What we did this week

When Luke came early, I thought summer would just drag until our families made it out for the 4th of July. Instead it has flown by! I can't believe it's the weekend already and I have a 3 week old. 3 weeks isn't too old to use the newborn excuses still -- right??

So what have we been up to?

* Shopping for the kids plane trip back East. If you don't know, my parents are taking the older 3 home with them for a little bit after their trip out here to meet Luke and the blessing.

* Playing at Brody and Sadie's

* Doctor's visit -- we're up to 6 lbs 11.5 oz. Next visit is July 6th.
* Luke's first night out on the town. We got a babysitter for the big kids and went out for dinner and dessert with Luke.

* Summer movies

* Swimming in the backyard
* Day Camp

Pirates and Princesses day

* Dance for Ellie

* Brady and Bailey over to play

* Amins over for dinner (don't worry, they brought it and cooked it here)
* Swimming at Rickie's. Luke slept the whole time, Nate and Ellie can swim and Sadie just followed the Haymond kids around so I was loving it.

* Sadie took a nap in a big girl bed. I'm hoping to get the girl's room all repainted, Sadie a big girl bed and move the crib into Nate's room while the kids are back East

And now to sit back, try and get some sleep and enjoy the weekend.

Two Weeks

I swear the first two weeks of newborndom are the worst, so I'm happy to report that ours are OVER!

On Thursday (the official two week mark) Luke was up to 6 lbs 5 oz. He still hasn't met his birth weight though, so we'll go in for another weight check on Monday and hopefully we'll be on our way to 7 pounds! If he reaches his birth weight, we won't have to go back in until our month appointment (MONDAY UPDATE: 6 lbs 11.5 oz HOORAY)! He will have to stay on the high calorie formula for at least a month, so I've given up all hopes of nursing. I cried a lot, but now that I've accepted it, I feel like my sanity has returned.

Luke's skinniest day at 5 lbs 14 oz. Sadie loves to cuddle Luke or his diapers. She'll take either one. And I can't blame her because those newborn diapers are so soft!

Last week we pretty much spent most of our free time feeding Luke and running to the Doctor's. The kids got lots of play time in with friends -- I seriously am so grateful for my amazing friends. Especially when they take all three of my kids on top of all of their own kids. I did get our pool put up in the backyard so the kids have been out there a lot.

I think we've gotten days and nights straightened out and he's figured out how to sleep without being held. He's also started eating a little bit more and a little faster.

While everyone is celebrating Father's Day today, we celebrated a few weeks ago so it was a low key morning around here. Ellie decided to put on makeup and pretend she was a Rock Star. She is my ultimate helper and as much as I hate the fighting that sometimes happens, I love having her home with me. Even when she rolls her eyes at me or informs me that I can't be tired because I get "plenty of sleep." If only!

Sadie is our little songbird. Everything gets sung. Today when she saw Ellie was wearing her Easter dress, she had to get hers on too. She was singing, "I'm going to look like Ellie." And yesterday while she was helping me move the laundry from the washer to the dryer she was singing, "I'm so happy. I'm so happy." I wish laundry made me happy. I also wish I could get her to sit still. She is ALWAYS going. Always talking, always playing. . .always making a mess. She loves any sort of dolls right now -- Barbies, baby dolls, Polly Pockets, Little People, Doll house. . . even her food becomes a family. Still a vegetarian.

Nate has been perfecting his light saber skills. He is definitely growing up as trains have made way for Super Heroes, Transformers, Bakugan and Star Wars. I remember watching shows like Backyardigans, Little Einsteins or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse after the other kids were born. Now it's Phineas and Ferb and Spy Kids movies. What the heck?? When did Disney Channel and Noggin become baby channels?

THANK YOU!

Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes -- Luke gained weight! I just about threw a party right then and there. Not only did he gain weight, he smoked it: 3 ounces! Overnight!!

Say a little prayer

Well he's down to 5 lbs 14 oz. If he's not up tomorrow we'll be referred to a neonatologist and probably admitted to the hospital for a feeding tube.

I'm really struggling. Every time we go in, I'm so confident that he's gained weight and then the scale shows he's down. I spend a day crying and then the next day I'm sure what we're doing is going to work and I go in for the next weigh in so confident again. So today I've pretty much got myself worked up for the worst -- that way any news is better than that, right??

