luke:26" long  15lbs 8 oz (at 6 months)

Leta: 25" long  15lbs 6oz  (at 6 months)

You could argue that there is more of a "Soper Growth Curve" at this point.  Max had to have 2 shots and an oral vaccine today.  He barely cried at all.  Just the time it took to actually get the shots, then he was all better.

Leta 2 years

Luke: 2 years

Leta: 24lbs 32" tall

Luke: 24lbs 32" tall.

What was I saying about the "Soper Growth Chart"?.....ummm yeah.  Leta had 2 shots and cried at looked at me in disbelief.  She couldn't believe I was allowing this pain to happen to her.  But then she got a sucker.  And so did Luke.

Well Child and Well Baby Check Up

Recently we went to see Dr. Stephens for Luke and Max's well child/baby check up.

Luke was 4 years in October, but I waited so that I could do his and Max's appointments at one time.  Luke weighs 34lbs (29%) and is 39" (17%) tall.  He is moving up on the growth charts people!  Look out!  We talked a little bit more about his tummy issues.  He's to continue taking his Digestive Aid for Milk.  He hasn't been complaining about his stomach as much but we are still somewhat limiting diary.  I watch how much cheese I let him have in a day and we're still buying him lactose free milk.  According to Dr. Stephens there are only 4 basic/important things: 1.  Eat dinner together  2.  Wrestle with dad  3.  Poop daily  4. Sleep well every night.  Going by those standards, Luke is doing very well and on days when he's pushing every single button I have, that's what I need to remember.  That and a little time in his room never hurt him ;)  Luke got 4 shots, poor guy and he managed to cry harder about them than Max did about his.  He got him so worked up that he got himself over heated and broke out in a heat rash and to make sure it was just that, we had to stay a while after the appointment to monitor him. Sheesh.  He did run a low grade fever (99-100) and complained of sore legs for a couple of days.

This was Luke's solution "to make sure Max doesn't go anywhere"...no he didn't enjoy picking up this mess before bed =)

Max is 4 months old, he is 24" (5-10%) tall and weighs 14lbs 6 oz  (25-50%)in a wet diaper.  Max is still very content and smiley.  He giggles easily and loves watching Luke and Leta.  He can roll over from tummy to back and back to tummy.  He just started a new schedule today and it is as follows:

8am-eat

9:45-10 down for nap

11:30 wake and eat

1:30 down for nap

3:00 wake and eat

5:00 down for nap

6:00 wake and eat

8:15 eat and bed

10:30 Dream feed

This is new as he is being moved from 4 naps per day to 3 and is dropping one feeding per day.  Up to this point he has been cluster feeding in the late afternoon/evening, so this will free up our time in the evenings to have a bigger window to be out and about if we want.

He has not started solid foods yet but I imagine he will soon.  I would like to wait until after we get back from our Christmas travels to start that so I don't have to worry about that while we're gone to Ruidoso with Kyle's  side of the family.  Ruidoso is a small ski resort type town in the mountains in New Mexico.  We spent our first Christmas there after we were married and it was gorgeous and so much fun!  I'm sure Kyle will be spending some time skiing, which will be nice for him as he hasn't skied since I sent him for his 30th birthday and hopefully I'll be able to get out and browse around in all the cute shops they have in town.  Vicki likes to kick me out to have better quality time with my kids and I don't mind AT ALL!   

Anyway, back to eating.  Dr. Stephens introduced a new "food introduction" schedule that he's switched to since Leta was a baby.  

1-Veggies (green first, then yellow and orange)

2- Meat/Veggie combo

3-Fruits

4-Cereal

Instead of introducing rice cereal first, he's now placed it last.  He said there have been recent studies showing nutritional benefits to introducing it last and that many babies don't really care for it anyway.  I had thought all babies loved rice cereal before I had kids, but Luke and Leta both preferred oatmeal, but really didn't care for it much at all. In fact, Luke pretty much hated it.  I have pureed green bean and have them in the deep freeze, but I haven't worked on anything else yet.  I imagine I will stock up next trip to the grocery store.

