Tucker Weekly

Tucker is 20 weeks old today! That sounds so old! My nickname for Tucker has been "little one" since he first arrived. As soon as I say those two words, his face lights up like he recognizes this term of endearment I have for him. Every time I say "little one" lately though, I am feeling the irony as I see how he's not so little anymore! He's doing all sorts of "big boy" things...

--He's on a 4 hour eating schedule now (meaning he only eats four times a day as opposed to the 7 or 8 times he did when he was first born!)
--He's takes 2 naps a day and a little cat nap around dinner
--He's been eating rice cereal for the first time...as of right now, it's going too well :)
--He had his first babysitter (besides my sweet friends that have babysat for us up to this point!)

Our little guy is growing up! He's seems more and more aware of the world around him...everything from Grey walking across the room to new faces and when Mama walks away...yikes :) His personality is really showing up... we have a pretty serious baby on our hands (this picture really shows this)! He stares intently at things and seems to be constantly "taking it all in". We do get a lot of smiles and a few laughs every now and then, but he definitely seems to be a little intense!

We love you little one!

Justice

I love justice. Maybe a little too much. This is a good thing and a very bad thing all at the same time. When someone is wronged, I love to see it "righted" and I love to see the "good guys" win... But, I also have wrong desires of "getting even" and wanting people to have to pay for what they've done. I'm often ashamed of these feelings but at the root, I just don't like to see people suffer and I don't like to just sit back and "do nothing". Of course, I'm thankful that I serve a God who is the ultimate Judge and who also has a heart that hurts for the suffering much more than I do... I'm learning to trust Him more to "take care of the bad guys" and not take things into my own hands.

Why all the deep thoughts you ask? Well, last night, Brad and I got the GREAT treat of going to the movies! We had our friend Haley (a Young Life leader here), come over while Tucker was sleeping and we snuck out to a great movie and a bucket of popcorn for the first time since Tucker was born (Oh, how life has changed)! We saw Gran Torino... This is a wonderful Clint Eastwood film (who is an amazing 78 by the way!). It is a beautiful story of sacrifice in order to make justice happen...love for people that are a little bit different than you...and the sad reality of suffering that's going on in the world. It is well worth your time and money to go see this one!

Check out the trailer...

I'd rather eat my fingers...

Yesterday, we entered the rice cereal terrain. It wasn't pretty. I don't think it was an issue of Tucker being disinterested as much as it was a frustration with not being able to get the food as quickly as he's used to! Our hungry boy didn't have the patience for this process! So, we'll be trying again later today and hopefully he will get the hang of it in the next few days. I WELCOME any advice on starting cereal/solids!

"Mommy, what are we doing?"


He's smiling before he knew what was about to happen...


Not lovin it...


On the other hand, he has started sucking his two middle fingers quite regularly and it is so cute to me! From the looks of his face, it's obvious he likes the taste of his fingers better than the cereal :)

Ellen, Young Life called, they want their skits back...

So, I have a bit of a TV confession... I think the Ellen show is H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!!! I'm not endorsing Ellen or any other Hollywood name, but it gives me a few laugh-out-loud moments in my day and I appreciate that! I never really watched it before I had Tucker but it seems to be on at a time of day (5 pm) when I'm cooking dinner or just have the TV on and there are so many things on her show that make me laugh, especially that she makes every person on her show do something that makes them look ridiculous! She has tons of games on the show that she gets audience members to play and it never fails that the game is familar to me because it was an old Young Life skit or enough like one to resemble it! If I was still a Young Life leader, I think I'd be watching Ellen to think of new skit ideas!

Here are a few....
(click on the game)

Blindfolded Musical Chairs

"Panty Hose on the Head" Game

"Try to whistle after eating crackers" Game

"Aw Snap"
This I haven't seen before but think it would be a hilarious new skit!

Tucker Weekly

Tucker is 19 weeks old! I'm a day late...but wanted to share a little about how our little, or actually our BIG boy is doing! As we shared on Friday, he had his 4 month checkup and the doctor had nothing but great things to say...Tucker is a big, growing boy...his head isn't too flat on the back (we thought for sure that it was)...his ears look clear inside and he doesn't seem to be close to getting any teeth (so who knows what was waking him up all those nights a few weeks ago)...he's got the green light to start eating rice cereal, and he handled a few more shots pretty well...whatever that means--he screamed his head off!

At the beginning of last week, we dropped that late night feeding (11 pm) in hopes that Tucker would sleep from 8 pm to 8 am... So glad to report that he has been successfully sleeping 12 hours for the last several nights! YEAH! Oh, to be 4 months old again and get that much sleep! Because he's doing great with that, we think he's ready to drop the 5th feeding, taking him down to 4 feedings a day, where he will be eating every 4 hours instead of every 3-3 1/2 hours like he's been doing his whole life! For this breastfeeding mommy, this will be a HUGE change and make our day seem much less controlled by the eating schedule! To make this transition easier, we will probably start introducing rice cereal at one meal a day to compensate a little for that feeding he'll be missing. So, this coming week will be full of a lot of change and we'll be sure to let you know how it's going!

On a final note, Tucker is just starting to laugh... and we caught it on camera tonight! It's a little funny because he doesn't quite know how to do it but it is the CUTEST sound I've ever heard when he gets tickled and lets a laugh come out! Confession: This may be a little forced since I try to find all his tickle spots and continue to pester him until I can get him to laugh :)




Playtime with Daddy...or Daddy's beard actually

Welcome to Hollywood...What's your dream?

I've been "tagged". My friend Jenn tagged me to use the 4th picture in the 4th album on my facebook and share a little blurb about the photo...



What a GREAT memory! This was almost exactly 2 years ago... My mom, sister, and I went out to LA to visit my friend Emily and to enjoy this fabulous city! We had a BLAST and this picture was taken while doing one of the many "touristy" things we did...taking in the view of the Hollywood sign! Hopefully this will be one of the many "girls trips" we take!

I tag Lauren Verlander, Jennie Ray, and Arin Guthe! Get on it girls!

Happy Heart Day!

Hope you're all having a great Valentine's Day! We're laying around in blankets on the couches in the same clothes we slept in....that's a good day :) We will hang out with our Valentine, Tucker and have a yummy dinner in tonight! Have fun with ones you love!

I wanted to give you Tucker's 4 month stats from his appointment yesterday!
17.7 lbs--95th percentile! (was 7.8 at birth)
27 inches--95th percentile! (was 20 in at birth)

We have a big, healthy, growing boy! We are so grateful!

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God. My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!
1 John 4:7-12 {The Message}