thankful.

Now that it is "officially" Christmas season, I have been trying to figure out what presents to get for Cory this year and what I want too....both of us can not think of a single thing that we are in need of.

That is what I am most grateful for - the fact that our family is not in need of anything. The best part, is that this extends out to my brothers and sisters as well. My mom and I were talking the other day and we were discussing how great it is that everyone in our family is exactly where they want to be. Life is good. Very Very good.

Here's a little of the good news...

Ryan has been accepted to law school in Iowa - with a full ride scholarship for the first year! That is $33,000 in tuition they are no longer responsible to pay!

Tyler is coming home from basic training on the 19th - just in time to spend Christmas with Katy!

Katy gets Tyler home for Christmas!

Amber found a GREAT new apartment with a roommate she loves. I know how much anxiety she had about finding a place and I am so happy for her.

Jared and Jake are going strong with everything in life. They are 2 of the most impressive little boys I have ever known. Their ability to stand up for what they believe and who they are is such an example to me.

I couldn't ask for better siblings to set examples for my little Luke

I am so thankful for all that we have in our lives. It is totally overwhelming to think of all that we have been blessed with in life - Cory having a secure job, Luke being healthy and strong, a great place to live, loving family all around us (or just a phone call away).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and Merry Christmas too!

one month old!

Luke turned a whole MONTH old yesterday! In some ways I can't believe it's been a month already and in other ways it feels like he has been here for so much longer than that! He is such a sweet, cute little boy - i don't know what i'd do without him now!

Here are two birthday pictures...

I love his cute bum...

And his cute little feet...

He does this all the time - apparently he thinks a lot in his sleep. ha!

Dear Luke,
Happy one month birthday sweet boy! I can not believe how fast the time is flying - I wish it would slow down a little! You are such a great baby and have taught me and your dad so much. I am so grateful that you are healthy and growing stronger every day. You are starting to hold your head up now. The past week or so you have been working on that a lot! You are a great sleeper - going for about 3 hours at a time. You still sleep better when there is a lot of noise...we go walk around Target and the mall during nap time - it works like a charm!
We love you more than we could ever express. We are so excited to watch you grow and learn more about you!
Love, Mom and Dad

Tag #2

The 5th picture in the 5th folder on my computer....

I love that it's such a cute one! We are using this picture as a decoration in his room...he's so sweet.

Again, I tag Amber, Meagan, Megan, Nikki & Katy.

I'm IT

Lucky #7

7 Things I Can Do:

1. change diapers!
2. decorate...usually
3. paint. not like the artistic paint, but the decorative kind like furniture and walls
4. play the piano
5. ummmm.....this is hard! oh, i can cook. when i want to.
6. i can type really fast
7. speak with all sorts of different accents. it's really kinda lame haha

7 Things I Can NOT Do:

1. watch the discovery/history/animal channels for more than 15 minutes without having to get up and leave the room. so boring
2. sleep through the night...thank you lucas
3. live without cory
4. eat an entire hotdog
5. listen to people complain about things they have control over. i mean, if you aren't happy about something - do something about it!
6. go a day without diet coke
7. go a day without flossing my teeth.

7 Things that Attracted Me To Cory:

1. his dark hair/blue eyes combination
2. his funny personality
3. the fact that he seemed up for a week-long fling
4. he was slightly unavailable...sorry nikki :) ha
5. his cute sense of "style"
6. his incredibly easy going personality
7. his ability to calm me down whenever i have anxiety attacks

7 Celebrity Admirations:

1. Gwen Stefani...she's so hot. even if she did name her child Zuma
2. Reese Witherspoon...so cute!
3. Jennifer Garner...i swear if she knew me we would be best friends. And ALIAS...oh yeah
4. Meg Ryan...not so much now because she's kind of become a weirdy, but back in the You've Got Mail days...definitely
5. Mariska Hargitay...she's the girl on Law & Order SVU and I seriously love her. seriously.
6. Will Smith...his movies are always so great!
7. James Marsden...I already told Cory that if I meet James and he is as nice as Cory, I might leave him. ha!

7 Favorite Foods:

1. Ham & Grandma Potatoes...oh man. my all time favorite meal
2. pot roast & potatoes
3. cafe rio. i could eat it almost every day
4. tony's frozen pepperoni pizza
5. chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips
6. french fries
7. diet coke

I tag Katy, Meagan, Megan & Nikki.

Post Script: Dear My Friend Kaitlyn - this blog was very difficult! I had to think for a long time!!

Talents

I must say, we have a very talented son....he peed, pooped and threw up all at the same time today! And I must add....this all occurred immediately after I removed his diaper. Awesome. True talent.

Life As We Knew It

The life that used to revolve around work and socializing almost every night has turned into this world revolving around a little human that can barely even hold up his own head. It's amazing how fast it changes and how welcome those changes are.

And it's true what they say...It will never be the same.

Here are a few things I've learned over the last 3 weeks:

1. Sleep is a great and wonderful thing.

2. Showering is definitely optional. No need to do something so frivolous on a daily basis.

3. Yawns are the cutest thing a baby can do.

4. Even baby farts are adoreable. The fact that they just slip out as if nothing just happened....fantastic.

5. Baby swings are one of the greatest inventions.

6. A mom can never get enough of watching their baby get all the attention in the world.

Luke's umbilical cord fell off on Monday so we decided to give him his first "real" bath tonight...He handled it incredibly well! The lotion-ing after the bath is what pushed him over the edge. And of course, we took the typical embarassing pictures. yay!