2 months

Max had his 2 month well baby appointment yesterday.  And he was the only well baby in our family.  Luke was at the Dr. Monday for his ears/croup.  Leta threw up Tuesday afternoon.  She continued to not feel well Wednesday.  Kyle and I had the stomach bug together (again) yesterday...he threw up, but I did not.  I was not as bad off as him, but let me just say...caring for a family when you feel HORRIBLE is NO fun at all.  Somehow a 3 year old, a 1 yr old and a 2 month old thought they needed me yesterday.  And now today, Luke woke up sick and threw up.  Hopefully he'll be better tomorrow because that is the Day Out With Thomas.  As big of an event in his life as his birthday and Christmas.

Anyway, back to Max.  He is in the 25% for height and weighs 12lbs 1oz which puts him in the 60% for weight. My fattest baby yet!  We're all very proud ;)  He got 3 shot immunizations, 1 oral and has his tongue clipped.  So, he didn't have a good day yesterday either.  He has slept through the night twice now (didn't last night, but didn't really eat very well after his Dr. appt. yesterday, so hopefully we'll get back on track tonight.) He can roll over (tummy to back) and smile.  He also enjoys gazing upon his ruggedly handsome face in a mirror as well.

So I had a baby the other day...

Tuesday I went to the Dr. Shanbour who predicted he'd see me for my regular appointment the following Tuesday.  He informed that he'd be out of town Thursday-Saturday (I should've known then that I was going to have my baby!  Just my luck!) and again beginning August 10th (my due date).  So we decided that the next appointment we'd set up an induction date so that he'd be able to deliver me.

Wednesday after my workout at Body and Soul I did this (planking):

Thursday after the kids' naps we packed a supper and drove to Arbuckle Wilderness, an exotic animal theme park, about 1 1/2 hours from our house.  We had planned on doing this on Monday afternoon, but Luke threw up Monday right before Body and Soul so we had to rearrange our plans.  Once there, Luke and Leta got to get out of their car seats and ride in our laps and we drove through the park.  Most of the animals roam free and believe me, they know the drill.  They come right up to your car window and will stick their heads right in begging to be fed some of the feed you can buy there at the park.  Luke thought this was great, Leta mostly liked to see them from a distance.  We kept our window up when the animals were near.

The kids really enjoyed it and I'm really glad we managed to get that little outing in...as it turned out, our last as a family of four.  In the middle of the night that night (1:45am Friday morning) my water broke.  We called our good friend Shanna to come over.  Kyle packed up, helped me finish packing and getting things together etc.  I've learned a thing or two since having Luke so I was sure to grab a shower before we left for the hospital.  We arrived around 3am, wishing we'd got to bed earlier than we had =).

At 7:00am they decided that at the rate my (non) labor was progressing I might never have a baby, so they went ahead an induced me me.  I got my epidural at 10:30, and was soon feeling fine.   A little after 11:30 I sent Kyle off to have lunch knowing that it was probably now or never for him and eating.  5 minutes after he walked out the door, Max's heart rate dropped below 90 bpm.  He sure had me worried, but nothing was going to phase my veteran nurse (whom we had when I delivered Luke) and she was not worried since he was recovering nicely.  Dr. Goff (who was pinch hitting for Shanbour since he was gone) got to my room at 12:10 and Max was born at 12:30pm July 22, 2011.  He was 37 weeks 2 days along, so almost 3 weeks early.  He weighed 6lbs 8oz and was 19 1/2" long.  We noticed the nurses all clustering around Max's umbilical cord and then even measuring it.  Turns out, a normal umbilical cord is 28-30" long.  Max's was the longest that any of them had ever seen measuring in at 40".  When I take Max to the Dr. next week I hope to remember to ask him if he knows what determines cord length etc.  Max is completely healthy and doing great.  He's got a very high pitches cry and looks more like Kyle than the other two, I think.  He has less hair than Luke had, but more than Leta.