Wet n' Wild

It's been a wild ride over at the Rogers' house as we adjust to summer and a new baby.

Luke had proven to be a little food stinker. He doesn't like to eat. Each day his latch got a little worse and his suck a little weaker and his weight was dropping, so we started supplementing. Well now he seems to have an aversion to not only nursing, but also the bottle. There's nothing like force feeding your baby hoping he gains some weight. It can take me an hour to get an ounce down him. Anyone ever had a baby refuse to eat?? Tomorrow we go in for another weight check, so cross your fingers we're up instead of down again. Needless to say -- I've been a hormonal mess. Cannot wait to feel normal again! Luke being less than thrilled with going for a walk. Same reaction at feeding time.

Meanwhile the weather has been gorgeous for Arizona summertime. We've had swim lessons, been learning to ride bikes without training wheels, hanging out with neighbors and friends. . . in between my permanent residence at the Pediatricians.

Nate is doing great and swimming across the entire pool by himself and Ellie can now do the breast stoke and back stroke on top of everything else. We took lessons with my oldest friends' kids -- they're so cute together. All the kiddos
Lindsay, Ellie and Hayden
Nate, Caroline and Brynleigh

Friday night we BBQed with most of our favorite neighbors and Noah promised the kids a water balloon fight in the morning. They set up the pool and the kids played until everyone was ready. The girls Nate's team -- although they all turned on each other after about 2 minutes.

Saturday night we went swimming with friends. Recognize the hippo?? By "we" I meant the kids while Luke and I hung out in the shade. Did you know you can't go swimming for 4-6 weeks after having a baby? Not that I want to be in a swimsuit at the moment, but still a bummer. Luckily we've got some time till the beach house.

Oh, and Nate managed a haircut in there too.

Well, it's been a week!

Last Wednesday I ended up sick as a dog: fever, chills and body aches. I told my sister, "Today's the first day I've absolutely wanted this kid out of me." Lesson learned: Be careful what you wish for ;D

WARNING: BORING LABOR STORY! Skip to the pictures if you don't care

Sure enough Wednesday night (11:15 pm) I woke up to my water breaking and proceeded to run around the house trying to pack a hospital bag (after being overly prepared for Sadie, I had become superstitious about getting ready for the hospital too early -- my theory is the grosser you look and the less prepared you are, the more likely you are to go into labor). I did a great packing job -- like pajama pants, but no top and a tooth brush but no tooth paste. At least we got the camera this time around.

Meanwhile Dustin called our awesome neighbor Jill who was sweet enough to come spend the night with our kids while we jetted off to the hospital. I wasn't having a lot of contractions, but after Sadie's 1.5 hour labor, I wanted to get there in time for an epidural and I knew they couldn't turn me away if my water had broken.

Well apparently they take their sweet time if you walk in smiling. After an hour and a half, we were finally off to the room and my beloved epidural. The whole time I'm asking, "How long before the IV empties and I can get the drugs?" Luckily, I wasn't having regular contractions, so it wasn't even that miserable. In fact, even once I got the epidural the contractions hadn't kicked in, so they put me on some pitocin and 5 or 6 contractions later, I was ready to push that kid out. One push later and Luke arrived at 2:24 am.

The next day we were headed home and Luke quickly learned that being a 4th kid means getting touched. . . a lot.


He also decided that since there were so many of us, someone should be holding him at all times while he sleeps.


I'm pretty sure I am never going to sleep again but Dustin keeps reassuring me that it's always like this and eventually he'll figure out that night is for sleeping and sleeping involves something other than my arms. I know he's right, but I'm too tired to actually remember anything other than the last time I fed the baby. Heck, I can barely remember his name sometimes. The other day I looked at Ellie after calling him both Nate and Sadie and said, "What did we name him?"

I just have to remember that the poor little guy is even more confused than I am.


And a special thanks to my AMAZING friends/family/neighbors who have taken my kids, brought me food, called to see how I was doing, left sweet blog comments. . . your love and friendship is overwhelming. I'm so grateful to have you all in my life.

Luke...I am your Father!

Ok seriously this is the only time all day that I have quoted that line. So please don't confuse me with a massive Star Wars Geek.

Here are the official stats:
Luke Thomas Rogers
Wt: 6 lb 8 oz
Ht: 19 in

Enjoy the pictures below but for more and for continuous updates check out: http://babylukerogers.shutterfly.com/