Happy Birthday Eli!

Today, my first baby turned three! I can't believe he's already that old. Time has seriously flown by. Having a newborn in the house reminds me of when Eli was that tiny, and it doesn't seem all that long ago. And then, overnight, he's turned into this big kid, wanting to do everything for himself, without help.

So in honor of his big day, I thought I'd share some fun facts about Eli:

1. My little guy loves anything to do with letters and numbers. He loves to spell words and has a very analytical mind. No make-believe for this guy, he has to see it right in front of him to consider it.
2. Eli is easily excitable -- if you want him to get excited about something, all you have to do is be excited about yourself and he'll follow suit. Case in point -- anytime we're in the car and we don't want him to fall asleep, we'll have him look out the window for signs. Just any old sign will do, as long as you're excited about pointing it out, he'll most likely be excited about finding it.
3. This kid is so loving and has a very tender heart. One of the phrases he says that melts my heart every time is, "Aww, Mama, I wuv you."
4. He loves being the big brother and when we're in the car with him and West in the back, he'll say "Don't worry, West, we'll be home soon, I promise." Absolutely gets me every time.
5. When Eli was born, he was in a hurry to get out and he hasn't stopped going since. He has more energy in his little finger than I do in my whole body most days. But he keeps me on my toes and ready for anything.

We sure do love our little man and we're so grateful for him in our family. I just know he's going to be a great example for his siblings and that he'll continue to make us proud parents.


We love you, little buddy! :)

I have a new surprise....

....baby Westley Kai Lakey. (But you can just call him West!)

We're so happy that we now have our newest family member! He was born on Monday, January 19th at 2:23pm, coming in at 8 lbs. 2 oz., and measuring 20 inches long. He has a full head of black hair and dark eyes (so far). I'm hoping they turn blue. :) He is the sweetest little baby and delivery was really easy and great. He was ready to make his appearance -- three pushes and he was out! :) Baby, and I are doing fine. He has the longest fingers and toes! Definitely not Busath toes, heehee. Eli is a proud big brother and we're all excited to be home and resting.

And just because I know it wouldn't be complete without a picture fix, here you go. :)

Proud Mama. 'Nuff said. :)

Being weighed and measured. Look at all that dark hair!



Little West and his proud Dada.



Eli's first sight of his new baby brother.



Proud big brother Eli. He's doing great as a big brother, he just loves calling him "my Westley". :)



Nana and West. Loving that she's here helping! :)

Love you all! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I feel so richly blessed to have been able to have such an easy delivery and I know that we're going to have fun with this little guy. :)

Our doctor's appointment went well yesterday. We're dilated to a 2 and everything's looking good for Monday. We go in at 7am, and my doctor thinks that we'll have our new baby with us by lunchtime. Sure hope she's right! I'm sure it goes without saying, but I'm excited!

Today is going to be especially great because my best friend Summer is coming to visit and Nathan comes home tonight! Yippee! He's been out of town this whole week on a nightmare kind of a job.

Definitely not the best timing in the world, but at least he gets two full weeks of paternity leave after today. Thank heavens! And the baby hasn't come early while he's been away, which is a major blessing. So lots to be thankful for, even though it hasn't been the easiest week.

Thanks to everyone for your sweet comments and words of encouragement. I can't wait to post about our new arrival when he gets here!

No baby yet.

Have a doctor's appointment today, so we'll see if there's any progress. I don't think there will be, but you just never know.

Induction is scheduled for Monday, so at least by then we'll have our little guy out and in our arms. I'm ready to be done, but not ready to have 2 kids yet. :) I guess you could say I'm getting a little case of cold feet. But I suppose there's no turning back now, haha.

Nathan has been out of town this whole week, which is one reason that I'm glad we haven't had progress. I really don't want to do this thing by myself. :) But he'll be back tomorrow and then I couldn't care less if the baby comes early. So I'm just praying he waits until Nathan's back.

Eli can sense something big is going to happen. He's been clingy and only wanting me. Not even Dada will do lately. I'm sure he'll be great with the baby, he's doing well with other friends' babies. I'm excited to see how he'll interact with a little brother.

Well, that's about all. Catch ya later!

Just checking in

Life is just about waiting around here. Waiting for baby to come, waiting for the point where I can walk around the house again and not feel like every part of me aches. Man, pregnancy is tough on ya! :) I know the time is going to go by faster than I think, so I'll be positive.

I've been thinking of some projects that I want to tackle while I have some time off with the baby and while my mom is here. I'm bummed that it will only be for 9 days, but I'll take what I can get. Plus it's her very first visit to our California place, so that will be a lot of fun to show her our house and get her help in decorating it. Because heaven knows I can't do it by myself! I get too many ideas and not enough coordination with them. So maybe a second pair of eyes will help. Gosh, thinking about it, I'm more excited to have my mom come out than I realized! :) I haven't seen her in several months, so it will be nice.

Other things that have been on my mind lately include when in the world I'm ever going to get my almost-three-year-old potty trained! I am so tired of changing big stinky diapers and I know it's only going to get worse once I have two to contend with! So that's one of the challenges for this year, getting him potty trained.

Of course I'll be waiting until after the baby comes, since that will be change enough for him. In fact, that's the big reason we didn't try it before the baby came, because I knew moving would be a big enough adjustment without having that added to it. And I have to admit, I'm nervous with how he's going to react to his brother. He's been pretty clingy lately and I just hope that we can help him adjust as best as possible.

I've also had this hankering to make a little mini-studio upstairs in our office, which I think will be of great use to me when our baby gets here, so that I can do some fun newborn shoots. I didn't really know what I was doing with Eli, and was so out of it that I didn't realize I should have taken more photos! :) But this time around I'll be more prepared, with better lighting and lots of time to take good pictures. Besides, there's nothing more fun than practicing on someone who doesn't automatically run once the camera is even pulled out (ahem, Eli!!). Can't wait to have some fun with him.

I've decided that I'm not really going to be doing New Years' resolutions this year. Mainly because I'm horrible at sticking to them, and because I feel like when I take on something like that and fail at it, it makes me feel worse than if I had not done it at all. :) So I'm just going to take my days as they come, enjoy life, and try REALLY hard not to beat myself up for things that don't get finished or a messy house or kids who have dirty fingernails. (Because good moms don't let their children get dirty fingernails, right?) I'm just focusing on doing the best I can with as little worrying about what other people think of me as possible. And that is going to be tough for me, I can tell you that right now. I have a long history of caring deeply about what other people think of me.