Leta's a big sister!

Big Brother!

Leta is pretty possessive of me and doesn't like it when I hold Luke (which isn't much of a problem since Luke isn't snugly with me at all.  But when he does let me hold him, she has to be held too and will hit him and try to push him off my lap.  I was VERY nervous as to how Leta would adjust.  So far, it seems I had nothing to worry about.  Leta is simply glad I had her baby for her.  She has to check on "BABY!" all the time and is very attentive when I change his diapers and will hand me a clean one to use.  She is very observant while he's eating and spends a great deal of time kissing his head.  Nothing will be able to distract this child from eating with all Leta's training!  We're doing well, but the true test will be when mom goes home and I don't have full-time, live-in help.

Catch Up!

I went to the Dr. today.  I'm 30 weeks along and the baby is measuring 29 weeks so take THAT Walmart checker lady who felt the need to go on and on and on and ON.... about how big I am and how I look like I'm going to pop, and WHEN am I going to have that baby, and has the doctor given you any idea how big that baby is?  I mean, how much does he weigh?!?!?!  Seriously.  On her behalf, she was young and had most likely never been pregnant herself.  This is what I told myself over and over.  Not only did I not resort to sarcasm, I don't THINK I even gave her any dirty looks.  Shanna was there though, so she might have a different opinion.  I feel that the square footage of my mansion in heaven got expanded.

More Dr. talk. One time I told mom that I thought I was Dr. Shanbour's favorite patient.  She quickly assured me that I wasn't, that it was merely a sign that he's a good Dr.  Well today Shanbour told me I was one of his favorites, so BOO YEA MOM! *wink*.  So I told him that story and he admitted it was probably some of both.  Good bedside manner + he just thinks I'm wonderful *more winking*.  Really I think all it would take is a patient to consistently be on time and follow instructions.  I did NOT tell him I just got back from a weekend trip that was longer than an 1 1/2 drive...which according to him is a no no after 28 weeks.

We had a great Memorial Day weekend at the lake.  I excepted that lake to be super packed because of the holiday, but it wasn't at all, which was nice.  The water was COLD.  Luke was the only one who thought it was just fine.  Brandon and Kyle went early Friday morning and got the boat in the water, Shanna and I brought the kids up after their naps.  Luke woke up Saturday morning throwing up, but without a fever.  We weren't really sure what to do.  No fever, but sick, and has been begging to go to the lake since before last October...so we stayed and he was fine after his nap Saturday afternoon.  Now we're just hoping no one else catches it. So far we're all fine.

I am now keeping my laundry in the laundry basket and putting that on Luke's activity table so I don't have to bend over to get the clothes to fold them.  I find the floor is getting farther and farther away these days.

We're having another....

BOY! Luke is excited, since he got what he wanted.  However, he thinks the new baby's name should be Barker, which I hate to break it to him...isn't happening.

Luke has been into talking about seeing the baby and snuggling the baby etc. so when we had our big ultra sound on Tuesday, of course, I wanted him to go...so we all went.  Kyle had his hands full holding Leta and keeping Luke's hands off of everything in the room.

When we finally got home I asked Luke if he liked seeing pictures of the new baby.  His reply?  "I liked it, but I like seeing the stuff in the office better.  I want to be a Doctor so I can touch it."  Fine with me!  He can take care of us in our old age.

Speaking of names...we've decided to move on from the letter "L".  So if let me hear your "M" name suggestions.  I have one that I like, but Kyle is still working on coming around.

Happy Birthday Leta!

From our photo shoot this morning with Christie Mellor.  LOVE. IT.

Give me my cake!

Oh my!

First bite.

I love it!

I'm cuter than you would be if you had this much chocolate cake on your face...

Today is Leta's first birthday.  I'm not sure where this year went, but wherever it went, it got there FAST!  Our camera is currently misplaced (read: lost) so no uploading a photo of Leta today for you!  But this morning we did get our family pictures taken along with individuals of Luke and Leta.  I'll update this post with a picture of Leta as soon as I get it.