He sleeps with his hand touching his face. Every time he sleeps. It is so funny. And usually he has at least one arm reaching above his head. We have an ultrasound picture of him in the same position...I hope he keeps it up his whole life and I can use it against him when he is 17 and has his first girlfriend. I can't wait for embarassing story-telling time.

This is his favorite sleeping position. Please notice that his foot is above my arm. We started with hisl egs between me and my arm - he grunted and moved and moved until his foot was above my arm. In that weird kinked position. Happens every time. What a funny little boy.

I still have guilt that Cory has to go to work every day while I get to hang out. Pajama days are my favorite thing. I pretend they are Luke's too. :)

One Week Later

What an incredibly eventful week it has been! Luke turns a whopping 7 days old today and I can't help myself but post about what a fantastic little boy he is and how incredible it has been getting to know him and experience life with him!

He is so much like his dad - it's very good news. The most mellow baby in the world - incredibly patient when being passed around and admired by all his many fans, sleeps better with lots of noise, and very stubborn :)

He makes the absolutely most adorable faces ever...his smiles are my favorite thing. When he smiles I like to pretend it's because he knows who I am and recognizes my voice....who knows if that's really the case, but that's what I tell myself.

He snorts when he's hungry and when he's asleep. He's very alert for a brand new baby.

My favorite thing is morning-time naps. He is a great sleeper, usually sleeping 3-4 hours at a time. Which means we go to bed around 12, wake up around 3:30 and then not again until about 6:30 or 7. We wake up, say bye to dad when he goes to work and then have nap time...we lay on the couch with him on my chest and sleep for another 3 hours and just cuddle. He is so fantastic.

Being a mom is the greatest thing that has happened to me. Besides marrying Cory of course, because without him this wouldn't be my life right now....:)

Anyway, here are some more cute random pictures of him. I love being a mom - i know, totally cliche, but totally true. I am so grateful to Cory for being such a wonderful dad...he is so hands on and willing to do anything and everything he can to help.

I am also so grateful for my mom for being here and helping keep me sane during this crazy week!

This is the biggest smile I could get from him while the camera was in his face....he's so cute :)

Lucas Cory Daley

On Wednesday October 29th at about 5:15am I woke up to my water breaking - yay yay yay! I got to experience that perfectly cliche moment...."umm cory, i think my water just broke" ha ha

So, he gets up, takes a shower and we leave for the hospital!!

We got checked in and were ready to have this baby by about 7am. After a long 10 hours of labor (thank goodness for the greatest invention on earth - the epideral - it wasn't a completely terrible 10 hours) the nurse came in to check and see what was taking so long, and all of a sudden Luke's heartrate fell to 80 beats per minute - not a good thing considering their heartrate is usually at like 150, then before I even knew what was going on there were like 7 nurses in my room and I was hooked up to oxygen, wearing a surgical cap and they were wheeling me out of the room.

Insert COMPLETE PANIC here.

I look up to the nurse with tears streaming down my face and she explains to me that his heartrate was at about 40 beats per minute right now and they were taking me to the operating room. At about the same time I hear pages for the dr "STAT" and the Neo-Natal team "STAT" - not words you want to hear while in labor.....

Seriously, before I even knew what was going on I was moved to the operating table and the doctors were there saying that if "husband" (because they didn't know his name....) didn't hurry, he would miss it. my arms are strapped to the table to the sides of me, my legs are strapped to the bed, i have an oxygen mask covering most of my face and a blue sheet blocking my view of what is going on. I have tears running down my face as I scan the room for Cory. Finally, he makes it. he stands next to me, holding my hand, comforting me as much as he can, as I am still panicking that my baby's heart isn't beating properly!

In what seemed like an eternity later - and was really only about 5 minutes - I was cut open, my insides on my outside and there was a baby. I heard his cry...the greatest sound a mom can hear in the midst of terror. The nurses grab him, quickly get him to cry and cry and cry to get all the maconium-filled amniotic fluid out of his lungs (another bad thing...) and to make sure his lungs are functioning. After a few minutes, they put him on the scale - a healthy 8 pounds 2 ounces and 20 inches long.

They hold him up so I can see...while i'm being stitched up and still laying on the operating table...and whisk him away to the nursery for test after test.

Needless to say, it was the longest 15 minutes of my life. The nurse came in to check me at 5pm, Lucas was born at 5:15. Complete chaos.

They kept him in the nursery for about an hour and a half before I got to see him. Cory went and took some pictures so I could at least see what my baby looked like...

Anyway, after all the drama - here are some pictures of the cutest baby ever! ...well, at least I think so :)

these are some of him in an oxygen helmet to help him breathe and hooked up to all the testing things...

Aunt Ambie was his first official visitor...

Here he is hanging out with Dad on day 2 of life

here he is all ready to go home on Saturday afternoon

and his crazy hair is my favorite thing ever - this was after his bath last night!