Tuesday Leta had her 1 year well baby check up.

Let's compare her stats to Luke's at a year.  By the way, these to pictures are of Luke on his first birthday.  Leta went through a phase where I really felt like she was a mini girl-Luke.  Not anymore.  They're definitely related, but Leta certainly has her own individual appearance. 

Leta weighs 18lbs 7 oz.  Luke weighed 18lbs 8 oz.
Leta is 29" long.  Luke was 28 1/2" long.


Luke cried when Dr. Stephens picked him up.  Leta barely cried over her shots.


About Leta:


She has 6 teeth, 4 on the top, 2 on the bottom and is currently working on another on the bottom.


She can crawl, climb the stairs, pull up, cruise, stand up and sit down in the middle of the room.  She knows where her head is.  One day she knew her nose, but only for 1 day.  She only takes 1 nap a day.  She signs "drink", "more", and "all done".  We're working on please.  She has no words, but babbles quite a bit and says mamamamama and dadadadadada.


She only nurses once a day at night (don't tell Leta, but even that is almost over!).  She only eats table food.  She eats oatmeal with fruit in the morning and whatever we're having for dinner and supper.  She does not like peas.  She's not the best vegetable eater, and isn't into food that takes a lot of "work".  She does not like for me to leave to go to Body & Soul, but is always fine as soon as I leave.  She enjoys her bible classes and never fusses when I drop her off someplace.


She is more reserved than Luke was and not as free with her smiles.  She is very observant and thinks it's ridiculous for someone else to hold her if I am within viewing distance.  


She is more compliant than Luke was about "not touching", however she frequently laughs while being disciplined etc.  She is also a fit thrower and will cry and throw her little body down on the floor, get back up on all 4's, and throw herself back down.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.  You get the picture.  She is also big into arching her back if you're holding her when she's upset with the world and telling us all about it.


She really likes her busy ball popper, her dinosaur and our ride on car.  She likes to push the car around and sit on it, although she can't get it to go anywhere when on it. 


She likes bath time with Luke and eating anything off our floors.  (There is usually an abundance for her to choose from).


She likes books with something to touch and feel or a flap to lift.  She likes toilet water even more.

Luke's Well Check

Tuesday Luke had his 3 yr. Well Child check up with Dr. Stephens.  He talked all morning about not wanting a shot.  He didn't have any immunizations he needed to receive, but he did have to get a flu shot, poor thing!  


Luke is 35 inches tall (6%) and 29 lbs (20%--the highest he's ever been for weight!)  Luke was just 26 pounds this summer, so he's really packin' on the pounds! Maybe he's getting ready for a growth spurt or something.  


Luke woke up with croup Sunday night (again!). Was fine Monday, but at the Dr. we discovered a 99.3 temperature.  Not bad in my world, and doesn't even count in Dr. Stephens world.  However, we we got home and he was eating lunch he said he didn't feel well, and he felt hot to me so I took his temperature...102.8.  Which DOES count.  Then yesterday his fever hung out at around 100 and today it's gone...and transfered to Leta.  At least there was no throwing up for Luke.


We had our carpet re-stretched upstairs, which meant Leta missed her morning nap, which definitely wasn't a good thing, especially today.  But, she took a good nap at the same time Luke took his nap, which was great for me because I got a good break.  She woke up around 2:45 and I figured it would be a 1 nap day today, but around 5:30 she was just acting so exhausted that Kyle put her down and she got to sleep another 30 minutes before I woke her up.  She was tired and cuddly this evening, which was nice.

Well Baby

Leta had her well baby check up today.  She is 27" long and 16lbs 7oz.  She will be 9 months old on the 13th.  When Luke was 9 months old he weighed 17lbs 8oz.  So almost exactly 1lb lighter.  Leta's head is in the 50 percentile, her height in the 25th percentile and her weight in the 10th percentile.  Busy packing...short post.

Leta is 6 months old!

I am happy to be me!

Attempting to crawl

If you look REALLY close you can see a tooth.

Leta had her 6 month well baby appointment today. She weighs 15lbs 6oz (which puts her right at the 50% for weight) and she was 25 inches long (25% for height, but we noticed that her height fluctuates between the 25th and 50th percentiles, so likely she hasn't had her little growth spurt yet). So, right now, I guess she's short and fat =). Everything is great with her.

She got her second tooth (her bottom front right) tooth this past Sunday (the 11th). She can't crawl yet, but she's mobile. She can pretty much get wherever she wants to go by scooching. We have a pretty good video of her speed scooching one evening, but I can't figure out how to get it off the camera, so I'll need to get Kyle's help for that. She can also sit up. She doesn't sit straight up, but leans forward on her legs, and she can't be trusted to not get a round bottom and tip over, so sitting still requires monitoring.

She is still working on her "first tastes". We've had the "green veggies" (peas, green beans and avocado...yes, I know avocado is a fruit). We've had the "yellow veggies" (carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash, acorn squash). We're moving on to fruit. So far she's had applesauce, but I bought bananas, mangoes, and peaches today so they're the next "tastes" up. She is also allowed to start a sippy cup with water and can have "puffs". It's a cereal bite that dissolves more easily than a cheerio.

She gets up for her day between 6:30 and 7:00 and has a 45 minute nap at 9, noon, and three. She eats breakfast at 7, lunch at 11, has a snack at 2:30, supper at 5:30 and a bedtime snack at 8. Sometimes she'll wake up around 5:30 (4:50 this morning) and want to eat, but then she always goes back down without any fuss until 7. She seems to do this in cycles, so the Dr. and I decided today that perhaps it is hunger and she's needing a little something more at bedtime. Thus the puffs. So we'll try it and see. She's still wearing 3-6 month clothes, but she's beginning to outgrow them so soon she will be moving to 6-9 months clothing. I find myself dressing her and saying, "Well, looks like the last time for this outfit."

She's a very happy and contented baby who LOVES her big brother. He is the best and getting smiles and giggles out of her. He loves her a lot, but now that she is mobile, he spends a great deal of his time fearing for his trains. "HOLD HER MOMMY! She's going to get my trains!!!!!"

Here is a link to my blog post when Luke was 6 months old. It has a picture for comparison.

Nebraska Trip June 2010

We just got home from a trip to Nebraska to see my parents. My 10 year High School reunion was also this year so we killed two birds with one stone and planned our trip north around that so we could attend.

We left Oklahoma Friday the 18th. Leta has proven to be only slightly better at traveling than Luke was. She took one 10 minute nap and three 30 minute naps. The trip used to take 9 hours. With two kids, it took us 10 1/2 with all the stopping to nurse and eat etc. We stopped at McDonald's in Salina, KS and let Luke play while Leta ate her oatmeal. She hadn't gotten it figured out at that point so it took quite a while. She also had a blow out while there. Just glad it was in the restaurant and not in the car. Luke didn't nap at all but watched Thomas the Train and Veggie Tales. We got to my parents at about 6:30, which was good so they had a chance to play before bed. We put Luke on a pallet in "Michael's" room and we were with Leta in my old room. Luke did not sleep well this night. He was up from around 1:3o until probably 4 and then up again at 6:30. I finally ended up sleeping in there with him. Leta woke up for the day at 6:00.

Saturday Luke spent the morning helping Grandpa on the farm. They checked cows, fed the horse, road the tractor...all kinds of manly things. Luke also did a lot of swinging. Since Leta won't take a bottle, we put them to bed and then headed into town for my reunion. There ended up being 14 of us there, and it as good to see some people, most of whom I hadn't seen since Graduation day. We got back to mom and dad's around 11:30 to find Luke awake and mom in there with him. So, I ended up sleeping with him again.

Sunday morning we went to church and then out to eat and back home for naps. While eating out Leta learned how to work her tongue while eating. Feeding her has gone much smoother since then. (With the exception of supper tonight when I introduced green beans to her. Now she has to get used to some texture in her food!) Luke discovered the Mulberry tree and spent a great deal of time snacking on that. He slept all night Sunday night and didn't wake up until 9 Monday morning.

Monday we went to the city park and played and then went to the grocery store. Gary's Food Town has toddler size grocery carts, which Luke LOVED. As soon as we got back, he ran and layed down in front of Leta and told her all about the shopping carts. Kyle's eye had been red since Sunday and mom thought it might be pink eye so Kyle went in to the Doctor on Monday and got a pink eye prescription. He was surprised that Dr. Felber knew who I was. He didn't grow up in a small town like me =).

Monday night Luke woke up very upset and when I went in to him he immediately said, "Mommy, I don't feel good. I want my temperature." I suspected it was an ear infection related to his previous ones, so HE got to go see Dr. Felber, too. After his appointment we went to my grandparents in town and they got to spend the afternoon with Luke and Leta. Kyle and my dad drove to Omaha and watched OU play in the college world series. Tuesday night Luke slept all night.

Wednesday was our last full day at mom and dads. Luke got to grocery shop with his cart in Laurel again (he felt much more comfortable with his skills this time and was a bit of a wild man in the store) and he played side walk chalk and played in the sprinkler. We went to church again and he slept all night again!

Thursday we came home and we've been recovering ever since ;)

Another trip to the Doctor.

My poor little boy. He finished his second round of antibiotics on Monday. He woke up in the night Wednesday night and last night. Last night he was up for hours before he went back to sleep. He had a low grade fever when he woke this morning and we talked about taking him back to the doctor, but decided to wait. I gave him ibuprofen before his nap (12:15). He woke from his nap at 3:30 with a temperature of 104. So we gave him some Tylenol, and read stories with an ice pack on his head while Kyle called the Doctor. His normal pediatrician was booked so Kyle got him in to a different pediatrician in the same facility. Luke ended up having to get a really strong antibiotic shot which made his leg very sore. I was promised that it would kill all bacteria and get rid of the infection completely. But, we have to take him back to the doctor in 7-10 days to make sure his ears are fluid free to see if they're draining properly. If not, then it's off to the ear, throat and nose specialist to see what the next step is. It's crazy to me that he has never had an ear infection and now he's had one for a month now and he just can't get rid of it. I feel bad for him. And Kyle and I. We are TIRED!!! On the upside... Luke has reached a new level of "Daddy's Boy", but we learned today that when his temperature reaches 104, he still wants his Mommy =)

Not so well baby check up

Tuesday Luke did not take a nap at all. Then Tuesday night he woke up at 10:30. And at 11:30. And then stayed up until 1:30. And then woke up at 6:30am. So. Not a good night for all of us. He didn't have a fever, but was coughing a lot etc. So Wednesday morning we fully expected him to be super cranky due to lack of sleep. And then Leta woke up with a low grade fever. I skipped Body and Soul and decided it was a good thing that Leta's well baby appointment was the next day so I could get them both looked at. Leta's fever did go away and has not returned yet.

We just got back from the Doctors. Leta did not get her 4 month shots because of her fever so she'll get them at her 6 month appointment. She weighs 13lbs 2oz and is 24" long. That's just below the 50% for both, which is where she has traditionally been on the growth charts. Leta does have fluid behind her ear but no infection. I got a prescription to fill if she should need it, but hopefully she won't. I'm supposed to elevate her mattress a bit in her crib to help the fluid drain a bit better. The doctor thought it looked like she might have milk in her ear.

Next it was Luke's turn, and to be honest, he pretty well hogged the whole session. I told her all about his rash that we had discovered at the lake and the blood blisters on his ear lobes. She didn't think the rash was because of the antibiotic he'd been on from his last ear infection, because she thought it sounded more viral, but she put in on his charts anyway. The blood blister things on his ear lobes are called "petechiae" I think she said and often result on the face in the sinus area from severe coughing. She thought it was a bit unusual for it to be on the lobes and thought perhaps it was due to his ear infection, but that we'd have to see if that will be a trend. Nothing to do for the lobes. They don't bother Luke anyway. And then she checked his ears and throat. He has a very irritated throat from post nasal drip. He has severe double ear infections. So this time he got a different antibiotic because the last one clearly wasn't effective. So we'll see. She also told us he could have Delsym for his cough (which we'd already done) and that he should take any over the counter liquid children's allergy medication. She thinks both of their problems are being caused by their sinuses being irritated by all the pollen in the air.

I checked to see what allergy meds I can take while nursing Leta, and I can do any over the counter and she said that they would probably help Leta some as well.

Needless to say, we went right to Walgreens and got some drugs. Hopefully they both we'll be feeling better soon. And while knowing that Luke not feeling well is probably the cause of his not very good behavior lately, does not make it any more fun to deal with him. I would be putting him on CraigsList, but Kyle saw on the news where some guy did that and he's in jail now. I guess I'll just have to tough it out. *wink*

And Kyle left bright and early (4:45) this morning to fly to Albuquerque for his UNM track reunion and won't be home until Sunday night. We'll see if I survive. If it gets touch and go I'll just have to reread Luke's seen and heard posts from this morning.

Updates!

Kyle: Kyle has been very busy lately. It seems I always say that about him. I think that him being busy isn't an update. We can just assume he's always busy =). I mentioned that he and Traver did not purchase a Timeshare website. Instead they plan on building their own. Currently they're working on a database of all the resorts in North America. When that is completed, then they will build the website and then continue later to finish all the resorts in the world. Last weekend Kyle went on a fishing trip with Fireman Paul (as he is known to Luke). They went to Grand Lake and fished for Spoonbills. They each caught a 45-50lb fish. Kyle brought the meat home. He got a recipe from a friend that he plans on trying out next week.

This week he has been working on fixing his sprayer that he pulls behind the lawnmower. He finally got it completely fixed and working this morning. He plans on fertilizing the lawn on Monday. It supposed to not be windy that day. Kyle had been continuing to run, but has yet again injured his old man hamstring so he thinks he's out for the season. Which is too bad, we had been hoping to all go to Kansas City and watch him run this summer, but it looks like that will no longer work.

Rachel: We have started a new Body and Soul session. I know all the songs except for one, which I don't have to have learned until Wednesday so I'm in good shape for that. We have had several people over lately, reminding me of how much I enjoy that. So that has kept me busy. I feel like we're getting into a bit of a groove now, so maybe I'll get better at continuing to have people over. I don't have anything else new going on with me. I'm the boring one in this house!

Luke: Luke will officially be 2 1/2 tomorrow!!! Time sure does fly! Luke went fishing with Kyle (I posted about that already) but here are some more pictures from that evening.

Luke is still learning, but he is doing much better at being gentle with Leta. We still have a long way to go. I can now be standing several feet away from Leta while they are in the same room for like...maybe a minute or two now! But ALWAYS within seeing distance.

Last night Luke and I went on a "Love Date". Leta and Kyle stayed home and we went to Chick-Fil-A to eat (his choice). It was cold and rainy so we didn't play in the play land but we did get to go to Target afterward!!! I let him pick out a book because it was our "special date". We had fun and I enjoyed getting to spend time with just him since there isn't much of that anymore with me needing to protect Leta from him so much.

Leta: Is now 3 months old. We went to the doctor this past Monday because she was so congested etc. just to get her checked out. She weighed (with wet diaper and clothes) 12lbs 8oz. She had fluid in her ear and I was told to watch for not wanting to suck and a temperature. Which developed yesterday. Which on the plus side, meant we got great naps out of her all day long! Unheard of! But, the poor girl felt horrible so that was no good. I emailed her Dr. and we both assume she went ahead and got her first ear infection. (Luke has never had one before) So she's breaking us in on that front. The ear infection is why she and Kyle stayed home last night.